Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and noted political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, who shares the following illustrated radio listening report of recent Vatican Radio & BBC broadcasts.
Carlos notes:
Vatican Radio & BBC: Pope Leo XIV begins Africa trip
Greetings all SWLing Post community. Here’s news of what Imaginary Stations will be bringing to the airwaves this weekend. Thanks to the services of Shortwave Gold we have a broadcast of the great Radio Carillon. The first transmission is on Saturday 18th April at 1100 hrs UTC on 6160 kHz and then again on Sunday 19th April at 0900/1300 UTC on 6160 kHz and 2000 hrs on 3975 kHz/6160 kHz.
Tune in and hopefully at the end of the hour your ears won’t be ringing but will have taken delight in listening to songs about bells, songs with bells and hopefully, some slow ballads played on “a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells.” Tune in and enjoy a wonderful hour of ringing and singing on shortwave.
If you tune into WRMI on Wednesday 22nd April 2026 at 0200 UTC on 9395 kHz you’ll hear the only official supermarket music station on HF called KMRT. Expect bargains, Blue Light Specials, instore giveaways at 30 minutes past the hour and a load of tin cans without the labels on them which will be sold as: 4 mystery tins for the price of 1. (What’s inside? That’s between you and your can opener.)”* Tune in and enjoy the thrills and spills of the supermarket from the comfort of your own home!
*subject to availability
For more information on all our shows, please write to us at [email protected] and check out our old shows at our Mixcloud page here.
FastRadioBurst23
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia, for sharing this announcement from Radio Prague International, which invites listeners to help celebrate its 90th anniversary by sharing their own stories and memories connected to the station. As part of the celebration, Radio Prague is highlighting its rich history and global audience engagement built over decades of international broadcasting. ?
Read the full article here: https://english.radio.cz/your-story-our-history-celebrate-90-years-radio-prague-international-us-8883445
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Terry (N5RTC), who shares the following schedules for Texas Radio Shortwave (click image to enlarge):
Greetings all SWLing Post community. This weekend, Imaginary Stations brings you yet another episode of CLOK, a radio tribute to that popular concept that we call time. The first transmission is on Saturday 11th April at 1100 hrs UTC on 6160 kHz and then again on Sunday 15th April at 0900/1300 UTC on 6160 kHz and 2000 hrs on 3975 kHz/6160 kHz (via the services of Shortwave Gold). Programme 3 features all sorts of time tributes, songs about cuckoo clocks, diver’s watches and if all goes to plan (and time is not an issue), a world exclusive, the debut of the band The Watchstraps live in the studio. Make sure to wind up your watch and check you are in the right time zone to enjoy this 60-minute show on shortwave.
If you tune into WRMI on Wednesday 15th April 2026 at 0200 UTC on 9395 kHz Imaginary Stations bring you a sonic salute to “The king of them all” with a programme called KING. King Records was founded by Syd Nathan in Cincinnati Ohio and featured Country & Western, Rhythm & Blues, Rock & Roll, James Brown and lots more from 1943-1975 and it’s a wonderful tribute show.
For more information on all our shows, please write to us at [email protected] and check out our old shows at our Mixcloud page here.
FastRadioBurst23
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Alan Roe, who shares his A-26 (version 1.0) season guide to music on shortwave. Alan provides this amazing resource as a free PDF download.
Click here to download Music on Shortwave A-26 v1.0 (PDF)
Alan has also created at-a-glance, single-page PDF programme grids for BBC World Service, CGTN Radio, Radio Romania International, Voice of Turkey, and Radio Taiwan International — all updated for the A-26 broadcast season. If you’d like to download these, visit Alan’s Box account here: http://tinyurl.com/shortwaveprograms
As always, thank you for sharing your excellent guide, Alan!
This dedicated page will always have the latest version of Alan’s guide available for download.
by Dan Greenall
A half century ago, the BBC World Service used a number of different interval signals. A few minutes prior to the start of a broadcast, a recognizable, often repeating tune would be played that would enable listeners to more easily locate the BBC in a crowded band on a typical analog receiver.
A peek into the 1975 World Radio TV Handbook notes a few of these. There was the Morse signal V (as in, V for Victory), primarily used for broadcasts to Europe. It was also identified as 4 notes tuned B-B-B-E, and an example can be found on Jerry Johnston’s page of shortwave interval signals:
https://www.iaswww.com/swmp3/intervalsignals/simple_is.php
Next, a version of the children’s nursery rhyme “Oranges and Lemons” was used during the 1970’s, and I have managed to save a recording of it here:
https://archive.org/details/oranges-and-lemons_202510
Then, there were the three notes “B-B-C” in tonic scale. This was assigned to the World Service for Africa and other services.
Finally, though not listed in this edition of the handbook, was the highly recognizable sound of the Bow Bells. This one came into common use during World War Two when it was broadcast as a symbol of hope for the people of Europe. At least one source states that the original recording was made in 1926, now 100 years ago. Many recordings of the Bow Bells interval signal can be found online via YouTube.
More recently, many of the BBC World Service broadcasts seem to start up very abruptly. An open carrier appears on the frequency to be used only minutes, or even seconds, before the program (already in progress) begins. One example is noted in this recording made on February 5, 2026, just prior to 2200 UTC sign-on, on a frequency of 11645 kHz.
However, two of the above-mentioned tuning signals appear to still be occasionally in use. The three-note B-B-C was observed on March 4, 2026, at 0028 UTC on 7445 kHz. This recording was made through a Kiwi SDR on the island of Cyprus.
I also logged them using their Bow Bells interval signal on December 28, 2025 at 2358 UTC on 6155 kHz while listening on a Kiwi SDR in Thailand. Here is how they sounded then.
As well, SRAA reporter Paul Walker noted reception of the Bow Bells back in September 2025 on 9410 kHz. Follow this link to his report:
I would be curious if other listeners have heard any of these interval signals recently preceding BBC World Service broadcasts.