VOA- Mars Landing (20 July, 1976)

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Voice of America shortwave coverage of the landing of
an unmanned spacecraft (Viking 1) on Mars.

Recorded off-air by Ian Holder, Brisbane, Australia.

Viking 1 (1976) information-

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/viking-1/

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/sunset-at-the-viking-lander-1-site

Other broadcasts-

https://archive.org/details/@i_holder

 

The Czech Crisis (1968)

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occupation-Czechoslovakia-300x336[1][1].jpg

Friday 23 August,1968. Radio Moscow transmission to Australia
31 metres 13-30 hrs GMT. Announcer, Boris Novikov (1925- 1997)

Twenty nine years after the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938,
followed by WW2, the Warsaw Pact countries led by Russia invaded the country.
This shortwave broadcast was recorded off-air in Australia by Ian Holder and gives the Russian view of the event. Less than two years after the fall of Communist Russia in 1991, the Republic of Czechoslovakia ceased to exit.
It was divided into two countries- Czech and Slovakia.

Other broadcasts on this topic-

https://archive.org/details/TheCzechCrisis1968

Russian Invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968) information-

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/soviet-invasion-czechoslavkia

 

Space Shuttle (1st Launch) 1981

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columbia_gallery_spacecraft15_med6373[1][1].jpg

SPACE SHUTTLE (1st launch) (Ap12,1981)
Inaugural launch of the Space Shuttle.
Broadcast via shortwave on the
American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS).
Relay of the American Broadcasting Company radio commentary.
Sunday April 12, 1981. 11-50 GMT. 9700 khz.

Recorded off-air by Ian Holder, Brisbane, Australia

Space Shuttle information-

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2488.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle

Other broadcasts-

https://archive.org/details/@i_holder

 

Death of Mao Zedong (1976)

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Radio Peking- Death of Mao Zedong (9 September 1976)

The death of Chairman Mao at 82 in 1976 brought to an end
the Cultural Revolution which cost millions of lives.

Monitored from Radio Peking shortwave service.
Commentary in English and funeral music.

Recording made off-air by Ian Holder, Brisbane, Australia

Other broadcasts-

https://archive.org/details/@i_holder

Death of Emperor Hirohito (7 Jan.1989)

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*Date calculated by East Australian Time.

01.Radio Japan- January 7, 1989- 07.50GMT- 15270khz
02.Radio Japan- January 7, 1989- 09.10GMT- 11885khz
03.Radio Japan- January 7, 1989- music, news
04.Radio Japan-funeral, news, comment (Feb 24, 1989)

Recorded off-air by Ian Holder, Brisbane, Australia.

Other broadcasts on this topic-

https://archive.org/details/DeathFuneralOfHirohito1989

Cessation of North Vietnam Bombing (1968)

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On October 31st, 1968 US President Lyndon Johnson announced that all bombing of North Vietnam would cease as a result of North Vietnam coming to the conference table. In his televised speech President Johnson said, "I have now ordered that all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam cease as of 8 a.m., Washington time, Friday morning. I have reached this decision on the basis of the developments in the Paris talks. And I have reached it in the belief that this action can lead to progress toward a peaceful settlement of the Vietnamese war.

BBC shortwave broadcast recorded off-air
by Ian Holder, Brisbane, Australia.

Voice of Korea: October 17, 2016

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Walker, who notes:

This is the English service broadcast for The Voice Of Korea to "Latin America" from Kujang, North Korea. Recorded 0430-0530UTC October 17, 2016 using a Tecsun PL880, Welbrook ALA1530LNP, EmTech ZM2 antenna tuner and DXEngineering HF Preamp.
Listening location is Galena, Alaska. A village of 500 people in the rural central interior, 300 miles east of Nome and 300 miles west of Fairbanks

Radio Cairo: August 17, 2016

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Live, off-air, approximately one-and-one-half-hour recording of Radio Cairo in English on 17 August 2016 beginning about 23:00 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 9965 kHz. According to a High Frequency Coordination Conference registration, the signal originates from a 250 kW transmitter at the Abis transmitter complex, near Alexandria, Egypt, and was beamed 325° to western Europe and eastern North America. Radio Cairo is operated by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, the public broadcaster of Egypt, operated by the Egyptian government.

The broadcast includes music and various features, including news (at about the 15-minute mark in the recording) and "Arabic by Radio" -- lesson 94 (starting around the 52-minute mark). The broadcast concludes with the news in brief, sign-off announcement, and about five minutes of music before time pips for 00:30:00 UTC. Times mentioned in the broadcast are Cairo local times, that is, in Central African Time (UTC + 2 hours).

