Category Archives: Recordings

Listening across the globe: The 2019 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast

Halley VI Research Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica (Source: British Antarctic Survey)

On Friday, 21 June 2019, the BBC World Service officially transmitted the 2019 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast–an international radio broadcast intended for a small group of scientists, technicians, and support staff who work for the British Antarctic Survey.

This is one of my favorite annual broadcasts, and I endeavor to listen every year. Once again, the SWLing Post called upon readers to make a short recording of the broadcast from their locale.

Below are the entries, roughly organized by continent and country/region. We had a total of twenty seven recordings submitted from all seven continents this year–simply amazing!

Putting this post together takes almost a full dedicated day sorting recordings and formatting them for the Post. If I’ve somehow missed including your entry, please contact me; I’ll amend this post.

So, without further ado we begin with a recording made in Antarctica at Germany’s Neumayer-Station III:

The 2019 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast Recordings

Antarctica

Neumayer Station III, Antarctica

SWL: Andreas Mueller, DL3LRM
Location: Neumayer-Station-III, Antarctica
Notes:

Hello Thomas,
Cheers from Antarctica, I am the radio operator and electronic
engineer of the 39th overwintering team at Germany’s Neumayer-Station
III. Thanks to your blog and post on Facebook I got aware of the
annual BBC broadcasts to Antarctica, and was able to sneak away from
the festivities to enjoy these 30 minutes. And would like to provide
a recording as requested by you.

SWL report by Andreas Mueller, DL3LRM
Location: 70°40’S, 008° 16’W, Neumayer-Station-III, Antarctica
Equipment: Yaesu-450D, Commercial Broadband Dipole 2x35m

The recording is about two minutes long, first 30 Seconds on 5875kHz,
then I switched to 7360kHz and remained there for the rest of the
show. I also have my little FT-817 running as a backup and control
unit, and it also confirmed that 7360kHz was the best frequency, with
S7 to S8 Signal strength, and some fading now and then. 5875kHz was
about S5, and I cannot remember hearing anything on 9455kHz, but I
have to admit that I checked that frequency only briefly.

Thanks again for bringing that broadcast to my attention, it really
was a special treat for me on that day.

73 de Andreas, DP0GVN/DL3LRM

Click here to download.

Asia

South Korea

SWL: Eric Young
Location: Anyang City, South Korea
Notes:

QTH: ANYANG CITY, SOUTH KOREA
FREQ: 7360kHz
ANT: ALA1530LNP
RCVR: G35DDC

Click here to view/listen.

Philippines

SWL: Vermont M. Coronel Jr.
Location: Manila, Philippines
Notes:

Recording of the 2019 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast. Signal was, I believe coming in from Ascension Island. Signal was very weak since the Sun was already above the horizon at the time of broadcast. I continued to listen for a few minutes and towards the end of the broadcast. I heard greetings from the relatives of those who are currently stationed in the Antarctic. This is a once a year special program to the scientists and support staff in the British Antarctic Survey Team. Received in Quezon City with a 45 foot antenna. -Vermont

Click here to view/listen via YouTube.

Europe

Finland

SWL: Jari Lehtinen
Location: Finland
Notes:

Reception from Ascension to day-less Antarctica in nightless Finland:

Click here to view/listen on YouTube.

France

SWL: Gaétan Teyssonneau
Location: Marcheprime, France
Notes:

5875 & 7360 khz passé correctement sur mon tescun pl 310 ET mais 9455 kHz signal tres faibles voir inaudible chez moi.

7360 kHz:

5875 kHz:

Germany

SWL: Ollie (13dka)
Location: West coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Notes:

RX: Tecsun S-8800 with magmount telescopic whip on car roof. SINPO:

5875 kHz (WOF): 53554 (interference from utility station on 5870-5875 kHz)
7360 kHz (ASC): 55545 (hum on TX audio)
9455 kHz (WOF): 35534

Click here to view/listen on YouTube.

Italy

SWL: Giuseppe Morlè IZ0GZW
Location: Formia, Italy
Notes:

Excellent signal on all 3 frequencies used … even on the simple whip of the Tecsun 660 the listening was perfect.
Thanks and a greeting.

Click here to view/listen on YouTube.

SWL: Davide Borroni
Location: Saronno, Italy
Notes:

Ciao Thomas, I am Davide Borroni from Italy my city is Saronno . I send you my videos, made with my receivers: R&S EK 56, Siemens E401 and R1251. The signal on all three frequencies was excellent here in Italy. As an antenna I used a magnetic loop of 2 meters in diameter.
I hope you like my videos
73s

Click here to view/listen on YouTube.

