reubensm
Well-Known Member
An internal vintage mesh aerial in mint condition was offered to me sometime ago, but had it redirected to our radio guru, Mr. Pandu Rajan, as I thought he could put it to good use
Radio users?
- Thread starter Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra
- Start date
Subbu68
Well-Known Member
Today's catch was 1116kHz, AIR Srinagar with Sangean ATS909 below. It was very clear and loud!!
Oh! Interesting!
reubensm
Well-Known Member
In the latter half of the 1980s, some may remember that there was this shortwave radio station called "Network" which would appear every night on the 19m and 31m bands, broadcasting from Seychelles. They came on the air every evening at 8.30p IST and used to play mainstream western (English) pop music on request, have news, sports and current affairs segments as well, all packaged into an hour. I think they were part of the Christian FEBA network but used a very youth-oriented approach with no mention of anything religious. I recollect tuning into the station on the 31m band. They had a Bangalore PO Box to which we could write letters or send postcards. I recollect winning a lemon-yellow t-shirt after participating in some contest that they ran (can't remember the details). I wonder if anyone on this forum used to listen to them back then.
I managed to find this rare recording of their last ever broadcast on 11 Feb 1990, with RJ Vinoo Peppin. The music tracks are edited out to avoid copyright strikes, but the rest is all there (including the call-sign). Interesting to note that they had a dedicated person assigned to playing the records on Technics SL1200 Mk2 turntables. Good old times.
I managed to find this rare recording of their last ever broadcast on 11 Feb 1990, with RJ Vinoo Peppin. The music tracks are edited out to avoid copyright strikes, but the rest is all there (including the call-sign). Interesting to note that they had a dedicated person assigned to playing the records on Technics SL1200 Mk2 turntables. Good old times.
General_sound
Well-Known Member
Thanks Ruebensm for reviving old shortwave memories. Some of them which made my college days and early working days happier in the ‘70s and early ,’80s were: Radio Kuwait 19 m & 25 m English program from 1030 pm to 130 am; Radio Australia on 13 m band (Philips Skipper 4 band had 13 m band) at 230 pm; VOA on various bands and of course Radio Ceylon on 25 and 31 m bands , with Eric Fernando at his best belting out Tom Jones , Englebert, Beatles and others. AIR had a number of programmes on MW, at 830pm and 930pm. Yes as sung by the famous lady “ Those were the days my friend I thought they would never end”. But they did.
reubensm
Well-Known Member
Received a query about SLBC transmissions on shortwave (I suspect they have discontinued), whether Srilanka FM stations can be picked up in South India and how to listen to SLBC today.
I don't have a working shortwave radio at present so cannot tell. However, if you have an external antenna and happen to live on a hill or in a high-rise apartment, some SLBC FM stations can be picked up in Trivandrum (not sure about the other locations). Here are their FM frequencies and transmitter sites:
If you are not really worried about how you receive SLBC but just want to listen to the programming, they have a channel in English, operating on the TuneIn radio App (and can also be listened to, online)
tunein.com
(english programming can be heard on the SLBC Radio Sri Lanka channel)
I don't have a working shortwave radio at present so cannot tell. However, if you have an external antenna and happen to live on a hill or in a high-rise apartment, some SLBC FM stations can be picked up in Trivandrum (not sure about the other locations). Here are their FM frequencies and transmitter sites:
- Akkaraipattu, Ampara District (Thirayi Sevaya): Haputale 102.1 MHz
- Anuradhapura (Rajarata Sevaya): Anuradhapura 90.1 MHz, Karaghatenna 107.3 MHz
- Batticaloa (Pirai FM in Tamil): Karaghatenna 102.3 MHz
- Jaffna (Palali Sevaya / YAL FM): Jaffna 90.1 MHz, Palali 102.1 MHz in Tamil and Sinhala (see also Sports Service)
- Kandy (Kandurata Sevaya): Hanthana 90.1 MHz, Radella/Nuwara Eliya 107.3 MHz, Hunasgiriya 107.5 MHz
- Kurunegala (Wayamba Handa): Karaghatenna 90.1 MHz
- Matara (Ruhunu Sevaya): Haputale 107.5 MHz, Deniyaya 107.3 MHz 5 kW
If you are not really worried about how you receive SLBC but just want to listen to the programming, they have a channel in English, operating on the TuneIn radio App (and can also be listened to, online)
Stream Radio from Stream Colombo | Free Internet Radio | TuneIn
Stream Radio from Stream Colombo free online.
