"It's not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on" - Marilyn Monroe
When I received my QSL for the NDB SC for Santa Cruz I asked Mr. Figueirado if you could also confirm my earlier report for NDB PD Ponta Delgada on 351 kHz that I didn’t receive an answer on. He was so kind by immediately sending me a reply, so this is my 3rd NDB QSL from the Azores. The contact adres for NAV Portugal is geral@nav.pt :
John Paul II Ponta Delgada Airport is the largest airport of the Azores, with scheduled flights to the US and Canada and many European countries.
While NDB FIL for Horta Airport on Faial Island is a signal that I pick up relatively easy here, I had never heard any of the other Azores beacons in a reportable quality. But during the last CLE event of the NDB list group I heard NDB SC for Flores Island Airport. My reception was confirmed by mr. Marco Figueiredo, Deputy Director of the Santa Maria (Azores) region of NAV Portugal. I sent my report to geral@nav.pt.
Mr. Figueiredo writes that the airport is nearby the town of Santa Cruz. Well, that is a bit of an understatement. The runway cuts of Santa Cruz from the rest of the island, and leaves only two roads along the edge of the cliffs open to access the town… one north, one south:
Wikipedia writes that the first need for an airport/airfield on the island of Flores was recognized as early as 1927 by the Marquis Francesco de Pinedo, colonel of the Italian Air Force, who was forced to land 200 km from the island of Flores, during his attempt to reach Newfoundland. His Savoia-Marchetti S.55 hydroplane was rescued by the Portuguese fishing boat Infantes de Sagres and towed to Horta where it was repaired.
But, it was only in 1972 that an airport was inaugurated on the island of Flores. It offers regional flights to the nearby Azores Islands.
The second NDB on my QSL from Sakaernavigatsia, the Air Traffic Safety provider in Georgia was NDB DF on 520 kHz from Mukhrani. According to some sources there used to be an airport in Mukhrani, but if that was the case, it is now closed. The beacon is used for enroute navigation.
The distance to Mukhrani is 3167 kms from my QTH:
Really pleased with this QSL for my reception of NDB LU-430 in Batumi, Georgia, 2986 kilometers from my QTH. The only two beacons with a greater distance in SE direction are NDB Mukhrani (which was also confirmed with this QSL) and NDB ARB Arbadil from Iran. And it is only my 2nd QSL from Georgia since I received one for my reception of Voice of Hope from Tbilisi in 1997.
Wolf, DE2WHG, was so kind to provide me with a QSL address that worked. And Mr. Giorgi Meladze from Sakaeronavigatsia was so kind to confirm my reception report within a day:
Alexander Kartveli Batumi International Airport is one of three international airports in Georgia, located close to Batumi on the Black Sea. The airport is named after Alexander Kartveli, an aeronautical engineer and aviation pioneer.
The beacon is located at the end of the runway according to the excellent website OurAirports. Using Google Maps streetview I saw a little red and white container at the location which reminded me of the beacons used in Czechia (see my previous post).
Even during summer (or maybe especially during summer) it pays out to monitor the medium wave. Last night offered very good conditions towards Brazil and Argentina, allowing me to log a few stations that I didn’t hear before.
On this Youtube video you will see my recording of the National Anthem played on Radio Buenos Aires 1350 kHz. With 11448 kilometers from my QTH a new personal record!
Radio Castilla-La Mancha is a Spanish public radio station belonging to the Radiotelevisión de Castilla–La Mancha group , a company dependent on the autonomous government of Castile-La Mancha . It belongs to the Federation of Radio and Television Organizations of the Autonomies , a professional association that brings together the main regional public radio and television channels in the country.
I heard them during the July 1st, opening. Jesus Sanchez was so kind to confirm my reception report. Apart from identifying the station with PI code I received a traffic message for Toledo, Spain:
UPDATE: A strong Radio Castilla La Mancha station ID. I heard this one on 105.9 MHz, which has only a 350 Watt relay listed in Riópar, Castilla La Mancha:
On 92.0 MHz I heard COPE Madrid, Spain. Actually it was COPE Mas Madrid via a 2 kW relay transmitter in Villalbilla, 25 kms east of Madrid:
According to FM list I heard a COPE Más Madrid broadcast, but I heard an annoucement of both COPE Madrid and COPE Más (with the frequencies 106.3 and 94.8 for the Madrid transmitters):
COPE Madrid is Madrid’s leading generalist channel, with a broad focus on news, sports, and current affairs, strongly oriented towards the local community and sports enthusiasts.
COPE Más is a supplementary channel that places more emphasis on entertainment, lifestyle and cultural topics, often with a local and accessible approach.
My reception report was confirmed by Mrs. Beatriz Perez Otin, journalist, producer and presenter at COPE. Thank you Beatriz!
Radio Marca Sevilla is a radio station based in Sevilla, Spain, part of the Radio Marca network. The station is dedicated entirely to sports as witnessed by their slogan “El Deporte es Nuestro” (The Sport is Ours), which I clearly heard during my reception of the station:
The Radio Marca network started in 2001 with the newspaper Marca as its craddle. My reception report was confirmed in two emails from the technical department by mr. Pablo Arellono Mauleon and mr. Manuel Martinez Bravo. Thank you so much!
The picture below shows the Radio Marca network. Not really nation wide, but focussing on the bigger cities. The station in Sevilla on 94 MHz has a power of 1 kW.
During a nice opening towards Spain on July 1st one of the stations I picked up was COPE Andalucía. I did hear the regional COPE Andalucía ID, but not the more local Cordoba or Granada ID. And as the two 1 kW transmitters are only 100 kilometers apart it is difficult to say which location I received. Cordoba might be a bit more likely given the other stations I heard, but not by much.
Manuel Marin from the technical department in Granada was so kind to confirm my report.
NDB HN on 330 kHz serves Hornafjördur or Hornafjörður Airport, located on the south east coast of Iceland. It serves the community of Höfn (about 2500 people) with scheduled flights to Reykjavik. The terminal building looks slightly bigger than that of Thorshofn, but not by much.
It is my 6th beacon from Iceland confirmed. Mr. Guðmundsson from Isavia was so kind to send a scan of the QSL letter.
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