Category: Netherlands (Page 1 of 10)

QSL Club Roma’s en Zender Dwerghut 94.5 MHz

May 22, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 2 Comments

Apologies for the fact that I’m not posting as much as I used to. But we are in the final stages of building our new house and that requires a bit of attention. In April conditions were poor. Mid May they were good, but none of the Peruvian MW stations I heard replied.

So here we are. Eagerly awaiting the Sporadic E season. So I start scanning the FM band. And while I missed the first opening of the year as I was travelling earlier today, I discovered what I already sort of knew: 3 meter pirate stations are still a big thing here in the north east of the Netherlands. When I was 17 (almost half a century ago) I had my own 3 meter station as did many of my school friends. After school we tried to make contact with 1 to 10 Watt transmitters.

In the western part of the Netherlands 3 meter radio doesn’t exist anymore. But here on the country side in the province of Drenthe it is still a big thing. Radio as such is a big thing when I go by all the antennas I see here driving around.

Today I received “Club Roma’s en de Zender Dwerghut” vanuit Klazienaveen, the Netherlands, 18 kilometers from here. These stations are far more powerful than the 1 to 10 Watt stations we used when I was young. I heard reports from 50 kilometers away. And a year ago I heard an FM station from Weiteveen (you can see the village bottom right on the map above) on my previous QTH in Woerden, a distance of 150 kilometers, and in superb quality.

And unlike us these stations broadcast full stereo with RDS data included:

As the stations are illegal a contact address is difficult to obtain. Usually they broadcast a mobile telephone number which you can use to contact them using Whatsapp or SMS. Which is what I did for Club Roma’s and Zender Dwerghut. You might receive a brief reply, but more likely your reception report will be mentioned on the radio:

My report confirmed on the air via Club Roma’s and Zender Dwerghut on 94,5 MHz

QSL Radio De Vliegende Hollander 1467 kHz

May 9, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

Radio De Vliegende Hollander (“The Flying Dutchman”) from Meppel, The Netherlands, can be heard quite well here in Coevorden on 1467 kHz. No surprise as the distance is only 37 kilometers. This LPAM station is broadcasting with 50 Watts, slightly lower than most Dutch LPAMs. At my previous QTH in Woerden I was never able to receive this station, as Radio Paradijs from nearby Utrecht was dominant. The first time I heard this station was on a clip my friend Arild Skalmeraas sent me to help with the station identification. Which means that Radio Vliegende Hollander already made it to Norway!

In the audioclip below you can hear the Radio Paradijs ID at 14 seconds, and much louder, the Radio De Vliegende Hollander ID at 22 seconds:
“Dit is Radio de Vliegende Hollander, AM 1467 kHz, vanuit Nederland. Wil je meer informatie over ons, surf dan naar www.radiodevliegendehollander.nl . Radio de Vliegende Hollander te horen op AM, 1467 kHz, vanuit Meppel brengen we je het laatste nieuws”

Radio De Vliegende Hollander ID

My reception report sent to 1467am(at)radiodevliegendehollander.nl was answered by Koert who is the station owner. Koert happens to be a member of the VERON as well as the Benelux DX Club, just as I am. And therefore maybe no surprise that reception reports are awarded with a beautiful old school QSL card. Big thanks to Koert!

Old school QSL card from Radio De Vliegende Hollander (which is Dutch for Flying Dutchman)

Fully detailed QSL card for Radio De Vliegende Hollander

QSL Radio Turftrekker 1638 kHz (and a lesson on Dutch History)

April 24, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 6 Comments

DX-ing mediumwave pirates is nice because sometimes you have email correspondence with fellow radio enthusiasts. I received Radio Turftrekker on 1638 kHz. Operator Jeroen wrote that he was ‘spoon-fed’ with mediumwave pirate radio as his father is also a mediumwave pirate. As a small child, he was listened in. Occasionally he was allowed to say something on the radio.

