"It's not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on" - Marilyn Monroe
A real QSL card for Cyprus Radio 5BA on 8414.5 kHz. I heard this coastal station with a DSC message. It is nice that they still award QSL cards by mail. Forty years ago they were also reliable verifiers. I attached an old QSL letter from 1982 for a reception of a broadcast in A1 (Morse code).
Earlier this year I received this nice e QSL Olympia Radio with call sign SVO. My report was for a DSC message on 8414.5 kHz. I sent my QSL to olympiaradio@ote.gr . Like in many countries maritime or coastal radio stations in Greece merged into one station: Olympia Radio. Occasionally I do see other MMSI station identifiers popping up like for example Aspropyrgis Radio, but as far as I know everything is centrally controlled since 1998.
As said, in the past there were multiple radio stations. Athens (SVA) was the station operating on both MF and HF. Iraklion (SVH), Limnos (SVL), Kerkyra (SVK), Rhodos (SVR) and Chios (SVX) were operating on MF only. Of those Kerkyra was most frequently received in the Netherlands. Below you can see the QSLs I received in the 80-ies from Athens and Kerkyra Radio.
I started this weblog a few months after I resumed DX-ing. As a result there are a few QSLs that I didn’t post yet. One of those is this comprehensive Word document I received as QSL Torshavn Radio. Torshavn Radio – call sign OXJ – is part of the MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) on the Faroe Islands. I received them with a DSC test message on 2187.5 kHz. It is a pity that they forgot to tick the DSC box on the document, but I applaud them for sending this neat QSL. I sent my report to MRCC@vorn.fo.
The Faroe Islands are part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but with a very high degree of self-governance. They are not part of the European Union. The debate on whether they should become fully independent of Denmark lingers on… For us DX-ers and QSL-hunters that doesn’t make a difference: the European DX council has long declared it a separate radio country.
Last night I received Taupo Radio, New Zealand, with a DSC message on 8414.5 kHz. Within the hour I received a polite email confirming my reception report via maritime@kordia.co.nz .
Now obviously I’m very grateful that operators of Taupo Radio took the time to send me answer. I do realize that replying to reception reports is not their core business. Many stations don’t even bother… But while a reply within the hour is an example of efficiency, it also makes me longing for the old days and it raises some concern…
In 1989 I received Awarua Radio, ZLB. It was one of 4 coastal radio stations in New Zealand, and it was the one that covered HF. So with proper propagation conditions you could pick up their CW signals. Yep, we were still on morse code. I think rationalization kicked in between 1991 and 1994, and 4 stations became one: Taupo Radio. And in itself that was not a bad thing. You can learn a bit more on this site about NZ coastal radio station history and here on Awarua Radio in particular.
At the time my reception report took about three weeks to land on their desk and another three weeks for an envelope to drop in the mailbox. The days we worked with printers if not typewriters. When there was no email and we had to rely on airmail. But I received a comprehensive letter with lots of information about the station, their transmitters, the receivers (JRC NRD515s – nice detail is that I made today’s Radio Taupo reception on my 30 years old JRC NRD 535!). And a beautiful QSL card that displayed pride in the coastal radio stations of New Zealand.
And that is what is lacking today. Call me an old dude, a radio geek whatever… but I do think it is an opportunity missed. Driven by efficiency and bureaucrats who don’t understand the difference between a Volt and an Ampere there is no more space and time for pride and passion in engineering and technology and what it brings society… How much effort would it take to just include one promotional picture in an email from an interested listener? Promotion has never been so easy…
And that – as a PhD Physics and retired technology manager – worries me… How are we going to foster interest in engineering studies so much needed in western society? Your thoughts? Leave a comment!
Earlier this year I received this beautiful QSL Bremen Rescue 2187.5 kHz. I really appreciate DSC stations (and other stations) that offer this service. Somehow I do hope that it helps younger people to develop an interest in the hobby and therefore in radio and electronics. I sent my report to mail@mrcc-bremen.de .
For my reception report of Tokyo Coast Guard from Japan on 12577 kHz I received this nice QSL letter. I heard Tokyo Coast Guard with a DSC message as you might already have guessed.
I added two dollars to cover return postage. They were donated to the Blue Feather Donation as you can read in the letter. Two blue feathers accompanied the QSL: pretty cool!
Thanks to Hugo Matten who confirmed to use the address below:
Japan Coast Guard, 2-1-3, Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8976, Japan
During my stay on a campsite in the north of the Netherlands I enjoyed good conditions on 12 MHz in a relatively noise free environment. That resulted in the reception of a lot of new DSC stations. SHN (Servicio de Hidrografia Naval) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was one of those!
The email reply took hours only and was the shortest possible. But it carried the three key letters: “QSL”! (I added their logo to the email myself to improve the appearance of this post).
I sent my report to shn@hidro.gov.ar. Confirmation followed via snautica@hidro.gov.ar, which is probably the Coast Guard branch.
Soon after my return to the hobby a couple of months ago I picked up my interest for maritime radio as well. Thirtyfive years ago I received stations in morse code with CW and VVV markers. This allowed me to to QSL countries that were almost out of reach otherwise: D4A Cabo Verde, P2M Port Moresby, 3DP Suva…
But CW is gone, and DSC is what we got in return. And during the winter months I managed a couple of nice receptions on 2187.5 kHz in particular like Aasiaat Radio. But on the higher frequencies I was less successful, apart from nice catches like Charleville/Wiluna and Valparaiso. Despite the distance those stations are quite common however.
But since last week conditions are great. In the community I see DSC loggins from all over the world were made in Europe. My personal best catch was Honiara Radio from the Solomon Islands, the reception looked like this with the YADD decoder:
TIME: 2023-06-26 06:16:21 FREQ: 12577.0 DIST: — Km
SYMB: 120 120 053 080 008 005 030 108 000 055 070 000 010 118 126 126 126 126 126 126 126 122 107 122 122
FMT: SEL
CAT: SAF
TO: SHIP,538008053,???
FROM: COAST,005570001, UNID
TC1: TEST
TC2: NOINF
FREQ: —
POS: —
EOS: ACK
cECC: 107 OK
And yes, it read UNID. But the DSC community made me aware that 005570001 is MRCC Honiara, Solomon Islands! The ship contacted was a bulk carrier “Golden Pearl” on the Coral Sea. The emails are out, letters soon to be followed. Let’s see if I can QSL this one!
This post is a bit of a “catch up” as I received this nice QSL letter by email from Guangzhou Coast Radio 8414.5 kHz before I started this webblog. I sent my report to gzrdoxsq@163.net.
I was very pleased with this QSL. I received Guangzhou Coast Radio with their callsign XSQ many years ago when they were still broadcasting “VVV” markers in CW. But where Shanghai Radio did return a QSL – the tiniest QSL in my collection – I never got one from Guangzhou. Today it seems the other way round, unless some of you can give me a better address for Shanghai.
As always I attached a photo of my home town Woerden with my report. In return I got a beautiful picture from Pearl River and Guangzhou city. It is always nice to see how proud people are of their city! If I look at their skyline I’m living in a prehistorical hamlet 😊
I bought a RSPdx receiver plus Boni Whip antenna for use on the campsite. It immediately delivered some nice results. My catch of Valparaiso Playa Ancha Radio, CBV, Chile was awarded with this beautiful QSL. I listened to a DCS message on 12577 kHz.
I also got a nice detailed letter plus some photo’s of their facilities.
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