Tag Archives: Shortwave Radio Recordings

Myanmar Radio, Yangon, heard in Oxford UK on 49 and 41 metres

Myanmar

Hi there, I thought some of the readers of SWLing post might be interested in my reception of Mayanmar Radio, Yangon, during a late-night DX’pedition in Oxfordshire, UK. I managed to catch them on 5985 and 7200 kHz; the latter was a personal first and perhaps further confirmation that my 200 metre longwire is contributing in a positive way to my mobile listening post. Subscribers and regular visitors to Oxford Shortwave Log on YouTube will know that I am forever trying to push the performance of my vintage portables to the limit of what’s possible, in the hope that I might hear something very exotic. it’s happened once or twice and thus worth all the effort in the small hours. Thanks for watching/ listening.

Direct link to Oxford Shortwave Log for Mayanmar Radio reception video 5985 kHz

Direct link to Oxford Shortwave Log for Mayanmar Radio reception video 7200 kHz

Clint Gouveia is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Clint actively publishes videos of his shortwave radio excursions on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log. Clint is based in Oxfordshire, England.

 

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Brazilian DX heard in Oxford UK, with venerable Sony ICF-2001D

Hi there, I thought I would share some Brazilian shortwave catches with you, obtained using my Sony ICF-2001D receiver and 200 metre experimental longwire. The first is Radio Bandeirantes, Sao Paolo on 9645.4 kHz. This is a station that I’ve only heard once or twice previously, but was received with excellent signal clarity and strength recently, using my deployable longwire antenna. I would rate this station as moderately difficult to receive with reasonable discernibility. The second is Radio Novo Tempo from Campo Grande, on 4894.9 kHz. This station I would rate as difficult to hear with discernible audio. The key is always signal-to-noise, thus moving yourself out of the ubiquitous blanket of QRM most modern environments endure will usually achieve this and of course coupled with sufficient space outdoors to erect a larger antenna will hopefully also improve signal strength. My final video on this post is Radio Nacional Brazilia on 6180 kHz. I would regard this station as quite easy to hear well; their effective TX power towards Europe is around 2 MW, however, outdoors, this station can literally boom in, with what might be perceived as local-AM signal strength. I hope you enjoy watching the videos and seeing/ hearing what’s possible with a modest set-up. As for the Sony ICF-2001D? Well the design is more than 30 years old, but in my opinion at least, still one of the very best portable shortwave receivers ever manufactured. Thanks and 73.

 

Direct link to Oxford Shortwave Log for reception video of Radio Bandeirantes

 

Direct link to Oxford Shortwave Log for reception video of Radio Novo Tempo

 

Direct link to Oxford Shortwave Log for reception video of Radio Nacional Brazilia

 

Clint Gouveia is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Clint actively publishes videos of his shortwave radio excursions on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log. Clint is based in Oxfordshire, England.

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Shortwave Radio Recordings: Radio Baghdad, August 8, 1990

radio baghdad qsl

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Al Quaglieri, who shares the following recording, QSL (above) and notes:

Here’s a nice recording I made of the first 13 minutes of Radio Baghdad’s English broadcast one day around August 8, 1990. It begins with some music and then there’s a newscast. For a couple of months, I sent such recordings down the phone line to CBS News in New York, who were eager to hear them. This, alas, is the only one I kept. Hard to believe it was nearly 26 years ago.

My how that does bring back memories! Thank you for sharing this excellent recording, Al!

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200 metre longwire: Radio Verdad 4054.9 kHz, Guatemala, unprecedented reception in Oxford, UK

verdadRadio Verdad, Chiquimula, Guatemala is quite a regular catch at home, however, their modulation is nearly always weak as the carrier struggles to lift above the ubiquitous blanket of local QRM. Another issue with hearing this station is the digital utility signal just above 4055 kHz, thus requiring LSB reception to reject the adjacent noise.

This particular recording of Radio Verdad was taken during a DX’pedition using the 200 metre longwire and is unprecedented in signal strength and clarity – in my personal experience. With fully discernible audio both the Elad FDM DUO and Sony ICF-2001D receivers perform very well with my experimental 200 metre antenna. I should point out that the audio from the Sony is significantly louder because the speaker on the Elad is puny, to say the least. However, the reception on the Elad sounds to me at least, superior to the Sony in terms of SNR, which is everything in Tropical Band DXing. As usual, I welcome your comments. Recorded in Oxford UK on 31/07/18 at 03:31 hrs UTC. Thanks for watching.

