The wonderful world of listening to the radio
I am a fan of Channel 292. It is a nice platform for enthusiastic producers to share their view on music across international borders. This weekend I listened to Alt Universe Top 40. A nice show that provides context on a Top 40 chart in a selected year.
John McMullan is the man behind Alt Universe Top 40. He was so kind to confirm my reception report with a very nice email. Please check out John on his next show, and send him a report!
I received a nice email to QSL my reception of Jazz AM via Channel 292, Rohrbach, Germany, on 9670 kHz. Jazz AM is brought by gbradio.uk. They can be regularly heard on Channel 292, but on occasion use a U-turn construction to broadcast via Woofferton 3955 kHz, as explained in the email from John at Jazz AM:
A bit of background about Jazz A M. gbradio.uk is a very small scale programme producer located in Hampshire UK. I have had a long history of enjoying Jazz dating back to VOA Jazz Hour and the whole evenings of Jazz and events such as Montereux on Europe 1 and France Entire in the 1960’s during the period Jazz really took off in FRANCE.
The German Government licences Short Wave Broadcaster who can sell airtime at a reasonable rate. Encompas operate the only shortwave broadcast site in the UK. the BBC ,VOA,and overseas Broadcasters buy time but UK citizens can not as you cannot get UK Broadcast Licence for Shortwave. HOWEVER C292 is licenced by the German authorities and has a relay agreement with ENCOMPASS. So I do occasion broadcasts on 3955 kHz at 125 kW.
Best Regards
John
For those interested: this is the schedule for the coming days:
Relay via Woofferton UK
3955 kHz Sunday 18th August 2100 to 2200 UTC 125 kW
10Kw via Germany Channel 292: (10db gain with beam)
9670 kHz Sunday 11th August 1000 to 1100 UTC Beam R
9670 kHz Sunday 11th August 2100 to 2200 UTC Beam R
9670 kHz Sunday 18th August 2100 to 2200 UTC Beam R
9670 kHz Saturday 24th August 2100 to 2200 UTC
Channel 292 brings a number of interesting programs. Often I just make an SDR recording during the weekend so I can listen to selected shows during the week.
CM Obrecht is one of the programs that stands out due to the music selection. While shortwave might not be the best medium to appreciate music, you can discover new artists to add to your on-line play lists.
Obrecht is a musician himself, composing and producing electronic music. Learn more about him on his website where you can listen to his music, but also find out about the next broadcast times of his program..
I received the above e QSL within a day, having sent my report to c.obrecht@swissonline.ch .
A nice QSL for Atlantic 2000 International celebrating their 42nd anniversary. I received this program via Channel 292, Germany, on 9670 kHz. As always I sent my report to atlantic2000international@gmail.com .
At the start of this post I want to make clear that I don’t intend to make jokes about the very kind people of WDR5. Read my explanation at the end of this post.
Last year I was testing my FM antenna… more about that later. I came across WDR5 Langenberg, Germany on 88.8 MHz. As I read somewhere that they were still issuing dedicated WDR5 QSLs I decided to send a report to wdr5@wdr.de. Two days later I received a polite email:
Vielen Dank für Ihr Interesse am Programm von WDR 5.
Bitte haben Sie Verständnis dafür, dass die Bearbeitung Ihrer E-Mail ggf. etwas Zeit in Anspruch nehmen kann.
If you don’t speak German: “Thanks for your interest, asking for your understanding that it might take a while”.
Two weeks ago I realized myself that I never got answer. So I sent a kind reminder. Within a day I received this reply:
Da Ihr Anliegen etwas sehr komplex ist, geben wir dieses Intern weiter und werden uns nochmal bei Ihnen melden!
This translates as “your question is quite complicated… we will forward and let you know”.
