Tag Archives: Recordings

Pirate Radio Recordings: Radio Casablanca

Confession time: one of my favorite pirate radio stations is Radio Casablanca.

Why?

For one thing the format is WWII-era music. When I hear Radio Casablanca, I close my eyes and imagine what it must have been like to hear the great bands of the era over the shortwaves…

Radio nostalgia at its best.

The signal strength is always sufficient to be heard in relatively good fidelity here in my radio room, but not so strong as to detract from the perceived distance. I believe the recording you’ll hear below could very well mimic broadcasts over shortwave, heard across borders during WWII as well as listened to on classic console radios in people’s living rooms and front parlors.

When my buddy Mark Coady posted that he was listening to Radio Casablanca Tuesday night on 6940 kHz AM, I immediately rushed outside to hook up my antenna, and started rolling. I didn’t want to miss even one more minute (I came across Mark’s post about twenty minutes into the broadcast). Though regional storms produced some static pops and crashes, overall fidelity is decent. You will hear the filter and side-band sync being adjusted at times as I attempted to eliminate adjacent noises–which, in the end, are all a part of the listening experience.

Click here to download an MP3 of the recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Either way, prepare to go (or at least, send your ears) back in time…

Shortwave Radio Recordings: Deutsche Welle

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For your listening pleasure: a recording of the Deutsche Welle English service made this morning, September 3rd, starting at 04:00 UTC.

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below (note about 40 seconds of carrier prior to the beginning of the broadcast):

By the way, if you believe there’s nothing to listen to on shortwave, you should check out our What’s On Shortwave category!

Pirate Radio Station BOCHF (Boards of Canada HF) back on air

Pirate Radio Recordings: BOCHF Radio (Boards of Canada HF)

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(Source: HF Underground)

Just last night, I came across a new shortwave pirate radio station: BOCHF.

BOCHF started broadcasting around 23:10 UTC on 6,925 kHz USB, and after about a twenty-five minute set, took a five minute break, then returned with a forty-two minute set, ending with an SSTV QSL. The signal, as you can hear below, is fairly strong, but interference was also strong at times; especially from SSB pescadores (fishermen) and the usual summer static crashes.

The entire mix consisted of Boards of Canada music from Tomorrow’s Harvest. There were no vocal ID’s, but there were messages in CW (Morse code) which clearly identifies this pirate as BOCHF.

The artists Boards of Canada have always had an affinity with shortwave radio, so I find a shortwave pirate station playing their music to be an appropriate tribute. Due to sound card problems, I was unable to decode the SSTV QSL, but thankfully a great copy was posted on HF Underground’s pirate radio forum (see above) by forum contributor, Chris Smolinski.

Click here to download MP3s of Part One and Part Two from the full broadcast last night or simply listen via the embedded audio players below:

BOCHF Part One:

BOCHF Part Two:

As I mentioned yesterday, Labor Day weekend is a great weekend to catch a few pirate stations on shortwave. Happy listening!

All India Radio: A Welcome Voice

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Many afternoons, I’m drawn to All India Radio on 9,445 kHz. I love what the ether does to their Bengaluru transmitting station’s signal as it travels at the speed of light over 8,700 miles to my home here in the southeastern US.

I enjoy, too, the way All India Radio announcers speak the news, in slow cadence, honoring the fine tradition of radio: “This is the general overseas service of All India Radio. It’s time now for the news. Please stand by…” I also delight in their English language news bulletins, which begin with “Namaskar.” I appreciate this–it makes it much easier for me to identify the station when listening on an analog radio like my BC-348-Q. I’m sure this makes a difference for many other listeners seeking their station, too.

I also love All India Radio–like I do the Voice of Greece–for their superb music. Where else on the shortwave dial will I hear the sitar sing, as on AIR?

But don’t take my word for it. If you live in North America and Europe, when conditions are favorable, All India Radio is a favorite listening experience for many–myself obviously included.

For your listening enjoyment, here is a 30 minute recording I made of All India Radio only an hour ago on 9,445 kHz, starting at 22:00 UTC. Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Pirate Radio Recordings: Radio Free Whatever

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Last night, I caught pirate radio station Radio Free Whatever; a new one for me.

Pirate radio listening has been difficult this summer between travels and thunderstorms, so I was happy to hear a carrier on 6,945 kHz AM, starting around 01:55 UTC.

Though a tad weak, with AM sync detection enabled, the signal to noise ratio tilted in my favor and made for pleasant listening through the turbulent summer ether.

Click here to download the entire broadcast of Radio Free Whatever, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Standard Pirate Radio Disclaimer: This is a recording of a real pirate radio broadcast, and as such, may include colorful language. In general, if you are easily offended by the words, ideas, music lyrics, or music herein, you should slowly…back… away…