Radio Australia: Circa Spring of 1968

The Shepparton transmitter site of ABC/Radio Australia

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bob Purse, curator of the excellent Inches Per Second audio archive and blog. Bob kindly shares the following recording originally made on reel to reel tape. All of Bob’s recordings are lost and found sound, so the only information he has for each recording are the notes included on tape labels and boxes. If you can identify the date or any other information about this recording, please comment.

Bob notes the following about this found piece:

[…]I found yet another Shortwave broadcast in my collection to pass along. In this case, it is again Australian Shortwave, from Spring of 1968. An I will acknowledge right off the bat that the recording quality is abysmal. It starts poorly and gets worse and worse as it goes along. This is actually why I hadn't shared it before. But I thought the time was right to offer it up, terrible quality and all.

Swiss Radio International: Circa April 26, 1968

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bob Purse, curator of the excellent Inches Per Second audio archive and blog. Bob kindly shares the following recording originally made on reel to reel tape. All of Bob’s recordings are lost and found sound, so the only information he has for each recording are the notes included on tape labels and boxes. If you can identify the date or any other information about this recording, please comment.

Bob notes the following about this found piece:

This [recording is] from the spring of 1968. [It] is a recording of broadcasts from Switzerland. The sound quality goes in and out here - it's never great, which is often the case with these shortwave recordings, but it's almost all listenable.

Voice of America (Apollo 8): December 24, 1968

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Stephen Spicer, who shares the following recording and notes:

Reception location: Melbourne, Australia

Receiver and antenna: AWA CR6A with end feed antenna

Notes: A broadcast by Apollo 8 of the first views of the moon in 1968. The broadcast was transmitted by the Voice of America, and received in Melbourne, Australia on an AWA CR6A communications receiver. The transmission frequency and exact time are unknown.

Radio Americas: March 18, 1968

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Jim Nail, who shares the following recording and notes:

This station was a regular into Louisville, Kentucky. It's been off the air for many decades.

You can find other great recordings on my YouTube Channel: W4OXB's Vintage DX Audio Recordings

Frequency: 1.160 MHz

Receiver location: Louisville, Kentucky USA

Receiver and antenna: Hammarlund HQ-129x, 4 foot square indoor box loop antenna

The Czech Crisis (1968)

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

Cessation of North Vietnam Bombing (1968)

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.

Other broadcasts-

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

Radio Australia: circa 1969

Radio Australia's Shepparton transmission site (Photo: ABC)

Many thanks to David Firth, who is kindly sharing shortwave radio recordings he made on reel-to-reel recording equipment in the late 1960s. Firth is uncovering and digitizing these off air recordings as time allows and, thanks to his generosity, we will be posting these recordings on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

The following is a recording of Radio Australia, which Firth recorded in 1969.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Radio Peking: circa 1968

Many thanks to David Firth, who is kindly sharing shortwave radio recordings he made on reel-to-reel recording equipment in the late 1960s. Firth is uncovering and digitizing these off air recordings as time allows and, thanks to his generosity, we will be posting these recordings on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

The following is a recording of Radio Peking, which Firth recorded in 1968.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Radio Switzerland: circa 1968

The Zytglogge clock tower, Bern - Switzerland (Modified photo, original by Cristo Vlahos)

Many thanks to David Firth, who is kindly sharing shortwave radio recordings he made on reel-to-reel recording equipment in the late 1960s. Firth is uncovering and digitizing these off air recordings as time allows and, thanks to his generosity, we will be posting these recordings on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

The following is a recording of the Overseas Service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (Radio Switzerland), which Firth recorded in 1968.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Voice of America: circa 1968

Willis Conover broadcasting with Voice of America in 1969 (Source: Wikipedia)

Many thanks to David Firth, who is kindly sharing shortwave radio recordings he made on his reel-to-reel recording equipment in the late 1960s. Firth is uncovering and digitizing these off air recordings as time allows.

We are grateful for this recording of the Voice of America, which Firth recorded in 1968. 

This recording will surely bring back memories with clips from VOA Jazz Hour (Willis Conover), the VOA Breakfast Show, and VOA Special English. 

The first time I heard Firth's recording, the Willis Conover clip gave me chills. 

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Radio Moscow: circa 1968

Many thanks to David Firth, who is kindly sharing shortwave radio recordings he made on his reel-to-reel recording equipment in the late 1960's. Firth is uncovering and digitizing these recordings as time allows.

We are grateful for this recording of Radio Moscow, which Firth recorded in 1968. 

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below: