Category Archives: What’s On Shortwave

Pirate Radio Recordings: Bust A Nut Radio

You know the proceedure

Bust A Nut Radio‘s AM signal came in fairly strong last night sometime around 5:45 UTC (February 2nd) on 6,940 kHz.

You’ll hear a great variety of music–from classic rock to electronica–complete with originally produced ID’s and bumpers in this pirate radio recording.

Click here to download an MP3 of the entire show, or simply listen in the embedded Archive.org player below:

Note: This is a recording of a real pirate radio broadcast. If you are easily offended by strong lyrics and offensive music, you should slowly back away.

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Havana Cuba’s DXers Unlimited

ArnieCoroDXersUnlimitedIf you live in the Americas and you regularly listen to a shortwave radio, you have no doubt heard Radio Havana Cuba across the shortwave spectrum. When I travel in North or Central America, I can easily hear RHC, often without even extending the telescopic antenna on my portable.

A long-running program on RHC’s English hour is Arnie Coro’s DXers Unlimited.

Tuesday night, I recorded the DXers Unlimited segment from RHC’s The English Hour on 6 MHz, and offer it here for your listening pleasure.  If the recording doesn’t sound typical of shortwave radio, it’s because: a) RHC’s signal is exceptionally strong into North America, and b) I recorded this with an AM filter 24 kHz wide.  In other words, I widened my DSP filter to match RHC’s bandwidth on my spectrum display–and to put this in perspective, I regularly record between 7-9 kHz wide. (This results in the crisp, high-fidelity audio you hear in this recording, though unfortunately at the compromise of any adjacent stations abiding by HF broadcasting etiquette.)

You can download the MP3 directly by clicking here, or simply listen in the embedded player below:

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Romania International

RRI-RadioRomaniaInternationalRadio Romania International is on of my favorite international broadcasters. I routinely listen to their broadcasts in English and French. With the demise of Radio Bulgaria in 2012, I turn to RRI for news not only about Romania, but Eastern Europe in general.

I do fear for the future of Radio Romania International on the shortwaves as so many broadcasters are pulling out of the spectrum and putting all of their faith into online “broadcasting.” If you enjoy RRI as much as I do, consider submitting a reception report and letting them know that you’re listening.

Tuesday, I recorded RRI’s English broadcast from Tiganesti on 9.435 MHZ (21:30 UTC)–quite an easy and reliable catch in eastern North America. You can click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Pirate Radio Recordings: Renegade Radio

1-RadioListeningFriday night (late) I caught Renegade Radio on 6.93 MHz in the upper side band.

Renegade’s signal was consistently clear for unusually noisy conditions, though the station was occasionally plagued with transmitter problems.  I did not edit these out in the recording because dead air never exceeded a few minutes. So, if you hear dead air, simply fast-foward a minute or two. Total broadcast exceeds one hour and, near the end, Renegade informs us that his transmitter was getting hot.  I’ll bet: I don’t know Renegade’s set-up, but many pirates use modified ham radio transceivers that were never intended for those 100% duty cycles, often at full power. Keeps a pirate warm on a winter night, though!

Feel free to listen to the recording of Renegade Radio in the embedded player below, or right click and save this link to download the MP3 directly:

Shortwave Radio Recordings: All India Radio on the Bonito RadioJet

The Bonito 1102S RadioJet IF receiver

The Bonito 1102S RadioJet IF receiver

After posting my latest All India Radio recording, SWLing Post reader, Pete, suggested that I check out their broadcasts starting around 21:00 UTC on 11,670 and 9,445 kHz, as they are quite strong into North America. He was right.

On Thursday afternoon, I tuned the Bonito RadioJet to 9,445 kHz, where I was greeted with a strong signal from AIR’s Bengaluru, India, transmitter site (over 8,500 miles from my home). I compared the signal on the RadioJet with that of my trusty WinRadio Excalibur to find that the RadioJet’s audio was somewhat fuller and richer. In situations where AM sync detection is not needed, I may start using the RadioJet for recordings. I’ve been using it strategically over the past few months for DRM reception and digging weak stations out of the static–something I typically don’t record, but probably should, as the RadioJet deserves even more air and recording time!

AllIndiaRadioLogo1I recorded this AIR broadcast on Thursday January 10th–around 21:30 UTC–on 9.445 MHz. This particular broadcast features news, commentary and the wonderful music I’ve come to expect from All India Radio. You can download the MP3 by clicking here, or simply listen in the embedded player below. Enjoy!

Wavescan focuses on Africa in 2013

AWRlogoFor those of you looking for an informative show on international broadcasting, shortwave radio and DXing, checkout Wavescan by AWR.

This year, I understand a lot of focus will be placed on radio and broadcasting to/in Africa. Wavescan’s full schedule follows Jeff White’s announcement below:

(Source: Jeff White, WRMI)

WAVESCAN this weekend:

The January 13 edition of Wavescan, which begins to air this weekend and throughout next week on WRMI, contains part 2 of the “100 Years of Wireless and Radio in Bulgaria” series, the Philippines DX Report with Henry Umadhay, and “Focus on Africa: Liberia.” Included is an interview with Allen Graham of HCJB in Ecuador, who is currently working in Liberia doing radio training and helping with a local university FM radio station. Allen talks about the importance of shortwave radio in West Africa.

Wavescan Scheduling: B12 Transmission Period

Radio Miami International

Radio Miami International

Sunday

0500 UTC via WRMI 9955 kHz – Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

1200 UTC via AWR 17535 kHz – Media Broadcast Wertachtal Germany

1500 UTC via WRMI 9955 kHz – Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

1530 UTC via AWR 15255 kHz – Sri Lanka Broad Corp Trincomalee Sri Lanka

1600 UTC via KSDA 11825 kHz – Adventist World Radio Agat Guam

1600 UTC via KSDA 15360 kHz – Adventist World Radio Agat Guam

1630 UTC via KSDA 11740 kHZ – Adventist World Radio Agat Guam

2230 UTC via KSDA 15320 kHZ – Adventist World Radio Agat Guam

Monday

1200 UTC via WRMI 9955 kHz – Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

Tuesday

0430 UTC via WRMI 9955 kHz – Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

Wednesday

0100 UTC via WRMI 9955 kHz – Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

1200 UTC via WRMI 9955 kHz – Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

2000 UTC via WINB 13570 kHz – World International Red Lion Pennsylvania USA

Thursday

400 UTC via WRMI 9955 kHz – Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

1430 UTC via WRMI 9955 kHz -Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

Friday

0415 UTC via WRMI 9955 kHz -Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

Saturday

0800 UTC via WRMI 9955 kHz -Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

1200 UTC via WRMI 9955  kHz -Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

1730 UTC via WWCR2 12160 kHz -Worldwide Christian Nashville Tennessee USA

2100 UTC via WRMI 9955 kHz -Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

2330 UTC via WRMI 9955 kHz -Radio Miami Int Miami Florida USA

…………..

iPod AWR

Internet Stream AWR.org WRMI.net WWCR.com WINB.com

Telephone Feed WINB at 1 415 655 0846

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Japan

NHK-Radio-JapanThis past weekend, I recorded several stations on the 25 meter band, including (recently posted) All India Radio and Radio Nacional da Amazonia. Though I noted Radio Nacional‘s booming signal into North America, Radio Japan’s audio fidelity was simply amazing; very clear, no sign of transmitter hum nor distortion, and only the slightest QSB. Their signal emanated from the Montsinery site in French Guiana–a mere stone’s throw away in the shortwave world.

I recorded a little over an hour of their broadcast on 11.935 MHz, January 6th, 2013 starting around 02:30 UTC. The recording features Japanese commentary and a variety of music–it starts with the show tune Memory from the 1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats.

Click here to download the MP3 of the recording, or listen below: