VOA "Talk to America" show by Doug Bernard discussing clandestine radio (Internet Recording): June 14, 2005

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording.

Note that we occasionally post recordings that are not airchecks or off-air recordings when they relate to the shortwave radio listening hobby. This is one such recording. Tom shares the following notes:

Notes: Voice of America (VOA) "Talk to America" show from 2005 hosted by Doug Bernard discussing clandestine radio. Guests included Nick Grace, Clandestine Radio Watch and Richard Lafayette, Global Crisis Watch.

Radio Baghdad: September 26, 1990

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Lee Herterich, who shares the following recording and notes:

This is an off-the-air recording of shortwave radio station Radio Baghdad made on September 26, 1990. The political situation was about to lead to the first Iraq war. This was the European service on a frequency of 13,660 khz. which was aired between 20-22 UTC. It was recorded in the Boston USA area. Receiver was a Yaesu FRG-8800 with an indoor wire antenna. Direct recording into a cassette recorder.

Date of recording: 9/26/1990

Starting time: 21:15 UTC

Frequency: 13,660 kHz

Reception location: Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts USA

Receiver and antenna: Yaesu FRG-8800 with an indoor wire antenna. Direct recording into a cassette recorder.

Voice of Korea: October 3, 2020

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jared Dancel, who shares the following recording and notes:

First 20 minutes of broadcast from Voice of Korea. The news portion includes a letter (heard in the 14 minute mark) from the North Korean leader Kim-Jong Un to the US President Donald Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, which at the time, were recovering from the coronavirus.

Date of recording: 10/3/2020

Starting time: 10:01

Frequency: 11.735Mhz

Location: Tarlac, Philippines

Receiver and antenna: Tescun R9012 with telescopic antenna

Radio Tahiti: circa 1981

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tony King, who shares the following recording and notes:

TAHITI: Opening announcement in English  6035 khz 1981

Radio Australia and 8DR Darwin (Coverage of Cyclone Tracy: December 25, 1974

A picture taken by the ESSA-8 satellite that shows Cyclone Tracy on December 25, 1974 (Source: Wikipedia via NASA)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Rawdon, who shares the following recording and notes:

Announcement explaining the reason for a reduced signal strength. Cyclone Tracy put the Darwin transmitter site off air. News bulletin plus other selected items that were broadcast relating to the evacuation of Darwin. Because the local 8DR MW transmitter was damaged a microwave link was set up between Darwin and Shepparton with the programme transmitted back to Darwin on shortwave.

Date of recording: 12/25/1974

Starting time: 2100 UTC

Frequency: 9.58 MHz

Your location: Lower Hutt, New Zealand, 26 December NZDT

Receiver and antenna: Trio 9R59DSM communications receiver with a random length long wire

Pop Shop Radio: September 12, 2020

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Anthony Pavick, who shares the following recording and notes:

Edition 1 of Pop Shop Radio as broadcast by Channel 292 in Rohrbach Waal in Germany on 6070 kHz at 1600 UTC to 1700 UTC  on 12 September 2020.

This was a rebroadcast of a show first broadcast on  9 September 2020 at 1800 UTC on same station and frequency.

This recording is 'as received' via the WebSDR at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, and as such has all the wonderful static and interference you'd expect.

Show is produced in British Columbia in Canada.

Radio Netherlands: January 1, 1975

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording and notes:

Radio Nethlerlands shortwave broadcast to Africa recorded in 1975 on 17.810 MHz at 1830 UTC. Transmission opens with a unique trumpet/drums interval signal, singing station identification/jingle, and announcements in the French language.

Rough translation: "This is Radio Netherlands, Hilversum, Holland broadcasting on 16 meters, 17810 kHz." [Singing jingle] "You are listening to the Netherlands Global Radio Network, Radio Netherlands, Hilversum, Holland. Good morning, good afternoon or good evening, according to where you are receiving our signal right now. We are going to spend the next 80 minutes together, and we invite you to listen to our show in the French language."

