{"id":36851,"date":"2019-04-09T07:17:57","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T11:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=36851"},"modified":"2019-04-09T07:17:57","modified_gmt":"2019-04-09T11:17:57","slug":"the-radio-kitchen-down-under-up-and-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/04\/the-radio-kitchen-down-under-up-and-over\/","title":{"rendered":"The Radio Kitchen: Down Under, Up And Over"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The following article originally appeared on\u00a0The Radio Kitchen<\/strong>\u00a0blog by\u00a0Michael Pool<\/a>, a.k.a. \u201cThe Professor.\u201d In an effort to preserve his writings and recordings, we are republishing The Professor\u2019s archived posts in a special collection<\/a> here on the SWLing Post.<\/em><\/p>\n

Note that not all of the original links and recordings could be recovered, but the majority have been. <\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, all of the views and opinions in this article were those of The Professor.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDown Under, Up And Over\u201d was originally published on November 30, 2007.<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Down Under, Up And Over<\/h1>\n

by The Professor<\/strong><\/p>\n

When get to fooling around with a\u00a0shortwave\u00a0radio I usually don\u2019t have much of an idea of what I might come across, or where the broadcasts I may find will come from. If you happen to be hunting up something originating (or relayed) from a hot nearby transmitter, shortwave listening is almost as predictable and practical as AM or FM\u00a0 However, the real fun in scanning these forgotten bands is hunting for broadcasts from far-flung regions of the globe. It\u2019s all about surfing those\u00a0skywaves<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Instead of patiently scanning a SW broadcast band, this particular evening last July, I was quickly scanning several bands with my\u00a0Degen 1103<\/strong>\u00a0looking for something, ah\u2026 exciting.<\/p>\n

Okay, maybe \u201cexciting\u201d is the wrong word. I was fishing to find some exotic broadcast from far away, and preferably one in my native tongue. I\u2019m sure there are other shortwave listeners who know what I mean. What gets my attention right away when\u00a0\"\"<\/a>trolling the HF bands is coming across an unfamiliar English language broadcast on a carrier marked by the scars of bouncing off the upper atmosphere a few times. Sure, It\u2019s important that the reception has enough clarity to be understood, but shortwave radio waves from far over the horizon are infused with the sounds of the electrical and magnetic activity surrounding our planet. The audio itself often has an edge, even when listening with agile and fancy receivers. An aquired taste, the sonic anamolies of distant shortwave broadcasts have an inate musicallity, which you may appreciate\u00a0 once your ears adjust to them. And the last time I heard the clear mutated throb of a strong distant transmitter traversing the globe was last July. I was sitting under the stars in the Michigan countryside when from over eight-four hundred miles away, New Zealand came calling.<\/p>\n

RNZI (Radio New Zealand International<\/a>) doesn\u2019t seem to have any worldwide coverage mandate like CRI (China), the BBC or VOA or something. Their main purpose is as a regional service for the South Pacific. Dotted with a scads of far-flung islands, their broadcast zone actually covers a huge swath of the Earth\u2019s surface. So just by making a point of covering this\u00a0region<\/a>\u00a0well, RNZI is a major player in\u00a0international broadcasting. (And\u00a0sadly, I can\u2019t remember when I picked up the BBC World Service as well as I heard New Zealand RNZI that evening.)<\/p>\n

From my casual and primitive DXing experience, many powerful shortwave stations from around the world can be picked up from Eastern North America, as long as the signal doesn\u2019t originate from anywhere directly blocked by the massive mountains of the top three quarters of the North American Continental Divide.\"\"<\/a> In other words, with a booming transmitter from the closer sections of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South America are the most likely catches from overseas. Deeper into these zones and continents (and Asia in general) are difficult terrain for DXing rewards from here. That said, with my limited portable equipment I\u2019ve been able to pick up signals from at least three\u00a0of the major broadcasters from the Southern Orient\u2013 India, Australia and New Zealand. I\u2019ve always assumed that these signals ride skywaves over the lower mountains of the Southwest and Central America. But I\u2019m no expert.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I do know that all the overseas states located directly west of the tall Rockies who are serious about reaching US citizens via shortwave rent relay transmitter time from Canada, as well as sites in the Carribean and Europe). In fact, if you happen to come across international broadcasts\u00a0 from Vietnam, China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan or Thailand on shortwave in Eastern North America, you\u2019re probably hearing a\u00a0relayed transmission<\/a>\u00a0from several hundred miles away. But the recording I\u2019m offering here is of reception from from far across the world. Considering the distance travelled, the reception here is fairly healthy. A little hairy, but practical. And there\u2019s no local RF noise getting in the way. You really can hear the details it if you pay attention.<\/p>\n

Radio New Zealand International pt 1 – 9615kHz – 07-07-07 0644 UTC 15:05<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/RADIONEWZEALANDINTERNATIONAL961560950707070658UTC\/RADIO_NEW_ZEALAND_INTERNATIONAL_-_9615_07-07-07_0644_UTC.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

(download)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This first bit is an interview with Canadian chemist and author<\/a>\u00a0Penny LeCouteur discussing her\u00a0book<\/a>\u00a0about molecules that have changed the world. Of note here\u2013 the\u00a0legacy<\/a>\u00a0of how\u00a0James Cook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0ascorbic acid<\/a> made the south seas safe for European explorers and\u00a0colonists<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Then the cassette came to an abrupt stop, and the part two of this recording begins with the flip of the the tape. At the onset of this archive the interview is aborted in mid-sentence and a female announcer formally announces that\u00a0Radio New Zealand International is closing on this frequency. After twice insisting that I \u201cre-tune to six-zero-nine-five kilohertz in the forty-nine meter band\u201d (followed by a clipped \u201cThis <\/em>is New Zealand\u201d), it all sounds so damn official that I felt compelled to follow the instructions. Although I knew that just because RNZI was booming in on 31 meters didn\u2019t necessarily mean it would come in so strong (or might even be heard) on the 49 meter band.<\/p>\n

You hear RNZI\u2019s interval signal (the call of the New Zealand Bellbird) after the station ID, and then the signal at 9165kHz goes dead. I then put the tape deck on pause and punch up 6095 kHz on the Degen and release the pause button. And there it was<\/em>! The call of the\u00a0Bellbird<\/a>\u00a0is quite clear there as well, although a nearby signal is chewing on the edges of the reception a bit.<\/p>\n

Radio New Zealand International p2 2 – 9615 & 6095kHz – 07-07-07 0658 UTC 28:55<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/archive.org\/download\/RADIONEWZEALANDINTERNATIONAL961560950707070658UTC\/RADIO_NEW_ZEALAND_INTERNATIONAL_-_9615-6095_07-07-07_0658_UTC.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

(download)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Whoever is running the board down there in the South Pacific was a little sloppy that night. After the interval signal the board-op starts to pot up the interview again (which is still running on one of the channels). But the mistake is corrected in a fraction of second, and it\u2019s the news with Phil O\u2019Brien. The lead story, a nationwide \u201cDrunk Drive Blitz<\/a>\u201d the night before had netted over two-hundred inebriated kiwis on the highways down there. And an update on the aftermath of an\u00a0unprecedented swarm of tornados\u00a0that\u00a0ravaged<\/a>\u00a0the North Island a couple of nights earlier.<\/p>\n

After the news, it\u2019s the beginning of a program I can barely believe I\u2019m hearing in 2007. A faux flapper-era theme song launches a \u201cnostalgia packed selection of favorites\u201d that will saturate the skies of Oceania for the next four hours. While I love a lotta old music, the whole idea of \u201cnostalgia\u201d can get a little silly. Although I must say that old\u00a0Joe Franklin<\/a>\u00a0used to pull it off with some charm on WOR here in New York City before he gave up the show a few years back. It\u2019s really an approach to radio that\u2019s all but dead here in the states. But apparently not in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As you\u2019ll hear if you brave through this chunk of pulsing and buzzy DX radio, there are a couple of corny numbers to wade through. But I gotta tell you, that sitting outside in the middle of the night with an artifact-drenched AM signal from the other side of the world filling my headphones, it felt reassuringly twentieth-century. Maybe you\u2019ll hear what I mean. And the Paul Robeson and Mills Brothers seemed quite appropriate.<\/p>\n

