Radio Panik injects shortwave audio into mixes

I recently discovered that the radio show L'etranger, on Radio Panik, 105.4 in Brussels, used shortwave radio recordings of pirate radio and numbers stations, from the SWLing Post and other sources, in one of their mixes of eclectic music and sound clips. The end result is a splendid piece of sonic art.

Note that their audio is only available on archive.org until May 23, 2013. Click here to download the show, or listen via the embedded player below. You can also hear the show on the L'etranger website.

Rádio Nacional da Amazônia

Last night, Rádio Nacional da Amazônia had a booming signal into North America on 11,780 kHz. Rádio Nacional's AM signal was very wide; I actually opened up the filter on my SDR to 16 kHz to record this broadcast. In truth, that's probably too wide, but it certainly made for great audio fidelity. So, if you’re in the mood for some Brazilian music and commentary today, this 168 minute recording of Rádio Nacional da Amazônia should satisfy.

This was recorded on Sunday, April 28–starting around 22:15 UTC–on 11.78 MHz. Click here to download the full recording as an MP3 file, or listen in the embedded player below:

Want more Rádio Nacional? Click here for other recordings.

Voice of Greece

For your listening pleasure: four hours of music, and a little Greek commentary, from the Voice of Greece. I recorded this broadcast on Sunday, April 21st March 8th, 2013 on 9.42 MHz at 18:30 UTC. While recording, I piped the shortwave audio through our home hi-fi system--it sounded absolutely amazing. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Click here to download the full recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Shortwaveology #2 now on SoundCloud

Radio producer and shortwave radio artist, David Goren, has recently posted his 2008 production of Shortwaveology #2 on Soundcloud. If you like the sonic texture of the shortwaves, you'll love this recording:

Perhaps if we badger David enough--say, on his Facebook page, or on his Soundcloud feed--he'll produce Shortwaveology #3? Hey, it's worth a try!

Wait a minute.  You haven't heard Shortwaveology #1? Take a listen:

In the spirit of full disclosure, David's a good friend. That is, he will be, until he figures out that I'm asking readers to heckle him into producing another installment of his ongoing work, Shortwaveology. Oh, what the heck; friends come along every day, Shortwave installments don't.  Let's hound him! (Whatcha waiting for, David?)

Voice of Greece

For your listening pleasure: two hours of music, and a little Greek commentary, from the Voice of Greece. Recorded on February 24, 2013 at 00:00 UTC on 9.42 MHz.

Click here to download the MP3 of the recording, or listen below:

Radio Australia's Jazz Notes

This morning at 13:30 UTC, I enjoyed listening to 11,945 kHz, home of Radio Australia and their Wednesday music show, Jazz Notes. I recently posted a recording of Jazz Notes and described my fondness for this particular show. Moreover, I find that the sonic texture of the shortwave ether enhances the nostalgic character of one my very favorite music genres.

As on most mornings, the signal out of Shepparton, Australia, on 11,945 kHz was very strong; the audio fidelity was, in consequence, very impressive for a transmission emanating from some 9,800 miles away.

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

The Mighty KBC

The Mighty KBC broadcast again early this morning (from 00:00-02:00 UTC) on 9,450 kHz. Their signal was quite strong into North America and there was very little interference of any sort. As we've come to expect, the KBC's Giant Jukebox of music has a lot of rock-n-roll variety, spanning the decades.

And as I've mentioned before, perhaps what I love most about The Mighty KBC is their format; it harkens back to the day when my local radio stations had professional DJ's behind the mic, people who loved music and loved their job.  Thanks to Eric and The Mighty KBC for blasting the Giant Jukebox across the planet! I look forward to their broadcast every weekend.

You can listen to the full recording below in the embedded player, or simply right click this link and save the MP3 file to your computer:

You'll notice that Kim Elliott has another installation of digital text modes in this broadcast. At about 01:30 UTC, Olivia 8-2000 will be centered on 1500 Hertz, and PSKR125 centered on 2800 Hertz. At just before 02:00 UTC, images in MFSK32 will be at 1000 and 2000 Hertz, with another image in MFSK16 at 2600 Hertz.

Decode these digital modes using Fldigi from www.w1hkj.com.

The Mighty KBC

The Mighty KBC's broadcast from Bulgaria was mighty strong last night into North America. I recorded the full 2 hour show of The Giant Jukebox on 9,450 kHz beginning at 00:00 UTC. As I've come to expect from The Mighty KBC, this show has an marvelous mix of rock-n-roll through the decades along with Eric's professional DJing. The Mighty KBC has real people behind the music mix, a refreshing alternative to the iHeart Radio and Pandoras of the world.

Click here to download an MP3 of the entire show, or simply listen via the embedded Archive.org player below:

Of course, this recording includes Kim Elliott's digital text modes. For those of you who would like to decode it, here are the details:

At about 01:30 into the recording, 4xPSK63R is centered on 1000 Hz and MFSK64 centered on 2000 Hz. (For 4XPSK63R, use Fldigi 3.21.65 or newer: OpMode > PSKR > MultiCarrier > 4XPSK63R.)

At just before the end of the transmission, an image will be transmitted in the MFSK16 mode. Also, MT63-2000 (long interleave) will be centered on 1500 Hz. This will be an Flmsg formatted transmission, with html. Fldigi and Flmsg can be downloaded from www.w1hkj.com.

Please comment if you were able to decode.

All India Radio - Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar passed away December 11, 2012. Like many people, Shankar was a complicated fellow, but no one can deny his talent on the Sitar. His music will live with us forever, not to mention through the musical talents of his children, Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones. I recorded this clip of him on All India Radio some weeks ago.  Click here to download or enjoy below:

Firedrake

I've noticed a broadcaster that routinely transmits weekends at 11:00 UTC on 6,970 kHz.  Some mornings, it's much stronger than others. Saturday morning, my time, I managed to record it in its typical format: music. Specifically, Chinese folk music, at least so it sounds to my untrained ear.

I searched through logs and in the WRTH, and I could find no mention of a broadcaster on 6970 kHz. It doesn't help that the 27 minute broadcast contained no audible IDs.

So, I've come to the conclusion that my initial hunch is correct--that this is the Chinese jamming service, Firedrake.  Using Firedrake, the Chinese government transmits music on top of broadcasts they wish to block. It's fairly effective (and annoying). While I've heard Firedrake a number of times over the bands, I can't say I've ever tried to listen to the one-hour production.

The following recording contains a 27 minute broadcast of what I believe may be Firedrake on 6,970 kHz, starting around 11:00 UTC, Saturday January 26, 2013. Click here to download the MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Note that the first two minutes have some digital noises (in the lower side band) that affected my receiver's AGC.

If you can confirm or correct my supposition, please comment!

Voice of Greece music

For your listening pleasure: 193 minutes of music, and a little Greek commentary, from the Voice of Greece. Recorded on Friday, January 18th–starting around 22:30 UTC–on 9.42 MHz. Click here to download the MP3 of the recording, or simply listen below:

All India Radio (on the Bonito RadioJet)

After posting my latestAll India Radio recording, SWLing Post reader, Pete, suggested that I check out their broadcasts starting around 21:00 UTC on 11,670 and 9,445 kHz, as they are quite strong into North America. He was right.

On Thursday afternoon, I tuned the Bonito RadioJet to 9,445 kHz, where I was greeted with a strong signal from AIR's Bengaluru, India, transmitter site (over 8,500 miles from my home). I compared the signal on the RadioJet with that of my trusty WinRadio Excalibur to find that the RadioJet's audio was somewhat fuller and richer. In situations where AM sync detection is not needed, I may start using the RadioJet for recordings. I've been using it strategically over the past few months for DRM reception and digging weak stations out of the static--something I typically don't record, but probably should, as the RadioJet deserves even more air and recording time!

I recorded this AIR broadcast on Thursday January 10th–around 21:30 UTC–on 9.445 MHz. This particular broadcast features news, commentary and the wonderful music I've come to expect from All India Radio. You can download the MP3 by clicking here, or simply listen in the embedded player below. Enjoy!