Starting time: 1830 UTC

Frequency: 17.810

RX location: Plymouth, Minnesota

Receiver and antenna: Hammarlund HQ-180, longwire

Polish Radio (Studio Recording): 1977

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording and notes:

Notes: Studio recording of Polish Radio from 1977. The recording opens with the Polish Radio interval signal followed by a documentary called "In Defense of Peace." The program covers Poland during WWII including a few brief excerpts of Polish Radio and German radio, discussion on the start of the cold war, atomic weapons/arms race, Poland's pursuit of peace, etc. Music is interspersed through out the recording.

Radio Juliaca (Juliaca Peru): July 1959

Floating Uros Islands at the Lake Titicaca in Peru photo made by rouichi/ switzerland

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tony King, who shares the following recording and notes:

PERU: Radio Juliaca, Juliaca Peru July 1959. 5015 kHz OAX7X OAX7Z The station came on the air this month and this would appear to be a test transmission playing old time western tunes, mix experiments, and regular ID's. This caption was rebroadcast on Keith Glover's Radio Australia's Mailbox programme the same month as an item of interest to DX listeners.

Radio Canada International: January 9, 1982

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording and notes:

Notes: Radio Canada International English language shortwave broadcast to Africa that aired on January 9, 1982 including a newscast and the Shortwave Listener's Digest with Ian McFarland. The SWL Digest included Glenn Hauser's look back at shortwave in 1981, report about the Voice of Free China being relayed on WYFR Radio, a taped message from David Monson formerly on Belgium Radio & TV, and an update on the Handicapped Aid Program.

RX location: Plymouth, Minnesota

Receiver and antenna: Hammarlund HQ-180, longwire

Polish Radio (Coverage of Airline Crash Killing Poland's President and Others): April 10, 2010

Many thank to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording and notes:

Notes: Polish Radio English language external service (recording from Internet feed) of news coverage of an airline crash near the Russian city of Smolensk resulting in the death of 96 people including the President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and his wife Maria, the former President of Poland in exile Ryszard Kaczorowski, the chief of the Polish General Staff and other senior Polish military officers, the president of the National Bank of Poland, Polish Government officials, 18 members of the Polish Parliament, senior members of the Polish clergy and relatives of victims of the Katyn massacre. The group was arriving from Warsaw to attend an event commemorating the 70th anniversary of the massacre, which took place not far from Smolensk. (Details of the crash from Wikipedia)

Radio Australia (Coverage of Richard Nixon's Resignation Speech): August 8, 1974

37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording and notes:

Notes: Radio Australia shortwave broadcast with coverage of President Nixon's resignation speech on August 8, 1974.

RX location: Plymouth, Minnesota

Receiver and antenna: Hammarlund HQ-180, longwire

Pirate Radio Stations WDOG and Radio Station EFP: September 5, 2020

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Richard Lacroix, who shares the following recording and notes:

First off, thank you goes out to John Hudak’s timely post on the ODXA group. Shortly after his post, I was able to quickly tune-in and intercept 2 pirate radio stations on September 5 2020 during the period 00:30 to 02:17 UTC. John’s post read:

“Pirate station WDOG is on 5060kHz. USB right now as I write this – 0027UTC Sept. 5, 2020 (8:27 p.m. EDT Fri. Sept. 4). Fairly good signal, playing various rock and pop songs. Frequent ID’s between songs and sound of dog barking.”

There were in actuality 2 sequential broadcasts. The first from WDOG on 5060.0 kHz USB from an unconfirmed start time until sign-off with “Star-Spangled Banner” played by Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock at 01:53 UTC.

The second broadcast followed suite by Radio Station EFP, as well on 5060.0 kHz, but this time in AM mode. Radio Station EFP continued to broadcast until approximately 02:17 UTC after which it started to exhibit deep signal path fades and eventually went off-air at 02:17:40 UTC. Armed with the combination of devoted listeners posting reception reports and a radio always at the ready, this made for a very exciting 2 hours of SWL. Included is a 10 minute audio compilation for everyone to enjoy which I stitched together from the 2 plus hours of off-air broadcast recording I saved:

Fall of Saigon Shortwave Coverage: RSA, Radio Netherlands, Radio Japan, Radio Moscow: April 30, 1975

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording and notes:

Shortwave coverage of the fall of Saigon as heard on Radio South Africa (RSA), Radio Nederland, Radio Japan and Radio Moscow on April 30, 1975. Voice of Vietnam coverage has been posted previously.

Date of recording: 4/30/1975

Starting time: Various

Frequency: Various

RX location: Plymouth, Minnesota

Receiver and antenna: Hammarlund HQ-180, longwire

Voice of Cap Haitien: circa 1971

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tony King, who shares the following recording and notes:

HAITI: Voice of Cap Haitien 9635 kHz recorded in 1971  broadcasting in EE which is unusual but obviously there was a strong EE market at the time.

HCJB: September 9, 1979

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Eddie Malphrus‎, who shares the following recording and notes:

It was 41 years ago today that my letter was read on-air during HCJB's Weekend Passport program. The show aired 2x on Sundays and I listened to the early broadcast - and therefore was ready to record during the evening broadcast. It's still fun to listen back to this brief but memorable moment.

[The recording] includes a puny-sounding "me" at 15 years old, testing the mic on my cassette recorder. I left it in as it was part of my memory. :)

Radio Presidente Balmaceda (Chile): circa 1970s

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tony King, who shares the following recording and notes:

Radio Presidente Balmaceda  9590 kHz in  Santiago Chile was logged at the time of the Allende crisis in 1971. As a DXer I became attracted to the station because it was heard so well in NZ,and offered them a taped English segment to be played prior to sign off one evening. on a pre arranged date. I recorded Maori vocal items which would be novel to the audience and the tape with my EE announcements was played prior to close down at 0500UTC on that date in July 1971.

Radio Sweden Saturday Show (Studio Recording): 1981

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following studio recording of the Radio Sweden Saturday show. Note that the exact date is not known, but the year is 1981:

John Shepherd's 'Space Cruise 1' Broadcast (Studio Recording): August 14, 1996

On the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive we occasionally post recordings that were never broadcast over shortwave radio. We enjoy highlighting unique broadcast recordings that we can safeguard and share, knowing they’ll never be lost to time…or, indeed, space.

2 story tall ULF transmitter system and other high voltage equipment

John Shepherd is the engineer, visionary, and voice behind “Space Cruise–1,” a broadcast by Project S.T.R.A.T. Earth Station One. This was an ultra-powerful maverick transmitting station once based in rural Michigan, USA, which, for nearly three decades, broadcast original radio shows into outer space. The highly-directional signal, according to John, reached a distance roughly twice that of the moon, and, not unlike the 1970s Voyager spacecraft’s “golden record,” shared the hope that it might be intercepted by intelligent beings from other worlds. John selected music as his primary broadcast vehicle, and his varied playlist drew on such genres as electronica and Afro-Pop.

Project S.T.R.A.T. studio

John and his project have been featured in numerous news stories; most recently, his personal story was featured in the Netflix documentary short John Was Trying to Contact Aliens.

Project S.T.R.A.T. studio

We reached out to John to ask if he had made any studio recordings of his undeniably original shows. He very kindly replied that he was in possession of one studio recording made in 1996. John digitized the recording for us and has enthusiastically supported it being shared here on the archive.

John included an image of his original show notes and playlist below:

Here is the studio recording of “Space Cruise–1,” originally broadcast into space on August 14, 1996.

John Shepherd also kindly included the following synth/sound tracks he created which he plans to use as sound beds for future work:

We plan to broadcast John’s recording over shortwave radio in partnership with WRMI in the fall of 2020. Once an off-air recording of that broadcast has been made, it, too, will join the SRAA.

Many thanks, John, for sharing your work with this world, too.

Click here to read about Project S.T.R.A.T.

Click here to read John's bio.

Click here to read about John’s early years and work.

1980 ANARC Convention Broadcasters Forum (Live Recording): July 20, 1980

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcasters forum at the 1980 ANARC (Association of North American Radio Clubs) convention held in Irving, CA. Panelists included George Wood, Radio Sweden; Tony King, Radio New Zealand; David Monson, Belgian Radio and TV; Alfonso Montelegre, Radio Netherlands; Ian McFarland, Radio Canada International; Bob Zonati, Swiss Radio International; and Clayton Howard, HCJB. Also participation from Glenn Hauser, World of Radio.

Please note this is not an off-air/aircheck recording, rather a live recording from the convention floor in Irvine, California, USA.