European listeners to DSC/GMDSS messages on the various frequencies know that there are a few stations like Coruna Radio who are heard almost every hour, every day. And there are stations that you can only hear when propagation conditions are favorable: true DX. But there are also stations that are just not that often on the air. Martec Skagen is one of those, and this QSL ANFR Donges, the Agence Nationale des Fréquences is for another one.
ANFR is big organisation, and as decribed on Wikipedia their mission is:
“… ensuring the planning, management and control of the use, including private use, of the public domain of radio frequencies subject to the application of article L. 41 of the Postal and Commercial Code. electronic communications , as well as the skills of administrations and authorities allocating radio frequencies. Its budget is allocated to budgetary program 134 “Business and tourism development”, of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.”
By the way: one of the things they do is licensing radio amateurs. That said, I have no clue why this agency was contacting utility ship JIF Helios on 8 and 12 MHz near the Canary Islands.
I decided to give it a try and sent a report to ANFR Donges, Department Radiomaritime, 223 La Pommeraye, 4480 DONGES, France. I added the “Department Radiomaritime” hoping this would help to get the email on the proper desk. A week later I got a polite email back confirming my reception:
Email to QSL my reception of ANFR Donges on 8 and 12 MHz.
A scan of my reception report,with SR Donges stamp was also included. But no answer on my question what this transmission was all about…
If you do know what ANFR does with DSC transmissions… please leave a comment!
I received an email as QSL NDB PX-389 Perigueux-Bassillac, France. A big thank you to Juan Antonio Arranz who provided me the email address for this beacon. Unfortunately the beacon will be switched off in May this year as the team wrote in their email:
It’s always surprising to know that our PX beacon can be received from so far away! Not long ago we received the same message from Spain.
Indeed, unfortunately the beacon will be out of service from May 2024. The associated procedure can no longer be used. In France, Civil Aviation is reducing costs, particularly when it concerns small airfields. The Périgueux aerodrome has no longer had a regular service since June 2018.
We are managed by a joint union and account for around 15,000 movements per year: leisure and business aviation, organ transport and medical evacuations, military training, etc.
Our team is made up of 4 people: 2 agents at the control tower and 2 airport firefighters.
A rare opportunity to get a paper QSL from a main European broadcaster on shortwave: the NDR “Gruß an Bord” program. It is a special program that is being broadcast by the Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) on Christmas Eve.
Paper QSL from NDR for their “Gruß an Bord” Christmas program
As they write on their website (where you can also listen back to the 2023 program):
This year “Greetings on Board” celebrates its 70th anniversary. The traditional NDR program was broadcast for the first time on Christmas Eve 1953. So that ships on the world’s oceans can receive the broadcast, NDR rents additional shortwave frequencies. The series is a bridge between seafarers who travel the world’s oceans and their relatives in Germany. The sailors send greetings home. Families and friends wish them a happy holiday at sea or in distant ports.
Apart from the paper QSL I really enjoyed this program for a number of reasons.
First of all this program was brought from the “Hamburger Duckdalben“. The Duckdalben is the International Seaman’s Mission in Hamburg. There is a lot to be told about the good work they do, please visit their site to learn more. They had a significant role during the Covid-19 episode. This had a huge impact on sailors as they couldn’t travel back home to their families for months, as was discussed in the program.
Celebrating it’s 70th anniversary, the design of the program takes you back to the old days. There was no satellite. Shortwave radio was the only way to connect sailors and their beloved ones at home. And I can’t say it better than the “Gruß an Bord” team does:
The emotional, melancholic but also happy messages from the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and children of our sailors reflect the life that continues, at home and on board. And this connection between the two, this bridge between land and sea is needed – today just as much as it was 70 years ago!
I vividly remember how Radio Nederland had similar programs for Dutch people abroad when they were still active on shortwave!
Three transmitter sites, three countries verified on one QSL!
