The wonderful world of listening to the radio
I received this e QSL from SAQ Grimeton, Sweden, for the reception of their UN-day transmission. The event took place on October 24th, at 15:00 UTC on the usual 17.2 kHz. I struggled to get a readable signal at my home QTH this time. So I used the Twente SDR as an alternative. Funny thing is that contrary to my expectations their previous transmission around noon mid summer resulted in a much better signal.
I received Alcaravan Radio on Sunday night on 5910 kHz. Following a program with Latin American music I heard a DX program “Onda Continua”. In this program they also transmitted their call sign and frequency in CW, so I could practice my morse skills again. The e- QSL Alcaravan Radio 5910 kHz arrived in just two days.
The DX program was presented by Rafael Rodriguez who is also QSL manager for Alcaravan Radio: rafaelcoldx@yahoo.com . He wrote me that “Onda Continua” is aired on Saturdays and Sundays at 1, 4 and 9 hr UTC.
Rafael also invites you to visit his DX blog: http://dxdesdecolombia.blogspot.com/, and his Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DXdesdeColombia/videos .
I received an e- QSL from SAQ Grimeton, Sweden, for their transmission on 17.2 kHz to celebrate Alexanderson Day.
Ernst Alexanderson was the inventor of the Alexanderson alternator, a rotating machine used for the generation of a high frequency alternating current, which could be used to produce an electromagnetic wave for radio transmissions. The first alternator based stations were installed in 1906 for long wave telegraphy. In the early 1920s vacuum-tube transmitters came available, replacing the alternators. The Grimeton historical station is the only station in the world that still operates on the basis of an alternator.
I was a bit worried that it would be difficult to receive SAQ on VLF 17.2 kHz at noon in the middle of the summer. Not that I know a lot about VLF propagation. But the signals came through in much better quality than last time I received them on World Radio Day on February 13th this year.
During the UNESCO World Radio Day event of February 13th, 2023 a special HAM station was in the air. I received it in CW on the 14 MHz band. It was a long time ago that I decoded CW, but with record/play back I was able to collect sufficient details for a QSL of 7S6WRD Grimeton, Sweden.
My guess is that the station normally operates as SK6SAQ (with SAQ identical to the Grimeton callsign) but was under a special 7S6WRD callsign for this event (with WRD obviously referring to World Radio Day).
Click the link to learn more about the Grimeton World Heritage Station. No doubt there will be future opportunities to receive this station and associated HAM radio.
The VLF Grimeton transmitter in Sweden was in the air on February 13th celeberating “World Radio Day”. This truly is a heritage station, recognized by UNESCO as such. During the event they ran a YouTube Video to show you what it takes to bring a 100 year old transmitter to life… The transmission was – of course – in Morse Code. This e-QSL card marks the lowest frequency I’ve ever received in my DX-ing career!
Learn more about Grimeton on: https://grimeton.org/?lang=en
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