Chris Landstrom from Aviseq Sweden was so kind to confirm my reception of OL Luleå on 377 kHz (as well as OO Örnsköldsvik):
We’re happy to confirm these receptions – technically OL Luleå @ 377 kHz belongs to our colleagues in Luleå but due to workload right now I’m confident you’ll struggle for a reply there. They have quite a bit more work this time of year than we do so they’re pretty busy right now. I feel confident enough that we’re looking at OL Luleå here so I’ll go ahead and confirm that.
Luleå Airport is quite a busy airport with regular flights to Gothenburg and Stockholm, but also to Paris, Düsseldorf and London, plus charters to various holiday destinations around the Mediterranean.
A QSL for CFZM 740 Zoomer Radio, Toronto. I heard this station for the first time this year. The reception report was via their webform. Following a brief email exchange Genya Hulak was so kind to send me a fully detailed email:
The 740 AM frequency was in use by CBL (a CBC station) until 2000. But as their AM transmissions suffered from interference in downtown Toronto they left this frequency. Despite the interference issue many stations contested for this clear channel frequency. The application was granted to CHWO which moved from 1250. CJYE is their replacement on 1250. The CBC brand is still visible on the Hornby transmitter building:
CBC transmitter station at Hornby, now in use by CFZM 740
In 2007 the CHWO operations were sold and the station was rebranded to CFZM. The format is “oldies and adult standards”.
This year I switched from HDSDR to SDR console. I have to admit that I wasn’t immediately a big fan of it as SDR console is definitely a bit more complex interface. But HDSDR didn’t support my Elad FDM S3 which forced me to adapt.
A few months down the road I don’t want anything else than SDR Console for my medium-wave DX activities. The three biggest advantages of SDR Console over HDSDR are:
SDR console allows you to adjust lower and upper bandwidth indepently. This allows you to optimize the amount of modulation needed to get an audible ID.
SDR console offers a variety of highly tuneable filters. I particularly like the NR4 filter which might distort music a bit, but is a great help to improve voice.
The navigator functionality is so helpful to search your overnight recording for signals. I use 2 minute slots, and when a proper carrier is detect move forward (or backward) in 10 second steps.
Are there some disadvantages? Yes there are. There are more options, more functionality, but that also adds a bit of complexity. Scheduling a recording with HDSDR is a bit easier when you want to set both your center and tuning frequency: for example when you want to run an overnight DSC watch on 2187.5 while recording the entire medium-wave band. Starting an audio recording is a bit easier in HDSDR as well. But all in all, SDR console did help me to improve my medium-wave DX.
As an example, attached is a recording of Radio Santa Fé, Bogotá. I heard this station while staying on Curacao last year and even got a QSL. But I never expected to be able to pick up their ID in my noisy suburb location: “Eschucha Radio Santa Fe, 10-70..”. And of course I sent a report and applied for a confirmation.
Merry Christmas to all my friends in radio land. And like last year there is only one picture I can actually post here, that of the tallest christmas tree of the world.
This christmas tree is almost 370 m tall. Located in IJsselstein, 13 kilometer away from my house I can easily spot if from the roof terrace. When you are in the open fields you can spot if from over 50 kilometers away I’m told. This YouTube clip offers some nice drone shots and gives a nice impression of the scenery here.
Scanning the medium wave band I found Radio Briscola in pretty good quality on 1449 kHz. As I only heard a lady talking, without an ID, I made a recording and sent it to radiobriscola@gmail.com (thank you Artur at Maresme DX for the tip).
e QSL Radio Briscola 1449 kHz from Lenta, Piemonte, Italy
Gianfranco Giudice sent me a kind email reply:
I’m very pleased with your listening report Radio Briscola is a small amateur broadcaster with a regular permit that broadcasts from Piedmont (Italy) with 500 watts/carrier and a 32 meter vertical folded antenna every weekend, also because electricity costs a lot; we plan to power the transmitter with photovoltaic, but later……….
