Alvin Lee (19 December 1944 – 6 March 2013) (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
This past weekend, Radio Ronin Shortwave broadcast a tribute to guitarist Alvin Lee, who passed away on March 6th.
As always, Ronin’s AM signal came in loud and clear on 6.925 MHz, starting around 00:15 UTC (March 11th, 2013).
Listen for yourself by downloading the audio as an MP3, or simply listening via the embedded player below. Of course, I included Ronin’s (most excellent) interval signal in this recording:
For more information, check out Fenu’s website.
Pope Francis I (Photo: Vatican Radio)
A few moments ago, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected Pope, becoming the first pontiff from the Americas, and taking the name Pope Francis I. When breaking news like this is happens, I often turn to shortwave radio to hear it “from the source;” what better station for news about the Papal elections than Vatican Radio? Right?
Hm. When I turned to Vatican Radio on 13.765 MHZ at 20:00 UTC today, here is what I heard:
After a little music and announcement confusion–including what sounds like at least three audio feeds coming in at once–Vatican Radio settles on an announcement program which states, in several languages, “Vatican Radio’s programming schedule is currently being modified to cover the election of the new Pope.”
It wasn’t until thirty minutes later (20:30 UTC), when the Vatican Radio service to Africa started in French on 11.625 MHz, that I heard any substantive news about the new Pope:
Of course, I can find information about the new Pope from any one of two million different online sources, but it did surprise me that Vatican Radio wasn’t better prepared for this event. I even wondered if there was a different broadcast running on a consecutive frequency, so I checked; all were identical, however.
Still, the radio archivist in me can’t help but experience some appreciation of the confusion on the airwaves. After all, this is a genuine piece of radio history and a fascinating thirty minutes of audio in the wake of a big decision.
In my mind, I envision the Vatican Radio staff frantically stirring to assemble news–for which they had no advance notice–regarding the new Pope. No doubt, the CNNs, BBCs, and Al Jazeeras of the world had pre-prepared material on each of the papal candidates. When the white plume of smoke announcing the election was first spotted, these broadcasters were likely more than ready to pull out the appropriate material and publish.
Perhaps this is not how Vatican Radio usually operates. Indeed, I suspect their live feed of events experienced a technical difficulty which they have, no doubt, since resolved. And for what it’s worth, their website was appropriately up-to-date.
History: sometimes bumpy, but always fascinating. Especially on the airwaves.
Two months ago, I posted that David Goren, talented radio producer and shortwave radio artist, created a Numbers Station installation in the Secret Wars exhibition at the Proteus Gowanus gallery in Brooklyn, NY.
David has recently published the audio that accompanies his installation.
Take note that this is not a radio documentary–rather, it’s an expansion of his original piece, and part of his sound installation at Proteus Gowanus. Enjoy:
This morning, around 11:15 UTC, I caught a pirate that I had never heard on air before: Boombox Radio.
Though rather weak, over the course of their 31 minute broadcast on 6,925 kHz AM, the signal did increase significantly (possibly as propagation improved).
I was very surprised to hear a North American pirate on at this time of the morning.
Click here to download the full recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
Boombox, great to hear you on the air!
“Turn up the radio Jim, I think I hear Stereophonics!”
For your listening pleasure: three hours of the pirate radio station X-FM.
This broadcast was recorded this morning, starting around 2:00 UTC, on 6,950 kHz AM. X-FM can even be received in C-Quam stereo–something I have yet to try.
This is a 10 year anniversary broadcast of X-FM and has an excellent mix of music (everything from Indie rock to trance) and Redhat’s live commentary. Superb signal strength, too.
You can download the recording of X-FM by clicking here, or simply listen via the embedded player below (note that I included X-FM’s full seven minute interval signal/leader):
Standard Pirate Radio Disclaimer: Though X-FM is quite a professional pirate (is there such a thing?), this is a recording of a real pirate radio broadcast, and as such, may include colorful language. In general, if you are easily offended by the words, ideas, music lyrics, or music herein, you should slowly…back… away…
Nauen Transmitter Station (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
The Mighty KBC will be broadcasting the Giant Jukebox this weekend, Sunday (00:00 to 02:00 UTC) on their new 7,375 kHz frequency.
For those of us in North America, this broadcast will be Saturday evening (tonight!) from 19:00-21:00 EST. Last Sunday, March 3rd, 2013, was the KBC’s first broadcast from Nauen, Germany, packing 125 kW.
More of Kim Elliott’s digital text in this broadcast, too–faster modes this time. At about 0130 UTC, MFSK64 will be centered on 1000 Hertz, and PSKR250 on 2000 hertz. At just before 0200 UTC, MFSK32 images will be centered on 800, 1500 and 2300 Hz.
Decode using Fldigi from www.w1hkj.com.