Check out this article from Radio World which addresses the state of shortwave radio broadcasting.
Jeff White of WRMI and Kim Elliott of the VOA are both interviewed. Elliott even speaks about the virtues of the VOA Radiogram experiments which have had success circumventing shortwave radio jamming (broadcasts which were completely omitted from the BBG Special Committee report on the efficacy of shortwave radio).
The First Pirate is the title of a Radio 4 Extra–an interview with Les Woodland who tells the story of Captain Plugge, founder of Radio Normandy, the first station to take on the BBC.
(Source: Southgate ARC)
Capt Leonard Plugge was the driving force behind Radio Normandy in the early 1930s. He created the International Broadcasting Company in 1931 as a commercial rival to the British Broadcasting Corporation by buying airtime from radio stations such as Normandy, Toulouse, Ljubljana, Juan les Pins, Paris, Poste Parisien, Athlone, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome. IBC worked indirectly with Radio Luxembourg until 1936. World War II silenced most of Plugge’s stations between 1939 and 1945.
One of my favorite shortwave stations for music, besides ERT Open (former Voice of Greece), is All India Radio (AIR).
Since their broadcasts originate on the other side of the planet (from my North American location), their signal bounces off the ionosphere many times before I ever hear it. I actually like the result of this; the static of space makes their already beautiful music sound even more textured, enhancing the distance of its source, and heightening the music’s sense of mystery and nostalgia.
I recorded this AIR broadcast on August 14th, 2014–around 20:45 UTC–on 9,445 kHz. You can download the MP3 by clicking here, or simply listen in the embedded player below. Enjoy!
Many thanks to Jonathan Marks who apprised me of this excellent 1960 film from the BBC. As Jonathan notes, it’s heavily scripted, but fascinating nonetheless.
Click here to view the full video on YouTube or watch via the embedded player below:
If you enjoyed Garth Mullins’ radio documentary “End of the Dial” you might also enjoy his follow up, “Snow on the Dial-The Voice of Denendeh Falls Silent.”
Mullins also produces the podcast, East Van Calling, which focuses on radio and various social justice issues in Canada. Subscribe to East Van Calling via SoundCloud:
https://soundcloud.com/garthmullins/sets/east-van-calling-podcast
Regarding Garth Mullins’ radio documentary, SWLing Post reader, David Korchin, comments:
“I got my start in a small FM station in Saskatoon—CFMC, doing overnights, then drive, then mornings.
Kind of a loose format, and with such a small staff that we were all doing each others’ jobs. When the news guy went on vacation, I got to rip-and-read.
Later I moved to another market, with a bigger transmitter and more audience, a tighter format and rules about what you could say and play—but the lone magic of talking into the mic and being in the ears of a complete stranger never left.
It’s why I’m a Ham, I suppose. It’s already depressing that the biggies like Netherlands and Canada and others have tuned out. I hate to ponder the End of Radio—it’s like losing an untouchable, rare dimension to our human experience.”
David Korchin (K2WNW) is also a talented photographer; check out his website–One Camera One Lens–and especially his photography project, The Hamateur. Amazing images…
Many thanks for sharing your thoughts, David!
Garth Mullins
Garth Mullins is an SWL and a radio geek: yes, he’s one of us.
What’s more, Mullins believes that radio is now experiencing a renaissance. Listen to his brilliant documentary, End of the Dial, which was recently re-broadcast on the CBC program Ideas with Paul Kennedy. Best 54 minutes you’ve ever spent.
Be sure to check out Garth’s website: http://www.garthmullins.com/