NHK World Radio Japan

This past weekend, I recorded several stations on the 25 meter band, including (recently posted) All India Radio and Radio Nacional da Amazonia. Though I noted Radio Nacional's booming signal into North America, Radio Japan's audio fidelity was simply amazing; very clear, no sign of transmitter hum nor distortion, and only the slightest QSB. Their signal emanated from the Montsinery site in French Guiana--a mere stone's throw away in the shortwave world. I recorded a little over an hour of their broadcast on 11.935 MHz, January 6th, 2013 starting around 02:30 UTC. The recording features Japanese commentary and a variety of music--it starts with the show tune Memory from the 1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats.

Click here to download the MP3 of the recording, or listen below:

All India Radio

On of my favorite shortwave stations for music, besides Voice of Greece, is All India Radio (AIR). Since their broadcasts originate on the other side of the planet (from my location), their signal bounces off the ionosphere many times before I ever hear it. I actually like the result of this; the static of space makes their already beautiful music sound even more textured, enhancing the distance of its source, and heightening the music's sense of mystery and nostalgia. I recorded this AIR broadcast on Sunday, January 6th–around 02:30 UTC–on 11.74 MHz. You can download the MP3 by clicking here, or simply listen in the embedded player below. Enjoy!

Rádio Nacional da Amazônia

This past weekend, Radio Nacional da Amazonia had a booming signal into North America on 11,780 kHz. I recorded their broadcast throughout the night, assuming it would eventually fade; however, it did not. So, if you're in the mood for some Brazilian music and commentary today, this eight-hour recording of Radio Nacional da Amazonia should satisfy.

This was recorded on Sunday, January 6th–starting around 02:30 UTC–on 11.78 MHz. Click here to download the full recording as an MP3 file (276 MB!), or listen in the embedded player below:

Note to those subscribed to our podcast: I was a bit reluctant to include a link to the podcast feed as this file is so large; I rarely make eight-hour recordings. I did offer it up, however, based on the fact that there are so many other podcasters who regularly serve up files in excess of 250 MB. If you believe this file is too large to be included as a podcast, please comment; I certainly don't want to choke up your bandwidth or overwhelm your iPod!  But it's wonderful listening.

Radio Nacional Argentina

Last night, the 25 and 19 meter bands were alive with signals from across the globe into the early morning hours. I recorded several broadcasters, including Radio Nacional da Amazonia, Radio Japan, All India Radio and Radio Nacional Agentina who had a strong signals into North America. In this recording of Radio Nacional Argentina you'll hear Spanish commentary and a variety of music (including The Beatles). Recorded on Sunday, January 6th–around 02:30 UTC–on 15.345 MHz.

Click here to download the MP3 of the recording, or listen below:

Voice of Greece and hours of music

This past Friday and Saturday evenings I had an opportunity to record several hours of music from the Voice of Greece. I am continually amazed with the audio fidelity from a station that is well over 5,000 miles away. You can listen to the recordings below or download the mp3 files on Archive.org (who graciously hosts and archives all of our radio recordings).

Voice of Greece plays music format during strike

On Monday, May 28, I recorded over 2 hours of popular Greek music programming from the Voice of Greece on 9,420 kHz with a Microtelecom Perseus. Propagation was excellent. UPDATE: Once again, SWLing Post reader, Christos, provided more info on the strike and recording below:

This time only the journalists had gone on strike. So, no news were broadcasted, no newspapers, no news in internet portals. Announcements between songs concerned the artists and cultural events of the same day, such as theatre, movies, concerts etc. The programme recorded from 42nd minute till 99th was from ERT’s archive introducing contemporary songs. The announcements of this part were about the songs, the singers and the composers. The programme recorded from 100thminute and on contained songs of 60ties, 50ties and older. Music programmes' producers made no comments about the strike of their colleagues.

Thanks, Christos!!!

You can listen via the player below, or simply download the MP3 by clicking here.

Click here to check out previous Voice of Greece recordings.