{"id":54166,"date":"2022-09-29T07:35:24","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T11:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=54166"},"modified":"2022-09-29T07:35:24","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T11:35:24","slug":"keith-discovers-a-radio-bougainville-recording-on-the-shortwave-archive-a-50-year-old-tape-takes-me-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/09\/keith-discovers-a-radio-bougainville-recording-on-the-shortwave-archive-a-50-year-old-tape-takes-me-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Keith discovers a Radio Bougainville recording on the Shortwave Archive: “A 50-year old tape takes me back”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>We’ve published thousands of off-air recordings on Shortwave Radio Audio Archive<\/strong> over the past decade. They’re freely available for everyone to search and download.<\/p>\n

For those of us who work on the archive, it’s a pure labor of love. We are not compensated for the time and effort we put into running and curating it, although we use\u00a0Patreon<\/a> and Coffee Fund<\/a> contributions to help pay for the site and online archives.<\/p>\n

Quite frequently, our recordings are discovered and are intensely meaningful to individuals. Listening to radio recordings has an amazing ability to summon up memories and moments in time.<\/p>\n

We recently discovered the following article on the blog PNG Attitude<\/em> written by Keith Jackon.<\/a> Keith has kindly given us permission to post it in its entirety here on the SWLing Post<\/em>. Thank you, Keith, and we’re pleased this recording was so relevant to you:<\/p>\n

\n

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

A 50-year old tape takes me back<\/h1>\n

KEITH JACKSON<\/strong><\/p>\n

NOOSA \u2013 It had dropped into my Twitter feed via\u00a0@Laselki<\/a>, the account of the Lebanon-based Arab Amateur Radio Network, and @Stret_Pasin, a valued supporter and one of my 8,700 Twitter followers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It had originated in Ontario, Canada, from the historic village of Ancaster close by the US border and Niagara Falls.<\/p>\n

It was a fleeting recording of a shortwave broadcast.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Map showing location of Ancaster, Canada<\/p><\/div>\n

A broadcast from Radio Bougainville transmitted 51 years ago on 21 October 1971, which had travelled 13,300 km to Ancaster and been recorded.<\/p>\n

Then saved on a cassette tape until, for some reason, recently retrieved and shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cSound is a bit crackly,\u201d wrote @Stret_Pasin, \u201cbut this will bring back memories of Radio Bougainville.\u201d<\/p>\n

Truer words never were tweeted.<\/p>\n

When you link to the\u00a0brief recording here<\/a>\u00a0(scroll down to the black audio bar), you will pick up in rapid succession the sound of chanting to the famous Bougainville\u00a0kaur<\/em>\u00a0flute, then an announcer’s voice and finally a snatch of Bougainville string band music.<\/p>\n

Click here to listen on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I thought I recognised this sequence as the pre-recorded station identification put to air each time the station\u2019s transmitters were fired up at Toniva, just south of Kieta, from a switch in the main studio down a ladder beside my house.<\/p>\n

But the more I listen to it, the less convinced I am of its provenance.<\/p>\n

All I can say for sure is that anything the captured snatch of radio was broadcast at about 12 noon on Bougainville on 22 October 1971.<\/p>\n

This was at a time when Radio Bougainville usually broadcast for 11 hours a day in three separate sessions: 6 am – 9 am, 12 noon \u2013 2 pm and 4 pm – 10pm.<\/p>\n

In a small town in Canada it was late morning the day before, and a young Dan Greenall was tuning his Hallicrafters shortwave radio seeking out distant stations he would register as finding in the ether.<\/p>\n

Even in our modern digital age, there are shortwave junkies who ferret out remote radio stations and seek\u00a0QSL cards<\/a>: written proof of reception. (One issued by Radio Bougainville in 2016 is pictured here.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

QSL reception confirmation from NBC Bougainville, 2016<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2019I heard this at such time on your station; tell me it is true.\u201d And we\u2019d check the log and return a QSL postcard. Yes, you had indeed heard our station.<\/p>\n

Collecting these cards became popular with radio listeners 100 years ago and continues to this day<\/p>\n

Dan had been doing just that 51 years ago when he happened upon a distant signal struggling through heavy interference to be captured by his outdoor copper wire aerial and delivered to the sturdy Hallicrafters S-52 receiver.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Keith’s appointment to manage Radio Bougainville was greeted by this headline in the Bougainville News<\/p><\/div>\n

Dan has written for the\u00a0Shortwave Radio Audio Archive<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe morning of 21 October 1971 provided some of the best reception of Papua New Guinea stations in the 90 metre band that I ever experienced.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThese stations were rare visitors to my headphones but I was able to make a couple of short recordings of two PNG stations that morning, and they have survived to this day on that same audio cassette (now 51 years old).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis one of Radio Bougainville begins with a local chant followed by announcement on the hour. The station ran 2.5 kw and their signal made it over 13,300 km to my receiver that day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAudio quality is passable considering the recording was made using an open mic to the speaker of the Hallicrafters S-52.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Technical data:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Broadcaster: Radio Bougainville<\/strong>
\nDate of recording: 21\/10\/1971<\/strong>
\nStarting time: 1100<\/strong>
\nFrequency: 3.322.5 MHz<\/strong>
\nReceiver location: Ancaster, Ontario, Canada<\/strong>
\nReceiver and antenna: Hallicrafters S-52 using a longwire antenna<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I linked to the thin signal that had managed to land so far away so long ago, I was momentarily overcome with emotion.<\/p>\n

