Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran: March 20, 2016

Live, off-air, one-hour recording of the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the external service of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, in English on 20 March 2016 beginning at 19:19 UTC on shortwave frequencies of 6040 and 7425 kHz. According to registrations with the High Frequency Coordination Conference, this broadcast, aired daily, is beamed to Europe and southern Africa. The 6040 kHz signal originates from a 500 kW transmitter at Sirjan, Iran, with an antenna beam azimuth of 313° while the 7425 kHz signal originates from a 500 kW transmitter at Kamalabad, Iran, with an antenna beam azimuth of 298°. Additional frequencies are used for southern Africa. The recording initially used 7425 kHz but switched to 6040 kHz at about 19:29:29 UTC.     

This broadcast celebrates, in part, Nowruz (نوروز -- literally, New Day), the Persian New Year, which coincides with the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. 20 March 2016 is the first day of the Persian calendar year 1395.

The broadcast had a crash start and the recording begins with a religious program in progress. At 7m:43s, there is a complete station ID with times and frequencies. This is followed by the news bulletin theme music loop until the clock chimes at about 10m:47s (19:30 UTC) and then the World News. The news included items on Nowruz including reports from different cities celebrating the New Year. The news is followed by the Listeners Special program, which also features a discussion of Nowruz. The broadcast ends with a special item on Nowruz. Unfortunately, it ends abruptly in mid-sentence when the 6040 kHz transmitter left the air at about 10 seconds after 20:20 UTC.

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 5.09 kHz total bandwidth RF filtering. Reception was good on 7425 kHz but with some adjacent frequency interference while it was excellent with a strong interference-free signal on 6040 kHz.

Recording 3 -The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt (BBC reports): August 19, 1991

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jack Widner, who shares this third (and final) recording which includes coverage of the August 19, 1991 Soviet Coup Attempt from the BBC. Jack shares the following recording notes:

BBC news & reports.  Starts with battle at Parliament building (known as the White House)
   03:32 Kevin Connaly's on the scene report after the battle started

Recording 2 -The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt (BBC reports): August 19, 1991

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jack Widner, who shares this second recording which includes coverage of the August 19, 1991 Soviet Coup Attempt from the BBC. Jack shares the following recording notes:

BBC reports

• 03:35 plays R. Moscow reading TASS bulletin of Gorbachev unable to fulfill duties

• 43:00 comments from Frank Gaffney; Gaffney was an ardent supporter of SDI under Weinberger & as late as 1996 was attempting to get new House leader Gingrich to get it going again.

• 43:45 a clip about Gorbachev's (?) attempt to quash Lithuanian independence (report says it was not clear that Gorbachev authorised this).

The majority of this audio assumes Gorbachev will be replaced

Voice of Korea: February 24, 2016

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jordan Heyburn, who notes:

Voice of Korea 12015khz received in Armagh City, Northern Ireland on the 24th February 2016 at 1930 UTC. [Receiver used was a] Kenwood R1000 with a 100ft Dipole antenna facing West - East.

Recording 1 -The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt (BBC/Radio Moscow): August 19, 1991

Poster of the putsch of August 1991. The confrontation between the Republican Russian Government and the Union State Government the USSR (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jack Widner, who shares this recording that includes coverage of the August 19, 1991 Soviet Coup Attempt. Jack shares the following recording notes:

• Reports from BBC, radio Moscow, and a snip at the end of Czech Radio announcing the end of the state of emergency

• Radio Moscow--Slight interruption at 5:15-30

• BBC 05:30 - 12:46

• Radio Moscow 12:47 -- note the news item on Yugoslavia of Slovenia's independence moves 18:25.  This was the beginning of the dissolution of Yugoslavia

• BBC 20:08

• Radio Moscow 26:16 "News & Views"

• BBC 27:10

• Radio Moscow World service 28:11

• Their interval signal at 38:03 the news that Gorbachev is back in control

• BBC 40:24

• Moscow 46:33

• Radio Prague (?) 46:56 announces end of state of emergency

Radio Havana Cuba, Barack Obama and Raúl Castro Press Conference in Cuba: March 21, 2016

The following off-air recording of Radio Havana Cuba was made on March 21, 2016, starting a couple of minutes prior to 1800 UTC on 11,670 kHz (at an AM bandwidth of 12.5 kHz). This was a historic event: the first time a US president has visited Cuba in over 8 decades. The following recording includes the live coverage of the Obama/Casto press conference, followed by one hour of RHC's English language service and a part of RHC's French language service.

The receiver used was a WinRadio Excalibur connected to a Pixel Loop Pro magnetic loop antenna. Location received was North Carolina.

