Tag: HF (Page 1 of 11)

QSL Radio Blacksmith Knoll 6120 kHz

May 30, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

A nice e-QSL for Radio Blacksmith Knoll, a legal low power station from Pori, Finland, broadcasting with 100 Watt on 6120 kHz. I sent my report to rbsk6120@rbsk6120.radio.am.

Below the reply by operator “Mac” at Radio Blacksmith Knoll (and of course a little delay in reply is never a problem):

Hello, and thank you very much for your message!

First, please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in replying. We’ve been occupied with work-related tasks, and due to challenges with the workload, it has been difficult to find time for these reports a thing we are constantly trying to fix.

Thank you for your detailed reception report and your careful analysis of both the program and the signal. As it was received with your own equipment, which we truly value, we have prepared a special Radio Blacksmith Knoll eQSL e-card for you as a small token of thanks.

Radio Blacksmith Knoll is a one-man hobby project. Our programming spans nearly a century, from the roaring 1920s to today swing, jazz, blues, vintage radio drama, and the crackling voices of the past. Every now and then, the operator drifts toward more contemporary sounds: electronic, ambient, and dance-floor tracks. The aim is always to keep the mix imaginative and, at times, quietly reflective of the world around us.

The station operates with a professional AM transmitter running 100 watts, paired with high-quality audio processing that helps us make the most of our modest power. The antenna is a half-wave dipole precisely tuned to 6120 kHz , with a radiation pattern that slightly favors the west from our site in Pori (KP01tn) . The carrier frequency typically drifts between 30 and 80 Hz due to thermal variation in the transmitter a small imperfection we like to think of as the station’s fingerprint. It even helps us stand apart from the major broadcasters, mainly Chinese stations, that share the same frequency. You may have noticed a small offset in your equipment.

It is our genuine pleasure to confirm your reception. Please find your eQSL card attached for your collection.

Kind regards

Marco “Mac” Johansson

The Operator

Vappu Weekend at Radio Blacksmith Knoll (photo: RBSK)

I listened to a 3 day program around Vappu Weekend when the Finnish people celebrate the end of winter. Unfortunately in The Netherlands a beautiful april came to an end at the same time with some thunderstorms producing a bit of noise. And while I was hoping to pick up an ID on the hour, a utility station took over the frequency right on the hour. So this song “Kaunis on maa” by Raappana was the best part of my reception.

Following QSLs for Radio Piko, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Realmix Radio on shortwave and Zoomrock FM on mediumwave I thought Radio Blacksmith Knoll was the final one I hadn’t received yet. But it seems there is also a station named Radio Ambience on 6095 kHz although they are only testing for now. We’ll see. For over 34 years the only Finnish QSLs in my collection were Yle on shortwave and Mariehamn Radio… Since I picked up my hobby in 2023 I have been able to add another 8!

CHU Time Signal QRT on June 26th

May 23, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

After nearly 103 years of faithful service, Canada’s shortwave time station CHU will cease transmissions on June 22, 2026. Operated by the National Research Council (NRC), the station has been a reliable source of official Canadian time since 1923.CHU broadcasts automated time signals 24 hours a day on the frequencies 3330 kHz, 7850 kHz, and 14670 kHz. The transmissions include spoken time announcements in both English and French, derived from highly accurate atomic clocks.

For many radio amateurs, shortwave listeners, and people in remote areas, CHU has been the primary way to obtain exact time for decades.The closure fits into a broader trend in which shortwave technology is being replaced by modern alternatives such as GPS, internet time servers, and mobile networks. According to the NRC, shortwave broadcasts are no longer necessary for distributing official time.

The announcement has caused disappointment among radio hobbyists worldwide. CHU was regarded as one of the oldest and most stable time stations in the world, comparable to the American WWV. Many of us have the CHU QSL card showing Sir Sandford Fleming, the man who proposed the introduction of standard time zones on the cover.

”Listeners can still receive the station until June 22, particularly at night and in the early morning hours when propagation conditions are favourable. After that, silence will fall on the familiar frequencies. An iconic piece of radio history will be lost.

QSL Radio Markies 6300 kHz

April 14, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

A year ago I received free radio station Radio Markies on 6300 kHz from The Netherlands. And as it is a hobby for the operator of Radio Markies as it is for us listeners, it took a little while before my report was confirmed. But this week I received a long personal email from the operator.

Radio Markies is active in the 50 meter band since 2023. The transmitter is fully home made. Below a the recording I made of my reception with the station ID. Reception was a bit noisy, but that might be because my antenna direction wasn’t optimal. You can hear a full ID: “Dus amateurs, luisteraars in het bijzonder, goedenavond, u luistert op dit moment live naar de 6300 Markies International 50 meter band”.

Radio Markies doesn’t have a QSL card, but if they want to make one I would suggest to use the character Markies de Canteclaer conceived by Marten Toonder (Markies is Dutch for Marquis):

QSL Radio Zand 4695 kHz

April 11, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

During the Easter weekend I participated in the Pirate Hunt. One of the stations I received was Radio Zand on 4695 kHz. It was the first time I received this station from the Netherlands, but on the internet it gained some fame as “the 17-year old that was broadcasting on the Russian Buzzer frequency of 4625 kHz”.

My report to radiozand(at)protonmail.com was confirmed with a nice personal eQSL:

eQSL Radio Zand, the Netherlands, 4695 kHz

An interesting part of my reception of Radio Zand was their station ID in the SDR water fall. You can see this in the picture below, but check the video on my YouTube post.

And here is the Radio Zand jingle:

QSL CGTM Mar del Plata 8414.5 kHz

April 9, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 1 Comment

It was my second attempt and but this time my report of a DSC transmission by CGTM Mar del Plata, Argentina on 8414.5 kHz was confirmed. I sent my report to mpla(at)prefecturanaval.gob.ar .

CGTM stands for Centro de Gestión de Tráfico Marítimo (Maritime Traffic Management Center). It is part of the Prefectura Naval Argentina (PNA). The CGTM are the operational centers responsible for the real-time monitoring and management of maritime traffic in Argentine waters.These centers act as Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) stations and coordinate, among other things:

tracking of ships via radar, AIS, and other systems,
providing information and advice to vessels,
coordinating search and rescue operations (SAR),
responding to emergency situations (such as breakdowns, flooding, or man-overboard incidents),
enforcing maritime safety and preventing incidents in ports, rivers, and sea areas.

There are multiple CGTM centers spread across the country. But as far as I know only those in Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Comodoro Rivadavia and Ushuaia are active with a DSC watch on HF. With three of them confirmed Ushuaia is still on the to-do list.

My Top 10 DX 2025 result

March 8, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 4 Comments

Top 10 DX presents itself as the World’s largest SWL contest. I think they have organized it since 2017. So as posted earlier I decide to participate. Now I knew that I didn’t have a lot of time to spare as we were preparing our move to a new house. So I spent more time packing boxes than behind the radio. But in the true Olympic spirit: “Participation is more important than winning”.

The contest is about logging 10 stations from different countries between 2300 and 30000 kHz. Points are awarded using this formula: distance (in km) / power (in kW). WRTH data are used as reference.
In addition to the rule above there was multiplier of 3 to boost your score for stations from a different continent. Here I probably made my first mistake I tried to log stations from different continents and only missed Antartica. But in hindsight I think you get a multiplier bonus for each station from a different continent than your own…

Below the 10 stations and points I collected (it differs somewhat from the 10918 points I was officially awarded, as my distance estimates might be slightly off).

This resulted in a 15th place among 36 participants Worldwide, 11th place in Europe and as I was the only Dutch participant: 1st place in The Netherlands. The winner was “ace DX-er” Christoph Ratzer from Austria with 545863 points, of which 318513 points were picked up for 1 catch! Congratulations! I was very pleased to see my DX friend Patrick Robic picking up 3rd place with 194204 points!

Now I have to say these scores made me aware of the real challenge of this contest. It is called Top 10 DX… but from the scoring I get the feeling that low power is more important than distance (DX). And so a relatively easy catch for me like RealMix Radio resulted in more points than stations from Palau and Guam which, subject to propagation, are not always easy if you also have to write down some proper details.

So that makes you wonder… Christoph knew how to log a station which yielded over 300000 points. Outside Europe that is a station at say 10000 kms with 100 Watt only (10000/0.1 x 3). Inside Europe you are looking for say 3000 kms with 10 Watt only (3000/0.01). DX-ers in the top 4 reported 10 catches with an average between 13000 and 23000 points. So that’s 10 stations with max 1-3 kW at a average distance of 10000 kms. The problem with Top 10 DX is that they don’t disclose which stations were received by any of the participants. Frankly, I’m not sure I like that as it doesn’t help me to get better as a DX-er by learning from others.

My conclusion: if you want to get a high score in the Top 10 DX contest you have to research which stations less than 3 kW outside your continent can be received (and less than 0.3 kW when on your continent). Those are the ones to target, anything else barely adds a significant number of points.

“Will I participate next year?” The answer is “maybe…”. If time permits I will invest in putting together a shortlist of stations that would result in at least 5000 points each. If that is a set I consider viable logging at my QTH I might give it another try. It might also be that I decide that this is just not my type of contest as noise levels block the reception of the few weak stations you need to have for a proper result and I can’t compensate for that by putting in more time and improve my score by adding some – slightly higher powered – stations. And again, the fact that the results of my “betters” are not made public plays a role as well: I do like competition, but more than that I do like helping fellow hobbyists to become better.

So we’ll see. That said, a big thank you to the organizers, it is always good to create challenges for the serious DX-er, and I do know that you also rather spend time behind the radio than processing spreadsheets of contest participants.

QSL Unification Media Group via Tamsui 5900 kHz

March 4, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 2 Comments

Thanks to a tip from Hugo Matten I was made aware of a transmission of the Unification Media Group via the 300 kW Tamsui transmitters in Taiwan.

QSL Unification Media Group, via Tamsui, Taiwan on 5900 kHz

In addition to the nice eQSL card they made me aware that I used an incorrect name. It is not “National Unity Radio” (which reminds me of NUG Radio broadcasts from Taiwan directed at Myanmar). They would like to be referred to as Unification Media Group (UMG):

Dear Peter Reuderink,

Thank you for listening to our broadcast. We will gladly send you a QSL card to confirm your reception report.

Please note that our organization’s name is Unification Media Group (UMG), not “National Unity Radio.” We are aware that an incorrect name may be appearing in some places, which seems to have been set arbitrarily by the broadcaster facility. We would appreciate it if you could refer to us as UMG in the future.

Best regards,
UMG team

5900 kHz is the frequency on which Overcomer Ministry and Bible Voice broadcast from Kostinbrod in Bulgaria. The transmissions of UMG between 2000 and 2100 UTC should be exactly in between Kostinbrod programs, but my reception still suffered from interference from a Brother Stairs/Overcomer Ministry transmission. At the start of the program the UMG station ID was however an easy catch:

According to their website Unification Media Group (UMG) is a news and entertainment production organization focused on North Korea.
Through video, radio, and online news, UMG brings the latest developments from North Korea to South Korean and international audiences in addition to North Koreans themselves. UMG is helping to increase global awareness of North Korean issues and is arming the people of North Korea with the freedom of information.

While radio has fallen out of favor in much of the world, radio remains the only way to provide North Korean residents with information in real-time. Moreover, since it does not leave behind physical evidence or require expensive technology, it is considered one of the safest and most accessible media platforms in the DPRK. Unification Media Group (UMG) has been broadcasting radio programming to North Korean audiences since 2005. Currently, UMG produces and broadcasts three hours of programming each day, including local and international news, civic education and cultural programs. According to a Gallup survey conducted in 2015, 2-3% of North Korean citizens said they have previously listened to UMG broadcasts. North Korean citizens can listen to UMG’s programming with short-wave radios, and overseas workers can listen to recordings uploaded daily to the UMG website.

QSL All Tribes Radio via Channel 292

March 1, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

A nice eQSL from All Tribes Radio broadcasting via Channel 292, Rohrdorf, Germany on 9670 kHz:

And a brief audioclip of their station ID:

All Tribes Radio is a station with roots in Costa Rica. On their website, which I also used to submit my reception report, you can find a nice narrative their history, which I repeat below:

Broadcasting across the globe on shortwave radio, All Tribes Radio champions world peace through an eclectic blend of culturally diverse music, spoken word, and vintage treasures from the golden age of radio.

We offer a welcoming platform for independent artists who license their work through Creative Commons, while also sharing open-source, public-domain, Copyleft, and other copyright-free content.

Founded in 2008, All Tribes Radio (ATR) streamed Creative Commons music 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to an average of 6,000 listeners per month in more than 120 countries across every continent. With studios in Nosara, Costa Rica, ATR’s signal reached the world via an internet server in Tampa, Florida.

In 2011, streaming gave way to podcasting, resulting in the production of 68 one-hour episodes for iTunes, completed in 2012.

ATR entered a new chapter in 2020 with its first shortwave broadcasts: a weekly one-hour program showcasing Creative Commons music in English, Spanish, German, French, and Italian. These were transmitted from WRMI in Okeechobee, Florida, and Channel 292 in Rohrbach, Germany. Unfortunately, the disruptions of Covid-19 brought those broadcasts to an end the following year.

Happily, as of November 30, 2025, ATR has returned to the shortwave airwaves—now transmitting exclusively from Channel 292 with 10 kW of power and a 315º beam aimed toward northern and western Europe. One-hour broadcasts can be heard each Sunday from 1400–1500 UTC on 9670 kHz. Reception reports are warmly welcomed, and e-QSL verification is available.

Key Channel Radio scheduled this weekend:

January 30, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

The Key Channel Team informed us that they will be on air this weekend. See below for details:

Dear friends, it’s been 10 years since our first broadcast. Many things in our lives have changed, but we’ve always been in your company. We thought we’d celebrate with a special broadcast featuring some exciting news. New prestigious collaborations. We are sure that you will celebrate with us by listening to us in large numbers as always. Good listening !!

Jasmine.

Port Sudan Radio GMDSS DSC tests

January 5, 2026 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

On December 17th I received two GMDSS DSC messages from Port Sudan Radio on 8414.5 kHz. Both were messages to imaginary MMSI numbers: 888888888 and 99999999, so I guess these were tests.

Port Sudan popping up on my DX Atlas map

Now Sudan is one of the countries I did not manage to QSL. Letters to the Sudan National Broadcasting corportation (which was broadcasting on shortwave in the 90’s) or Khartoum Aeradio remained unanswered.

This time I sent an email to Port Sudan radio which until now remained unanswered. But as I learned that the Danish company Danphone was involved in the recent installation of GMDSS equipment at Port Sudan Radio I asked if they could help out. I got a friendly reply, for which I’m grateful, but no QSL or contact.

So Sudan remains on my “to do” list.