POSTBAG

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

Here is a recording of Radio Australia's DX program called Spectrum from August 15, 1982. I believe this was recorded around 0200 UT on 17795 kHz when Australia used to come in well in the evenings here.

Some of the program highlights are:

A roundup of DX news from Bob Padula and Peter Bunn (sp) from the Australina Radio DX Club and interviews with some of the broadcasters gathered at the 1982 ANARC Convention in Montreal. Over-the-phone audio in those days was not too great so the audio is poor in this segment.

Broadcaster: Radio Australia

Date of recording: 8/15/1982

Starting time: 0200 approx.

Frequency: 17.795 MHz

RX location: South Bend, Indiana

Receiver and antenna: Sony ICF-2001 and longwire

Let’s face it - the late 1970’s were, arguably, the very best years for DXing and Shortwave listening - there was very little manmade interference other than the buzzy power line or the occasional TV set or furnace motor. These were the days. Stations like TIFC had no issue cutting through because all they needed was a relatively clear frequency. This was recorded off air in my Fernwood neighbourhood in Victoria B.C. in the late Fall of 1978 on my DX150B and a modest 75’ Inverted L antenna. Who needed noise reduction? Not me!

Pirate radio was the product of the mid to late 1970’s and one example of one of the more adventurous and ahem professional sounding stations was The Voice of the Voyager - apparently from Minnesota - which was widely received at Christmas 1978 extending into January 1979 on its inaugural run. There are not a lot of recordings of VOV - not a lot of great recordings - and this one is noisy at best - but you get the idea. Received on the West Coast of North America - one cold winter!

Snuck in the middle of this recording a surprise (never before heard track) of the Voice of Clipperton! 6205 Khz New Years Day 1979! At 0130 UTC

Living on the West Coast of North America meant not hearing Africa much - a few times a year - particularly near the equinoxes, we would get some astounding openings on 60 and 49 meters in the early afternoon prior to 2300 UTC when a lot of African regional stations were signing off for the night. It was awesome. It would still be light outside and we were hearing low powered 60 meter West African signals in French, Portuguese and others native African tongues. It was a treat. Here is a not often heard station on the 25 meter band on my DX150B.

When I was a young radio hobbyist, I taped as much as I could and as often as I could - and while I did not always have tape rolling, it was often rolling at the right time. In the 1970’s, my priority seemed to be logging stations and jotting down times and frequencies with not a lot of thought to historical content. Occasionally these little gems would appear… Like a mention of President Gerald Ford in a news clip… or some peculiar phrase unique to one era or another.

In 1975 and 1976 I was blessed to live in the country and have a decent radio (the DX150B) and 5 1/2-wave dipoles for 60, 49, 31, 25 and 19 meters… and living on the West Coast no less. And while the West Coast of North America was something of a radio fringe area, the reception possibilities for the Pacific and South Asia areas were delicious!

Anyway - here are 42 sound clips from days gone by - the PDF master list is below.

The master list of this hodgepodge - right here. And in the page below.

It’s the kitchen sink 1975 to 1977

1.   Finnish Broadcasting

2.   VOA English and Spanish

3.   RAI Rome

4.   Radio Canada

5.   Voice of Vietnam

6.   Radio Budapest

7.   IBA Israel

8.   RRI Jakarta

9.   KCBS Pyongyang

10.                 Radio France

11.                 Radio Sweden

12.                 RNE Madrid

13.                 BBC WS

14.                 Radio Prague

15.                 Radio Moscow

16.                 SBC Berne

17.                 Radio New Zealand

18.                 ORF Austia

19.                 RTV Belge

20.                 Vatican Radio

21.                 DW Cologne

22.                 Radio Kiev

23.                 Surinam

24.                 HCJB Quito

25.                 TWR Bonaire

26.                 FEBA Seychelles

27.                 Radio Cairo

28.                 Radio Norway

29.                 Radio Korea

30.                 ABC Australia

31.                 Radio Nederlands

32.                 Radio Mexico

33.                 RS Tikhy Okean

34.                 Liberty Radio Vietnam 1975

35.                 Voice of the Malayan Revolution 1975

36.                 DXCR Mountain View College 2X Harmonic 2654

37.                 Uganda Radio

38.                 Voice of Free China

39.                 Uganda English Service

40.                 Radio Peking 1975

41.                 NHK Tokyo

42.                 RSA South Africa