Tag Archives: Radio Prague

Radio Prague Celebrates 100 Years with Special Program & QSL Card on May 18, 2023

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares the following story from Radio Prague International:

Celebrate 100 years of Czech Radio by telling us where you listen to us! (Radio Prague International)

To mark Czech Radio’s centenary, Radio Prague International is preparing a special show for you on Thursday 18 May. Listen to it and write to let us know where you heard it to receive a special Czech Radio QSL card made especially for the anniversary!

Regular public radio broadcasting in Czechoslovakia began on 18 May 1923. At 8.15 pm on that day, from a canvas tent lent to the radio by a local scout troop in Kbely on the outskirts of Prague, the words “Hello, hello, this is the broadcasting station Radiojournal” could be heard sounding out.

The broadcast lasted about an hour. Although it was mostly only listened to by technology enthusiasts in its first few months, Czechoslovakia nevertheless became the second European country after the United Kingdom to have regular radio broadcasts.

For May 18, we have prepared a special programme for you from behind the scenes of Czech Radio. Tell us which town or city and country you listened to it in so that, 100 years after the first transmission, we can map where Czech Radio’s broadcasts reach today. We would be especially grateful if you could enclose a photo of yourself in the place where you listen to us along with your message.

Write to us at: [email protected]

In return, we’ll send you a special QSL card issued to mark the centenary, which comes from a 1933 radio exhibition and shows where the first international radio transmissions from Czechoslovakia were received.

Those of you who are interested in receiving a physical QSL card can send us a postal address. Otherwise, we will send you a digital copy by email.

Click here to read this article at Radio Prague International.

Spread the radio love

Radio Prague QSL Cards for 2023

3 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), who shares the following announcement from Radio Prague:

Radio Prague’s QSL Cards (Radio Prague)

The three letters – QSL – constitute one of the codes originally developed in the days of the telegraph. All codes consisted of three letters beginning with “Q”. Later some of these “Q” codes were adopted by radio-telegraphists and radio listeners. QSL means “contact confirmed” or “reception confirmed”.

The expression “QSL card” or just “QSL” gradually came to be used among radio-amateurs and then more broadly as radio began to develop as a mass medium. Radio stations were keen to know how well and how far away their programmes could be heard and began to send their listeners “QSL cards” in return for reception reports. The card would include letters making up the “call sign” of the station – the system still used in the United States – or the broadcasting company’s logo or some other illustration. The card would also include a text stating the frequency and the transmitter output power, and a confirmation of when the listener heard the station.

Domestic broadcasters do not tend to use QSL cards these days, but their popularity remains among radio stations broadcasting internationally. They are still keen to know how well they can be heard in the parts of the world to which they broadcast. In the era of shortwave broadcasts Radio Prague sent out QSL cards for reception reports received. Today we also send QSL cards to those who listen to us on the internet.

https://english.radio.cz/reception-report

Click here to read the announcement at Radio Prague and view a gallery of all Radio Prague QSL cards for 2023.

Spread the radio love

Radio Prague: 1965 20th Anniversary of the Liberation of Czechoslakia 7″ record

Side One

Side One Recording

Side One has a recording of their interval signal at the time and the Communist Anthem Forward Left it is taken from.

Side Two

Side Two Recording

Side Two The Road to Freedom has an account of the liberation of Czechoslovakia in early May 1945 and the role of Radio Prague during it with recordings of their broadcasts, including one in English, at the time.

I’ll be submitting a slightly expanded account of this to the British DX Club for next month’s bulletin as picking up Radio Prague and other English language stations from abroad on mediumwave such as Radio Moscow was the reason I bought a shortwave receiver. Living on the East Coast of the UK I could pick up AFN Bremerhaven daytime as well as a Dutch station Radio Veronica playing pop records all day as an alternative to the BBC. Radio Luxembourg, which you’ve most likely heard of, for nightime listening. Will check, think it would be early 64 when I bought my first shortwave receiver.

Spread the radio love

Sam searches for the Radio Prague Forward Left interval signal

5 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Sam Ward, who writes:

I am looking for a nice studio version of the old Radio Prague Forward Left interval signal that they used during their communist days. I just like that interval signal very much, and I’d really love to have a nice clean copy of that famous sixties and seventies interval signal.

I know Arthur Cushen had a really nice studio version of that interval signal and I should have asked him for a copy, but we lost touch with each other, and then he passed away. What a truly amazing fellow he was.

Post readers: If you have a nice studio copy of the Radio Prague Forward Left interval signal, please comment. I would be happy to amend this post with the audio, share it with the SRAA, and make sure Sam gets a copy. Thank you!

And, Sam, you’re right: Arthur was an amazing fellow.

UPDATE 19 April 2022: Check out this post and recordings by Mike Barraclough which contain the interval signal.

Spread the radio love

Celebrating World Radio Day 2022!

1 Reply

Today is UNESCO World Radio Day and this year the theme of trust highlights the importance of radio as an accessible form of information.

Below are some of the many projects celebrating World Radio Day:

Cities and Memory: Shortwave Transmissions

As mentioned in a previous post, we at the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive are truly honored to have been a resource for this incredible and diverse sound project organized by Cities and Memory.

We encourage you to explore the creative work from over 120 artists and composers.

A great many of these remarkable dynamic works draw on a wide array of recordings from the SRAA; the resulting compositions and soundscapes are rich with sonic textures, evocative collages of sound and memory, which emerge into further sources of inspiration.

Our profound thanks to Cities and Memory––and all of the participating artists––for this truly brilliant collection which you can check out on the Shortwave Transmissions project page.

BBC World Service Documentary: “World Wide Waves ’22: The sounds of community radio”

As we mention in a previous post, this brilliant radio documentary focusing on community radio is available on the BBC World Service website and BBC Sounds.

Here’s the description:

For World Radio Day 2022, we tune in to radio stations around the world that connect communities, spark conversations, keep traditions alive and give a voice to their listeners. From Aboriginal Koori Radio in Australia to a community station in India run by rural women from the lowest Dalit caste, the airwaves carry intimate wisdom, vital knowledge, beats and tunes that keep reminding us who we are.

Note that this piece was produced by our friend David Goren, of Shortwaveology fame. Continue reading →

Spread the radio love

Radio Waves: AIR Doubles Broadcast Times, Radio Prague’s 2022 QSL Cards, Ham On The Moon, and Allouis Transmitter Silenced

5 Replies

Radio Waves: Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Because I keep my ear to the waves, as well as receive many tips from others who do the same, I find myself privy to radio-related stories that might interest SWLing Post readers. To that end: Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors David Iurescia, Kris Partridge, and the Southgate ARC for the following tips:

AIR to double broadcast time for programmes in six languages (Deccan Herald)

Starting Monday, All India Radio (AIR) programmes in six neighbourhood languages, including in Dari, Pashto, Baluchi and Mandarin Chinese, will be available to listeners every day in the morning and evening. The AIR’s external services division has doubled the time for the programmes aired in Dari, Pashto, Baluchi, Mandarin Chinese, Nepali and Tibetan languages, the public broadcaster said in a statement on Sunday.

The programmes in these six languages will be aired on shortwave frequency and also live streamed on YouTube, NewonAir App, DD Free Dish, it said.

“The external services division of the All India Radio is expanding its transmission in six neighbourhood languages from January 3, 2022. These languages are Dari, Pashto, Baluchi, Mandarin Chinese, Nepali and Tibetan,” the public broadcaster said. [Continue reading…]

Radio Prague’s QSL Cards (Radio Prague)

Spread the radio love

Radio Prague celebrates 85 years on the air

5 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jonathan Marks, who recommends this video tour of the Czech Radio Building from Radio Prague’s Facebook page.

Jonathan notes: “[The video os very] nicely done. It compliments episode 4 of the video I made with Olrich Cip”:

Many thanks for sharing this, Jonathan, and for documenting this important piece of our international broadcasting story.

Post readers: If you’d like more information about the 85th Anniversary of Radio Prague, check out this (and other) stories on the Radio Prague Website:

Radio Prague International celebrates 85 years on the airwaves

Although the origins of foreign language broadcasting on Czech Radio stretch as far back as 1926 – in the form of English and French lectures about Czechoslovakia – the birth of the foreign language service is traditionally dated to August 31, 1936, when the Technical Director of Czechoslovak Radio Eduard Svoboda officially announced the beginning of regular foreign language broadcasting.
Continue reading →

Spread the radio love