Radio Vaticana: March 12, 2016

Live, off-air, approximately twenty-minute recording of Radio Vaticana (Vatican Radio) on 12 March 2016 beginning at 19:39 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 6070 kHz. According to a registration with the High Frequency Coordination Conference, this broadcast, aired daily, originates from a 100 kW transmitter at Santa Maria di Galevia, north of Rome, and is beamed to western Europe with antenna beam azimuths of 326° and 4°.    

The program is the Rosary in Latin and is one of several liturgical programs broadcast by Radio Vaticana. The recording begins with the Radio Vaticana interval signal followed by an excerpt of Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." In particular, the Rosary is the "Mysteria Gaudiorum" (Mysteries of Joy) version of the "Rosarium Beatae Mariae Virginis Corona" (The Crown of the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary). Different versions of the Rosary are broadcast on different days of the week. The recording ends with the excerpt of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and the interval signal.  

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 8.09 kHz total bandwidth RF filtering. Reception was excellent with a strong interference-free signal capturing almost all of the transmitted audio bandwidth.

Radio St. Helena, The final hour (sign-off) with Tony Leo: December 25, 2012

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Sarah Boucher, who submits this final sign-off of Radio St. Helena on 1548 kHz and notes:

Closedown begins with the last few seconds of love is everywhere by caught in the act (1995).

Radio St. Helena 96 MHz FM: final sign-off, December 21, 2012

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Sarah Boucher, for the following recording of Radio St. Helena's final sign-off on FM.  This was recorded at 1600 local on December 21, 2012 on 96 MHz FM.

Radio St. Helena jingle: circa 1981

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Sarah Boucher, for the following Radio St. Helena clip and notes:

“Operating 1548”, a song about Radio St. Helena composed and performed by Bettie Crowie and others."

This recording was made with a tape recorder on the AM/mediumwave band:

WBCQ VORW Voice of theReportoftheWeek: February 20, 2016

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bobby, who notes:

Special Broadcast.....WBCQ.....VORW.....Voice of theReportoftheWeek.....7490 kHz.....4-5 pm.....EST.....February 20, 2016.....Radio was set to LSB Mode.....Check the SWLing Post for more information.

Radio Lead Africa: March 5, 2016

Live, off-air, approximately two-hour recording of the clandestine station Radio Lead Africa on 5 March 2016 beginning at about 05:02:30 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 15310 kHz. According to a registration at the High Frequency Coordination Conference, this broadcast, aired on Saturdays in the time slot 05:00-07:00 UTC, originates from a Sentech 100 kW transmitter at Meyerton, South Africa, and is beamed in the direction of Uganda with an antenna beam azimuth of 5°.    

The anti-Museveni program, a production of the Uganda Federal Democratic Organisation based in Australia (www.ugandafdo.com) and Radio Lead Africa Media, is one of several broadcast through the week using the Sentech facilities.

The recorded broadcast starts in Luganda, a principal language of Uganda. An English segment runs from about the 59m:31s mark to 1h:29m:05s. The broadcast switched back to the vernacular and sign-off occurred at about 06:59 UTC. 

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 5.09 kHz RF filtering. Reception was initially only fair with some noise but it improved to a good level during the broadcast. The broadcast is mostly interference-free but there is a brief period of digital interference starting around 1h:40m:30s.

Shortwave Radio 1974: Canada, Argentina, Spain, West Germany, Albania, utility stations

Many thanks to SRAA Contributor, Brian D. Smith (W9IND), who notes:

Want to know what shortwave radio sounded like in 1974? This 55-minute recording, recovered from a cassette, was never intended to be anything but "audio notes": I was an 18-year-old shortwave listener who collected QSL cards from international stations, and I was tired of using a pen and a notepad to copy down details of the broadcasts. I wanted an easier way to record what I heard, and my cassette tape recorder seemed like the perfect means to accomplish that goal. 

But it wasn't. I soon discovered that it was simpler to just edit my notes as I was jotting them down — not spend time on endless searches for specific information located all over the tape. To make a long story shorter, I abandoned my "audio notes" plan after a single shortwave recording: This one.  

Still, for those who want to experience the feel of sitting at a shortwave radio in the mid-1970s and slowly spinning the dial, this tape delivers. Nothing great in terms of sound quality; I was using a Hallicrafters S-108 that was outdated even at the time. And my recording "technique" involved placing the cassette microphone next to the radio speaker.

Thus, what you'll hear is a grab bag of randomness: Major shortwave broadcasting stations from Canada, Argentina, Spain, Germany and Albania; maritime CW and other utility stations; and even a one-sided conversation involving a mobile phone, apparently located at sea. There are lengthy (even boring) programs, theme songs and interval signals, and brief IDs, one in Morse code from an Italian Navy station and another from a Department of Energy station used to track shipments of nuclear materials. And I can't even identify the station behind every recording, including several Spanish broadcasts (I don't speak the language) and an interview in English with a UFO book author. 