I had known those sounds so well from too many early mornings wondering whether the breakfast announcer would arrive in time to open the station.<\/p>\n

A recording something like that told me he\u2019d arrived, fired up the transmitter and was ready to begin proceedings.<\/p>\n

Through the static of 51 years \u2013 two-thirds of my life \u2013 came a once-familiar sequence of bamboo flute \/ announcer \/ stringband, transporting me back to a time when I was young and in my first management job which, bad bits and all, I was enjoying as if born to it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Keith Jackson at the time of his appointment to Radio Bougainville<\/p><\/div>\n

They were tough years for the people of Bougainville, especially in the villages around Kieta and its hinterland.<\/p>\n

Bougainville Copper had started to dig the ore that produced great quantities of copper, gold and silver on alienated land amidst an alienated people.<\/p>\n

Despite the volatile social and political climate, I had enjoyed the challenge of Bougainville.<\/p>\n

I felt I\u2019d been made for it and that it was making me.<\/p>\n

And I enjoyed working with talented station staff, most from Bougainville, like Tom Kathoa, Sam Bena, Perpetua Tanuku, Justin Kili, Aloysius Sahoto, Aloysius Nase and Aloysius Rumina \u2013 most now gone from our midst. That\u2019s what 51 years does.<\/p>\n

And that simple recording – made so long ago and so far away – brought it all rushing back.<\/p>\n

You can read more about my Bougainville years here in\u00a0Brink of Secession<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

So thanks to Dan Greenall, the Arab Amateur Radio Network and @Stret_Pasin for giving me a free ticket to fly back more than half a century. I really enjoyed the trip.<\/p>\n

Read this full article and check out Keith’s website PNG Attitude here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Also, a very special thanks to Dan Greenall and all of our contributors on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’ve published thousands of off-air recordings on Shortwave Radio Audio Archive over the past decade. They’re freely available for everyone to search and download. For those of us who work on the archive, it’s a pure labor of love. We are not compensated for the time and effort we put into running and curating it, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[3194,960,3,305,288,7566,746,43],"tags":[9968,4094,3948,3975,9967,4091,4082,2479,1958],"class_list":["post-54166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-posts","category-international-broadcasting","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-radio-history","category-radio-memories","category-recordings","category-shortwave-radio","tag-keith-jackson","tag-nostalgia","tag-papua-new-guinea","tag-png","tag-radio-bougainville","tag-radio-history","tag-shortwave-radio","tag-shortwave-radio-audio-archive","tag-sraa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-e5E","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8825,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/02\/more-1968-recordings-on-the-shortwave-radio-audio-archive\/","url_meta":{"origin":54166,"position":0},"title":"More 1968 recordings on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive","author":"Thomas","date":"February 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I've now added a total of five recordings by David Firth, circa 1968, to the SW Radio Audio Archive. Click below for direct links: Voice of America Radio Australia Radio Peking Radio Switzerland Radio Moscow Note that you can subscribe to the SW Radio Audio Archive as a podcast via\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_0135","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/IMG_0135-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":64213,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/the-90-metre-band-then-and-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":54166,"position":1},"title":"The 90 metre band – Then and Now","author":"Thomas","date":"October 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Dan Greenall, who shares the following guest post: The 90 metre band \u2013 Then and Now by Dan Greenall A few decades ago, the 90 metre shortwave broadcast band used to be full of interesting and challenging-to-hear DX signals. In the 1974 edition of\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\/2025\/10\/PNG-radio-map-1971.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/PNG-radio-map-1971.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/PNG-radio-map-1971.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/PNG-radio-map-1971.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/PNG-radio-map-1971.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41730,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/shortwave-radio-audio-archive-a-treasure-trove-of-radio-history-and-nostalgia\/","url_meta":{"origin":54166,"position":2},"title":"Shortwave Radio Audio Archive: A treasure trove of radio history and nostalgia","author":"Thomas","date":"January 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the most amazing things about hosting and curating a massive collection of shortwave radio recordings is listening to each recording as they're published on the site. I created the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive (SRAA) in 2012 as a dedicated space to post and share off-air recordings with the\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\/2014\/01\/IMG_0135.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/IMG_0135.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/IMG_0135.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34825,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/shortwave-archive-1979-radio-moscow-mailbag-studio-recordings\/","url_meta":{"origin":54166,"position":3},"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":7924,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/11\/shortwave-radio-recordings-voice-of-korea\/","url_meta":{"origin":54166,"position":4},"title":"Shortwave Radio Recordings: Voice of Korea","author":"Thomas","date":"November 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, we posted the following recording on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive; our website and podcast of current and historic shortwave radio recordings. Indeed, our podcast is absolutely free and by subscribing\u00a0(via iTunes or RSS feed), you can also help preserve these recordings. Read about the archive by clicking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SWRAA-Shortwave-Archive-iTunes-Logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/SWRAA-Shortwave-Archive-iTunes-Logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10733,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/nothing-on-the-bands-check-out-the-shortwave-radio-audio-archive\/","url_meta":{"origin":54166,"position":5},"title":"Nothing on the bands? Check out the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive!","author":"Thomas","date":"September 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Alas! Lately,\u00a0the sun has been playing tricks on those of us who\u00a0enjoy\u00a0the magic of radio wave propagation. Due to solar disruptions in the ionosphere, propagation has been fickle, albeit with a few good openings. 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