"It's not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on" - Marilyn Monroe
A very nice QSL letter from CROSS Jobourg on 2187.5 kHz. And radiating the French spirit, which makes it stand out. The station is located on the French coast of the Channel (the French hate it when you refer to it as the English Channel, and I agree), one of the busiest seaways in the world. And as a result it can be heard often.
I sent my report to jobourg@mrccfr.eu
A nice e-QSL from CROSS MED La Garde, France, on 2187.5 kHz. A station that can be heard regularly with DCS messages.
I have to admit that I’m still trying to establish the link between the new DSC stations and what I heard some 40 years ago. Coastal Radio stations like Bordeaux Arcachon, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Brest-le-Conquest and Grasse are gone. But the current CROSS stations are not their descendants. They are the successors of the French Navy stations that were easy to hear in CW in the 80-ies, not only from France, but from all over the world… resulting in nice QSLs from countries like Reunion, Tahiti, New Caledonia and French Guyana for example.
CROSS La Garde is one of 6 CROSS stations in France. The others are Jobourg, Gris-Nez, Étel, Corsen and Ajaccio. The latter, also known as CROSS Corse or “Aspretto” is a secondary station that heard less often. The community of La Garde is situated adjacent to Toulon, the most important French Navy harbor on the Mediterranean Sea (which also features in the movie “Napoleon” (2023))
The transmitter site at Roumoules is owned by Monaco Media Diffusion. Located in France they are among the most powerful in the world. The 2000 kW long wave transmitter on 216 kHz went silent however in 2020 when Radio Monte Carlo decided to focus on FM and internet only. The 1000 kW transmitter on mediumwave is still in use by TWR (Trans World Radio). For my reception report I received this nice QSL TWR Roumoules 1467 kHz.
I listened to a program in the Arab language (which I don’t speak) and then it is difficult to pick up details. But then I heard the name of Brother Andrew mentioned a few times. Checking on Wikipedia I learned that he was a Dutch missionary. For his activities in smuggling bibles and christian literature into communist countries during the Cold War he earned the nickname “God’s Smuggler”. So even if you don’t understand a language, you can still learn something in this hobby!
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