My first QSL for a Canadian beacon was YMH Mary’s Harbour. But the first NDB I received from Canada was NDB CA on 281 kHz for Cartwright Airport. With 4022 kilometers the distance is a little bit further than YMH at 4009 kilometers.
Jennifer from Navcanada was so kind to confirm my reception report. And we exchanged some ideas for the exchange of QSL cards from Navcanada (which would be great!).
QSL letter for NDB CA Cartwright on 281 kHz
Below an audioclip of the reception of NDB CA… for those not familiar with morse code… it is -.-. .- (dah-di-dah-di di-dah) that you will hear:
Cartwright Airport has only one gravel runway of 1200 meters. Twice a week there are flights to Goose Bay (the biggest airport of Labrador) and Black Tickle, an Inuit settlement on the Island of Ponds.
If you want to explore Cartwright Airport, you could use the webcam… but there is not a lot to see.
Green circle is Cartwright NDB on 281 kHz. The water aerdrome is marked with a cross, and Cartwright airport with the purple plane.
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.
A QSL for NDB RUS operating on 424 kHz for Aeropuerto de Reus in Spain. Checking the statistics on NDB list this shouldn’t be a difficult catch. But despite receiving many Spanish NDBs, July this year was the first time I received RUS. And my reception was far from perfect. In the Pskov recording I made you can see that the beacons was briefly visible with RUS in morse: .-. ..- …
Enaire was again so kind to confirm my report and included their usual data sheet. I sent my report to informacion@enaire.es .
Most flights from Reus Airport are seasonal, carried out by budget airlines like Ryanair and Jet2.com.
I write Lerida as the call sign of this beacons is LRD and it is know as Lerida, but the formal name of the city in Catalan is Lleida. The NDB LRD is operated and maintained by Enaire who verified my report with the usual fact sheet. It shows that it is one of the typical Sistema radiante de tipo T antennas fed by a 200 W transmitter.
Factsheet NDB LRD Lerida at 404 kHz provided by Enaire
Now I’m not entirely sure if you can associate this beacon with Lleida-Alguaire Airport or not. But if so, while most of the NDBs from Spain I got confirmed were either associated with an Aena Airport or the military, Lleida-Alguaire airport is operated by Aeroports de Catalunya. It was constructed in 2010 by the Government of Catalunya at the cost of 130 million Euros.
Lleida Alguaire Airport… new, modern, but not much used
LRD is one of the Spanish beacons heard most easily at my QTH, and reported by European NDB listeners. But the airport seems to be less of a success though. Airnostrum seems to operate flights to Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca. But that’s all. For that reason the airport seems to target “aeronautical services” today. That means niche businesses as flying schools, aircraft storage and maintenance services.
NDB SGO on 356 kHz is another typical ENAIRE beacon: 200 Watts in a “Sistema radiante de tipo T”: three horizontal wires between two towers. The navigational function is linked to Valencia Airport. The beacon is located in Canet d’en Berenguer, north of Valencia. I’m not an expert, but when I checked on flight radar I noticed that flights pass north of Valencia, making a U-turn to land in an easterly direction.
The info sheet for NDB SGO shared by Enaire
If search for the beacon on GoogleMaps you will see that it is a bit of a weird location, in front of a hotel and in right in the centre of a nice beach resort and yacht club. But I guess the beacon was already there when the development of the resort started around 2001.
NDB SGO Sagunto is located next to the lighthouse, in front of a hotel (GoogleMaps).
My report was confirmed via informacion@enaire.es .
ENAIRE confirmed my reception of the NDB ECV-319 at Colmenar-Viejo airbase in Spain. This is the home of the Fuerzas Aeromóviles del Ejército de Tierra (FAMET), the Spanish Army Airmobile Forces. There are 4 helicopter batallions that have Colmenar-Viejo as their base, including BHELTRA V who fly Chinook (which is cool as my nephew and godson flies a Chinook as well).
I like chasing DX stations. But I also like listening to producers that offer something special on shortwave. For that reason I regularly check the Channel 292 calendar. But Shortwaveradio.de also offers nice programs.
