Category Archives: Shortwave Radio

Final episode of the final Maple Leaf Mailbag now online

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On Facebook, Wojtek Gwiazda kindly shared the following message from Terry Haig (who has been subbing for Ian Jones on the MLMB):

Dear Friends,
I am distraught that the final edition of the MLMB did not go out properly this past weekend because of technical glitches. The show can be heard on line by clicking on the search button on the RCI website and writing in “Maple Leaf Mailbag.” Then hit “programs” and click “listen.”

My apologies that we could not spend our final hour together as planned. Once again, I thank you all for your undying love, support, insight, graciousness and generosity. You are wonderful and magical.

I shall never forget you. Be well, everyone. Au Revoir and peace!
Terry H.

———————————————————
To hear the programme just click here:
http://www.rcinet.ca/english/archives/program/the-maple-leaf-mailbag/home/

I should note that, the Maple Leaf Mailbag was one of my favorite RCI shows to catch on shortwave. It was informal, quirky, interactive and always fun. It also had a very strong international listenership. Terry has been an excellent sub, but admittedly, I’ve really missed hearing my good friend Ian Jones on the show.

Help us record shortwave history: Radio Canada International’s final day of broadcasts

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RCI's Sackville Transmission Site

As many SWLing Post listeners know, today marks the end of an era. Radio Canada International is being forced to conclude many decades of shortwave radio services in a short-sighted attempt to cut costs. In lieu of exploring numerous cost-cutting solutions, such as implementing the newly-installed remote operations of the Sackville, NB transmission site, they have decided to cut all shortwave broadcasting and all content creation for the medium, essentially throwing out the baby with the bath water.

I have written extensively about the potential harm this will cause to those who rely upon shortwave radio as a lifeline of information, not to mention to Canadian diplomacy as a whole.

We want your RCI broadcast recordings

Nonetheless, for archive purposes, I will attempt to record as many final broadcasts today as possible. We invite listeners from around the world to participate in this process: please send us your recordings of any RCI broadcasts today–any language, any frequency.

Thanks to Glenn Hauser, here is a schedule of broadcasts today:

1500-1559 UTC: Maple Leaf Mailbag (MLMB) Finale–11,675 and 15,125 kHz

1800-1859 UTC: MLMB Finale–11,765, 9,530 and (best for N America) 17, 810 kHz

2000-2059 UTC: MLMB Finale 2–17,735, 15,330, 15235 kHz

RCI Chinese, French, Arabic, Spanish and Portugese final broadcasts should end at 2330 UTC today on 11,990, 13,760 and 15,455

As for our friends with RCI, we wish you well! Many thanks for your years of dedicated service.

Glenn Hauser’s calendar of shortwave radio specials and farewells

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Since I’m travelling, I was very pleased to find that Glenn Hauser outlined the many special broadcasts and farewells over the next couple of weeks. Frankly, there are so many, I’ve had trouble keeping them organized in my calendar.

(Source: Glenn Hauser – DX Listening Digest, via SW Programs)

CALENDAR OF SW SPECIALS, FAREWELLS

Dates, days and times are strictly UT

MONDAY JUNE 18 +

This is the final week for Radio Canada International, probably also for CBC NQ 9625, and relays via Sackville. You may want to make an effort to listen more than usual before the Last Days scheduled below.

THURSDAY JUNE 21

2130-2145 British Antarctic Survey special, 9850 & 5950 Skelton UK, 7360 Ascension; or may be 2130-2200, and possibly on WED JUNE 20 instead

FRIDAY JUNE 22

2100 until 2100 SATURDAY JUNE 23 “MidsummerRadio”, special from Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Finland, low power on 25 and 49m; hard to hear beyond Europe

http://www.swradio.net/index2.htm

SATURDAY JUNE 23

1200-1214, final Vatican Radio English via Sackville: 13730

SUNDAY JUNE 24

0000-0059 Maple Leaf Mailbag, finale from RCI: 11700 via Kunming

1500-1559 Maple Leaf Mailbag, finale from RCI: 11675 via Kunming; 15125 via Urumqi, East Turkistan

1800-1859 Maple Leaf Mailbag, finale from RCI: 17810 Skelton UK (should be audible in NAm), 11765 Skelton, 9530 Kashi, East Turkistan

2000-2059 Maple Leaf Mailbag, finale2 from RCI Sackville: 17735, 15330, 15235

RCI Chinese, French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese final broadcasts should also be June 24, ending at 2330* UT on 11990, 13760, 15455:

http://www.hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A12&broadc=RCI

June 24 also appears to be the final day on air for Sackville relays of other stations. It is unclear whether all of these will be gone once the UT day June 25 starts, but assuming they are, listen UT June 24:

NHK World Radio Japan: English 0500-0530 on 6110, 1200-1230 on 6120; Japanese 0200-0500 5960; 1300-1500 11655

Vatican Radio: English 0250-0315, Spanish 0320-0400 both on 7305, 9610; Spanish 1130-1214 13730

Voice of Vietnam: English 0100-0130, 0230-0300, 0330-0400 on 6175

KBS World Radio, English: 0230-0300 9560, 1200-1300 9650; Spanish 0200-0230 9560, 0600-0700 6045; Korean 1400-1500 9650

China Radio International: who cares? Too many and plenty will be left from elsewhere

Radio República, 2300-0200 on 9490 [or only until 0000?]

