I would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone who follows or just visits my blog a Merry Christmas!
On the picture above you see the Tallest Christmas Tree of the World. Almost 370 meters tall, with lights connected on the guy wires of the Gerbrandy Radio/TV tower near IJsselstein. The tower is about 14 kilometers away from my QTH, but I can easily see it from my house! If visibility permits, you can even spot this tree from 40-50 kilometers distance. This year we celebrate the 25th time that the lights went on.
A nice fully detailed email confirmation of my reception of MRCC Bilbao, Spain, on 2187.5 kHz. I sent them both an email (2nd attempt to bilbao@sasemar.es ) and a letter. From the answer I guess that it was the letter that made it to the control room.
Email as QSL for my reception of MRCC Bilbao on 2187.5 kHz
Whereas Valencia, Coruna and Las Palmas Radio are frequently heard with DSC messages, the MRCCs seem less active on MF. There are quite a few of them though, but the ITU list indicates a presence on VHF/UHF only. Classaxe however shows five stations that were logged on 2187.5 kHz in recent years: Finisterre, Tarifa, Gijon, Valencia and Bilbao. The first two are most frequently heard apparently.
The various reports I sent to the English desk of Radio Romania International on my reception of regional stations were all answered politely. A great service. They promised to send me a QSL, but they were changing to a new e-QSL policy. In November their e-QSLs became available, and yes, I received all of them in one email:
SuperClan Radio is one of many producers that air their program via Channel 292 in Germany. Last weekend they were in the air with a Christmas show. Within an hour of submitting my reception report fo superclanradio@yahoo.com I received this fully detailed e-QSL
A nice e-Christmas card from Alcaravan Radio, Colombia
One of the highlights for me this year was the reception of Alcaravan Radio from Colombia on 5910 kHz. After many years I could finally add another Colombian QSL to my collection. An equally nice surprise was this Christmas card that I received from them yesterday. Thank you Rafael and a Feliz Navidad!
The eQSL from Radio Blackstone International on 6270 kHz is very appealing. One of the nicest in my collection now. Thank you Herman!
e QSL from Radio Blackstone International 6270 kHz
Radio Blackstone International is a Free Radio station that is irregularly in the air on short wave. Herman uses home made tube transmitters, or vintage army transmitters. For the transmission that I received on 6270 kHz a Telefunken T400 transmitter from 1958 was used. Radio Blackstone International is located in the province of Drenthe, The Netherlands. I sent my report to radioblackstone@outlook.com. Herman is also operating as “Zeewolf” on mediumwave.
NDB MAK-360.5 Mackel is an en-route beacon for Brussel Airport. Koen Vanooteghem told me in his QSL for the Oostende NDBs OO, DD and ONO, that historically this beacon is maintained be Skeyes as well. So I sent him a report which was immediately confirmed.
I shared with Koen what I learned about the situation in The Netherlands with NDB NW for Maastricht Airport being the “last man standing” as some satellite navigation details had to be worked out with Belgium. Koen told me that as of January 1st, 2024 all Belgian Airports should have RNAV (satellite navigation) operational. EBAW (Antwerp) has been ready for a while, EBOS (Ostend) is ready since November this year. So the expectation is that Belgian NDBs will be taken off line by end 2024.
The radiobeacons DD, OO and ONO for Oostende Brugge Airport are maintained by Skeyes. Koen Vanooteghem of Skeyes, a HAM operator himself (ON6BVK) was so kind to confirm my reception report. Thanks to Arvid Husdal for the tip.
A few days after I received Atlantic 2000 International with their program via Channel 292 I got their e-QSL. Which is a good opportunity to wish all readers of this blog a nice week heading into the Christmas weekend.
There is only one NDB (nondirectional beacon) left in The Netherlands, and that is NW at Beek, or Maastricht/Aachen Airport. This airport is also “home” of Dutch Air Traffic Control (LVNL), so I sent them an email (info@lvnl.nl) to ask what makes NW so special. I got a friendly reply (thank you!):
LVNL has phased out all NDBs and Locators in recent years, with the exception of the NW beacon. The reason for this is that we now use satellite navigation and these beacons are no longer needed. The navigation procedures have been adjusted accordingly. This was possible in most of the airspace above the Netherlands. Only part of the airspace and route structure in the south of the Netherlands is currently too complex to use satellite navigation. As a result, more time is needed to safely introduce the satellite navigation-based procedures in the border area with Belgium. It is expected that this will be possible sometime in the coming years. After that we can also phase out the NW beacon.
Belgium still has 11 active NDBs, with SLV-386.5 in Spa and ONL-290 in Liège close to Maastricht.
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.