Another reason why I enjoyed this program is because my dad (who passed away two years ago) was an engineer – “machinist” – on merchant ships of the KNSM, The “Royal Dutch Shipping Company”. For my Dutch readers: it was also referred to as “Kleine Nietige Scheepjes Maatschappij” according to my dad. In the 50’s of the previous century he made many trips to the Caribbean and the Mediterranean seas, but also to Hamburg. The “Reeperbahn” was one of the first streets abroad that I heard about as a 6 year old kid. But it took me another 10 years to find out what the Reeperbahn was really all about 😜!
I understand that for many years this program was broadcast via Norddeich Radio, a former German coastal station. I have a QSL for one of their USB transmissions on MF, see below. These days NDR rents time with some of the few major transmitting stations that are still active on shortwave. My QSL was for Issoudun, Nauen and Tashkent. The latter one is nice. I do have QSLs from Uzbekistan from the past, but it is the first QSL from this country that I can add to this blog which I started after my return to the DX hobby.
1980s QSL of Norddeich Radio, a former coastal radio station in Germany
Let’s hope that they will continue this tradition, looking forward to their 71st program this year!
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.
Atlantic 2000 will be on the airwaves this Saturday, December 9 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. UTC (10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. French time) on 6070 and 9670 kHz via Channel 292. The show will be streamed at the same time on our website.
Until then, you can listen to our Podcasts or our stream on our website 24 hours a day. Good listening ! Visit our website and listen to Atlantic 2000: http://radioatlantic2000.free.fr
e- QSL from Atlantic 2000 International, broadcasting via Channel 292
My third QSL from a French CROSS station. This email confirms my reception of CROSS Étel from Bretagne. They can be easily received here in The Netherlands. Though not as frequent as the CROSS Gris-Nez and CROSS Jobourg stations who are situated along the very busy Channel. Jerôme Christ was so kind to send me the QSL a few hours after I sent my report.
Email to QSL CROSS Étel, France, 2187.5 kHz
I found a nice picture on the internet showing the service areas of the various CROSS stations in France, 5 main ones (in red) and the sub-station on Corsica (Corse):
A very nice QSL letter from CROSS Jobourg on 2187.5 kHz. And radiating the French spirit, which makes it stand out. The station is located on the French coast of the Channel (the French hate it when you refer to it as the English Channel, and I agree), one of the busiest seaways in the world. And as a result it can be heard often. I sent my report to jobourg@mrccfr.eu
A nice e-QSL from CROSS MED La Garde, France, on 2187.5 kHz. A station that can be heard regularly with DCS messages.
e-QSL card CROSS MED Lagarde, 2187.5 kHz
I have to admit that I’m still trying to establish the link between the new DSC stations and what I heard some 40 years ago. Coastal Radio stations like Bordeaux Arcachon, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Brest-le-Conquest and Grasse are gone. But the current CROSS stations are not their descendants. They are the successors of the French Navy stations that were easy to hear in CW in the 80-ies, not only from France, but from all over the world… resulting in nice QSLs from countries like Reunion, Tahiti, New Caledonia and French Guyana for example.
CROSS La Garde is one of 6 CROSS stations in France. The others are Jobourg, Gris-Nez, Étel, Corsen and Ajaccio. The latter, also known as CROSS Corse or “Aspretto” is a secondary station that heard less often. The community of La Garde is situated adjacent to Toulon, the most important French Navy harbor on the Mediterranean Sea (which also features in the movie “Napoleon” (2023))
The transmitter site at Roumoules is owned by Monaco Media Diffusion. Located in France they are among the most powerful in the world. The 2000 kW long wave transmitter on 216 kHz went silent however in 2020 when Radio Monte Carlo decided to focus on FM and internet only. The 1000 kW transmitter on mediumwave is still in use by TWR (Trans World Radio). For my reception report I received this nice QSL TWR Roumoules 1467 kHz.
e- QSL card from TWR broadcasting from France
I listened to a program in the Arab language (which I don’t speak) and then it is difficult to pick up details. But then I heard the name of Brother Andrew mentioned a few times. Checking on Wikipedia I learned that he was a Dutch missionary. For his activities in smuggling bibles and christian literature into communist countries during the Cold War he earned the nickname “God’s Smuggler”. So even if you don’t understand a language, you can still learn something in this hobby!
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.