1100-1127 Cartas @ RN, finale of mailbag show on RN Spanish 9895 & 6165-Bonaire
1130-1157 Cartas @ RN, finale of mailbag show on RN Spanish 6165- Bonaire
1200-1227 Cartas @ RN, finale of mailbag show on RN Spanish 9715 & 6165-Bonaire

MONDAY JUNE 25

0000-0057 Cartas @ RN, finale of mailbag show on RN Spanish 6165- Bonaire
0100-0157 Cartas @ RN, finale of mailbag show on RN Spanish 6165- Bonaire
0830-0900 Fiji Democracy & Freedom Movement, 11565 via WHRI, weekly

This is the final week for Radio Netherlands. You may want to make an effort to listen before the Last Show special scheduled below

FRIDAY JUNE 29

0200-0400 PCJ Radio Special farewell to RNW, on WRMI 9955

For more details visit http://www.pcjmedia.com

A bit cheeky to schedule this at the same time as RN`s own Last Show!

0159-0257 RNW`s Last Show special to ENAm, 6165-Bonaire [not 11640]
0259-0357 RNW`s Last Show special to CNAm, 6165-Bonaire
0459-0557 RNW`s Last Show special to WNAm, 6165-Bonaire; NZ/SEAu 12015-Bonaire

In case there are any further changes from the `final` schedule:

http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/were-changing

Will Tom Meyer appear on this one? He does in Spanish:

1000-1057, RNW farewell broadcast in Indonesian: 17840 & 21485 Madagascar, 15300 & 15565 Sri Lanka; maybe also at 1100, 2100 [or June 28]
1330-1430 RNW Spanish farewell program with live video stream, including interview with Tom Meyer; repeated on SW the following evening on usual frequencies; see SAT
1400-1457 RNW`s Last Show special to Asia, 9800-Sri Lanka
1800-1957 RNW`s Last Show special to Africa, 17605-Vatican [audible in NAm]

1859-2057 RNW`s Last Show Special to Eu 6065
1900-2057 RNW`s Last Show Special to Af 7425-Madagascar
1900-2057 RNW`s Last Show Special to Af 11615-France
1900-2057 RNW`s Last Show Special to Af 15495-Vatican [maybe audible in NAm]. 2057 UT is really The End, for English

SATURDAY JUNE 30

0000-0057 & 0100-0157, RNW Spanish Farewell program [that`s what they say, unlike English which will end the previous night. Also check UT Friday June 29 in case that is correct date for Spanish too], 6165- Bonaire. See

http://www.rnw.nl/espanol/radioshow/cartasrn-en-v%C3%ADsperas-del- %C3%BAltimo-programa

VATICAN RADIO is also canceling most of its SW and MW broadcasts to Europe, and SW to Americas as of July 1. Presumably many of them will last be aired on June 30, altho the Sackville relays may have ended a week earlier. See

http://www.hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A12&broadc=VAT

Many of the SMG transmissions to elsewhere are audible in NAm; also via Madagascar; and especially BONAIRE: 0030-0200 15470 in Portuguese, Spanish; 0230-0250 6040, 9610 in French. Since these are after 0000 UT, will their last day be UT June 30 or July 1?

2359-2400, LEAP SECOND, the 61-second minute on WWV, WWVH and all the world`s timesignal stations

http://hpiers.obspm.fr/iers/bul/bulc/bulletinc.dat

FRIDAY JULY 6

2100 until 2100 UT July 7, Scandinavian Weekend Radio monthly broadcast expected, not confirmed; see June 22

THURSDAY JULY 12-SUNDAY JULY 15

R. Hami, Finland, low-power special on 6170, 1584, 94.7. Details:

http://radiohami.fi/

FRIDAY JULY 13

BBC Radio 3 Prom Concert season starts, until September 8

http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms

This calendar will be updated and reissued as needed

Latest edition: http://www.w4uvh.net/calendar.html

(Glenn Hauser, 1640 UT June 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

I will try to record some of these, but would love your recordings if you catch them.

