Tag Archives: sw

A Dear Old Friend –
Radio Australia

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r885952_8834991Radio Australia was a dear old friend on the shortwave bands. They were one of the first stations I heard in 1969. Perhaps it was because of their strong signal or maybe it was because of the fact they broadcast in English. Besides, imagine the mystic of hearing a radio signal from the opposite side of the world. Who can forget their Waltzing Matilda music box interval signal as well as the call of the kookaburra when they signed on?

Listen to the interval signal here.

I listened to them in the late afternoons and early evenings when I lived in Korea beginning in the 1970’s on 9580 kHz.  I liked to  listen to them in the mornings before I going to work also on 9580 kHz.

Unfortunately, they signed off the shortwave bands on 31 January 2017. They still produce programs on other media such as as digital radio, digital television, podcasting, and vodcasting.

Over the years ten Radio Australia QSL cards made it into my collection, each picturing something uniquely Australian.

(Click on the thumbnails below for a larger view.)

QSLs from Japan’s Overseas Service – Radio Japan/NHK World Radio Japan.

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Radio Japan has issued attractive QSL cards over the years.  The earliest QSL shown here is from 1969. At that time, Radio Japan broadcast from only one site, Yamata, Japan. Since then, they have broadcast from over 20 different sites, mostly on lease agreements. In 1979 and the early 1980’s, I served as an official monitor for Radio Japan.

Sometime in the 1990’s, NHK changed the name of its overseas service from Radio Japan to NHK World Radio Japan.  It is still the same station but with a slightly different name.

As of this writing, there are 52 different QSL issues for 17 different transmitter sites in my collection. I am sure more will be added in the future.

Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.

My First QSL Card –
Radio Japan 15105 kHz –
18 August 1969

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R_Japan_Yamata_19690819_15105_aThis is my first QSL card. It bears a lot of battle scars from being tacked and taped to the wall.  However, I still have fond memories about this card. As a kid, I always had an interest in listening to the radio. Besides the local stations, I began to notice that there were stations in between.  Little did I know that that other people did this also as a hobby called DXing.

Well, my parents had this radio called a Grundig Satellite 2000 and I used to play around with it trying to figure out what all those strange stations were saying on the bands labeled SW. One day, I tuned to the 19 Meter Band and heard this exotic sounding music box tune being played over and over again with announcements in between. I heard an announcement in Japanese and then a man in English say “This is Radio Japan, the international broadcasting service of NHK in Tokyo.” Wow, what did I have here. Imagine a radio signal coming across the Pacific Ocean from Japan.  I listened further to the whole program and at the end , the announcer asked for reception reports for which they would send a QSL card for correct ones.  So, I did!

R_Japan_Yamata_19690819_15105_b

Well, after a few weeks, my mom told me I got a package from Japan. Wow, it came! I opened it up and found a program schedule, a Radio Japan Newspaper and the prized QSL card that you see above.  I was hooked and the rest is history.