Earlier this year I received this nice e QSL Olympia Radio with call sign SVO. My report was for a DSC message on 8414.5 kHz. I sent my QSL to olympiaradio@ote.gr . Like in many countries maritime or coastal radio stations in Greece merged into one station: Olympia Radio. Occasionally I do see other MMSI station identifiers popping up like for example Aspropyrgis Radio, but as far as I know everything is centrally controlled since 1998.
e QSL from martime station Olympia Radio/SVO, Greece
As said, in the past there were multiple radio stations. Athens (SVA) was the station operating on both MF and HF. Iraklion (SVH), Limnos (SVL), Kerkyra (SVK), Rhodos (SVR) and Chios (SVX) were operating on MF only. Of those Kerkyra was most frequently received in the Netherlands. Below you can see the QSLs I received in the 80-ies from Athens and Kerkyra Radio.
1982 QSL from Athens Radio SVA, Greece
1988 QSL from Kerkyra Radio SVK, Korfu Island, Greece
I started this weblog a few months after I resumed DX-ing. As a result there are a few QSLs that I didn’t post yet. One of those is this comprehensive Word document I received as QSL Torshavn Radio. Torshavn Radio – call sign OXJ – is part of the MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) on the Faroe Islands. I received them with a DSC test message on 2187.5 kHz. It is a pity that they forgot to tick the DSC box on the document, but I applaud them for sending this neat QSL. I sent my report to MRCC@vorn.fo.
E-QSL letter from Torshavn Radio, Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but with a very high degree of self-governance. They are not part of the European Union. The debate on whether they should become fully independent of Denmark lingers on… For us DX-ers and QSL-hunters that doesn’t make a difference: the European DX council has long declared it a separate radio country.
Last night I received Taupo Radio, New Zealand, with a DSC message on 8414.5 kHz. Within the hour I received a polite email confirming my reception report via maritime@kordia.co.nz .
Email QSL from Taupo Radio, New Zealand
Now obviously I’m very grateful that operators of Taupo Radio took the time to send me answer. I do realize that replying to reception reports is not their core business. Many stations don’t even bother… But while a reply within the hour is an example of efficiency, it also makes me longing for the old days and it raises some concern…
In 1989 I received Awarua Radio, ZLB. It was one of 4 coastal radio stations in New Zealand, and it was the one that covered HF. So with proper propagation conditions you could pick up their CW signals. Yep, we were still on morse code. I think rationalization kicked in between 1991 and 1994, and 4 stations became one: Taupo Radio. And in itself that was not a bad thing. You can learn a bit more on this site about NZ coastal radio station history and here on Awarua Radio in particular.
At the time my reception report took about three weeks to land on their desk and another three weeks for an envelope to drop in the mailbox. The days we worked with printers if not typewriters. When there was no email and we had to rely on airmail. But I received a comprehensive letter with lots of information about the station, their transmitters, the receivers (JRC NRD515s – nice detail is that I made today’s Radio Taupo reception on my 30 years old JRC NRD 535!). And a beautiful QSL card that displayed pride in the coastal radio stations of New Zealand.
Proud of your Coast Radio Station… the QSL of Awarua Radio shows it!
And that is what is lacking today. Call me an old dude, a radio geek whatever… but I do think it is an opportunity missed. Driven by efficiency and bureaucrats who don’t understand the difference between a Volt and an Ampere there is no more space and time for pride and passion in engineering and technology and what it brings society… How much effort would it take to just include one promotional picture in an email from an interested listener? Promotion has never been so easy… And that – as a PhD Physics and retired technology manager – worries me… How are we going to foster interest in engineering studies so much needed in western society? Your thoughts? Leave a comment!
The back of the QSL: Awarua Radio was the HF presence in a network of 4 coastal radio stations
Earlier this year I received this beautiful QSL Bremen Rescue 2187.5 kHz. I really appreciate DSC stations (and other stations) that offer this service. Somehow I do hope that it helps younger people to develop an interest in the hobby and therefore in radio and electronics. I sent my report to mail@mrcc-bremen.de .
For my reception report of Tokyo Coast Guard from Japan on 12577 kHz I received this nice QSL letter. I heard Tokyo Coast Guard with a DSC message as you might already have guessed.
I added two dollars to cover return postage. They were donated to the Blue Feather Donation as you can read in the letter. Two blue feathers accompanied the QSL: pretty cool!