And last week I received a nice fully detailed letter from the Technical Information Department to QSL WDR5 Langenberg:
As promised at the start of this post, my take away:
I am very grateful that WDR5 is still sending out physical letters to QSL reception reports from listeners. There are very few stations that still do so, and I applaud them for this. But the correspondence does show how unfamiliar the front office public relation desk is with anything related to “technical questions”. Steve Canney, former engineer and QSL Manager of CFRB/CFRX Toronto made me aware of this. And you can see that the reply is from the Technical Department. This is why, when sending QSL requests to bigger stations, I always try to direct them to Engineering or Transmitter Engineering departments.
To finish this post, the beautiful QSL card I received in 1980 for my reception WDR Langenberg on 1593 kHz medium wave… those were the days!
A QSL Radio Mi Amigo 6085 kHz via Kall-Krekel in Germany. Funny thing is that this is my first Radio Mi Amigo QSL. I know for sure that I have sent various reports to “Radio Mi Amigo” programs in the distant past.
Lion Keezer was so kind to reply to my reception report within a day. Lion grew up with the pirate stations in the 60ies, and in 1972 he stepped on board Mi Amigo for the first time.
I don’t think that following their off shore days the organizations presenting themselves as Radio Mi Amigo were very professional. But today that is definitely very different. Radio Mi Amigo connects with their audience through their website, newsletter , via Facebook and via Twitter and Instagram.
Some of their programmes can be listened to via Mixcloud. And if you are interested in off shore radio in the 70-ies, please do check out the iBook: ‘Pirate Radio Ships in the 70s’
QSL PowerRumpel via Channel 292, Germany. PowerRumpel is a program maker that has been active via Channel 292 for quite a while. But somehow I had never listened to them. I was pleasantly surprised this weekend tuning into their program telling the story of the Rain Man movie and playing music from the sound track.
The QSL nicely reflects the program content. I sent my report to radiopr@partyheld.de . Their coming broadcasts are scheduled on 6070 kHz for each 2nd Sunday of the month on 18 h UTC, with a repeat on the next Friday, also on 6070 kHz, 18 h UTC. Theme of the June broadcast will be the movie Barfuss (Barefoot).
I’m not always DX-ing, sometimes I just like to listen to shortwave radio. Atlantic 2000 International, broadcasting via Channel 292 is one of my favourites. This is a QSL for the Atlantic 2000 International broadcast in May.
On their website you can learn that the name Atlantic 2000 is much older than 45 years. That name belonged to a station broadcasting from San Sebastian to the French Atlantic Coast, with roots going back to Radio Andorra. Following the death of dictator Franco this station was closed in 1975 by the Spanish government. The FM broadcasts from the French Atlantic coast starting in 1978 were a tribute to this station.
Because of its interesting mix of music, featuring French chansons, I like to listen to Atlantic 2000 via Channel 292 in Germany. This is the e-QSL for their program last week. In my garden I enjoy similar cherry blossom as on the QSL. The temperatures are however lagging… it is windy and too cold for the time of year.
An e QSL for Texas Radio Shortwave via Channel 292, Rohrbach, Germany. TRS ran two test programs last weekend Channel 292. On Saturday I heard them with a relatively weak signal on 6070 kHz, 9 h UTC. On Sunday significantly better on 9670 kHz, 10 h UTC. I sent my report to Texasradioshortwave@protonmail.com .
During the test program they were playing different versions of “The Yellow Rose of Texas” song. The song is from around 1850. The singer tells about his love for a “yellow girl”, a term that in those days was used to describe a light-skinned girl of mixed black and white ancestry. Later the lyrics were changed from “yellow girl” to “yellow rose”.
There is a story that the song refers to Emily D. West, whose statue you see on the e QSL card. Working as a servant in Texas she was kidnapped by the Mexican Cavalry and forced to travel with the forces of General Antonio López de Santa Anna. In the battle of San Jacinto the Mexicans were defeated in 18 minutes by the Texan Army led by General Sam Houston. It is said that the Mexicans were caught unprepared as Santa Anna was in bed with West.
© 2024 Peter's DX Corner
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