Author: T Witherspoon

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Emanuele Pelicioli, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Swiss Radio International

Date of recording: Circa 1993

Starting time: 14 CET

Frequency: 6165 kHz

Reception location: Bergamo, Italy

Receiver and antenna: Multiband Radio Fenner

Notes: This recording was originally on tape, I made it in 1993. I don't remember which month. It was from Studio Aperto, the Italian program of Swiss Radio International, which airs on Sunday at 14 CET. They used to read listeners' letters and create mini-games. This was the first time they read one of my letters.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Martin Knotek, for sharing the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: The Buzzer

Date of recording: August 08, 2025

Starting time: 19:17 UTC

Frequency: 4625 kHz

Your location: Zlin, Czech Republic

Receiver and antenna: http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes: The Buzzer online 08. 08. 2025 v 19:17 UTC.

You can hear the Russian anthem about halfway through the recording.

The Buzzer (UVB-76) is a mysterious Russian shortwave radio station that has broadcast a constant buzzing sound since the late 1970s, occasionally interrupted by voice messages in Russian, with its true purpose still unconfirmed.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: Republic of Yemen Radio via Jeddah, Saudi Arabia transmitter

Frequency: 11.935 MHz

Reception location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Receiver and antenna: remote Kiwi SDR

Notes: Two recordings of Republic of Yemen Radio broadcasting in Arabic on 11935 kHz shortwave from a transmitter located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Reported transmitter power is 50 kw.

February 15, 2025 at 1959 UTC, good signal, no hum, received using SDR located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

April 9, 2025 at 1658 UTC, bad hum or buzz on their signal, received using SDR located in Riyadh, Saudi, Arabia

This station has not been heard more recently.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: WYFR Scituate MA transmitter

Date of recording: May 02, 1974

Frequency: 17.785 MHz

Reception location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Realistic DX-150A with long wire antenna

Notes: Your Family Radio, WYFR is heard here via their Scituate, Massachusetts transmitter on May 2, 1974 at 2200 hours UTC on 17785 kHz shortwave.

The station has a very colorful history:

W2XAL (1927–1929)

W1XAL (1929–1939)

transmitter moved from Boston to Scituate, MA in 1936

WRUL (1939–1966)

WNYW (1966–1973)

WYFR (1973-2013)

transmitter moved to Okeechobee, FL in 1977

transmitter purchased by WRMI in December 2013

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Watson, who shares the following recording. Paul notes:

“During the 1980s I was listening to shortwave radio from my home near London, in the southeast of England. I had a cassette recorder connected to the receiver and taped anything interesting that caught my ear. Little did I know that 40 years later the majority of these stations would have disappeared and I would have the opportunity to share these recordings with the world.”

This recording is part of a five-part compilation series Paul has created, grouping international shortwave broadcasters by region. The majority of the clips are in English and feature interval signals, station IDs, and sign-ons/offs—a rich snapshot of shortwave radio during its Cold War-era heyday.

This particular compilation focuses on: Eastern Europe and USSR

All recordings were made during the 1980s, most in the first half of the decade. While frequencies and exact dates aren’t provided, Paul has kindly included timestamps noting when each broadcaster appears in the audio. These are listed below for easy reference.

We’re grateful to Paul for sharing this excellent audio time capsule and for his efforts to preserve and document the golden era of international broadcasting.

• ALBANIA: Radio Tirana (0)

• BELARUS: Radio Minsk (1.18)

• BULGARIA: Radio Sofia (1.41)

• CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Radio Prague (2.29)

• ESTONIA: Radio Tallin (2.50)

• GERMANY (EAST): Radio Berlin Int (3.49)

• HUNGARY: Radio Budapest (5.22)

• LATVIA: Radio Riga (6.31)

• LITHUANIA: Radio Vilnius (7.14)

• POLAND: Radio Polonia (8.30)

• ROMANIA: Radio Bucharest (9.37)

• UKRAINE: Radio Kiev (10.41)

• USSR: Radio Moscow World Service (12.17)

• Radio Station Peace & Progress (13.35)

• Radio Station Rodina (13.59)

• YUGOSLAVIA: Radio Yugoslavia (14.21)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Watson, who shares the following recording. Paul notes:

“During the 1980s I was listening to shortwave radio from my home near London, in the southeast of England. I had a cassette recorder connected to the receiver and taped anything interesting that caught my ear. Little did I know that 40 years later the majority of these stations would have disappeared and I would have the opportunity to share these recordings with the world.”

This recording is part of a five-part compilation series Paul has created, grouping international shortwave broadcasters by region. The majority of the clips are in English and feature interval signals, station IDs, and sign-ons/offs—a rich snapshot of shortwave radio during its Cold War-era heyday.

This particular compilation focuses on: Western Europe

All recordings were made during the 1980s, most in the first half of the decade. While frequencies and exact dates aren’t provided, Paul has kindly included timestamps noting when each broadcaster appears in the audio. These are listed below for easy reference.

We’re grateful to Paul for sharing this excellent audio time capsule, and for his efforts to preserve and document the golden era of international broadcasting.

• AUSTRIA: Radio Austria International (0)

• CYPRUS: Cyprus Broadcasting Company (1.40)

• DENMARK: Radio Denmark (3.09)

• FINLAND: Radio Finland (4.29)

• FRANCE: Radio France Internationale (5.30)

• GERMANY (WEST): Deutsche Welle (6.30)

• GREECE: Voice of Greece (7.53)

• ITALY: RAI (9.24)

• MALTA: Radio Mediterranean (11.00)

• NETHERLANDS: Radio Netherlands (12.21)

• NORWAY: Radio Norway (13.34)

• PORTUGAL: Radio Portugal (15.34)

• SPAIN: Spanish Foreign Radio (16.32)

• SWEDEN: Radio Sweden (18.17)

• SWITZERLAND: Swiss Radio International (19.53)

• Red Cross Broadcasting Service (20.38)

• UNITED KINGDOM: BBC World Service (21.49)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Watson, who shares the following recording. Paul notes:

“During the 1980s I was listening to shortwave radio from my home near London, in the southeast of England. I had a cassette recorder connected to the receiver and taped anything interesting that caught my ear. Little did I know that 40 years later the majority of these stations would have disappeared and I would have the opportunity to share these recordings with the world.”

