Category: THE SHORTWAVE RADIO AUDIO ARCHIVE

Recording of VOA Ashna Radio in Pashto & Dari on December 11, 2021 at 1430 UTC (shortwave frequency of 9835 kHz)

Station: VOA Ashna Radio
Place of reception: Europe
Language: Pashto & Dari
Frequency: 9835 kHz shortwave
Date: December 11, 2021
Time: 14.30 UTC
Transmitter location: Woofferton, United Kingdom
Transmitter power 250 kW
Receiver: SONY ICF SW1 portable
Location of receiver: indoor
Antenna: outdoor 15 meter wire
Recording device: portable wav file recorder

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andy Wang, who shares the following recording and notes:

Notes: The content of this recording is a news: North Korean defectors seek asylum from US consulate in Shenyang.

Broadcaster: Radio France Internationale

Date of recording: 5/10/2002

Starting time: 10:00UTC

Frequency: 12.025MHz

Recption location: Shenyang, China

Receiver and antenna: MeiDuo Radio Receiver and Casette Recorder CP6941 with antenna on it

Recording of Radio IRRS Italy, December 5, 2021 at 1158 UTC (shortwave frequency of 9510 kHz)

Station: IRRS Italy
Place of reception: Europe
Language: English
Frequency: 9510 kHz shortwave
Date: December 5, 2021
Time: 11.58 UTC
Transmitter location: Romania
Transmitter power 100 kW
Receiver: SONY ICF SW1 portable
Location of receiver: indoor
Antenna: outdoor 15 meter wire
Recording device: portable wav file recorder

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Gavaras, who shares the following recording and notes:

Voice of the Voyager pirate shortwave radio station transmission starting with interval signal, opening with "We will Rock You/We are the Champions," introductions of staff including RF Wavelength, AF Gain, Disco Dan, Disco Dave and others. Broadcast included The Minnesota-Ohio Corporation Mystery Theater: The Heath Heresy, Nighttime Melodies, beer reviews and more. August 20, 1978 on 5,850 MHZ at 0355 UTC. 100 watts.

The Voice of the Voyager had been broadcasting on Saturday nights for about eight months. One week later on August 28, 1978, a yellow car pulled into the driveway of the house where the Voice of the Voyager had been broadcasting from and two official-looking men got out and walked up to the front door. They flashed credentials identifying them as being from the St. Paul, MN office of the FCC. Since R. F. Wavelength held a ham license for the address, he had no choice but to admit the men to the house. At first, he denied all knowledge of the Voyager but it soon became clear the FCC knew all about the station and had definitely traced it to that location. R. F. Wavelength finally admitted to being behind the Voyager and with that confession the atmosphere immediately changed. The FCC agents became quite friendly, and told the operators how they managed to track down the station. The Voyager operators were surprised to learn the FCC had planned to bust the station during the previous weeks broadcast on August 20, but that plan was aborted when the Voyager left the air earlier than usual. A special monitoring van had been brought in from the FCC’s Chicago office to help trace the station’s location.

More information and some of the background posted above: https://sites.google.com/site/napiratehof/2010-inductees/voiceof-pancho-villa

Broadcaster: The Voice of the Voyager

Date of recording: 8/20/1978

Starting time: 0355 UTC

Frequency: 5.850 MHz

Reception location: Minneapolis, MN area

Receiver and antenna: Sony ICF-5900W with whip antenna

This was one of the bigger and more reliable Colombian voices on the tropical bands in the 1970’s and 1980’s - and according to my crusty and trusty old copy of Passport to World Band Radio from 2007 - Colombia was no longer an entity on the tropical bands of shortwave — or anywhere else on the HF dial from my cursory glance. Received on the DX150B attached to a 60-meter half-wave dipole. Living the dream!