Most Radio Cairo transmissions currently suffer from extremely poor modulation making them completely unintelligible. This recording is a rare example where the broadcast is somewhat understandable for the most part. However, the audio is muffled at times with music passages sounding somewhat better than most of the spoken word. The "Arabic by Radio" segment is, on the other hand, quite clear. The original recorded audio has been amplified by 400% to produce the archived audio file. 

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 must be considered only fair despite a strong signal since modulation was weak and slightly distorted or "muddy." However, there was no interference and negligible signal fading.

Radio Thailand on the Death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej: October 15, 2016

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King Bhumibol Adulyadej was an amateur radio operator with call sign HS1A. He was featured on this postage stamp issued by Thailand in 1997.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej was an amateur radio operator with call sign HS1A. He was featured on this postage stamp issued by Thailand in 1997.

Live, off-air, one-hour recording of Radio Thailand World Service (HSK9) in English on 15 October 2016 beginning a few seconds before 19:00 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 9390 kHz. The signal originates from a 250 kW transmitter at the International Broadcasting Bureau facility in Ban Dung District, Udon Thani, in northeastern Thailand, and was beamed 329° to Europe. Radio Thailand World Service is operated by National Broadcasting Services of Thailand and is carried over AM and FM stations in Thailand as well as being relayed on shortwave.

This broadcast was one of the first English-language Radio Thailand World Service broadcasts produced after the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, which occurred on 13 October. The Radio Thailand World Service broadcasts are prerecorded and there were no announcements of the death of the king during the shortwave transmissions on 13 October. Regular programming on Radio Thailand World Service was suspended on 14 October in homage to the king and replaced with archival material on the king's projects during his reign. Also, 14 October was declared as a public holiday for Thai citizens to pay their respects to the king. The recording starts with time pips, the bell peals interval signal, sign-on announcement, and then the prerecorded 7:00 a.m. (Indochina Time) "Morning News Hour."  The national and global news bulletins as well as the business news have extensive reports about the death of the king and the national and international response. The segments "ASEAN Focus," "Take on Thailand" (with an item on the Broadcasting Museum in Bangkok), "Weather Flash," and "What's on in Thailand" fill out the hour. The broadcast also includes government and public service announcements as well as commercials. 

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 9.0 kHz RF filtering. Reception was very good with a strong signal, no interference, and negligible fading.

Radio Australia: September 28, 2016 (violent storm report)

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Image: Bureau of Meteorology

Image: Bureau of Meteorology

This morning, I made a short recording of Radio Australia as they reported on the power outages that affected an entire territory in the wake of the worst storms southern Australia has seen in decades.

This recording begins around 12:59 UTC on September 28, 2016 and runs only for a few minutes. This was recorded from 9,580 kHz in western North Carolina:

Radio Tahiti: February 7, 1982

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, who submits the following recording and notes:

Date of recording: 2/7/1982

Starting time: 0616 UTC

Frequency: 11.825

Location: South Bend, IN

Notes:
This was one of the first DX stations I logged when I got started in SWLing - DXing. Radio Tahiti was a nice music station to listen to on cold winer nights here in the northern hemisphere. Sadly this is no longer on the air, but I was happy toke this recording. I used a DX-302 with outside wire antenna. Recorded Feb. 7, 1982 on a frequency of 11.825 kHz possibly 15.170 kHz.

Shortwave Service: August 2, 2016

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Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Mark Hirst, who submits the following recording and notes:

Date of recording: 8/2/2016

Starting time: 19:00

Frequency: 11.850

Location: Hampshire, United Kingdom

Receiver and antenna: ICOM IC-7100, Wonder Wand Wide Bander antenna

Notes: A test transmission from Shortwave Service (www.ShortwaveService.com) consisting of voice, music and continuous tones. The radio DSP Noise Reduction circuit is turned on and off during the recording to reveal the raw signal and to get clarity on some of the announcements.

Radio Nigeria Kaduna: September 1, 2016

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Radio Nigeria Kaduna recorded in London, UK on September 1, 2016 at 1830 UTC, on the frequency of 6090 kHz using AirSpy, SpyVerter, SDR# software and a 2 x 6m long wire dipole antenna. The non-directional transmitter has a power rating of 100 kW and is located in Kaduna-Jarji, Nigeria. The signal is usually a challenging catch in Europe; the station ID can be heard at 9 minutes 54 seconds into the recording.