But it is also nice because some of the station names used remind you of the heritage of the Netherlands. Radio Markies is an example. And so is Radio Turftrekker. While the next paragraphs are not really about radio or DX, I just enjoyed writing them. Skip it if you want, but if you like it, please leave a comment!

About the name of Radio Turftrekker

A “Turftrekker” or “Peat Puller” was a worker that extracted peat using a scoop with a net attached. Peat was used as a fuel to heat houses before we switched to coal (and Holland what late in doing so). However, with the peat being extracted, deep pools of water formed in Holland.

“God created the earth, except for the Netherlands, for the Dutch did that themselves” is a well-known Dutch saying referring to the polders and reclaimed lands. But what is often forgotten is that the same Dutch first lost almost half their country due to peat extraction.

“Turftrekkers” extracting peat. A picture from 1895 used in schools.

The prime example is the Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem Lake), the polder in which Schiphol (Amsterdam International) Airport is situated today. In the Middle Ages four lakes were formed as a result of peat reclaiming. Additional illegal reclaiming and storms resulted in the collapse of dikes, allowing the lakes to merge into what became the Haarlemmermeer. That lake was so large that it became an inland sea, and with southwesterly storms, it expanded ever further in the direction of Amsterdam.

The collapse of the dike between Amsterdam and Haarlem

The Haarlemmermeer acquired the nickname “Waterwolf” as the water consumed more and more land. A beautiful artwork created in 2024 visualizes this. The Waterwolf seems to be at rest in this statue, as is the Haarlemmermeer.

The “Water Wolf” statue in the Haarlemmermeer. Finally at rest after 4 centuries.

Plans were made to reclaim the Haarlemmermeer as early as the 18th century. However, by then the lake was too large to be drained with windmill technology applied in the Beemster, Wormer, and Schermer polders. And so nothing could be done and devastating storms in 1836 caused parts of Leiden and Amsterdam to flood.

The Haarlmemermeer in 1740, top left the city of Haarlem, top right Amsterdam

But fortunately there was the introduction of the steam engine. In May 1840, thousands of laborers began digging a 60-kilometer-long ring canal and constructing a ring dike with shovels and spades. Three steam pumping stations were built: De Leeghwater, De Cruquius, and De Lynden. On July 1, 1852, the Haarlemmermeer was completely drained, and the development and parcelling of the more than 18,500 hectares of new land could begin.

One of the steam engines draining the Haarlemmermeer

Back to Radio “Turftrekker”. Jeroen mentioned he didn’t have a QSL card. I proposed this design based on the school picture shown above. What do you think?

QSL Radio Kristal 1655 kHz

April 21, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

During the Pirate Hunt 2026 event I was able to log Radio Kristal, broadcasting from Twente, East Netherlands on 1655 kHz.

Operator Jan confirmed my reception with a nice eQSL featuring the offshore radiostation Veronica. The station I grew up with as a child.

Radio Kristal works with a tube transmitter and inverted V antenna. Jan mentioned that he is active for 47 years on AM and his station has been raided by the “Radiocontroledienst” (the authorities) twice.

QSL Radio Alabama 1620 kHz

April 17, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 1 Comment

Another catch during the Pirate Hunt 2026 held in the Easter weekend was Radio Alabama on 1620 kHz. Manfred from Radio Alabama was so kind to confirm my request with a kind email. He mentioned that he is broadcasting from the Netherlands with a staggering 2000 Watt homemade mosfet transmitter. But I’m afraid his location is on my null of the loop, and his antenna set-up might imply I’m a little bit in the dead zone.

And no the logo above is not the one from Free Radio Alabama. But I liked it a lot.

QSL Radio Markies 6300 kHz

April 14, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

A year ago I received free radio station Radio Markies on 6300 kHz from The Netherlands. And as it is a hobby for the operator of Radio Markies as it is for us listeners, it took a little while before my report was confirmed. But this week I received a long personal email from the operator.