SWL: Renato IK0OZK
Location: Marta, Italy
Notes:

Hi Thomas.

I send my report to BBC Midwinter 2019.

Very good signal to all frequency + 20 Db !
Utc Time 21.30-20.00
Frequency 7.360-5.875-9.455
Setup: Rx jrc nrd 91, jrc nrd 545 dsp, WJ 8718-9, antenna loop Wellbrook ALA 1530.
Rx Marconi Marine Apollo and Zeppelin antenna 16.2 Mt.

Link to my blog with article and video of reception: https://ik0ozk-radio.blogspot.com/2019/06/bbc-midwinter-2019.html

Click here to view on YouTube.

Gabriele Somma’s workstation

SWL: Gabriele Somma
Location: Province of Salerno, Italy
Notes:

[T]his year I send you the BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast reception on the three frequencies.

I use a Perseus SDR and Ala Antenna 1530. I am writing to you from Italy and precisely from the Province of Salerno near the mythical Amalfi Coast.

Click here to view/listen on YouTube.

Malta

SWL: Adrian Micallef
Location: Malta
Notes:

[L]istened to the programme bbc antarctica on 5875 khz and 7360 khz sinfo 54554 both using a sangean ats 818 with a 27 metre antenna long wire. good job and wonderful broadcast. Sending mp3 recording.
Greeting from Malta
Adrian swl 9H4001SWL

Portugal

SWL: Nuno Oliveira
Location: Santarem, Portugal
Notes:

This is the video from Santarem, Portugal with the 3 frequencies.

The first video is a Tecsun PL-880 with a 1 meter aluminium rod outside and 12 meters of RG58 coax.

Click here to view on YouTube.

The second video is a Alinco R8E with horizontal wire and 15 RG58 coax.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Scotland

SWL: Steven
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
Notes:

Here is a link to my youtube recording of this years BBC Antartic Midwinter broadcast.
All three signals were good readable at my location in Scotland.
The best reception I got was from Ascension Island on 7360 AM, as there was Ute QRM on 5875.
Details of my RX etc are on the youtube video.
Thanks again,
Regards and 73,
Steven

Click here to view on YouTube.

Spain

SWL: Jacinto
Location: Spain
Notes:

¡Hola Thomas!
Aqui los links de las recepciones desde España

Saludos y Feliz Cumpleaños

dx onda

1) https://youtu.be/sPEw9NizSi0 (With Antenna and without.)

2) https://youtu.be/cdLyINtHVbo

3) https://youtu.be/Ad8M7beIb9U (With Antenna and without.)

United Kingdom

SWL: Roseanna
Location: United Kingdom
Notes:

Equipment used: RTL-SDR blog v3 + 18m copper wire, location UK

Click here to view/listen on YouTube.

SWL: Mark Hirst
Location: Hampshire, England

Click here to view/listen on YouTube.

Russia

SWL: Dmitry Elagin
Location: Saratov, Russia
Notes:

I listened at three frequencies 5875, 7360, and 9455 kHz at 21:50 UTC on Friday June 21, 2019.
The strongest signal was at a frequency of 7360 kHz.

Receiver: SDRplay RSP1
Noise Canceling Signal Enhancer:
Antenna 1: Long wire antenna 35 meters (115 ft) with MFJ-959C Antenna Tuner SWL and Preamp / MFJ-931 Artificial RF Ground
Antenna 2: Active loop antenna R2ATU
Receiver location: Saratov, Russia

Click here to view/listen on YouTube.

Israel

SWL: Moshe Zaharia
Location: Israel
Notes:

Click here to view/listen on YouTube.

Saudi Arabia

SWL: Rawad Hamwi
Location: Saudi Arabia
Notes:

BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast for this year! It was amazing as usual.
The video is available on YouTube.

Date/Time: 21/6/2018 @ 21:30 UTC | 22/6/2018 @ 00:30 Arabian Standard Time (UTC+3)

Frequency: 7360 kHz

Receiver: Sony ICF-2010

Antenna: 30 LM Random Wire Antenna

Location: Turaif – Northern Borders Province – Saudi Arabia

Click here to view on YouTube.