A popular (and interesting) listening option in the 1970’s were the AM VOLMET weather broadcasts from, well, everywhere… they were low powered (typically 5 kw or less) and hearing them from a great distance was quite the thrill. Most common on the West Coast was Honolulu, Tokyo, Hong Kong and (I think…) Bangkok Radio… heard most mornings. Here are a couple of less heard ones from the West Coast; NY Radio and Gander Radio from Newfoundland.

These broadcasts are still on the air (link)- different frequencies and single sideband as opposed to AM.

This capture was from September 1975 on my trusty DX150B with one of the many dipoles I had - this one likely a 25 meter 1/2 wave dipole.

Image below is a QSL card from Shannon, Ireland - this was a VOLMET weather-cast that was audible here in the West Coast quite frequently.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Bachtiar Aditya, who shares the following recording and notes:

Every morning I listen to NHK radio here we can learn Japanese live and listen to Japanese cultural music with enthusiastic announcers. I really like listening to NHK radio since 2010. Here I use a cheap radio for only 4 dollars type Radio international F-100 . The signal is quite good from the Indonesian metro, Especially in the morning

Received : Metro, Lampung, Indonesia .

Broadcaster: NHK World Radio Japan

Date of recording: 11/24/2021

Starting time: 04:35 UTC

Frequency: 17810 kHz Shortwave

Reception location: Metro, Lampung, INDONESIA

Receiver and antenna: Cooper Wire 10 metres outside

What’s not to love! Latin American music and fast talking DJ’s - life always seemed more exciting down there. From my spot in the NorthWest where it rained for 4 months of the year, the endless sunshine and non-stop party of the tropics seemed irresistible. It always felt like a celebration when one tuned in a station from Venezuela, Colombia or Peru on the tropical bands. Heck, even Ecuador knew how to shake their Quetzal tail feathers with some rocking pan pipes! 1975. It was a bygone era. The radio dial was pure gold from 3 MHz to 10 Mhz at night time. One by one they would slip away into the jasmine memories of time. Thank heavens for cassette tape!

At the time I had a DX150B (Radio Shack) - classic table top radio and (amongst others…) a 60-Meter band half-wave dipole that kind of favoured East and West - still, when there were Latins to be had on 90 and 60 meters, it was night after night reception for weeks on end!

Those were the days my friends - we thought they’d never end.

As something of a follow-up to some of my previous posts about life in Latin America - well, Guatemala was not much different or better in 1975. Some months after this clip was recorded in October of 1975, there was a devastating earthquake in Guatemala claiming over 25,000 lives. Government inaction lead to more civic unrest fuelling more resistance to the government of the day.

Interestingly, the mission behind TGNA dates back to the late 1800’s and exists to this day - their network of radio stations in Central America play a valuable role in spreading news of the World (from a biblical and Christian perspective I guess as well…) to the rural areas of Guatemala.

The station TGNA was a regular visitor to the West Coast at my Canadian listening perch - most commonly on 3300 khz - and I have an original QSL card. It was, by some comparison, a “mini-HCJB…” - and regular DXers from that time period will know exactly what I am talking about!

As mentioned previously, living on an Island in the Pacific (100 miles North of Seattle, Washington…) had its benefits — a clear shot to targets in the Pacific and Asia - some of them quite rare. And while this station (FEBC) was not rare - it is still in existence today, it was a treat to hear something more folksy than the traditional party line stuff from Government broadcasters.

As a side-bar, in 1975 I was active in the Canadian International DX Club, the IRCA (International Radio Club of America…) and would soon join SPEEDX for the the very best of what the hobby would offer in the late 1970’s and into the 1980’s - the heyday of Shortwave broadcasting!

This snippet is from FEBC Manila on one of their Saturday or Sunday afternoon shows - on a 46 year old Cassette that still plays just fine! My radio was the Radio Shack DX150B (still have it - still works!) off of one of my many 1/2 wave dipoles at the time. I lived on a very small farm or ranch - 4 acres - and there was a specific amount of room for antennas…. as my mom would tell me!