Peter's DX Corner

"It's not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on" - Marilyn Monroe

Tag: FM (Page 1 of 7)

QSL Radio Blitz 86.9 MHz (and a bit about 3 mtr pirates)

June 16, 2026 / / 0 Comments

45 years ago I was active on 3 meter FM radio as a pirate station called Radio Arcadia. Nothing special, only 1-3 Watt, just enough to chat with school friends. And just enough to create a bit of interference on the radio of our neighbours if positioned my mid frequency on top of Hilversum 3.

We were active on 100+ MHz. Radio’s were already equipped with the 87-108 MHz band, but in those days Dutch legal stations were only broadcasting up to 100 MHz, later 104 MHz. So there was 4-8 MHz of bandwith available.

Radio Blitz suddenly popped up with a huge signal on 86.9 MHz

I thought FM radio pirates were sort of dead. A memory form the past. But here on my new location in Drenthe the FM pirates are alive and kicking. Not only in the 100+ MHz band, but apparently also below 87.5 MHz. In my youth that’s where you listened to police traffic (which wasn’t scrambled in those days). And so when screening the lower end of the FM band for Sporadic E DX I suddenly saw the very strong signal from Radio Blitz popping up on 86.9 MHz.

Whatsapp confirmation of reception

(e)QSLs are difficult to obtain, as are email contact addresses. But often a telephone number is mentioned on air or as RDS information, inviting you to send a Whatsapp. Now and then I just like to drop a message. Usually you get a friendly thank you like the one Radio Blitz sent me. Including a pretty interesting picture of their antenna configuration 😉.

Radio Laikos 87.6 MHz

June 11, 2026 / / 0 Comments

With the sporadic E conditions in the past few days, Radio Laikos, or 87.6 Laikos from Thessaloniki, Greece, could be received well here in Coevorden. One evening I could listen to them for almost an hour, with wonderful Greek music and occasionally the typical Laikos jingle, as you can hear in the recording below:

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to send them a report via email as it bounced. So I sent a message via Facebook instead. Only to be quite disappointed that the response was nothing more than a thumbs up… it is what it is these days I’m afraid.

Radio Laikos specialises in λαϊκό τραγούδι , which translates as laïko – popular, and tragoúdi – song. Or: Greek folk-pop music. So I guess the name Laikos refers to that as well. That one year of Greek language lessons I took in grammar school does pay off😉.

The station is described as playing “the best Greek repertoire with love and care,” appealing to all ages — from nostalgic older listeners to younger fans of modern Greek music. Since it launch is 2001 it has developed into one of the top-rated local stations in Thessaloniki. And I can see why!

The White Tower of Thessaloniki.

The picture above shows the White Tower of Thessaloniki. I vividly remember how during the height of the Macedonia naming dispute in the 1990s, unofficial souvenir banknotes depicting the White Tower of Thessaloniki were printed in North Macedonia (then Republic of Macedonia). My Greek colleague at the time was rightfully upset (as we would have been if the Chinese all of sudden printed the Dam Square on their banknotes) and it sparked intense anger in Greece, as the tower was viewed as exclusively Greek cultural heritage.

QSL Radio Capital 95.5 MHz Rocca di Papa

June 8, 2026 / / 0 Comments

A nice fully detailed QSL email from Radio Capital for my reception of their signal on 95.5 MHz from the powerful 50 kW transmitter at Rocca di Papa.

Radio Capital is a prominent Italian national private radio station known for its mix of classic hits (primarily from the 1970s–1990s), adult contemporary music, news, talk shows, and infotainment. Its slogan is “Solo bella musica” (“Only beautiful music”) as you can hear in my MP3 recording:

It is owned by Elemedia and shares sister stations like Radio DeeJay and m2o. Two stations I have received also, but never managed to get a QSL from.

QSL YleX Posio/Susivaara 91.5 MHz

May 29, 2026 / / 0 Comments

In addition to Yle Radio Yksi I also received another staton from Finland: YleX on 91.5, 91.9 and 93.2 MHz. My report was confirmed by Tekninen neuvonta department but also by Hanne Kautto, programme manager of YleX.

It is so nice that the head of a broadcaster still recognizes the avid listener via the airwaves. In my view it is still important to ensure that people are interested in the technology behind the broadcast. A big thank you to Hanne and her team!

YleX’s executive producer Hanne Kautto and music manager 
Tapio Hakanen

I listened to a mixed music/news program and I picked up the word “Grill” in the oh so difficult Finnish language in the second clip below. It turned out that the news was about an elderly couple using a grill at a balcony and the whole apartment building burned down. The first clip is not the best quality, but I included it as i think you hear the ID YleX in it, just before the song “Maailma on mun” by Minttu starts:

(Jari Lehtinen confirmed the story on the grill and thanks to him I finally spelled the Radio Yksi station name correctly. Apparently this particular letter combination triggers my dyslexia).

UPDATE:

In addition to the friendly email I received a gift package from Hanne Kautto. It’s the first time I received condoms for a reception report. And it is has been 40 years or so since I could have made good use of them😉.
Seriously: Kesäkumi means Summer Rubber in Finnish. It’s a good initiative of the Finnish Red Cross, the Finnish Family Association and YleX to prevent the spread of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases). Thank you Hanne!

QSL Yle Radio Yksi 88.2 MHz

May 28, 2026 / / 2 Comments

May 24th was one of the first days of Sporadic E propagation this season, and it featured a nice opening to Finland. A country that I had not received on the FM band yet. I heard both Yle Radio Yksi and YleX on a couple of frequencies.

Yle Radio Yksi is Yle Radio 1 (Yksi is 1 in Finnish). My report to yleinfo(at)yle.fi on my reception of Radio Yksi on 88.2 MHz was confirmed by the Tekninen neuvonta department:

All DX colleagues reported the 88.2 MHz reception as originating from the 60 kW transmitter in Lapua. The other transmitter on this frequency is situated in Rovaniemi with 30 kW. One is more in the general direction of the opening, the other one is more in line with SpE propagation distance. I don’t know how to distinguish these two, but if you know how, just let me know in the comments.

I listened to a program discussing Finnish politics:

QSL Club Roma’s en Zender Dwerghut 94.5 MHz

May 22, 2026 / / 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
The Whatsapp reply on my report

QSL Noordkop 247 105.6/107.7 MHz

September 23, 2025 / / 0 Comments

During a brief stay on the island of Texel I was able to listen to Noordkop 247. I heard them on both of their frequencies: 105.6 and 107.7 MHz. I sent my report to nieuws@noordkop247.nl and received this QSL email almost immediately.

QSL email for the new Noordkop 247 regional radio station

Noordkop 247 is the regional radio for the “Kop van Noord-Holland” the northwestern point of the mainland of the Netherlands. If my information is correct Noordkop 247 is only 23 days old. On September 1st, 2025 the regional station Regio Noordkop (municipalities Den Helder and Hollands Kroon) and Noordkop Centraal (Schagen municipality) merged. Below you see their old logo’s.

The merger is in line with the Dutch strategy to move from local to more professional regional radio. Or better said: regional media, as today these stations run news sites, podcasts and TV as well. See also my posts on RTV Krimpenerwaard and regionalization and SRC FM.

The two transmitters of Noordkop 247 (FMscan.org)

QSL BNR Radio Shumen 87.6 MHz

August 17, 2025 / / 0 Comments

I like it when an organisation understands that they are representing a country. And send QSLs to people who are interested. If anything Bulgaria is on my “bucket list” now for visiting European countries. My report of a reception of Radio Shumen on 87.6 MHz was confirmed by BNR reception.report@bnr.bg . They sent this beautiful QSL card by mail!

I received Radio Shumen with a sports coverage on a local sports game. The ID is clearly heard on 7 seconds in this audio clip:

There are a few Radio Shumen transmitters, but the one from Venets is one of the stronger ones with 100 kW. Not that this necessarily matters much with Sporadic E receptions.

Radio Shumen Network (FMScan.org)

And here is the front of the QSL card:

QSL COPE Palencia 105.1 MHz

August 14, 2025 / / 0 Comments

I picked up COPE Palencia during the sporadic E opening on July 20th with their local ID on 105.1 MHz. With 2 kW they are broadcasting from Monte Viejo to the south of the city of Palencia in Spain.

Manuel Lobejón, editor at COPE Palencia was so kind to reply with a fully detailed email confirming my reception. I sent my report to palencia@cope.es .

In the audio file you hear the annoucement of the network program “Fin de Semana” presented by Cristina Lópex Schlichting and the local ID.

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