Tag Archives: Recordings

KBS World Radio – Then and Now

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who writes:

Back in the 1980’s, KBS World Radio was known as Radio Korea, and they could be heard quite well at times here in eastern North America. Even with modest receiving equipment, their familiar interval signal, that included regular ID’s in English and Korean, made it fairly easy to spot.

The recording here (circa 1983) was made in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, using a Panasonic RF-3100 portable receiver and a long wire antenna. As a bonus, this station offered a variety of colorful QSL cards to its listeners.

Today, KBS World Radio from Seoul in the Republic of Korea continues to offer programs via shortwave in several languages including English. Transmitter power up to 250 kw is used so they should be audible in most parts of the world. “Sign on” is strikingly similar using the same interval signal with bi-lingual ID’s and opening music.

They also use some of the same frequencies, including 9570 and 15575 kHz, that they have broadcast on for decades. This recording was made using a remote SDR in Hong Kong on August 14, 2025 on 15575 kHz around 1300 hours UTC.

“The Rarest DX In The World” – A 33 RPM Journey Through 1960s Shortwave

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Bruce, who writes:

Hi Thomas,

I came across this item on eBay and then found a copy on YouTube:

Enjoy!

– Bruce F.

Wow–what a nostalgic treat! Thank you for sharing, Bruce!

The eBay seller listed all of the broadcasters on the recording:

Side “A”

    1. RadioNepal, Kathmandu, Nepal [00:00]
    2. Radio Thailand, Bangkok,Thailand [04:10]
    3. Fiji Broadcasting Commission, Suva, Fiji[07:09]
    4. Voice of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya [09:53]
    5. Radiodiffusion du Togo, Lome, Togo [11:57]
    6. Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service, Freetown, Sierra Leone [16:55]
    7. Radiodiffusion-Television Belge, Brussels, Belgium [18:27]

Side “B”

    1. RadioVietnam, Saigon, South Vietnam [00:00]
    2. Radio Hong Kong, HongKong [3:45]
    3. Radio Wewak (VL9CD), Wewak, Papua New Guinea[04:19]
    4. Voice of Tarawa /Gilbert & Ellice IslandsBroadcasting Service (VTW2), Tarawa [07:35]
    5. Radio CookIslands, Rarotonga, Cook Islands [12:36]
    6. Radio Mauritania,Nouakchott, Mauritania [16:22]
    7. Radio Andorra, Roc Des Anellettes, Andorra [18:01]

I’m wondering if any readers have a copy of this record and can share a photo of the jacket notes. I haven’t been able to find a clear image of the back cover online. I’m interested in finding out who produced the album—any information would be appreciated!

Dan Shares Recordings of the Golden Days of European Shortwave Listening

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following guest post:

Europe on shortwave in the 1970’s

by Dan Greenall

During the golden years of shortwave listening, many European countries had an international shortwave service and broadcast programs to North America (where I live) in English. As a result, these stations were usually among the first that a newcomer to the hobby would find.  However, since there was no internet or e-mail, schedules often had to be found in the various club bulletins and hobby magazines.  QSLs arrived through the postal system and could often take months to arrive.

I soon developed the habit of making a brief recording of each station as additional “proof of reception,” and many of these have survived to this day.  These were typically made by placing the microphone directly in front of the speaker of my receiver.  In recent years, they have been uploaded to the Internet Archive, and links to some of them from the early 1970s can be found here.

[Note that each title links to the Archive.org page where you can find more information and QSLs.]