I guess a little nostalgia isn\u2019t so bad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following article originally appeared on\u00a0The Radio Kitchen\u00a0blog by\u00a0Michael Pool, a.k.a. \u201cThe Professor.\u201d In an effort to preserve his writings and recordings, we are republishing The Professor\u2019s archived posts in a special collection here on the SWLing Post. Note that not all of the original links and recordings could be recovered, but the majority have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,746,43,7676],"tags":[2107,7615,2576,87,34,7712,1294,1295],"class_list":["post-36851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-recordings","category-shortwave-radio","category-the-radio-kitchen","tag-james-cook","tag-michael-pool","tag-radio-new-zealand-international","tag-rnzi","tag-shortwave","tag-taranaki-tornadoes","tag-the-professor","tag-the-radio-kitchen"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-9An","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36140,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/remembering-the-professor-michael-pool-radio-zealot-and-host-of-wfmus-audio-kitchen\/","url_meta":{"origin":36851,"position":0},"title":"Remembering \u201cThe Professor:\u201d Michael Pool, radio zealot and host of WFMU’s Audio Kitchen","author":"Thomas","date":"February 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Regretfully, I've had to bid farewell to few radio friends in the past few months.\u00a0 But until very recently I never dreamed I'd be saying goodbye to my great friend and radio arts mentor Michael Pool, known to the radio world as \"The Professor.\" Michael was an interesting individual, to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Michael-Pool-The-Professor-1985.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4186,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/the-professor-loses-a-neighbor-gains-some-radio-freedom\/","url_meta":{"origin":36851,"position":1},"title":"The Professor loses a neighbor, gains some radio freedom","author":"Thomas","date":"August 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"So great to see a new post on The Radio Kitchen, letting us know that The Professor can DX from home again after resolving a spectrum noise disturbance. This is a post many a shortwave listener will relate to, since most of us have had to deal with spectrum noise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/amazonia-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":34825,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/shortwave-archive-1979-radio-moscow-mailbag-studio-recordings\/","url_meta":{"origin":36851,"position":2},"title":"Shortwave Archive: 1979 Radio Moscow Mailbag Studio Recordings","author":"Thomas","date":"November 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"If you've been a shortwave radio listener since the Cold War, you no doubt remember Radio Moscow's Mailbag program with\u00a0Joe Adamov. Tom Gavaras, a new contributor at the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, recently shared a series of seven Radio Moscow studio recordings and noted: These recordings were originally provided to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Reel-to-reel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Reel-to-reel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Reel-to-reel.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Reel-to-reel.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36635,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/the-radio-kitchen-the-hip-spot-on-your-dial\/","url_meta":{"origin":36851,"position":3},"title":"The Radio Kitchen: The Hip Spot On Your Dial","author":"Thomas","date":"March 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The following article originally appeared on The Radio Kitchen blog by Michael Pool, a.k.a. \"The Professor.\" In an effort to preserve his writings and recordings, we are republishing The Professor's archived posts in a special collection here on the SWLing Post. Note that not all of the original links and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/The-Radio-Kitchen-Header.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/The-Radio-Kitchen-Header.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/The-Radio-Kitchen-Header.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/The-Radio-Kitchen-Header.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31516,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/shortwave-radio-recordings-ham-radio-contacts-between-w2pvf-sk-and-two-antarctic-stations-circa-1974\/","url_meta":{"origin":36851,"position":4},"title":"Shortwave Radio Recordings: Ham radio contacts between W2PVF (SK) and two Antarctic Stations, circa 1974","author":"Thomas","date":"April 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to Bill Hemphill (WD9EQD) who is one of our newest contributors at the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive (SRAA). Bill approached me at the Winter SWL Fest this year\u00a0noting that he has a wide variety of radio-related audio recordings to share with the SRAA and the SWLing Post. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/LU1ZE-QSL-Card-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5515,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/pirate-radio-recordings-bust-a-nut-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":36851,"position":5},"title":"Pirate Radio Recordings: Bust A Nut Radio","author":"Thomas","date":"February 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Bust A Nut Radio's AM signal came in fairly strong last night sometime around 5:45 UTC (February 2nd) on 6,940 kHz. You'll hear a great variety of music--from classic rock to electronica--complete with originally produced ID's and bumpers in this pirate radio recording. Click here to download an MP3\u00a0of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Pirate Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Pirate Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/pirate-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"You know the proceedure","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/NutCrackerDiagram-300x111.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}