My first FM QSL from Portugal: M80 Rádio, broadcasting from Serra de Montejunto near Lisbon with 10 kW. Audible for about 15 minutes allowing me to identify a couple of songs and an ID.
M80 began broadcasting on January 18, 1993 in Spain as Radio 80 Serie Oro. In 1994, the name was changed to M80. In 2018 M80 Radio stopped broadcasting in the country, and was replaced by Los 40 Classic.
But in Portugal, where it started broadcasting in 2007, the station is still present with a solid nation wide coverage:
M80 coverage in Portugal: I received 96.4 from the Lisbon area
I noticed this special call sign PA25NATO a couple of time on SSTV 14230 kHz. Apparently it is in use to celebrate the upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague, The Netherlands.
It’s going to be quite the event security wise, right in one of the most densely populated areas of Europe, to the point that you think whether it wouldn’t have been wise to select a more convenient location. Good thing that I’m retired and don’t have to deal with all the road closures and resulting traffic jams in the coming weeks.
Last night I made my first reception of a SSTV station from Brazil. I picked up pictures from PY4XC, Rio Doce, Minas Gerais, about 200 kms north of Rio de Janeiro.
When I checked QRZ.com it was obvious that the picture received was that of the shack:
Radio Stad Montfoort, or RSM, is the local radio station from the little city of Montfoort, only 5 kilometers south of my QTH. Remco Kuijer was so kind to confirm my reception report. One of their programs is “Radio Bingo”. This game program is so popular that even from other provinces listeners participate by tuning in to their live stream.
When tropospheric conditions are not too unfavourable, Ici Nord, broadcasting with 130 KW on 94.7 MHz is an easy catch here in Woerden. Somehow my MP3 recording didn’t reach Alex at the PR desk but the details of my report were sufficient for an email confirmation:
Hello Peter,
I’m Alexander, i’m working for listeners relationship in ICI NORD radio ! Nous sommes honorés d’être écoutés depuis les Pays-Bas, votre pays est magnifique !
Je ne trouve pas votre enregistrement dans le mail, mais d’après ce que j’ai pu lire je peux vous confirmer qu’il s’agit bien de notre antenne ! La fréquence 94.7 est la plus forte de toutes nos antennes !
« Nous confirmons que Peter Reuderink a reçu Ici Nord, émettant depuis la région Nord-Pas-de-Calais, à Lille, en France sur 94.7 MHZ, le 20 mai à 8h 49 CEST »
Je vais vous faire parvenir quelques autocollants à ajouter à votre collection, ils datent d’avant le changement de marque ! Nous nous nommions avant janvier 2025 « France Bleu Nord » et nous sommes donc devenu « Ici Nord » cette année !
Bonne soirée à vous,
Alex
My first QSL for this station is from 1985 when it was still called Radio France “Fréquence Nord”. In 2000 the local radio stations from Radio Bleue and Radio France partnered and the station continued as France Bleu Nord. Since 2024 the France Bleu networks have been rebranded to “Ici”, with “Ici Nord” for this station.
1985 QSL letter for Frequence Nord 94.7
UPDATE: Alex sent me some nice stickers via the mail which arrived a view days later. Thank you Alex!
On the 22nd of May there was a nice SpE opening towards Bulgaria. One of the stations I heard was BNR Radio Varna playing some traditional music.
Mrs Kremena Ivanova was so kind to confirm my reception. She wrote that Radio Varna celebrated its 90th birthday on December 9th, 2024 being the oldest radio station in Bulgaria. A bit of history from Wikipedia:
In 1933, Dimitar Kulev, then a student at the Varna Boys’ High School, assembled two amateur radio transmitters together with his physics teacher , with the more powerful of which on January 6, 1934, he broadcast a live performance by the “Sea Sounds” choir.
On May 25, 1933, the Varna Radio Club was established as a section of the Rodno Radio Union. The first live radio broadcast from Varna was made on January 6, 1934 on medium waves with a frequency of 1276 kHz. On July 19, 1934, the Ministry of Railways and Transport authorized the construction of a radio station and in September 1934, the trials of Radio Varna began.
The birth date of the radio is considered to be December 9, 1934, when a concert was broadcast from the Varna “Unity” Hall, which was the first medium wave broadcast in Northern and Northeastern Bulgaria
On 25 January 1935, Tsar Boris III signed the decree establishing the Bulgarian National Radio. The document, which officially marked the beginning of “Radio Sofia”, as the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) was then called. Radio Varna got a new board an became part of BNR.
Radio Nacional de España is one of the few national broadcasters in Europe that still has a solid mediumwave presence. And they have local programs. Problem for us DX-ers is that the various stations share frequencies, so it’s difficult to identify the individual stations. At 7:45 hours local time however the stations have a local news bulletin and ID:
Artur from Maresme DX was so kind to help me to get a verification for RNE Galicia. Big thanks, it is so nice to make friends in this hobby!
Shortwave Radio from Winsen is an easy catch here. For a little compensation they will confirm your report with a traditional QSL card. You can read the details on their website.
old school QSL card from Shortwaveradio.de, Winsen, Germany
The station is located in Winsen “on the river Aller”. So that is the Winsen located 20 km north of Hannover, Germany (there is another Winsen south of Hamburg). They broadcast on 6160 and 3975 kHz. Next to their own program Shortwave Gold there are various other program producers that use the Shortwave Radio facilities.
A fully detailed email QSL for my reception of WLRP Radio Raíces – La Voz del Pepino – on 1460 AM from San Sebastián, Puerto Rico. I made my reception during my stay in Curacao. A distance of 725 km for a station with 0.5 kW on a small portable receiver isn’t bad, but the fact that it is all over water does help.
Radio Raíces was broadcasting a sort of “Latin Golden Oldies” with amongst others a very nice song “Quizás, quizás, quizás” by Nat King Cole that I didn’t know. They are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year as they started broadcasting in 1965.
The nickname “La Voz del Pepino” for WLRP Radio Raíces is tied to the town’s nickname, “El Pepino.” San Sebastián is commonly referred to as “El Pepino” in Puerto Rico, a name derived from the Spanish word for cucumber, though the exact origin of this nickname for the town is unclear.
I sent my report to radioraices1460(at)gmail.com . While I typically get replies on email reports within a day or so… this one took 9 weeks. So it was a nice surprise!
The new 2018 antenna of WLRP Radio Raíces – La voz del Pepino – 1460 AM, Puerto Rico
I received a SSTV station with call sign UT1KWA from the Ukraine on 14230 kHz. It turned out to be the Rivne DX club, from Rivne, a city in the northwest of the Ukraine.
Pavlo (UT1KY) is running the station. He is a teacher by profession, but also teaches kids to how to run radio. A very nice initiative as I welcome anything that interests kids in technology! QSL manager for the station is Antonello IK2DUW.
Pavlo also shared some nice pictures of him and kids working at the club, showing some nice awards they got. Given privacy considerations I prefer to share a picture they posted on their website. I think this is Pavlo some years ago. His beard is a bit more grey today (as is my own hair).
The Rivne DX club
Thank you Pavlo for your kind reply, all the best with your initiative and the Rivne DX club. It’s these sort of connects that make our hobby so nice.
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.
Feel free to copy anything on this weblog. I try to provide accurate information, but if I'm wrong: don't blame me! A link back to my site is appreciated when you copy info.
