Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

Shortwave Radio Recordings: The Mighty KBC

This episode of The Giant Jukebox features one of my favorites from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

The Mighty KBC broadcast again early this morning (from 00:00-02:00 UTC) on 9,450 kHz. Their signal was quite strong into North America and there was very little interference of any sort. As we’ve come to expect, the KBC’s Giant Jukebox of music has a lot of rock-n-roll variety, spanning the decades.

And as I’ve mentioned before, perhaps what I love most about The Mighty KBC is their format; it harkens back to the day when my local radio stations had professional DJ’s behind the mic, people who loved music and loved their job. Thanks to Eric and The Mighty KBC for blasting the Giant Jukebox across the planet! I look forward to their broadcast every weekend.

You can listen to the full recording below in the embedded player, or simply right click this link and save the MP3 file to your computer:

You’ll notice that Kim Elliott has another installation of digital text modes in this broadcast. At about 01:30 UTC, Olivia 8-2000 will be centered on 1500 Hertz, and PSKR125 centered on 2800 Hertz. At just before 02:00 UTC, images in MFSK32 will be at 1000 and 2000 Hertz, with another image in MFSK16 at 2600 Hertz.

Decode these digital modes using Fldigi from www.w1hkj.com.

The Mighty KBC is moving the Giant Jukebox to 7.375 MHz, March 3rd

Annual C.Crane sale on “orphan” radios

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Listen to Cuban Spy Numbers Station HM01

9 Replies

Numbers stations have always been a dark oddity that pop up from time-to-time in the course of shortwave radio listening. There is unquestionably an air of mystery and intrigue which surrounds them. With the release of the movie The Numbers Station, many non-SWLers may be enticed to explore the HF bands. A good thing, as it may draw fresh interest to this classic radio hobby.

I have heard numbers stations since I first started listening to shortwave radio broadcasts some thirty years ago, and I find that I often pause to listen (and to wonder) when I come across one on the bands. The numbers station I hear most often, though the country of origin cannot be confirmed, is in Cuba–well, at least, we’re pretty certain of that. The same female voice, reading numbers in Spanish, has been Cuba’s calling card in the spy numbers world for some time.

Two weeks ago, on a Sunday morning between 10:00-11:00 UTC, I captured the Cuban spy numbers station widely recognized as HM01 (Hybrid Mode Number 01) on 5,855 kHz. HM01 broadcasts a mixture of AM voice and digital file transfer modes intermixed within the same transmission. The voice heard is the familiar Spanish female voice described above; the digital portion of the broadcast uses a mode called RDFT, a differential phase shift keying mode that has never become popular or standard in the ham radio world. If you’re feeling adventurous, the Windows software DIGTRX (download here) can decode RDFT. Let us know what, if anything, you discover…

You can click here to download the entire HM01 broadcast as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Finally: Official trailer for the movie The Numbers Station with John Cusack and Malin Akerman

10 Replies

The long-awaited trailer for the new movie, The Numbers Station:

We first mentioned the The Numbers Station in 2011, when it was still being filmed.

In this film, John Cusack’s character, Emerson, has been given the task of protecting Katherine (Malin Akerman), the operator of a shortwave numbers station that broadcasts encrypted messages to operatives. When the station is compromised in a surprise attack, they must work together to secure it and prevent distater.

According to the website The Digital Spy, The Numbers Station is scheduled for release in the US on April 26, though a UK release date has not yet been confirmed.

If you’re new to shortwave radio and wish to listen to numbers stations, follow the category Numbers Stations–we will post updates on the movie as well as several recordings of real numbers stations still in existence.

The relevance of shortwave radio for UNESCO’s World Radio Day 2013

1 Reply

Student in Uganda tunes an Ears To Our World self-powered shortwave radio. (Photo: ETOW partner, The Empower Campaign, Uganda)

Wednesday, February 13th 2013 is World Radio Day. UNESCO describes World Radio Day as “a day to celebrate radio as a medium; to improve international cooperation between broadcasters; and to encourage major networks and community radio alike to promote access to information and freedom of expression over the airwaves.”

A worthy cause.

UNESCO asked me to record a segment about our non-profit, Ears To Our World, and the relevance of radio in honor of World Radio Day.

Here’s my (brief) contribution: