Pirate Radio Recordings: Tip & Elvis Show

Led Zepplin is one of the many artists you’ll hear on this pirate broadcast.

For your listening pleasure: over two hours of the Tip and Elvis Show. This Euro pirate broadcast was recorded by Shortwave Radio Audio Archive contributor, Frank.

Tip and Elvis was broadcasting on 6,220 kHz in AM–you’ll hear some adjacent digital interference, but signal strength is pretty good for (most likely low power) pirate radio. This recording starts around 20:30 GMT on May 31, 2014.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3 or simply listen via the embedded player below:

“I listen to NPR…on my shortwave radio”

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Last year, National Public Radio (NPR) asked listeners when and how they listen to NPR. Their goal was to put together clips into a short spot for the network’s spring fund drive. After telling them that I’ve been known to listen to NPR on shortwave, they asked for me to record a short clip stating this fact. I amiably complied.

Last week, I rediscovered the clip. The spot would have been aired on local member stations in the first half of 2013:

Audio Player

00:00

Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

Have you listened to NPR on shortwave? Both the American Forces Network and Radio Australia broadcast NPR news content.

Complete list of Tecsun PL-880 hidden features

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On the advice of several SWLing Post readers, I have compiled a complete list of Tecsun PL-880 hidden features with how-to links:

Tecsun PL-880 Hidden Features:

New: Click here to download Cap Tux’s reference sheet as a PDF.

Click here to download Troy Riedel’s update to the reference sheet [09 February 2017].

Click here to download S. Thomas Bradley’s hidden features booklet. [06 October 2019]

If you notice a missing hidden feature or know of an alternate version, please contact me or comment on this post and I will add it. I will continue to add to this post over time. Many thanks!

BBC broadcasts original D-Day news scripts

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Today is the 70th anniversary of D-Day: the WWII Normandy invasion.

In honor, the BBC has been broadcasting the original radio news scripts throughout the day, at the same time of day they would have been originally broadcast. The news scripts are being read by Benedict Cumberbatch, Patrick Stewart and Toby Jones; the complete set of recordings is available online. You can follow along by reading scans of the original scripts.

Click here to view the list of recordings. It appears that they are available to anyone, regardless of geographic location. There doesn’t appear to be a time limit.

“Interferenze” Interview on RAI Radio3Mondo

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Andrea Borgnino, Journalist & RadioRai Internet Content Manager (T. Witherspoon, photo)

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Andrea Borgnino, journalist and Internet Content Manager for RAI (RadioTelevisione Italiana)…and, remarkably enough, reader of the SWLing Post.

(You’ve probably seen me refer to Andrea on the SWLing Post as I follow his Twitter feed @aborgnino. Andrea, it seems, follows us here at the SWLing Post because he’s quite a dedicated shortwave radio enthusiast.)

To my utter surprise, Andrea introduced himself to us at Ears To Our World last month during the Dayton, OH, Hamvention: you see, I’ve been in communication with Andrea for several years via email, and was simply not expecting to meet him in Dayton. It was a true pleasure to meet this fellow radio enthusiast–and talented journalist–in person.

At any rate, Andrea interviewed me (in the middle of a noisy Hamvention crowd) for the Radio3Mondo program, Interferenze. The show aired today, and Andrea kindly shared the audio, which I have posted below (or click here to download). If you speak Italian, you might just understand some of the interview:

Again, many thanks to Andrea Borgnino for interviewing me and giving me a chance to tell Italian listeners about the important work of Ears To Our World (ETOW). (Indeed, I understand ETOW has already received a donation from Italy as a result–on behalf of the organization, we thank you!)

Click here to follow Andrea on Twitter. You’ll find a full list of Radio3 Mondo podcasts by clicking here.

Remembering Radio Beijing: 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre

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A long shot of the iconic “Tank Man” on Tiananmen Square. Photographer: Stuart Franklin

Today is the 25th anniversary of the horrible events that took place in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, during which Chinese troops opened fire on unarmed student demonstrators.

In this off-air shortwave radio recording of Radio Beijing, made on June 3rd, 1989, you’ll hear the news reader/editor depart from the script and comment on the massacre of protestors in Tiananmen Square:

It’s believed this brave news editor was detained shortly after the broadcast and spent years in a detention (re-training) camp.

Rest assured, you will hear no mention of the Tiananmen Square protests on China Radio International today–even though this year marks the 25th anniversary of the event. China’s state media goes to great lengths to keep this sort of on-air protest from happening again. State media even tries to limit on-line research of the protests; last year, we posted a fascinating article which listed banned search engine terms in China.

I also encourage you to check out Jonathan Marks’ comments (from a broadcaster’s perspective) on this particular Radio Beijing broadcast.

International Radio for Disaster Relief includes special QSL: June 5 – 6, 2014

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HFCC-InternationalRadioForDidsasterRelief

The High Frequency Co-ordination Conference’s (HFCC) test of the International Radio for Disaster Reduction (IRDR) broadcasts are on track for June 5-6, 2014.

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Mehmet Burk, who has posted the updated schedule on his website, Relief Analysis.

Mehmet also shares this message from HFCC Board member, Oldrich Cip, who mentions a special QSL card that will be issued for IRDR reception reports:

“The Trial of International Radio for Disaster Relief on June 5th and 6th during the Jakarta ABU Media Summit is approaching quickly. The last updated version of the Trial programme is available in a presentation here:
http://hfcc.org/doc/HFCC_RAD_2014-004-IRDR_Jakarta_Presentation.pdf

Let me ask all organisations taking part in the Trial to check on the Trial programme schedule and ask for any changes or additions of the technical details that might be still needed. More details about the IRDR and about the Trial and its background are here:
http://hfcc.org/humanitarian/irdrtrial.phtml

The interest in the Trial created among participants indicates that it is real to set up a world-wide system of a voluntary, disaster relief shortwave radio with tools and services that are already in place. Publicity is needed to raise awareness in the world community about it – since the on-going cuts of shortwave installations might make this increasingly difficult.

Please kindly spread the word about it and encourage people to listen to the Trial programmes. Reception reports will be confirmed by special QSL cards.”

Again, check out Mehmet Burk’s IRDR updates on Relief Analysis.