Radio Echo One (Italian Pirate Radio): March 15, 2021

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Rosa Sanese, who shares the following recording and notes:

About a month and a half after the previous radio listening recording that I published, here is a new audio file that I got listening to "Yoga Network" (the one that many years ago in Bologna broadcast in medium waves on AM 1503 kHz—?), re-transmitted by "Radio Echo One" in the afternoon of May 15, 2021 on 1710 kHz. I received the station with my Tecsun PL-600 receiver.

UNID Russian Numbers Station: April 26, 2021

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Walker, who shares the following recording of a Russian language numbers station. Paul recorded this on April 26, 2021 at 0218 UTC in McGrath, Alaska, on 11,615 kHz.

Feel free to comment if you can ID this particular station.

Voyager 1 (90 Deg Bank Angle): Dec 20, 1986

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bruce Frederick who shares the following recording and notes:

VOYAGER 1 90 Deg Bank Angle 8.822 MHz 20 Dec 1986 2200 UTC

Recently when cleaning out our attic I came across QSLs that I received from the Voyager crew from their historic1986 circumnavigation of the earth. After continued searching I also came across the cassette recordings I made of some of their communications between Dec 20 - 22, 1986. The first hour provides the most compelling listening, as I started the tape just before Voyage unexpectedly ran into severe weather issues off the coast of Brazil. The small aircraft was tossed to a bank angle of 90 degrees, which theoretically it shouldn't have recovered from, yet Rutan was just barely able to maintain control and keep flying. At the worst possible time, the Vandenburg transmitter went down leaving Rutan and Yeager out of communication with their weather team who they were depending on to give them a safe heading to fly out of the storms. The stress and tension of the situation are very evident in the voices. I have several hours of additional comms, but this excerpt is the most compelling. While preparing this submission, I discovered that Tom Gavaras from MN made a similar contribution on July 28, 2020, covering a period a couple of days after this event. These contributions are complementary and should probably be cross-linked for people interested in hearing different days of the mission. Note that like Tom, I also have the QSLs I received a few months after the mission.

BROADCASTER:

Voyager Mission Control at Vandenburg AFB and Voyage aircraft in-flight near Brazil

DATE OF RECORDING:

12/20/1986

STARTING TIME:

~2200 UTC

FREQUENCY:

8.822 MHz

RX LOCATION:

Boston, MA USA

RECEIVER AND ANTENNA:

Icom 745 with horizontal wire dipole at ~30 ft.

MODE:

Single Side Band

Additional details:

Regarding the QSL card, Bruce notes:

"...I was never a big QSL collector when I was active in the '80s but this was kind of special: QSLs for the Voyager 1 non-stop flight around the world in 1986, signed by Dick Rutan, Jeana Yeager, and Larry Gaskey (Mission Operations Director). Since this this wasn't a commercial broadcast organization, I didn't think they would have QSL cards (or even know what a QSL request was), so I followed the protocol of the time and prepared my own 8.5" x 11" printout and polite cover letter explaining why I was writing. I was blown away when I received not only detailed info on my home brew form, but a classy postcard signed personally by Rutan and Yeager..."

The Voyage flight plan from this website:

KBS World Radio (Spanish Language Service): April 30, 2021

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

KBS World Radio in Spanish to Latin/North America on 15,575 kHz starting at 0216 UTC.

The signal was so good I recorded it in 5 kHz audio

Receiver and Antenna used: Tecsun PL-880, DXE preamp and Doxytronics tunable loop

Reception location: McGrath, Alaska

Radio Echo One (Italian Pirate Radio): March 31, 2021

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Rosa Sanese, who shares the following recording and notes:

Pirate radio recording made on 1,71 MHz at 6:30 pm on March 31, 2021 from Casalecchio di Reno (BO) with a Tecsun PL-600 receiver and an external wire antenna.

The broadcast begins with the presenter, Lucie Medici, from New York speaking in Italian about scented candles, followed by Radio Echo One jingles and then live replay with the Yoga Network radio host who talks about vegetarian nutrition.

WRNO: August 8, 1982 and September 12, 1982

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

Here are two back to back episodes of Glenn Hauser's World of Radio from August 8 and September 12, 1982. WOR normally aired on WRNO on Sundays at 2330 UTC on 11.955 MHz.

Some of the program highlights are:

Part 1: An expert's view of Cuban broadcasting (Ronald Schatz), Cuban interference to US AM stations, the beginning of AM stereo in the US, new Canadian MW station proposals, SW program notes, items on Radio Quince de Septiembre and Radio Venceremos, La Voz del CID, Radio Tachira Venezuela, a new RRI station from Padang on 6812 kHz.

Part 2: DX from Cape Verde, LRA36 from Antarctica, Argentina, Brazil, mediumwave auroral conditions with good conditions to Cuba and Venezuela, WCCO 830 kHz silent period, Peru and Bolivia SW DX tips, item on Radio New Zealand, Vatican Radio Latin mass, followup on DXing harmonics.

Starting time: 2300

Frequency: 11.855

Your location: South Bend, Indiana

Your receiver and antenna: Sony ICF-2001.

Pirate Radio WFDR: December 24, 2020

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Matt Todd, who shares the following recording and notes:

A shortwave pirate radio station calling itself WFDR which broadcast on Christmas Eve December 24, 2020 at 2259UTC on 6920 kHz.

The broadcast was as follows:

- Franklin Roosevelts Christmas Speech in 1942

- Winston Churchill Speech

- Christmas Music

Date of recording: 12/24/2020

Starting time: 2259

Frequency: 6.92 MHz

RX location: Hugo, MN

Receiver and antenna: Sdr Play with a wire loop antenna around the perimeter of the attic

Mode: Single Side Band

Radio Poland 85th Anniversary: March 1, 2021

QSL CARD CONFIRMING RECEPTION OF A SHORTWAVE BROADCAST OF POLSKIE RADIO IN DECEMBER 1968

Unedited one-hour podcast of the studio recording of the English stream of Radio Poland, the external service of Polish Radio (Polskie Radio), as aired on 1 March 2021 at 13:00 UTC. The first half hour of the recording is a special program to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the external service of Polish Radio and discusses the history of the service from its founding up to the present time. The external service has been variously called Warsaw Calling, Radio Polonia, and Radio Poland. The remainder of the recording includes a segment on Polish cooking and an episode of "From the Archives" featuring the music of Chopin.

Radio Poland is no longer broadcast on shortwave directly from Poland but it is carried on on a mediumwave transmitter in Lithuania and a low-powered shortwave transmitter in Kall, Germany (German program only). It is also streamed on the Web, 24 hours per day, and broadcast by DAB+ within Poland and by other FM and DAB broadcasters around the world as well as via satellite.

Voice of America (Sign-On Issues): January 11, 2021

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Matt Todd, who shares the following recording and notes:

The VOA had an apparent issue with their sign on. The interval signal was played twice, then an ID for Radio Free Europe and then an Asian language programing was joined in progress.

Date of recording: 1/11/2021

Starting time: 1900 UTC

Frequency: 9.8 MHz

RX location: Hugo, MN

Receiver and antenna: SDRplay with a wire loop attic antenna

Shortwave Shindig in Exile via WRMI: February 27, 2021

E-QSL RECEIVED FOR RECEPTION REPORT OF THE BROADCAST

Live, off-air, recording of the broadcast of an hour-long segment of the North American Shortwave Association's Winter SWL Fest "Shortwave Shindig in Exile" session by WRMI, Radio Miami International, using a transmitter at Okeechobee, Florida, on 27 February 2021 from 02:00 to 03:00 UTC on a shortwave frequency of 7780 kHz. The listed transmitter power is 100 kW with an antenna beam azimuth of 44°. The recording begins and ends with the WRMI station identification.

The radio broadcast, from a recording, took place in the same time slot as its airing during the virtual 34th Annual Winter SWL Fest held 26-27 February 2021 via Zoom. The broadcast included the digital transmission of an image in MFSK32 mode centred on 1500 kHz.

The broadcast was received outdoors on a Belka-DSP receiver in pseudosynchronous mode with 50 Hz to 3 kHz filtering and a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna strung to a nearby tree in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada. Reception was mostly good but there was signal fading at times with some attendant noise.

Digital image transmitted in MFSK32 mode during the broadcast

ZD8VR Volcano Radio: May 5, 1979

Image source: Gary Deacon

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Sarah Boucher, who shares the following recording and notes:

ZD8VR Volcano Radio 1602 AM Closedown 5 May 1979/AFRTS Accession Island Sign Off

Gary Deacon recorded [this audio]. It has end of jazz show, sign off announcement, station ID and incomplete GSTQ by local gender neutral band.

Receiver and antenna: 1950's Siera domestic valve receiver and 20 metre longwire antenna.

