I had the privilege of being able to spend 2 weeks on Curaçao in the Caribbean. And I decided to bring my small Grundig G6 Aviator portable with me. In the past I often took my portable with me while travelling for work. But confined to a hotel environment my experience was not always positive. I found that noise levels were often so high that reception was often very poor or non-existent.
On this trip I had the opportunity to move away from our apartment. Around 7.30 PM it was dark, and most evenings I enjoyed one or two hours listening to Latin American stations on medium wave under a tropical night sky . In total I logged 53 stations. Not all of them qualify as “DX” but it was fun nevertheless!
540
Radio ABC, Santo Domingo
DOM
550
Radio Munidal, Caracas
VEN
590
Radio Santa Maria, La Vega
DOM
610
La Cariñosa, Bogotá
CLM
650
Antena 2, Bogotá
CLM
670
Radio Rumbos, Caracas
VEN
680
Radio Nacional Colombia, Bogotá
CLM
680
WBQN Borinquen Radio, San Juan
PTR
710
Cristal Radio Red, Medellín
CLM
770
RCN Bogotá, Bogotá
CLM
780
La Voz de Dios, Cali
CLM
780
ZBVI, Tortola
VRG
800
TWR Bonaire, Kralendijk
BES
810
Radio Caracol, Bogotá
CLM
810
Radio Paz, San Juan
PTR
830
Radio Sensación, San Antonio
VEN
840
Radio HJ Doble K, Neiva
CLM
840
Nacional FM, Howard
PNR
850
Candela 850, Bogotá
CLM
860
La Voz del Caneguate, Valledupar
CLM
860
Radio Mundial 860, San Cristóbal
VEN
880
Caracol, Bucaramanga
CLM
910
La Voz del Rio Grande, Medellin
CLM
930
La Voz de Bogotá, Bogotá
CLM
940
WINZ Fox Sports, Miami
USA
970
Radio Red, Bogotá
CLM
980
RCN Radio, Cali
CLM
990
RCN Radio, Medellín
CLM
1000
RCN Radio, Cartagena
CLM
1020
Emisora Claridad, Medellín
CLM
1070
Radio Santa Fe, Bogotá
CLM
1080
La Voz de Antioquia, Medellín
CLM
1090
Unión Radio Cultural, Caracas
VEN
1090
Caracal Radio, Cúcuta
CLM
1100
BBN – Red de Radiodifusión Biblica
CLM
1100
Caracol Radio, Barranquilla
CLM
1130
Radio ideal, Maiquetia
VEN
1140
Radio Paisa, Medellín
CLM
1160
Su Presencia Radio, Bogotá
CLM
1160
Caribbean Radio Lighthouse
ATG
1200
Radio Tiempo, Caracas
VEN
1210
La Cariñosa, Cúcuta
CLM
1220
Santa Maria Colombia, Bogotá
CLM
1260
BBN – Red de Radiodiffusión Biblica
VEN
1270
La Cariñosa. Cartagena
CLM
1340
Amor Años Maravillosos, Bogotá
CLM
1400
Harbour Light of the Windwards
GRD
1420
Radio Sintonia, Caracas
VEN
1450
Radio Maria Venezuela, Catia La Mar
VEN
1470
Esperanza Adventura, Medellín
CLM
1490
Emisora Punto Cinco, Bogotá
CLM
1510
La Voz de la Unión, La Unión
CLM
1540
ZNS1 National Voice, Nassau
BAH
The most distant distation was WINZ Fox Sports, Miami with 1913 km. I also heard ZNS1 Nassau/Bahamas at 1679 km, Cali/Colombia at 1275 km, and Howard/Panama at 1212 km. I tried to log the American Virgin Islands, but no trace of any of the 4 stations, most likely because they switch to low night power? The Voice of Nevis, another target, was blocked by a very strong LV de Caneguata.
No doubt I could have heard many more stations, as the band was crowded. Fading was a significant problem though, hampering station identification. Sometimes a Colombian station was audible for only 10 minutes or so, dropping in signal strength only to be replaced by another Colombian. And on some frequencies, close to 800 kHz in particular, I had the feeling my little radio was overloading with a strange oscillator howl. Maybe due to the presence of the strong TWR transmitter? Funny detail: pressing the back light button or changing the frequency by 1 kHz seemed to suppress it for a few seconds. I seriously consider bringing my little RSPdx SDR receiver next time I visit.
Apologies for a limited number of posts in the last two weeks. But I was enjoying a holiday on Curaçao. And I couldn’t resist taking my Grundig G6 Aviator with me. Starting this weekend I will bring you up to speed on my Curaçao DX adventure. 73s, Peter.
Staying on the island Curaçao for two weeks I couldn’t resist to bring my small Grundig G6 aviator with me. And send some reception reports of course. The e- QSL TWR Bonaire 800 kHz is for the strongest station in the Caribbean.
QSL TWR Bonaire 800 kHz
In 2021 the transmitter power was increased to 440 kW. The decision to boost power was made when it was recognized that “a large regional station in Latin America was needed to supplement the small FM operations on air in that region”, according to Lauren Libby, president and CEO TWR. The station went on air in 1963 with 500 kW. But the costs of running a high power tube type rig forced them to cut back power to 100 kW in 1998.
The station can be heard in Europe, although it is not as easy as the power might suggest given that the frequency is only 1 kHz away from European 801 kHz with some Spanish stations. Worse at my QTH is LPAM station Radio Jong Europa from Alphen aan de Rijn. Only 100 Watt, but also only 20 kilometers away they spoil reception with broad band non stop music. In Curaçao, at only 80 kilometers away from Bonaire, it is an easy catch obviously.
Nice detail is that you can write the station directly at 800am@twr.org and get a dedicated QSL, rather than the more generic QSL via the TWR webform. And, together with Saba and St. Eustatius, Bonaire is a separate radio country!
I received a friendly email to QSL NDB LAR-382 and EVR-425 Portugal. Rosa Roque, head of maintenance at FIR Lisboa Airport, answered the email I sent to geral@nav.pt . The same address that verified my reception of NDB FIL on the Azores.
Dear Peter,
We confirm that these are the frequencies and the call sign of these radio beacons.
It’s amazing how, under exceptional propagation conditions, a frequency can be heard at such a great distance.
This is to confirm that Peter Reuderink has received radio beacons LAR on 382 kHz, and EVR on 425 kHz.
Many thanks. Best Regards.
Atenciosamente,
Rosa Roque
DOPLIS/MANLIS – Head of Maintenance Services
Lisbon FIR Operations Directorate
As far as I know their are 4 NDBs left in Portugal. Two of them can be received most evenings at my QTH, LAR at Arruda (I guess the callsign is derived from Lisboa-ARruda) is situated north of Lisbon International Airport aligned with the runway. EVR is situated at Évora Municipal Airport. The Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer owns two plants adjacent to the airport.
Recently I received Bangkok Radio on 2187.5 kHz. With 9225 kilometer this is by far my most distant maritime reception on MF. Unfortunately I couldn’t find an email address, until Néstor Damián Fischetto provided me with one. Within a few days I received a fully detailed email from YvesZor, radio operator at the station:
Dear Peter Reuderink,
Thank you for your email and for sharing your reception report of Bangkok Radio. We are delighted to hear that you were able to receive our station on 2 MHz, especially considering the distance of over 9225 kilometres. It’s always gratifying to know that our signals are reaching listeners around the world.
We confirm your reception of Bangkok Radio on 2187.5 kHz on February 27th, 2024, at 20:28 h UTC. Your dedication to the hobby of radio reception for over four decades is admirable, and we are honoured to be a part of your listening experience.
Should you have any further questions or if there’s anything else we can assist you with, please feel free to reach out to us.
Thank you once again for reaching out to Bangkok Radio. We value your support and interest in our broadcasts.
Warm regards,
YvesZor [YZ] Radio Operator Bangkok Radio
Big thanks to Nestor (and Rob IZ0CDM, who provided similar address info a few days later)!
I did not get my PPC signed, but I did get an email to QSL CFAJ 1220 St. Catherines ON, Canada. I sent my report to info@classic1220.ca.
1220 kHz is a good frequency for listening to Transatlantic MW stations, nicely in between European 1215 and 1224 kHz. That said, despite their 10 kW of power it is still not so easy to hear CFAJ. Their antenna pattern, using a nine (!) tower array, is tuned to a for Europe unfavorable NW/SE direction. This is done to reduce interference with neighboring US transmitter WHKW Cleveland. And exactly that station is the one that is heard more often Europe.
Praveen Amirtharaj, who answered my reception report, talks about “our new station”. And it is true, this station went on-air in 2020 with the call sign CFAJ. Since 1967 a station with callsign CHSC was active on this frequency, but their license was terminated in 2010 as the authorities (CRTC) concluded following format violations, physical deterioration and financial issues the station would not be able to comply in future.
In 2015 a new application to use the facilities of CHSC was granted to a new organization that runs CFAJ since 2020 with a Classic Hits format.
A QSL for NDB MIA-292 in Melilla. As Melilla is a Spanish enclave on the North African coast it counts as a separate radio country, a new one for me. I chased for a week on this one. Made SDR recordings from sunset until sunrise of the 290-310 kHz band, in 1 hour segments. Next processed the recordings with Pskov. This resulted in 3 loggings of MIA, of which one was clearly identifiable and thus reportable. Unfortunately I did not obtain an good copy of NDB CEU-300 from Ceuta, which is also high on my wish list.
I sent my report to informacion@enaire.es, and as with earlier reception reports the confirmation email contained a datasheet but also a high quality photo of the antenna.
Received on my little Grundig G6 Aviator while spending some time with family in Akersloot: Backyard AM, a low power AM station from Zaandijk. Somehow I did not yet receive them on my home QTH in Woerden. My guess is that this is because they are active weekends only. More importantly: Danko Radio from Hungary might get in their way. That said, according to their schedule they are a little bit longer in the air on Sunday’s than Danko Radio (between 20 and 21 h UTC) so that could provide a window of opportunity.
Their beautiful QSL shows one of the most iconic views of the Netherlands, the “Zaanse Schans“, close their QTH Zaandijk.
Older DX-ers might remember that 1116 kHz was once the frequency of Radio Bloemendaal. This religious broadcaster was the first religious broadcaster in the Netherlands, and for a long time the only legal station other than the state radio company that was heard on medium wave. But I will dedicate another post to them!
European listeners to DSC/GMDSS messages on the various frequencies know that there are a few stations like Coruna Radio who are heard almost every hour, every day. And there are stations that you can only hear when propagation conditions are favorable: true DX. But there are also stations that are just not that often on the air. Martec Skagen is one of those, and this QSL ANFR Donges, the Agence Nationale des Fréquences is for another one.
ANFR is big organisation, and as decribed on Wikipedia their mission is:
“… ensuring the planning, management and control of the use, including private use, of the public domain of radio frequencies subject to the application of article L. 41 of the Postal and Commercial Code. electronic communications , as well as the skills of administrations and authorities allocating radio frequencies. Its budget is allocated to budgetary program 134 “Business and tourism development”, of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.”
By the way: one of the things they do is licensing radio amateurs. That said, I have no clue why this agency was contacting utility ship JIF Helios on 8 and 12 MHz near the Canary Islands.
I decided to give it a try and sent a report to ANFR Donges, Department Radiomaritime, 223 La Pommeraye, 4480 DONGES, France. I added the “Department Radiomaritime” hoping this would help to get the email on the proper desk. A week later I got a polite email back confirming my reception:
Email to QSL my reception of ANFR Donges on 8 and 12 MHz.
A scan of my reception report,with SR Donges stamp was also included. But no answer on my question what this transmission was all about…
If you do know what ANFR does with DSC transmissions… please leave a comment!
In October 2023 I (and some other DX-ers on YADDNet as well) received a DSC message from Svalbard Radio with MMSI 002570900 on 2182.7 kHz. This station MMSI is not received very often. And what I heard was an acknowledgement of a test message sent by the ferry Silja Serenade on its way between Mariehamn in Finland and Sweden on the Baltic Sea. So I wondered if I truly received Svalbard Radio.
I sent a reception report to Kystradio Nord in Bodø (kystradio.nord@telenor.no), as they remotely operate Svalbard Radio. But quite unusual for them I did not get an immediate answer. So I tried again last week. And with apologies (which is not necessary at all as they are just doing us DX-ers a favor on all of our requests) I got an email that QSL-ed my reception of Svalbard Radio.
Email confirming that I received the Svalbard transmitter of Telenor, Kystradio Nord
The email also explains why there was such a strange connect between a ferry on the Baltic and Svalbard Radio/ The test acknowledgements are fully automated on many (but not all) coast stations. So my guess is that the radio officer – who has to execute a mandatory weekly test – decided to go for something special… and triggered a response from the Svalbard transmitter?
This means that I have received a QSL from a station from mainland Svalbard/Spitsbergen for the first time. Not a new radio country though, as Bjornoya (Bear Island) which I received with NDBs LJS in the past and BJO last year is considered part of Svalbard according to the EDXC country list.
But where exactly is this station located on Svalbard? The first maritime station on Svalbard/Spitsbergen, Svalbard Radio was established in 1911. The location was Finneset, close to Barentszburg, the Russian settlement on Spitsbergen. But in 1930 the station was moved to Longyearbyen. And in 1975 the transmitters/antennas moved to Longyear – Svalbard Airport. Since 2006 the station is remotely controlled by Kystradio Nord in Bodø.
But that is not the location of the MF transmitters though. In 1932 two Soviet ships went aground. These were probably coal ships to Barentszburg. The Russian coal mining company Arktikugol developed an intiative to improve the navigational aids. It included the construction of a new station on Isfjorden in 1933. Once it was called Isfjord Radio, but since 1976 the station is remotely operated by above mentioned Svalbard Radio after completion of the Longyear – Svalbard Airport facilities. The Isfjord name seems no longer in use. Isfjorden is also the location from which Svalbard NAVTEX messages are being transmitted.
Isfjord Radio Station
Today the housing facilities of the radiostation in Isfjorden are exploited by Basecampexplorer to accommodate arctic tourists. So it is possible to make a visit!
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.