North America

Canada

SWL: Richard Langley
Location: Hanwell, New Brunswick
Notes:
I obtained a good recording of the BAS broadcast here in New Brunswick, Canada, on 9455 kHz using a Tecsun PL-880 receiver outdoors at my house with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna strung to a nearby tree. Attached is a two-minute clip from the start of my recording. Also attached is a photo of the “listening post” at the back of my mosquito-infested backyard. Note the mosquito on the protective box housing the receiver and recorder!

You can hear my full half-hour recording, with more details on reception, on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive:

United States

SWL: Stan, WA1LOU
Location: Wolcott, CT
Notes:

https://youtu.be/3rGxxBMWiVw is “49 seconds of the 2019 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast as received at WA1LOU in Wolcott, CT, USA using an ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and Hy-Gain 18 AVT/WB-A vertical antenna. I programmed the four frequencies that were originally announced for the broadcast into the IC-R8600, but learned afterwords that only three were used (5875, 7360, 9455). I had solid copy on 9455 throughout the broadcast. 7360 had a lot of fading, but was still fair copy throughout the broadcast. 5875 was very poor copy during the last 10 minutes; there was no copy for the first 20 minutes.”

SWL: Bob (W2RWM)
Location: North Babylon, NY
Notes:

Receiving frequency was 7360 kHz. 5875 had a continuous buzz, 9455 was fading in and out too much to understand.

Location is on North Babylon, NY, USA

Equipment is a Yaesu FT-950 and an HyEndFed 80-10 meter antenna oriented North and South.

Hope this adds to the propagation summary.

Click here to download.

SWL: Don N7DCP
Location: South Africa (remotely controled from Idaho)
Notes:

This is Don, I am in southwest Idaho. Could only hear a slight carrier locally on 9455 MHz. So used a remote SDR in South Africa to record the audio file. Thanks and 73!

The GE 7-2990A (left) and Panasonic RF-B65 (right)

SWL: Thomas Witherspoon K4SWL
Location: Asheville, North Carolina
Notes:

Out of the the three Midwinter Broadcast frequencies (5875, 7360, and 9455 kHz), I could receive the 7,360 kHz signal from Ascension Island best.

Read my full report by clicking here.

Click here to view on YouTube.

Oceana

New Zealand

SWL: Chris Mackerell
Location: Marahau, New Zealand
Notes:

Here’s the first minute of the 2019 BBC Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast as heard here at my home in Marahau, New Zealand.

5875 is in USB to avoid the Stanag signal nearby, the others in Synchronous AM mode.

All three were easily readable here for the entire broadcast.

All received using the same Elad FDM-DUOr receiver & Wellbrook loop antenna.

South America

Brazil

SWL: Rodrigo de Araujo
Location: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Notes:

How are you? I’m PY4004SWL (Southeast Brazil).

For the first time I tried to listen to the BBC Solstice broadcast to Antarctica and it worked. The only problem is that I wrongly noted the 7350 frequency and with that I lost the Ascencion transmission in 7360, certainly the one that was best heard by the SWLs in my region. Still, I got “taped” 5875 and 9455, the latter with better results. I hope my recordings are useful to those who study propagation.

I have used two radios and 2 kinds of antennas that can be seen and a telescopic as well.

A) Sony SW7600GR

EF-SWL (End-fed):

9455/5875: https://youtu.be/sWgsojljqH4

9455: https://youtu.be/fJzBpiR1fS0

5875: https://youtu.be/HI4ZeNgVSQs

LOOPSTICK + Amplifier

5875: https://youtu.be/YCXdHqU2VyA

9455: https://youtu.be/mASlWRpvt5s

B) Tecsun PL310-ET

EF-SWL (End-fed)

5875: https://youtu.be/jDDu8yQ3CZc

9455: https://youtu.be/T7PsFFYMgb4

LOOPSTICK without amplifier:

9455: https://youtu.be/pctXFX4OUGA

http://youtu.be/x–Q8LvIWx0

5875: https://youtu.be/IVgezv9TE

TELESCOPIC

5875 https://youtu.be/9K6zxF0jKWo

9455: https://youtu.be/kR9NIjljSKk

Rodrigo de Araujo
Belo Horizonte
Brazil
PY4004SWL
www.ondasderadio.com.br

SWL: José Roberto da Silva Cunha
Location: Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Notes:
Geographical coordinates:
18 58´45´´ S
41 57´ 30´´ W
Grid locator: GH91ad

RX SONY ICF 2010
ANTENNA LONGWIRE 11 METERS

IN MY BLOG jrdxman.blogspot.com

Click here to watch on Vimeo.

Wow!