Recording by Gary Deacon

Click here for Gary’s full post.

Radio Öömrang: February 21, 2021

Live, off-air, one-hour-long recording of Radio Öömrang on 21 February 2021 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, although reportedly it was not held in 2021 due to the pandemic.The broadcast consisted of talks and interviews in Frisian, German, and English and included new and repeat material from previous years' broadcasts. It began with an introduction in German and then 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 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."

Although the introduction mentions it is the tenth anniversary issue, that actually occurred in 2015 and the English introduction has been reused each subsequent year.

Reception was excellent.

The broadcast was received outdoors on a Belka-DSP receiver in semi-synchronous mode with 50 Hz to 3 kHz RF filtering and a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna strung to a nearby tree in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada.

A recording of the 2016 broadcast can be found here: https://shortwavearchive.com/archive/radio-mrang-february-21-2016

"1962 Shortwave Listening Revisited" Mix Tape

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

1962 shortwave listening revisited.

Shortwave listening tape recordings from 1962. Included are the BBC, Montreal, Italy, Radio Moscow, Austria and the voice of America. The recording begins and ends with the BBC's Holiday Music Hall.

Receiver location: Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts USA

Receiver and antenna: Lafayette KT-200 receiver and folded dipole antenna

Voice of America (Studio Recording): July 20, 1969

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, for sharing the following recording and notes:

Voice of America studio quality recording of shortwave coverage of Apollo 11. Starts with newscast on the status of Soviet Luna 2 orbiter that was also sent to the moon, Egyptian-Israel conflict at the Suez Canal, Organization of American States call for a cease fire between El Salvador and Honduras, entire cabinet in South Vietnam resigns, American air attacks against the Viet Cong, etc. Followed by latest updates on Apollo 11 (lunar module is on the moon), international reaction to landing on the moon, etc.

Date of recording: 7/20/1969

Starting time: 1730 UTC

KGEI: June 26, 1941

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

KGEI General Electric shortwave station in San Francisco, CO. Recording consists of end of Musical Rambling from the National Broadcasting Company, KGEI identification, newscast including extensive war reports including news on German attack on Russia, British offensive in Africa, American government moving cautiously in supporting the USSR, German attacks on merchant ships, Sweden allows Russian troops to cross their territory, British aircrafts shot down over Italy, etc. Plus stock market reports and commodity quotations, KGEI sign off.

Recording provided by broadcast historian, Todd Kosovich.

Starting time: 1700 UTC

Frequency: 9.530 MHz

KCBS (mediumwave): January 8, 2021

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Walker who shares the following recording of KCBS made on January 8, 2021 starting at 1747 UTC in McGrath, Alaska, on 873 kHz.

Radio Tawantinsuyo (Peru): 1970s

Old QSL from Radio Tawantinsuyo, Cuzco, Peru

Thanks to SRAA contributor Dan Robinson for these notes and audio of Radio Tawantinsuyo, Cuzco, Peru

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Rising early in the morning was a regular activity of DX’ers who wanted to hear the more difficult stations from Latin America that used to fill the shortwave bands. One of those was Radio Tawantinsuyo, located in Cuzco, Peru. The station was on 6,175 khz in the 49 meter band but was more often heard on variable frequencies as low as 6,173 khz. This recording of the station sign on brings back so many memories for DX’ers who focused on South America.

BBC World Service (Death of Fidel Castro): November 26, 2016

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Scott G., for the following recording and notes:

BBC World Service Reporting on the death of Fidel Castro. Believe these broadcasts were targeted to Africa, but reception was good into Europe that morning. I was listening to these using my home receiver in East Anglia, England, but due to local interference, started recording them using the Twente SDR.

Broadcaster: BBC

Date of recording: 11/26/2016

Starting time: 0700 UTC

Frequency: 11.770 & 12.095

Location: University of Twente, Netherlands

Receiver and antenna: SDR, Mini-Whip antenna

Radio Thailand (Thai Language Service): Jan1, 2020

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Walker who shares the following recording of Radio Thailand’s English language service made on January 1, 2021 starting at 0100 UTC in McGrath, Alaska, on 13750 kHz:

Voice of Korea: December 27, 2020

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Walker who shares the following recording of the Voice of Korea made on December 27, 2020 starting at 2251 UTC in McGrath, Alaska, on 9650 kHz. Paul notes:

This also includes the dead air when once service ends and another begins.