QSL Tokyo Coast Guard Radio, Japan
Thanks to Hugo Matten who confirmed to use the address below: Japan Coast Guard, 2-1-3, Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8976, Japan
During my stay on a campsite in the north of the Netherlands I enjoyed good conditions on 12 MHz in a relatively noise free environment. That resulted in the reception of a lot of new DSC stations. SHN (Servicio de Hidrografia Naval) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was one of those!
QSL… just three letters, but I got my QSL for MRCC Buenos Aires!
The email reply took hours only and was the shortest possible. But it carried the three key letters: “QSL”! (I added their logo to the email myself to improve the appearance of this post). I sent my report to shn@hidro.gov.ar. Confirmation followed via snautica@hidro.gov.ar, which is probably the Coast Guard branch.
This post is a bit of a “catch up” as I received this nice QSL letter by email from Guangzhou Coast Radio 8414.5 kHz before I started this webblog. I sent my report to gzrdoxsq@163.net.
I was very pleased with this QSL. I received Guangzhou Coast Radio with their callsign XSQ many years ago when they were still broadcasting “VVV” markers in CW. But where Shanghai Radio did return a QSL – the tiniest QSL in my collection – I never got one from Guangzhou. Today it seems the other way round, unless some of you can give me a better address for Shanghai.
As always I attached a photo of my home town Woerden with my report. In return I got a beautiful picture from Pearl River and Guangzhou city. It is always nice to see how proud people are of their city! If I look at their skyline I’m living in a prehistorical hamlet 😊
I bought a RSPdx receiver plus Boni Whip antenna for use on the campsite. It immediately delivered some nice results. My catch of Valparaiso Playa Ancha Radio, CBV, Chile was awarded with this beautiful QSL. I listened to a DCS message on 12577 kHz.
I also got a nice detailed letter plus some photo’s of their facilities.
Charleville Wiluna Radio with DCS messages on 16804.5 kHz is a relatively easy catch. Two things are a little bit more complicated:
First problem: what was the station I was actually listening to? Australia is a big country. In the 80-ies, individual stations had dedicated callsigns. I received VIP (Perth), VIS (Sydney), VIM (Melbourne) etc. in CW. But like in many other countries everything is now centralized, and Charleville (east coast, near Brisbane) and Wiluna (west coast, near Carnarvon) operate under the callsign VIC (formerly the Carnarvon callsign if I’m right). Mind you, both Charleville and Wiluna are not even coastal towns. Bad news: this is probably not going to change anymore…
1988 OTS QSL received via VIP Perth Radio, showing all call signs in use in those days
Second problem: whom to write to? Again “modern times”. As far as I know RCC Australia falls under the responsibility of AMSA “Australian Maritime Safety Agency“. But my email to them was answered with “this is something for Kordia”. Kordia is a service provider in Australia. But when I searched the internet I learned that Kordia was changing to “Ventia”. From my own experience I know that such changes typically result in a change of email addresses etc… so I decided to send a physical letter to the RCC Canberra address. And here comes the good news: my letter ended up with Craig Bloom, Senior Communications Operator at what is still Kordia. Craig answered with a kind email and the beautiful VIC QSL card! Drop a comment if you want to receive the contactdetails as I don’t like to publish email addresses that are not part of public domain.
UPDATE: Craig confirmed that rebranding of Kordia is complete, but their part of the operation will continue as Kordia.
Unless you go for HAM radio or into FM DX there are not a lot of options anymore to receive a QSL from Belgium. Fortunately Oostende Radio is still a reliable verifier. I received this QSL Oostende Radio 518 kHz for my reception of their NAVTEX message announcing gunnery exercises on the North Sea:
2023-04-21 07:10:10> ZCZC TA63 2023-04-21 07:10:12> 210611 UTC APR 2023-04-21 07:10:16> OOSTENDERADIO MSI 187/23 2023-04-21 07:10:20> DE PANNE-OOSTENDE 2023-04-21 07:10:27> GUNNERY EXERCISES IN THE MIDDLE SECTOR OF LOMBARDSIJDE 2023-04-21 07:10:35> TODAY 21 04 2023 FROM 0630 UNTIL 1030 UTC. 2023-04-21 07:10:43> GUNNERY SECTOR IS LISTENING ON CHAN 16 AND 67. 2023-04-21 07:10:49> CANCEL THIS MSG 211030 UTC APR. 2023-04-21 07:10:49> NNNN
Reading the letter I somehow got the feeling that they forgot to include the QSL card. So I “copied” one from Hugo’s DX hoekje… 😉
QSL Letter Oostende Radio, BelgiumQSL Oostende Radio OSU, Belgium (taken from Hugo’s DX hoekje)
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. A link back to my site is appreciated.