With the inclusion of Antarctica, this is the first year we’ve been sent reports from all continents! Amazing!

Once again, many thanks to all of you who submitted your recordings of the BBC Midwinter Broadcast!

We’ll be sharing this post with both the British Antarctic Survey and the BBC World Service. And to all of you, from the SWLing Post: Happy (Belated) Midwinter! Happy Summer/Winter Solstice!

Do you enjoy the SWLing Post?

Please consider supporting us via Patreon or our Coffee Fund!

Your support makes articles like this one possible. Thank you!

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From the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive: VOA and BBC on the anniversary of moon landing

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Eagle in lunar orbit photographed from Columbia. (Image: NASA)

There are a hundreds of fascinating off-air radio recordings in our Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

One of our frequent contributors, Tom Laskowski, has digitally converted numerous magnetic tape recordings from his personal collection to share with the archive. Tom made the following recording of the Voice of America on July 20, 1979 at 0500 UTC on the 31 meter band.

Tom notes:

The first 4:30 is from a VOA newscast that aired before the main part of the program.

The main recording was presented on the 10th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I enjoy listening to this every year on the landing anniversary.

I’ve enjoyed listening to this 10th anniversary presentation as we, today, celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing::

Click here to download this recording.

[Update:] Tom also shares another recording that marks this anniversary:

I thought this might be [another] appropriate file to upload considering we are marking the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11. I recorded this program thirty years ago on July 20, 1989 [5.975 MHz at 0400 UTC] the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Omnibus takes a look back at the historic Apollo mission and how and why it happened:

Click here to download the recording.

Thank you so much for sharing this, Tom!

Readers: Note that you can subscribe to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive as a podcast via iTunes or by using the following RSS feed: http://shortwavearchive.com/archive?format=rss You can also listen via TuneIn.

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Guest Post: Roseanna snags some unexpected FM DX

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Roseanna, who shares the following guest post originally published on her blog, The Girl with the Radio:

Unexpected FM madness!

I would like tho share with you a once in a lifetime Sporadic-E event that happened to me today along with videos of the catches I received during it.

It was about 12:00 UTC (1PM local time) and I was listening to NRJ on my personal FM transmitter (106.3MHz) when all of a sudden my pop music fuzzed and turned into classical music. It was then that I knew something was happening and I didn’t want to miss it!

I jumped up, got out my phone camera and started scanning around trying to find distant FM stations and my goodness did I get some amazing catches!

There was no tropo forecast for my area nor some of the places I heard and I wasn’t prepared in the slightest so I ask for your forgiveness on the shaky unprofessional footage and I hope you enjoy watching the following catches that I received!

For those interested my setup is a Sony ST-SE570 with a “bunny ear” telescopic aerial with the ground positioned vertically and the feed positioned horizontally. I put the feed to be facing at 90 degrees East to West.

Disclaimer: the order in which these stations were received has been altered to make this blog post more fun, the times in UTC are in the video titles for those of you interested in the chronological order in which I received these stations!

First stop: Czechia!

Click here to listen via YouTube.

This is an amazing catch to start us off; 10kW at 1300km with RDS!

Click here to listen via YouTube.

This one is even more impressive that the last one at 5.5kW with RDS, I still am surprised at these catches watching them back!!

Next stop: Romania!

Click here to listen via YouTube.

This catch is just insane. I have BBC Radio 2 on 88.1MHz and you can hear RRA and BBC R2 fighting to be heard!

Click here to listen via YouTube.

And this catch …. I have no words to describe my sheer amazement, surprise, shock and excitement hearing a station from Romania (Over 1800km / 1100 miles away) that is broadcasting at only 2kW. It is on the same frequency as France Musique broadcasting at 160kW which is much much closer; I still can’t believe I heard this at all!

After all that excitement we now stop over in Slovakia!

Click here to listen via YouTube.

This is a much less insane catch compared to the last few but it is still awesome! Disclaimer: I skipped a load of fading in the recording where it fades.

Click here to listen via YouTube.

And here is SRo 1 again, however this time a much lower powered transmitter compared to the last one and yet the signal is still really good and most of the RDS data was decode-able!

Click here to listen via YouTube.

Here is SRo 4, 20kW and some of the RDS decoded. an UnID was on 94.6MHz which made this quite awesome to get the RDS PI!

Click here to listen via YouTube.

And for our last stop in Slovakia we meet Fun Rádio, an 18kW station with RDS received!

Our last stop on our FM journey; Hungary!

