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CHU Transmitting Site in Ottawa, Canada (Source: NRC)
Many thanks to several SRAA contributors who have shared recordings of CHU Canada during its final days as a shortwave time signal station.
This first recording was sent to us via Ronald McKinnon and is the National Research Council’s own recording of the final minutes of CHU on the air. Here are the notes that accompanied this recording:
Broadcaster: National Research Council CHU
Date of recording: June 22, 2026
Starting time: 14:08:00 UTC
Frequency: 3.33 MHz
Location: Ottawa, ON Canada
Receiver and antenna: Raddy RF320 with built-in antenna
Notes: This is a recording of the last few minutes of the NRC CHU time signal over shortwave at 3.33MHz.It was recorded on June 22, 2026 just as the broadcast was being shut down. The broadcast had been in operation in one form or another for over 90 years. The recording was made from just outside the station in Ottawa in order to obtain maximum signal quality.The NRC's home page about this station:
https://nrc.canada.ca/en/certifications-evaluations-standards/canadas-official-time/nrc-shortwave-station-broadcasts-chu
CHU Canada: June 22, 2026 National Research Council DownloadSRAA contributor, Bryce Belcher, shared the following recording of CHU with notes:
Broadcaster: CHU
Date of recording: June 21, 2026
Starting time: 0:12 UTC
Frequency: 3330 kHz
Reception location: Washington, D.C
Your receiver and antenna: Na5b websdr
Notes: This is my last-ever recording of CHU Canada, as they have shut down all the transmitters today, June 22. Recorded with the Websdr na5b located in DC. https://na5b.com:8901
CHU Canada: June 21, 2026 Bryce Belcher DownloadSRAA contributor, Emilio, shared this longer recording with notes:
Freq: 7850 kHz
Date: Friday, 5 June 2026
Time: 17 UTC
SINPO: 45343
RX Grid locator: EK36kp
State: Chiapas
Country: Mexico
Receiver: Kenwood R-600
Antenna: long wire about 10 meters.
Recorded by: Carlos Emilio Ruiz Llaven
CHU Canada: June 5, 2026 Carlos Emilio Ruiz Llaven Download
This is the BBC Midwinter Broadcast to Antarctica recorded on June 21, 2026 at 09:30 UTC in Foulden, Scotland, UK. The radio was an Elecraft KX2 connected to a 31-foot 9:1 random wire antenna in the back garden. The broadcast starts on 9460 kHz, but I then move to 12070 kHz because it had slightly less local noise.
Personal note
The BBC Midwinter Broadcast remains one of my favorite SWLing events of the year. I simply love the idea that the BBC would broadcast from two different sites on three different frequencies via shortwave to a relatively small audience of British Antarctic Survey scientists wintering over in Antarctica.
It's always a joy to listen live, knowing that they're celebrating midwinter with parties at their stations and hearing the voices, messages, laughter, and well-wishes of loved ones carried to them over the air by shortwave radio.
In an age of instant communications, there's still something magical about that.
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