The following is a guide, with approximate Windows Media Player starting times, of the signals on this recording. (Incidentally, the CBC recording was from July 11, 1974 — a date I deduced by researching the Major League Baseball scores of the previous day.)

GUIDE TO THE RECORDING

0:00 — CBC (Radio Canada) Northern and Armed Forces Service: News and sports. 
7:51 — RAE (Radio Argentina): Sign-off with closing theme
9:14 — Department of Energy station in Belton, Missouri: "This is KRF-265 clear."
9:17  — Interval signal: Radio Spain.
9:40 —  New York Radio, WSY-70 (aviation weather broadcast)
10:22 — Unidentified station (Spanish?): Music.
10:51— Unidentified station (English): Historic drama with mention of Vice President John Adams, plus bell-heavy closing theme.
14:12 — RAI (Italy), male announcer, poor signal strength.
14:20 — Unidentified station (Spanish): Theme music and apparent ID, good signal strength.
15:16 — Unidentified station (foreign-speaking, possibly Spanish): Song, "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep."  
17:00 — Deutsche Welle (The Voice of West Germany): Announcement of frequencies, theme song. 
17:39 — Unidentified station (English): Interview with the Rev. Barry Downing, author of “The Bible and Flying Saucers.” 
24:36 — One side of mobile telephone conversation in SSB, possibly from maritime location.
30:37 — Radio Tirana (Albania): Lengthy economic and geopolitical talk (female announcer); bad audio. Theme and ID at 36:23, sign-off at 55:03.
55:11 — Italian Navy, Rome: “VVV IDR3 (and long tone)” in Morse code.

Uganda Diaspora P10 Radio: February 18, 2016

Live, off-air, approximately three-hour-long recording of clandestine station Uganda Diaspora P10 Radio on 18 February 2016 beginning at 13:00 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 17840 kHz. This was one of four scheduled special election-day broadcasts from Uganda Diaspora P10 Radio. It was transmitted using a 250 kW sender at Nauen, Germany, with an antenna beam azimuth of 155°.   

The station is an outlet of Uganda Diaspora P10, an organization working for political change in Uganda and which supports the opposition politician Dr. Kizza Besigye. "P10" refers to the organizational power of each person enlisting 10 other people ("power to the power 10"). The recorded broadcast, in Swahili and English, was on election day in Uganda and included news about the election; voter instructions to ensure "no ... messing around with the vote"; and items, with music, about Dr. Besigye and the P10 movement. Much of the material was repeated in the three-hour broadcast. 

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 5.09 kHz RF filtering. Reception was fair with some noise. At around the 2h:30m mark in the recording, there is an audio feed problem at the transmitter site with a temporary switch to a broadcast from Adventist World Radio in Hindi. The problem was rectified a little over one minute later.

Voice of America (and other broadcasters): May 1976

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Brian D. Smith, W9IND, who notes:

This recording of shortwave radio broadcasts by Voice of America and other stations was made in mid-May 1976. A newscast reference to a Nebraska presidential primary several days earlier (May 11) provides a solid clue to the approximate recording date.

I recovered this recording from a cassette. At the time I was a 19-year-old shortwave radio enthusiast living near Indianapolis, and most likely I made this recording in hopes of preserving information that would help me obtain a QSL (verification) card from the station.

The longest story on this Voice of America broadcast focuses on the 1976 presidential primary elections and whether they're worth the time and cost. Shorter recordings of other shortwave stations appear before and after the VOA broadcast -- I was obviously doing some dial spinning on my Hallicrafters S-108 receiver. And my recording "technique" was nothing more than setting the cassette microphone next to the radio speaker.

The 40-year-old cassette broke when I first tried to transfer the recording to my computer, so I fixed it with my tried-and-true "broke teenager" method: Scotch tape, scissors and a blank cassette that I cut and spliced to the old tape.

Antena Satelor: February 25, 2016

Antena Satelor, Romania recorded in London, UK on February 25, 2016 at 0143 UTC on the frequency of 153 kHz using a Lowe HF-150 radio with the Lowe PR-150 preselector, DX Engineering NCC-1 phaser connected to two Wellbrook ALA1530S+ antennas (positioned indoors) to mitigate severe local man-made interference. The transmitter is located in Brașov, Romania and has a power rating of 200 kW. This is a local service targeted at the domestic audience. At about 0530 UTC (0730 local time in Brașov; 3 hours 46 minutes into the recording) the night-time skywave propagation path is finally completely disrupted by the sunlight reaching into Romania (26 minutes after sunrise).

