Tag Archives: SRAA

Shortwave Radio Recordings: RCI, BBC, VOA circa 1979 & 1981

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HalliDial

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, who shares the following recording and notes:

A few snippets from my old shortwave tapes that were too short to upload individually. These were made using a GE portable multi band that had poor selectivity, hence the annoying ute during the BBC clip.

Times of individual clips are:

  • 00:00 – 01:59: 1979, July 19 – RCI, frequency announcements in English and french.
  • 01:59 – 09:51: 1979, July 20 – BBC, newscast, bothered by an annoying utility station.
  • 09:51 – 11:38: 1981, August 28 – VOA, science news item about Voyager 2
  • 11:38 – 14:52: 1981, August 29 – VOA, science news item about Voyager 2

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

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Shortwave Archive featured in The Wire Magazine

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TheWire

We’re absolutely chuffed to learn that the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive (SRAA) has made the pages of the October 2015 issue of the British alt music magazine, The Wire.  Following are two excerpts from the brief but powerful column by Richard Thomas:

The Wire
October 2015 (Issue 380)
Page 17

Thomas continues in this vein, his descriptions of the varied content inviting readers to immerse themselves in the SRAA’s static-infused depths.

Finally, Thomas concludes by describing in terms no less than lyrical exactly why he responds–as so many do, myself included–to the recordings found in the archive:

The Wire
October 2015 (Issue 380)
Page 17

Wow…what a testament to the power of sound.  Thanks, Richard and The Wire–we’re humbly grateful that someone shares our passion for this growing project.

And if you haven’t checked out the SRAA yet, take some time to do so; you won’t regret it.  Contributions are welcome.

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Shortwave Radio Recordings: VOA on the 10th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing

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Apollo_11_lunar_module-001

Many thanks to SWLing Post and SRAA contributor, Tom Laskowski, who shares this recording of the Voice of America; recorded on July 20, 1979 at 0500 UTC on the 31 meter band. Tom notes:

“The first 4:30 is from a VOA newscast that aired before the main part of the program. The main recording was presented on the 10th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I enjoy listening to this every year on the landing anniversary.”

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

Note that Tom has been sharing a number of shortwave recordings from the late 1970s. All of his recordings are being published on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. Tom: thanks so much for being a part of the shortwave archive community.

If you have recordings you would like to share with the world as well, please contact me.

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Shortwave Radio Recordings: Pacific Games, July 10, 2015

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mascotSRAA contributor, Richard Langley, recently shared the following recording of the 2015 Pacific Games coverage of the National Broadcasting Corporation on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. Richard notes:

Live three-hour recording of the 2015 Pacific Games coverage of the National Broadcasting Corporation, the Voice of Papua New Guinea (PNG), via a transmitter in Australia on 10 July 2015 beginning at 07:01:21 UTC on a frequency of 12025 kHz. At the time of the uploading of this sound file, it is not clear if the signal originated from the former Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s lower-power facility at Brandon (as registered with the High Frequency Co-ordination Conference (HFCC) organization; 25 kW beamed 80°) or their higher-power Shepparton site with 100 kW transmitters.

The recording, mostly in English with some Tok Pisin, includes commentary on the games being held in Port Moresby, music, news bulletins, public service announcements, and the NBC’s drum, flute and bird call interval signal near the top of some of the hours. Note that PNG time is 10 hours ahead of UTC.

The broadcast was received on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with its built-in telescopic whip antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada. Signal quality is generally good and gets better towards the end of the recording as propagation conditions improved.

Many thanks, Richard!

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

Please subscribe to the SRAA podcast to receive future shortwave recordings automatically.

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Nothing on the bands? Check out the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive!

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SWRAA-Shortwave-Archive-iTunes-LogoAlas! Lately, the sun has been playing tricks on those of us who enjoy the magic of radio wave propagation. Due to solar disruptions in the ionosphere, propagation has been fickle, albeit with a few good openings. And it’s not likely to get any better or more predictable over the next couple of days.

If you’re not hearing a lot on the bands, fear not: as history demonstrates, this solar interference will soon end, and conditions will again improve. But in the meantime, this is the perfect opportunity to listen to some of the hundreds of recordings in the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

Listening to the recordings and subscribing to the podcast is 100% free, and entirely void of any advertising. The fact is, I pay for this site out of my own pocket.  Not only does it serve as a historical record of radio, but it’s for listeners like us to enjoy.  We already have over 600 podcast subscribers, and invite you to subscribe–as well as to contribute content in the form of your own radio recordings.

Great content, great contributors

Speaking of contributors, check out some of Dan Robinson‘s recent offerings to the archive; many of these are very rare recordings, and all date back to the 1970s:

Brilliant stuff! I hope you will spend some time listening to these great recordings on the archive, and perhaps even join the many contributors by submitting your own recordings, too. Enjoy!

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Introducing The Shortwave Radio Audio Archive

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I used a photo I took of the large slewable curtain antenna at the Edward R. Murrow Transmitter Site for the iTunes cover art of the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

I transformed this photo I took of the large slewable curtain antenna at the Edward R. Murrow Transmitter Site into the iTunes cover art for the new Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

SWLing Post Readers,

I am very happy to announce a project to share and archive our shortwave radio recordings: The Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.

Many of you probably already know that I believe archiving our shortwave radio broadcasts is vital now.  Many broadcasters are leaving the air, and many target areas are being removed altogether. Meanwhile, over the past two years there have been new broadcasters coming on the air, often doing test transmissions before beginning broadcasting in earnest. These, too, are significant in radio history.

I have already populated the site with more than eighty recordings, most of which I’ve posted here over the past two years. I still have thirty or more to add. Already in the archive: Radio Bulgaria (now silent), Radio Netherlands Worldwide, The BBC WS special broadcast of the Diamond Jubilee, and a very interesting Vatican Radio broadcast announcing the selection of the new pope.

If you subscribe to the SW Radio Audio Archive’s podcast, you’ll be able to see and download the entire existing collection and new recordings as they are added.

To make this project work, we need your participation!   You can help in two ways:

  1. Share your shortwave radio recordings! Simply create an Archive.org account, upload your recording, and share the link with us (we have a nifty web form for submissions). Full details are available on this page.
  2. Simply subscribe to the podcast, download the recordings…and save them.  By doing this, you’ll be making an archived copy of all of the recordings. Here are two ways to subscribe to the podcast:

Donations and radio-related, commercial sponsorships are also welcome.

On the site, we state that “Multiple archives in multiple storage locations ensure the integrity of this collection over time.”  This is very true of all archives: the more forms of back up, the better. Especially since archive-quality digital storage does not yet exist. Safety and integrity come with redundancy.

Remember, this project is a collective, community effort, so I hope you will consider sharing your recordings with the rest of the world!

Feel free to share this post and the site http://shortwavearchive.com via social media, your radio groups and message boards. Thank you!

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