reubensm
Well-Known Member
An amazing segment by AV on Radio Ceylon, with a super-nice lady taking him on the tour. Brief glimpses of studio equipment and samples of old recordings
The audio quality will be nice in Shrotwave frequencies, that too in tube radios, but unforfortunately there are no broadcasting in SW nowadays. In 60s & 70s we very much enjoyed Radio Ceylon programes as non stop for 16 hrs everyday. That was a Golden era !!!.
mahaaprasaad
Well-Known Member
Why don't we have such Museum by AIR in India, we have very rich music heritage and no doubt AIR have most of the historical recordings and broadcasting equipments. Wish some day it will open to common public.
Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra
Well-Known Member
Second your opinion. Sadly we don't find such initiative from the end of AIR. Years ago we could buy All India Radio release CDs but now we can't. However , if AIR opens an app and gives us the opportunity to listen to their recorded songs which can never be obtained from other known streaming stations , millions of music lovers will be happy. Let us hope for the better in future.
General_sound
Well-Known Member
Fully agree Sunder. Radio Ceylon with Binaca /Cibaca Geetmala every Wednesday, Purane Filmon ke Sangeet a 7:30 am everyday rounding off with KL Sehgal’s immortal tunes at 7:57 am. There was a reason behind that, they say. Because of EMI interference catching radio stations are bit difficult these days. Sad.
reubensm
Well-Known Member
It is really hard to explain the relevance and impact Radio Ceylon had on us Indian radio listeners. Many folks who remember Radio Ceylon in India would tie up their memories to Binaca Geet Mala and the great Ameen Sayani. However the Radio Ceylon connection to Indian extends past this. For Indians who used to listen to western music, they were the staple and as far as I can remember, my grandparents, my parents (even while growing up) and all of us grew up with the English service of Radio Ceylon playing at home, especially in the evenings and on weekends. Those were days when there was less RF and Electrical interference and the stations were received with good quality. For those who used to buy western music records in India back then, Radio Ceylon was the reference point, one heard a nice song on Radio Ceylon and then tried to enquire if the album or artist was available at the nearest record store. And then, there was the Tamil Service, their approach was the same as with the Hindi Service and had a lot of listeners in South India. Those were amazing times for radio listening in India.
bobbyprajan
Active Member
Bought a Eton Elite Executive radio recently. Not tried SW yet, only used for local FM
General_sound
Well-Known Member
Entirely Agree Reubensm. If you see my earlier post dated 24 March 2025, my tribute to Eric Fernando was there. Radio Ceylon also played some excellent Gospel singers too, like BJ Thomas. However, it was his non-Gospel number “Hey , won’t you play Another Somebody done somebody wrong song”, which gave him eternal fame. This was played regularly by Radio Ceylon in 1973/74. On a side note, i acquired this LP and another excellent Gospel song LP by BJ Thomas in 2019.
vnmathur57
Active Member
I remember Radio Ceylone used to broadcast western music in a program “Lunchtime Melodies” at around 1 pm daily. Even with shortwave’s wavy sound, it was quite enjoyable. I remember some of the names like Ajit Singh, Aasha Puthli, Usha Iyer etc, which were available only on Radio Ceylone. AIR or Vividh Bharati never had any program of western music.
I bought many audio CDs AIPR recordings of great music legends from AIR radio station store. But, the recording quality is very very poor & bad. Even though they have the recordings on analog spool tape, the reproduction in digital format is pathetic.
Subbu68
Well-Known Member
Congrats.. It was on my list but seeing my collection swelling I just dropped it for now.
This guy does a good review and even responds to your emails https://radiojayallen.com/eton-grundig-executive-satellit/
rwnano
Well-Known Member
Any good radio 
station or channels on Spotify?
Android phones?
station or channels on Spotify?Android phones?
vnmathur57
Active Member
I use Radiogarden app on my android phone. Unlimited choice from all over the world.
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