On April 26th I received a program with ID as Radio Augusta on 1611 kHz, around 20.30 hrs UTC. The program corresponded with the live stream on www.radioaugusta.com . I sent an email to the station manager didier@radioaugusta.com and received a nice email confirming that I actually listened to the Radio Augusta program.
QSL email Radio Augusta 1611 kHz
Didier is a retired Belgian teacher with a history in the Belgian free radio scene. He now lives in Ivory Coast where he produces the Augusta programmes since 2016. The station is named after his wife. In addition to the internet stream there is an outlet on FM 103.9 Mhz locally.
A listener in Europe wrote to Didier that he is broadcasting the internet stream via 1611 kHz. Didier writes on the website that he is not displeased with this, but doesn’t know anything about the transmitter or its location.
Radio Augusta is an internet stream produced in Ivory Coast. It’s relayed by an unknown listener on 1611 kHz somewhere in Europe.
I received a beautiful e-QSL Radio 182 Waddinxveen 1485 kHz. Accompanied by a friendly and detailed email from Gert Voogd. With 4 Watts PEP only this is truly a low power AM (LPAM) station. The 1485 kHz frequency is allocated in the Netherlands to stations with an effective power of 1 Watt max. Obviously this is done to avoid interference from the bigger 100 Watt LPAM stations. In the evening hower the SER stations with 10 kW from Spain will provide a challenge to the DX listener.
Despite being a small AM station it has very mature 24/7 programming. And that is because the little AM outlet is more or less a fun addition to Radio 182 on DAB+ for the “Midden Holland” region. Basically this is the area between Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht, also know as the “Green Heart” of the Netherlands. They are really looking forward to reception reports, either via the webform or email: info@radio182.nl
QSL of Radio 182 Waddinxveen, showing the landmark lift bridge (built in 1936)
What I like about their QSL card is that it shows the Lift Bridge in Waddinxveen across the river Gouwe. Together with a similar bridge a few kilometers north in Boskoop it was constructed in 1936, a real piece of industrial heritage. On my cycling tours these bridges are real landmarks, as they can be seen from miles away in our flat polder landscape.
The 4 Watt PEP transmitter of Radio 182The antenna of Radio 182.
Waddinxveen is about 18 km from my QTH. But based on the strength of the signal they probably enjoy a relatively big reception area. This is facilitated by their antenna being placed on a huge steel roof that provides perfect ground effect. The SINPO written on the QSL card is in fact incorrect, it is more like 45454 here in Woerden.
For a couple of evenings I’ve now heard Radio Rock Revolution on 1233 kHz in pretty decent quality. Today I found them signing on at 19:04 h UTC. Sign off after midnight. Hard rock heard yesterday, today a bit more mainstream. Frequent IDs, “Radio Rock Revolution, where passion for rock never ends…“, but nothing else. Location unknown, loop seems to indicate East – West direction from central part of the Netherlands.
I heard this station with same IDs on 1494 kHz mid november 2022. Does someone have more info? Please comment on this post!
QSL RNZ Pacific 11725 kHz is my second QSL from the other side of the world in two days only!
It is always fascinating to receive radiosignals from the other side of the world. But when I got into DX-ing in the late 70-ies, Radio New Zealand International was not an easy catch. They were using two old US military transmitters from World War II with 7.5 kW only. I still remember vividly how “once-off “reception conditions allowed us to receive them in perfect quality during a DX-weekend with the BDXC in the Meppel Youth Hostel.
In support of a more proactive foreign policy towards the Pacific, new 100 kW transmitters were taken in service in 1987. Location is Rangitaiki on the Northern Island with studios in Wellington. They are rebranding to RNZ Pacific. I hear them frequently on 11725 kHz in the evening hours. Their latest schedule can be found here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/listen
RNZ Pacific is no longer processing postal reports but offers a webform . It doesn’t generate an automatic QSL, reports are still being reviewed fortunately. I sent a report for my reception on my SDRPlay RSPdx with 10 meter longwire while camping in Appelscha, Drenthe.
QSL RNZ Pacific 11725 kHz (formerly Radio New Zealand International)
Charleville Wiluna Radio with DCS messages on 16804.5 kHz is a relatively easy catch. Two things are a little bit more complicated:
First problem: what was the station I was actually listening to? Australia is a big country. In the 80-ies, individual stations had dedicated callsigns. I received VIP (Perth), VIS (Sydney), VIM (Melbourne) etc. in CW. But like in many other countries everything is now centralized, and Charleville (east coast, near Brisbane) and Wiluna (west coast, near Carnarvon) operate under the callsign VIC (formerly the Carnarvon callsign if I’m right). Mind you, both Charleville and Wiluna are not even coastal towns. Bad news: this is probably not going to change anymore…
1988 OTS QSL received via VIP Perth Radio, showing all call signs in use in those days
Second problem: whom to write to? Again “modern times”. As far as I know RCC Australia falls under the responsibility of AMSA “Australian Maritime Safety Agency“. But my email to them was answered with “this is something for Kordia”. Kordia is a service provider in Australia. But when I searched the internet I learned that Kordia was changing to “Ventia”. From my own experience I know that such changes typically result in a change of email addresses etc… so I decided to send a physical letter to the RCC Canberra address. And here comes the good news: my letter ended up with Craig Bloom, Senior Communications Operator at what is still Kordia. Craig answered with a kind email and the beautiful VIC QSL card! Drop a comment if you want to receive the contactdetails as I don’t like to publish email addresses that are not part of public domain.
UPDATE: Craig confirmed that rebranding of Kordia is complete, but their part of the operation will continue as Kordia.
Unless you go for HAM radio or into FM DX there are not a lot of options anymore to receive a QSL from Belgium. Fortunately Oostende Radio is still a reliable verifier. I received this QSL Oostende Radio 518 kHz for my reception of their NAVTEX message announcing gunnery exercises on the North Sea:
2023-04-21 07:10:10> ZCZC TA63 2023-04-21 07:10:12> 210611 UTC APR 2023-04-21 07:10:16> OOSTENDERADIO MSI 187/23 2023-04-21 07:10:20> DE PANNE-OOSTENDE 2023-04-21 07:10:27> GUNNERY EXERCISES IN THE MIDDLE SECTOR OF LOMBARDSIJDE 2023-04-21 07:10:35> TODAY 21 04 2023 FROM 0630 UNTIL 1030 UTC. 2023-04-21 07:10:43> GUNNERY SECTOR IS LISTENING ON CHAN 16 AND 67. 2023-04-21 07:10:49> CANCEL THIS MSG 211030 UTC APR. 2023-04-21 07:10:49> NNNN
Reading the letter I somehow got the feeling that they forgot to include the QSL card. So I “copied” one from Hugo’s DX hoekje… 馃槈
QSL Letter Oostende Radio, BelgiumQSL Oostende Radio OSU, Belgium (taken from Hugo’s DX hoekje)
These days most stations respond to reception reports with an email or – if you are lucky – an e-QSL. But Radio SeaBreeze is “old school”. For my reception report to info@radioseabreeze.nl I received this very nice QSL card by traditional mail.
Radio SeaBreeze is one of the Dutch Low Power AM (LPAM) stations in the Netherlands. They broadcast on 1395 kHz from the village of Grou in the province of Friesland with 100 Watt. What I like about the station is that they have plenty live programs (that is with a DJ). Some of the other LPAM stations just play non-stop music from a computer. I don’t understand the fun of that to be honest.
SeaBreeze is also planning to start broadcasting with 50 Watt on 1098 kHz from the village of Laren in North Holland. At the time of writing I don’t know if they are already in the air. I will check, and provide updates accordingly!
A traditional QSL card is sent by Radio SeaBreeze, Grou
Yesterday I posted the e-QSL from Dank贸 R谩di贸. The other thematic Hungarian radiostation broadcasting on mediumwave is Nemzetis茅gi R谩di贸. The name translates as “Nationality Radio”. This station offers programmes to the etnic minorities, or maybe better said, language minorities in Hungary. And there are quite a few of those: Armenian, Bulgarian, German, Greek, Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Slovakian, Ukranian and two Roma languages Lov谩ri und Be谩s.
Nemzetis茅gi R谩di贸 has transmitters on 873 kHz (20 kW, 2 locations), 1188 kHz (300/100 kW). But my report from December last year is for the weakest of the bunch, the 5 kW transmitter in Gy枚r. And that’s nice because I visited this city while on a bicycling tour with my girlfriend (still my wife 馃槝) years ago in 1986. Our first 3 week cycling tour outside the Benelux. To travel beyond the “iron curtain” in those days, on a bicycle with camping gear, was not as common as bikepackers today might think. My wife and I share fond memories of that adventure!
As with Dank贸 R谩di贸 I got my e-QSL with a report to ugyelet@mtva.hu, signed by Mr. Ivan Kovacs.
In a study on the future of Hungarian Radio it was concluded that Hungarian music was repressed in the media. This happened despite having a huge fan base, particularly in rural areas. That is why Dank贸 R谩di贸 was launched in 2012. The station is named after Dank贸 Pista, a cig谩ny composer from Hungary. Dank贸 R谩di贸 is active on two mediumwave frequencies, 1116 and 1251 kHz, from four transmitter locations. Both can be received quite well here in the Netherlands. Via ugyelet@mtva.hu I received an e-QSL for both frequencies, accompanied by a friendly email from Mr. Ivan Kovacs .
As reported earlier I received the KL85 3rd anniversary program via Studio AM900, Terneuzen, the Netherlands. Via Bart Serlie, station manager, I received this beautiful e-QSL. According to the info I got from Bart, Studio AM900 was in the air at the time with a transmitter power of 34 Watt of which some 25 Watt was effectively used. They are planning to get a stronger transmitter online on May 13th. This one was in use by Groeistad AM Wassenaar and is referred to by Bart as the “Groeistad Griek“. Hopefully this increases the opportunity for other DX listeners to receive this nice and friendly station. Big thanks to Bart and his team for the QSL, the nice email conversation we had, and the opportunity to participate live in the program of Edward Klein last Friday!
BDXC : SWL 2262 PRe VERON : NL 14228 If you want to get in touch, just leave a message on one of my posts. Please note that I don't publish email addresses of verifiers which are not part of the public domain. So if you don't see the QSL address, just leave a message and I'll get back to you.