This weekend I listened to SURF, a program from Imaginary Stations via Shortwave Gold. My report was confirmed by DJ Frederic Moe with a nice eQSL:
Imaginary Stations is a shortwave radio program producing creative broadcasts with themed music and content. One of these is around surf classics (SURF series). Another theme is analog music archives (The Ancient Analogue Archive). They are on air via Shortwave Gold (Shortwaveradio.de) and WRMI. In the program I listened to they invited people to become member of their Pen Pal club, and the Japanese “Surf” music played was by recommendation of a member from Tokyo.
You can find more info about Imaginary Stations on this Factsheet:
By the way, the Facebook page of Imaginary Stations and Radio Skybird features Shivering Sands Army Forts in the Thames, from which Radio City was broadcasting. A place full of radio history as I explained in an earlier post.
QSL for NDB ZRZ Zaragoza on 389 kHz. A beacon with a strong signal, but somehow often compromised by QRM at my location. The ZRZ beacon is located 15 kms NW of Zaragoza Airport.
My report was confirmed by informacion@enaire.es .
NDB ZRZ Zaragoza (green circle) is located 15 km NW of Zaragoza Airport
Google Maps view on NDB ZRZ Zaragoza
Zaragoza Airport history goes back to the Cold War. Constructed by the US it was one of three major USAF Cold War airbases in Spain. But what I didn’t know is that is was used as a Transoceanic Abort Landiing facility for Space Shuttle missions.
The Moosbrunn shortwave antenna is no more since January this year. Fortunately I was able to get a confirmation of my reception of ORF Radio Ö1 broadcasting via Moosbrunn. It is sad to see the destruction of the Moosbrunn facilities just after the celebration of 100 years radio in Austria. CARO, the Club Amateur Radio ORF, aired a special centennial broadcast on 6055 kHz in October 2024. It took a while (no problem, after all it is all volunteers work), but this week I received the beautiful eQSL.
QSL card CARO Moosbrunn transmission on 6055 kHz
I listened to a rebroadcast of an interview with Prof. Harranth who was the curator of the Dokumentationsarchiv „Funk“ (Radio) with 6 million items about Austrian radio history.
CARO sent the following accompanying message with the QSL:
The ORF Amateur Radio Club (a division of the ORF Sports Association, known as CARO) organized a series of broadcasts following the announcement of the demolition and decommissioning of the large shortwave transmitting station in Moosbrunn. These broadcasts paid tribute to the station’s decades-long successful operation. Some of these audio programs can be replayed via CARO’s website: https://www.oe1xrw.radio
Additionally, the website offers a comprehensive documentation of the former station’s history for those wishing to read or view more about it.
For many years, Moosbrunn stood as a symbol of Austria’s positive global image and the voice of its people. The station housed a dedicated shortwave editorial team — first under Radio Österreich International (ROI), later under a modified retransmission of standard ORF radio content.
Among the broadcasts were several historical retrospectives, including a program commemorating 100 years of radio in Austria. A particularly notable feature was an unpublished interview with the late Prof. Wolf Harranth, who passed away in 2021. In it, Harranth candidly explained the political, social, and technical background of the founding of ORF’s predecessor, Radioverkehrs AG (RAVAG).
Following the final transmission by Radio Dessau on 31 December 2024, deconstruction of the Moosbrunn site began in early 2025. First to be brought down was the globally unique, 70-meter-high and equally wide rotatable curtain array antenna, followed by other remaining structures like the log-periodic antenna and the “Reusenantenne”. The transmitter building was cleared. Discussions are underway regarding future use of the property, including possible 5G technology experiments.
In total, nearly 1,000 reception reports were received across the two final broadcasts (October and December 2024), including several hundred written and email confirmations. Because it was initially unclear whether the site might be preserved, the sending of QSL confirmations was delayed. Eventually, a dedicated CARO QSL team was formed, with Wolfgang OE3OBB managing electronic confirmations.
CARO sincerely thanks everyone for their confirmation reports and long-standing loyalty to the Moosbrunn transmitter — many of which spanned several decades.
We wish you good health and continued success. Club Amateur Radio ORF, Vienna
My 6th and final Azores beacon confirmed (there are only 6 active NDBs on the Azores) is PI on 420 kHz. This beacon is located on Pico Island. Pico Airport is also a smaller airport operated by Sata Aeródromos. But in addition to flights to the island of Terceira and Sao Miguel it also offers flights to Lisbon in mainland Portugal.
My report was confirmed by Marco Figueiredo from Nav Portugal.
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