Click here to listen via YouTube.

This is Retro Rádió a 50kW station in Hungary. It was broadcasting over BBC Radio Wiltshire and I even got RDS!

I hope you all enjoyed going on this radio tour of Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia with me, I certainly did!

Thank you ever so much for reading and watching and I hope to see you around for my next adventure!

And thank you, Roseanna, for taking us on your FM travels! Isn’t RDS an amazing tool for grabbing station IDs during these FM DX openings–? Well played! Again, many thanks as I enjoyed your FM tour of eastern Europe.

Post Readers: Check out Roseanna’s blog The Girl With the Radio!

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From the Post Archives: Honoring Memorial Day with Dame Vera Lynn

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The following Memorial Day post was originally published on May 25th, 2015:

Dame Vera Lynn

Today is Memorial Day, and I’m feeling humbly grateful to all of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Since I’ve been reading a lot of WWII history lately, I’ve also been playing a lot of WWII-era music here in my sanctuary to all things radio.

Few songs sum up the yearning sentiment of World War II better than Vera Lynn’s 1942 rendition of “The White Cliffs of Dover.” It’s an iconic song, one that helped British soldiers see beyond the war while mourning its painful toll. It was written in 1941 when England was taking heavy casualties, just before American allies joined the effort.

This morning, seeking something with a little authenticity, I played “The White Cliffs of Dover” though my SStran AM transmitter, and listened to it through “Scottie,” my WWII-era Scott Marine radio (above). I made this recording by placing my Zoom H2N recorder directly in front of the Scott’s built-in monitor speaker.

So here you go: a little radio tribute to all of those who fell–on both sides–of that infamous second world war.

And thanks to all who serve and have served in the name of “peace ever after.”

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen below:

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The Radio Kitchen: Down Under, Up And Over

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The following article originally appeared on The Radio Kitchen blog by Michael Pool, a.k.a. “The Professor.” In an effort to preserve his writings and recordings, we are republishing The Professor’s archived posts in a special collection here on the SWLing Post.

Note that not all of the original links and recordings could be recovered, but the majority have been.

Of course, all of the views and opinions in this article were those of The Professor.

“Down Under, Up And Over” was originally published on November 30, 2007.

Down Under, Up And Over

by The Professor

When get to fooling around with a shortwave radio I usually don’t have much of an idea of what I might come across, or where the broadcasts I may find will come from. If you happen to be hunting up something originating (or relayed) from a hot nearby transmitter, shortwave listening is almost as predictable and practical as AM or FM However, the real fun in scanning these forgotten bands is hunting for broadcasts from far-flung regions of the globe. It’s all about surfing those skywaves.

Instead of patiently scanning a SW broadcast band, this particular evening last July, I was quickly scanning several bands with my Degen 1103 looking for something, ah… exciting.

Okay, maybe “exciting” is the wrong word. I was fishing to find some exotic broadcast from far away, and preferably one in my native tongue. I’m sure there are other shortwave listeners who know what I mean. What gets my attention right away when trolling the HF bands is coming across an unfamiliar English language broadcast on a carrier marked by the scars of bouncing off the upper atmosphere a few times. Sure, It’s important that the reception has enough clarity to be understood, but shortwave radio waves from far over the horizon are infused with the sounds of the electrical and magnetic activity surrounding our planet. The audio itself often has an edge, even when listening with agile and fancy receivers. An aquired taste, the sonic anamolies of distant shortwave broadcasts have an inate musicallity, which you may appreciate once your ears adjust to them. And the last time I heard the clear mutated throb of a strong distant transmitter traversing the globe was last July. I was sitting under the stars in the Michigan countryside when from over eight-four hundred miles away, New Zealand came calling.

RNZI (Radio New Zealand International) doesn’t seem to have any worldwide coverage mandate like CRI (China), the BBC or VOA or something. Their main purpose is as a regional service for the South Pacific. Dotted with a scads of far-flung islands, their broadcast zone actually covers a huge swath of the Earth’s surface. So just by making a point of covering this region well, RNZI is a major player in international broadcasting. (And sadly, I can’t remember when I picked up the BBC World Service as well as I heard New Zealand RNZI that evening.)