While it is nice that in countries like Holland and Italy there is a bit more of a liberal attitude toward low power broadcasters on AM, the energy costs are providing a challenge. We haven’t seen the sun in The Netherlands for 9 days on a row now. Will we get messages like “our station is off the air because a lack of solar power?”.
An e- QSL for Radio Thailand World Service 7475 kHz. Heard them in excellent quality on 7475 kHz with an English program. As my report to rthworldservice@gmail.com remained unanswered I sent them a friendly reminder and received a fully detailed card within a day.
e-QSL for Radio Thailand World Service on 7475 kHz
I really wanted to get this QSL. In the 80-ies it was a bit more difficult to receive them but when I managed to do so I got a schedule and beautiful pennant by mail, but not a confirmation that resembled a QSL.
Pennant I received from National Broadcasting Service of Thailand in the 80-ies.
December 1st, 1924, was the day on which the VLF transmitter in Grimeton with call sign “SAQ” was taken into service. The station connected with telegraphy transmission across the Atlantic to Riverhead and Rocky Point on Long Island, New York. The quality of the Centennial Transmission was exceptionally good… better than any of my SAQ receptions so far.
An e-QSL card for Radio Vanuatu on 9960 kHz. In 2023 Radio Vanuatu started to issue e-QSLs. I tried to catch them on 7260 kHz but wasn’t successful. As Vanuatu would be a new EDXC country I decided to make an exception and tune in via a Kiwi SDR in Brisbane to get a QSL.
This week Helmut Matt let me know that Radio Vanuatu could be received in decent quality on their new frequency of 9960 kHz around 0630 – 0700 h UTC. So I gave it a try and this time I was able to hear them with news, weather and a Lionel Richie song. Given local noise not easy, but definitely doable: SINPO 24222. Within a day I got the eQSL from Warren Robert, Manager of Technical Services.
e-QSL from VTBC Radio Vanuatu on 9960 kHz
It feels good to have this station QSL-ed for a reception from my home QTH!
This year Trans World Radio (TWR) celebrates that it was 50 years ago that they started broadcasting from a location near Manzini, Swaziland. I had the pleasure of visiting the country, which is now called Eswatini, and the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary 12 years ago. Transmitter power has been upgraded from 25 kW to 100 kW which results in a very good reception of their program on 9500 kHz here in The Netherlands. Unfortunately, as far as I know there is only 1 hour of English programming left on their schedule, Sundays only. And when I tuned in they went already off air after 30 minutes. So I’m afraid that TWR is also moving more and more to FM and the internet to get their message heard.
e QSL to celebrate 50 years of TWR Africa
Mrs. Lorraine Stavropoulos confirmed my reception within a day. I sent my report to lstavrop@twr.org (please note the first letter is an “L”). Funny detail is that the QSL features a Bible text in Dutch, so apparently custom made! Below the well known QSL card which I received in 1980.
What’s in a name? Well it does matter. I heard what I called Rijeka Radio on 2187.5 kHz in October. As I didn’t receive a reply on my reception report I tried again today. Within a few hours the duty officer MRCC Rijeka M. Butkovic was so kind to send me this confirmation:
And yes it was that MMSI I received:
TIME: 2024-10-21 04:37:48 FREQ: 2187.5 DIST: 1027 Km SYMB: 120 120 024 089 098 000 000 108 000 023 087 001 000 118 126 126 126 126 126 126 126 122 004 122 122 FMT: SEL CAT: SAF TO: SHIP,248998000 Ro-Ro Lismore FROM: COAST,002387010,HRV,Rijeka Radio TC1: TEST TC2: NOINF FREQ: — POS: — EOS: ACK cECC: 4 OK
So Rijeka Radio is no more, it is MRCC Rijeka now. Which effectively means it is a new station for me as well😉. Below you can see my Radio Rijeka QSL from 1993: 6 kW in CW on 8700 kHz. When I pulled it out of my collection I noticed that is was stamped by Plovput. The same company that confirmed my NAVTEX reception of Split Radio a year ago, with Rijeka Radio still on the QSL. QSL collections are documenting history!
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.
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