Favorite SW station that no longer exists?

[atrainradio]

I started DX'ing SW too late to catch any stations that no longer exist, but what're yours?

Update- Nov 13th- It seems that the overall consensus is that HJCB was the "best" defunct SW station. Would you agree?

[Jari Finland]

I miss my Ecos del Torbes and Cadena Sutatenza. They used to be so strong and clear on 60 metres. The latter one was an educative school station, so programmes were not necessarily memorable, but up to 1990's I enjoyed many nights Ecos del Torbes' shows. Fortunately I have something on tape.

4980 Ecos del Torbes (VEN)
5075 Cadena Sutatenza (COL)

Sadly, the whole Latin American 60 metres has largely disappeared and will probably never come back. So my attention is now in MW stations, that can be recorded with SDR during an opening and picked up afterwards. Technology has indeed turned the whole dxing upside down.

Indonesians have gone the way of ruining transmitters. The strongest used to be RRI Ujung Pandang, but it was not very fun, because it happened to be unusually dry station with endless talk and Koran readings. Meanwhile stations in Java and Sumatra played Indonesian country and romantic ballads. Though, already in 1990s their SW operations were rather irregular. RRI Banda Aceh will for sure never activate their SW again thanks to the destruction by tsunami. Hear George Strait of Indonesia singing:

3905 RRI Banda Aceh (INS)

NBC Papua New Guinea used to be very strong with excellent shows at the best possible listening time, 1900 UTC, when they started their day. I have listened to Karai National Radio breakfast show more than doctor would allow, and I really wish they would some day come back. There is ABC Australia still, but... it's not the same, not at all.

4890 NBC Boroko (PNG)

Those come to my mind first.

[refmo]

Past favorites that I always listened to include:
Radio Clarin, in the Dominican Republic, always had a lively show.  I would listen to it most days when I got home from school. English broadcasts had DX programs and antenna building information, mailbag programs and great music.  I believe they still have a spanish-only broadcast on MW.

Radio Cook Islands was a favorite late-night listen for the relaxing Pacific Island music.

Radio Nederland had several programs that I enjoyed, including "The Happy Station", the "His & Hers Show", and DX programs.

HCJB's "DX Partyline" was also a favorite.

Also, the tropical bands were absolutely packed with Central and South American stations playing good music back then.

I'm sure there is a long list of others, but these are what immediately come to mind.

[Chanter]

My signature tells the tale.  I seriously miss Radio Nederland.  As for others, Radio Vlaanderen International comes to mind, as does Radio Do Portugal. 

[jFarley]

HCJB - A religious broadcaster that was DXer friendly, and not in-your-face.  DXPL and Morning in the Mountains.

Radio Uganda NA Service - In 1980 RU seemed to be courting better PR in the year following Idi Amin's departure.  They had a nightly show on 15325 at 0300z from the new Soroti plant.  Unfortunately, the inmates still ran the asylum, and the TX was generally mis-tuned and over-modulated, throwing tons of splatter up and down the 19M band.  A real horror show.  The programming was worse, for it generally consisted of a popular album of the day, tracked, and the usual fare included The Pointer Sisters, Saturday Night Live, or James Brown.  IIRC there was one show in which they just repeated the song "Black Is Black" over and over.  On only one night that I know of they actually got it right, and played stack of scratchy 45s from popular East African artists, with great audio.  This reception changed my musical tastes forever; the music was unlike anything I had heard before and ignited a passion for African popular music.

Africa Numer Un - Once a passion for the music was developed, this was the daily go-to station.  I have dozens of hours of recordings from which I began to learn the names of the artists, bands, and tunes.  "Kilimanjaro!"

Tropical Band Africans In General - In the day, you could park yourself in front of the receiver around 0230z and follow the sunrise terminator from Madagascar to the The Gambia.  Along the way you could hear up to 2 dozen countries as they woke up and fired up their transmitters.  A great scenario for DXing for new stations as well as checking in with old friends.  I have often thought how great it would have been to have an SDR to document this.

The Australian Domestic SW Broadcasters on 49 and 31M - always great listening.

[John Poet]

Radio Tahiti.  15,170 I think it was...

for the island music.

[ff]

HCJB, The Voice of the Andes.  Also, KUSW from Salt Lake City when the Carlsons owned it. 

[jordan]

I started DX'ing SW too late to catch any stations that no longer exist, but what're yours?

My favorite was WJCR 7490 that played Southern Gospel music.  It broadcasted from Upton, KY.

[Rizla]

Great thread, ditto on HCJB  and Radio Nederland (or, how much great content can you cram into one hour on SW), both of them could frequently be simply _great_, and a necessary solace during the Clinton/Bush II eras. I must also mention the quirky, leftist Radio for Peace International, (do I have that right?), from Costa Rica in English for many hours at a time, night after night. I don't remember the drama of how they were shut down. Compared to today's internet news, their content today might seem tame, but in the day you wouldn't normally hear that stuff anywhere else. Of course, my real favorite is KIPM, but that doesn't count. Just pulled out a gorgeous glossy QSL from more than 10 years ago. What a trip, Mr. Maxwell. People intrigued beautiful girls with your station, and lived happily ever after, 'tis true. Again, killer thread, looking forward to more stories. I'd love to see some of these stations rise from the dead.

[Rizla]

Jarl: Thanks a million for the Banda Aceh link. Chillingly beautiful.

[ulx2]

Radio St. Helena (great annual event!)
Radio Jordan (English Service) (one of the stations, from which my hobby starts)
Radiobras & Eurosonor Radio (great music!)
Radio Sweden & Radio Netherlands Worldwide (great programs!)

[Skipmuck]

In the 1980's there were so many broadcasters to chose from that it was difficult to pick a favorite! I used to listen almost nightly to Radio Exterior de Espana with their powerhouse signal to the East Coast of North America on 11880. Well produced and informative programs as well as some really good indigenous music!
 
 Another favorite was WRNO in the first couple of years, especially with Glenn Hausers program. But the one station I always found fascinating was Radio Gjirokaster from Albania on 5057 KHZ. It was heard here fairly regular and sometimes with a really good signal. It was SO much different than the stale propaganda that Tirana was putting out at the time. Gjirokaster seemed to be the alter ego, with lots of wild gypsy music. It was seemingly a station of mad abandon.

[Mentholyptus]

I used to like listening to Radio Norway, and the radio soap operas that the BBC used to run

[myteaquinn]

Liked to listen to the smaller countries.
Radio Andorra
Radio Luxemburg

[Rafman]

R. Nederlands [DX Show was the BEST]
R. Canada International ["Sunday Morning" was the BEST radio magazine show for me]
BBCWS 5975 - the go-to news source [They are no longer easily accessible or a viable news source]

60M full of signals!!!