Radio Markies is active in the 50 meter band since 2023. The transmitter is fully home made. Below a the recording I made of my reception with the station ID. Reception was a bit noisy, but that might be because my antenna direction wasn’t optimal. You can hear a full ID: “Dus amateurs, luisteraars in het bijzonder, goedenavond, u luistert op dit moment live naar de 6300 Markies International 50 meter band”.

Radio Markies doesn’t have a QSL card, but if they want to make one I would suggest to use the character Markies de Canteclaer conceived by Marten Toonder (Markies is Dutch for Marquis):

QSL Vliegende Hollander / MCB 1467 kHz

April 13, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 3 Comments

During the Easter weekend I received a program of MCB Radio on 1467 kHz. I was quite surprised about this, as I had MCB, and LPAM from the Netherlands, listed on 846 kHz only.

So I sent a report to MCB and Otto from their technical department was so kind to confirm my reception as well as the answer to my question: the MCB program was relayed by Radio Vliegende Hollander from Meppel, The Netherlands, which makes sense as this is only 37 kms from my current QTH in Coevorden.

Below the audioclip of the Easter program I received, with the clear ID “De grootste hits uit de jaren 70… dit is het 70ies weekend op MCB… 1974!”

QSL Radio Zand 4695 kHz

April 11, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

During the Easter weekend I participated in the Pirate Hunt. One of the stations I received was Radio Zand on 4695 kHz. It was the first time I received this station from the Netherlands, but on the internet it gained some fame as “the 17-year old that was broadcasting on the Russian Buzzer frequency of 4625 kHz”.

My report to radiozand(at)protonmail.com was confirmed with a nice personal eQSL:

eQSL Radio Zand, the Netherlands, 4695 kHz

An interesting part of my reception of Radio Zand was their station ID in the SDR water fall. You can see this in the picture below, but check the video on my YouTube post.

And here is the Radio Zand jingle:

QSL Radio Uniek Coevorden 1621 kHz

March 30, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 1 Comment

An eQSL from Radio Uniek. It was Hugo Matten who made me aware with his post that this pirate station says that they are broadcasting from Coevorden, my ‘temporary’ QTH until our new house is built. It is quite uncommon for radio stations to advertise their QTH, so maybe we should take it with a grain of salt. On the other hand: with the muncipality of Coevorden being almost 300 square kilometers you might wonder how much they really give away.

After I sent my report it was confirmed 5 minutes later, live in the broadcast:

A day later the eQSL was delivered in my inbox. Big thank you to Chris and Linda!

UPDATE:
First time in 45 years that I got beer coasters for a reception report. Thank you Radio Uniek.

QSL Radio Elvira 1224 kHz

February 12, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

In 2024 I received Radio Elvira from Heerhugowaard, broadcasting with 1 Watt on 1485 kHz. This frequency is reserved for 1 Watt LPAMs in The Netherlands. I made my reception during a stay with my father in law in the province of North Holland. There was no way that I can receive them at my QTH, 70 kilometer away, as another 1 Watt station, Radio 182, is dominant here at only 15 kilometers distance.

eQSL for Radio Elvira, Heerhugowaard, 1224 kHz

But a few weeks ago I received a message inviting me to tune in to their new frequency of 1224 kHz when I was in the area again. But as I realized that a move to 1224 kHz meant that they increased power I answered that I should be able to hear them here in Woerden. The answer I got was: “forget it, in Utrecht Radio 1224 wiil be dominant:

“Never underestimate an old man with a radio!” I thought, and I turned the loop antenna north, nulling Radio 1224 from Lunteren to the east. And there was Radio Elvira with their program “The Lunchbreak” as you can hear on the MP3 recording: “De Lunchbreak bruist over het water van de Noordzee, 48 uur per dag, 9 dagen per week, dit is Patrick Jacobs!”

And so I got my QSL. You can learn more about Radio Elvira on their website. The Dutch LPAM scene is always nice to monitor!