This recording is part of a five-part compilation series Paul has created, grouping international shortwave broadcasters by region. The majority of the clips are in English and feature interval signals, station IDs, and sign-ons/offs—a rich snapshot of shortwave radio during its Cold War-era heyday.

This particular compilation focuses on: Africa and the Middle East

All recordings were made during the 1980s, most in the first half of the decade. While frequencies and exact dates aren’t provided, Paul has kindly included timestamps noting when each broadcaster appears in the audio. These are listed below for easy reference.

We’re grateful to Paul for sharing this excellent audio time capsule, and for his efforts to preserve and document the golden era of international broadcasting.

• ALGERIA: Radio Algiers (0)

• EGYPT: Radio Cairo (1.03)

• IRAN: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2.33)

• IRAQ: Radio Baghdad (4.17)

• ISRAEL: Kol Israel (6.33)

• KUWAIT: Radio Kuwait (8.00)

• LEBANON: Voice of Lebanon (9.29)

• LIBYA: Radio Jamariyah (10.18)

• NIGERIA: Radio Nigeria (12.15)

• QATAR: Qatar Broadcasting Service (13.53)

• SAUDI ARABIA: Broadcasting Service of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (14.21)

• SOUTH AFRICA: Radio RSA (15.45)

• SYRIA: Radio Damascus (17.37)

• TURKEY: Voice of Turkey (18.40)

• UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: UAE Radio (19.50)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Watson, who shares the following recording. Paul notes:

“During the 1980s I was listening to shortwave radio from my home near London, in the southeast of England. I had a cassette recorder connected to the receiver and taped anything interesting that caught my ear. Little did I know that 40 years later the majority of these stations would have disappeared and I would have the opportunity to share these recordings with the world.”

This recording is part of a five-part compilation series Paul has created, grouping international shortwave broadcasters by region. The majority of the clips are in English and feature interval signals, station IDs, and sign-ons/offs—a rich snapshot of shortwave radio during its Cold War-era heyday.

This particular compilation focuses on: Asia & the Pacific

All recordings were made during the 1980s, most in the first half of the decade. While frequencies and exact dates aren’t provided, Paul has kindly included timestamps noting when each broadcaster appears in the audio. These are listed below for easy reference.

We’re grateful to Paul for sharing this excellent audio time capsule, and for his efforts to preserve and document the golden era of international broadcasting.

• Afghanistan: Radio Afghanistan (0)

• Australia: Radio Australia (1.55)

• Bangladesh: Radio Bangladesh (3.18)

• China: Radio Peking (4.23)

• India: All India Radio (6.16)

• Japan: Radio Japan (7.29)

• Korea (North): Radio Pyongyang (9.02)

• Korea (South): Radio Korea (12.26)

• Malaysia: Voice of Malaysia (14.22)

• New Zealand: Radio New Zealand (15.49)

• Pakistan: Radio Pakistan (16.13)

• Saipan: KFBS & KYOI (16.44)

• Taiwan: Voice of the Free China (18.14)

• Tajikistan: Radio Dushanbe (19.01)

• Uzbekistan: Radio Tashkent (19.22)

• Vietnam: Voice of Vietnam (20.16)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Paul Watson, who shares the following recording. Paul notes:

“During the 1980s I was listening to shortwave radio from my home near London, in the southeast of England. I had a cassette recorder connected to the receiver and taped anything interesting that caught my ear. Little did I know that 40 years later the majority of these stations would have disappeared and I would have the opportunity to share these recordings with the world.”

This recording is part of a five-part compilation series Paul has created, grouping international shortwave broadcasters by region. The majority of the clips are in English and feature interval signals, station IDs, and sign-ons/offs—a rich snapshot of shortwave radio during its Cold War-era heyday.

This particular compilation focuses on: The Americas

All recordings were made during the 1980s, most in the first half of the decade. While frequencies and exact dates aren’t provided, Paul has kindly included timestamps noting when each broadcaster appears in the audio. These are listed below for easy reference.

We’re grateful to Paul for sharing this excellent audio time capsule, and for his efforts to preserve and document the golden era of international broadcasting.

• Bonaire: Trans World Radio (3.31)

• Brazil: Radio Nacional do Brasil (4.32)

• Canada: Radio Canada Int (6.58)

• Chile: Voice of Chile (8.48)

• Colombia: Radio Nacional (11.06)

• Radio Sutatenza (12.00)

• Cuba: Radio Havana (12.48)

• Dominican Republic: La Voz del CID (14.20)

• Radio Clarin (15.01)

• Ecuador: HCJB (15.43)

• Grenada: Radio Free Grenada (17.36)

• Nicaragua: Voice of Nicaragua (18.42)

• USA: Voice of America (19.54)

• Radio Earth (20.33)

• KCBI (21.39)

• WHRI (22.13)

• WRNO (22.38)

• WYFR (22.49)

• UN Radio (23.22)

• Venezuela: Radio Turismo (24.48)

• Radio Tachira (25.31)

• YVTO (26.06)

Many thanks to SRAA contributor Kanwar Sandhu, who shares the following test broadcast recording of Radio Taiwan International recorded on June 29, 2025, at 1730 UTC on 11995 kHz: