Category Archives: Podcast

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Romania International

Victory Avenue (Calea Victoriei), a major avenue in central Bucharest (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Today at 20:30 UTC, Radio Romania International’s signal on 11,745 kHz was quite strong, as it so often is. RRI is one of the few broadcasters that still target Europe and the eastern US on shortwave.

RRI is a treasure of a station, too, with true local flavor–Romanian news, music, and mini cultural documentaries. This Sunday broadcast features the program Inside Romania, Romanian Without Tears (a language program which always reminds me of the similarities between French and Romanian), DX Mailbag, and Roots.

Click here to download the full broadcast as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. This recording features their interval signal before and after the broadcast:

If you enjoy Radio Romania International, I encourage you to send an accurate and descriptive reception report to: [email protected] Maybe your letter will be featured on their DX Mailbag!

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Australia’s Tok Pisin service

6 Replies

Mount Tavurvur in Papua New Guinea (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Monday morning, I was up earlier than usual and caught Radio Australia’s Tok Pisin (Pacific Pidgin Language Service) on 9,475 kHz.

I doubt many English-speaking SWLing Post readers will understand Tok Pisin if you’re hearing it for the first time, but as with other Pidgin languages throughout the world, Tok Pisin is a mixture of several languages: English, German, Malay, Portuguese and Austronesian languages. It has a comparatively simple structure and you might be surprised what you can understand if the topic shifts to something familiar. I’ve certainly enjoyed listening to it in the background as I work on other projects.

I recorded a full 90 minutes of the Tok Pisin service; you can download it directly by clicking here, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Shortwave Radio Recordings: NHK Radio Japan

Pirate Radio Recordings: Hardtack Radio

Propaganda from the source: Listening to the Voice of Korea on shortwave radio

7 Replies

One of the countries dominating the headlines of global news lately is North Korea. As Kim Jong-un raises tensions and rattles his nuclear saber, the rest of the world is attempting to determine if this is a egotistical show of power for the benefit of all observers (as with previous leaders) or if there is real intention behind the rhetoric.

Just this morning Pyongyang has warned that Tokyo would be a primary strike target if war were to break out, or if their test missile is downed; they’ve even moved their missile launch pad into position.

Regardless of outcome of these provocations, I know that the bulk of the North Korean population will suffer. North Korean mainstream “news” consists of images of military parades in the immaculate capital city of Pyongyang; but the reality is that most of the population live in rural North Korea, which is subject to severe food shortages and extreme poverty.

We know North Korea is a country that carefully controls and manipulates their media internally; they also broadcast the same flavor of propaganda externally on shortwave radio via the Voice of Korea.

As shortwave radio listeners, we have the distinct advantage of being able to listen directly to the case of North Korea. We can actually hear (and analyze for ourselves) the North Korea propaganda directly from the source. Note that it’s not uncommon for the Voice of Korea to unexpectedly go off air, likely due to power shortages: this fact is much more suggestive of the of general conditions in the country than the “news” itself.

Depending on where you live in the world, your ability to hear the (relatively weak) Voice of Korea will vary. If you live in the Asia/Pacific region, the station is very audible.

Yesterday morning at 10:00 UTC, I recorded an hour of their English broadcast to South America on 11.71 MHz. You can download an mp3 of the recording by clicking here, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Below, you’ll find the current broadcast schedule for the Voice of Korea English service courtesy of North Korea Tech:

VOK English (time in UTC)

04:00 on 7220, 9445, 9730 kHz to Northeast Asia
04: 00 on 11735, 13760, 15180 kHz to Central & South America
05:00 on 13650, 15105 kHz to Southeast Asia
06:00 on 7220, 9445, 9730 kHz to Northeast Asia
10:00 on 11710, 15180 kHz to Central & South America
10:00 on 11735, 13650 kHz to Southeast Asia
13:00 on 13760, 15245 kHz to Western Europe
13:00 on 9435, 11710 kHz to North America
15:00 on 13760, 15245 kHz to Western Europe
15:00 on 9435, 11710 kHz to North America
16:00 on 9890, 11645 kHz to Near & Middle East; North Africa
18:00 on 13760, 15245 kHz to Western Europe
19:00 on 7210, 11910 kHz to South Africa
19:00 on 9875, 11635 kHz to Near & Middle East; North Africa
21:00 on 13760, 15245 kHz to Western Europe

For a full schedule of the Voice of Korea, please visit this page on North Korea Tech.

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Australia Jazz Notes

2 Replies

This episode of Jazz Notes starts with a piece by the Australian band, The Catholics. (Photo: Bugle Records)

This episode of Jazz Notes starts with a piece by the Australian jazz band, The Catholics. (Photo: Bugle Records)

For your listening pleasure: thirty minutes of Radio Australia’s Jazz Notes.

This broadcast was recorded today at 13:30 UTC on 9,580 kHz. As on most mornings, the signal out of Shepparton, Australia, was very strong; the audio fidelity was, in consequence, very impressive for a transmission emanating from some 9,800 miles away.

You can download this recording of Jazz Notes by clicking here, or simply listen via the embedded player below: