The wonderful world of listening to the radio
Yesterday I wrote about the reactivation of Galei Zahal on 1287 and 945 kHz. In the evening hours both frequencies could be received very well here in The Netherlands. This morning the QSL for Galei Zahal 1287 kHz showed up in my email box. Galei Zahal (or Galatz) is the radio station of the IDF (Israeli Army).
The transmitter on 1287 kHz is located in She’ar Yashuv, in the North of Israel, only 3 kilometers away from the border with Lebanon.
Galei Zahal from Israel has reactivated their medium wave transmitter on 1287 kHz (50/100 kW), and there are also reports that 945 kHz is active. Galei Zahal is the broadcasting station of the Israeli Army IDF. It’s also abbreviated as “Galatz”.
I only tried briefly to receive this station this morning as I was busy with finishing the Collective Listening Event 299 on NDBs. The local LPAM station Kilrock on 1287 kHz was dominating the frequency. But guess what? They sent a message in response to listeners complaining about interference in the evening, explaining that it was Galei Zahal causing the issue. Check this YouTube recording of the Kilrock message (in Dutch obviously).
In 1999 I received Galei Zahal on 6895 kHz, for which I received a QSL. But for more than a decade they have been active on FM only.
UPDATE: received the station today (3JAN24) on 1287 kHz, around 17:30 h UTC, fading in/out over local LPAM Kilrock, up to near perfect quality. Later in the evening also audible on 945 kHz, here well over Radio Romania Actualitati.
I was not very active blogging I have to admit. Following the developments in Israel my mind is elsewhere, and I still find it difficult to focus my mind on pulling “difficult to read” radio signals out of my SDR IQ recordings…
I’m still monitoring the waves, and the computer picked up some signals from two countries under attack…
On October 7th I picked up this NAVTEX signal on 518 kHz from Haifa Radio, Israel, mentioning the blockade of the Gaza strip. As the message states “as of 03 January” I do believe that this is not related to the current war, but to a blockade that has been established earlier.
On October 10th I picked up another message. This one contains an Israeli Navy annoucnement about a safety zone around the Karish platform.
Another station that I didn’t receive for a while is Odesa Radio, Ukraine. I see a couple of warnings about drifting buoys in the Black Sea… probably nothing out of the ordinary, while buoys are there for safety they often break loose and appear in messages like this.
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