As far as I know there are 4 stations active on DSC watch 2187.5 kHz from Turkey. Earlier I received replies from Istanbul Radio, Samsun Radio and Izmir Radio. So when I received a test confirmation from Antalya Türk Radio on a test message of tanker ADRIA in the eastern Mediterranean I hoped to put a “crown” on my Türk Radio QSL collection.
Unfortunately contrary to the other QSLs which contained a polite and detailed confirmation, this one was just an “It’s true” message… More text than my Buenos Aires Radio QSL, that’s true… and if anything I’m grateful for the reply.
A very “to the point” QSL from Antalya Türk Radio on 2187.5 kHz
Radio Metropolis broadcasts with 1 kW from Trieste, Italy. Despite relatively low power it is not a difficult catch. And I have a soft spot for that deep voice announcing “Radio Metropolis”. The only thing I observe is that they are often subject to deep fading like the other low power Italian stations.
Radio Metropolis, Trieste, 1503 kHz as received on my QTH (with the antenna not really in the optimal direction: 120/300)
I tried to QSL them in the past, but I was never succesful. Until I learned last week that my friend Antonello Napolitano, known for his DX-fanzine bulletins, is hosting a DX show. And he was so kind to QSL my report.
QSL Radio Metropolis, Trieste, 1503 kHz
This is what Antonello wrote:
As you may be aware I am the producer and host of a DX show in Italian called “Bande Rumorose” carried over 5 italian MW stations (Radio Metropolis, Radio Briscola, Emmereci Radio or Media Radio Castellana, Power 927 and Radio centrale Milano). If you listen to “Bande Rumorose” on any of the above mentioned stations and send me a reception report I will verify it with a specific e-QSL.
For the sake of good order, let me add that reports based on reception via public remote SDR receivers (Twente, Kiwi and so on) will not be verified. The reason is simple: such reports are useless as we can check such receivers by ourselves. Last but not least, I want to recognize the efforts made by true DXers for picking up the signals from those Italian stations.
“Bande Rumorose” is also distrubuted via its channel on youtube which can be found at this link:
The program, which I describe as an old style DX show, consist of DX News, profile and/or history of both, MW and SW; stations from allover the world, interviews with DXers and shortwave personalities (for example Dino Bloise) and logs of recently received medium and short wave stations (some of them accompanied by good quality recording of their jingles or station identification announcements!).
“Bande Rumorose” is on air as follows (All times CET = UTC+1 hour):
• Emmerreci Radio, Castel San Pietro Terme (BO), Sundays, at 1100, Fridays at 2300 on 711 e 1098 kHz. • Power 927, Abbiategrasso (MI), Sundays at 1100, Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays, at 2100 on 927 kHz. • Radio Briscola, Lenta (VC), Sundays, at 1100 e 1830 on 1449 kHz. • Radio Centrale Milano, Milano, Sundays, at 1030, Mondays, at 2300 on 1575 kHz. • Radio Metropolis, Trieste, Sundays, at 2205 on 1503 kHz and 93.90 MHz FM for the city of Trieste.
But I still received a nice new Transatlantic Station: WQBA from Miami!
1140 AM is the channel on which I typically receive CBI “CBC Radio One” from Nova Scotia, Canada. But this time I heard a few Latin American songs, and a clear ID “11-40 AM” in Spanish. I wasn’t sure about the station call though (in hindsight I didn’t recognize the American “Double – U” as I was focused on Spanish and so I didn’t even realize that the call sign was pretty well audible). The four songs I heard were all by singers from Puerto Rico. The only station from Puerto Rico on this frequency, WQII “Once Q”, was listed as “inactive”.
Recording of ID… once you know what to hear it is quite clear: “Double-U -Q-B-A 11-40 AM, El Pulso de Miami”!
So as their website seemed “alive and kicking” I sent a report to Mr. Jose Cheo Cruz and received a confirmation within an hour… so it seemed that it really was “Once Q”, currently still at low power, soon to be heard a full power.
Now we might miss the traditional QSL card these days, but it is so much easier to connect with other DX-ers around the world. So I posted my “alleged” reception “for comments”. Both Mauno Ritola from MW-list and Guido Schotmans from the Benelux DX Club pointed out that it was WQBA “El Pulso de Miami” I heard. Mauno was so kind to include the recording below, and if you compare it to mine it is clear is was WQBA. As I experienced with other stations: “If you now what to hear, it is so easily recognizable”.
The WQBA ID in perfect quality… matches my reception
Disappointing? Maybe, but it is still a new Transatlantic station for me. The only thing is: will I get it QSL-ed?
Despite the annoucements on their website and enthusiastic replies from the owner, it remains to be seen if “Once Q” is really active, or even will become active on 1140 AM.(UPDATE: Mauno Ritola contacted Mr. Cruz: they are “on-air”, current power is 500 W and they want to go back to 10 000 Watts… so who knows if I will be able to hear them in future)
A QSL from CBGY CBC Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, Canada on 750 kHz. I struggled to hear them earlier due to the presence of nearby MCB from Alphen aan de Rijn on 747 kHz. But now that one has move to 846 kHz I can hear CBC regularly.
My report to radionews@cbc.ca received three different answers from people at CBC. One of them was Todd O’Brien who invited me for an interview in the afternoon show he was hosting. They replayed my recording of a topic on the Toronto Blue Jays and the original clip to show the listeners the difference is quality. How nice is that!
During my stay on the island of Curacao, March 2024, I received La Voz del Canaguate from Valledupar on 860 kHz. In excellent quality, no surprise given the distance. Of course I sent them a reception report, but I heard nothing… until last week, one and a half year later…
So “I might have heard them” but apparently La Voz del Canaguate is off the air due to their antenna being destroyed in a storm… Unfortunately I can’t find anything on the internet about it, they are not listed anymore in MWlist and WRTH app, so I wonder what happened?
My first medium wave QSL from China! CTGN, or China Radio International is broadcasting in Russian language on 1521 kHz from Hutubi with 500 kW. Hutubi is located 60 kilometers from Urumchi, the capital of Xinjiang. Officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
eQSl from CRI Radio Kitaya on 1521 kHz via English Service
On the audioclip below you can hear the familiar CRI tune, followed by a Chinese and Russian ID: “Govorit Mezhdunarodnoye Radio Kitaya (This is China Radio International speaking)”. I sent my report to crieng@cri.com.cn. After a recent reminder I received the e-QSL
A very nice eQSL card from Ellen AM on 828 kHz. Ellen AM is a Low Power AM (100 Watt) station from Hensbroek in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. Ellen AM is named after Ellen, spouse of Edo. They are the owners but also DJ on the station.
A lot of Dutch stations feature a windmill on their QSL, even if their is no one to be found in the neighbourhood. But Ellen AM is really in the heart of windmill country, and the mill shown on the QSL is the Molen Hensbroek.
eQSL Ellen AM, Hensbroek, 828 kHz
Chasing LPAM stations is a nice aspect of the hobby. You might think that my QTH is perfectly located in the centre of the Netherlands (JO22kc). But it also means that on most LPAM frequencies there is one nearby dominant station with little opportunity to benefit from variable conditions to catch one of the other ones. My directional loop helps, but not in this case where Ellen AM is north of me and the more dominant Aktief Tilburg exactly opposite to the south. So I made this reception from Almere, halfway between my QTH and Hensbroek..
Ellen AM started in 2020 with a 1 Watt license. They were surprised that with the right condiitons they were audible over quite a distance. But it also meant that in their service area they were vulnerable to interference during evenings/night. That’s why in 2023 they switched to a 100 Watt license operating on 828 kHz. You can read more about the Ellen AM team on their website.
The North American Transatlantic DX season has started, and one of the stations I received last week was WPTX 1690 AM from Lexington Park, Maryland, USA. I wrote to this station in the past, never got an answer. This time my report was answered with this n/d email. I sent my report to sharon@somdradio.com .
WPTX was one of the stations that moved to the socalled “expanded band” in the late 90’s. This expanded band, which runs from 1610 to 1700 kHz was approved for use by the FCC on March 17th, 1997. I remember that at the time European DX-ers thought that this would open a lot of opportunities for Transatlantic DX as there are no European stations active on these frequencies (and in those days the traditional MW band was still crowded with high power EU broadcasters).
But apart from a few regulars it turned out to be not that easy… mainly because most of the stations allowed were low power (10 Watts only). WPTX is an exception, with 10 kW during day time, 1 kW night time. And with their location close to the coast they are one of the stations that can be heard regularly at my QTH.
WPTX targets a 50+ year old audience with oldies, rock and roll and surf music.
A nice QSL email from Stockholm Radio Sweden for a DSC message on 2187.5 kHz with a copy of the classic Stockholm Radio QSL card with call sign SDJ attached. I sent my report to info@stockholmradio.se .
email QSL for Stockholm Raidio at 2187.5 kHz
I sent this report because Hugo Matten received such a nice reply on his report. But as was explained to me in an earlier email all emergency monitoring (GMDSS/DSC) is done by JRCC Sweden, located in Gothenburg. They have access to the facilities of Stockholm Radio for that purpose.
Stockholm Radio is in fact only responsible for the VHF services from Stockholm.
A copy of the physical QSL card for Stockholm Radio that was in use in the 80s was enclosed.
Even during summer (or maybe especially during summer) it pays out to monitor the medium wave. Last night offered very good conditions towards Brazil and Argentina, allowing me to log a few stations that I didn’t hear before.
On this Youtube video you will see my recording of the National Anthem played on Radio Buenos Aires 1350 kHz. With 11448 kilometers from my QTH a new personal record!
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