Sydney To Hobart Yacht Race HF Recording: December 28, 1998

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Neil Howard, for sharing the following recording and notes:

The Sydney to Hobart Yacht race of 1998 was tragic as huge seas & storms decimated the fleet, leaving 6 people dead and 5 boats sunk.
 

HOW this was obtained
 

This recording of the SSB HF transmissions from 1998 was recorded by me from Queensland, using a newfangled unattended recoding program on the PC and a very ordinary Sangean ATS-803a receiver using a random long wire Antenna - from memory this was on the 8 Mhz Marine band, and is the co-ordination of the search and rescue from the 28th Dec 1998 and covers from around 8:30PM till 10PM - The automated recorded stopped recording when the signal noise dropped below a certain level and thus some was lost.
The recording goes for 30 mins, as that was the limit that was set to save disk space, but there is a lot of empty noise.

I present this recording as it was recorded, warts and all for your education *** I dedicate this to those lost at sea ****

HIGHLIGHTS
(Times are approximate)
4:11 "Rescue 253" 9A helicopter) locates a life-raft
6:00 "Air force Sydney" is looking for a position of a yacht " Solo Global Challenge"
6:50 "RCC Canberra" (Who is co-ordinating) has a "hot mic" and is explaining the situation to someone locally
8:35 "Rescue 253" has sighted 2 POB on the life-raft - RTC wants to know if they are from "Winston Churchill"
9:39 Another "hot mic" in Canberra
11:56 "Tiger75" (A Navy Helicopter, I think) has the survivors on board, but still awaiting info on who they are
13:04 13:44 confirmation that there are 2 survivors of the "Winston Churchill" from the life raft, but the tragic news that 3 others had "rolled out" of the raft and are lost (Historical note- these three were listed as drowned)
14:46 Discussion about where the survivors are to be taken by Tiger 75
15:20 Info of the survivors is passed though, along with the news that the life raft they were "in" had no bottom.
16:33 Rescue 253 Says it has heard a beacon & is proceeding to the location
20:00 Another aircraft has gone to the search site from Merimbula (A town in New South Wales)
25:38 Rescue 253 updates beacon location
26;30 Rescue 253 Locates a boat at the beacon site that has been dis-masted & is in serious trouble.

Radio Canada International, Shortwave Listener's Digest: November 9, 1981

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, who shares this 1981 recording of Radio Canada International's Shortwave Listeners Digest from November 9, 1981. Tom notes:

This is another from my archive of old recordings of Radio Canada International's Shortwave Listener's Digest. This episode contains Ian McFarland's editorial comment on the ANARC Convention of 1981; Steve Webster's Who's On The Air - Radio Kuwait; Larry Magne's final part of his interview with Perry Ferrell of Gilfer Shortwave; Glenn Hauser's DX news.

This recording starts at 2100 UTC on 15,325 kHz on November 9, 1981. The receiver was a Sony ICF-2001 and the location was South Bend, Indiana:

Radio Öömrang: February 21, 2016

Live, off-air, one-hour-long recording of Radio Öömrang on 21 February 2016 beginning at 16:00 UTC on a frequency of 15215 kHz from a transmitter at Issoudun, France, operating at 500 kW and beamed to North America. Radio Öömrang broadcasts once a year on the occasion of the Biakendai to the descendants of immigrants from the island of Amrum. Öömrang is a North Frisian dialect and is still spoken on Amrum. Biakendai is an annual celebration where a great bonfire is lit to dispel winter.

The broadcast consisted of talks and interviews in Frisian, German, and English. It began with an introduction in English:
"Hello. We are broadcasting. This is Radio Öömrang, the Frisian voice coming from Amrum, the island in north Germany. The frequenz is 15.215 shortwave broadcasted with 500 kW. It could be heard on the 21st of February, 2016, in North America and east coast. And now you can hear us. This is the tenth issue of Radio Öömrang and we are happy to send this anniversary. The initiator of this broadcasting is Mr. Arjan Koelzow, Tanenwai 24, in 25946 Nebel on the island Amrum. My name is Gernot Schrader, the leader of the free assistance school Toosbüy-Schule in Flensburg at the Danish borderline with Germany."

Reception was fair with some noise and occasional fading. 

The broadcast was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its built-in telescopic whip antenna indoors in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 5.0 kHz RF filtering. 

CKCM Grand Falls, Newfoundland: Oct 1, 1976

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Ray Robinson, who shares this mediumwave recording of a station ID and notes:

"This was my first ever transatlantic DX catch of a North American station, while I was living in England. I was so excited! The radio bug truly bit me, and I have been an avid radio enthusiast ever since!"

Broadcaster: CKCM, Grand Falls, Newfoundland

Date of recording: 10/1/1976

Starting time: 0156 UTC (2326 local Newfoundland time)

Frequency: 620 kHz

Received in Luton, England, using a Russian Vega 206, medium wave loop