From my casual and primitive DXing experience, many powerful shortwave stations from around the world can be picked up from Eastern North America, as long as the signal doesn’t originate from anywhere directly blocked by the massive mountains of the top three quarters of the North American Continental Divide. In other words, with a booming transmitter from the closer sections of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South America are the most likely catches from overseas. Deeper into these zones and continents (and Asia in general) are difficult terrain for DXing rewards from here. That said, with my limited portable equipment I’ve been able to pick up signals from at least three of the major broadcasters from the Southern Orient– India, Australia and New Zealand. I’ve always assumed that these signals ride skywaves over the lower mountains of the Southwest and Central America. But I’m no expert.

I do know that all the overseas states located directly west of the tall Rockies who are serious about reaching US citizens via shortwave rent relay transmitter time from Canada, as well as sites in the Carribean and Europe). In fact, if you happen to come across international broadcasts from Vietnam, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan or Thailand on shortwave in Eastern North America, you’re probably hearing a relayed transmission from several hundred miles away. But the recording I’m offering here is of reception from from far across the world. Considering the distance travelled, the reception here is fairly healthy. A little hairy, but practical. And there’s no local RF noise getting in the way. You really can hear the details it if you pay attention.

Radio New Zealand International pt 1 – 9615kHz – 07-07-07 0644 UTC 15:05

(download)

This first bit is an interview with Canadian chemist and author Penny LeCouteur discussing her book about molecules that have changed the world. Of note here– the legacy of how James Cook and ascorbic acid made the south seas safe for European explorers and colonists.

Then the cassette came to an abrupt stop, and the part two of this recording begins with the flip of the the tape. At the onset of this archive the interview is aborted in mid-sentence and a female announcer formally announces that Radio New Zealand International is closing on this frequency. After twice insisting that I “re-tune to six-zero-nine-five kilohertz in the forty-nine meter band” (followed by a clipped “This is New Zealand”), it all sounds so damn official that I felt compelled to follow the instructions. Although I knew that just because RNZI was booming in on 31 meters didn’t necessarily mean it would come in so strong (or might even be heard) on the 49 meter band.

You hear RNZI’s interval signal (the call of the New Zealand Bellbird) after the station ID, and then the signal at 9165kHz goes dead. I then put the tape deck on pause and punch up 6095 kHz on the Degen and release the pause button. And there it was! The call of the Bellbird is quite clear there as well, although a nearby signal is chewing on the edges of the reception a bit.

Radio New Zealand International p2 2 – 9615 & 6095kHz – 07-07-07 0658 UTC 28:55

(download)

Whoever is running the board down there in the South Pacific was a little sloppy that night. After the interval signal the board-op starts to pot up the interview again (which is still running on one of the channels). But the mistake is corrected in a fraction of second, and it’s the news with Phil O’Brien. The lead story, a nationwide “Drunk Drive Blitz” the night before had netted over two-hundred inebriated kiwis on the highways down there. And an update on the aftermath of an unprecedented swarm of tornados that ravaged the North Island a couple of nights earlier.

After the news, it’s the beginning of a program I can barely believe I’m hearing in 2007. A faux flapper-era theme song launches a “nostalgia packed selection of favorites” that will saturate the skies of Oceania for the next four hours. While I love a lotta old music, the whole idea of “nostalgia” can get a little silly. Although I must say that old Joe Franklin used to pull it off with some charm on WOR here in New York City before he gave up the show a few years back. It’s really an approach to radio that’s all but dead here in the states. But apparently not in New Zealand.

As you’ll hear if you brave through this chunk of pulsing and buzzy DX radio, there are a couple of corny numbers to wade through. But I gotta tell you, that sitting outside in the middle of the night with an artifact-drenched AM signal from the other side of the world filling my headphones, it felt reassuringly twentieth-century. Maybe you’ll hear what I mean. And the Paul Robeson and Mills Brothers seemed quite appropriate.

I guess a little nostalgia isn’t so bad.

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Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Educación (XEPPM-OC)

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Thanks to a tip from SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, I spent some air time with an old friend last night: Radio Educación broadcasting from Mexico City on 6,185 kHz.

Like a lot of small Central and South American shortwave stations, I believe XEPPM only broadcasts at 1,000 watts–though in the past, I believe they were allowed 10,000 watts. Still, their signal often makes it into eastern North America with relative ease, although it’s rare that it’s so clear. As summer approaches here in the northern hemisphere, QRN (noise from natural sources, like thunder storms) will rise on the 49 meter band. Even last night, there were some mild static crashes.

I tuned in around 01:25 UTC (April 1, 2019) with the WinRadio Excalibur and heard some amazing jazz, so I had to hit the record button.

For your listening pleasure, here’s the one hour ten minute recording I made: