Tag: MF

QSL Port Said Radio 2187.5 kHz

May 9, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 2 Comments

A brief email to QSL Port Said Radio on 2187.5 kHz. I received the station in February acknowledging a DSC test message from a tanker Dilos anchored in Port Said Harbour. Initially I tried to reach out to the Port Said Harbour authorities via psp@portsaid.gov.eg , but without success. Rob (IZEROCDM) at DX Fanzine was so kind to share the portsaid.radio@te.eg address that delivered him the QSL. Thank you so much Rob!

This is only my 2nd QSL from Egypt. I don’t know how many reports I sent to Radio Cairo… but they were all to no avail.
The other Egyptian QSL I have is from the Middle East News Agency (MENA). I vividly remember how in 1993 I built a small RTTY decoder using an OpAmp (918?). It ran with software on the first PC I owned, an IBM PS/2 with an 80286 Intel CPU (10 MHz). With only one purpose… to get a QSL from my 181st radio country.

QSL Esperanza Colombia 1470 kHz

May 8, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

I have heard AWR stations from many countries. While staying on Curacao I heard them on 1470 kHz from Medellin, Colombia. It is possible to hear this station with 5/1 kiloWatts in Europe…. My reception report to contacto@esperanzaradio.co was confirmed after 5 weeks with a brief email:

QSL La Voz de Bogotá 930 kHz

April 19, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

An email to QSL La Voz de Bogotá on 930 kHz. Another Colombian station I received during my stay at Curacao. I struggled to find an email address, but Arild was so kind to help me out. V/s is Mr. John Rodrigues

Confirmation email for La Voz de Bogotá on 930 kHz

La Voz de Bogotá started in 1931 as one of the first radio stations in Colombia. Today it is the flagship station of the Todelar Network. They also operate a number of FM stations like La X, of which you can see the logo on the confirmation mail.

QSL Radio Santa Fe 1070 AM

April 18, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 1 Comment

I heard Radio Santa Fe during my stay on Curacao, and Ms. Blanca Bernal was so kind to QSL Radio Santa Fe 1070 AM.

Radio Santa Fe was founded in 1938 by Hernando Bernal Andrade and his wife Luisa Mahe. Bernal purchased a communications system from a crashed airplane, repaired it and with his wife bought a house in Centenario, a neighbourhood in southern Bogotá, where the first broadcasts of Radio Santa Fe started.

I wouldn’t be suprised if Ms. Bernal is family of the founder. And while I am very grateful for the response of Ms. Bernal I regret that they don’t do something like an e QSL….Years ago they sent a QSL like this:

QSL RCN Cartagena 1000 kHz

April 17, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

I received a QSL for my reception of RCN Cartagena on 1000 kHz. I heard this station, and the RCN stations from Medellin (990 kHz) as well as Cali (980 kHz) while staying on Curacao. Unfortunately the response was a poorly detailed answer via facebook messenger only.

The structure of the Radio Cadena Nacional organisation in Colombia is quite complicated with national and regional production centers and various network programs. On medium wave RCN as I heard it on 1000 kHz is their main program.

Antena 2 is their second network broadcasting sports. Antena 2 has dedicated frequencies in Bogotá, Cali and Medellin, but in other cities it shares the frequency with La Cariñosa. The latter is a network program started in 2000, focusing on popular music.

I came also across RCN owned Radio Red network (for example Bogotá, 970 kHz). Until 2013 these frequencies belonged to Cadena Super. The station I heard from Medellin (710 kHz) is referred to as Cristal Radio Red, but is in fact part of the same network.

Finally I received a “stand alone” RCN station called Años Maravillosos from Bogotá on 1340 AM. This seems a “left over” of the Amor Radio network which had several stations on FM. The FM stations have all been transitioned to other “FM only” networks of RCN: La Mega, La Uno and La FM.

QSL BBN Radio Bogotá 1100 kHz

April 16, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

A QSL for my reception of BBN Radio from Bogotá, Colombia on 1100 kHz. BBN stands for Bible Broadcasting Network. I have to admit that, unlike TWR and AWR, I was not familiar with this station. That is most likely because they do not operate on Shortwave. The organisation runs quite a few FM stations in the United States, in addition to 4 low power AM stations. But they are also active in 14 countries in South America, with medium wave presence in Chile, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela.

email to QSL Red De Radiodifusión Biblica (BBN) from Colombia

During my stay in Curaçao I received the station “Red de Radiodifusión Bíblica” from Bogotá, Colombia. I heard a program with a Bible Class and a lecture from the apostle Matthew. I sent my report to red@bbnradio.org .

QSL Radio Cluj 1593 kHz

April 13, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

Romania still has a strong presence on medium wave with a number of regional stations. I received a brief email that confirmed my reception/QSL Radio Cluj 1593 kHz. I sent my report to office@radiocluj.ro and secretariat@radiocluj.ro and got a reply from the latter address.

The transmitter locations are Sibiu (10 kW) and Oradea (15 kW). Both locations are well outside the Cluj District by the way, and 120 and 130 kilometers of its capital Cluj-Napoca respectively.

Cluj Radio broadcasts in Romanian language. The station identification I heard was “Radio Cluj, ascultă Transilvania” before they went off the air at 20:00 h UTC. The same transmitter location also broadcasts Kolozsvari Radio in Hungarian language as well as Radio Bukarest programs in German and Hungarian. And the frequency is shared with the Radio Târgu Mures program from Miercurea Cluc or Radio România Actualități from Ion Corvin. So make sure you hear a proper ID!

QSL WBQN Borinquen Radio 680 kHz

April 12, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

I received two short email confirmations to QSL WBQN Borinquen Radio 680 kHz. The station is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I received it during my stay on Curacao over a distance of 760 kilometers. Their website is not much more than a streaming portal, but offered a nice opportunity to “spruce up” my QSL emails 😜!

The original call sign of the station was WAPA, which refers to the Asociación de Productores de Azúcar, or Puerto Rico Sugar Grower’s Association. It’s current call sign WBQN and name “Borinquen Radio” refers to the native name for the island of Puerto Rico.

The station identifies frequently as “Borinquen Radio, catorze emisoras en Puerto Rico!”. And indeed they have 6 other AM transmitter sites, each with a separate call sign, and each with an FM transmitter as well, so 14 in total. With 10 kW WBQN is the most powerful, the other AM transmitters are typically 1-2.5 kW. “La Poderosa” means “the most powerful” in Spanish.

QSL JRCC Sweden 2187.5 kHz

November 28, 2023 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

Göteborg and Stockholm Radio can be received regularly on 2187.5 kHz with DSC messages. As I already had QSLs from the 80-ies for I didn’t bother to send a reception report and QSL request for these two stations. But then I saw a QSL from Artur at MaresmeDX for JRCC Sweden. And I wondered how they are actually organized these days.

Within an hour of sending my reception report for a reception of MMSI 002653000, Göteborg Radio on 2187.5 kHz to jrcc@sjofartsverket.se I got an answer:

So it seems that everything on MF is now under the jurisdiction of JRCC Sweden. The HF band isn’t covered anymore. And I guess that the name Stockholm Radio is used for VHF DSC watch and weather broadcasts: https://stockholmradio.se/ .

In the 80-ies you could listen to a couple of stations on MF. In addition to Göteborg (SAG) and Stockholm Radio (SDJ) I remember Karlskrona (SAA), Härnosand (SAH) and Tingstaede (Visby, SAE). The nice thing was that they had matching set of QSL cards. But although I heard all stations, I managed to get the QSLs for Göteborg and Stockholm Radio only…

1980s (I’ve two, both no details) QSL Stockholm Radio SDJ

Norwegian Coastal Radio QSLs from the past: Florø, Tjøme and Aalesund Radio

April 6, 2023 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

When you are collecting QSLs it is ups and downs. Sometimes you receive a QSL every single day, and sometimes the (e)mailbox is a barren desert. It was like that when I started this hobby in the 80-ies, and it’s still like that since I returned to the radio waves.
But… it is also a good opportunity to reflect upon some old QSL cards. And since my last post was on “Kystradio Sør”, I’d like to share three QSLs from Norwegian Coastal Radio Stations that don’t exist anymore as “independent” stations: Florø, Tjøme and Aalesund.
In the 80-ies there were at least a dozen stations Norwegian Coastal Radio stations active on MF. 2182 kHz was the “calling frequency” where vessels and coastal stations made the initial contact. Announcements of weather bulletins and navigational warnings were made here. Most sought after by DX-ers were the stations like Jan Mayen, Bjørnøya and Longyearbyen, as they provided the opportunity to QSL Jan Mayen and Svalbard, two separate EDXC radio countries (I did hear Jan Mayen once, but never got a QSL… I had to hunt NDBs to get these countries).
Receiving the stations was one thing, but QSL-ing the Norwegian stations was another challenge. In the end I only managed to get three of them: Florø, Tjøme and Aalesund. Want to learn more? Check this Wikipedia article on the history of Telenor Kystradio.