PCJ Radio: Special shortwave broadcast to honor Radio Netherlands Worldwide on June 29

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(Source: PCJ Radio press release)

PCJ Radio will present a special two hour edition of Happy Station Show targeting North America and the Caribbean on June 29th, 2012 from 0200UTC to 0400UTC (Local time June 28th, 2012 10:00pm to 12:00am) on 9955khz. This special is to coincide with the departure of Radio Netherlands Worldwide from shortwave and will be a tribute to what was once one of the most respected international broadcasters. A special QSL Card will be issued to those in the Americas who tune in on 9955khz. If your outside this area you can listen to the live stream on June 29th 2012 from 0200UTC to 0400UTC VIA www.wrmi.net. I’m not going to tell you just yet what we have in store. The only thing I will say is you will need to tune in.

Regards,
PCJ Radio International

RNW will be closing English service at end of month

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Radio Netherlands English service will be closing down on June 29, 2012. There will be a special program on their final day and listeners are invited to share their special memories of the service.  Additional shortwave frequencies are planned for this day and we will post them once available from RNW.

RNW headquarters in Hilversum, Netherlands (photo coutesty: RNW)

(Source: RNW)

Dear Readers,

We’re very sorry to inform you that the English service of Radio Netherlands Worldwide will be closing at the end of this month. As a result, this website will see some changes.

From 1 July 2012 there will no longer be a daily review of the Dutch papers. Our coverage of Dutch news stories will also cease. And, since RNW’s English webstream will end on 29 June, there will be no moreListening Guide.

However, we will continue to provide articles online relating to our new brief: promoting free speech in areas where people are not free to gather information or to form and express independent opinions.

Latest

You can check out the updates to this story lower on the page

Why?
The measures are a result of steep budget cuts imposed by the Dutch government and a concomitant change in focus. Providing the world with a realistic image of the Netherlands, as we have proudly done since 1947, will no longer be one of our statutory duties.

The last radio show
On 29 June we will broadcast a radio show looking back at the past decades of Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Have you got a memory to share? Please let us know, at the usual address, [email protected], or post a comment below this story, as many have already done. We’d love to hear from you.

Updates
Please keep checking this site for updates on our final day. There may be a surprise or two…

And, perhaps most importantly, thank you – for listening, reading, and riding this bumpy road with us over the years and through the recent, difficult times.

The RNW English team

Numbers Stations: The English Man came back

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Two weeks ago this Friday, I caught and recorded the numbers station often referred to as the English Man. He was found in the pirate radio watering hole (of 6,925-6,990 kHz) on 6,949 kHz.

After sifting through more spectrum recordings taken the following evening by the Microtelecom Perseus, I realized that I caught him once again at the exact same time and frequency. I have his full transmission in the recording below.

Note: The English Man was broadcast in AM, but I had to dig the signal out of the noise. I used a tuning technique I referred to last year in a post–click here for more info.

Recording Radio History: The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee via BBC World Service

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Diamond Jubilee at Buckingham Palace (photo: BBC)

Ten years ago, my wife–then fiancée–and I lived in the UK, and were fortunate enough to attend The Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebration on the vast lawn at Buckingham Palace. It was without doubt the largest party I’ve ever attended, packed to the gills with the British public–a thoroughly amazing event, featuring a who’s who of past-and-present British musicians and personalities, encouraging attendees to join them in their bit of fun–and, of course, God save the Queen.

Yesterday, I re-lived the energy of that party as I heard (and recorded) the follow-up event these ten years later–The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, on the BBC World Service–as heard from remote Ascension Island.

When hearing live events like this on shortwave–especially ones like this that celebrate national heritage–I know I’m listening to history in the making. The crowds applauding and cheering in a live broadcast over shortwave reminds me of a former era when British Expats across the globe relied on the BBC World Service to connect them with ol’ Blighty.

Ascension Island, marked with an "A" (image: Google Maps)

I recorded these broadcasts from my home in the southeastern US, hearing the BBC World Service relay station on the tiny, isolated Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. The broadcast was heard at first on 15,400 kHz, then moved to 9,915 kHz coinciding with their normal broadcast schedule. The broadcast, while completely intelligible, is weak in the beginning, but gains considerable strength by the end. There are summer static crashes heard as storms moved through the southeast US. I divided the broadcast into two parts, coinciding with my shift from one frequency to the other.

I also included a BBC WS news broadcast in Part 2 which followed the end of the show.

Either use the embedded Archive.org audio player below, or simply click here to download the mp3 files for Part 1 and Part 2.

I used the WinRadio Excalibur to record both of these segments. Its synchronous detection helped deal with fading (QSB) present at the beginning of the recording.

Once again, history is made…and archived on shortwave radio.  Enjoy!