Tag Archives: Recordings

Pirate Radio Recordings: The Crystal Ship

For your listening pleasure: one hour, forty two minutes of the pirate radio station, The Crystal Ship.

Last night, TCS broadcast on 6,876 kHz (via the TCS Shortwave Relay Network) starting around 2:05 UTC on July 4th, 2014.

TCS played a wide variety of patriotic songs honoring Independence Day.

TCS’ AM signal was strong enough that it could still be easily heard over the higher-than-normal noise level. Hurricane Arthur–which was approaching the coasts of North and South Carolina at time of recording–generated static crashes and noise in excess of S4 on my receiver’s meter. Fortunately, the WinRadio Excalibur’s sync detector helped mitigate some of that noise.

Click here to download the full recording of The Crystal Ship, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Romania International

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For your listening pleasure: Radio Romania International‘s English language service.

I recorded this broadcast with the WinRadio Excalibur on July 2, 2014, starting at 00:00 UTC on 9,700 kHz.

This broadcast originates from RRI‘s Tiganesti transmitter site.

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

Click here to view other posts mentioning Radio Romania International.

If you love shortwave radio recordings, please visit our Shortwave Radio Audio Archive which contains hundreds of archived recordings. You can subscribe to the SRAA on iTunes.

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio New Zealand International

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For your listening pleasure: three hours of Radio New Zealand International, recorded on June 28, 2014 starting around 7:59 UTC on 9,700 kHz.

This recording begins with the The RNZI interval signal: the charming and unmistakable call of the New Zealand Bellbird. After top-of-the-hour news breaks, you’ll hear Peter Fry’s music request show Saturday Night (click hear to read more about Fry).

SWLing Post reader, Mike, recently informed me that Peter Fry will be retiring this week. His last show will be next Saturday (July 5th). I will certainly miss hearing Peter Fry on the air, but wish him the best in retirement.

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

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Impala (Rwanda)

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Yesterday, while recording the BBC coverage of Portugal v. Ghana in the World Cup, I noticed a relatively strong carrier on 17,540 kHz. A quick check of schedules and I realized this was the Rwandan based station, Radio Impala–a new catch for me.

Radio Impala is clear about their humanitarian mission of peace, friendship, human rights and equality in their station id. I’ve made a short audio clip with their English language ID below:

Radio Impala broadcasts music and commentary daily from 17:00 – 18:00 UTC (7:00 – 8:00 PM Rwanda time) on 17,540 kHz out of the Talata-Volondry, Madagascar transmitter site.

I was able to record almost 45 minutes of the show before the signal began to fade. Click here to download the recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

BBC World Service: Portugal vs. Ghana

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Earlier today, I tuned to the BBC World Service on 17,830 kHz at 16:00 UTC, hoping they would be covering the USA vs. Germany game of the FIFA World Cup. I was pleased to hear World Cup coverage the moment I tuned in–but was a little disappointed that BBC had selected the Ghana vs. Portugal game. Still, I can’t complain; this BBC service is, after all, intended for Africa. And a lot was at stake for Ghana…

So, I listened to the BBC coverage of that game while watching the USA vs Germany game stream over ESPN. I also watched a little of the Portugal/Ghana game, and realized I had an advantage over others streaming the game because the shortwave coverage from the BBC was almost 5 seconds ahead of the live stream. That’s the power of shortwave: goals at the speed of light!

For your listening pleasure, here is the full recording I made from the BBC World Service today. Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

@SWLingDotCom it was about time you used that "goals at the speed of light" sentence 🙂 73

— ????? ????????? (@K7al_L3afta) June 26, 2014

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Romania International

Happy Summer/Winter Solstice: Listening to New Zealand and Australia

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I’ve been on the road a lot lately. A lack of time resulting from this, combined with frequent afternoon and evening thunderstorms when I am home, has meant that I’ve not had the radio time I often enjoy.

This morning, I woke up around 5:50 AM determined to get a bit of time on the radio. After all, today is the first day of summer here in the US, and a special day for me. I walked outside and hooked my antenna back up; I had been forced to disconnect it yesterday as pop-up thunderstorms persisted throughout the afternoon and evening.

I then brewed a cup of coffee and settled into my “listening lounge” for some early morning tuning.

I started off this morning off by tuning the Elad FDM-S2 to Radio New Zealand International on 9,890 kHz in DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale). I was treated to one full hour of Peter Fry’s Saturday Night music; the DRM lock was completely stable. Though I prefer the sonic characteristics of AM over digital modes, I’m most impressed with the audio quality DRM affords coming from a 50 kW signal being broadcast on the other side of the planet. The quality is so exceptional that, if you listen carefully, you can even hear the news reader shifting papers at the top of the hour.

That got me thinking: I’m flawlessly receiving and decoding a wireless digital audio signal from 13,500 kM away. Amazing. Especially considering that my laptop struggles to receive Wi-Fi in many hotels.

RNZI signed off after an hour, so I switched modes to AM and tuned to Radio Australia on 9,580 kHz.

As I had hoped, RA was broadcasting the second half of the AFL match featuring the Essendon Bombers who ultimately held a nine-point win over the Adelaide Crows. Alas, Radio Australia dropped the signal before the end of the final quarter, but I was able to watch the results roll in on my iPhone while making waffles in the kitchen. If this had been a World Cup match, I would have scoured the shortwaves for another Radio Australia frequency.

Immediately after tuning in RNZI, I hit the record button on the FDM-S2 (around 5:55 EDT/9:55 UTC) and didn’t stop the recording until after Radio Australia signed off, so there is a 30 second silence in the middle while I tuned and switched modes from DRM to AM.

Click here to download my full 2+ hour morning recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Depending on which hemisphere you live in, I hope you enjoy this summer–or winter– solstice.

As for me, I’m looking forward to a happy birthday with my family. Cheers!