Direct link to the Oxford Shortwave Log reception video of Radio Verdad, Guatemala

Clint Gouveia is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Clint actively publishes videos of his shortwave radio excursions on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log. Clint is based in Oxfordshire, England.

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Nothing to hear on shortwave? Jacques disagrees…

MauritiusIsland-IndianOcean-SM

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Jacques Catherine, who left the following comment on our post from 2012: Is there anything to listen to on shortwave?

“I live in Mauritius Island in the Indian Ocean and I’ve been listening to Shortwave since I was a kid (I’m 58 today) on my dad’s good old Phillips wooden valve radio.

I’m sorry, but shortwave is certainly not dead. After having read all the comments above, I come to the conclusion that reception definitely depends on your location.

The Tecsun PL-660.

The Tecsun PL-660.

I have two Tecsun receivers ( Tecsun S 2000 and PL 660) hooked to a Windom antenna and an ATU. I receive dozens of stations from all over the world here as well as a lot of stuff on ssb, including – in the morning – New York MWARA (8825.0 usb), Gander (8831.0 usb) or, in the evening, Brisbane (5634.0 usb).

Broadcast stations from Japan, Taiwan, India, Iran, Australia, Singapore, China, Africa and even the US, come in here loud and clear with very little static, depending on the season and time of the day. I think I’m privileged to be located where I am !

And I bought some years back a pair of cheap small wooden amplified speakers in Hong Kong that reproduce exactly the sound of my dad’s old valve radio!”

Thank you for your comment, Jacques. You’re right: it’s all about your location…and you certainly live in a prime spot!

I’m most fortunate that I live where I do–quite far away from sources of noise that plague our urban readers/listeners (and that have plagued me in the past). My location is not ideal (from a radio/receiving standpoint) because my ground conductivity is very poor and I’m in North America where very few broadcasts are targeted these days. I do, however, have the space for a rather large horizontal delta loop antenna that serves me well across the HF bands. I might have invested $50 in the antenna wire and components five years ago.

When propagation is good, some broadcast bands are actually packed tightly with signals. Indeed, Thursday last week, I could’ve easily logged two dozen stations on the 31 meter band alone.  Here’s a screen capture from the spectrum display of my SDR:

TitanSDRPro-Spectrum-31MB

If you live in an urban area and feel that you’re missing out on the action, consider taking your receiver outdoors and away from interference. Take your receiver on hikes, camping trips or to the beach. You might be surprised by the number of stations you’ll log!

Recently, our friend London Shortwave has been posting an amazing array of broadcast recordings he’s made in a park in the middle of London, England. He’s the guru of mitigating urban interference.

When I have time to curate the recordings, I hope to do a 2016 update of “Is there anything to listen to on shortwave?“–it’s been on my to-do list for a while now.

Jacques, thanks again for your comment and reminding us to keep listening!

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Shortwave Radio Recordings: Voice of Greece

Fullscreen capture 1302016 14356 AM

The Voice of Greece is an unpredictable broadcaster these days. VOG is not on the air as much as in the past and doesn’t seem to follow a broadcast schedule. I only hear them perhaps once or twice per week now.

But I’m not complaining–after all, this is a shortwave broadcaster that basically came back from the dead.

I love VOG’s music programs and last night their Avlis transmitter was fired up and relaying some wonderful tunes.

The following recording was made on January 30, 2016 starting at 0145 UTC on 9420 kHz. I made this recording with the TitanSDR Pro receiver connected to a large skyloop antenna. Click here to download the MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

I also had the TitanSDR simultaneously recording pirate radio spectrum just below the 40 meter ham band. I’m saving that bit of spectrum for a rainy day!

Anyone else tune to VOG last night?

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SRAA Recording: The Happy Station Show circa 1979

Crosley-Dial-BlackAndWhiteMany thanks to Shortwave Radio Audio Archive contributor, Richard Collings, who recently submitted this amazing off-air recording of the Happy Station Show. Richard notes:

The Happy Station Show of Sunday 23rd December 1979. A pre-recorded special Christmas show with Tom Meijer. Broadcast from 0930 to 1020GMT [on 9895 kHz and received in Plymouth, Devon, UK].

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

Note that this is one of many archived off-air recordings found on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

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