The wonderful world of listening to the radio
A nice paper QSL from Radio Slovakia International. I received them on 6005 kHz via the Kall-Krekel transmitter in Germany. Unfortunately that detail is missing on the card. I sent my report to englishsection@rtvs.sk and got a reply in 6 weeks.
Their latest schedule can be found here: https://enrsi.stvr.sk/how-to-listen
I like to listen to Atlantic 2000 International because of their choice of music. Their opening tune “warms the heart”. So I sent them another reception report and as always I got a beautiful QSL in return:
The Moosbrunn shortwave antenna is no more. In August last year I still received a QSL email for the Ö1 program on 6155 kHz. Utilization of the Moosbrunn transmitters had gone down for years, until there was only a 75 minute broadcast left. But following the Russian invasion in the Ukraine the number of broadcasts went up with daily morning, afternoon, and evening programs. With global tensions rising the decision to destroy the Moosbrunn facilities is not without controversy. Last week a petition was started to reconsider. But with what seemed apparent haste, the antennas were blown up…
Below a picture of the antenna when it was still operational. It was basically an array of dipoles in front of a curtain reflector. The whole ensemble could be rotated to give the beam the desired direction.
Akashvani or All India Radio is another broadcaster that still issues nice paper QSL cards. I sent my reception report on their program in French to spectrum-manager@prasarbharati.gov.in . Seven weeks later this beautiful card was delivered.
Following the earlier e-QSL I now got a paper QSL for my reception of Radio Thailand, Udonthani, on 7475 kHz. I heard them in September, and following a reminder in December I got the e-QSL in a day, and this nice postcard a month later!
An e- QSL for Radio Thailand World Service 7475 kHz. Heard them in excellent quality on 7475 kHz with an English program. As my report to rthworldservice@gmail.com remained unanswered I sent them a friendly reminder and received a fully detailed card within a day.
I really wanted to get this QSL. In the 80-ies it was a bit more difficult to receive them but when I managed to do so I got a schedule and beautiful pennant by mail, but not a confirmation that resembled a QSL.
An e-QSL card for Radio Vanuatu on 9960 kHz. In 2023 Radio Vanuatu started to issue e-QSLs. I tried to catch them on 7260 kHz but wasn’t successful. As Vanuatu would be a new EDXC country I decided to make an exception and tune in via a Kiwi SDR in Brisbane to get a QSL in July 2023.
This week Helmut Matt let me know that Radio Vanuatu could be received in decent quality on their new frequency of 9960 kHz around 0630 – 0700 h UTC. So I gave it a try and this time I was able to hear them with news, weather and a Lionel Richie song. Given local noise not easy, but definitely doable: SINPO 24222. Within a day I got the eQSL from Warren Robert, Manager of Technical Services.
It feels good to have this station QSL-ed for a reception from my home QTH!
This year Trans World Radio (TWR) celebrates that it was 50 years ago that they started broadcasting from a location near Manzini, Swaziland. I had the pleasure of visiting the country, which is now called Eswatini, and the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary 12 years ago.
Transmitter power has been upgraded from 25 kW to 100 kW which results in a very good reception of their program on 9500 kHz here in The Netherlands. Unfortunately, as far as I know there is only 1 hour of English programming left on their schedule, Sundays only. And when I tuned in they went already off air after 30 minutes. So I’m afraid that TWR is also moving more and more to FM and the internet to get their message heard.
Mrs. Lorraine Stavropoulos confirmed my reception within a day. I sent my report to lstavrop@twr.org (please note the first letter is an “L”). Funny detail is that the QSL features a Bible text in Dutch, so apparently custom made!
Below the well known QSL card which I received in 1980.
Thanks to a tip from Goran Hardenmark I was made aware of a transmission from NTNU Ålesund, Norway. During a class exercise a radio check was made on 3366, 8297 and 12353 kHz. I heard nothing on 3 MHz, some weak conversation on 8 MHz (but not sure if it was NTNU), and a clear “All ships all ships” at 09:20 UTC on 12 MHz. I have to admit that I need to train my ears again for proper USB listening: I got a bit spoilt with all the digital modes!
The Radio Check could be monitored via their Facebook group. And this also gave me the opportunity to chat with Mr AH Barmen who coordinated this course. He provided the following details:
The frequencies we used today are reserved for intership communication, 3366 KHz have been used for intership communication in Nordic waters, the two others are randomly picked from Appendix 17 – Sub Section B of the Radio Regulations. All maritime schools that provide training for maritime radio certificates are equipped with a ship radio station that can use these frequencies.
On our radio station we have a Sailor 6300 MF/HF radio, 150W and a 12 m antenna, in adition we have Sailor and Furuno NAVTEX receivers, two Sailor VHF’s, INMARSAT-C and an Iridium LT3100s.
I also received the special eQSL card for this event. Thank you Mr. Barmen!
QSL for ZSC Cape Town Radio 16804.5 kHz. Already in the 80-ies I tried this one when I received them in CW. No luck. More recently I tried again to get a QSL for their DSC transmissions. No luck. Then I got a contact email of Mr. Khan from Artur at Maresme DX, but even that took a 2nd attempt. But hey, here it is, a nice f/d eQSL showing the Table Mountain and the city of Cape Town, South Africa.
And that was not all. The QSL was accompanied with a friendly email, a comprehensive letter describing the history of Telkom maritime services in South Africa, and a 4 page e-brochure:
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