Radio Korea from July the 3rd 1977

Living here on the West coast, I have always been fascinated by Asia - particularly the coastal Asian countries of Korea, Japan, Vietnam and China - in part because we are only separated by a vast salt water ocean between us.

And countries like Korea fascinate me even more because of the intricate, complicated and often globally impactful instabilities that occur in the region on a regular basis. In this recording I capture the essence of the Korean broadcasting centre in Seoul, Korea. Professionally produced, the media out of Korea during the late 70's was on a par with any other broadcaster on the World stage - in stark contrast to what was coming out of Pyongyang to the North (featured in future recordings!)

Enjoy this snippet recorded on a 1973 DX150B receiver attached to an inverted-L antenna in my backyard - in a quieter time where the only interference was from an old TV set or a furnace motor!

 

Radio Korea - 9720 Khz - July 3rd 1977

Colin Newell - Victoria B.C. Canada - DX150B

Ian McFarland on NHK Tokyo in 1995

Ian McFarland (who is retired and living on Vancouver Island) had a long and illustrious career with Radio Canada - but wrapped up his career in international broadcasting with NHK in Japan.

On September 11, 1995 Canadian DXer, Dr. Walter Salmaniw, caught this media broadcast on NHK with Ian interviewing program developer and budget director, James Atherton from the Voice of America. The program is Media Round-up which Ian was responsible for. This snippet starts a little rough but improves significantly during the edit. Ironically, the subject of the interview was the decline of shortwave broadcasting budgets!

Ian McFarland on NHK - 9535 Khz - 1500 UTC

Walter Salmaniw - Victoria B.C. Canada

The rare 5 day existence of DXCR on 2654 Khz: September 11th, 1975

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Hello! I am Colin Newell, the new editorial assistant to Thomas Witherspoon of SWLing.com.

I have been DXing and SWLing since 1971 and have amassed something of an unusual audio archive going back to around 1975. In the upcoming months I will be sharing many of these snippets with our readers. Enjoy!

On September 11th, 1975 while tuning around for Papua New Guinea stations on my DX150B, I discovered a loud signal on 2654 Khz - playing bouncy big band and instrumental music. Much to my amazement, many station ID's would soon pop out of the noise. This would turn out to be one of the shortest lived shortwave broadcasters ever!

I believe I phoned a few DXer's out west to report this station but this is one of the only known recordings of this 2 X harmonic of a Philippines religious station (that had only been on the air 2 or 3 years. The 2nd harmonic on the "120 meter band" would live for another couple of days and be gone forever. One of the joys of Short-wave listening that has captivated me all these years is the pure randomness and unpredictability of the experience.

Like a box of chocolates... you never know what you are going to get!

DXCR 2654 khz - Mountain View College

Colin Newell - Victoria B.C. Canada

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Radio Sultanate of Oman: February 5, 2016

Live, off-air, approximately one-hour recording of the Radio Sultanate of Oman English Service on 5 February 2016 beginning at 13:59:36 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 15140 kHz. This service is a relay of the domestic English service on 90.4 MHz in Muscat and is broadcast from a 100 kW transmitter in Thumrait, western Oman, with an antenna beam azimuth of 315°.

The recording begins with music in progress for about 30 seconds or so and then a station identification: "Oman Radio, 90.4 FM." This is followed by the call to evening prayer, using nature-sound music, specifically the track "The Runoff" from Dan Gibson's Solitudes "Rocky Mountain Suite" album. There is no muezzin; just an announcement. Then follows the "6 p.m. News Bulletin." This, in turn, is followed by the program "Jazz Café." The transmission ends abruptly in mid-song at about 15:04:30 UTC. Normally, there would be a switch to Arabic programming at this time but the carrier stayed on without any audio for a number of hours.        

The broadcast was received by the Web-interface wideband software-defined radio at the University of Twente in Enschede, The Netherlands, with a "Mini-Whip" antenna in AM mode with initially 5.09 kHz RF filtering but this was changed after a few seconds to 8.09 kHz. Reception quality was excellent with almost full quieting during audio pauses.

Radio Sultanate of Oman: February 5, 2016

Richard Langley

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Voice of Korea: January 17, 2016

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jordan Heyburn, who submits this SoundCloud recording of the Voice of Korea. This broadcast was recorded on January 17, 2016, on 12,015 kHz starting at 15:30 UTC. 

Jordan recorded this broadcast from his home in Armagh, Northern Ireland with his Kenwood R1000 and dipole antenna.  Jordan notes that his reception, unfortunately, does include some heavy RFI (noise/interference).

Voice of Korea heard in English to Northern Ireland using a Kenwood R1000 with a Dipole.

Radio Denge Kurdistane: September 24, 2015

Radio Denge Kurdistane recorded in London, UK on September 24, 2015 at 1652 UTC, on the frequency of 11600 kHz using SDRPlay with SDR# software and a 2 x 6m long wire dipole. At the start of the recording, the transmission originates from Kostinbrod, Bulgaria. At 1700 UTC that transmission closes, and recommences on the same frequency from Issoudun, France.

Radio Denge Kurdistane: September 24, 2015

London Shortwave

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Papua New Guinea: December 4, 1978

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Colin Newell, who notes:

December 4, 1978 0800 UTC - one of my most cherished recordings - anything from PNG was a treat and this was at a time (clearly) when their transmitters were running properly.

Colin recorded this broadcast from his home in British Columbia, Canada. It is, indeed, a treat to hear PNG once again:

Papua New Guinea: December 4, 1978

Colin Newell

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Radio Farda: September 24, 2015

Radio Farda recorded in London, UK on September 24, 2015 at 1652 UTC, on the frequency of 12005 kHz using SDRPlay with SDR# software and a 2 x 6m long wire dipole. The transmitter has a power rating of 250 kW and is located in Iranawila, Sri Lanka.

Radio Farda: September 24, 2015

London Shortwave

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