Reception Report #29: Pensylvannia (ALL 5 TRACKS!!! 5130 Monticello, 6850 Pirate Radio Boston, 9620 Austria, 9690 Germany, 11580 Miami)

Greetings from Dunlo, PA, USA!!
 
I was pleasantly surprised to hear your "Requiem for Radio" program on 5 different shortwave frequencies on 27 May 2017.  I actually heard your broadcast the day before on the 31 meterband frequencies as well, but only for the last 5 minutes.  After the broadcast, I did some research, found out that it was your program, and was happy to learn that you would be on the air again the following day.  So I dug out 3 of my old shortwave receivers from storage and tuned in to all 5 frequencies at the same time for the entire program on that second broadcast.  I must admit, I didn't think all 5 frequencies would be received here, but they were.  I any event, as a memento of the occasion, I'd appreciate it very much if you could confirm my reception(s) with an e-QSL verification card, please.  If you prefer, a simple e-mail confirmation message would also suffice.
 
As stated above, I heard your broadcast on 27 May 2017(UTC date).  I measured your frequencies at exactly 5129.8, 6850.5, 9620, 9690, and 11580 kiloHertz.
 
Below is a description of what was heard.

I was able to hear the broadcast begin on all frequencies at 2300 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), except 6850.5 kHz which didn't become audible until the signal strength suddenly increased at 2304 UTC.  However, it may have been on the air extremely weakly in the previous 2 minutes.  As I found on your web site, the program consisted of some very unique artistic, almost droning-like (in a positive sense!!) music on an organ, theremin/RCI towers, cow bone, etc.  Mixed in with the music were things that have been heard on shortwave, such as Morse code (CW), numbers and phonetic spy stations in both the English and German languages, Utility station sounds, Gregorian chanting-like vocals, and possibly even snippets of actual voice broadcasts.  On 11580 kHz, I noticed that a man (Jeff White??) announcer was calling Radio Canada International in the first 5 minutes of the program ("This is WRMI, Radio Miami International calling Canada.  Come in RCI.  Where are you.  Can you hear me.").  I am not sure if the Morse code was spelling out announcements regarding the broadcast or not.  The speed was a little too fast for me, and I haven't taken the time to try and decipher it.  The program ended at 0000 UTC, however 6850.5 kHz seemed to end 1 minute early.

I noticed that there were differences in the program on each frequency indicating that each was airing a different audio "track" as per your web site. 

After the broadcast, I searched my recordings for the best signals on all frequencies at the same time and combined them to form 1 mono recording.  Thinking about the variations in reception on so many frequencies, and the fact that the program may not have been started at the exact same time on each frequency, I didn't have much hope.  But combining all 5 tracks/frequencies was fairly successful!!  You can hear my results by clicking on the following link at box.com where I posted the 1 minute audio file:

https://app.box.com/s/joq1bs8ndct4168ln6owvioll8dzblxl

 

The 2 clips were recorded from 2313 and 2347 UTC.  I posted another audio file of all 5 frequencies separately not only as proof that I heard all 5, but so that you could hear how each was received here as well.  Here is the link for that recording:

https://app.box.com/s/6av2x72fjmco6juc9n21xrsk9s5o4ona  

 

The frequencies are in order (5129.8, 6850.5, 9620, 9690, and 11580 kHz) with 1 second of silence between each.  Each is about 20 seconds long except for the last 11580 kHz which is about a minute.

Reception on each frequency was fairly good at times.  9620, 9690, and 11580 provided the best and clearest reception.  5129.8 and 6850.5 kHz were somewhat noisy.  Since you can hear how each frequency sounded (by using the link above to hear the recording), and describing the signal quality in detail for each would take too long, I'll rate the reception quality for each frequency using the SINFO code as follows:  5129.8 kHz 3/5/3/3/3, 6850.5 kHz 3/5/3/4/3, 9620 kHz 4/4/4/4/4, 9690 kHz 4/4/4/4/4, and 11580 kHz 5/5/4/4/4.  I must point out that I had a little local "popping" interference on 9620 and 9690 kHz.  Also 5129.8 kHz was somewhat poor for about the first 40 minutes then suddenly picked up for the remaining 20 minutes.

As I said, I had to get 3 of my older receivers out of storage so that I could hear all 5 frequencies at the same time.  I typically use a Perseus SDR receiver for listening to shortwave these days.  The other 3 receivers were an old 1953 Collins R-388, a Japan Radio Company NRD-535D, and a Eton E1 portable.  I used the Perseus with a 153 foot Delta loop antenna to receive 9620 and 9690 kHz.  A Wellbrook ALA1530S amplified loop antenna was split between the NRD-535D receiver tuned to 6850.5 kHz and the Collins R-388 receiver tuned to 5129.8 kHz.  And 11580 kHz was received on the Eton E1 portable using a temporary random wire antenna of about 50 feet in length.  I have listened to shortwave broadcast radio stations as a hobby for over 41 years now.  In that time I have been an active member in a number of shortwave listening clubs including the North American Shortwave Association, Fine Tuning, The Atlantic States DX Association, Numero Uno, Cumbre DX, The Danish Shortwave Clubs International, Dr. Tims Piraten News, and the SW Pirates and Alfa Lima International Free Radio Board Internet groups.  I have also helped co-edit several hard copy club bulletins over the years.