Category: THE SHORTWAVE RADIO AUDIO ARCHIVE

Live, off-air, three-hour recording of the special annual Gruss an Bord broadcast from German broadcaster NDR, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, on 24 December 2022 beginning at just after 18:00 UTC. The broadcast features music and greetings to and from mariners around the world. The Christmas greetings were recorded at two events on the third Advent Sunday (11 December) in Leer and on the fourth Advent Sunday (18 December) in Hamburg.

Relatives and friends had the opportunity to wish their loved ones at sea a happy holiday and a happy new year. The Leer event featured the Bingumer Shanty Choir and Anne-Fleur Schoch and her band while the Hamburg event featured Beatles experts Stefanie Hempel and The Silver Spoons. The broadcast was primarily in German with some greetings in English, Filipino, and Portuguese as well as German. A number of songs in English, too. A news bulletin (in progress when recording began) precedes the program for a few minutes.

In addition to being carried on the NDR Info and NDR Info Spezial networks, the broadcast was transmitted around the world on shortwave using transmitters in Nauen (NAU), Germany; Issoudun (ISS), France; Tashkent (TAC), Uzbekistan; and Okeechobee, Florida (RMI), U.S.A.; and was organized by Media Broadcast.

The schedule was:
1800-2100 on 6030 ISS 250 kW / 251 deg to North/East Atlantic
1800-2100 on 6080 TAC 100 kW / 301 deg to West/Central Europe
1800-2100 on 9740 NAU 250 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean - West
1800-2100 on 11650 ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Indian Ocean - SoAf
1800-2100 on 13725 NAU 250 kW / 205 deg to Southern Atlantic
1800-2100 on 15770 RMI 100 kW / 044 deg to North/West Atlantic
RMI, Radio Miami International, experienced a power outage and was off the air for about the first two hours of the broadcast.

The recording is primarily of the transmission on the frequency of 11650 kHz for about the first two hours and 6030 kHz for the third hour as the signal degraded on 11650 kHz.

The program was received outdoors on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 2.3 kHz filtering. Reception was good for the most part on both recorded frequencies although, as previously mentioned, signal quality on 11650 kHz degraded during the second hour of the broadcast necessitating the switch to 6030 kHz. There was some adjacent channel interference on 11650 kHz at times. Also, there was about a one-minute dropout of the 11650 kHz frequency around the start of the second hour of the broadcast. The last minute or so of the broadcast on 6030 kHz was interfered with by a co-channel digital transmission from Radio Romania International.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Russ Edmunds, who has kindly shared another collection of mediumwave airchecks (click here to check out all of his contributions).

Russ notes that the reception location was Blue Bell, PA using a Hammarlund modified HQ-150 and a 4' air core amplified loop.

Russ also shares details about each recording in the following table. All recordings have been embedded below:

The following recording of Paul Walker's Christmas Special on KSKO was recorded on a live relay from WRMI on 5900 kHz on Friday, December 24, 2022 starting around 00:10 UTC.

This recording was made on the U Twente WebSDR in the Netherlands.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Ian Pillar, who shares the following recording and notes:

Notes: Number Station Recording

Location Taiwan
Enigma ID V13
Name New Star Broadcasting Station
Voice Female (Mandarin Chinese)
Mode USB + carrier

Broadcaster: New Star Broadcasting Station V13

Date of recording: 11/22/2022

Starting time: 0100

Frequency: 13974

Reception location: NSW Australia

Receiver and antenna: KiwiSDR Loop Antenna

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

"You are tuned to ABC Radio in Papua New Guinea; 9PA, VLT, and VLK..." This is the announcement from VLT4, the Australian Broadcasting Commission station in Port Moresby on 4890 kHz shortwave, on May 3, 1971 at 1100 hours UTC. A musical request program is ending, then station ID as above and into ABC national news. This was before independence in PNG. The station used a 10 kw transmitter on this frequency and could sometimes be heard in eastern North America with a readable signal.

Broadcaster: VLT4 ABC Radio Port Moresby Papua New Guinea

Date of recording: 5/3/1971

Starting time: 1100

Frequency: 4.890

Recption location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Hallicrafters S-52 using a longwire antenna

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

"You are tuned to ABC Radio in Papua New Guinea; 9PA, VLT, and VLK..." This is the announcement from VLT4, the Australian Broadcasting Commission station in Port Moresby on 4890 kHz shortwave, on May 3, 1971 at 1100 hours UTC. A musical request program is ending, then station ID as above and into ABC national news. This was before independence in PNG. The station used a 10 kw transmitter on this frequency and could sometimes be heard in eastern North America with a readable signal.

Broadcaster: VLT4 ABC Radio Port Moresby Papua New Guinea

Date of recording: 5/3/1971

Starting time: 1100

Frequency: 4.890

Recption location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Hallicrafters S-52 using a longwire antenna

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Matt Todd, who shares the following pirate radio recordings and notes:

Audio recordings of numerous Shortwave Radio Pirates recorded around Halloween 2022. This is typically the most active time of the year for Shortwave Radio Pirates.

Location: Hugo, MN

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

Mode: Single Sideband

Please note that pirate radio broadcasts often contain adult language.

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

Broadcaster: The Voice of Christmas (pirate radio)

Date of recording: 12/8/1996

Starting time: 1610 UTC

Frequency: 6955 kHz

Reception location: Thamesford, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Panasonic RF-3100 and longwire antenna

Mode: Single Side Band

Notes: Pirate radio station The Voice of Christmas as heard in Thamesford, Ontario, Canada on December 8, 1996 at around 1610 hours UTC. The frequency was 6955 kHz USB.

Here are a few blended airchecks with Christmas music and frequent station ID's by the Pirate Elf stating they are "the only pirate radio station broadcasting from the North Pole." P.O. Box in Providence, Rhode Island given for reception reports. Concludes with their "interval signal" tune.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Dan Greenall, for sharing the following recording and notes:

Notes: After many tries, this one was finally logged while on a "DXpedition" to a cottage near Bancroft, Ontario. Here is LRA36, Radio Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel from Esperanza Base, Antarctica as recorded in Coe Hill, Ontario, Canada on February 20, 1999 at 2257 hours UTC on 15476 kHz shortwave. They are heard giving announcement in Spanish including station ID, frequency used and transmitter power (10 kilowatts). This station was usually not audible at all or too buried under the noise level, however, on this occasion, the signal came up enough to get a clear ID.

Broadcaster: LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel, Base Esperanza, Antarctica

Date of recording: 2/20/1999

Starting time: 2257

Frequency: 15.476 MHz

Reception location: Coe Hill, Ontario, Canada

Receiver and antenna: Panasonic RF-3100 and longwire antenna

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bryce Belcher, who shares the following recording and notes:

Broadcaster: XFM

Date of recording: Oct 30, 2022

Starting time: 8:45 EST

Frequency: 6865 MHz

Your location: Columbus, Ohio

Receiver and antenna: Tecsun PL-880 with just the telescopic antenna

Mode: Single Side Band

Safe for children?: No

Notes: Some RF noise—the signal gets stronger but was weaker in the beginning of the recording. Recorded October 30, 2022

Please note that pirate radio recordings often contain adult language.