Plaza de Cibeles–MAdrid, Spain (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
For your listening pleasure: one hour, fifty minutes of Radio Exterior de España.
Recorded on September 16, 2013, starting at 00:00 UTC on 9,535 kHz.
Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
On occasion, I hear the Cuban numbers station HM01 on 5,855 kHz on weekday mornings.
It seems that many of the mornings as I listen, I hear HM01 making mistakes or at least experiencing “technical difficulties” (click here for a recent case in point).
Though I don’t often record HM01, I did record it on the morning of September 20, 2013––and, yet again, I heard what seemed to be HM01 tripping over its own tongue.
Instead of the broadcast starting with numbers to identify the transmission, then implementing intermittent RDFT data bursts as per usual, this broadcast begins in the middle of a data burst, then shuffles awkwardly into a “normal” broadcast. I imagine an operative in the field scratching his or her head…
But hear this for yourself. Either click here to download an MP3 of the recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
22 September 2002; A general view of Croke Park at 3.29pm, a minute before the start of the game. Kerry v Armagh, All Ireland Football Final, Croke Park, Dublin. (Photo credit; Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE)
Sunday afternoon, I was at home to catch a bit of the GAA finals via RTÉ on 17,725 kHz, starting around 15:00 UTC.
I enjoy hearing sporting events broadcast over shortwave–perhaps it’s my imagination filling in the gaps from the live coverage or the washy sound of the crowds roaring. Regardless, RTÉ has a long-standing track record of broadcasting the GAA finals on every medium possible.
As I listened to the live broadcast, Sunday, I read Norman Freeman’s account of listening to the GAA finals from a ship in the Indian Ocean, back in 1956. He writes:
“Almost 50 years ago, listening to the All-Ireland by radio was uncertain and frustrating.
In 1956, RTÉ knew how much the All-Ireland meant to the Irish diaspora. Arrangements were made with the authorities in the then French Congo to have the match rebroadcast the following evening, on the powerful short-wave transmitter in Brazzaville.
The time and frequencies were published in the Irish newspapers. This information was sent by letter to the Irish on oil rigs off the coast of Borneo, to round-the-year painters on Brooklyn Bridge, and to missionaries within sight of Mount Kilimanjaro.
I had noted the time and frequencies before I was sent out to Mumbai to join my first ship, the Amra, as second radio officer. The hurling final was between two giants, Cork and Wexford.”
[Continue reading…]
While Freeman doesn’t miss the uncertainty and fickle nature of shortwave radio as the messenger of his favorite sporting event, his look back is certainly nostalgic. After all, Radio Brazzaville transported Freeman and his boss back to Ireland for the length of the game. And to RTÉ’s credit, they continue to broadcast to the Irish diaspora on shortwave radio, if only for this event.
If you would like to hear my recording of the GAA Finals, click here to download the MP3 recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
“Whoa! Timmy, is that Europe calling?”
You’ll typically find North American radio pirates here on the SWLing Post, but on occasion, I do manage to pull in a station or two from Europe. Last night was one of those rare occasions, and I have Ragnar at Pirates Week to thank for the tip.
I tuned in Europirate Radio Borderhunter on 15,500 kHz AM, starting around 21:50 UTC. For an AM signal out of Europe, I was most impressed with Radio Borderhunter‘s strong signal.
I recorded about forty minutes of the pirate’s broadcast before propagation shifted. He then moved down to 6,210 kHz in the 48 meter band, a prime Europirate hangout, to continue his show.
Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
By the way, check out Ragnar’s latest podcast on Pirates Week!
The Citadel of the Time Lords on Gallifrey (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Last night, I recorded pirate station, Radio Gallifrey Intergalactic.
RGI appeared on 6,935 kHz USB and started their broadcast with a set of audio sweeps (which looked rather distinctive on my SDR’s waterfall), followed by tones and then straight into the Dr. Who theme.
What followed was a free-form set of spacy electronic music; from ambient to trance. You’ll hear their station ID in Morse code.
Click here to download an MP3 of the full broadcast, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
For your listening pleasure: the BBC World Service Hausa language service recorded on 17,885 kHz on September 16, 2013, starting at 19:30 UTC. This BBC WS broadcast originated from a 250 kW transmitter located on Ascension Island in the south Atlantic ocean.
Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
Syria is one of the biggest international news items at the moment. If you want to hear Russia’s side of the story, there’s no better place than via the Voice of Russia.
Many thanks to Shortwave Radio Audio Archive contributor, Frank, for submitting this recording of the Voice of Russia English language service. Frank recorded this broadcast on September 14, 2013 starting at 22:00 on 9,465 kHz with his Kenwood R-5000 receiver.
Click here to download an MP3 of the broadcast, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
