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:

Voyager Experimental Aircraft Flight Communications with Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager in 1986 - First Aircraft to Circle Around World Without Stopping: December 1986

Tom Gavaras’ QSL card reply from the Voyager team.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording, QSL card (above), and notes:

Rutan Model 76 Voyager Experimental Aircraft was the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. It was piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager. The flight took off from Edwards Air Force Base's runway in the Mojave Desert on December 14, 1986, and ended 9 days later on December 23, setting a flight endurance record. This shortwave recording is a sample of some of the communications between Dick Rutan and his ground crew including a debate if Dick should walk out of the aircraft after it lands.

Note: Best estimate for date of recording is December 22, 1986

RX location: Minnetonka, MN

Receiver and antenna: ICOM R71A

Super Rock KYOI: March 11, 1986

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Mark Nelson, who shares the following recording and notes:

Super Rock KYOI was a short-wave radio station located at Saipan island in the Pacific region from 1982 to 1989. The station broadcast rock and pop music to China, Japan, USSR, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. This recording includes rock music, IDs, and address. It was originally recorded to cassette tape using a Sony ICF6500W receiver. My location was Minot, North Dakota.

Starting time: 1425

Frequency: 11.900

Receiver location: Minot, North Dakota, USA

Receiver and antenna: Sony ICF6500W with random wire

Canadian Shortwave Pirate TNFM: June 2, 1986.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Scott Nelson, who shares this 1986 recording of the Canadian pirate radio station, TNFM and notes:

Date of recording: 6/2/1986

Starting time: 0520

Frequency: 7.415

Receiver location: Minot, North Dakota

Receiver: Sony ICF-6500W

Notes: Canadian pirate station TNFM recorded June 2, 1986 from my location in Minot, North Dakota. IDs, music, and talk - playing listener requests and dedications.

Voice of America: December 24, 1986

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Scott Nelson, who notes:

Voice of America recorded off shortwave (15.410 MHz) on December 24, 1986 [starting around 1959 UTC].  The receiver was a Sony ICF-6500W with a random wire antenna.  Recorded to cassette tape and later transferred to an mp3 computer file.  The broadcast features Christmas music, IDs, News, and the Nightline Africa program.

WRNO New Orleans: October 31, 1986

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Scott Nelson, who submits the following recording and notes:

WRNO - Shortwave from New Orleans.  "The Rock of the World". Recorded in Minot, North Dakota with a Sony ICF-6500W receiver to a cassette tape.  Transferred from cassette to mp3 format using Audacity software. This recording contains many IDs, ads, rock music, business news.

BBC World Service report of Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: January 28, 1986

STS-51-L crew: (front row) Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair; (back row) Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, who submits these notes with his timely off-air recording of the BBC World Service from January 28, 1986:

Thirty years ago today the US Space program came crashing down with the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

I was a student at Purdue University at the time, living in a dormitory.

I decided to make some recordings knowing this would be a historic event.

This is a recording I made of the BBC on the evening of Jan 28 (0200 UTC on January 29). The frequency was most likely 5975 kHz or 9590 kHz.  The dorm environment didn't make a great place for SWL reception and the recording is noisy but still of decent quality.

Recorded using a Sony ICF-2001 with a wire attached to a window screen for an antenna.

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