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ANGOLA. Here is a 1947 schedule in Portuguese from Radio Clube de Angola.

ANTARCTIC. "Calling the Antarctic" - Alan Pennington of the British DX Club has written this very nice article in the July issue of the club’s bulletin, Communication, about the history of BBC broadcasting to the region.

ARGENTINA. This is a 1950 notice to listeners from the Argentine International Broadcasting Service (SIRA) regarding then-upcoming changes to their schedule.

AUSTRALIA. Here is a Radio Australia program schedule from May 1954. Note the various Sunday entries for "Australian DX-ers Calling," which is believed to have been the first program that we would recognize as a DX program. It commenced broadcast in July 1946, with DX editor Ernest H. Suffolk at the helm, and it was on the air continuously until October 1977.

AUSTRALIA. Radio Australia - In "days of yore," many of the larger SWBC stations issued informative printed schedules to listeners on their mailing list. Some of these contained extensive program, time and frequency information. Here is one such schedule from Radio Australia. This one is from April 1951 (it was issued quarterly).

AUSTRALIA. "Wireless Communications" - In shortwave's early days, commercial messaging, rather than broadcasting, was the new medium's principal function. In Australia, this service was offered by Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Ltd. (AWA) through its directional "beam system." Here is a 44-page booklet, "Wireless Communications," published by AWA in 1932. It contains all you will ever want to know about how the beam system was set up and how the messaging system worked. AWA facilities were also used for broadcast purposes, as noted in the timeline on pgs. 36 and 38. The Pennant Hills (Sydney) shortwave broadcast transmitter is shown on p. 30.

AUSTRALIA. Radio Australia - Here are three items produced by Radio Australia: two histories of the station, one from 1969 (the station's 30th Anniversary), the other from 1989 (the 50th); and a 1969-70 writeup about Radio Australia's then-new Darwin shortwave facility.

AUSTRALIA. VNG - Some photos and a recording from VNG, the Australian time signal station that was often heard until its close on December 31, 2002.

AUSTRALIA. Broadcasting and the Australian Post Office, 1923-1973 - Here is a brief but very nice (and illustrated) history of broadcasting in Australia published in 1973.

AUSTRALIA. Jacko, the Broadcasting Kookaburra

AUSTRALIA. Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Ltd. - Here is a file containing three original photos of the Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Ltd. transmitting station at Pennant Hills, near Sydney, Australia. The first photo is dated 1930, and the others are likely from around the same time. Pennant Hills was used for varioius transmission services, including international shortwave broadcasting. The facility began operation in 1912 as VIS. Experimental shortwave broadcasting from Pennant Hills began in 1927, with programs originating in the studios of mediumwaver 2FC. The station morphed into VK2ME, 20 kw.

BARBADOS. "Barbados Shortwave Redux" - Jamaica, Trinidad, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Curacao, the Windward Islands--they are just shortwave memories now. They didn't have the cachet of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Angola and other "prime DX targets," but the Caribbean stations were always fun. Reception was usually good, and the local English-language programming in particular gave an authentic feel for life in the islands. One place that was a little elusive was Barbados, whose "shortwave broadcasting" began as a ham project in the 1930s and grew into occasional Cable & Wireless relays of local sports matches from the 40s into the 60s. Adrian Peterson has told this story in a past edition of Wavescan, and we have added to it in this article.

BECHUANALAND. ZNB - Colin Miller has sent us a clipping from Johannesburg’s Rand Daily Mail of May 22, 1963 about ZNB, Bechuanaland (now Botswana), and its announcer, Wally Coombes, to which we have added a QSL signed by Wally.

BELGIUM. ORU, Brussels, Belgium - Here is a pamphlet from ORU, Brussels, Belgium. It shares some content with the OTC publication posted earlier, but there is some original material as well, plus some additional photos. This piece originally belonged to DXer Kermit Geary. Go to the "DX Jewelry" page to see the pin which was offered to members of the station's "Amongst Friends" club.

BRAZIL. Radio Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - In shortwave days of yore, stations interested in making ongoing contact with listeners sent out periodic program schedules, informing listeners of upcoming programs. Here is a schedule that was sent out by Radio Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1943. It is in Portuguese and English, and it contains much interesting information, including a description (and photos) of the station, a day-by-day list of the programs, with fuller descriptions of certain programs, news of Brazil's war effort, and reception reports from listeners. (Note the "Special Broadcasts" for Portugal, Great Britain, "Spanish America," the U.S. and Canada.) Radio Nacional operated with 50 kw. on three shortwave frequencies: 9520 kHz. (PRL7), 11720 (PRL8), and 17850 (PRL9). Also listed on p. 1 of the booklet is PRE8, the mediumwave channel on 980 kHz. We have previously posted several other items relating to Radio Nacional, in particular an article from RCA Broadcast News (January 1944, p. 29). We have also posted Don Jensen's QSL from Radio Nacional, 1952.

BRAZIL. Radio Cultura, Sao Paulo, Brazil - You don't often see English-language promotional material from stations in Latin America. Here is an illustrated folder from Radio Cultura, Sao Paulo, Brazil. It describes the station's many capabilities, and even includes U.S. contact addresses for potential advertisers. It appears that this piece is from around 1947. What is interesting is that at that time Radio Cultura was on mediumwave only. It did not come on shortwave until 1953.

CANADA. Here are two Radio Canada schedules from 1963 (November 1962-February 1963, March-April 1963).

CANADA. Radio Canada International Monitoring Station - Here is some information about the RCI monitoring station in Stittsville, Ontario: some technical information about the RCI transmitter and monitoring plants (1987); a description of the monitoring station (1991); and some photos taken at Stittsville. Thanks to Harold Sellers for this.

CANADA. Here is a brief, readable history of Radio Canada InternationalThis pamphlet was prepared by RCI on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, and covers the years 1945-1995. It is printed in both English and French; these are the English pages.

CANADA. CFRB/CFRX - Here is the Tenth Anniversary Yearbook (1937) of CFRB, Toronto. The station's then-new shortwave outlet was CFRX, 6070 kHz., which took to the air on February 11, 1937. The yearbook has much info about the station, and radio in general, but not much specifically about CFRX, save for the description of the new shortwave project on pg. 8. And on pg. 61 there is a list of shortwave broadcasters. It's not mentioned in the yearbook, but Fridays at midnight both CFRB and CFRX carried five minutes of DX tips from the NNRC. CFRX and CFVP are the last private shortwave broadcasters still operating in Canada.

CANADA. CHNS/CHNX - The well-known Nova Scotia shortwaver CHNX, came to air on shortwave in 1930, four years after it started transmitting on the broadcast band as CHNS. The shortwave call letters were VE9CE, changed to VE9HX in 1933 and CHNX in 1938. Here is the CHNS 1934 Yearbook, containing much information about the station, as well as references to other Canadian broadcasters. While its focus is on the broadcast band, there are a couple of mentions of VE9HX (pgs. 2 and 48), plus other items particularly relevant to shortwave: p. 28 (hams and reporting codes), pgs. 30-31 (BBC rebroadcasts), p. 33 (radio bands), pgs. 34-35 (principal shortwave stations of the world), and p. 36 (pointers for new SWLs).

CANADA. CHNX, Halifax, Nova Scotia - Harold Sellers has written an interesting history about this former Canadian shortwave station that many listeners will remember operated on 6130 kHz.

CANADA. CJRX - CJRX, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada appears to have been the earliest Canadian commercial broadcast station transmitting regularly on shortwave. It came to air in 1928. The call letters changed to CKRX in 1943, and the station remained on the air (on 11720 kHz.) until around 1956. Here is a copy of the station's radio bulletin for December 1929. It contains many interesting photos and much information about the station and its mediumwave partners.

CANADA. CKFX, Vancouver, BC, Canada - Here is a collection of materials about station CKFX, Vancouver, BC, Canada, prepared by Harold Sellers. It includes two histories of the station; some 1996 and 1997 notes from Arthur Cushen and Ben Krepp about the station's closing, together with Arthur's 1940 QSL; a 1982 CKFX-CKWX letter to Harold Sellers about the station; photos and diagrams of the station's equipment and its building; and four QSLs from 1934, 1936 and 1956 from the CPRV collection.

CANADA. More Trinkets - Trinkets-VIII contains five items: (1) a medal recognizing the formation of the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, predecessor to the CBC, in 1932; (2) a CBC-Radio Canada "Heritage" badge; (3) a member-button for the CBC-Radio Canada Stamp Club; (4) an RCI 60th anniversary pin; and (5) a microphone pin, which must be from 1974 or later, as that was the year the "exploding pizza" logo was adopted. Trinkets-IX contains another CBC item, a 2011 CBC commemorative coin, together with a presentation booklet celebrating the 75th annivesary of the formation of the CBC /Radio-Canada in 1936. It contains much interesting history of the CBC. (Zoom in for best readability.)

CHINA. XGRS, Shanghai, China - You might not expect to find in wartime Shanghai a shortwave station that was run by the German Propaganda Ministry, but considering the colonialist nature of the international settlement it wasn't such a far-fetched idea. XGRS was a colorful station, run by German locals before the German government took over.

CHINA. XMHD - Jim Bowman, whose father was Dr. Robert H. Bowman, co-founder of the Far East Broadcasting Corp. in the Philippines, has sent us an undated article, "XMHD-China," from International Christian Broadcasters Bulletin. It contains some information about XMHD, a Chinese station of the 1930s from which we have earlier posted a 78 rpm promotional recording (see below under "Recordings" or click here). Thanks to Jim for bringing us this information.

CHINA. XMHD, Shanghai, China - We have already posted a couple of items about XMHD, the mediumwave religious station that operated from Shanghai, China in the 1930s: a promotional record, and a brief article. Now there is more information about the station, and it is the basis of this new 10-page illustrated writeup.

COLOMBIA. "Relays and Roundtables: HJ1ABB, W2XAF et al." - By the mid-1930s, the number of active shortwave broadcast stations in Colombia was around 25. One of them was HJ1ABB, La Voz de Barranquilla, which was often heard in various multi-station on-air events. Another regular participant in these broadcasts was W2XAF, the General Electric shortwave station in Schenectady, New York. Read more about them here.

COMOROS. Republic of Comoros - One of the most exotic SWBC DX targets was the Comoros. Located northwest of Madagascar, the French island territory came on shortwave in 1960 by way of a Radiodiffusion Television Francaise station transmitting from Dzaoudzi on the island of Mayotte. The station operated on 3331 and 7260 kHz. with 4 kw. In 1967 it was relocated to Moroni, Grand Comore. In 1975 the independent Republic of Comoros, with capital at Moroni, split away and became independent, while Mayotte remained French. The Moroni station became Radio Comores. It was on the air until the late 1980s, returning briefly in 1991 before disappearing for good on shortwave. The Comoros were sometimes heard in North America circa 0300 UTC. We have posted two files about the Comoros. In one you will find three QSLs from the Comoros station: one from 1963, when it was located at Dzaoudzi, and two from the Moroni period (1968 and 1979). The opening of the station in Dzaoudzi in 1960 was commemorated by the issuance of two good-looking postage stamps, and in a second file we have posted these stamps, together with two first-day covers celebrating the event. As you can see, one of the stamps shows the station's shortwave frequencies. Also in this file is another cover, from 1972, celebrating the establishment of radiotelegraph service between Moroni and Paris.

CONGO. Radio Katanga - To say that the Democratic Republic of the Congo – the former Belgian Congo – was born in 1960 under difficult circumstances would be a gross understatement.  Belgian troops and U.N. troops had to restore order, the first in a series of fractious military and political events that would define the country over many decades. Soon after independence a new station surfaced – Radio Katanga, located in Elisabethville, capital of the mineral-rich breakaway province of Katanga. Here is a brief review of the early days of this then-new DX target.

CONGO-KINSHASA. Radiodiffusion Congolaise - In 1960, following the Belgian Congo's independence and rebirth as the Republic of the Congo, Radiodiffusion Congolaise, as it was then known, offered a foreign service via its 50 kw. transmitter in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa). We have already posted some earlier information on this service and we have now added some additional photos of station personalities.

CONGO-KINSHASA. OTC, Leopoldville, the Belgian Congo - We have already posted a number of items about OTC, the 50 kw. station located in the then-Belgian Congo. It served as a well-heard Belgian national voice during World War II (and had a nightly program to North America). It continued in operation after the war, at first operating relatively autonomously, and from 1952 as a relay of the North and South American beams of ORU in Belgium. Congolese independence in 1960 brought its closure. Now we have a couple of more items: two program schedules and a reception report form. These are from 1950.

CONGO-KINSHASA. OTC, Leopoldville, the Belgian Congo - The Congo, both the Belgian and French parts, offered some of the most interesting listening in the 1950s and 1960s, with OTC located in the former, and Radio Brazzaville in the latter. During the war, both had served as the colonial voice of their home countries. Afterwards, they retained a certain autonomy, broadcasting to the world from their exotic locations. The pamphlet we have posted from OTC appears to have been issued around 1949, and contains information about Belgium, the Congo, and the station itself. Part of Radiodiffusion Nationale Belge, OTC broadcast with 50 kw. Its audience orientation made it a favorite among shortwave listeners everywhere, and it often carried special programs for particular clubs. As noted in the pamphlet, it had DX programs in multiple languages, and OTC received so many letters from Sweden that it had a regular program in Swedish. It lost its distinct identity in 1952, after which it served as a relay of Brussels until Congolese independence in 1960 brought its closure.

CONGO-KINSHASA. "Broadcasting for the Congolese" - This article is from the July 1952 issue of the quarterly journal, "The Belgian Congo to-Day." It is about Radio Congo Belge, which began broadcasting on January 1, 1949. It contains some interesting station pre-history, and then focuses on the station’s programs, and on the home and work life of Pauline Lisanga, said to be the first native woman announcer in Africa. The frequency 9210 kc. (OTH) is mentioned, and while 1952 was a little before my time, I remember hearing the frequency in the late 1950s, by which time power had increased from 7.5 kw. to 50.

CONGO-KINSHASA. The Marconi Station at Banana - Here is a brief writeup, with pictures, about the Marconi radiotelegraph station at Banana, Congo Free State, in the early 1900s.

COSTA RICA. "TI4NRH – A Picture Gallery" - We have already posted a number of items relating to TI4NRH, the famous Costa Rican shortwave station, and there are other NRH items on line, especially on Don Moore’s website. Recently, Costa Rica issued a stamp sheet which included the picture of NRH founder Amando Cespedes Marin. We have taken that stamp sheet and added to it the station-related photos in Don Amando’s book, "Me and Little Radio NRH," which we reviewed some time ago.

COSTA RICA. TI4NRH - Here is a 4-page folder from the well-known early Costa Rican shortwave station, TI4NRH. It contains a typewritten letter dated 1931 from station owner Amando Cespedes Marin to one Milton Carlson, W9FFQ, of Rockford, Illinois, inviting him to listen and urging him to buy ACM's then soon-to-be-published book, "Me and Little Radio NRH," some sample pages of which he enclosed. The printed part of the folder also contains comments from prospective readers of the book, plus a summary of the book's contents. Set your PDF reader for side-by-side viewing for best effect on this one. And look under "Book Reviews" on this site for a previously-posted review of "Me and Little Radio NRH." Here is another interesting TI4NRH artifact (in the "CPRV Gallery"): a 1922 postcard QSL from Ames, Iowa broadcast station WOI-9YI (9YI was its amateur/experimental call). What is noteworthy about it is the handstamp on the address side, "Radio Emisora Ti4NRH Heredia Costa Rica," and the handwritten notation, "Read it too Dec 6-1941," over ACM's signature. What do you suppose caused the recipient of the QSL, who lived in North Dakota, to send it to ACM? And did ACM read it over the air?

COSTA RICA. TI4NRH - TI4NRH was the historic Costa Rican shortwave station that came on the air in 1928 and was widely heard during the 1930s. Here is a file containing three envelope stuffers from TI4NRH. The first is a short message from the station's friendly owner and founder, Amando Cespedes Marin. The second is a 4-page pamphlet, "The Voice of Costa Rica." The third is another 4-page pamphlet, this one issued in connection with the May 1938 celebration of the station's tenth anniversary. During that month, TI4NRH broadcast a series of 31 special programs, each dedicated to a particular station, club, publication or person in the shortwave world. The pamphlet lists the honorees and their connection to TI4NRH.

COSTA RICA. TI4NRH - An article written by its "Creator, Constructor and Program Director," Amando Cespedes Marin, and published in the July 1933 issue of Short Wave Craft. Although "NRH" started out with 7-1/2 watts, it was up to 150 watts by the time the article was written. It was widely heard throughout the world, and Sr. ACM was a well-known figure among DXers. For more on this station, see Don Moore's excellent article about his visit to the station, and other material about TI4NRH, at http://www.pateplumaradio.com/central/costarica.html.

COSTA RICA. TI4NRH - More on one of the very earliest and most famous SWBC stations, TI4NRH in Costa Rica. This is from the Fall 1930 issue of Radio Design, the house organ of the Pilot Radio & Tube Corp., Lawrence, Massachusetts, makers of the early "Wasp" series of shortwave receivers.

COSTA RICA. Radio Universidad de Costa Rica - Here are several items in a mini-tribute to Radio Universidad de Costa Rica. One looks to be a regular RUCR envelope (note the inclusion of the shortwave channel on the bottom front, but not the back), with two stamps commemorating the writing of the lyrics to the Costa Rican national anthem by Jose Maria Zeledon, and a cancellation commemorating the 55th anniversary of the station. The date of the cancellation appears to be written as "14:22 Julio, 2004," which we believe was the celebratory period, July 14-22. The station came on the air on November 29, 1949. The full history of the station (in Spanish) is contained in "Historia de Radio--Radioemisoras de la Universidad de Costa Rica," published in 2014. Also posted is a recording of their shortwave channel, 6105 kHz, made on June 6, 1998, at 0604 UTC s/off; and a 1978 QSL belonging to the late John D. Tuchscherer.

DENMARK. The Voice of Denmark - Here is a file containing three issues of "The Voice of Denmark," a quarterly newsletter published by that station's shortwave department. Included are the newsletter's first issue, published in the fourth quarter of 1958, plus issues from the third quarter of 1959 and the first quarter of 1961. Intended to appeal to a broad audience, there were articles in English, Danish and Spanish. The 1958 issue contains an introduction to the station and a description of the English department; the 1959 issue has an article (and photo) of WRTH publisher (and Voice of Denmark DX bulletin preparer) O. Lund Johansen; and the 1961 issue contains a photo of Hans Hansen, the "Saturday Night Club" host at the time. Each issue contains a schedule of the station's shortwave broadcasts.

DENMARK. OXZ - A booklet, "Lyngby Radio Calling," which tells the story of Lyngby Radio, OXZ, the Danish coastal station whose history dates to 1904. (Lyngby Radio ceased operating on shortwave on October 1, 2009.) Thanks to Jim Cumbie of Texas for sending this in.

DENMARKOZF, Denmark - Here is an info sheet and QSL dating from 1938 from what was later known as Radio Denmark. The call letters, OZF, and the station's well-known frequency, 9520 kHz., became familiar to shortwave listeners everywhere, especially after 1948, when the station went from 6 kw. to 50 kw. OZF came into regular use in the mid-1930s. For some radio-related Danish philately, check out these First Day Covers.

ECUADOR. HCJB Tour - Here is a brochure and promotional message inviting DXers on an organized trip to HCJB on March 27-April 9, 1988. The plan had everything: visits to various HCJB facilities and other stations, a Quito tour, a trip to the equator, visits to markets, jungle settlements and rain forests, time for shopping and DXing, etc. Cost: $1,199 per person, including Miami-Quito-Miami airfare. Alas, the trip never actually took place. Apparently interest was strong enough, but there wasn’t adequate lead time. (Another tour was to be planned, but if it happened I am not aware of it.) Don Jensen visited the station when he was in Ecuador in 1980. For a writeup about that in ANDEX, check the March 1980 edition. Other guests at HCJB included a 10-person group of readers of Short Wave Magazine (U.K.). For an interesting series of articles about that visit, see Dick Ganderton, "DXing in Ecuador," Parts 1-3, Short Wave Magazine (U.K.), August (pg. 36), September (pg. 40), October (pg. 10) (1991). It is also covered in ANDEX for July-August 1991.

ECUADOR. "HCJB on Low Power" - During the days when HCJB was a regular presence on shortwave, it was hard to think of it as ever having been low power. But, besides its early years, there were several opportunities to hear the station via special low-power transmissions.

ECUADOR. HCJB, Quito, Ecuador - If you miss hearing HCJB regularly on SW, take a walk down memory lane with our HCJB Tribute Page. We have pulled together much HCJB memorabilia, including literature produced by the station (some of it dating back to the 1940s and 1950s); various articles about HCJB; audio and video pieces about the station; HCJB QSL-cards, pennants, stickers and philately; the covers of several books and LP records about HCJB; and a bunch of HCJB souvenirs. In addition, we have posted PDF copies of all 179 issues of ANDEX International, the ANDEX club newsletter, along with an extensive index.  We would like to make this page as complete as possible, so if you have any other material that you would like to see posted here, please let us know.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA. "Equatorial Guinea Reprised" - Almost by definition, shortwave broadcasting from an African country called Equatorial Guinea is going to be a worthy DX experience, and for decades the country has provided SWBC DXers with interesting DX targets. One aspect of the SWBC history of the former Spanish Guinea is Radio Atlantica, a "station that never was." In this article, we revisit a 1995 article about shortwave in the country, and add some additional information and some graphics.

FALKLAND ISLANDS. The Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station - About 25 years ago, a postcard turned up depicting the "Government Wireless Station" in Stanley, the Falkland Islands. Seeking more information, we sent it down to the Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station to see if they could provide some more specific information. Here is the card and the FIBS reply, together with two sets of Falkland Islands "radio communications" postage stamps, one of which is on a 1962 Falklands first day cover. The first North American logging of FIBS shortwave, then on 3958 kc., was in July 1958, and was accomplished by ace DXer John Beaver of Canon City, Colorado. Loggings by others, including Don Jensen, followed, but the whole affair was deemed "impossible" by some die hards. It played out in the pages of the NNRC Bulletin from August 1958 to February 1961, and you can read it all and see DNJ's Falklands QSL here.

FRANCE. "Radio-France" - In the next entry (below) we presented some postcard views of the high-power radio center at Saint-Assise, France. Among the business handled at "Radio-France," Saint-Assise, was telegram traffic. Here is a French-English promotional pamphlet that "Radio-France" made available to those wishing to send telegrams. It includes a list of corresponding stations in other countries, rate information, and three blanks for composing telegrams. (Some of the stations listed were also known to carry some broadcast programming, including Transradio Internacional in Argentina, Amalgamated Wireless in Australia, and Transradio Espanola in Spain.)

FRANCE. Radio France Centre de T.S.F. de Saint-Assise - In 1922, France inaugurated a point-to-point transmission center which was the country's answer to RCA's Radio Central at Rocky Point, Long Island, which had opened the previous year. It was at Saint-Assise, 25 miles southeast of Paris. Here are four files with postcard views of the installation. Principally a longwave station, it was at first divided into two parts. The continental station, designed to serve Europe, could put out up to 100 kw. power, while the transcontinental station could operate at 200-1500 kw. A shortwave transmitting capability was added later, and a receiving station was located at Villacresnes. The aerial structure included 16 towers, 44 miles of cable, 50 miles of copper ground wire, ands a mile-square's worth of copper plates. The postcards are in four files. (File 1) The first contains three outside views of the administrative facilities, a view of the transcontinental (left) and continental (right) stations and antenna farms, and a view of one of the tower bases: (File 2) the second contains four views of the transcontinental station; (File 3) the third contains six views of the continental station; and (File 4) the fourth contains three views of the shortwave station.

FRANCE. SORAFOM (Societe de Radiodiffusion de la France d'Outre-Mer) - Tuning through the 60 meter band today, it is hard to imagine the DX that could be heard on those frequencies 50 years ago. Among the best sources of signals were the stations in the countries of what was then called French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa. By 1960, most of these countries had become independent, and their stations were affiliated with SORAFOM, Societe de Radiodiffusion de la France d'Outre-Mer, a French government organization formed in 1956 to aid development of broadcasting in the former French territories. Here is a schedule of the SORAFOM stations as of September 30, 1960. As can be seen, most of the shortwave transmitters were 4 kw. units. Despite this low power, many were routine catches on east coast afternoons.

FRENCH EQUATORIAL AFRICA. "Shortwave Sisters of French Equatorial Africa: Radio Brazzaville and Radio Club," the history of two closely-related stations, one that is among the most famous shortwave broadcasters, the other that was barely known even when it was on the air in the 1930s, let alone now.

GERMANY. "Deutsche Welle Engineering" - The year 2018 is Deutsche Welle's 65th birthday. DW is still a media powerhouse in Germany, but only a few of its broadcasts, and a few languages, transmitted via third-party facilities located almost exclusively outside of Germany, remain of DW on shortwave. One of the world's best-heard international stations in its prime, the future on shortwave was evident in 2006, when DW transmissions from Wertachtal came to an end (DW had already stopped using another major transmitting site, Julich, in 1996). For those who would like to know more about the technical side of DW in shortwave's "good old days," we have posted this 104-page booklet, extensively-illustrated, describing the technical side of Deustche Welle, including the Antigua, Kigali, Malta and Sines relay stations. It looks like it was published circa 1980. Two nice features are the information on pre-war German shortwave broadcasting, and the timeline of German HF operations from 1924 to 1979.

GERMANY. "Five Years of the German Shortwave Station" - This booklet is another item from wartime Germany. It combines the station's North American program listings for April 1938 with various items relating to the Zeesen station's fifth anniversary, including photos (see Reichminister Dr. Goebbels, "the patron of German broadcasting," on p. 3), a timeline of the station's development from 1933 to 1937, etc. It is written in both German and English.

GERMANY. "Zeesen" - Here is a brochure from "Zeesen," the powerful German shortwave station that put in strong signals worldwide during the 1930s and the war years. This was apparently intended for German citizens abroad, for the title, in English, is "German, Your Homeland Speaks to You--A Visit to the German Shortwave Station in Berlin." It contains many interesting "inside" photos, with legends in German, English and Spanish (zoom in to read). I believe it dates from around 1939. You might not have agreed with the message, but the station had some of the most professionally-produced programming and strongest listener relations of any shortwave station. BTW: The seal on the form that the group is looking at on p. 5--it is from the Short Wave League, a magazine-based "club" sponsored by Short Wave Craft (Short Wave & Television after 1936); and that wall poster on p. 6 is the same design as one of Zeesen's QSLs.

GERMANY"Zeesen" Program Schedule - Here is a program schedule that you would have received in November 1940 from the "Zeesen" shortwave station in Germany if you lived in North America and were on the mailing list. As this one indicates, schedules to North American listeners were at the time sent out from the German Library of Information in New York City, which the U.S. government closed in 1941. Note the reference to the "Lord Haw-Haw" programs, as well as those of various American turncoats--Fred Kaltenbach, E. D. Ward, Otto Koischwitz ("O.K. Speaking").

GERMANY. "Zeesen" - We return to Germany, with two more items from "Zeesen," the German shortwave station that dominated the short waves during World War II and before. They are: (1) an October 1939 German-English letter to listeners, outlining changes in their broadcasting (the war in Europe had started the month before); and (2) "Hello, Everybody! A Voice of Friendship, Short Waves Over the World," a four-page English-language writeup about shortwave and the German station's "Waves of Friendship."

GERMANY. "Kleines Deutsches Rundfunk--ABC" - As shortwave stations developed foreign audiences, some offered language courses providing some basic knowledge of the language of the country where the station was located. Among these stations was "Zeesen," the Deutschen Kurzwellensender (German Shortwave Station). In connection with its German-language course the station offered a booklet, "Kleines Deutsches Rundfunk--ABC." Here is a version published in 1938. Subtitled "A Guide to the German Language for English-speaking Listeners of the German Short Wave Station," its 24 nicely-illustrated lessons are built around radio-related topics: announcements, greetings to listeners, music, talks, drama, news, etc. The course ends with a contest. The booklet's Introduction contains some background on the course.

GERMANY. The Deutscher Kurzwellensender- The Deutscher Kurzwellensender, Berlin, was one of the most powerful shortwave broadcasters in the 1930s. Here is a German-English copy of their May 1938 program schedule for "Zone V, North America," including a 1933 quote from Herr H. himself.

GERMANY. Reichs-Rundfunk Gesellschaft ("Zeesen") - In the days leading up to World War II, the German station, Reichs-Rundfunk Gesellschaft, commonly known as "Zeesen" (after the transmitter location), was one of the strongest on the bands. And it was no less a leader in the new field of international radio propaganda. Starting circa 1935, the station replied to listener letters with a small (4 inch) 78 rpm record. Here are scans of the record, together with MP3 files of the audio content, which is in German on one side, English on the other.

GERMANY. RIAS, Berlin - Well-known RIAS, Radio in the American Sector, operated from Berlin from 1946 until it merged with several other stations c. 1994. Usually heard on 6005 kHz. shortwave in America, it could sometimes be heard on mediumwave as well. Here is a booklet about the station, published c. 1964, and a QSL from that year obtained by mediumwave DXer Kermit Geary.

GHANA. A photo from Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, from an 1947 Argentine magazine showing the control room for a station in "Gold Coast, Africa" that may be the predecessor to the current Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.

GHANA. Radio Ghana - No doubt it has been some time since the postman has brought you a schedule for the External Service of Radio Ghana. Here is one for the period January-March 1977. Along with African political news, it contains the schedules for the station's six English services, two French services, and two Arabic services, together with services in Portuguese, Hausa and Swahili. Just reading the frequencies on the back cover reminds us -- not that we need it -- how much the shortwave scene has changed. Ghana's external service began in the early 1960s. In 1977 it was on 6130, 9545, 11850, 15285, 17870, 21545, 21720 kHz. It is hard to believe that it was over 30 years ago.

HAITI. 4VGM, Magloire Broadcasting Circuit, Port-au-Prince, Haiti - Although during the 1930s and later many stations aired shortwave "specials" at the request of DX clubs and radio magazines, they were never as numerous as on mediumwave, where, for the benefit of DXers who might not be able to hear the station during normal hours, or for promotional purposes, a station might broadcast a special program for DXers. Most were from domestic U.S. stations, but there were many foreign specials too. Here is a file containing the tracks of one such special, from station 4VGM, Magloire Broadcasting Circuit, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which operated with 1 kw. on 1430 kHz. (The station's 6165 kHz. shortwave channel also carried the special.) The program was broadcast in February 1951. In the file are the announcements that appeared in the National Radio Club and the Newark News Radio Club bulletins. The NRC announced it for February 18, while the NNRC said it was scheduled for February 11, with February 18 as the backup date, and it was on the 18th that it was actually heard. Included are 12 pages from the NRC bulletin where the special was reported, and one page from the NNRC Bulletin. In addition, a Haitian newspaper contained a big spread on the test, with extracts from reports sent in by a who's who of the mediumwave greats of the day--Magnuson, Prater, Cooper, Geary, Botzum, Hank Holbrook. Completing the file is DXer Sidney Steele's QSL for the test, and a 4VGM envelope that was sent to Kermit Geary. Set your PDF reader at 100% to read all the details.

HAITI. Radio Commerce - Here is a file on Radio Commerce, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which was active in the 1950s and 1960s on 49 and 31 meters. The file includes some loggings of the station taken from the NNRC bulletin, together with two QSLs and a French-language brochure which the station sent out.

HAWAII. "The Sounds of Hawaii on Shortwave" - Hearing Hawaii on shortwave always seemed special, but it was seldom that you could hear actual Hawaiian programming over the islands' shortwave stations. There were, however, some locally-grown Hawaiian programs that were carried over a couple of Hawaii's shortwave transmitters. The story is told in this article.

HAWAII. WWVH, Hawaii - We go to the Pacific. Here is a brochure about WWVH. It was published in 1974 or some time thereafter, and provides a brief description of the station's operation until that time. It began transmitting, from Maui, in 1949, and moved to a different island, Kauai, which is its present location, in 1971. We have also posted a file containing several WWVH QSL cards.

HONDURAS. "HRB - The Voice of the Tropics" - Recently, in an article about R. Swan, we mentioned HRB, the Voice of the Tropics, a Honduran station owned by the United Fruit Company and active in 1930-31. United Fruit was part of the early radio history of Swan Island. Here is some more information about HRB.

ICELAND. "Broadcast in Iceland" - The Iceland State Broadcast Service was founded in 1930, and several years later its programs started appearing on shortwave, 9060 and 12240 kHz. Here is a pamphlet about the ISBS, "Broadcast in Iceland," which was published circa 1938-39.

INDIA. VU2ZP - Here is an interesting historical item from VU2ZP, an early Armed Forces Radio Service station located in Bangalore, India, in the "China-Burma-India" theater. A mediumwave station, it operated on 1355 kc. There is some history about the station on the web at http://www.cbi-theater.com/roundup/roundup122745.html and http://www.cbi-history.com/part_vi.html.

INDIA. VU2ZW - Here is a writeup on VU2ZW, a World War II AFRS mediumwave station in Agra, India, together with a program schedule from the station.

ITALY. E.I.A.R - Italy's main shortwave broadcaster, RAI, left shortwave in 2007. Its ancestor station, E.I.A.R., was a strong presence in its day, including an "American Hour" in 1935. Here is their published schedule for that December of that year, together with a "season's greeting" postcard that they sent to listeners in 1938.

ITALY. E. I. A. R. - In the 1930s, E.I.A.R., "Ente Italiano Audizioni Radiofoniche," Rome, was Italy's shortwave station. Broadcasting from the Prato Smeraldo site, "2RO" had a well-developed foreign service, as reflected in this June 1937 program schedule.

JAPAN. NHK’s Low Power Shortwave Outlets - If you were DXing between the mid-1960s and the year 2005, you probably knew about the low-power NHK shortwave stations that were listed each year in the World Radio TV Handbook. At less than 1 kw., they were good DX targets, and they were occasionally heard on the U.S. west coast. But not much was known about them. Now, Tetsuya Hirahara has prepared an informative paper about the history of these stations, and has included recordings of their IDs made in 1978, together with the ID texts in both Japanese and English. Thanks, Tetsuya. (The paper and the recordings can also be found in "Specialized Resources/The DX Recordings of Tetsuya Hirahara.")

JAPAN. NHK & Radio Tokyo Booklets - Here are four issues of the NHK Overseas Broadcasts program booklet from 1940 (No. 46 April, No. 48 June, No. 51 October, No. 52 November), and three issues of the Radio Tokyo program booklet from 1941 (No. 59 June, No. 62 September, No. 63 October). (We had previously posted selected pages from No. 48, but we have now posted the full issue.) The languages in these bulletins are, for the most part, self-evident. Thanks to Tetsuya Hirahara for distinguishing the Chinese and Japanese pages, which are as follows (PDF page numbers, not the numbers in the original documents): No. 46 (J 17-20 & 23-24, C 21-22); No. 48 (J 9-12 & 15-16, C 13-14, J & C 26); No. 51 (J 11-14 & 17-18, C 15-16); No. 52 (J 21-26, C 19-20); No. 59 (J 8-10); No. 62 (J 16-20, C 15); No. 63 (J 16-20, C 15).

LIBERIA. A brochure from 1961 celebrating the 5th anniversary of ELWA, Liberia.

LIBERIA. Bob LaRose on Liberia - Here are some comments that Bob LaRose of California sent in about the shortwave radio scene in Liberia, together with some photos from Bob and an ELWA postcard.

LIBERIA. ELWA - Here are some items from SWL old-time favorite ELWA, Monrovia, Liberia: the "ELWA Photo Album," a folder with views of the station; a 1963 issue of the "ELWA Radio News Bulletin," the station's newsletter; and an ELWA schedule for the period December 1955-February 1956 (when the frequencies were 4835 and 11800 kc.).

LIBERIA. Liberian Rural Communications Network (LRCN) - Everyone knows ELWA, but do you remember the Liberian Rural Communications Network (LRCN), which operated in 1987? The USAID-sponsored station broadcast from transmitters in Voinjama, Gbarnga and Zwedru. These were all mediumwave. In addition, however, the station transmitted programming to the three stations by way of a 10 kw. SSB feeder transmitter in Monrovia, which operated in the 49 and 75 meter bands and could be heard in the U.S. on 3975 kHz. during a narrow window starting at 0700 UTC. Here is Don Jensen's QSL from LRCN, together with two LRCN brochures (Brochure 1Brochure 2), and an LRCN button.

LIBERIA. "Sewell T. Brewer, EL2S and Early Broadcasting in Liberia" - A couple of Liberian ham QSLs piqued our interest recently and led to some interesting SWBC-related radio history.

MOROCCO. "Early Morocco Shortwave and Moroccan QSLs Through the Years"

NETHERLANDS. Radio Nederland - As Eddie Startz used to say, "Keep in Touch With the Dutch!" Here are several Radio Nederland items from 1956: the year's calendarthe summer schedule, and the Radio Nederland antenna booklet.

NETHERLANDS. A drawing, sent along by Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, from Revista Telegrafica, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1927, on the occasion of the worldwide broadcast of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony by Philips station PCCJ.

NETHERLANDS. Letters to PCJ - Some time ago we posted an illustrated pamphlet from the Netherlands called "PCJ, Short Waves and Long Distances." It describes the activities of historic Dutch station PCJ, and it dates from around 1929, which is very early in the history of shortwave broadcasting. In the middle of the pamphlet, pages 22-23, is a reproduction of six listener letters received by the station back then. The letters are not easily legible in the original or in the electronic copy. However, when scanned at high resolution they become easily readable, and we have now posted a PDF of these letters here. The letters, which are all in English save one, and at least five of the six from 1929 (the date on one is illegible), are from the following places, starting at the center-top and going clockwise: Cape May, NJ; Douglas, AZ; Geidam, Nigeria; Rangoon, Burma (handwritten); and Hartford, CT (year unclear). I believe the handwritten letter at center-bottom, only partially visible, is in French; it appears to be from Beni Abbes, which is in western Algeria. Set your Adobe Reader for 200% magnification for best reading of these fascinating messages from a world long ago. (From the Rangoon letter: "I have strict instructions from my wife to wake her up as soon as you come through and although it is bitterly cold at that time she gets out of her warm bed. As I only have one pair of phones at present I have to sit on the arm of her chair and every time there comes a particularly nice or loud piece she lifts up one phone slightly and I am allowed to bend down and listen.")

NETHERLANDS. "PCJ, Short Waves and Long Distances" - Here is a pamphlet issued by the the Philips radio station, early precursor to Radio Netherlands, from around 1929.

NEW GUINEA. "Conquistador Of Science: Shortwave's Vital Role In The 3rd Archbold New Guinea Expedition" - Here is an interesting article by Andy Robins about Richard Archbold’s third New Guinea expedition in 1938, and the Consolidated Aircraft Catalina "flying boat" Guba, and amateur radio station PK6XX, that were part of it. This article is from John Figliozzi’s "Shortwave Center" column in the November 2020 issue of the Journal of the North American Shortwave Association. Thanks Andy and NASWA for permission to post the article here.

NIGERIA. Voice of Nigeria - This program schedule (in English, French, Hausa and Arabic) is from the Voice of Nigeria for the period July-September 1977, when they broadcast in those languages and utilized five frequencies (two of which the WRTH still shows as nominally active). The schedule contains detailed information on many individual programs. Thanks to Tony Rogers of the U.K. for this.

NIGERIA. Radio Biafra - How many remember the original Radio Biafra from 1967-70? Read about it in Don Jensen's September 1987 Popular Communications article, "The Life And Death of Radio Biafra," posted with permission of PopComm.

NIGERIA. More on Biafra - Here is a recording of the Voice of Biafra made by Al Sizer on September 8, 1969, at 2140 UTC on 6145 kHz. Al introduces the recording, and notes that it was made on a DX-150 receiver. The station IDs as "the Voice of Biafra, the external service of the Biafra Broadcasting Corporation," and the IDs are at 2:26 and 3:12. Thanks to John Herkimer for the recording.

NORWAY. "On Shortwave from Kloefta, Norway" - Have you ever heard of a wartime shortwave broadcast transmitter located in Kloefta, Norway? A post-war QSL brought it to light.

PALAU. "Palau on the Air" - We have posted three files, Wavescan Nos. N560N562 and N564, which together present a three-part interview of Paul Hunter, who was chief engineer for High Adventure Ministries during the 1980s and 1990s. The main topic of these three audio files is the shortwave broadcasting station on Palau, which closed at the end of October. Other related SWBC transmitters are discussed as well in this interesting interview, which is conducted by Ray Robinson of KVOH. To supplement the interview, we have also posted this short writeup about Japan's use of Palau for shortwave broadcasting during World War II. -- Tetsuya Hirahara has sent these additional details about the Palau stationThanks, Tetsuya.

PALESTINE. Sharq al Adna - Michael Griffiths of Cardigan, Wales, has sent us a number of interesting photos of Sharq al Adna, the British-operated Near East Arab Broadcasting Station that was relocated to Cyprus in 1948 and eventually became the BBC East Mediterranean Relay Station. But Sharq started out in Jaffa, Palestine. Mick's father, James, was a wireless mechanic in the RAF, assigned to Special Operations and involved in maintaining radio equipment for British spies parachuted into Europe. In 1945 he was posted to Jaffa to be the technical lead at Sharq. He also did remote recording at various places across the Middle East. James declined to go to Cyprus when the station moved there, returning to civilian life instead. Although he did not pursue a career in broadcasting, his stories were instrumental in convincing Mick to take up a career in electronics. You will find the photos here. We have also added to the file a Sharq al Adna QSL-card and letter originally belonging to Roger Legge. Mick has also sent two extracts from an interesting diary (now in the Imperial War Museum archive) written by Major C. E. Law, who spent time at Sharq al Adna and also in Jerusalem, and we have also posted these abstracts as a file here. In the first extract (four pages), Major Law relates how and why the station was set up, and he makes some other interesting observations from those times. The second extract (five pages) appears to relate to the British Mediterranean Station, a sister operation of Sharq al Adna that used the Sharq facilities to broadcast beyond the Arab world. If you want to know the full story of Sharq al Adna, ask your library to get you this article by Douglas A. Boyd: "Sharq al-Adna/The Voice of Britain," Gazette: The International Journal for Communication Studies, Vol. 65, No. 6 (2003), p. 443-455. Many thanks to Mick Griffiths for sharing this interesting information with us.

PHILIPPINES. KCMB - Here is a nice-looking item from AFRTS station KCMB, 1520 kHz, in Subic Bay, the Philippines, 1954-55. It has pictures of the personnel, and a photo of the control desk. It looks like this may have been originally a printed poster, of which someone took a glossy photo (8" x 8-3/4"). And there are two program schedules, one from November-December 1954, the other from July 1955. The station started showing up in the World Radio Handbook in 1956.

PHILIPPINES. FEBC Philippines - Here is a file containing three items from FEBC: a postcard, probably circa 1956, showing DZAS station personalities; a copy of the FEBC Overseas Program Schedule for June-August 1962 (note "Hints for Good Listening" on the last page); and a copy of the FEBC newsletter The Signal, issue of November-December 1963.

PORTUGAL. CT1AA, Radio Colonial - Here is a writeup about the first shortwave broadcaster in Portugal in the 1930s.

PORTUGAL. Radio Portugal DX Club-I - Lots of the big stations had "clubs" of various kinds, geared mainly to solicit mail from listeners. Although the Radio Portugal DX Club, which was formed in 1964, also solicited reception reports, it provided some other useful benefits as well, including the forwarding of reports to other stations throughout the Portuguese-speaking world and the issuance of certificates rewarding the QSLing of stations in the Portuguese world. Certificates were available at the 10-station (Bronze), 20 (Silver), and 50 (Gold) station levels. The club also had two pages in Radio Portugal's quarterly listener magazine. Here is a 1966 brochure explaining how the club operated and detailing the certificate program. (Due to the difficulty of hearing many of the African stations, American listeners were allowed to submit QSLs from Brazil in order to satisfy half the African station requirement.)

PORTUGAL. Radio Portugal DX Club-II - Earlier we posted a 1966 brochure describing the Radio Portugal DX Club, which offered, among other benefits, certificates for QSLing stations throughout the Portuguese-speaking world. This time we are posting several more files about the club. One is a different version of the club brochure. It is undated, but from the text we can tell it was issued in 1967 or later. The second item is a one-page history of the club, from 1965. And the third is a compilation of several club and DX-related articles from the early 1970s that appeared in Radio Portugal’s listener magazine. And here are Radio Portugal DX Club bronze and silver club certificates awarded in 1966 and 1968 respectively to Michael Bethge, now President and Chief Editor of the Worldwide DX Club in Germany, together with his membership certificate from the Radio Portugal DX Club. Thanks, Michael.

RWANDA. Radio Deutsche Welle, Rwanda - The Deutsche Welle relay station in Kigali was scheduled to be closed on March 28, 2015. In connection with that event, Bob LaRose of California has sent us a page from a 1964 edition of DW's "Hallo, Friends" where the "new" Kigali station is described.

ST. HELENA. "The Forgotten Shortwave Broadcasts of St. Helena" - Thanks to John Ekwall for bringing this very interesting historical information to our attention.

SOLOMON ISLANDS. Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation - Here is some interesting material on the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation that was received from Martin Hadlow, Associate Professor at the University of Queensland in Australia. Martin was actively involved in the development of the SIBC, and has sent a booklet which he produced commemorating the opening of the SIBC Broadcasting House in 1982, together with a broadcasting-related First Day Cover issued by the Solomons in 1984.

SOUTH AFRICA. "Broadcasting Centre-Johannesburg" - Colin Miller in Ontario has sent us another piece of South African broadcasting history, a booklet, "Broadcasting Centre-Johannesburg," which was published circa 1980. Along with it is a set of SENTECH QSLs, which were issued some 15 years later for various broadcasts from Meyerton.

SOUTH AFRICA. "Shortwave History of South Africa" - SENTECH, in South Africa, closed down shortwave broadcast operations on March 30, 2019. Thanks to our friend Colin Miller in Sarnia, Ontario, for sending us this article that he authored for the November 1995 issue of Monitoring Times.

SOUTH AFRICA. South African Rooftop Transmitter - Colin Miller, VE3CMT, has sent along an interesting story from the pages of the SABC Radio Bulletin of April 3, 1961. It tells the story of an early South African shortwave transmitter atop Broadcast House in Johannesburg. It was set up during World War II to serve as an emergency backup for the wired studio-transmitter link. It was operational from 1940 to 1955, and it operated on 68 metres, which is probably the transmitter shown in the WRTH for 1947 and a couple of subsequent years on 4373 kHz., 68.60 meters, 200 watts. (The article says 400 watts; and FBIS for August 1, 1945 shows a South African transmitter inactive on 4381 kHz.)

SPAIN. "Radio and the Spanish War" - Here is an article from the May 1938 issue of Radio News. We were reminded of this article when we recently received a nice e-mail from an ontheshortwaves follower in Spain who recognized the signature of his grandfather as the veri signer on Roger Legge's 1937 Radio Gurdia Civil (Spanish Morocco) QSL shown in the CPRV QSL Gallery. It is indeed a small world.

SPAIN. "English Programs from EAQ, Madrid" - Here is an article about English-language programming from Radio EAQ, the shortwave station that was active in Spain during the 1930s. (Zoom in on the graphics.)

SRI LANKA. Radio SEAC - We have already posted a couple of items from Radio SEAC, Voice of the South East Asia Command, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), which was active toward the end of World War II and thereafter. Specifically, we have posted a copy of the January 1948 SEAC Forces' Radio Times, and an 11-minute recording of Radio SEAC, kindly supplied by Eric Hitchcock. Now we have posted another copy of the SEAC Forces' Radio Times, this one from November 1945, and two issues of the SEAC All-Services Newspaper (September 15 & September 17, 1945). The newspaper is not specifically radio related, but it contains some interesting history of the day and is worth a look. We have also posted a decorative postal cover and insert recognizing SEAC and, in particular, David Jacobs, who announced for Radio SEAC early in his career and went on to become a well-known U.K. radio and TV personality. (He passed away in 2013.) If you want to know more about Radio SEAC, read Eric Hitchcock's excellent book, "Making Waves: Admiral Mountbatten's Radio SEAC 1945-1949"(Helion & Co., U.K., 2014).

SRI LANKA. Radio SEAC, Ceylon - In the past we have posted some material about Radio SEAC in Ceylon. Here is a copy of the January 1948 issue of the station's "Forces' Radio Times," including the "BBC General Overseas Service" supplement. Check out the poem, "Radio Seduction," on the last page.

SWAN ISLAND. "Radio Swan and Radio Americas--A DX Saga" - Although technically the 1960 anti-Castro station, Radio Swan, probably qualified as a black clandestine--it was masquerading as a commercial station rather than the CIA project that it was—within the DX community it never really had the feel of a clandestine because its true purpose and parentage became known early on. But within the DX world the Swan operation gave rise to many questions, not the least of which was the mostly-contrived one of whether it was really located on Swan Island (it was); and various aspects of the history of the station (and its successor, Radio Americas) remained the subject of discussion for many decades. In Radio Swan and Radio Americas: A DX Saga, we review the Radio Swan articles that have appeared in the radio press over the last 60 years or so, with links for those who want to read the details. We also cover Radio Swan philately, and touch on the station that Swan was supposed to emulate—the 1954 CIA-run "Guatemalan" clandestine, La Voz de la Liberacion.

SWEDEN. Here are two schedules from Radio Sweden (July 1959 and October 1961).

SWITZERLAND. Swiss Broadcasting Corporation - Few stations could put in a better signal to Eastern North America than the Swiss Broadcasting Corp. Here is their schedule for Summer 1947.

TURKEY. Turkish Shortwave Stations - Although several smaller Turkish shortwave stations have been heard regularly in recent years, it's easy to forget that there was a time when Turkey was host to a plethora of small, largely local stations that operated on shortwave. Some made it into the World Radio TV Handbook, but many didn't. Most were connected to educational institutions, and usually their operation was on out-of-band channels in the 6 and 7 MHz. region. Owing to their low power, most were considered "impossible" DX catches in the United States, and many were unheard even in Europe. To shed some light on this corner of the DX world, the British Association of DXers in 1972 published a list of these stations. We have posted the list here.

U.K. BBC Portuguese - Portuguese and Spanish were tied for second place among the foreign languages used by the BBC when it started modest foreign-language broadcasting in 1938 (Arabic was first). But these transmissions were for South America. It would not be until the following year that Portuguese-language broadcasts were beamed to Portugal (which was neutral during the war, although toward the end it allowed the U.S. and Britain to use its military bases in the Azores). The BBC also issued some Portuguese-language promotional material during the war. Here is a BBC postcard and a fan-like schedule, both in Portuguese.

U.K. "The Rugby Radio Station of the British Post Office" - The anchor station of the "Imperial Wireless Chain"--the Marconi "beam system" that linked the far corners of the British Empire--was in Rugby, England. It came into service on longwave in 1926, at first offering only telegraph service, expanding to voice in 1927. Shortwave came into use in 1928. Here is a pamphlet, "The Rugby Radio Station of the British Post Office," published in 1938. Rugby was the rough parallel of RCA's Radio Central at Rocky Point, Long Island. For the "Official History" of Rugby, see http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/r/rugby_radio/indexr67.shtml and for an interesting film about Rugby, made in 1932, see http://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-worlds-greatest-radio-station-aka-rugby-wirele/query/radios.

U.K. British Forces Broadcasting Service - During and after World War II, quite a few of the larger British Forces Broadcasting Service stations had their own program guides. Here is one from the British forces mediumwave station, Rome, for the week beginning December 24, 1944.

U.K. BBC - Here are two BBC items from very different eras. One is a picture of the antenna of 5SW, the BBC experimental shortwave station, in 1929. It had come on the air in November 1927 and was located at the Marconi plant. The other is a BBC quarterly folder for the period October-November 1962 containing an hour-by-hour schedule of the General Overseas Service and various other items. Thanks to Bob LaRose for sending this along.

U.K. British Forces Broadcasting Service - One of the most interesting stations of past decades was the British Forces Broadcasting Service, which over the years operated shortwave transmitters from many interesting places in Africa and Asia. The last of these to close was Singapore, in 1971. Some lucky DXers heard BFBS transmissions in connection with the Falklands War in 1982, a service that would share the local Falkland Islands Broadcasting Service shortwave channel for some years. Listeners were pleasantly surprised when much stronger BFBS signals appeared in 1990 in support of Britain's Operation Granby in the Gulf War, and again in 2003 during the Iraqi invasion. Here is a 1969 article about BFBS by Don Jensen. It is from Radio-TV Experimenter, and titled "Tommy's Dying Voice." With it we have posted a half-hour recording of BFBS shortwave made in August 1990 during the Gulf War.

U.K. The BBC Empire Service - In "our day" we knew it as the General Overseas Service, or the World Service, but when the BBC regularized its international shortwave broadcasting efforts in 1932, five years after the start of G5SW, it was known as the Empire Service. All programing was in English; foreign-language programs would not follow until 1938 (Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese). Here is a booklet titled "The Empire Service," published by the BBC in 1935. It contains historical, program and technical information about the service at that time. We have also posted an Empire Service time and frequency schedule from December 1935.

U.K. "Facts About the BBC" - This booklet was published by the BBC circa 1961.

U.K. BBC Broadcasting House 1944 - A picture of the cover of a 1944 BBC Spanish language leaflet showing Broadcasting House.

U.K. "The BBC's original plans for its relay stations on Ascension Island and the Seychelles" by Alan Davies, Southeast Asia.

U.K. Forces Radio Times - Produced by the (British) Forces Broadcasting Service, M.E.L.F. (Middle East Land Forces), in conjunction with the BBC, Cairo, and showing the program lineup for September 15-21, 1946. Times and frequencies for many of the "J" stations are shown. Most are medium wave, but note the daily schedule for "Middle East Short Wave Station JCKW," 7220 kc., at the bottom of each page. FBS via R. Athens is featured on the last page, along with programming for Indian troops over MW station JFPB in a place called . . . Basrah. Also, see "The CPRV Gallery" for QSLs from JCKW (Jerusalem, 1945) and FBS-MELF (Malta HQ, 1949).

U.K. BBC - Here is a brochure promoting the North American Service of the BBC. This pamphlet probably dates from the 1950s.

U.K. "London Calling the World." - Here is a copy of a pamphlet titled "London Calling the World." It originated in 1943 and describes in words and pictures the news prduction process for BBC overseas broadcasts at the time. It was published with the approval of the BBC, but apparently was authored by "The British Council" as one of its "Britain Advances" series covering "some of the things in which Britain has contributed notably to modern progress."

U.K. "That Dragon Goebbels," a 1944 address to the Empire Club of Canada by S.J. DeLotbiniere, from the August 2007 Ontario DX Association bulletin, Listening In.

U.K. Portishead Radio - Here is a well-illustrated history of the U.K. maritime station Portishead Radio from Jim Cumbie and his 1998 QSL from the station (which closed in 2000).

U.K. This is London Calling! - Here is a pamphlet from the BBC titled "This is London Calling!" As shortwave stations around the world become an endangered species, it is worth recalling a time when a station issued a special booklet to promote its North American service. Such was the case with this item from the BBC. The BBC "brings you the voices of the men and women of Britain, speaking to you while the sirens wail in the streets and the gunfire roars in the London sky." It was on for six hours every night. "Help us to make the North American Service more widely known. Pass this folder to your friends or send us the names and addresses of those you think would like to have information about the BBC short-wave programmes." While undated, the names and events suggest that the pamphlet was issued during 1940-41. (The BBC North American service was set up in 1940.)

U.K. BBC Radio Times - The BBC's Radio Times began weekly publication on September 28, 1923, and for many decades it was the BBC's main vehicle for communicating with domestic listeners in print. The mission of the BBC Genome project is to post online much of the information contained in The Radio Times from 1923 to 2009, and now they have done that. The issues from 1923 through 1949 are of particular value because they are posted online in their original look and format. After that you get only the program listings, and in text format, not in the original page views. For the years through 1949, this is a treasure trove of interesting information about BBC programs and early radio broadcasting generally. Here is a page from the December 9, 1932 issue, announcing that the BBC Empire Service would commence operation on December 19 (the BBC had been testing shortwave since 1927), and outlining some of the issues with which they were grappling at the time. International listeners were reached through another BBC publication, World-Radio, which was published from 1925 to 1939, when it was replaced by London Calling. It would be nice if some day these were posted as well. (Some World-Radio issues are on line at the American Radio History website.)

U.K. Rugby Radio Station - We have already posted several items about the Rugby Radio Station, which was basically Britain's version of RCA's "Radio Central" on Long Island. It handled international communications on both longwave and shortwave. Here is another Rugby item,a 1935 pamphlet titled "Round the World by Radio-Telephone" (1935). It describes Rugby's important role in international radio telephone traffic, and also mentions (on the last page) Rugby's role in international program relaying. The pamphlet was apparently part of a larger package of items, as it mentions an "accompanying map designed by Mr. MacDonald Gill" (p. 2), "an accompanying leaflet" on technical matters (p. 3), and two posters containing Rugby Radio scenes (pp. 4 and 5). The Gill map is surely the same as the one for which copies are available at the eBay site of ArtCantHurtU. These are professionally-reproduced copies of the highly-stylized Gill map, which also contains several inset views of the Rugby setup. (The map is available in several sizes.) We have also posted a postcard with views of the Rugby station.

URUGUAY. Estacion Paradizabal - Cover of Argentine magazine 'Revista Radiotelefonica,' 1922, showing a drawing of the antenna of the first station in Montevideo, Estacion Paradizabal, located on the roof of the Hotel Florida - from Horacio A. Nigro, Uruguay.

U.S. "WRUL and the West Indian Radio Newspaper" - You may not have heard of the Anglo-American Caribbean Commission, or the West Indian Radio Newspaper, but you definitely know about WRUL. Here is a writeup about all three.

U.S-AFRS. Armed Forces Radio Service - DXer Tetsuya Hirahara in Tokyo sends along some photocopies obtained at the National Diet Library in Tokyo. These are the radio broadcast authorizations issued by the American GHQ/SCAP (Supreme Commander Allied Powers)-Far East Command for AFRS transmitters in Japan (three SW) and Pyongyang (one MW) in 1949 and 1950. I believe 4860 and 9605 kc. were the stations that had been known as "WVTR," the main AFRS station that been operating in Tokyo since the end of the war (see "CPRV QSL Gallery" for their QSL).

U.S.-BCB. "Behind the Mike With KMA" - Here is a 1926 booklet from KMA, the Shenandoah, Iowa broadcaster that was one of the country’s early farm stations. In it you will find photos and writeups about the Earl May family, owners of the station’s parent, the Earl E. May Seed & Nursery Company, and about many station employees, and artists that were heard over the station.

U.S.-BCB. KOIL - Here is a nice-looking log published by station KOIL in Council Bluffs, Iowa. KOIL was owned by the Mona Motor Oil Company, and the log contains a lot of promotional information about the station. I don’t see a date on it, but it is obviously from the station’s early days. And we have two other KOIL items. One is a KOIL QSL letter received by a New Zealand listener in 1930. You can find it here. The other is a QSL letter and enclosures received by Dave Thomas in 1925, the year the station came on the air. It is among the "Iowa" QSLs in "The Early DX of David F. Thomas" section of "Specialized Resources." But the most interesting fact about KOIL to shortwavers isn’t mentioned anywhere in these items, and that is that KOIL started simulcasting on shortwave as 9XU, 4910 kHz, circa December 1, 1927. See this clipping from The New York Times.

U.S-BCB. KDKA- Here is a 1928 pamphlet from KDKA containing a list of American and other stations, photos of the KDKA facilities and station personalities, and a time line of KDKA "firsts." Note the references to pioneer stations KFKX and 8XK on page 2. Rather than enter his dial settings in the spaces provided, this listener preferred to make his notes on the cover!

U.S-BCB. WJZ - Here is an interesting booklet from BCB station WJZ, New York City, with transmitters in Bound Brook, New Jersey. This is actually a QSL--see the handwritten verification statement on the inside front cover. There is also mention of shortwave on pages 10-11 and page 15. This is probably vintage 1924 or thereabouts.

U.S-BCB. WTAS - Here is a 1924 booklet from WTAS, located at the Villa Olivia estate near Elgin, Illinois and broadcasting on 286 meters, circa 1050 kc. This pamphlet is a great window into various aspects of radio life in 1924. Check out the "Ten Radio Commandments" on p. 13. And if you're in the neighborhood, use the free pass for a station tour!

U.S-BCB. WOC, Davenport, Iowa - Here is a pamphlet called "A Personally Conducted Visit Thru WOC, Davenport, Iowa." This was the famous Palmer School of Chiropractic station, which, according to a 1925 issue of RADEX (Radio Index), operated in the broadcast band on 620 kc. (RADEX says the power was 1,500 watts, but the pamphlet says the transmitter was a 5,000 watter; see p. 22.) What makes this item interesting is the detail it contains about the station's appearance and operation. On the DX side, from p. 26: "At the time of our visit to WOC, Sweden, France, Holland, Russia, Italy, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia and the Samoan and Philippine Islands were numbered among the more distant points having reported reception, and many of these points, we were advised, tune in for the programs regularly and are seldom disappointed." The pamphlet is not dated, but its reference to the station having been on the air for three years would make it circa 1925. Could it be true, as mentioned on p. 27, that the station received over 100,000 letters in its first year, and that as many as 20,000 were received in a single week?!

U.S-BCB. WWJ - The battle over who was the "first" broadcasting station in the U.S. began long ago and still fosters strong opinions. Although most people give the prize to KDKA, WWJ has long made a strong case for the title. Here is a pamphlet issued by The Detroit News that describes both the newspaper and it's station, WWJ. It looks like the pamphlet dates from the late 1930s or early 1940s. The station traces its lineage back to a predecessor amateur station, 8MK, which carried the newspaper's reports of the Michigan primaries over two months before the initial KDKA broadcast.

U.S-BCB. WWNY 1948 Test - DX tests ("Courtesy Programs") have always been a staple of the BCB (AM) DXing hobby. One such test was conducted by WWNY-790 in Watertown, NY, on Nov. 1, 1948. Here is a file with an article from the Watertown Daily Times newspaper acknowledging some of the reception reports received, the 1948 WWNY QSL letter, and selected pages from both the NNRC and NRC club bulletins regarding the test. This is an example of how a DX event of the past can be brought to life through the use of multiple resources (in this case a newspaper clipping, bulletin collections, and the CPRV files).

U.S.-BCB. Bamberger’s Department Store & WOR - Here is a booklet, vintage 1923, from Bamberger’s Department Store, which was originally located in Newark, New Jersey and was home to one of the well-known early broadcast band stations, WOR. The booklet tells about the station, and even more about the store. (In 1938, by which time WOR was in New York City, it began carrying a DX program for the NNRC, first via its "apex band” outlet (W2XJI), later on FM.)

U.S.-BCB. KTNT, Muscatine, Iowa - Here is a promotional booklet from early BCBer KTNT, Muscatine, Iowa. The station was owned by promoter-huckster Norman Baker. After KTNT lost its license in 1931, Baker opened Mexican "border blaster" XENT. You can find a KTNT QSL here and a slightly tattered "QSL" here.

U.S PRIVATE SW. KDKA - Here is a pamphlet on the technical side of the KDKA facilities in 1932. At that time KDKA was on both the broadcast band and shortwave (W8XK). The pamphlet was prepared by two Westinghouse radio engineers for the Institute of Radio Engineers convention in Pittsburgh.

U.S. PRIVATE SW. WRUL - Here is a World War II "December Schedule" from WRUL, Boston (note the various country-specific programs that WRUL was known for). If you watched the recent PBS Masterpiece Theater series, "Atlantic Crossing," you may remember Norwegian Ambassador W. Morgenstierne. Well, there he is at the bottom right of the unnumbered "WRUL Christmas Card" page, flanked by station founder Walter Lemmon. Morgenstierne was Norway’s ambassador to the U.S. from 1942 to 1958.

U.S-PRIVATE SW. KDKA Letters - Among many other accomplishments, Clay T. Whitehead served as Director of the Office of Telecommunications Policy during 1970-74 (the Nixon administration). His papers are in the Library of Congress, and also online at http://claytwhitehead.com/ When he died in 2008 he was working on a book, The History of 20th Century Telecommunications: The Development and Regulation of Telecommunications and Broadcasting. The book was never completed, but his papers contain much of the research material that he had amassed in the course of his writing, including copies of many articles on early radio, letters from the fathers of radio, research memos on various topics, etc.--a huge body of material. Here are a series of letters from listeners in places worldwide--Brazil, Ireland, South Africa, Chile, Australia, others--to KDKA, reporting on reception of the station's shortwave signal. KDKA began regular shortwave transmissions around 4760 kc. in 1923. The letters are from 1924-25, making them among the earliest shortwave broadcast reception reports "ever."

U.S-PRIVATE SW. "Las Emisoras de los Estados Unidos" - Both before and after Pearl Harbor, Latin America was a major target of American shortwave broadcasting. Although American shortwave did not come under government control until November 1942, one of the missions of the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (CIAA), which was headed by Nelson Rockefeller, was to facilitate private American shortwave broadcasting to Latin America. One strategy was to insert in Latin American publications advertisements that promoted American shortwave. Here is a file containing 14 such Spanish-language advertisements that appeared in the Latin American version of Reader's Digest in 1943 and 1944. Where the ads contained addresses they were either the Department of Commerce in Washington, DC, or 444 Madison Avenue, New York, which was the CIAA's New York office. Even though the name "Voice of America" was by then in regular use, these ads made no mention of it, referring to the stations generically as "Las Emisoras de los Estados Unidos."

U.S-PRIVATE SW. "Presenting a New Ambassador to Latin America to Meet a New National Need" - In 1939, the Federal Communications Commission reversed its long-standing rule against advertising on shortwave. Although advertising would never provide the revenue that the various private shortwave broadcasters hoped for, at the time the stations viewed the new advertising opportunity optimistically. Latin America offered the greatest potential, and in 1940, as part of an effort to woo sponsors, NBC distributed a good-looking, oversize (11 x 17") promotional booklet headlined "Presenting a New Ambassador to Latin America to Meet a New National Need." It contained a letter from the Secretary of State, and it promoted shortwave as a boon to American business.

U.S-PRIVATE SW. "Short-Wave Broadcasting in the Pacific Basin Area" - Devising means by which the entertainment and media industries could support the war effort during World War II was an important issue at the time, and in October 1943 a Writers' Congress was held to focus attention on it. The joint sponsors of the Congress were the Hollywood Writers' Mobilization, a group with similar aims, and the University of California, Los Angeles, which hosted the gathering. Among the 1,500 persons of varied background who were in attendance was E. T. "Buck" Harris, well known within shortwave circles of the day as the manager of American west coast shortwaver KGEI, which had opened in 1939 as 20 kw. W6XBE (it went to 50 kw. in 1941, by which time its call letters had changed). The papers of the Congress were published the next year, and included one by Harris, "Short-Wave Broadcasting in the Pacific Basin Area." In it he reviews the station's history and the changes that took place after Pearl Harbor, discusses west coast vs. east coast shortwave, quotes from listeners' letters, etc. We have posted the article here, and at the start of the file we have added a scan of Buck Harris's KGEI picture ID!

U.S PRIVATE SW. WLWO - Here is a promotional brochure from the late Crosley-owned American shortwave station WLWO. WLWO started out as 8XAL, Harrison, Ohio, in 1924, simulcasting WLW. Originally 100 watts, it soon increased power to 250 watts, and it moved to Mason, Ohio in 1929 (having become W8XAL in 1928). It increased power to 10 kw. in 1932, to 50 kw. in 1940 (by which time it had become WLWO), and soon thereafter to 75 kw. Like all the privately owned American shortwave broadcasters of the time, it had its own Latin American service, which expanded greatly when the station went into U.S. government service in March 1942, well before the government took over all U.S. shortwave broadcasting in November of that year. This brochure appears to date from around mid-1940.

U.S-PRIVATE SW. WRUL-Radio New York Worldwide-WNYW - This time we focus on WRUL, as the station was known from 1939 to 1962, when it started announcing as Radio New York Worldwide [RNYW] (it became WNYW on June 1, 1966). Here are a number of items relating to this historic station, all from our good friend Bob LaRose of San Diego, California. There are two groups: Group I, items about the station's history: (1) WRUL Fact Sheet (probably c. 1960); (2) "RNYW DXing Worldwide," DX publication of the RNYW DX program, "DXing Worldwide" (November 1964); (3) a news release about "DXing Worldwide" (probably c. 1964); (4) "Selling via Short Wave," an historical look at the station from the July 6, 1965 issue of Radio-TV Daily; and (5) a news release about the projected new transmitter plant near Chatsworth, New Jersey (March 4, 1966; the plans were cancelled the next year). Group II, items about the station's programs: (6) WRUL Program Schedule, February 1960; (7) English-language schedule, Spring 1965; (8) Spanish-language program schedule, "Guia de Programas," January-July 1966; (9) English-language schedule, January-June 1966; and (10) a promotional release for the program, "Scouting Worldwide" (probably 1966).

U.S-PRIVATE SW. KFKX, Hastings, Nebraska - A pamphlet issued circa 1923 by "Westinghouse Repeating Station" KFKX, Hastings, Nebraska. KFKX was built in connection with the experimental use of shortwave (c. 3200 kc.) at KDKA to send KDKA's broadcast band signal to the KFKX area, where it was rebroadcast on both the broadcast band and shortwave (2730 kc.), the latter intended for pick up by KGO in California. Although the pamphlet makes no mention of the Hotel Clarke in connection with the station, part of KFKX was once located there, as indicated on this postcard view of the hotel (which, judging from the cars, looks like it was issued around the same time as the pamphlet)

U.S-PRIVATE SW. Early U.S. Broadcasting - Bob LaRose of Escondido, CA has sent along three interesting articles concerning early U.S. "relay" broadcasting. While the emphasis in two of the articles is on the technical side, all articles provide interesting insights on how leading elements of the broadcast industry viewed international shortwave at the time.

U.S-PRIVATE SW. KDKA North Canada Service- In the 1920s, Westinghouse transmitted programs to the Canadian north by way of the experimental shortwave channels of some of their AM stations, specifically KDKA-Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, WBZ/WBZA-Boston/Springfield, Massachusetts, and KFKX-Hastings, Nebraska. Here is a brochure about the service, produced by the Oblate Fathers circa 1927, along with an accompanying postcard.

U.S.-PRIVATE SW. KGEI - An ontheshortwaves supporter in California has sent along some interesting drawings related to KGEI, San Francisco. He used to work near KGEI, and obtained some drawings from the 1940s and other artifacts from FEBC when they closed KGEI. --Drawing No. 1 is an NBC drawing showing KGEI probably as it was installed. No. 2 is the title block in the lower right hand corner of the drawing and No. 3 is the revision in the upper right hand corner. -- No. 4, "Proposed Additional Antennas" aimed at Asia and Australia, dated December 5, 1941, is the most interesting (remember what happened two days later). Knowing that the State Department asked GE to put a station on the air to counter Nazi propaganda in South America, and knowing that KGEI's antennas were directed to South America, why was KGEI thinking about expanding west? No. 5 is a detail of the drawing title. -- No. 6 is probably "as built" during the war with both KGEI and KGEX. Note the barracks; the site was guarded. Nos. 7 and 8 are details from the drawing.

U.S-PRIVATE SW. Jim Cumbie of Dallas, Texas has sent in some interesting items about U.S. shortwave stations. They are in three collections: (1) WRUL-WYFR, consisting of two 1956 WRUL schedules and a brief history of WRUL's successor, WYFR; (2) KGEI, a Spanish-language brochure (with English translation) about the famous station, a brief KGEI history taken from the April-May 1985 of FEBC Broadcaster, and a KGEI QSL from 1955; and (3) Dixon, a history of the former VOA station in California.

U.S.-PRIVATE SW. KFKX, Hastings, Nebraska - In Wavescan No. N507, November 11, 2018, Adrian Peterson told the story of Westinghouse station KFKX, Hastings, Nebraska, one of the earliest American shortwave broadcast stations (it picked up KDKA on shortwave and relayed it on both shortwave and mediumwave). In Adrian's presentation he describes a QSL booklet issued by the station, and since we have a copy, we are posting it here. Earlier we posted another pamphlet about KFKX. To see the KFKX QSL card, look here.

U.S-ROFA. Radio of Free Asia - In several articles which are posted under "Specialized Resources," "Wavescan" (Nov 20, 2011Nov 4, 2012Nov 18, 2012), Adrian Peterson details the several "Radio Free Asia" stations that have existed over the years. The "second" RFA, actually called Radio of Free Asia, is covered in the November 4, 2012 ed. of "Wavescan." ROFA was a project of the Korean Cultural and Freedom Foundation, and was active from 1966 to 1978 over various Far East transmitters. Here is an ROFA newsletter that appears to date from early 1973. (Note the references to the apparently still-imprisoned John McCain.)

U.S-RFE, RL. Radio Liberty/Radio Liberation - Thanks to Bob LaRose for this very nice promotional brochure for Radio Liberty, the American-run station based in Germany and beaming to the Soviet Union. Accompanying it is a file of Radio Liberty/Radio Liberation QSLs, located in The CPRV Gallery (look under Germany). The station was called Radio Liberation when it was founded in 1953, but the name was changed to Radio Liberty in 1959. It was combined administratively with Radio Free Europe in 1975. Radio Liberty was one of the stations that Mikhail Gorbachev said he listened to when he was being held captive during the Soviet coup attempt of 1991.

U.S-RFE, RL. Radio Free Europe - Here are some interesting items about Radio Free Europe: several philatelic items from Poland that feature RFE (these are from the post-Soviet years); and a couple of pins from the mid-1950s "Crusade for Freedom" era (the supposed-private organization behind RFE, which was actually funded by the CIA). Newspaperboys were enlisted to solicit donations from customers, and the "newspaperboys" pins must have been part of that effort.

U.S.-RFE, RL. Trinkets-XI - We have already posted several Radio Free Europe-Crusade for freedom pins. Here are two more: a Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty pin, and another "Newspaper Boys'-Crusade for Freedom" pin, together with the cardboard carrier to which it was originally attached.

U.S.-VOA. "Your Voice of America" - Here is another Voice of America pamphlet. From the text it would appear that it was published circa 1953 or 1954.

U.S-VOA. "The Voice of America At 25" - This pamphlet was issued by the VOA in 1967 on its 25th anniversary

U.S VOA. Voice of America Brochures - Here are some multi-page pamphlets issued by the VOA. [Pamphlet 1] [Pamphlet 2] The VOA Greenville facility was inaugurated in 1963. Here is a pamphlet that was issued by VOA at the time.

U.S-VOA. "A Brief History" of the Voice of America - published by VOA. It looks like it was issued around 1997.

U.S-VOA. Voice of America 40th Anniversary - Here is a booklet published by the Voice of America for its 40th anniversary celebration on February 24,1982, including a list of honors awarded at the time. There has always been doubt as to the VOA's correct "birthday." February 24 was the date used for many years. However, more recent research by Dr. Walter R. Roberts concluded that the correct date is February 1. See http://americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu/2009/10/the-voice-of-america-2/ and http://americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu/2011/01/the-voice-of-america/. The VOA has now adopted that date https://www.insidevoa.com/a/3794247.html.

U.S-VOA. More Voice of America Program Schedules - Recently we posted some VOA schedule booklets from 1966-67. Here are two more from earlier years. One, in German and English, is for July-August 1949. The other, in English, is for January-February 1951. (The schedule tables in the booklets are in the language of the broadcasts.)

U.S-VOA. Voice of America Program Schedules - It has been a long time since international broadcasters sent out paper program schedules, probably even longer since you've seen one from the Voice of America. Here are two that were sent out by VOA in 1966-67, one for the Far East service and one for the Middle East service. There were also schedules for South Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa. They all shared some common pages, with some area-specific features added.

U.S.-VOA. The Cathode Press - Machlett Laboratories of Springdale, Connecticut was a manufacturer of high-power transmitting tubes utilized by the Voice of America and many other stations. The Matchlett house publication, The Cathode Press, published a number of articles about the growth and development of the VOA. Here are three: (1) "This is the Voice of America" by Foy D. Kohler (Vol. 9, No. 3, 1952); (2) "The Voice of America--the Development of a Program of Transmitting Facilities and Methods for Reaching Target  Areas Around the World" by George Q. Herrick & Raymond Kaplan (Vol. 9, No. 4, 1952); and (3) "The Voice of America--A Generation of Growth" by Edward F. Burgeni, George Jacobs & Edward T. Martin (Vol. 22, No. 1, 1965). The articles cover such topics as VOA history, relay stations, mobile operations, jamming, audience and programming, etc.

U.S.-VOA. More VOA - We have already posted quite a lot of Voice of America material. Here is a new item: a VOA brochure from 1965, which includes interesting mentions of RIAS, jamming, special English, etc.

U.S.-VOA RELAYS. VOA-Monrovia Plaque - His colleagues must have thought a great deal of Earl L. Corbly to present him with this plaque. He was the Transmitter Plant Supervisor at VOA-Liberia in the 1980s. The plaque itself is an impressive piece of work. It is made on an inch-thick piece of wood, about 9" tall and 13" wide. If you zoom in on the detail you can see that the paint is textured, and much of the lettering is raised, all making for a very nice presentation. Monrovia was, of course, the VOA's Liberian HQ. The transmitters were in Careysburg, and the receiving station was in Brewerville.

U.S-VOA RELAYS. VOA Morocco Relay Station - Here is an interesting VOA certificate of appreciation, thanking one Jon Erikson for his contribution "to the planning, design, implementation, and construction" of the Morocco Relay Station, that is, the Briech station, which opened in 1993. Amplifying the colors a bit reveals the signer to be Robert E. Kamosa, after whom the Robert E. Kamosa Transmitting Station in the Northern Marianas is named. Who was Jon Erikson?

U.S-VOA RELAYS. USCGC Courier I - The USCGC Courier is best remembered for its decades-long broadcasts from offshore Rhodes, an island in the Dodecanese group, far from the Greek mainland. Previously we have posted a number of items pertaining to the Courier, and we have now consolidated them on one page. The VOA radio ship actually began its broadcasting life during a shakedown cruise to Panama, transmitting from the Canal Zone from April 18 to April 27, 1952 and identifying as KU2XAJ. We have posted two new Courier items from that trip. We are indebted to Henrik Klemetz for supplying us with a recording of one of the Spanish-language announcements that the ship used during the trip. The recording was made by Arne Skoog, editor of Sweden Calling DXers, who played it over the air at the time. We are also happy to have a brochure, "El Courier en Panamá," which was issued in commemoration of the ship's visit. It belonged to David F. Thomas, a well-known DXer of the day who lived in Proctorville, Ohio. The brochure, which is mostly in Spanish, appears to have been a local production, and contains many photos. It looks like there was quite a welcome for the ship, and an equally extensive publicity campaign on its behalf. We have also posted several other new items from the Courier, including an attractive ship's patch. The new items are marked "New."

U.S-VOA RELAYS. More VOA - Here are two more Voice of America items: a schedule from 1965, courtesy of Bob LaRose, and an aerial view of the VOA relay station, Monrovia, Liberia (the original is 11x14"; zoom in for detail). Judging by the label on the photo (and by the cars), this is probably from the early 1960s, when Page Communications Engineers designed and built the station. It opened at 50 kw. in 1962 and went to 250 kw. in 1964.

U.S-VOA RELAYS. USCGC Courier II - On April 18, 1952, the VOA floating station aboard the 338-foot USCGC Courier commenced broadcasting during a shakedown cruise to the Panama Canal Zone. After that it was stationed off Rhodes. The Courier was supposed to be the first of a proposed fleet of "Truth Ships" intended to defeat Soviet jamming by operating close to VOA target areas, but no other such ships followed. One of the novel features of the early Courier installation was a 35 x 69 foot barrage balloon that held the medium wave antenna aloft. (The balloon had a tendency to break loose and was eventually replaced by a permanent antenna.) We have added two new items, marked "New," to our previously-posted Courier page. One, under "Photos," is a news photo of the ship's control room, with engineer Jean W. Seymour at the dials. The other, under "Cachets, Postcards and QSLs," is a homemade postcard bearing two different Courier postmarks for June 13, 1952. That was just prior to the ship's arrival in New York, from the Caribbean, on June 18, for refitting before sailing for Rhodes on July 17. We have also added to the Courier page a section of Courier weblinks. Google the ship (and Google Images) and you will find many other links and photos.

USSR. Radio Moscow - Radio Moscow, whose signal once blanketed the shortwave bands, is now but a memory. Here is a promotional booklet issued by the station, apparently circa 1956 (judging from the postmarks shown on the inside back cover).

USSR. Jim Cumbie of Texas sends along an article from Radio News, May 1927, ("Short Waves in Siberia") about a combination utility-amateur station in Tomsk, Siberia.

VIETNAM. Radio Saigon, 1949 - This file contains some interesting correspondence with Radio Saigon from 1949.

TOPICS

CLANDESTINE. Radio Euzkadi - "The Mysterious Radio Euzkadi," Don Jensen's history of this Voice of the Basque Underground in Spain which appeared in the May 1983 issue of Popular Communications magazine. Also, from the collection of the Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications, a 1968 Euzkadi QSL and a recording of the station's ID from 1969.

CLANDESTINE. Radio Swan - A two-part article on Radio Swan that was published in Popular Communications in November and December 1985. Thanks to PopComm for permission to post these. [Radio Swan-Part 1] [Radio Swan-Part 2]

CLANDESTINE. Jerry's Front Radio - Among the German psychological warfare stations of World War II was Jerry's Front Radio. Broadcasting on both mediumwave and shortwave, it was actually run by Italy's Ente Italiano Audizioni Radiofoniche, or EIAR, the former employer of Jerry's Front's lead on-air personality, Rita Zucca, an Italian twin of sorts to Germany's Axis Sally. Jerry's Front opened with "It's a Long Way to Tipperary"; the signal was poor in the U.S. Jerry's Front Radio station leaflets dropped on Allied soldiers invited them to turn themselves in, and we have posted one such leaflet here. For much more on this station, and for extensive discussion of wartime radio leaflets and related subjects from World War II to the year 2011 (Libya), check out the excellent two-part website, Radio Leaflets During Wartime.

CLANDESTINE. Radio Free Russia - We have already posted several items about the clandestine station, Radio Free Russia (NTS): a recording of the station's IDthe station's QSL, and a "cinderella" (non-postage) stamp issued by the station in 1964 (scroll down). Now we have another item, a two-sided sheet containing what purports to be photos of Radio Free Russia "in the field." Some of the captions are humorous, but it seems to be a genuine item, apparently intended, at least in part, for fund raising, as there is a bank account number for donations. We have also posted a file containing an article about Radio Free Russia from the October 1966 issue of FRENDX, as the NASWA journal was called back then. It is written by an ace DXer of that period, Gregg Calkin. Radio Free Russia, which closed down around 1976, is also covered in Bill Matthew's article, "Clandestines--The Political Voice of Radio" (p. 137), in the 1971 edition of "How to listen to the World." For more on Radio Free Russia, see the website "Latvian History."

MULTIPLE COUNTRIES. Short Wave News Station Profiles - Amalgamated Short Wave Press, the parent publication of the International Short Wave League, published various station descriptions, and we have gathered some here. They are from the years 1947 to 1953, and the stations covered are: Polskie Radio; Radiojanst and Swedish Radio, Sweden (two articles); El Espectador, Uruguay; OIX7, Finnish Broadcasting Co., Finland; South African Broadcasting Corp., Klipheuvel; Technical University, Trondheim, Norway; Radio New Zealand; Radio Monte Carlo, Monaco; Swiss Shortwave Service (three articles); OTC, Belgian Congo (two articles); Voice of Spain; Radio Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Radio Canada; Voice of Denmark; and Radiodiffusion Francaise, Paris (English Service). Short Wave News became The Radio Amateur in 1952.

MULTIPLE COUNTRIES. Miscellaneous Radio Items 1972-74 - Walt Salmaniw of Victoria, British Columbia, has been doing a little shack cleaning and sent some scans of some interesting miscellaneous things from the 1972-74 period. These are (1) a Saudi Arabia schedule; (2) an envelope from Difusoras del Uruguay; (3) a Radio Liberty schedule (with sites); (4) an envelope with a Canadian SWL International imprint; (5) and two views of a schedule from Radio Cordac, Bujumbura, Burundi (side 1side 2).

MULTIPLE COUNTRIES. Radio Japan and Radio Netherlands Relays - For several decades, relay arrangements have been an important part of international shortwave broadcasting. Here are several items pertaining to the start of relays of Radio Japan and Radio Netherlands. From Japan, we have posted two issues of Radio Japan News, the station's newsletter for listeners. The six-page 1986 issue celebrates the start of Radio Japan relays over RCI, Canada. (We have reproduced the English pages only.) The all-English, four-page 1991 issue relates the story of the start of Radio Japan relays from Sri Lanka, and also contains a timeline of Radio Japan's post-war development. We have also posted a promotional item, "Radio Netherlands International Bonaire Relay Station," which appears to have been written circa 1992.

MULTIPLE COUNTRIES. African External Service Schedules - Here are several schedules of African stations that had external services transmitting on the international HF bands. They are: ELWA, circa 1962; Ghana Broadcasting Corp., 1961 (tnx Tom Carten, Wilkes-Barre, PA) and 1969; Radio Brazzaville, c. 1962; R. Leopoldville, c. 1962 (tnx Bob Schmid, LaPorte, CO); and R. Madagascar, 1973 (one-hour service on 17730 kHz., 100 kw).

MULTIPLE COUNTRIES. Four Articles from Radio Amateur - Here are four short articles, with photos, from several 1952-53 issues of the British publication Radio Amateur, which carried some shortwave broadcast news, including features. These articles are about the "new" Radio Canada Centre in Montreal; the Voice of Denmark; the Swiss Shortwave Service; and OTC and ORU, the Belgian National Broadcasting Service stations in the Belgian Congo and Belgium respectively.

MULTIPLE COUNTRIES. Trinkets-XIV - This group of trinkets contains medals and pins covering the following stations and events: (1) CBC Radio 60 Years; (2) CJCB 60 Years (CJCX MW parent); (3) the RCI "exploding pizza"; (4) Radio Oranje, the World War II Dutch station transmitted over the BBC; (5) Polskie Radio 50 Year coin; (6) Radio Renascenca 40th Anniversary, Portugal; (7) Radiodifusao Portuguesa, 60 Year Anniversary; and (8) a 1937 Motala "antenna" pin (Motala was the location of Sweden’s SWBC transmitters in those days).

MULTIPLE COUNTRIES. Trinkets-XIII - Here is another group of trinkets: (1) a 2 Euro piece commemorating de Gaulle’s famous BBC “call to action” broadcast of June 18, 1940; (2) a 50 schilling piece commemorating 50 years of Austrian Radio; (3) a pin from Radio Habana Cuba, Cadena Azul, one of the major Cuban networks of the 40s and 50s; (4) a pin from Czechoslovak radio; (5) and (6), two pins from IBRA Radio; (7) a pin from Iraq; (8) a 50-year medal from Kol Israel; (9) a medal from RAI-Italy; and (10) a ribbon and medal from JOCK, Nagoya Central Broadcasting Station (Nagoya Chuo Hosokyoku).

MULTIPLE COUNTRIES. Trinkets-VII - These trinkets are from stations in the Spanish-speaking Americas. They are (in this order in the PDF): (1) LS5, Radio Rivadavia, Argentina, 1989; (2) CMCD, Cuba; (3) Instituto Cubano de Radio y Television, 30th Anniversary of Radio Rebelde, 1988; (4) Radio Rebelde, Cuba, 25th Anniversary; (5) Radio Havana Cuba; (6) Radio Farabundo Marti, El Salvador; (7) XEW, Mexico City; (8) Radio Nacional del Peru, 1951; (9) An unidentified Radio Union, which I am guessing belongs to one of the stations with that name in the Americas; and (10) a billfold from Circuito CMQ, Havana, Cuba.

NBC. America Calling All Peoples - A pamphlet published by NBC's "International Division" in 1941. Before the VOA was created in 1942, American shortwave broadcasting was in private hands, and NBC (an offspring of RCA) was one of the leaders. Operating 50 kw. WRCA and WNBI from Bound Brook, New Jersey (later operated as WBOU until it closed in 1966), the NBC "International Division," which consisted of 65 people, broadcast to Europe and South America. Although clearly intended for promotional purposes, this piece contains some interesting history and evidences the national mood at the time, and the belief in the efficacy of international broadcasting. Of special interest is the "Addenda" (blue pages) at the end. It was added after Pearl Harbor, which apparently occurred while the pamphlet was being printed. The author, Earl Sparling, is not otherwise identified, but a quick Google/New York Times search indicates that there was a writer/newspaperman by that name who wrote novels, and also wrote on business topics, in those years.

NBC"NBC Around the World" - Here is a pamphlet from 1936 which commemorates NBC's tenth anniversary. It describes the NBC networks ("red" and "blue" in those days), studios and artists, and then discusses NBC global activities. NBC was the source of much of the programming that went out over American shortwave stations in those days, and a good deal of company promotion centered around the shortwave programs that were prepared for reception abroad and the foreign programming that was received here and rebroadcast over NBC domestic stations. You can get the flavor of this in some of the pages in the second half of this pamphlet. A list of NBC network stations, including shortwavers, is on the next-to-the-last page.

PIRATE. WUMS was one of the longest operating pirates, usually heard on the broadcast band. Here is the full story, courtesy of Popular Communications, plus a 1948 WUMS QSL from the Committee to Preserve Radio Verifications.

PIRATE. "Ultimate DX Trivia: What Was Radio Bobay?" - Enter the world of DX obscurity and read about this North American pirate.

PIRATE. "Rx for DX: Radio Outlaws of the West" - What was a station with the call letters RXKR doing in Santa Monica Bay, a few miles from Los Angeles, and why was it calling itself the Voice of Panama?

RCA. "Across the Atlantic and Pacific -- Via RCA" - RCA was the leading force in non-broadcast shortwave transmission during the medium's development before World War II. Here is a promotional booklet published by RCA circa 1933. It describes for a general audience the company's contributions in various aspects of commercial shortwave transmission. It starts off with a vignette containing details of how the RCA "Radiogram" system works, and how it permitted near-instant communication around the world. That is followed (p. 10) by a description of the history of radio, then (p. 18) a description of maritime shortwave. Pages 20-34 contain brief descriptions of RCA messaging services in 45 places around the world, and this is followed by information about the RCA "Photogram" (FAX) service. The text concludes with a description of the RCA "Overseas Radio Program" service that relayed broadcast transmissions for rebroadcast in distant places.

RCA. RCA-NBC "Short Wave News" - In the pre-VOA days, American shortwave broadcasting was entirely in the hands of an array of private shortwave stations, many operated by the big radio companies of the day, e.g. Crosley, Westinghouse, G.E., etc.  WRCA and WNBI were owned by RCA and NBC, New York. The call letters of the transmitters, which were located in Bound Brook, New Jersey, were eventually consolidated into WBOU. Here is a copy of the RCA-NBC weekly promotional shortwave sheet, "Short Wave News," containing the multi-lingual schedule of WRCA-WNBI programming for December 24-30, 1939. The original sheet measures 11-3/4 x 22-1/2". To see QSLs from WRCA and WNBI, check out "American States on Shortwave" (New Jersey) under "Specialized Resources."

RCA. RCA "Worldwide Wireless" Postcards - Following up on the information we posted (below) about RCA's international non-broadcast facilities, here is a collection of world map postcards promoting the "Worldwide Wireless" messaging capabilities of RCA Communications, Inc.

RCA. RCA Shortwave Transmitters - Bob LaRose has been looking through some of the old issues of RCA Broadcast News that are posted at the American Radio History website and draws our attention to three RCA Broadcast News articles about RCA shortwave transmitters used in the service of the VOA and allied governments during World War II. The articles are: (1) "The 50-SW, A New Transmitter for International Broadcasting," January 1944 (No. 38), pgs. 24-28; (2) "O Brasil Fala . . . Brazil Speaks," by W. J. Reilley, Intl. Dept., January 1944 (No. 38), pgs. 29-31; and (3)by R. N. DeHart, General Engineering Dept., CBS, June 1945 (No. 41), pgs. 18-24. "WOOC . . . WOOW - International Broadcast Stations Installed by CBS at Wayne, N.J.,"

RCA. "RCA's Role in the War" - Here is another item from RCA--a World War II-era folder which includes a map of the worldwide communication links of RCA subsidiary, RCA Communicatons, Inc.

RCA. RCA Broadcast News Articles - Here are two more articles from the 1940s about familiar stations. Bob LaRose found these in RCA Broadcast News on the American Radio History website. They are: (1) "WWV . . . WWV . . . WWV - Broadcasting Frequency Standards With RCA Type ET-7285 Transmitters," by R. J. Newman, Transmitter Engineering Section, January 1945 (No. 40), pgs. 48-54; and (2) "Canada's Loudest Voice," January 1946 (No. 42), pgs. 66-70.

RELIGIOUS. "Reaching Russia" - We all know Trans World Radio. But did you know that it began in 1954 as the Voice of Tangier, operating at first with 2.5 kw., then 10 kw.? Here is a 1959 booklet, "Reaching Russia," about one of the station's goals: putting its signal into the Soviet Union. More religion and Russia than radio, the booklet contains some pictures and other info about the station.

RELIGIOUS. Trans World Radio - Trans World Radio is well known to SWLs. Starting out in 1954 as the Voice of Tangier, it was reborn as Trans World Radio, Monaco in 1960, and over the years expanded to sites in Bonaire, Swaziland, Guam and elsewhere. Here are a number of items pertaining to TWR: QSLs, reading matter, recordings, etc.

RELIGIOUS. Is This the Oldest Catholic Radio Station in Latin America? by Michael Dorner.

RWANDA. Radio Deutsche Welle, Rwanda - The Deutsche Welle relay station in Kigali was scheduled to be closed on March 28, 2015. In connection with that event, Bob LaRose of California has sent us a page from a 1964 edition of DW's "Hallo, Friends" where the "new" Kigali station is described.

SHIPSS.S. Leviathan - Save for the war years, the S.S. Leviathan plied the waters of the North Atlantic from 1914 to 1934. Otherwise lost to history, but of interest to radio types, is an event aboard ship that took place on November 30, 1930, when the Leviathan was traveling from Boston to New York. According to press reports, the Leviathan made the first broadcast from a ship at sea, the program originating from the ship's on-board nightclub, the Club Leviathan. According to a carboned letter dated December 23, 1930 to DXer Dave Thomas, presumably in response to a reception report, the transmission was made from the ship on 4177.5 kHz. to the AT&T station in Forked River, New Jersey, and sent from there by wire to New York and on to broadcast stations of the NBC network. With the letter was a 1930 booklet from AT&T, "Voiceways Overseas from Lawrenceville," Lawrenceville, New Jersey being one of AT&T's main ship to shore transmission facilities of the day. For more on AT&T's multiple New Jersey locations, see Adrian Peterson's Wavescan N62, May 2, 2010.

WESTINGOUSE. "Radio Broadcasting News" - It has suffered some water damage during its 90 year life, but that makes this item we all the more interesting. "Radio Broadcasting News," was a program guide put out by Westinghouse, seemingly on a weekly basis, in radio's early years. This four-page issue is from May 7, 1922, and covers KDKA, plus three Westinghouse stations that followed soon after: WJZ, Newark , NJ (later NYC); KYW, Chicago; and (briefly) WBZ, Springfield, Mass. (WBZ and WBZA in Boston did not exchange calls until 1934.) Interestingly, the masthead says that May 7, 1922 was their "Seventy-second Week Broadcasting." An examination of calendars for those years indicates that it was 80 weeks from the start of KDKA transmissions on November 2, 1920 to the week of May 7, 1922. If May 7 was their 72nd week, the first week would have been the week of December 26, 1920. Perhaps the station did not consider November 2 as its "official" start? What was the status of KDKA for the months immediately after the historic November 2 broadcast? In any event, KDKA is generally acknowledged to have been the world's first shortwave broadcaster, and May 7, 1922 was before those shortwave transmissions began. Intermittent shortwave broadcasting from KDKA started circa August-October of 1922, "regular" shortwave broadcasting in July 1923. So this pamphlet dates from before commencement of shortwave operations by the world's first shortwave broadcaster.


RECORDINGS

STATION IDs BY COUNTRY

Argentina - Here are some nice recordings of Argentine shortwave stations of the past from Daniel Camporini. One recording contains clips of LR3-Radio Belgrano (usually difficult in the U.S.), LR4-Radio Splendid, LR1-Radio El Mundo, and LRA1-Radio Nacional; and the second is a recording of a multilingual ID of Radiodifusion Argentina al Exterior, from the 1980s. Thanks, Daniel.

Argentina - Among South American countries, shortwave from Argentina was distinctive in several ways. Argentine stations boasted more power than most other stations, and they did not use the tropical bands. While this combination meant stronger signals, often it also meant QRM (as some of the posted recordings demonstrate). And occasionally a mediumwave or FM station would show up on another station's shortwave transmitter, or would be used as a seemingly-impromptu modulation source for an out-of-band utility transmitter, or for a special transmission. All these things added to the color of DXing Argentine shortwave. Here are some recordings from years past [ID locations are in brackets]. Regular shortwave broadcasters. (1) Radio Belgrano, Buenos Aires., LRY1, 6089 kHz., 1976, 0015 [:07]. -- (2) Radio Splendid, B.A., LRS2, 5985, 1976, 0924 [:10, :58]. -- (3) Radio Maranatha/Radio Baluarte, Puerto Iguazu, 6215 kHz., 2002, 0001 & 2358 [:38, 1:44]. -- (4) Radio Nacional de Buenos Aires, LRA31, 6060 kHz,1976, 0842 [:14]. -- (5) Radio Nacional de Mendoza, LRA34, 6180, 1977, 0904 [:13]. -- (6) Radio Argentina del Exterior, B.A., LRA35, 11710 kHz, 1977, English 2259 [1:02]. -- (7) Radio Argentina del Exterior, B.A., LRA35, 11710 kHz, 1976, Spanish 2132 [:30] -- Utility, "shared-frequency" or "special" transmissions. (8) Radio Rivadavia, B.A., LS5, 5882 kHz, 1978, 0009 [:16, :48, 2:08]. -- (9) Radio Continental, B.A., LS4, 9115, 1990, 2258 [:39, 1:33]. -- (10) Radio Del Plata, B.A., LS10 (via RAE), 11710 kHz, 1982, 0000 [:43]. -- (11) Radio Diez, B.A., LRL202, 15280L kHz., 2002, 2356 [:09, 1:21]. -- (12) "De Coleccion" (a special Sunday program beamed to the Antarctic), Radio Provincia de Buenos Aires, La Plata, LS11, 8098U kHz., 1997, 2335 [:13].. -- (13) "Mermelada Por la Pavada" (a program produced by kids at FM Opcion-100.7, Rosario, and broadcast over WRMI), 9955 kHz, 1997, 2200 [:40]. -- Argentine Antarctic. (14) Radio Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel, Base Esperanza, LRA36, 6029 kHz., 1979, 0029 UTC [:01]. -- (15) LRA36 again, 15476 kHz, 1981, 0050 [:10].

Bolivia I - For many years, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia comprised the triumvirate of Andean countries whose shortwave stations were sought out most often by DXers. There were many stations, and they conveyed the kind of local authenticity that long-distance shortwave could provide. The Bolivian stations were generally the least well heard. Here are some Bolivian recordings made at various times since the 1970s. Only a few Bolivian stations are still on shortwave (including R. Mosoj Chaski, which is among the recordings). ID locations are in [brackets]. (1) R. El Mundo, Santa Cruz, 6015 kHz., 1987 [:03, :12, :35, :51]; (2) R. Fides, La Paz, 4845 kHz., 1976 [:16]; (3) R. La Cruz del Sur, 4875 kHz., 1976 [:52]; (4) R. Luis de Fuentes, Tarija, 6141 kHz., 1987 [:19, :32, 1:52]; (5) R. Mosoj Chaski, Cochabamba, 3310 kHz., 2000 [:31]; (6) R. Municipal, Caranavi, 4845 kHz., 2004 [:17, :23, 1:01]; (7) R. Norte, Montero, 4936 kHz., 1983 [:14]; (8) R. Nueva America, La Paz, 4797 kHz., 1976 [:04]; (9) R. Panamericana, La Paz, 6105 kHz., 1981 [:14]; (10) R. Pio Doce, Siglo Veinte, 5952 kHz., 1997 [:35]; (11); another recording of R. Pio Doce, 5952, this one in 2002 [:12]; (12) R. San Miguel, Riberalta, 4902 kHz., 2003 [:54, 3:26]; (13) another recording of R. San Miguel, this time on 3310 kHz., 1984 [:11, :49, 1:29]; (14) R. Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 6135 kHz., 2002 [:10, :41]; and (15) Radioemisoras Bolivias, Oruro, 4755 kHz., 1978 [1:00].

Bolivia II - Here is another collection of recordings of Bolivian shortwave stations. IDs include the following [ID locations in brackets]: (1) R. Abaroa, Riberalta, 4739 kHz., 1976 [:50, 1:14]; (2) R. Progreso, La Paz, 6005, 1980 [:14, :28]; (3) R. Riberalta, 4698, 1977 [:21]; (4) R. San Jose, 5985, 1984 [:05, 3:40]; (5) R. San Miguel, 3310, 1984 [:12, :50, 1:30]; (6) R. Santa Ana, 4804, 1984 [1:42]; (7) R. Stentor, La Paz, 6090, 1978 [:48]; and (8) R. Universo, La Paz, 5005, 1976 [:31].

Brazil I - Here are some recordings of Brazilian stations from the 1970s and 1980s. For each one we have indicated the place (:XX) where the station name is heard. The stations are: R. Universo, Curitiba, 9545 kHz. (1976--:07); R. Bandeirantes, Sao Paulo, 9645 (1977--:13, :38); R. Marumby, Florianopolis, 9675 (1980--:10); R. Rio Mar, Manaus, 9695 (1976--:26, :40); R. Tupi, Sao Paulo, 11765 (1978--:08, :30); R. Cultura de Porto Alegre, 11895 (1983--:17, :23, :55); R. Record, Sao Paulo, 15135 (1976--:22); and R. Jornal do Comercio, Recife, 15145 (1976--:19, :47).

Brazil II - These are 60 meter band stations heard between 1976 and 1981, and believed now all off shortwave. They are (IDs at :xx): Radio Borborema, Campina Grande, 5024 kHz. (:19 and :43); Radio Maua, Rio de Janeiro, 5055 (:20); Radio Nacional de Boa Vista, 4835 (:08); Radio Por Um Mundo Melhor, Gov. Valadares, 4855 (:20); Radio Relogio, Rio, 4905 (:21); Radio Ribamar, Sao Luis, 4785 (:06); Radiodifusora Roraima, Boa Vista, 4839 (:27); and a recording of Radio Sociedad Feira de Santana, 4765 kHz., recorded by Henrik Klemetz in Sweden in August 1961.

Brazil III - These are 90 meter band stations. They are (IDs at :xx): (1) Lins Radio Clube, 3225 kHz., 1980, ID at :54; (2) R. Educadora, Uberlandia, 3345, 1978, IDs at :23 and :36; (3) R. Iguatemi, Osasco, 3295, 1978, ID at :18; (4) R. Nacional de Sao Gabriel, 3375, 1980, ID at :36; (5) R. Tamandare, Recife, 3265, 1978, ID at :19; and (6) R. Tapuyo, Mossoro, 3295, 1977, ID at :16.

Brazil IV - We have already posted three groups of recordings from Brazilian stations. Here are recordings of 12 additional stations. ID locations are in brackets. Some of these required some digging, so listen carefully. (1) Ceara Radio Clube, Fortaleza, 15167 kHz., 1977 [:10]; (2) R. Capixaba, Vitoria, 4935, 1976 [:16]; (3) R. Clube Marilia, 3235, 1978 [:08]; (4) R. Congonhas, 4775, 2002 [01:10]; (5) R. Cultura Filadelfia, Foz do Iguazu, 6105, 2005 [01:07]; (6) R. Cultura Ondas Tropicais, Manaus, 4845, 2004 [02:00]; (7) R. Educacao Rural de Tefe, 4925, 2003 [:08]; (8) R. Itatiaia, Belo Horizonte, 5970, 2003 [:03]; (9) R. Ministereo da Educacao Cultura, Rio de Janeiro, 11950, 1976 [:37]; (10) R. Nacional de Tabatinga, 4815, 1982 [01:35]; (11) R. Nacional de Cruzeiro do Sul, Porto Velho, 4765, 1980 [03:34]; and (12) R. Olinda, 3285, 1977 [01:46]. The Brazil shortwave entries in the 1976 World Radio TV Handbook occupied three and one-half columns; in 2017 they occupy one column (including inactives).

Brazil V - Here is a collection of 17 recordings of Brazilian shortwavers. Whether because Brazilians sounded a little less exotic, or because many operated in the higher frequency bands, or because Portuguese was less familiar to the ear than Spanish, Brazil never had quite the DX cachet as Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, even though many were equally good DX--and they were better QSLers. The stations are as follows (ID locations in brackets): (1) Emissora Rural, A Voz de Sao Francisco, Petrolina, 4947 kHz., 1977 [:03]; (2) R. Aparecida, 6135, 2003 [:03]; (3) R. Araguaia, 4905, 1980 [:28]; (4) R. Clube de Teresina, 3285, 1976 [:28]; (5) R. Clube do Para, 4885, 2004 [:09]; (6) R. Cultura, Sao Paulo, 6165, 1976 [1:50]; (7) R. Educadora da Bahia, Salvador, 6025, 1982 [:32]; (8) R. Educadora, Guaraja-Mirim, 3375, 2004 [:21, 1:10]; (9) R. Guaruja Paulista, 5045, 2003 [:04, :28, 1:22, 2:00]; (10) R. Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, 11887, 1976 [:11, 1:51]; (11) R. Nacional de Brasilia, 9665, 1977 [:18, 1:09]; (12) R. Panamericana, Sao Paulo, 6055, 1977 [:14]; (13) R. Rural, Santarem, 4772, 1981 [:27]; (14) R. Tabajara, Joao Pessoa, 4797, 1979 [:13]; (15) R. Trans Mundial, Sao Paulo, 11735, 2004 [:07, :53]; (16) Rdfsra. Acreana, Rio Branco, 4885, 1977 [:49]; and (17) Rdfsra. Pocos de Caldas, 4945, 1981 [:47].

Chile - Chile is off SWBC now, but the stations of yore were usually fairly well heard. Here are audio clips of 13 Chilean stations. The numbers in brackets are the ID locations on the clips. The stations: (1) R. Agricultura, Santiago, 9630 kHz., 1978 [1:32, 2:01]; (2) R. Calama, 6100, 1981 [:19, 1:01]; (3) R. Colo Colo, Santiago, 14530 (utility station pickup), 1978 [:30, 3:01]; (4) R. Cooperativa de Santiago, 9690, 1977 [:40, :59, 1:24, 1:44, 1:58, 3:04]; (5) R. Esperanza, Temuco, 6089.9, 2002 [:14, :31]; (6) R. Mineria, Santiago, 9750, 1977 [1:11, 2:06, 2:14]; (7) R. Nacional del Chile, Santiago, 6195, 1976 [:34]; (8) R. Patagonia Chilena, Coihaique, 6080, 1980 {:38 English, 2:50]; (9) R. Portales, Santiago, 9570, 1977 [:20]; (10) R. Santa Maria, Coihaique, 6029, 1985 [:31]; (11) R. Universidad, Coincepcion, 6135, 1976 [:10, :56]; (12) Voice of Chile, Santiago, 15130, 1977 [:21 English]; and (13) Voz Cristiana, Santiago, 21550, 1998 [:51 English].

Colombia I - Here are some recordings from Colombian SW stations. Most of these were made in the 1970s, which doesn't seem that long ago, except that all of them, and nearly all the other Colombian stations that once populated the 60 and 49 meter bands, are now long gone from SW. Included in this group are: (1) La Voz del Caqueta, Florencia, 5035 kHz. (1976); (2) La Voz del Huila, Neiva, 6150 kHz. (1976); (3) Ondas del Darien, Turbo, 6085 kHz. (1976); (4) R. Bucaramanga, 4845 kHz. (1977); (5) R. Guatapuri, Valledupar, 4915 kHz. (1975); (6) R. Mira, Tamuco, 6015 kHz. (1979); and (7) R. Sutatenza, Bogota, 5075 kHz. (1977). Also in the group is a more recent recording, Ecos del Orinoco, Puerto Carreno, testing on 4905 kHz. in 1995. Did anyone ever QSL them?

Colombia II - Here are some more recordings of Colombian shortwave stations from the past (IDs at :xx): Brisas del Citara, Quibdo, 4895 kHz., 1976 [:55]; Colmundo Bogota, 6065 kHz., 1997 [:19 and many other places]; Ecos del Atrato, Quibdo, 5020 kHz., 1976 [:12]; Ecos del Combeima, Ibague, 4787 kHz., 1975 [1:13]; Emisora Kennedy, Bogota, 4775 kHz., 1978 [2:41, 3:01]; Emisoras Nuevo Mundo, Bogota, 4755 kHz., 1976 [:11]; Idea Radio, Bogota, Bogota, 7380 kHz., 2001 [:29, and 1:24 in English]; La Voz de la Selva, Florencia, 6170 kHz., 1976 [:15]; La Voz de los Centauros, Villavicencio, 5990 kHz., 1976 [:24]; and La Voz del Centro, Espinal, 6095 kHz., 1978 [:19].

Colombia III - Here is a baker's dozen of recordings of shortwave stations of the past from Colombia. The recordings are [ID locations in brackets]: (1) Armonias del Caqueta, Florencia, 4915 kHz., 1982 [:13]; (2) Emisora Meridiano 70, Arauca, 4926 kHz., 1976 [:26]; (3) La Voz del Guaviare, San Jose del Guaviare, 6035 kHz., 1984 [:38, 1:53]; (4) La Voz del Norte, Cucuta, 4875 kHz., 1977 [:39, 1:05]; (5) Ondas del Meta, Villavicencio, 4885 kHz., 1976 [:06]; (6) Ondas del Orteguaza, Florencia, 4975 kHz., 1977 [:41]; (7) R. Autentica, Villavicencio, 5975 kHz., 2002 [:37, 1:28]; (8) R. Cinco, Villavicencio, 5040 kHz., 1976 [:27, :45]; (9) R. Lider, Bogota, 6140 kHz., 2005 [:32, :57, 1:27, 2:55, 3:17]; (10) R. Melodia, Bogota, 6140 kHz., 1978 [1:42, 1:59, 2:16, 2:36]; (11) R. Neiva, Neiva, 4855 kHz., 1980 [:37, :55]; (12) R. Sucesos de Colombia, Bogota, 6160 kHz., 1978 [:45, :57]; and (13) R. Surcolombiana, Neiva, 5010 kHz., 1976 [:03, :17].

Colombia IV - Here is the fourth (and final) group of recordings of shortwave broadcast stations in Colombia: (1) Caracol Carreno, Puerto Carreno, 5936 kHz., 1984 [:58]. - (2) La Voz del Cinaruco, Arauca, 4865 kHz., 1975 [:02]. - (3) La Voz del Llano, Villavicencio, 6115 kHz., 1978 [:33]. - (4) La Voz del Rio Arauca, Arauca, 4895 kHz., 1988 [:01, :24, 3:47, 4:02]. - (5) R. Colosal, Neiva, 4945 kHz., 1975 [:22]. - (6) R. Macarena, Villavicencio, 5973.5 kHz., 1983 [:38, 1:12]. - (7) R. Nueva Vida, Cucuta, 5569 kHz., 1986 [:52]. - (8) R. Santa Fe, Bogota, 4965 kHz., 1975 [:06]. - (9) R. Super de Bogota, 6065 kHz., 1975 [:09, :20]. - (10) R. Super de Cali, 6120 kHz., 1975 [:11]. - (11) R. Super de Medellin, 5953 kHz., 1975 [:46]. - (12) R. Transamazonica, San Jose del Guaviare, 6051.5 kHz., 1981 [:06, :28]. - (13) Radiodifusora Nacional del Colombia, Bogota, 15335 kHz., 1976 [:17, :50]. - And as a reminder of how things used to be, we have also posted a copy of the WRTH Colombia list from the 1979 edition. It listed 55 active frequencies.

Costa Rica - These recordings should bring back some memories. They were made in various years between 1975 and 1998. Index numbers [in brackets] are the ID locations. The stations: (1) R. 88 Estereo, Perez Zeledon, 6071.26 kHz, 1998 [:42]. - (2) R. Capital, San Jose, 4832 kHz, 1975 [:03]. - (3) TIQ, R. Casino, Puerto Limon, 5955 kHz, 1977 [:20]. - (4) R. Columbia, San Jose, 4825 kHz, 1983 [:14, 1:01]. - (5) R. Impacto, San Jose, 6150 kHz, 1983 [English :57]. - (6) R. Nacional de Costa Rica, San Jose, 6035 kHz, 1981 [:32]. - (7) R. Noticias del Continente, San Jose, 9615 kHz, 1979 [:42, 1:31, 2:04]. - (8) R. Nueva Victoria, San Francisco de Heredia, 6083 kHz, 1979 [:42, 1:11]. - (9) R. Reloj, San Jose, 6006 kHz, 1978 [:12]. - (10) R. Rumbo, Cartago, 6077 kHz, 1980 [:21, :41, 1:59]. - (11) TIAWR-R. Lira International, Alajuela, 9725 kHz, 1990 [Spanish :10, English :54].

Dominican Republic I - In 1937 there were 20 shortwave stations broadcasting from the Dominican Republic. Today there are none. Here are some recordings of Dominican Republic stations of the past, specifically these (all in Santo Domingo except where indicated; numbers in parens. indicate location of ID): La Voz de las Fuerzas Armadas, 4825 kHz, 1976 (:24); Radio Amanecer, 6025 kHz, 1987 (:11); Radio Clarin (English), 11700 kHz, 1977 (:54); Radio Clarin (Spanish), 4850 kHz, 1976 (:11); Radio Discovery, 6215 kHz, 1986 (:23); Radio Norte, 4807 kHz, 1975 (:04); Radio Quisqueya, 6205 kHz, 1992 (:06); Radio Santiago, Santiago 6048 kHz, 1982 (:14); and Radio TV Dominicana, 9505 kHz, 1977 (:19).

Dominican Republic II - Here are some more Dominican Republic recordings (all Santo Domingo except where indicated; IDs at indicated seconds): Onda Musical, 4766 kHz, 1997 (:15); Radio Antillas, 5955, 1986 (:26); Radio Comercial, 4882 kHz, 1976 (:10); Radio Earth over Radio Clarin, 11700 kHz, 1983 (:13); Radio Mil, 4930 kHz, 1975 (:19); Radio Pueblo, 5010 kHz, 2002 (:04); Radio Revelacion, Puerto Plata, 2480 kHz (MW harmonic), 1996 (:18); and Radio Villa, 4960 kHz, 1999 (:10).

Ecuador I - Here are 13 recordings of shortwave stations in Ecuador. ID locations are in brackets. All these stations--indeed all shortwave broadcast stations in Ecuador save for the reduced-footprint HCJB--are now off shortwave. The recordings are: (1) Compania Radiodifusora del Ecuador (C.R.E.), Guayaquil, 4765 kHz., 1980 [1:21, 3:42]; (2) Emisora Gran Colombia, Quito, 4911, 1976 [:32]; (3) Ondas Azuayas, Cuenca, 4980, 1979 [:18]; (4) Rdif. Casa de la Cultura, Quito, 4930, 1976 [:17]; (5) R. Cenit, Portoviejo, 4722, 1975 [1:12]; (6) R. Cuenca, 5950, 1976 [:39]; (7) R. Iris, Esmeraldas, 3380, 1977 [:02, 1:45, 2:23]; (8) R. Melodia, Quito, 3375, 1976 [:18]; (9) R. Popular, Cuenca, 4800, 1976 [:30]; (10) R. Rio Amazonas, Macuma, 4870, 1976 [:12]; (11) R. Splendit, Cuenca, 5026, 1976 [:12, :29]; (12) R. Tropical, Esmeraldas, 3340, 1979 [:15, :56]; and (13) R. Zaracay, 3390, 1977 [:17].

Ecuador II - Here is another group of recordings of stations "never-again-to-be-be-heard-on-SW" from Ecuador. These date to the years 1975-1981. ID locations are in brackets. The stations are: 1) Escuelas Radiofonicas Populares, Riobamba, 3985 kHz., 1976 [:04, :11]; (2) La Voz de los Caras, Bahia de Caraquez, 4795, 1976 [:14]; (3) La Voz de Saquisili y R. Libertador, Saquisili, 4900, 1978 [1:02, 1:17]; (4) La Voz del Rio Tarqui, Cuenca, 3285, 1981 [02:03]; (5) Ondas Quevedenas, Quevedo, 3325, 1975 [:01, :07, :16]; (6) Ondas Canaris, Azogues, 5046, 1978 [01:28]; (7) R. Centinela del Sur, Loja, 4892, 1976 [:48]; (8) R. Federacion, Sucua, 4960, 1976 [01:16, 01:59]; (9) R. Luz y Vida, Loja, 4831, 1977 [:08]; (10) R. Nacional Progreso, Loja, 5060, 1980 [01:26]; and (11) R. Rio Tarqui, Quito, 4972, 1976 [:51].

Ecuador III - Here is another group of recordings from Ecuador: (1) HCJB, Quito, 6075 kHz, 1977 [:52]; (2) HD2IOA, Oceanographic Inst. of the Ecuadorean Navy, Guayaquil, 7600, 1977 [:28]; (3) La Voz del Napo, Tena, 3280, 1976 [:04]; (4) La Voz del Triunfo, Santo Domingo de los Colorados, 3253, 1979 [:07]; (5) Ondas del Zamora-Canal Juvenil, Loja, 4850, 1978 [:23, 1:42, 1:53]; (6) R. Carrizal, Calceta, 3260, 1977 [:20, 1:58]; (7) R. Catolica Nacional, Quito, 5055, 1984 [:29, 1;33]; (8) R. Chaskis, Otavalo, 4909.2, 2006 [:10, :25, 1:45]; (9) R. Jesus del Gran Poder, Quito, 5050, 1981 [:14]; and (10) R. La Voz del Upano, Macas, 5040, 1984 [:04, 2:44].

Honduras - This time we visit Honduras, and present some station recordings, mainly from the years 1976 to 1978. In those years, unlike now, Honduras had many stations on the air. They were commercial or religious stations, mainly on the 49 and 60 meter bands, and typically signing on around 1000-1100 UTC, when east coast reception was the best. The recordings are: La Voz de la Mosquitia, Puerto Lempira, 4910 kHz. (1981); La Voz del Junco, Santa Barbara, 6075 (1977); La Voz Evangelica, Tegucigalpa, 4820 (1976); Radio Juticalpa, Juticalpa, 4781 (1978); Radio Landia, Comayagua, 4965 (1978); Radio Lux, Olanchito, 4890 (1977); Radio Progreso, El Progreso, 4920 (1976); and Radio Swan, San Pedro Sula, 6015 (1977).

Mexico - For east coast listeners, signals from the low-powered Mexican shortwave stations often suffered from interference of one kind or another, so you will have to listen carefully for the IDs [times in brackets] on some of the recordings that we have posted here. Of these, only Radio Educacion is still on the air. The stations are: (1) XEJN, R. Huayacocotla, Huayacocotla, 2390 kHz., 1979 [:19, :36, :45]; (2) XEOI, R. Mil, Mexico City, 6010 kHz., 1999 [:15]; (3) XEPPM, R. Educacion, Mexico City, 6185 kHz., 1979 [:34]; (4) XEQK, La Hora Exacta, Mexico City, 9555 kHz., 1989 [:15]; (5) XEQM, Sus Panteras, Merida, 6105 kHz., 1976 [:10]; (6) XEQQ, La Q Mexicana, Mexico City, 9680 kHz., 1987 [:01]; (7) XERH, Radiodifusoras Comerciales, Mexico City, c. 1960 [:36]; (8) XERMX, R. Mexico, Mexico City, 15430 kHz., 1981 [:03, 1:16, 1:58 English]; (9) XERTA, R. Transcontinental de America, Mexico City, 4800 kHz., 1997 [:25, :40, :57]; (10) XEUJ, Linares, 5982 kHz., 1984 [:04, :22]; (11) XEUW, R. Nucleo Oro, Veracruz, 6020 kHz., 1979 [:41]; (12) XEWW, Mexico City, 15160 kHz., 1976 [1:25, 1:34, 1:53]; and (13) XEXQ, R. Universidad, San Luis Potosi, 6045 kHz., 1983 [:08].

Paraguay & Uruguay - Here are two countries that were always good catches when they could be heard. There are six recordings, one from (1) R. Nacional del Paraguay, Asuncion, 9737 kHz, April 4, 2004, 0858 UTC (ID :59); and five from broadcasters in Montevideo, Uruguay: (2) Emisora Ciudad de Montevideo, 9560.5 kHz, October 25, 1996, 2058 UTC (ID :16); (3) R. Carve, 6155 kHz, June 3, 1979, 0937 UTC (ID :22); (4) R. El Espectador, 11835 kHz, December 28, 1976, 0910 UTC (ID :10); (5) R. Sport, 11835 kHz, April 1, 1978, 1009 UTC (ID :07 & 1:13); and (6) S.O.D.R.E. (in English), 9515 kHz, October 19, 1977, 0354 (ID :44).

Peru I - Surely Peru has been one of the most interesting shortwave DX targets. Here are some recordings of Peruvian stations from the 1970s and 1980s, usually during the morning hours following sign on (IDs at :xx): The stations are: (1) R. America, Lima, 9505 kHz., 1977 [:08]; (2) R. Atlantida, Iquitos, 4790, 1976 [:12 and :49]; (3) R. El Sol, Lima, 5970, 1977 [:12 and 2:18, and the "Sol en los Andes" program ID at 1:39]; (4) R. La Cronica, Lima, 9518, 1976 [:44 and :1:11]; (5) R. Los Andes, Huamachuco, 5030, 1982 [:13, :22 and 2:08]; (6) R. La Voz del Altiplano, Puno, 5816, 1984 [:24]; and (7) R. Moyobamba, 5015, 1981 [:24].

Peru II - Here are some more Peruvian recordings (IDs at :xx): (1) R. Chinchaycocha, Junin, 4860, 1976 [:21]; (2) R. Cutervo, 6691, 1986 [:28, 1:00 and 1:17]; (3) R. Libertad de Trujillo, 4910, 1984 [:04]; (4) R. Onda Popular, Bambamarca, 5273, 1987 [:19]; (5) R. del Pacifico, 9675, 1976 [:34]; (6) R. Pucallpa, 6155, 1981 [:21]; (7) R. San Juan de Chota, 5274, 1984 [:19]: and (8) R. Santa Rosa, Lima, 6045, 1976 [:28].

Peru III - Here is another group of Peruvian recordings, mostly from the 70s and 80s. The ID location is shown in [brackets]. The stations are as follows: (1) Estacion C, Moyobamba, 6323 kHz, 1985 [:53]; (2) La Voz del Campesino, Huarmaca, 6956.6, 2002 [:32]; (3) Nueva Radio Victoria, Lima, 6020, 1976 [:19]; (4) Ondas del Huallaga, Huanuco, 3300, 1977 [:16]; (5) R. Amazonas, Iquitos, 4815, 1982 [:27, :47]; (6) R. Ancash, Huaraz, 4990, 1984 [:18, 1:47]; (7) R. Arequipa, 5951, 1976 [:43]; (8) R. Chota, 6296, 1982 [:40]; (9) R. Continental, Arequipa, 6056, 1977 [:13, 1:09]; (10) R. El Sol de los Andes, Juliaca, 3230, 1978 [:25]; (11) R. Horizonte, Chachapoyas, 5019.9, 2003 [:09, :26]; and (12) R. Huancayo, 5955.5, 1981 [:27].

Peru IV - Yet more Peruvian recordings, with ID locations [in brackets].  R. Andina, Huancayo, 4996 kHz, 1975 [:18]; R. Comas, Lima, 3250.8, 1997 [:09]; R. Eco, Iquitos, 5010, 1976 [:24]; R. Huancavelica, 4885, 1982 [:53]; R. Imagen, Tarapoto, 5035, 1980 [2:22]; R. Imperio, Chiclayo, 4386, 2003 [:13]; R. Libertad, Junin, 5040, 1976 [1:11]; R. Loreto, Iquitos, 5050, 1978 [:15]; R. Melodia, Arequipa, 5995, 1981 [:11]; R. Moderna, Moyobamba, 6346, 1983 [:14]; R. Nacional de Tacna, 9533, 1978 [:17, :43]; R. Nacional, Lima, 6082, 1977 [:16, :47, 1:16, 1:33]; and R. Ondas del Titicaca, Puno, 4921, 1980 [:27].

Venezuela I - Here are some recordings of Venezuelan shortwave stations made in the 1970s. They are: La Voz del Tigre, 3255 kHz. (1976); La Voz de Carabobo, 4780 (1975); Ondas Panamericanas, 3215 (1976; weak, ID at :40); Radio Lara, 4800 (1975); Radio Universidad, 3395 (1975); Radio Puerto La Cruz, 3365 (1978); Radio Tricolor, 4820 (1976); Radio Angostura, 6120 kHz. (1975); Radio Barcelona, 3385 (1976); Radio Carora, 4910 (1976); Radio Frontera, 4760 (1976); Radio Monagas, 3325 (1976), Radio Trujillo, 3295 (1975); Radio Valles del Tuy, Ocumare del Tuy, 6129 kHz. (1982); Radio Sensacion, Caracas, 5999 kHz. (1980); Radio Tachira (in English), San Cristobal, 4830 kHz. (1983); Radio Nacional (also English), Caracas, 15400 kHz. (1978); Radio Libertador, Caracas, 3245 kHz. (1975); and R. Maracaibo, 4860 kHz. (1975).

Venezuela II - Venezuela used to have tons of shortwave broadcasters. Now there are none, the last one having left shortwave around 2009. Here is a second group of recordings, mostly from the 1970s (ID locations are in brackets): (1) Catatumbo Internacional, Maracaibo, 9620, 1983 [:19]; (2) R. Continental, Barinas, 4940, 1989 [YV anthem :12, Barinas state anthem 2:14, IDs 04:52 & 05:17]; (3) R. Impacto Valencia, 3355, 1976 [:12]; (4) R. Popular, Maracaibo, 4810, 1976 [:01, 1:19, 1:41]; (5) R. Rumbos, Caracas, 9660, 1975 [:09, :21]; (6) R. San Sebastian, 6070, 1975 [:12]; (7) R. Sucre, Cumana, 4958, 1975 [:08]; (8) R. Tropical, Caracas, 4870, 1976 [:41, 1:12]; (9) R. Turismo, Valera, 6180, 1976 [:26]; (10) R. Universo, Barquisimeto, 4880, 1976 [:09]; (11) R. Valera, 4840, 1976 [1:42]; (12) R. Yaraquy, San Felipe, 4940, 1976 [:29]; and (13) Radiodifusora Venezuela, Caracas, 4890, 1976 [:16].

Venezuela III - We present our final group of recordings from Venezuelan shortwave stations of the past. ID locations are in [brackets]: (1) Ecos del Torbes, San Cristobal, 4980 kHz., 1975 [:19]; (2) R. Barquisimeto, 9510, 1975 [:11]; (3) R. Bolivar, Ciudad Bolivar, 4770, 1975 [:15]; (4) R. Capital, Caracas, 4850, 1976 [:51. 1:35. 2:25]; (5) R. Continente, Caracas, 5030, 1975 [:05]; (6) R. Juventud, Barquisimeto, 4900, 1975 [:31, :41]; (7) R. Los Andes-R. Mil Cuarenta, Merida, 6100, 1979 [1:26, 4:45]; (8) R. Mara, Maracaibo, 3275, 1976 [:02]; (9) R. Maturin, 5040, 1976 [:21, 1:00]; (10) R. Mundial, Caracas, 5050, 1976 [1:53]; and (11) R. Occidente, Tovar, 3225, 1976 [:23, 1:03].

OTHER STATION RECORDINGS

Clandestine Stations I - If there was a "golden age" of DXing clandestine stations for North American listeners, it began in the late 1970s when numerous stations opposed to the governments in Nicaragua, Cuba, and El Salvador took to the air. Most operated in and around the 40 meter ham band and suffered interference accordingly. Here are some that may bring back memories. From Cuba--R. Abdala, 7085 kHz., November 1977; R. Libertad Cubana, 7092 kHz., January 1980; La Voz de la Alpha 66, 7050 kHz., August 1980; and La Juventud Progresista Cubana, 7055 kHz., March 1981. And the Nicaraguan FSLN station, R. Sandino, 7702 kHz., recorded on June 13, 1979, about a month before the Somoza government fell. Added: A recording of R. Sandino made by Rich McVicar on July 17, 1979, the day the Somoza government fell.

Clandestine Stations II - Long before founding Passport to World Band Radio, Larry Magne was an active DXer in Philadelphia. Here are some interesting clandestine stations of the day heard by him and some other DXers. They are all from circa 1972. (1) Radio Peyk-e-Iran ("Courier of Iran," the Tudeh Party [communist], anti-Shah station that transmitted from 1957 to 1976, mainly from Bulgaria [three clips]); (2) Voice of the Malayan Revolution (11730 and 15790 kHz, operated by the Malaysian Communist Party, with transmitter believed to be in China [four clips]); (3) Radio Free Russia (NTS) (an anti-Communist, Germany-based clandestine station operated by the National Alliance of Russian Solidarists, a right-wing Russian emigre group whose roots went back to 1930); (4) Radio Espana Independiente (voice of the Spanish Communist Party in exile, transmitting from Budapest, 9833 kHz. [two clips]); (5) Bizim Radio ("Our Radio," run by the Turkish Communist Party and transmitted from East Germany and Romania [recorded in France]); and (6) Liberation Radio [English ID], the Vietcong station (Voice of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, operating from various Southeast Asian locations, including North Vietnam). Thanks to Larry for permission to post these.

Clandestine Stations III - Here are more recordings from Larry Magne's collection. These are from around 1972 (one from 1975), and are mostly shortwave, with a few mediumwavers. The originators of these recordings are, in addition to Larry himself, Bob Bundy-Truk, Carol Feil-Denmark, Bernard Chenal-France, Sigfried Rambaum-Germany, and Isao Ugusa-Japan, all well-known names in DX days of yore. The stations: (1) China, Radio Sparks (anti-Mao, from USSR), 7185 kHz., c. 1972 (Bundy); (2) Iran, Radio of the Patriots (anti-Shah, believed from Libya), 1250 kHz. MW, May 21, 1975, 0230 UTC (Chenal); (3) Italy, Voice of the Emigrant (Communist, from East Germany) 908 kHz. MW, c. 1972 (Feil); (4) Korea, Voice of the East (from South Korea), 9605 kHz., 1972, 0300 UTC (Rambaum, recorded in Japan); (5) Korea, Voice of the Revolutionary Party for Reunification (from North Korea), 1137 kHz. MW, c. 1972 (Bundy); (6) Laos, Voice of the Pathet Lao (believed located in Sam Neua, Laos), 4660 kHz., c. 1972 (Bundy) [French IDs at :25 and 1:19]; (7) Palestine, Voice of Palestine, Voice of the Palestinian Revolution (from Cairo), 15410 kHz., c. 1972 (Magne); (8) Portugal, Voz de Libertad (Patriotic Front of National Liberation, from Algeria), c. 1972 (Magne); and (9) Thailand, Voice of the Thai People (Thai Communist Party, from China), 9423 kHz., 1430 UTC, c. 1972 (Bundy, Ugusa, Magne).

Clandestine Stations IV - Here you will find recordings of some anti-Castro Cuban stations [ID locations in brackets]. They are: (1) La Voz de Cuba Independiente y Democratica (CID), 7355 kHz, 1981 [:10, 4:05, 4;20]; (2) La Voz de la Junta Patriotica Cubana-R. Mambi, 7402, 1980 [:05, :16, 1:25, 4:22, 4:40, 4:59, 5;44]; (3) R. Antorcha Martiana (Movimiento Insurreccional Martiano), 7077, 1981 [:26, :45]; (4) R. Caiman (Comite Pro Libertad de Cuba), 9960, 1985 [:23, :42]; (5) R. Cuba Libre (Movimiento Democratica Cristiano), 6989, 1981 [1:10, 1:58, 3:33]; (6) R. Republica (Cuban Democratic Directorate), 6135, 2005 [:06, :30, :52, 1;10, 1:43]; and (7) R. Trinchera, 7078, 1981 [:52].

Test Transmissions I - There was always something exciting about shortwave test transmissions. They were a special connection between station and listener where the station told the listener explicitly that it wanted to hear how its signal was doing. Here are four of these tests from times past. They are: (1) An early test broadcast from Africa Number One, Moyabi, Gabon, 500 kw., October 1, 1979, 21495 kHz., 1050 UTC. This includes the announcement of the drawing [01:25] where they were offering a Peugot (won by someone from Ivory Coast) (QSL). (2) A multi-lingual ID for a Radio Japan test broadcast via Moyabi, July 8, 1983, 15405 kHz., 0515 UTC [English 01:19, 03:31] (QSL). (3) Adventist World Radio, Forli, Italy, with a special DX broadcast to North America using 2.5 kw. on 7240 kHz., September 28, 1997, 0338 UTC (QSL). (4) And Radio Mediterranean, Valetta, Malta, 5960 kHz. January 15, 1983, 2206 UTC. To get the most from these recordings, boost the treble on your equalizer (QSL).

Test Transmissions II - (1) Radio Metropolis, Prague, Czech Republic, 6200 kHz., November 27, 1994, 2328 UTC. Radio Metropolis was a short-lived private station. (2) KWHR, Naalehu, Hawaii, 9930 kHz., testing at 1126 UTC on December 19, 1993, their first day on the air. Formal inauguration was on Christmas Day. (QSL) (3) WGTG, McCaysville, Georgia, 7355 kHz., testing its 50 kw. homebuilt transmitter at 2140 UTC on July 29, 1995, their first day of tests. The station would morph into WWFV, then WWRB. (QSL) (4) Radio Minurca (UN Mission), Bangui, Central African Republic, 9900 kHz., November 13, 1998, 2104 UTC. Radio Minurca had been on FM for about four months when it commenced use of this 20 kw. shortwave transmitter, operating at about 12 kw. It left the air on February 1, 2000. (QSL)

Test Transmissions III - (1) The first is a test from the Imo Broadcasting Service, Owerri, Nigeria, 4755 kHz., heard on May 20, 1979 at 2259 UTC. (QSL) (2) The second is from "Super Rock" KYOI, Saipan, Marianas Islands, 11900 kHz., heard on December 18, 1992, 1159 UTC. "Yoi" means "good" in Japanese (Japan was the country's target zone). The programs were prepared in California. KYOI was not a commercial success--the boom in Japanese shortwave listening had already passed. The Christian Science Church bought the station in 1987; it later became KHBI. (QSL) (3) Finally, we have a recording of Adventist World Radio, Madagascar, during a special test broadcast on May 3, 1998, 0300 UTC, 3215 kHz., 7.5 kw. This was an interesting event, as powerhouse WWCR, which used the frequency at the same time, agreed to clear the chanel for a half hour so that AWR could be heard on May 3 and again on May 10. (QSL) We have posted some entries from the Numero Uno newsletters from April 12-May 17, 1998, which give the background to the tests. The recording contains the WWCR sign off at 0257, and the AWR programing as heard (poorly) at 0324 [:22].

Radio Free Europe - In the 1970s (and earlier), Radio Free Europe was a very different animal from what it is today. It operated almost exclusively on shortwave, and there were five language services: Bulgarian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Romanian. For a long time, jamming of RFE by Soviet bloc countries was intense. In the higher bands, such as 16 and 19 meters, you would move from jammer to jammer as you tuned across the band. There were, however, some periods when jamming was suspended, usually in connection with detente or some other event that reduced east-west tensions. Here are some ID-IS recordings of the RFE languages (sans Hungarian), made in 1977-78: BulgarianCzechPolish, and Roumanian Services. RFE would also broadcast an occasional English program, such as the one we have posted from 1980 in the RFE Czech service ("You are listening to a Czechoslovakian samizdat commentary on the Czechoslovakian service of Radio Free Europe").

ELWA - Most of us remember ELWA, the Sudan Interior Mission station that came on the air from Monrovia, Liberia on mediumwave in 1954, shortwave in 1955, and was last heard on shortwave in 2008. It suffered a serious fire in 2011, and if it is still on the air at all it would likely be FM only. Here are some graphics and two songs from an LP record produced by ELWA and issued in what appears to be the early 1960s. You will find the album jacket, front and back, which depicts a more peaceful time in Liberia; the labels on the record, and two songs: "Give the Winds A Mighty Voice" (the melody used as the ELWA tuning signal), and a Yoruba Chorus selection called "Sounds of Africa," narrated by station staff member Joseph Gbadyu. In its heyday, ELWA had a North America service and was widely heard on many higher frequencies in addition to its final shortwave channel of 4760 kc. This record brings back fond memories of a friendly shortwave voice from the past.

WFAT - Although shortwavers generally think of U.S. pirates as operating in the 6 and 7 MHz. bands, "modern" pirating actually began circa 1976 just above the end of the broadcast band, 1600 kHz. One of the first of the pirates was WFAT. Some of these stations were fairly widely heard, and their mastery of telephone loop technology permitted them to take listener phone calls while on the air. They provided early encouragement for the development of community-oriented broadcast band and FM pirate radio. Here are a couple of audio clips from WFAT, 1620 kHz (and 3240), made in January 1979, circa 1000 UTC. (It is a 12-minute recording; stick with it, the audio improves.) WFAT was operated by Perry Cavalieri, and was transmitted from a public housing project in Brooklyn. The station was also featured in this New York Times article, "The Sound of Silence on WFAT, Pirate Radio," April 21, 1979, a week after the station was closed down.

WGEO-WGEA Recorded Announcements - When shortwave broadcasting began in the United States, two of the earliest stations were General Electric's 2XAF and 2XAD in Schenectady, New York. These became W2XAF and W2XAD, and were widely heard throughout the world. In 1939, when stations exchanged their "X" calls for regular four-letter calls, they became WGEO and WGEA. WGEO operated with 100 kw. and was the most powerful American shortwave broadcaster at the time. WGEO and WGEA went into full-time VOA service when the federal government took over all U.S. shortwave broadcasting in 1942. The VOA stateside stations continued to announce their own call letters and their corporate parentage long after that, however. Here is the audio of five original 33-1/3 rpm LP records which were used by WGEO-WGEA for giving announcements. You can click on the "play button" for each label to hear the audio from that record. In general they are short announcements, in English except where otherwise noted, with the same announcement repeated in multiple tracks on the same side of the record. The exact dates of most of the recordings is unclear. However, one label is marked 1/1/46 and another is marked 5/19/58.

Windward Islands Broadcasting Service - Revisiting a station of the past and its successors, Radio Free Grenada and Radio Grenada. Included are several recordings by Jerry Berg and Ed Shaw along with two QSLs from the station.

Radio Free America was Dr. Carl McIntire's "pirate" station that broadcast briefly over 1160 kHz. from a former mine sweeper off the New Jersey coast. Here is a recording from Larry Magne, Editor-in-Chief of Passport to World Band Radio, from September 19, 1973.

We are posting some nice recordings made by Mike Csontos of Lima, New York during the years 1956-1964. He was using a Hallicrafters S-40B, his first shortwave receiver, which he purchased new in 1954 from Fort Orange Radio in Albany. His listening post was near Schenectady, New York, and he was using a 200-foot longwire antenna. These recordings bring back some great memories. They are: (1) Radio Canada, 1956 (when they were still using call letters); (2) OZF, the Voice of Denmark (New Year's Eve, 1956; that is Marianne Linard's voice); (3) Radio Australia, 1957 (also with call letters); (4) the Swiss Broadcasting Corp., 1957 (more call letters); and (5 & 6) two recordings from Radio Brazzaville, "I" from 1958 and "II" from 1962.

Here are more recordings from Mike Csontos of Lima, New York: (1) HCJB, Quito, Ecuador, 1957 (it's hard to believe that we don't hear this one anymore); (2) KGEI, San Francisco, California, 1959 (during its "Voice of Friendship" days); (3) VOA station WLWO, 1962; (4) ELWA, Monrovia, Liberia, 1962 (when they still had a North American service); (5) WRUL, headquartered in New York City, transmitters in Massachusetts, 1962; (6) TWR-Bonaire, 1964 (a silent voice since 1993); and (7) Radiodiffusion Congolaise, Leopoldville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1962 - "This is the heart of Africa calling the world." We have also posted a promotional sheet issued by the Congo station in 1961 (this from the Roger Legge collection in CPRV).

Vintage Recordings - Here is another group of recordings mostly made by Larry Magne in Philadelphia circa 1972. They are [ID locations are in brackets]: 1) Austrian Army Radio Station ("Schulungssender"), Vienna, 6255.3 kHz., October 1971, 0600 UTC [:01]; (2) Voice of Truth (Greek Communist Party), 7335.3 kHz., circa 1972 (recorded by Bernard Chenal-France) [:37]; (3) Radio of the National Liberation Front of the Republic of Guinea (anti-Sekou Toure clandestine), 4969.8 kHz., c. 1972 [:06, 1;18, 2:25]; (4) Radio Portugal Livre, 8333 kHz. (probably via Romania), c. 1972 [1:00, 1:55, 2;10]; (5) ORTF, Cayenne, French Guiana, 3385 kHz., March 1972, 0915 UTC [1:12]; (6) Radio Curom, Curacao, 17513 kHz. (audio source for government radiotelephone transmitter), April 1972, c. 1730-1830 UTC [1:14, 2:46]; (7) Far East Broadcasting Association, Victoria, Seychelles, test transmission on 11950 kHz., November 1971, 1825 UTC [:01, :40, 1:21]; (8) Radio Tahiti, Papeete, Tahiti, opening with an English ID and "English by Radio," 15170 kHz., May 1972, 0300 UTC [1:15]; and (9) Action Radio, Guyana Broadcasting Service, Georgetown, Guyana, 3290 kHz., March 1972, 0845 UTC [02:28]. Thanks to Larry for permission to post these.

U.S. Shortwave Stations - Here are some recordings of some of the U.S. shortwave stations that came on in the 1980s. Most were made while the stations were still testing. WRNO was the first commercial SWBC station approved by the FCC since WINB came on the air in 1962, and the others followed. The recordings are: WRNO, New Orleans, Louisiana, 11965 kHz., 1982; KCBI, Dallas, Texas, 11790, 1985; WHRI, Noblesville, Indiana, 11780, 1985; WCSN, Scotts Corner, Maine, 6160, 1987; KUSW, Salt Lake City, Utah, 15225, 1988; and WWCR, Nashville, Tennessee, 15690, 1989.

Radio SEAC, Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), operated from 1944 to 1949 to provide entertainment, news and a link with home for servicemen in the Southeast Asia Command. We are indebted to Eric Hitchcock of the U.K. for providing this rare recording of a Sunday night U.K. beam of R. SEAC. This is from disks cut in the R. SEAC studio.

One of the most listened to letter programs back in 1958 was "Saturday Night Club" from OZF, the Voice of Denmark, on 9520 kHz. Here is a recording of program host Marianne Linard sending greetings to Jerry Berg, along with a picture of herfrom the 1958 World Radio Handbook. Boost the treble on your mp3 player for best audio on this one.

Here are a few audio clips from Jerry Berg of stations that have "gone dark" on shortwave: from Haiti, 4VEH, 9770 kHz, 1977, and R. Citadelle, 6156 kHz, 1979; from El Salvador, R. Nacional de El Salvador, 9553 kHz, 1980; from Martinique, France Region 3, 3315 kHz, 1976; and from Belize (formerly British Honduras), R. Belize, 3285 kHz, 1977.

Nicaragua - Some recordings from Nicaraguan stations no longer on shortwave.

Here is a recording from Jerry Berg of Radiodiffusion Congolaise, Leopoldville, 1961, along with the letter and a photo of English announcer Althea Campbell who can be heard on the recording.

Bob LaRose of Escondido, CA has sent along some nice shortwave station recordings that he made mainly during the years 1968-69. Featured this week are a R. Cairo test to Europe (June 1969); HISD, Dominican Republic (1969); R. Station Peace & Progress, USSR (1969); XERH, Mexico (1968); and a nice Christmas greeting (and reference to the Apollo 8 mission) from WNYW, New York (1968).

Here are some more recordings from Bob LaRose, namely R. Peyk-e Iran (1969), R. Espana Independiente (1969), R. Euzkadi (1969), and R. Libertad (1969, an apparently CIA-run anti-Castro station).

Here are additional recordings from Bob LaRose: R. Luxembourg (1973), R. Mexico (1969), R. Pakistan (1969), R. RSA, South Africa (1969), and R. Stantsiya Rodina, USSR (1969).

Stations of the Past: La Voz de Galapagos, Ecuador, 4810 kHz, December 8, 1985, and Radio Los Andes, Huamachuco, Peru, 5030 kHz., December 7, 1985; both submitted by ace Latin American DXer Henrik Klemetz of Sweden who was in Ecuador when he recorded them.

A recording of WLWO, Bethany, Ohio, July 20, 1959, at 1630 UTC on 15250 kHz .

A recording of Voice of America, Tangier, July 20, 1959, at 2030 UTC on 15295 kHz .

A recording of Voice of Free Korea from 1961 on 11925 kHz at 0530 UTC, recorded in Japan by NSB "DX Time" Producer Jun Kato.

A recording of "The Dragon Show," Voice of Free China (BCC), Taiwan from 1961 on 6095 kHz at 1130 UTC, recorded in Japan by NSB "DX Time" Producer Jun Kato.

A recording of Radio Liberty (via Taiwan) from 1961 on 9720 kHz at 0700 UTC, recorded in Japan by NSB "DX Time" Producer Jun Kato.

A recording of FEN-Japan, on 6155 kHz, made some time in 1961 at 0100 GMT, recorded in Japan by NSB "DX Time" Producer Jun Kato.

COMPILATIONS

X-Band-II - Here you will find recordings of these early extended AM band stations in Michigan through Wisconsin. ID locations are in brackets [:47] except where they are obvious. The stations: WJNZ, Grand Rapids, MI (1680 kHz, 1998) [:32, :50, 1:13]; WQSN, Kalamazoo, MI (1660, 1998); WBAH, Elizabeth, NJ (1660, 1998) [:12]; WJDM, Elizabeth, NJ (1660, 1995) [1:17]; WTTM, Princeton, NJ (1680, 1999) [:22]; KUSA, Las Vegas, NV (1660, 1995); KALT, Texarcana, TX (1610, 2001) [:17]; KQXX, Brownsville, TX (1700, 1999); KTBK, Sherman-Denison, TX (1700, 1999) [:18]; WTAW, College Station, TX (1620, 2000) [:12]; WHKT, Portsmouth, VA (1650, 1999); WKSH, Sussex, WI (1640, 1998) [:29, :43]; and WTDY, Madison, WI (1670, 1998) [:04]. And here is a file containing QSLs from these stations (except WBAH and KALT); plus one other (for which there is no recording): KKWY, Cheyenne, WY (1630, 2002).

X-Band-I - Even a non-BCB DXer could enjoy tuning and QSLing the new "X-Band" (extended AM band) in the years following its late-1995 startup. Here are some recordings from stations in Alabama through Maryland, heard in Massachusetts on an R8A and a longwire (no fancy antennas, phasers, etc.). ID locations are in brackets [:47] except where they are obvious. The stations: WEUP, Huntsville, AL (1700 kHz, 2000) [:09]; WPHG, Ardmore, AL (1620, 1998) [:08, 1:00]; KGSL, Costa Mesa, CA (1650, 1997) [:19, 1:12]; WCMQ, Miami, FL (1700, 1997); WMIB, Marco Is., FL (1660, 1999); WTIR, Winter Garden, FL (1680, 1999); WAWX, Augusta, GA (1630, 2000) [:07]; WAXP (WNML), Warner Robins, GA (1670, 1998) [1:01. 1;22]; KBGG, Des Moines, IA (1700, 1998) [:09]; KCJJ, Iowa City, IA (1630, 1998) [:08]; KCNZ, Cedar Falls, IA (1650, 1998) [:24, :56, 1:07, 1:18, 1:35]; WHLY, South Bend, IN (1620, 1998) [:21]; KTRK, Ft. Meade, MD (1670, 1996); and WMDM, Lexington Park, MD (1690, 1998). Here is a file containing QSLs from these stations (except WEUP), plus four others: KXBT, Vallejo, CA (1640, 1996); KAYK, Englewood, CO (1690, 1998); WSWK, Atlanta, GA (1690, 2004); and WRLL, Chicago, IL (1690, 2003).

John Ekwall Recordings - Here is a link to the website of our DX friend in Sweden, John Ekwall. At http://joesweden.info/radio/ID-tapes/index.html you will find three groups of mediumwave station recordings made by a number of accomplished DXers (some of these stations were also on shortwave). Each group includes an index that permits you to find particular stations quickly. (1) The first group, originally consisting of two tapes, was recorded in the mid-1970s by Björn Olsson (Olz) of Umeå. These are mostly American, Canadian and South American stations. (2) The second group, eight tapes, was made by Björge Eriksson and Lennart Hane during the 1960s, with some additional recordings made by Stefan Bursell in the late 1970s. These recordings are from all over the world, and also include some shortwave recordings. (3) The third group consists of 12 tapes, which were made in December 1983-January 1984 by Anders Björkerling and Lars Skoglund on a trip to South America, and consists entirely of South American stations. This group also includes an impressive 30-page index containing verbatim transcripts of ID texts. -- While you’re there, check out http://joesweden.info/radio/ for some interesting recordings of broadcasts from Gambia, Cyprus, and St. Helena, plus the 1946 version of the FBIS "Broadcasting Stations of the World" which John has reorganized, shortwave channels only, by country and frequency, The original of "BSOW" can be found at the Hathi Trust site https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000888019 Thanks, John.

Latin American DX Recordings - This is a follow up to our earlier postings of Radio Nuevo Mundo pennants and newsletters. Horacio Nigro in Uruguay has drawn our attention to an excellent series of recordings of Latin American DX stations. They were made between 1984 and 1993 during various LA visits by Tetsuya Hirahara and another old DX friend, Takayuki Inoue Nozaki ("TIN"), both of the Radio Nuevo Mundo group. Because they were recorded locally, sometimes in-studio, they have excellent audio. The recordings were originally published years ago for Radio Nuevo Mundo followers by Tetsuya, and now they appear on his RNM website and also on Horacio's excellent "La Galena del Sur" website. Thanks to Tetsuya and Horacio, we are adding them here as well (CD1 - CD 2) together with an index of the stations (which shows the index numbers where the individual recordings can be found). Also on Horacio's website (URL above, bottom of page): a great Spanish-language video of TIN being interviewed on Radio Chota during a station visit in 2018.

"For Shortwave Listeners" & "Rarest DX in the World" - Although LPs are making a come back, that is an unlikely future, at least on shortwave, for most of the stations whose IDs and interval signals are included on these two 12" LPs issued in the 1960s.

"World on the Air" - In 1976, the Finnish DX Association made available a cassette containing recordings of approximately 90 stations around the world, mostly shortwave. It was titled "World on the Air." The club has posted the recordings on its website. They appear to be studio quality, not made off the air; and there are lots of memories here. We are posting the insert that accompanied the cassette, and also an index to the recordings as they appear online (arranged somewhat differently from on the cassette), with the locations in the composite online recordings where the individual stations can be found.

"BIT-Broadcasting Identification Tape" - In addition to the annual World Radio TV Handbook and Summer Supplements, World Publications (Hellerup, Denmark) produced other books and materials of interest to the radio listener. In the 1965-66 How to Listen to the World (p. 159), 1966 WRTH (p. 66) and 1966 WRTH Summer Supplement (p. 43), advertisements announced the release of "BIT-Broadcasting Identification Tape," a one hour reel-to-reel recording featuring the interval signals and identifications of over 60 shortwave stations. The stations were grouped on the tape alphabetically, by continent, with a brief introduction before each clip. Here are two separate mp3 files (Side 1 and Side 2 of the tape). Thanks to the World Radio TV Handbook for permission to post this.

Radio Canada Shortwave Club LP - Here is a special recording produced in 1974 by Ian McFarland, producer and co-host of the Radio Canada Shortwave Club. Copies were offered as a prize in an RCI Shortwave Club survey contest. (Some copies were also available at various DX gatherings.)

NOTEWORTHY PROGRAMS, BROADCASTS, EVENTS AND RECORDS

"Radio Moscow and the Western Hemisphere" - Don’t you miss Radio Moscow, and the comfort you took in knowing that you could turn on the radio any night and find the North American service with your eyes closed? Here is an entire LP devoted to the “classic sounds“ of Radio Moscow.

"Tokyo Rose--Radio Traitor or Radio Patriot?" - "Tokyo Rose" will long be remembered as the "siren of the Pacific," even though the real story is more one of a young Japanese-American girl who stayed too long while reluctantly visiting relatives in Japan, and somewhat unthinkingly got caught up in Japan's shortwave propaganda effort. Whatever the exact truth may be, "Tokyo Rose" is part of World War II history, and shortwave history. In 1977, Radiola records released an LP called "Tokyo Rose--Radio Traitor or Radio Patriot?" We have posted both sides of the record, together with the front and back of the album jacket. The back of the jacket contains some interesting notes, including a detailed description of the recordings (Side B is a "Zero Hour" broadcast). The jacket says that the woman pictured on the album cover is Lotus Long, who played Tokyo Rose in the 1945 movie of the same name. We have also posted a lobby card for the movie. Iva Toguri D'Aquino died in Chicago in 2006. Observed one GI, "Lots of us thought she was on our side all along."

Ray Briem 1985 "DX Special" - From 1984 to 1994, late night ABC talk show host Ray Briem conducted an annual five-hour "DX Special" about DXing. Originating in Los Angeles, it was carried nationwide. Briem was a DXer himself, and he invited many well known DX luminaries to take part in the discussion, either in person or by phone. Here is a recording of Ray's shortwave special heard on February 15, 1985 over WABC-770, New York. Stew MacKenzie was in the studio with Ray, and among the DX cognoscenti who participated by phone were Richard A. Wood, Tom Meyer, Arthur Cushen, Glenn Hauser, Laurie Boyer (NZ), Jonathan Marks (briefly), Ian McFarland, H. D. Norman (NDXE), and Joe Costello (WRNO), plus several callers. Briem retired at the end of 1994. He died in 2012. The recording is 2 hours, 50 minutes in length.

Radio Australia - It was a bad week. It looks like Radio Australia, as well as the Northern Territory Shortwave Service (Alice Springs, Katherine, Tennant Creek), are no more. One of the selling points for preserving these services was their ability to provide emergency broadcasting during cyclones. We have posted two examples. The first is a recording of a Shepparton relay of local ABC Brisbane programming during Cyclone Larry in March 2006. The second is a Shepparton relay of ABC Far North programming during Cyclone Monica in April 2006. Both were heard on 6020 kHz. In the case of Monica, a letter to the Cairns office of ABC Far North brought a nice reply with some interesting information, including an ABC Far North folder on tracking cyclones and staying safe. Radio Australia had been providing emergency broadcasting services for many years, as evidenced by a QSL for the Shepparton relay of mediumwave 8DR-Darwin, which had lost its transmitter during Cyclone Tracy, Christmas 1974. The 8DR programming was sent to Shepparton where it was relayed back on shortwave for the benefit of the 30,000 Darwin evacuees and also for the surviving Darwin mediumwave stations, which picked it up and relayed it. The Radio Australia shortwave transmitters in Darwin, which had come on the air in 1968, were also knocked out, and returned to limited service only in 1979. Some 71 people died in Cyclone Tracy.

Radio Syd, Banjul, Gambia - During the 1950s and 1960s there were many special shortwave broadcasts arranged by Scandinavian DX clubs. Years later the practice continued on a reduced basis, usually as part of a major DX contest. One such DX event was sponsored by Sweden's Grangesbergs Radio Club in connection with the 1984 Nordic Open DX Championship. The club arranged a special half-hour shortwave broadcast from Radio Syd, Banjul, Gambia, a station not normally on shortwave. Radio Syd had a long history, having operated for years as an offshore mediumwave pirate in Europe. In 1968 it relocated to Gambia and went ashore. The station's history was recounted by Al Muick in "Radio Syd--the Trip from Denmark to the Gambia," PopComm, August 1983 (p. 49). A Google search will turn up much other Radio Syd history. At 2000-2030 UTC on September 21, 1984, R. Syd transmitted a special broadcast on shortwave utilizing the facilities of Gamtel (ex-Cable & Wireless), on 7422 kHz. for the first 15 minutes, 7485 for the rest, power 6 kw. Although information on the transmission was distributed only to contestants, word got out to others a few days in advance of the transmission. Reports were to be sent to the club, which printed and filled out the QSLs and then dispatched them to Gambia for mailing. Some 300 reports were received. Here is a recording of the last 11 minutes of the broadcast, as heard in Massachusetts, including English IDs at 02:17, 05:33, and 08:57, plus a file containing the "official" QSL and also a letter received directly from the station.

1982 Falklands War - Some memories of the 1982 Falklands war with audio clips of the British "Radio Atlantico del Sur," Argentine "Liberty" (or "Argentine Annie" as she was called), and the Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station. Along with the audio clips are QSLs for the stations heard during that period.

The "Tupamaros" - Here are 2 historic audio clips recorded by Horacio Nigro of radio broadcasts of the "Tupamaros" - "Movimiento de Liberacion Nacional," a subversive leftist group that flourished in Uruguay in the 1960s and 70s.

"The Amazing World of Short Wave Listening" - In 1959, the Hallicrafters Company produced this 14-minute, 45 rpm promotional record, narrated by noted "Man on the Go" journalist Alex Dreier.

XMHD - A 78 rpm record (undated) that was apparently used as a promotional item for a station in Shanghai, China, XMHD, the China Christian Broadcasting Association.

"Vasily's Christmas Special" - This holiday program was broadcast by Radio Moscow on December 22, 1991 with host Vasily Strelnikov. These were the days of glasnost and perestroika, and I doubt that anything like this had ever gone out over Radio Moscow before.

BBC-Daventry - Here is a recording of the closedown announcement for BBC-Daventry that was broadcast on March 29, 1992 at 1126 UTC on 15070 kHz., a frequency that had come into use (as GWC) around 1941.

Radio Australia Mailbag Program - Every SWL who was listening from the late 1940s to 1980 remembers the Radio Australia mailbag program, which was hosted by Keith Glover for 25 of those years. Here is a recording of the last mailbag show, aired on December 28, 1980.

BBC's "This is London", 50th anniversary recording. Horacio Nigro in Uruguay has posted on his webpage at http://www.angelfire.com/my/radiohobby/bbc50a.html the audio of an English-language vinyl record issued by BBC on its 50th Anniversary (1982). It is narrated by Mr. Leo McKern, and each side is nearly half an hour. The webpage also shows the contents of both sides. Various historical events are featured, with commentary about various aspects of the BBC itself. This webpage was originally created by Horacio to help a DX colleague on the Hard-Core DX List who asked for BBC historical audio.

"Voices of Victory" - Here is something that has nothing to do with DX, but is probably still interesting to DXers—an article about "Voices of Victory" records. These were recordings on cardboard blanks that World War II servicemen made for the folks back home.  Read about them, and hear some examples.

RECORDINGS SENT BY STATIONS

CQM, Emissora da Guine in Bissau, Portuguese Guinea - The days when stations in the Portuguese colonies could be heard on shortwave are long gone. Jerry Berg heard Emissora da Guine in Bissau in 1959 on 7948 kHz. and sent them a reel-to-reel tape which they over-recorded and returned to him. Here is the station's recording along with Jerry's QSL of the reception.

ELWA, although the station has now become a fairly rare catch on 4760 kHz, older listeners may recall the days when ELWA operated major international services over its 10 and 50 kw transmitters in Liberia, including a Tuesday night (local time) broadcast to North America. The station was founded in 1954 and was widely heard in the years thereafter. In July 1961, Jerry Berg sent them a taped reception report on a new frequency they were using at the time, 11975 kc/s. Much to his surprise, on their North American request program of September 5, 1961, host Jim Pelley featured his report and played his recording over the air. He also sent him this studio recording of the program. What is novel (in addition to hearing Jerry when he was 17 years old) is that they played his tape recording over the air. So you can hear not only the September 5 program, but within it Jerry's original tape of their signal as he recorded it on July 25, 1961.

ETLF, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a 100 kw., station, was established by the Lutheran World Federation in 1963. Jerry Berg heard them and sent them a taped report (those were the days of 3" reel-to-reel tapes), and in reply they sent him a tape containing their ID and some Ethiopian music. This is part of that tape. ETLF was taken over by the government and became the Voice of Revolutionary Ethiopia in 1977.

The late Arne Skoog was the DX Editor of Radio Sweden's venerable DX program, "Sweden calling DXers," for many years. Here is his voice in a tape recorded message sent to Jerry Berg circa 1961.


QSLS & OTHER STATION MEMORABILIA

COUNTRIES

ANGOLA & MOZAMBIQUE - David H. Henderson of Wheeling, West Virginia, listening in the mid-1930s, must have been pretty happy with these replies from Angola and Mozambique. CR6AA, located in Lobito, was Angola's first shortwave broadcaster. In 1935 they sent David the letter and ham-style QSL shown in the file's first two images. Two years later David received a second QSL from the station--the folding card, with the studio and transmitter pictures on the front and some light handwriting on the back. Portuguese colonial station CR7AA was likewise the first shortwave broadcaster in Mozambique, and from them David had a card and a form letter. The frequency was 6137 kHz., with a parallel channel on 11718. QSLs from Angola and Mozambique continued to be highly prized right up to the independence of both countries in 1975, and after.

ANTARCTICA. Byrd Expedition-I - The big shortwave news of the mid-1930s was the second Byrd Antarctic Expedition. The first Antarctic Expedition, in 1928-1930, which saw Commander Richard E. Byrd make the first overflight of the South Pole, was equipped with code equipment but no voice capability. It was different for the 1933-1935 trip. Byrd made regular program transmissions, which were picked up in Argentina, relayed to RCA's "Radio Central" in Rocky Point, Long Island, and from there sent out by CBS over its national broadcasting network with much fanfare. The broadcasts were sponsored by Grape-Nuts, a General Foods product, and the company offered its listeners various mementoes of the event. One was the South Pole Radio News, a promotional newspaper containing much interesting information about the expedition, with a focus on the radio side of things. Here are two copies of South Pole Radio News, Vol. 1, No. 2 and Vol. 1, No. 3. (Has anyone ever seen Vol. 1, No. 1?)

ANTARCTICA. Byrd Expedition-II - On page 2 of the South Pole Radio News, which we posted below, there is an offer for a large map of the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition, free for the asking with two Grape-Nuts box tops. Here is that good-looking map, together with accompanying cover letter and the mailing envelope. Zoom in for the detail.

ANTARCTICA. Byrd Expedition-III - We conclude our presentation of mementoes from the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition of the mid-1930s with: (1) a two-page "Radio's Greatest Thrill" schedule of the Byrd broadcasts over CBS network stations (notice the inclusion of shortwavers W2XE and W3XAU); (2) a bookmark-style "thanks for your interest" message from General Foods that accompanied an etching of Admiral Byrd (does anyone have the etching?); (3) a pamphlet about the Curtiss-Wright Condor biplane used by the expedition (including instructions on how to obtain a kit to build a model); and (4) a postal cover with the "Byrd Antarctic Expedition II" postage stamp and an expedition-related cachet.

AUSTRALIA. M/V Kanimbla - Here are several items from the passenger ship M/V Kanimbla, home to ship-borne station "9MI" (VK9MI). The Kanimbla was owned by McIlwraith McEacharn Ltd., "Steamship Owners and Coal Merchants," and operated in Australian waters between Melbourne and Sydney from 1936 to 1939, when it was commissioned as a troop transport. The owners said that the Kanimbla was the first passenger vessel equipped with a permanent broadcasting studio. Broadcasts were a half hour in length. 9MI tested at first on 6075 and 11740 kHz., but moved to 6010 and 11710, and sometimes could be heard on the west coast. We have already posted a 1938 9MI QSL received by August Balbi. It shows the power as 50 watts. Other sources said it was 200, 250 or 1,500 watts. We have now posted a letter received by Roger Legge with his QSL, together with a schedule which shows the various Australian mediumwave stations that rebroadcast the 9MI transmissions. We have also posted some postcard views of the ship, and two Kanimbla trinkets: a pin dish and a spoon.

AUSTRIA. Blue Danube Network Plaque - During the postwar years, until 1955, the United States operated the Blue Danube Network, an armed forces network based in Vienna, Austria. It was mainly mediumwave, but it also had a shortwave outlet, in Salzburg. We have already posted a QSL and a recording of "BDN" (see "Arne Skoog: The Early Recordings" on the "Specialized Resources" page). Now we have added a piece of BDN swag: a Blue Danube Network plaque, made of wood, measuring about 9 inches in diameter. There is no writing on the back, so the exact origins of this item are not known.

CANADA. "Cinderella Visits CKY-CKX, Manitoba" - In the early 1940s, Manitoba stations CKY-CKX made available to their listeners a series of station stamps promoting outdoor activities in the province. Here is the story of these stamps along with a 1924 CKY QSL on pg. 4 of the article.

CONGO-KINSHASA. Radio Okapi - Here is a French-language advertising card from 2006 that is promoting a Paris dance-theater program devoted to Radio Okapi. The station, operated by the U.N. Observer Mission in the Congo, transmitted from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, starting in 2002, and was on shortwave from March of that year. Within a couple of years it had moved to leased time.

COSTA RICA. TI4NRH QSLs - We have already posted a 1936 QSL for the famous Costa Rican shortwave station, TI4NRH. Now, we have posted a file with four more. The first QSL is from February 1930, which is less than two years after the station’s May 1928 inauguration. This was quite early in the history of shortwave broadcasting. The QSL, 10-1/2" x 14" in the original, commemorates the acquisition of some new equipment, and the approval of free franking privileges for the station. Note the reference to the station as "the Lindy of Central America," a reference to Lindbergh’s famous non-stop flight to Paris, which took place in 1927. The second QSL is from 1934 and is a ham-style card, repurposed as a broadcast QSL. The third QSL, from 1938, is 9"x12" in size. The pride of the station’s owner-operator, Amando Cespedes Marin, and the place that he felt TI4NRH occupied in shortwave history, really come through. The final QSL, another certificate, was issued in May 1938 to commemorate the station’s tenth anniversary. This particular QSL was used to verify a report on a special program arranged in 1941 by the NNRC Courtesy Programs Committee, and the paragraph above the QSL is from the November 10, 1941 NNRC bulletin, where the special program was announced. ("Bob" is Bob Gorsuch, the committee member who arranged programs with Latin American stations.) The fancy NRH QSLs were no doubt a product of Don Amando’s pre-radio background as a photographer.

FRANCE. La Voix de la France - Learn about La Voix de la France, a World War II shortwave service run by the Vichy government and beamed to the French colonies, and its messaging service aimed at Frenchmen around the world.

GOA. Emissora de Goa - Now an Indian state, Goa was ruled by the Portuguese untl the Indian army moved in in 1961. Emissora de Goa went on the air on shortwave in 1949, but was seldom heard--at least in the U.S.--until 1960, when it inaugurated a 50 kw. transmitter, yielding very good reception here. Here are four picture postcards from the station showing various scenes in Goa. Three are printed as Portuguese-English station QSL cards, and the forth is a postcard bearing the station name. All are blank. The cards are numbered on the back, #1 through #4, and #2 is the same as a Goa QSL received by Don Jensen for reception in 1961, so these cards date from around that time. Don's reception was in November 1961, the month before Portuguese rule ended and the station went dark. It would be 33 years (1994) before Goa returned to shortwave in the form of AIR-Panaji.

GUAM. KU5Q - Here is an interesting letter QSL from, and some Radio News DX items about, KU5Q, a widely-heard military shortwave station on Guam that carried some broadcast-style programming during the postwar years.

NETHERLANDS. Who doesn't have fond memories of the Radio Netherlands Happy Station program? Here are four Happy Station calendars. These are from 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1989. The 1969 calendar contains some great old photos of Happy Station host Eddy Startz, "and friends." The 1989 calendar is a montage of various Happy Station graphics, and is best viewed by setting your Adobe Reader to "four panel square" mode.

NETHERLANDS. "PCJ," Radio Nederland - Here are six pages of info that you might have received in the mail from "PCJ," Radio Nederland, in 1948, specifically the station's summer schedule and the schedule of Eddie Startz's "Happy Station" program.

NIGERIA. "The Undiscovered QSL of Radio Biafra" - Does anyone remember Radio Biafra, vintage 1967-70?  Although many Biafra QSLs emanated from a Biafran representative in the Ivory Coast, it has been DX gospel that Alan Roth's "battlefield" QSL from the station was the only Radio Biafra QSL to have originated from within the country. But was that correct?

NIGERIA. Radio TV Kaduna medal - This medal (the back is blank) was cast in 1972 on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Radio TV Kaduna (Broadcasting Co. of Northern Nigeria). RTK was a commercial station, operating on 6090 kc. (later 9570) with 10 kw., and was a regular logging in the U.S.

SAMOA. "Samoa on Shortwave" - In Wavescan 367 (January 6, 2002), Adrian Peterson told the story of shortwave broadcasting in Western Samoa. For some graphics related to that story, check out this new piece by Jerry Berg.

SENEGAL. "Senegal in QSLs" - Senegal came on shortwave in 1940, making it one of the earlier African stations on the bands. Over the years it produced many good-looking QSLs. We have gathered them together, and added a bit of history.

SPAIN. EAQ, Spain - In shortwave broadcasting's earlier days, clubs liked to arrange special broadcasts from stations, which were often very accommodating. Here is one such broadcast, made in April 1936 over station EAQ in Spain on behalf of the London Chapter of the International Shortwave Club, then headquartered in East Liverpool, Ohio (it moved to England after the war). We have posted a file containing the announcement of the broadcast in the ISWC's monthly bulletin, International Short Wave Radio; the QSL sent out by the club's European representative, Arthur E. Bear (who would head up the club after the war); and, from the May 1936 ISWC bulletin, a photo of the attendees of the London Chapter's third annual dinner-dance which was held in March of that year.

U.K. "The BBC in QSLs" Pt. I - Despite a policy history of "not QSLing," the BBC has in fact issued countless cards and letters that qualify as QSLs. Here is Part I of a three-part series called "The BBC in QSLs." This part covers BBC QSLing through World War II.

U.K. "The BBC in QSLs" Pt. II - This part covers non-relay BBC QSLing since World War II.

U.K. "The BBC in QSLs" Pt. III - This third and final part in the series covers the relay stations.

U.K. Trinkets-I - Here is a file showing various pins from the BBC.

U.S.-AMATEUR. Two QSLs from Art Collins, founder of Collins Radio, Cedar Rapids, Iowa - by Bill Smith.

U.S. AMATEUR. 2GY - In 1925, the magazine Radio Broadcast opened an amateur station, 2GY, in Garden City (Long Island), New York. Here is a good-looking 2GY QSL plus a brief writeup about the station from the magazine.

U.S.-APEX. W9XA - Here is a file containing an interesting QSL from W9XA, one of the early "apex" band stations that operated in the 25-27 MHz. area (some higher) during the late 1930s. It is a newsletter, "The Radio Engineer," published by the Commercial Radio Equipment Co. of Kansas City, Missouri, owner of the station. The QSL was sent to ace BCB DXer Kermit Geary, and the QSL statement is on the last page. The newsletter contains much interesting information about the station, and about the local and long-distance properties of the apex band, which were just being learned. Most of the apex stations simulcasted their owners' broadcast band channels, and while W9XA rebroadcast programs from several stations, it also had its own studios. One of the stations it rebroadcast was KITE, and a QSL from that station, sent to Roger Legge, appears in the file following the newsletter. The apex band was closed in 1941, and the stations either went to then-new FM, or left the band.

U.S.-BCB. "January 27, 1922-January 27, 2022: Another KDKA Centennial—And an Addendum: a KDKA QSL from 1921." -In January 2022, we posted an article—"January 27, 1922-January 27, 2022: Another KDKA Centennial"—celebrating a KDKA QSL from January 1922. We know now that the KDKA inaugural broadcast on November 2, 1920 was an historic event, but it received surprisingly little attention at the time, and some 15 months later, at the start of 1922, broadcasting stations in the U.S. still numbered only in the thirties. That did not stop listeners from sending reports, or the stations from replying to them, as KDKA did to a listener who appears to have been Stewart Bryden Taylor of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. The station’s QSL is at the heart of the story. -- We are reposting the article here, now with an addendum about an even earlier KDKA QSL—from May 1921.

U.S.-BCB. Trinkets-II - Here is another group of pins and other souvenirs issued by American mediumwave stations over the years. They are from: (1) KFNF, Shenandoah, Iowa [Henry Field Seed Co.] (ceramic dish); (2) KFNF again (spoon); (3) KMA, Shenandoah, Iowa [Earl E. May Seed & Nursery Co.]; (4) KCBS, San Francisco, California (1959, 50th anniversary); (5) KDKA, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (pressed penny from the October 1995 convention of the Pennsylvania Assn. of Numismatists [PAN]); (6) KFQD, Anchorage, Alaska (1973 on-air marathon); (7) KGIR, Butte, Montana (1939, 10 years of service); (8) WDIA, Memphis, Tennessee; (9) WIP, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [Gimbel's Department Store] (Uncle WIP Kiddie Club); (10) WMEX, Boston, Massachusetts; and (11) WSPD, Toldeo, Ohio.

U.S.-BCB. Edgewater Beach Hotel, Chicago - The Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago should ring a bell with students of the early American broadcast band scene, for it was the first home of Zenith station WJAZ, which had developed out of the famous Chicago Radio Laboratory ("Mathews and Hassel") amateur station 9ZN in 1922. It was for promotional purposes that the hotel offered a home to WJAZ, which operated initially on the common broadcast band channel of 360 meters, moving to 448 meters (670 kc.) in 1923. The station left the hotel after a year, changed its call letters to WGN and sold WJAZ to the hotel, which changed the call letters to WEBH. (WJAZ lived on in other incarnations.) The story is memorialized in two QSLs that we have posted in "The CPRV Gallery." One, from WJAZ, verifies reception reported in a letter to the station dated May 16, 1923 (the day after the move to 670 kc.). Of perhaps greater interest is a brochure about the station, and the hotel, which we have posted with the QSL. It gives the wavelength as 448 meters, so it dates from the same period as the letter. The other QSL is a great-looking folder (with EKKO stamp) from WEBH, together with a nicely-illustrated promotional brochure from the station. WEBH, which called itself the Voice of the Great Lakes, was on the air from the hotel for about four years. Newspapers played a big role in both stations, the Chicago Tribune at WJAZ, the Chicago Evening Post at WEBH. The hotel closed in 1967 and was demolished in 1970-71.

U.S.-BCB. WMAF, South Dartmouth, Massachusetts- One of the more colorful characters in early American broadcasting was Col. Edward Howland Robinson Green, a bigger-than-life resident of the majestic Round Hill estate, most of whose land is now part of the town of South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Green's broadcast band station, WMAF, came on the air in 1922 with 100 watts (later increased). Here are two interesting items from WMAF. One is a Round Hill "poster stamp" (a non-postage stamp) reflecting the station's call letters, plus some other sites at Round Hill. The other is a reception report sent to WMAF from England in 1923, which makes for interesting reading. The report is from a fascinating book, "Colonel Edward Howland Robinson Green and the World He Created at Round Hill" by Barbara Fortin Bedell. The book is available from http://www.partnersvillagestore.com/ in Westport, Mass., or directly from Ms. Bedell at bb280z@yahoo.com. (The report is reproduced here with Ms. Bedell's permission.) The origin of the poster stamp is unknown; notwithstanding her considerable knowledge of the Round Hill story, Ms. Bedell was unfamiliar with the stamp.

U.S.-PRIVATE SW. Radio New York Worldwide traces its history to W1XAL, which came on the air in 1931 (and itself traces its history to W2XAL, which started broadcasting in 1927). W1XAL became WRUL in 1939, and - with the same call letters - Radio New York Worldwide in 1962. It adopted the call letters WNYW in 1966. This program schedule is from May-October 1964, and illustrates one of the best modern-day examples of American private shortwave broadcasting. It points out the station's coverage of the 1964-65 World's Fair in New York; the station's political, olympic and Wall Street coverage; a special Peace Corps program; the Indianapolis 500; and more. There is a brief history of the station on p. 6, and on p. 7 news from listeners (including a promotion for the ASWLC, which had been formed in 1959). Radio New York Worldwide's affiliation with ABC gave the station access to a professional news team, whose members are shown on the last page.

U.S.-PRIVATE SW. WLWO, Bethany - We've already posted several items about Crosley station WLWO, Cincinnati, Ohio, later known as Bethany. (Post war, "Bethany" was commonly used to refer to both that location and the next-door site, Mason, which was in use through the 1950s.) These are: a 1940s promotional brochure containing some early station history; two ID recordings (1959 and 1962); and, under "Specialized Resources/Radio Postcards," some views of the facilities of WLW and related outlets. We are now posting several more items. From the station's early days we have a 1937 QSL-letter, when the station was still known as W8XAL, and a 1947 QSL-card (it looks like a prepared card but is believed to be the station's own). Some of the Crosley transmitters which had been installed in the 1940s were taken out of service in 1989, an event commemorated by a VOA QSL-card. The senders were replaced with 250 kw. Brown Boveri (ABB) units, and we have posted a brochure prepared in connection with their inauguration in 1991. In 1992 the station celebrated its 50th anniversary with a special QSL-card. The site was closed down in 1994, and local station staff memorialized the closing with a black-bordered QSL.

U.S.-PRIVATE SW. WRNO Belt Buckle - Previously we have posted a recording of WRNO testing when it first came on the air in 1982. Here is an interesting trinket from the station: a WRNO belt buckle issued in connection with the Louisiana World Exposition of 1984. The design on the front, both on the left and the right, looks like, at the top, a cherub holding up what might be Mardi Gras beads, and, at the bottom, an alligator with its mouth open. On the back are the words "Official Short Wave Station," and above those words is an eagle surrounded by the words "The Great American Buckle Co. U.S.A." (which apparently is now Great American Products, a seller of promotional merchandise). Zoom in for the detail.

U.S.-PRIVATE SW. "WRUL and The World Wide Listener" - Although it is now part of deep shortwave history, WRUL was one of the most famous American shortwave stations. It started out in Boston as W1XAL, later becoming WNYW, and was well known for its educational programming. For a time during the years 1938-41, WRUL published a good-looking monthly magazine called The World Wide Listener. Here is a short writeup about The World Wide Listener, together with two copies of the magazine, one from 1939, the other from 1940. -- Online we have also come across an interesting file of WRUL items It is in the digital collections of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and can be viewed here.

U.S. PRIVATE SW. The June 1934 issue of Short Wave Radio magazine contained an article about a one-hour program that had been broadcast over G.E. stations W2XAF and W2XAD, Schenectady, New York, at 1800 EST on Friday, March 16, 1934, for world-wide reception at that hour. It was an attempt to reach all countries at the same time without relays, and the program was hosted by "Believe It or Not" originator Robert Ripley. Listeners were invited to send in reception reports. Said the article: "Ripley drew a special cartoon as a souvenir for this broadcast and to all persons outside of the United States who write General Electric that they heard this program a copy of this will be mailed." Question: Has anyone ever seen this cartoon?

U.S.-ROFA. Radio of Free Asia Commemorative Medal

U.S.-VOA. Trinkets-V - Here is another group of trinkets, this time from the Voice of America.

U.S.-VOA. Voice of America Medal.

VENEZUELA. "Welcome to Venezuela via YV2RC" - There are a couple of different versions of the QSL pamphlet that was used in the 1930s by Venezuelan station YV1RC-YV2RC, "Broadcasting Caracas." You can see one of them in the shortwave broadcast section of "The CPRV Gallery" (under "YV1RC"). Now we have found a similar item, "Welcome to Venezuela via YV2RC," which is a 16-page promotional pamphlet rather than a QSL. It contains some of the same text and graphics as the QSLs, but some different content as well.

TOPICS

APPLAUSE CARDS. Let's Hear It for Applause Cards.

APPLAUSE CARDS. Applaus-A-Gram - A telegram version of the 1920s "Applause Card" - from George Zeller, Cleveland, Ohio.

APPLAUSE CARDS. More Applause Cards - Some time ago we posted an article, "Let's Hear It for Applause Cards," and since then we have posted a couple of additional cards. Here is a group of 18 more cards.

APPLAUSE CARDS. An "Applause Card" from Uruguay dated 1926, from Horacio Nigro, Uruguay.

CERTIFICATES. Station Certificates - Here is another group of cards/certificates that were issued by stations, some in connection with station "clubs," others as awards for stations verified or as displays for station verification stamps. Specifically they are: (1-4), several Radio Prague monitoring certificates and a Radio Prague Monitor Club membership card; (5 & 6) two Radio Sofia diplomas (1978 and 1991); (7) a Radio Havana Cuba DX Club certificate, issued for ten reports (1990); (8) an Adventist World Radio QSL Certificate with the early version of AWR verification stamps (1970s); (9) an AWR Wavescan DX Contest certificate with the later version of the AWR verification stamps (certificate originally issued in 1996 and "repurposed" for use in 2004); (10) a page of the later AWR verification stamps covering many locations; (11) a Trans World Radio "verified all sites" certificate (1989); and (12) an HCJB-issued certificate for verifying "World By 2000" participating stations.

CERTIFICATES. SWLing Certificates - Here are some more SWLing certificates. From days past, we have posted, from 1959, a listeners' competition award from Radio Sofia; an undated Lifetime Membership Certifiicate issued by the World Wide DX League, a project of DXing Horizons magazine (1960-61); from 1963, a Canadian BCB Award sponsored by the Canadian DX Club and various Canadian stations; from 1971, the NASWA Worldwide DXer Award; and from 1976, the "Broadcast" Ladder Competition Award issued by the New Zealand Radio DX League. And lest you think there are no certificates still available, John Fisher of North Chelmsford, Massachusetts has sent us three recent additions to his collection: a Radio Romania International Listeners' Club Membership certificate (2015); an AWR "Wavescan" competition certificate (2017); and a NASWA "Final Countdown" Contest certificate (2017).

CERTIFICATES. Certificates I - Here are some of the certificates of achievement that many DXers have enjoyed collecting. From clubs past and present, they are: Boys' Life Radio Club "DXer" award (QSLing all continents), 1958; International Radio Club of America (IRCA), 2,800 BCB stations verified, 1973; International Shortwave Club (ISWC) "Heard All Continents" award; International Short Wave League (ISWL) (U.K.) "Century Award" (100 countries), 1958; NNRC "Certificate of Achievement" award, 30 zones verified, 1971; NNRC "Certificate of DX Qualification," 400 BCB stations verified, 1947 (updated to 1,000 in 1952); NNRC "Certificate of Merit" award, 100 BCB stations verified, 1946 (with stickers, including one for 1,100 stations, 1951); NNRC "Super Ace" certificate, 500 BCB stations QSLed, 1947; NNRC "Short Wave Explorer," 1958; National Radio Club (NRC) "Medium Wave DXer Award," 51 countries verified, 1965; NRC "DX Award" certificates for verifying eight Canadian provinces (1980) and 2,876 BCB stations (1977); SPEEDX "African Listener" certificate with stickers for 15, 25, 50, 75 and 100 stations heard (1989); and a Universal Radio DX Club "Countries Heard Certificate" for 182 countries. These certificates are from the collections of Eugene S. Allen, William F. Flynn, John C. Herkimer, Roger Legge, Robert S. Knox, and Jerry Berg.

CERTIFICATES. Certificates II - More certificates, this time membership certificates from ACE (1983), ADXR (1983), ASWLC (1967 and 1970), the Australian DX Radio Club (1946), the British Short Wave League (1945), the International Round Table (1946), the Great Circle Shortwave Society (1987), the International Short Wave Club (1940), the International Short Wave League (1946 and 1956), the International DXers Allliance (IDA, 1935), and a charter establishing the Minnesota chapter of the IDA (1939). These originated with Bill Flynn, Roger Legge, Larry Lundberg, Sid Steele, and Jerry Berg.

CERTIFICATES. Certificates III - Here is another group of membership cards and certificates. They are from NASWA (c. 1967), NNRC (1950s), New Zealand DX Club (1945), New Zealand DX Radio Assn. (1956), New Zealand Radio DX League (1960), Quixote Radio Club (1939), Union of Asian DXers (1980), Universal Radio DX Club (membership cards from the 1950s, and an "Official DX Listening Post" certificate), Victory Radio Club, and the VK-NZ SWL Card Exchange & Friendship Club (1939). These items are from the collections of Bill Flynn, Larry Lundberg, Roger Legge, and Jerry Berg.

CERTIFICATES. Certificates IV - These originated with various magazines, and belonged to William F. Flynn, Richard E. Davis, Eugene S. Allen, Roger Legge, Jr., and Larry Lundberg, all of whom have gone on to that great DXpedition in the sky. The certificates are: (1) Two "official radio broadcast monitor" cards from Popular Electronics (1957 & 1960). Hank Bennett used to send these to contributors to his PE column. (2) One of many certificates of achievement offered by the Electronics Illustrated DX Club, which operated from 1961 into the 1970s. This one was issued in 1967 and was for 100 countries heard. The "club" existed solely for the purpose of issuing awards, and by 1965 over 2,000 had qualified and had their names listed in the magazine. The "club" had its own countries list, and a monthly column of loggings and news called "Notes from EI's DX Club." (3) An "Official Certificate of Verified International Reception," issued by Radio Digest magazine for the international medium wave tests which took place during International Radio Week, January 24-30, 1926. During the several such tests which took place during 1923-26, many U.S. and European stations stayed off the air at designated hours in order to give DXers on both sides of the ocean a better chance at long-distance reception. (4) An "Official DX Listening Post Certificate" issued in 1938 to contributors of Radio News. (5) A similar certificate issued in 1952 by Ken Boord to supporters of his Radio & Television News column. (6) A card issued to subscribers of the DX magazine, Radio Index (RADEX), circa the mid-1930s. (7) A charter establishing the "Minnesota Golden Gophers" chapter of the Radio Signal Survey League. It is undated, but the RSSL was a project of All-Wave Radio during the years 1937-38. And (8) a certificate issued by the RSSL in 1938 for verifying all continents. Note the foil seal in the lower right, and the crossing out of the "All-Wave Radio" designation. This certificate is from October 1938, two months after All-Wave Radio had been taken over by Radio News.

CERTIFICATES. Certificates V - This time we have some cards and certificates issued by shortwave station "clubs" et al. These include: (1) & (2) two BBC World Radio Club membership cards (Hobart Beal and Ernie Behr); (3) a BBC World Service Reception Survey card (Russ Mappin, 1972); (4) a BBC World Service World Radio Club DX Award (Bill Flynn, 1970); (5) Radio Budapest Shortwave Club Worldwide membership certificate (Larry Lundberg, 1970); (6) Radio Bulgaria Monitor Club membership certificate (Ian Wilson, 2000); (7) Radio Canada Shortwave Club (Harold Sellers, 1969); (8) Radio Kiev DX Club (John Herkimer, 1979); (9) Radio New York Worldwide Listeners Club membership certificate (Bill Flynn, 1970); (10) Radio Prague Monitor Club membership certificate (Harold Sellers, 1969); (11) & (12) Radio RSA Monioring Panel membership certificates (David Walcutt, 1979 & 1983); and (13) and (14), Radio Australia Listeners’ Club certificates (Larry Lundberg).

EKKO, etc. EKKO Stamps- Here is a 1924 EKKO stamp album. Open the cover and you find a map followed by the frontispiece and then 70 pages of EKKO stamp pages. These are followed by an alphabetical list of stations where you could enter your dial settings, then a list of stations by wavelength and a log for entering stations heard. Finally, there is a letter from The EKKO Company explaining and promoting the virtues of EKKO stamps.

EKKO, etc. Bryant Stamps - EKKO stamps--the verification stamps that were popular in the 1920s--are quite well known, Bryant stamps less so. Bryant stamps were somewhat of a competitor to EKKO stamps. However, we have seen many thousands of old BCB QSLs and, unlike EKKO's, we have never seen one bearing a Bryant stamp. Presumably you bought them direct from the company (P. M. Bryant, Chicago). Here is a file containing some sample pages from a 1925 Bryant stamp album. It is set up much the same as an EKKO album--pages for the stamps (which were a little less artful than the EKKO's), then lists of American broadcast band stations arranged by call letters and location, followed by pages for keeping a log of stations heard. Also shown are several sheets of unperforated Bryant stamps. A little research shows that the stations are arranged on the sheets alphabetically by state (left-to-right, top-to-bottom), though not necessarily alphabetically by call letters within the state. Could you send a list of stations to Bryant and have them send you a sheet of stamps for the requested call letters? Did you have to send the QSLs? There is some suggestion on line that you could buy the album with a complete set of stamps. Unlike EKKO's, which bore the words "Verified Reception Stamp," Bryant stamps carried no indication that they were meant to signify verification of reception.

QSLING, etc. "The Mystique of the QSL" - Though it doesn't play the role it used to, QSLing has always been part of shortwave listening. In 1983, the late Al Sizer of North Haven, Connecticut tried to capture its zen in a three-part NASWA series, "The Mystique of the QSL," in which Al asked a number of DXers to opine on what QSLing meant to them. We have posted the series here together with an earlier (1972) NASWA article from Al, "An Honest Look at QSLs," where he takes aim at some practices that he did not consider kosher.

QSLING, etc. Station Questionnaires & Reception Reporting Log Forms - If you were DXing in the 1960s and 1970s, and even later, you remember getting questionnaires from international shortwave broadcasters. They were pretty rudimentary--what programs do you like, when do you hear us best, what equipment do you use, etc. Such station questionnaires have a long history. Here are three examples: a questionnaire and monthly reception reporting log form from NHK, Tokyo, Japan, distributed in the 1930s; a questionnaire from "Zeesen," the German shortwave station, sent out in 1935; and a letter and questionnaire from MTCY, the Voice of Manchukuo, in Japanese-controlled Manchuria, 1940.

QSLING, etc. Pennants - Here is a photo from Henrik Klemetz of a "pennant wall" from his shack in the early 70s in Sweden.

QSLING, etc. Monitoring Times QSL Articles - Several illustrated articles about QSLs have appeared recently in Monitoring Times. The October 2011 issue contained an article titled "Looking at QSLs and Seeing History" which discusses QSLs and political history. The second article, from the December 2011 issue, is titled "QSLs Give Life to Radio History," and it addresses QSLs and radio history.

QSLING, etc. The new AWR QSL designed by Dr. Adrian Peterson shows radio stamps issued by AWR over the years.

STATION STAMPS. Station-Designed Stamps & Seals I - While EKKO stamps were the principal stamps that stations used during the verification stamp era, many stations designed their own stamps or seals for verification or other purposes. We have pooled our resources and posted a file containing a number of these stamps from American broadcast band stations. They are: KDKA, Pittsburgh, PA (25th Anniversary); KDKA (New Transmitter, 1939); KFDM, Beaumont, TX; KFI, Los Angeles, CA; KFQU, Holy City, CA; KFSD, San Diego, CA; KFWI, San Francisco, CA; KFWM, Oakland, CA; KFYR, Bismarck, ND; KGEZ, Kalispell, MT; KGO, Oakland, CA (a foil seal); and KGO again (a stamp).

STATION STAMPS. Station-Designed Stamps & Seals II - Here is another file with station-designed stamps and seals used by American broadcast band stations for verification and other promotional purposes. In this file are: KMOX, St. Louis, MO; KOA, Denver, CO (foil seal); KRKD, Los Angeles, CA; KSCJ, Sioux City, IA; KSL, Salt Lake City, UT; KWK, St. Louis, MO; WBAL, Baltimore, MD; WCAL, Northfield, MN; WCBA, Allentown, PA; WCFL, Chicago, IL; and WCOD, Harrisburg, PA.

STATION STAMPS. Station-Designed Stamps & Seals III - Here is another file with station-designed stamps and seals from American broadcast band stations. In this file are: WGBI, Scranton, PA; WGHB, Clearwater, FL; Master Kraft Oil Burner Radio Programs (NBC stations WGY-WJZ-WBZ-WBZA); WHAS, Louisville, KY (one of a five-stamp series of identical stamps but in different colors and bearing the numbers 1 through 5); WJAX, Jacksonviille, FL; WLAC, Nashville, TN; WMCA, New York, NY; the Ave Maria Radio Hour, Graymoor, NY (WMCA, New York, NY, and WIP, Philadelphia, PA); WOO, Philadelphia, PA (Wanamaker's); WREC, Memphis, TN; WSAN, Allentown, PA; WSB, Atlanta, GA; WSM, Nashville, TN; and WTIC, Hartford, CT.

STATION STAMPS. Station-Designed Stamps & Seals IV - Here is the final file of station-designed stamps and seals. The previous three files (below) have been from American broadcast stations. The stamps in this file are from stations other than American broadcast band stations. They are: CHNS-CHNX, Halifax, Nova Scotia; CKAC, Montreal, Quebec; CKCL, Toronto, Ontario; CMBC, Havana, Cuba; IBRA Radio; Radio Ecclesia, Luanda, Angola (not a postage stamp, possibly a fund-raising stamp); Radio Free Russia (a clandestine that was heard in 1954 and many years thereafter); Radio of Free Asia (a Korea-based organization); the Voice of Prophecy; and Spatari, the "international radio language" c. 1938-39.

TRINKETS. DX Jewelry - For the listener who does not like to be too far from reminders of the hobby, some DX jewelry, specifically three pins. One is from station OTC, Belgian Congo. (Also shown is an OTC QSL.) The second is a pin from HCJB. It was issued in 1956 in commemoration of 25 years of broadcasting. (The card to which it was attached is shown as well.) The third is from Radio Nederland, issued at a time, and for purposes, unknown.

TRINKETS. Trinkets XII - Here is another group of trinkets, this time containing items from stations in the U.S. or U.S.-related (plus a couple of others from radio companies and the Saturday Evening Post). They are: (1) a medal of a Norman Rockwell cover from the May 20, 1922 issue of the Saturday Evening Post; (2) a pin from the Pilot Radio and Tube Corp.; (3) an E. H. Scott Radio Laboratories Award of Merit pin, showing the Scott "Stradivarius of Radio” violin; (4) a visitor pin from KFNF, Shenandoah, Iowa; (5) a WMAQ (Chicago) Topsy Turvy Time Club "Tell the Truth” pin; (6) an Army Broadcasting Service pin; (7) an American Forces Korea Network pin; (8) a medal for Radio of Free Asia, a mid-1960s relative of today’s Radio Free Asia (see Adrian Peterson’s Wavescan N193, November 4, 2012); (9) a pin from the modern-day Radio Free Asia (Winter Olympics 2006); and (10) a medal from Treasure Island, 1939 World’s Fair, San Francisco, home of W6XBE (later KGEI).

MISCELLANEOUS. Christmas and New Years - Here are a number of Christmas and New Years radio-related cards of the past. Included are: TI4NRH, Heredia, Costa Rica; OTC, Leopoldville, Belgian Congo; Radio France Asie, Saigon, Vietnam (1955); two cards from Commander E. F. McDonald, Jr. of Zenith Radio Corp. (1942 and 1957); and two Christmas cards (Card 1, Card 2) which appear to date from the very early days of radio.

MISCELLANEOUS. DXercise - If you could use a little DXercise to counter COVID vegging, check out the two items we have posted here. One is an exercise folder from mediumwaver CMCQ, Havana, Cuba, and shows 12 exercises to keep you fit. From the Dave Thomas materials, it is probably from the years 1930-1932. The other item is an exercise folder from the African Broadcasting Company Ltd., which operated from 1927 to 1936 (when the SABC came into existence). It shows an exercise routine for each day of the week, and it also lays out "Fourteen Rules of Health.”

MISCELLANEOUS. A vintage postcard from Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, with the handwritten warning in Spanish, "Science is truth, but don't trust in the wireless."