Category Archives: Recordings

Chris field records NHK while traveling in Peru

SWLing Post reader, Chris, has just shared a recording of NHK World he made while traveling in Peru on Monday (April 21st, 2014).

Yes, that’s his photo above taken in the picturesque coastal town of Máncora. Can you tell I’m envious?

Chris recorded this broadcast starting at 10:00 UTC on 9,625 kHz with a Sony ICF-SW7600G and using a Sangean ANT-60 antenna. The actual recording was made with Chris’ Sony ICD SX712 digital recorder and he uploaded it using a Dell Windows 8.1 (8 inch) tablet.

That, Chris, is a nice field recording combo!

Click here to download his recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. This recording will also be available on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

BBC World Service features DRM

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In this BBC World Service report, Mark Whittaker explores Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) and, especially, its potential in India. Use the embedded player or link below to listen:

listen to ‘Digital Shortwave: a radio revolution ’ on Audioboo

(Source: Audioboo via Tarmo Tanilsoo on Facebook)

You’ll note the BBC World Service fails to mention that DRM has been in use now for over a decade.

The report ends by suggesting that portable DRM receivers will be on the market in a few months. Even if DRM radios start appearing, whether or not they’ll be effective and inexpensive remains to be seen. So far, portable DRM radios have been mediocre performers (at best) and relatively expensive.

Don’t get me wrong: I would love to see DRM take hold, I just have my doubts. DRM might stand a chance if a manufacturer like Tecsun were to build an inexpensive portable radio, with a form factor much like that of their other portables. If they made a DRM version of the PL-380, for example, it could be a winner for both the company and the medium/mode.

By the way, if you’ve never heard what DRM sounds like over the shortwaves, I just posted a fifty eight minute recording of All India Radio on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. Contributor, Mark Fahey, recorded the broadcast from his home in Australia.

I’ve embedded a link to the audio below, but you can listen to the broadcast and read Mark’s notes on the shortwave archive (click here).

Shortwave Radio Recordings: ABC Radio Far North as Cyclone Ita makes landfall

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Mark Fahey, who has shared this special recording: a shortwave relay of the ABC Far North radio service.

Mark explains:

“ABC Radio (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Far North (Queensland, Australia) Emergency Broadcast Service during the period that Severe Tropical Cyclone was making landfall in Australia’s Far North Queensland region. This capture of the shortwave broadcast was made near Sydney, Australia on 6.15MHz at 2119 Queensland Time (1119 UTC) on the 11th April 2014. The broadcast was being transmitted via a re-purposed Radio Australia transmitter in Shepperton, Victoria.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Ita is a tropical cyclone that crossed the coast of Queensland, Australia on 11 April 2014. The system was first identified over the Solomon Islands as a tropical low on 1 April 2014, and gradually moved westward, eventually reaching cyclone intensity on 5 April. On 10 April, Ita intensified rapidly into a powerful Category 5 system on the Australian Scale, but it weakened significantly in the hours immediately precedinglandfall the following day. At the time of landfall at Cape Flattery at 12 April 22:00 (UTC+10), Dvorak intensity was approximately T5.0, consistent with a weak Category 4 system, and considerably lower than T6.5 observed when the system was at maximal intensity. Meteorologists noted the system had, at such time, developed a secondary eyewall which weakened the inner eyewall; as a result, the system was considerably less powerful than various intensity scales predicted. Ita’s impact on terrain was attenuated accordingly.”

Click here to download this recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Note that this broadcast has also been added to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive—please subscribe to our podcast to receive future recordings automatically.

Pirate Radio Recordings: Chairman of the Board Radio

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For your listening pleasure: a short 20 minute broadcast from the pirate radio station, Chairman of the Board Radio–recorded Saturday, April 12, 2014 starting around 3:30 UTC.

Chairman of the Board Radio was broadcasting on 6,935 kHz in the upper side band. As you’ll hear, the signal was quite strong, with just a little compression noise.

I really enjoyed this short set of Frank Sinatra tunes. You’ll hear the station ID at the end with a shout out to listeners in Chicago.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3 or simply listen via the embedded player below: