Here are some recordings of various shortwave broadcasters, most of which are no longer present on the dials, as heard from West Michigan during the late 1980s. The receiver used was a GE World Monitor #7-2990A with a simple longwire through the trees. Enjoy!
BFBS British Forces Broadcasting Service – 17.695 Mhz – August 29th, 1990
A 31 minute clip of BFBS with a nice strong signal featuring music and messages for British troops serving in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf for Operation Granby.
KUSW – 17.715 Mhz – 2118 UTC – December 26th, 1987
Another very clean recording from the upper end of the shortwave dial featuring 44 minutes of long-gone broadcaster “Superpower” KUSW.
La Voz del Cid – 9940 Khz – 0140 UTC – October 27th, 1987
Frequently heard throughout the 1980s, here is a short ID from the anti-Castro clandestine station La Voz del Cid.
Radio for Peace International – 7375 Khz – 0115 UTC – October 27th, 1987
Broadcasting from Costa Rica with a humanitarian message. For more information concerning the operations of RFPI, please watch this well produced video by Jonathan Marks and browse RFPI’s official website.
Radio Moscow – unknown date / time / frequency – circa 1980s.
Short clip announcing broadcast frequencies and interval signal.
Radio Vilnius – 7400 Khz – 2310 UTC – December 31st, 1987
20 minute clip of a very light hearted and “warm felt” New Years Eve broadcast, or so scripted. Part of what I feel made shortwave listening so interesting back then…
WRNO – unknown date / time / frequency – circa 1980s.
Here’s a nice 5 minute clip of the original “Rock of New Orleans” featuring 80s rock music and a request from yours truly at 0:35
Great site! When I was age 9 to 15 in Ohio in the early/mid 1980s, on many nights I would do a dial scan with my AM clock radio, taking about 10-20 minutes to go from one end of the dial to the other, not stopping on any stations, just letting them fade in and drift away. I was just as interested in the between-station noise as I was in the stations themselves. Now I’m totally nostalgic for that experience, so I’m seeking 1980s MW radio clips. Your WGAT Gator Radio and WRNO clips are right up my alley. I would especially like to hear nonstop slow dial scans like I used to do. Do you know of any? And I guess from any date, I’d love to have recordings of between-station noise. Let me know if you have any leads! Thanks
Thanks for stopping by Mike! Those are great memories. Unfortunately I don’t have any dial spinning recordings like that, but you’ve given me motivation to create some for future generations. It’s the perfect task for the SDR to handle as you can easily record 540-1710 KHz in a single recording and for lengths long enough to experience that station fading that you describe.
Man, that WRNO clip really takes me back. Thanks for sharing.
Tim, I’m glad you enjoyed the WRNO clip, thanks for the comment.