Alexis LeBlanc technician/producer at CFMB 1280 Montreal was so kind to confirm my reception report with an eQSL. CFMB is a multilingual broadcaster, and some say the call sign refers to that: “Canada’s First Multilingual Broadcaster”. On their website I counted 16 languages, and my reception was a program called “Horizons” brought by a Canadian Bulgarian newspaper, followed by a program with Arabic contemporary music.
eQSL from CFMB 1280, Montreal, Quebec
The station was originally broadcasting on 1410 kHz. The move in 1997 to 1280 kHz, a former French language frequency, was quite controversial. Some saw it as an attempt to prevent French language stations to take this frequency. Others considered it an attempt to promote a multicultural society preventing immersion in French language. Such things were and are still sensitive.
Bo Mogensen, Chef Kystradio, was so kind to confirm my report for NAVTEX transmissions from Greenland:
Simiutaq Radio – letter M Igdlutaligssuaq (Kook Island) – letter W Upernavik – letter I
I still see the old names like Nuuk and Cape Farewell in the logs (as I reported earlier), and yes I have to say…. Nuuk is just a few kilometers away from Igdlutaligssuaq, and with due respect for the Greenlandic language, it is a bit easier to quote.
In the letter I got from Bo Morgensen (regular mail, old school QSL!) he gives a little bit of info about the history of these stations.
Since December 29th the LPAM station Rivierenland Radio can be heard on 891 kHz. Their 100 W transmitter is located in Huissen near Arnhem. That is only 74 kilometers east from my QTH. The only other station on this frequency is Radio Algerie which, coming from the south, can be “nulled out” easily with my loop antenna. So pretty good reception here! I sent my QSL request to rivierenland-radio@rivierenlandradio.nl
Email QSL and logo of Rivierenland Radio, Huissen, 891 kHz
There is quite a bit of variety among the Dutch LPAM stations. Some of them, like Album AM, are hobby stations interested in technical aspects and DX reception. Other stations are a legal continuation of a former Free Radio station, bringing a few hours of music a week, mostly during weekends only.
And there are stations like Rivierenland Radio who have a more professional 24/7 approach, and where the AM presence is a just an extension of what they are already doing on DAB+ and internet. Via DAB+ Rivierenland Radio can be heard between Arnhem and Eindhoven, in the eastern part of the Netherlands.
I still see a lot of reports of “Nuuk Radio” and “Cape Farewell” radio in the NAVTEX community. That is for NAVTEX stations with letters M and W. I sent a report for Nuuk (W in Area IV) and Simiutaq (M in Area IV) to Bo Mogensen at Tusass, for my reception of these stations.
He made me aware that there are only three stations left, and that my information is outdated. Call sign M is for Simituaq, broadcasting for regions 5,6 ,7 and 8. Call sign W is for Igdlutaligssuaq (Kook Island), with messages for regions 8,9 ,10, 11. Call sign I (in Area XVIII) is Upernavik, covering regions 11,12,13 and 14…
If you see this map the obvious question is “who covers the East Coast”? But that is done by Grindavik (regions 3,4,5) and Saudanes Radio (regions 1,2,3) from Iceland.
When he sent my QSL for CFGO “TSN 1200” in November last year, Rick Furniss, station engineer, wrote that their sister station CFRA 580 Ottawa should be an easier catch. Main reason is that the antenna direction is a bit more favorable for Europe.
Well, it turned out to be a bit of an effort. On 576 kHz Bulgarian National Radio is present with 270 kW. What is worse, they are exactly on the back of my loop antenna, so that doesn’t help. Radio Nacional Espana is present with powerful transmitters on 576 and 585. They are more on the “null” of the antenna, but use a close to 10 kHz bandwith if you ask me. If any of these stations plays music 580 is done for. And finally, propagation conditions in December were not that good…
CFRA 580 Ottawa antenna at sunset (photo Rick Furniss)
But this week I managed to pick up CFRA 580 in audible quality, with commercials for Ottawa and Ontario. Within a day I had my QSL from Rick. He told me they were operating on 30 kW (night). I also got a photo of the CFRA antennas at sunset made when Rick was inspecting newly installed tower flashers. And a photo of the studio that morning with Patrica Boal at the mic for her show “Ottawa at work” with producer Cory in the back.
CFRA studio when my QSL was sent: Patricia Boal at the mic for her show “Ottawa at Work”
As far as Rick knows I’m the only DX-er that now has both CFGO and CFRA from Ottawa confirmed. To be honest, that would surpise me, but thanks to Rick for the QSLs!
The first Radio Caroline North broadcast of 2024 is between 13th-14th January, live from our radio ship Ross Revenge.
You’ll hear some great music from the 60s to early 90s – plus a chance to win some goodies from our Web Shop, courtesy of Leslie Salter from Hull.
Listen on 648 AM across England, The Netherlands, Belgium and beyond, on 1368 AM in the North/North-West courtesy of our friends at Manx Radio, worldwide online here via our Caroline North Player, on smart speakers and the Radio Caroline app.
We’d love to hear from you during the broadcast via memories@radiocaroline.co.uk and remember, it’s the only email address that gets you straight through to our ‘North’ broadcasters.
Zuid West Brabant is a low power medium wave station from Heerle. A little village between Bergen op Zoom and Roosendaal in the province Noord-Brabant in The Netherlands. With 100 Watt they are active on weekends. Within a day I got their QSL via zuidwestbrabant@hotmail.com.
eQSL from LPAM station Zuid West Brabant AM from Heerle on 1467 kHz
Funny detail: I happened to come across this station while listening via a KiwiSDR in the North of Scotland. At 970 kilometers distance reception was still quite good. Nevertheless I switched to my home QTH, only 80 kilometers away from Heerle.
Asfalttelegrafen was on air from December 23rd until January 5th. I tried a couple of times around Christmas, but I couldn’t get a decent signal here in Woerden. Tracking some KiwiSDRs I learned that the signal reached the German coast, but then it quickly deteriorated.
On January 4th however I was lucky however. And although a strong noise source on 1495.25 kHz forced me to notch everything between 1000 and 1500 Hz I could recognize the various titles played and picked up a clear ID (at 24 secs in the clip).
A day later I received a lengthy and detailed email QSL from Torleif Roos, who is DXer and HAM operator as well. Asfalttelegrafen is located in Ludvika, Sweden, 1097 km from my QTH. I noticed the name is sometimes also spelled as Asfaltstelegrafen.
eQSL from Asfaltstelegrafen, Ludvika, Sweden
The station got its name from “Asfalttelegrafen”, a program on the Swedish National Radio 3rd program on FM around 1975. In the late Sunday nights before midnight it brought rock music. Unfortunately private individuals can’t obtain a permanent license in Sweden, so Torleif has to apply for a 14 day license every time he want’s to broadcast. More information can be found on the radio sweden international website.
The transmitter is a 1 kW Hercules. It is connected to a “L” antenna, 48.5 meters long above an earthplane created by 16 cables of 50 meters each. Broadcast times were 20:00 – 03:55 h UTC, which is the window created when Radio Moldova is not in the air. During those hours the frequency is empty in Europe, with the next station being in Iran.
Yesterday I wrote about the reactivation of Galei Zahal on 1287 and 945 kHz. In the evening hours both frequencies could be received very well here in The Netherlands. This morning the QSL for Galei Zahal 1287 kHz showed up in my email box. Galei Zahal (or Galatz) is the radio station of the IDF (Israeli Army).
email confirming Galei Zahal (IDF Radio) on 1287 kHz
The transmitter on 1287 kHz is located in She’ar Yashuv, in the North of Israel, only 3 kilometers away from the border with Lebanon.
Galei Zahal at She’ar Yashuv (Google Maps Street View)
Galei Zahal from Israel has reactivated their medium wave transmitter on 1287 kHz (50/100 kW), and there are also reports that 945 kHz is active. Galei Zahal is the broadcasting station of the Israeli Army IDF. It’s also abbreviated as “Galatz”.
I only tried briefly to receive this station this morning as I was busy with finishing the Collective Listening Event 299 on NDBs. The local LPAM station Kilrock on 1287 kHz was dominating the frequency. But guess what? They sent a message in response to listeners complaining about interference in the evening, explaining that it was Galei Zahal causing the issue. Check this YouTube recording of the Kilrock message (in Dutch obviously).
In 1999 I received Galei Zahal on 6895 kHz, for which I received a QSL. But for more than a decade they have been active on FM only.
QSL received from IDF station Galei Zahal in 1999
UPDATE: received the station today (3JAN24) on 1287 kHz, around 17:30 h UTC, fading in/out over local LPAM Kilrock, up to near perfect quality. Later in the evening also audible on 945 kHz, here well over Radio Romania Actualitati.
BDXC : SWL 2262 PRe VERON : NL 14228 If you want to get in touch, just leave a message on one of my posts. Please note that I don't publish email addresses of verifiers which are not part of the public domain. So if you don't see the QSL address, just leave a message and I'll get back to you.
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