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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Pettifor, who writes:
One of the great things about DXing and SWLing is the variety of music one can hear. One of my favorite stations to listen to on shortwave for “exotic music” was Radio Tahiti, Papeete, French Polynesia, when they were still on shortwave.
If my memory serves me correctly, I believe something happened to the transmitter, and they never got back on SW. They were on mediumwave through December of 2016 (738 kHz); now they are on FM only. (Maybe us hobbyists should start a funding website to put them back on shortwave!)
Many a Saturday night I would turn on the DX-160 (my first SW rig) and let it warm up for a while, before tuning in 15170 to see how band conditions were. If the band was good, I’d get ready to record through the air. Once I started recording, I’d often leave the room and shut the door, because having three brothers around meant the possibilities were high for having “extraneous interference” on my recordings.
Saturday evenings were a good time to tune in, because of a music program that aired with a good selection of island music. The program had an announcer who spoke in the island vernacular (Tahitian?), and when that program ended they switched to French.
Here is a 30-min recording of Radio Tahiti on 15170 kHz from a while ago, most likely around one of the solar maxima of either 1980 or 1991. I’m leaning toward the 1980 cycle. My apologies for not being able to be more specific than that. I kept terrible records of my recordings. This would be recorded either with the DX-160 or a DX-302. Apologies too for the jump in volume at around the 2:37 mark.
So close your eyes, imagine you are lying in a hammock on a beach somewhere in the South Pacific, with a warm breeze off the ocean and your favorite cooled beverage nearby, listening to some of the best island music anywhere.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who discovered that the Bhutan Broadcasting Service was on the air Friday with an uncharacteristically strong signal into Europe. Dan made the following screencast of his reception using the University Twente WebSDR on August 31, 2018 on 6,035 kHz starting around 2024 UTC:
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following recordings and writes:
With the news over the past few years, and especially over the last few weeks, of the rapid decline of Venezuela, it’s interesting to recall that there was a day when that country was a powerhouse on the shortwave band, with numerous private radio stations that SWL’s around the world could hear in the 90, 60, 49, 31, and 19 meter bands.
There was also a brief attempt to put Venezuela on the map as an international broadcaster, with Radio Nacional de Venezuela which was audible at good signal levels.
Our thanks to Dan for this 45 minute recording, found in Dan’s archives of recordings, from 2004 when Radio Nacional de Venezuela was on the air in October 2004:
Dan, thank you so much for sharing these excellent off-air recordings! I will also add these to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. We look forward to any other recordings you might turn up in your archives.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gary DeBock, who shares the following notes and recordings from the latest Rockwork DXpedition.
Top Ten DU signals from the August 2018 Rockwork DXpedition
– Gary DeBock
Life is good– breathtaking ocean scenery, an innovative compact antenna, thunderous DU signals and even a partner (Craig Barnes) to share in the bounty. Who could ask for more?
Listed below are the Top Ten DU signals recorded during the recent Rockwork ocean cliff trip (near Manzanita, Oregon) from August 1-9, including several low-powered Kiwi stations which acted like “big guns” pretty much throughout the DXpedition. All of these were recorded with 7.5″ loopstick portables (CC Skywave SSB and XHDATA D-808) and “Airport Unfriendly” 15″ and 17″ FSL antennas (guaranteed to send TSA agents into a security alert).
531 More FM Alexandra, New Zealand, 2 kW The obscure modern rock station usually managed at least one S9 peak each morning, and was fully competitive with Kiwi co-channel PI for the first time. This TOH recording at 1300 on 8-8 demonstrates its potent capability at the cliff
531 PI Auckland, New Zealand, 5 kW Pacific island music at a huge level at 1248 on 8-7 was typical from this low band powerhouse, which was frequently in an all-Kiwi snarl with its overachieving co-channel More FM
558 Radio Fiji One Suva, Fiji, 10 kW The donated Japanese transmitter still puts out awesome signals for this native-language powerhouse, including this island music with a Song Medley ID (“Radio Fiji One, na domoiviti”) at 1:38 into this recording at 1252 on 8-1
567 RNZ National Wellington, New Zealand, 50 kW After demolition of its old tower the RNZ big gun has sometimes sounded anemic on the west coast, but certainly not at 1320 on 8-3 with Indian-accented English
585 7RN Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 10 kW The RN network Tasmanian must have somehow hacked into the Kiwi propagation pipeline at 1306 on 8-6; at the time it was much stronger than its 576 parallel
594 Star Timaru/ Wanganui, New Zealand 5 kW/ 2 kW Another Kiwi overachiever, this low powered network was socking it to the Oz big gun 3WV all week, including with this powerful Christian music // 657 at 1326 on 8-3
657 Star Wellington, Tauranga, New Zealand 50 kW/ 10 kW The flagship Star station sure was playing the part with Christian music at an overwhelming level at 1238 on 8-6, including an ID at the end of the recording
765 Radio Kahungunu Napier-Hastings, New Zealand 2.5 kW The overachieving Maori station was its usual potent self with island music and Maori chants at 1218 on 8-1; it was usually slightly stronger than its 603 parallel (Waatea)
936 Chinese Voice Auckland, New Zealand 1 kW One of the most incredible signals of the entire DXpedition– the 1 kW ethnic station pounds into the cliff at an S9 level at 1309 on 8-2– ocean cliff propagation at its finest!
1017 A3Z Nuku’alofa, Tonga 10 kW Yikes! The rejuvenated Pacific island big gun thunders into the cliff with the strongest signal I’ve ever heard recorded in North America, featuring island music at 1314 on 8-1… almost loud enough to wake up the sleeping squatters
Gary DeBock (DXing at the Rockwork ocean cliff near Manzanita, Oregon, USA with Craig Barnes from August 1-9)
Thank you for sharing those catches, Gary! It’s amazing what DX you can snag with an ultralight radio and a homebrew FSL loop antenna. Someday, I hope to join you guys on the cliff!
FSL Antennas poised to grab DX! (Photo: Gary DeBock)
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gary DeBock, who shares an update from the latest Rockwork (Utralight) DXpedition. Gary notes (in bold):
First day FSL antenna setup at the Rockwork 5 ocean cliff near Manzanita, Oregon (Craig Barnes in the photo)– outstanding conditions for 558-Fiji and 1017-Tonga!
558 Radio Fiji One Suva, Fiji Awesome signal with island music and medley song ID on the half hour at 1230 (including “Radio Fiji One, Na Domoiviti” at 1:36) :
Two YouTube videos just crossed my path which sparked the question.
The brothers allegedly recorded transmissions from failed Russian Manned Space flights before the successful flight of Yuri Gagarin. I remember reading about these when I was growing up. The second video contains a snippet of a voice recording from a supposed female cosmonaut as she reports rising cockpit temperatures before she died.
Many a Saturday night I would turn on the DX-160 (my first SW rig) and let it warm up for a while, before tuning in 15170 to see how band conditions were. If the band was good, I’d get ready to record through the air. Once I started recording, I’d often leave the room and shut the door, because having three brothers around meant the possibilities were high for having “extraneous interference” on my recordings.