Radio Moscow

Deutsche Welle, Cologne 

Radio Berlin International 

Belgian Radio

Radio Belgrade

RAI, Rome

ORTF, Paris

IBRA Radio via Radio Trans Europe in Portugal

Radio Sofia Bulgaria

Austrian Radio

Radio Prague

Radio Denmark

Radio Luxembourg

Vatican Radio

Radio Sweden

Trans World Radio Monte Carlo

Radio Kiev

Radio Free Europe

Radio Nordsee International

Mexico on Shortwave – Then and Now

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by Dan Greenall

Back in the early 1970’s, a wide variety of Mexican stations could be heard on shortwave as evidenced by the loggings columns in the SPEEDX club’s monthly bulletins. Examples from this time period can be found here:

https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Speedx.htm

As well, the late Dr. Richard E. Wood wrote about what was available to be heard from Mexico in the 1971 Communications Handbook on page 18. You can read this here:

A brief recording of La RH, Radio Tricolor (in Spanish) on 11880 kHz from Mexico City can be found here:

The official international broadcaster, Radio Mexico, was known to issue colorful station pennants like the one pictured. Click here to listen to their ID’s in Spanish (though they did use some English) by a female and male announcer, likely on 21705 kHz (one of the many frequencies they used).

Currently, the only station broadcasting from Mexico on shortwave is Radio Educacion, XEPPM, from Mexico City on 6185 kHz. This recording was made on July 10, 2025 using a remote SDR close to the transmitter to ensure the best overall quality. The QSL attached is one received by my (then) 12 year old son in 1994.

 

HCJB Quito, Ecuador – Then and Now

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Greenall, who writes:

In the 1970s, the powerful signal from radio station HCJB, the Voice of the Andes, in Quito, Ecuador, could be heard with station identifications (similar to this one circa 1971) being given between programs.

I am led to believe that they were made by the late Bob Beukema (1928-2001), since his resonant radio voice was often referred to as the “Voice of the Andes”. My listening post at the time was Ancaster, Ontario, Canada.

Today, the station can still be heard broadcasting from Ecuador, albeit with much lower power, perhaps 10 kW at the most, and a much simpler antenna arrangement.

The accompanying recording was made July 30, 2025 on 6050 kHz around 0200 hours UTC using a Kiwi SDR located in Lima, Peru. Even though programming is only in Spanish and indigenous languages, some of that wonderful Andean music can still be found here.

73
Dan Greenall, Ontario, Canada

Click here to download a bit of HCJB ephemera (PDF).

Radio Marti Logs & Recordings: July 4, 2025

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A portion of the Edward R Murrow Transmitting Site’s antenna farm.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Greenall, who shared the following message and recordings yesterday, July 4, 2025. Dan writes:

Hi Thomas

Happy Independence Day!

Just finished listening to Radio Marti as follows:

9565 kHz strong then abruptly off at 2200 UTC (recording below)

 

11860 kHz strong then abruptly off at 2201 UTC

11930 kHz strong then abruptly off at 2201+ UTC

13605 kHz not heard today but strong on July 1st (recording below):

73

Dan Greenall

Thank you for sharing these logs and recordings, Dan! I hope you had a wonderful Canada Day on the 1st of July as well!

Dan says it’s, “Just like the good ol’ days on 60 meters.”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who writes:

Hi Thomas:

One of the benefits of DXing in 2025 is the ability to tune into a signal far from your listening post, yet still get strong, generally clear reception, all by simply finding a suitable receiver much closer to the station’s transmitter site. Well, sometimes it is not quite that simple. For example, the selection of Kiwi SDR’s from which to choose, is far less in Africa and South America than what is available in Europe or the USA.

Tonight, I came across a decent signal on 4775 kHz while listening on a Kiwi located in Lima, Peru. Just after 2300 UTC (when I began this brief recording), the announcer began rattling off a bunch of station call letters and frequencies in Spanish. This was followed by “Transmite Radio Tarma. Desde Tarma, Peru en America del Sur.”  The program that followed was called “Antena Deportiva”, or Sports Antenna in English. This program can be found listed on their website.

Recording:

Tarma, Peru is nestled in the Andes Mountains somewhat northeast of Lima. According to Short-wave.info, their power is listed as 1 kw.

73

Dan Greenall

London, Ontario, Canada

Thank you for sharing this, Dan! Readers, if you’d like an up-close look at Radio Tarma, check out this post from our archives by our friend and vagabond DXer, Don Moore!