Cold War Radio cliche's

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p1879

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I nostalgically remember the days when propaganda shortwave stations were rather undiplomatic at times while describing their foe.

My all time favorite was R. Peking for vitriolic attacks. They often referred to any US allies as "the running dogs of imperialism". VOA and other stations condemned "Communist aggressors", and R. Hanoi spoke of the RVN "Puppet troops".

It was difficult listening to R. Moscow for me, with all the industrial production figures and sepulchral voices of the announcers. R. Havana Cuba ran a program from Hanoi called the "Voice of Vietnam", where US POW's read messages to home, along with some coerced "confessions".

Things have changed, last week I caught Habana playing sacred music in honor of the Pope, and R. Rebelde was playing Latin pop.

I am hoping that some of the old timers will chime in with some Cold War radio remembrances,and in particular some of the language used by the propagandists.

Good listening!
p1879
 

majoco

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Then there were the clandestine stations in East German and Russian dialects that gave out local news to dupe an unsuspecting listener that it was a genuine local station but in fact was thinly disguised propaganda. Radio Free Europe was a prime example with BC band transmitters in Turkey and other 'friendly' countries. The 49metre band was alive in the 50's and 60's with jammers and real high power stations - you could hardly get a word in!
 

PlainOldDave

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Been around for a while... I remember well the... crisp manner Radio Moscow had, especially when they were in a fit of apoplexy over "the militarization of space" as they called President Reagan's SDI. Joe something? Anyway, Radio Havana Cuba never stopped, evidently, as within the last week they went on a 10-minute tirade about the "mercenary invasion of the Bay of Pigs".
 

ridgescan

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Been around for a while... I remember well the... crisp manner Radio Moscow had, especially when they were in a fit of apoplexy over "the militarization of space" as they called President Reagan's SDI. Joe something? Anyway, Radio Havana Cuba never stopped, evidently, as within the last week they went on a 10-minute tirade about the "mercenary invasion of the Bay of Pigs".
Good 1st post and welcome.
I posted in another website that I refuse to listen to R. Habana because of their attitude towards the USA. Artie is ok though.
The only thing I recall of the Cold War days was the Russian Woodpecker thing mucking up the MW band in between stations in the 70s.
 

k9rzz

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I recall hearing Radio Moscow BOOMING in on the AM band with my Hallicrafters S-40B. Of course it was a shortwave image, but for 10 minutes, I was impressed! :)
 

ka3jjz

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I go back a few years - almost to W2XQ's time (hi Tom!) - but I'll bet the name of Joe Adamov rings a few bells...Mike
 

phask

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Myself as well. I QSL'd Radio China around 64-65 and was confirmed. You had to submit through some 3rd party , or 3rd party country as the US did not do mail to China at the time. Can't remember how it was done now,

I received so much "stuff" for years later. I'm probably still on some CIA list :)


I go back a few years - almost to W2XQ's time (hi Tom!) - but I'll bet the name of Joe Adamov rings a few bells...Mike
 

Token

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Russia would run their woodpecker jammer to knock down the free world transmitters.

The Woodpecker was not a jammer, it was a radar, and it would interfere with their own transmissions as often as it would hammer western broadcasts. The frequency of operation did not appear to be selected to specifically cause issue with broadcast stations (in other words it was not intentional jamming)...however it was not selected to NOT cause such issues either ;)

T!
 

WA8ZTZ

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Have a Radio Habana Cuba QSL card here from 1961 that states " In the cities and the country of Cuba, the workers, teachers, and students are winning the glorious battle of Education, to the elimination of illiteracy by the end of 1961".

Todays programming from Cuba on the AM band plays lots of music that is quite good.
 
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KF6DGN

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Yes I also remember. Radio Moscow boomed into the midwest. I also recall hearing Radio South Africa all the time defending apartheid. I asked for a QSL from China over 25 years ago, got one, and still get mail from them today. Best show was Radio Havana and the ham/shortwave radio show. Who has heard of Arnie Coro CO2KK?
 

KC2TEX

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Yes I also remember. Radio Moscow boomed into the midwest. I also recall hearing Radio South Africa all the time defending apartheid. I asked for a QSL from China over 25 years ago, got one, and still get mail from them today. Best show was Radio Havana and the ham/shortwave radio show. Who has heard of Arnie Coro CO2KK?

I have... His show is DXers Unlimited..., and is still on Radio Habana. I particularly like the 1:00 UTC (9:00 Eastern) on 6.000kHZ English language broadcast. Comes in great here in Central NJ.
 

KK4JUG

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I speak Russian and I remember hearing some of the domestic newscasts. There was a lot of the same name calling as on the propaganda broadcasts. I remember having to go to a dictionary a time or two because there were a few words that we weren't taught at Auburn.

I said I "speak" Russian but perhaps I should say I spoke Russian. I would have an awful lot of trouble carrying on a conversation now.

Большое спасибо
 

NowhereMan66

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I recall hearing Radio Moscow BOOMING in on the AM band with my Hallicrafters S-40B. Of course it was a shortwave image, but for 10 minutes, I was impressed! :)

Actually, Radio did broadcast on AM from Cuba, IIRC, there were times they "walked over" WWWE (now WTAM) on 1100 kc out of Cleveland. I also remember the "Monotone Sisters" from Radio Moscow, One time my buddy and I picked up Radio Pongyang in the late 1980's ad every third world was followed by "Great Leader." Call me nostalgic, but there are times I do miss the Cold War, it was a good time for an SWLer.
 

GB46

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Myself as well. I QSL'd Radio China around 64-65 and was confirmed. You had to submit through some 3rd party , or 3rd party country as the US did not do mail to China at the time. Can't remember how it was done now,

I received so much "stuff" for years later. I'm probably still on some CIA list :)

I've been a shortwave listener since roughly 1957. During the sixties I wrote to Radio Moscow for a QSL card and information about their country, because I was fascinated by the cultural exchange made possible by radio. Well, they sent more than I expected, including not only the QSL, a program schedule and various brochures, but also a copy of an English-language magazine entitled "Soviet Union". That mail was preceded by a notification from the FBI, stating that they knew I had been sent materials from the USSR, and asking me whether I wanted to accept that mail. I said yes. Naturally most of the material turned out to be propaganda and the cold war was in progress, but heck, I wasn't old enough to know better. Now at age 70, I'm certainly old enough -- but no better! :lol:
 

jwt873

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I sent away for a QSL card from Radio Havana back in the 60's.

After the card arrived, I started getting propaganda from them with smiling pictures of Castro and Che Guevara. This continued through the Cuban missile crisis. My parents were alarmed that we were getting the stuff in the mail.

We were never contacted, but I'm sure our family was on some government agency's radar for a while :)
 

GB46

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Actually, every country's government produces its own propaganda, but its citizens don't always recognize it as such. In the interest of patriotism, the education system often misrepresents or even omits events in the country's history.

It was interesting to follow some of the changes in Radio Moscow's programming after the Soviet Union was dissolved, particularly on Moscow Mailbag with Joe Adamov. I once heard him read a letter from a listener who asked him why he had delivered so much of the propaganda himself, when he knew all along that much of what he was saying was untrue. His reply: "Because i didn't want to die." :roll:
 
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