Following the earlier e-QSL I now got a paper QSL for my reception of Radio Thailand, Udonthani, on 7475 kHz. I heard them in September, and following a reminder in December I got the e-QSL in a day, and this nice postcard a month later!
Author: Peter Reuderink (Page 1 of 46)
There is low power (100 Watts) and “Real Low Power”. 1485 is the “Real Low Power” AM (LPAM) frequency in The Netherland: stations should have 1 Watt maximum. There are around 25 stations active on this frequency. Unfortunately DX-ers in the Netherlands will typically hear one dominant station only. Outside the Netherlands you might be able to benefit from variations in propagation conditions, enabling you to hear several stations.
On my QTH Radio 182, only 15 kilometers away (basically across the meadow) is dominant. But using my NTi Megaloop FX antenna to “null” them out, there is apparently enough of a signal left for Atlantica AM from Dordrecht. On Sundays that is, because I that’s when they are “on air”.
You can check your reception against Flux Radio, because they broadcast the Atlantic AM transmissions as well. If you receive them, feel free to go to the Facebook page of Cor Hitzerd. That’s how I got in touch:
Following my report I had a nice conversation with Cor. He shared quite a lot about his pirate history, his friends on the air, and how they as pirates promoted lots of Dutch artists. The fact that you can connect to station owners is so nice about DX-ing these days! Cor also sent me a few pictures… here we go:
For DX-ers and QSL collectors listening to LPAM stations in The Netherlands can be rewarding. First of all because many of them are run by radio enthusiasts who don’t mind taking the time to explain a lot about their station via messenger, whatsapp or email. But also because it is a very dynamic scene.
In 2023 I got a QSL from 1134AM from Ooijen. They are gone and now I can hear Polderpop Radio from Veldhoven on this frequency. Broadcasting with 100 Watt they can be received in reasonable quality 82 kilometers away. That is: during the day, in the evening hours it is usually Radio Kuwait that I find here.
Polderpop Radio has quite a history. They’ve been on cable, mediumwave, internet, DAB+ and now they’re back on AM. Their program focuses on popmusic from Dutch artists. I sent my report via the contact form on their website, and Jacco Hagoort from Polderpop Radio confirmed my reception within a day.
The main networks like RNE, SER, Onda Cero and COPE still have local stations which provide a nice DX target. The biggest problem is to hear the local ID. A good opportunity for COPE stations is around 21:57 h UTC (22:57 h local time in Spain). In the late evening hours they broadcast the network program “La Linterna”, but at this time it is interrupted by a local ID followed by local commercials.
I heard COPE Jaén on 1143 kHz. This frequency is shared with COPE Ourense. The two stations often mix, making it a bit more difficult with my limited knowledge of the Spanish language. But this time I heard COPE Jaén only. Mr. Simon from the Engineering department Andalucia Sureste was so kind to confirm my report.
While conditions towards the USA and Canada are very poor, the medium wave continues to suprise me. I’d never thought that in my suburb location I would be able to receive stations from South America. Recently I heard Radio Santa Fe from Colombia, but two nights ago I heard Radio Santa Rosa from Lima, Peru on 1500 kHz. That’s 10525 kilometers which sets a record for me!
Now please don’t think that this is “easy listening”. For a start: 1500 kHz is a frequency on which I always experience heavy noise, sometimes by a pulsating signal that sounds as if it is sending digital information. But if someone in Peru keeps shouting “Santa Rosa” than all of a sudden you have 4 perfect IDs (and a lot of noise) in 2 minutes. Check it out on this Youtube clip.
I’m trying to get a QSL from them, but I struggle to find an email address that works. So if someone has a suggestion, please let me know!
UPDATE: thanks to Patrick Robic I got a brief reply from Mr. Riofrio. His gmail logo suggests that he works at Radio Santa Rosa. But it’s hardly a QSL, so I will order myself a pigeon and send him out with a regular mail to Lima:
A QSL from another Greenland NDB which I received via the Clashmore Kiwi in Scotland during the recent CLE event: NDB AA on 336 kHz for Aasiaat airport. The operator was not allowed to open the MP3 file, but the description of the beacon signal was suffucient. The email text misses the details, but I have another email from Greenland Airports headoffice that does contain the details for my reception of this beacon AA-336 Aasiaat as well as NA-359 Narsarsuaq.
Aasiaat is a small airport on the west coast of Greenland, south of Disko Bay. From Aasiaat you can fly to the bigger airports at Nuuk and Ilulisat. In winter there are cargo flights from Aasiaat to nearby settlements for which you can book a seat as well. In summer the connection is by ferry only.
Every month the NDBlist group organizes a so-called Coordinated Listening Event. For the Christmas Holiday season they had something special in mind. Between December 25th and January 3rd participants had to build a Size 10 “Pyramid” with a size 10 aerial on top! In order to do that you needed to log beacons from 19 different radio countries of your own choice as follows:
Log just TEN NDBs from any one radio country,
just NINE NDBs from a second,
just EIGHT NDBs from a third,… down to
just TWO NDBs from a ninth radio country.
10 extra loggings from 10 other different countries to make the antenna on top.
So the end result should look like this:
Smaller and bigger pyramids were OK provided that all its levels were filled and the height of the aerial matched the base level. The NDBlist group uses a slightly different country definition than in use by ITU or EDXC: the UK is split up in ENG, SCT, WLS, NIR. Remote islands like Shetland or Svalbard, offshore and the Canadian provinces and US states count as individual countries.
Now we had planned to spend the week after Christmas on a farm lodge on the island of Ameland. While the lodge was in a nice rural location I knew I had no opportunities to install a proper outdoor antenna. That’s why I decided to use the BDMR Kiwi of the Medium Wave Circle in Clashmore (IO78hf) for this event. The Kiwi switches between two beverages: between 1350-1950 UTC: 420m at 46° (Asia); 1950-1350 UTC: 920m at 305° (North America)
At home I make SDR recordings to be processed by Pskov software to cut through the noise. Using the BDMR Kiwi meant that I had to listen by ear again, which is the nicer “old school” way of listening to beacons. The additional advantage was that I could just sit in the living room with my laptop scanning the band, while the rest of the family was watching TV or reading a book as outdoor activities were a bit compromised given an 8-10 Beaufort storm hitting the Island.
Below you can find my logbook:
December 27th-28th: broad band scan
As most family members will two days later I have some time to scan the band between 250-450 kHz. The result is 164 NDBs, from 31 countries. And it becomes clear how this challenge will unfold itself. Nearby countries with lots of active beacons like SWE, ISL, NOR, ENG, SCT, FRA, DEU easily deliver more than 10 logs. And I have plenty of countries with 1 to 4 beacons. But the midfield is underpopulated: I have no countries with 6,7,9 or 10 beacons. Without those I have to “downgrade” a few countries resulting in a Size 13 Pyramid. That is already above the target of 10, which is good, but I want to see how far i can push it. It is time to focus on what I need rather than just logging what I hear.
December 29th: midfield focus and Russia
So the challenge for the next days is now to raise the number of logs in my bottom half countries. But many of those are islands that simply don’t have more than 1 or 2 beacons. And with 4 logs I have logged all that CAN-Newfoundland can offer. So it is clear that I need to elevate my results for POL(1), DNK (1), CAN-Nunavut (4), ESP (4), GRL (5), numbers in brackets being the logging count after the first two days. And where are the Balkan countries?
But there is some low hanging fruit I didn’t pick yet as I didn’t scan above 450 kHz: Russia. So I put some effort in scanning Russian frequencies. In less than two hours I log 12 signals, securing a Size 14 Pyramid. I try to do the same for UKR, but without success.
Improved conditions to the Gulf of Biscaye late afternoon help to increase ESP to 9. Good for a Size 15 Pyramid. Can’t get POL further than 3. CZE remains stuck at 2. And while Sweden is booming in, the Danes (DNK) remain silent. Funny thing is that I also don’t hear much signals from nearby northern Germany either, while signals from Bavaria in the south are an easy catch. Long wave propagation sometimes behaves in mysterious ways.
December 30th: going offshore
I forgot that off shore counts as a country as well! Throughout the day I scan the various frequencies searching for oil platforms like Ekofisk or Statoil. Including the less often heard 375-SNR Snorre it is good for 7 logs. Size .
Tried DNK, AUT, CZE, Balkan again… nothing. And from GRL I hear only 4 of the 5 I already received, so I call it a day.
December 31st: doubts, Denmark and Nunavut
Bad news… just read that a new CME (solar storm) will reach earth the coming night which will most likely ruin propagation. More bad news… I start to doubt my reception of 336-AA from GRL as it hasn’t been reported for a year in REU. And unlike the other 4 GRL beacons I haven’t been able to receive it a second time. Revisiting the frequency it looks like the mix of RS and LT sometimes produces something that easily can be mistaken for AA… if I discard AA it sets me back to BASE 15. Why didn’t I make a recording to double check???
Good news in the early evening run: finally some success with the Danes as I picked up 5 signals moving DNK to 7 in total! Size 17 Pyramid is in the pocket, if my AA log is valid.
One hour left in 2024. Everyone has had enough beer and “oliebollen”, the elderly family members have given up and already went to bed, the rest is watching the final songs of the Top 2000. I decide to go for a quick check: and yes there it is: 336-AA… clearly audible, and yes I did make a recording this time, just for ease of mind.
With no other beacons from GRL audible other than the ones I already heard I browse through CAN-NU frequencies. Standing on par with CAN-NL at 4 logs it would be nice if I could raise this one to the 6 I’m still missing. And I hit the jackpot: within 20 minutes I had 6 Nunavut stations added to the list: Size 18 Pyramid in the pocket. The most And I heard my first CAN-ON signal: 334-YER. The final log for 2024. Time for champagne and New Year celebrations!
January 1st: Pyramiden
Can I move it to BASE 19 Pyramid? I have 3 countries that I can add to the antenna, that’s not the problem. But I need a new country at at least 6, and even then I have to move 4 other countries up the list as well. That’s only going to happen if I can get something from the Balkan. But the powerful Beverage antennas of the BDMR put me at a disadvantage here, as this really is their blind spot. So no luck.
I try the Arctic once more… and to my surprise I receive 295-EN from Svalbard. It hasn’t been reported by any of the group members for more than 3 years! This is a navigational beacon for the Russian coalmine Artikugol at Barentsburg. They used to operate from another town nearby as well, called Pyramiden !!! For me the perfect final of a fantastic Pyramide building event!
End results
What you can hear pretty much depends on your location. Aside from noise levels the number of countries and active beacons play a role. The members in the US and Canada are a bit at a disadvantage with the best of them reaching a 14 size pyramid. In Europe 4 participants went over 20! With 30 being the tallest pyramid consisting of 494 NDBs from 59 different radio countries!
During the last CLE of the NDBlist group I received a few NDBs from Greenland using the BDMR Kiwi in Clashmore. I wrote to Bo Mogensen from Tussas who confirmed my reception of NDB OZN earlier. He explained to me that OZN is a bit of an exception, but that most other beacons are operated by Greenland Airports.
So for my reception of Narsarsuaq I sent a report to bgbw@airports@gl. Within a day I got a reply. According to Wikipedia: along with Nuuk Airport and Kangerlussuaq Airport, Narsarsuaq is one of three civilian airports in Greenland capable of serving large airliners. It is also the only international airport in southern Greenland.
A new airport in Qaqortoq is however currently under construction and is scheduled to open in late 2026. This eliminates the need for Narsarsuaq as a domestic and Iceland-bound gateway to South Greenland. In 2022, the Greenlandic government decided that Narsarsuaq will be downscaled to a heliport, losing the runway.
While Transatlantic conditions are poor there is still plenty to listen to on medium wave. This week I received TWR from Parakou, Benin. They started a bit earlier than announced. Around 0305 h UTC I heard some nice African music like the song “Noé” from Pasteur Plaingué. The Shazam app works wonders… At 0320 their regular program started in Hausa, the lingua franca of the region. The typical TWR interval signal was absent.
My report was answered within a day by Mrs. Lorraine Stavropoulos, DX manager for TWR Africa via lstavrop@twr.org. Unfortunately, unlike the e-QSL from TWR Eswatini which featured the 50 years anniversary logo, there is no reference made to Benin. This seems to be a bit of a TWR policy, as neither of my Kyrgyzstan QSLs indicated the QTH.
This morning I noticed that Radio Monique, a LPAM from Velsen-Noord, The Netherlands, was missing on 1332 kHz. According to their website the New Year Storm hit the antenna with 10 Beaufort, causing significant damage. Moreover, as some fuses blew out as well, there might be electrical damage requiring the installation to be inspected.
While I wish them a speedy return to the airwaves it might be an opportunity to tune in to other stations on this frequency.
VERON : NL 14228
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