An interval signal is a characteristic sound or musical phrase used in international broadcasting and by some domestic broadcasters. It serves several purposes: International broadcasting is broadcasting deliberately aimed at a foreign, rather than a domestic, audience. ...

• It assists a listener to tune his or her radio to the correct frequency for the station.
• It informs other stations that the frequency is in use.
• It serves as a station identifier even if the language used in the subsequent broadcast is not one the listener understands.

The practice began in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s and was carried over into shortwave broadcasts. The use of interval signals has declined with the advent of digital tuning systems, but has not vanished. A Grundig Shortwave receiver Shortwave radio operates between the frequencies of 3,000 kHz and 30 MHz (30,000 kHz) and came to be referred to as such in the early days of radio because the wavelengths associated with this frequency range were shorter than those commonly in use at...

Broadcasting services and interval signals

• BBC World Service in English: Bow Bells
• BBC World Service, non-English, non-Europe: Three even notes tuned B-B-C
• BBC World Service, non-English, to Europe: four notes tuned B-B-B-E, spaced to spell out V in Morse code
• China Radio International:Chime version of March of the Volunteers
• Radio Australia: Chorus of Waltzing Matilda on chimes
• Radio Canada International: First four notes of O Canada played on a piano
• Radio France Internationale: Electronic-disco, cumulating in the last 8 measures of La Marseillaise
• Radio Moscow (former service of the Soviet Union): Moscow Nights
• Voice of Russia: Chime version of chorus from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition
• Voice of America: Yankee Doodle played by a brass band
• Radio Netherlands: Chime version of the Eighty Years' War song "Merck toch hoe sterck"
• Radio New Zealand International: the Bellbird, a distinctive sounding NZ bird species

The BBC World Service is one of the most widely recognised international broadcasters of radio programming, transmitting in 43 languages to around 150 million people throughout the world. ... St Mary-le-Bow Church, built 1671-80, one of Wrens City Churches built after the Great Fire of London St Mary_le_Bow is a historic church in the City of London, off Cheapside. ... World map showing location of Europe When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... V is the twenty-second letter in the modern Latin alphabet. ... Morse code is a system of representing letters, numbers and punctuation marks by means of a code signal sent intermittently. ... China Radio International (CRI), the former Radio Beijing, is one of the two state-owned national radio broadcasting networks in the Peoples Republic of China. ... The March of the Volunteers (Simplified Chinese: 义勇军进行曲; Pinyin: ) is the national anthem of the Peoples Republic of China, written in the midst of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) by the noted poet and playwright Tian Han (田汉) with music composed by Nie Er (聂耳). ... Radio Australia is the international shortwave radio service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australias public broadcaster. ... Waltzing Matilda is usually sung in informal settings, but it was played with a full 90 piece band and 100 voice Melbourne Chorale at the 2005 Classical Spectacular Waltzing Matilda is Australias most widely known folk song and one that has been popularly suggested as a potential national anthem... Radio Canada International (RCI) is the international broadcasting service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). ... O Canada is the national anthem of Canada. ... // History 6 mai 1931 Le Poste Colonial diffuse sa première émission en ondes courtes depuis le studio de lExposition Coloniale à Paris. ... La Marseillaise is the national anthem of France. ... A 1969 Radio Moscow QSL card Radio Moscow was the official international broadcasting station of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. ... A 1969 Radio Moscow QSL card Radio Moscow was the official international broadcasting station of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. ... Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (Russian: Моде́ст Петро́вич Му́соргский) (March 21, 1839 – March 28, 1881; sometimes spelled Modeste Moussorgsky), was an innovative Russian composer famed for his colourful, exotic, and lush orchestral pieces dedicated to various subjects of medieval Russian history. ... Pictures at an Exhibition is a famous suite of 15 musical pieces, composed by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky in 1874. ... The Voice of America (VOA) is the official broadcasting service of the United States government. ... Yankee Doodle is a well-known American song, often sung patriotically today (although originally satirical). ... Radio Netherlands (RNW, short for Radio Nederland Wereldomroep in Dutch) is a public radio and television network based in Hilversum, producing and transmitting programmes for international audiences outside the Netherlands. ... The Eighty Years War, or Dutch Revolt, was the war of secession between the Netherlands and Spain, as well as subsequent union of Portugal and Spain, that lasted from 1568 to 1648. ...

Numbers Stations interval signals

• The Linconshire Poacher

The Lincolnshire Poacher is a folk song from England. ...

External links

• Interval Signals Online
• Irkutsk DX Circle's Interval Signals Collection
• Nobuyuki Kawamura's Interval Signal Library
• TRS Consultants' Audio Bytes
• Uwe Volk's Sound Library (available both in English and in German)