Tag: QSL (Page 31 of 49)

QSL CFRA 580 Ottawa

January 11, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

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!

QSL DR Kalundborg 243 kHz

January 10, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 5 Comments

Another long wave icon is gone. The longwave transmitter of Danmarks Radio in Kalundborg on 243 kHz was taken off the air on December 31st. Sadly that is the third big longwave station gone that I posted about on this blog. On January 1st, 2023 the RTL Beidweiler transmitter on 234 kHz was taken off the air. And RTE Summerhill on 252 (formerly Atlantic 252) left the theater in April.

Fortunately Mr. Jens Seeberg, former engineer at the station, was so kind to award my reception report with a nice QSL card. The photo was taken by him and a colleague engineer making a tour by airplane. I sent my report to jseeberg@post3.tele.dk

The site in Kalundborg was opened in 1927. At some point in time the transmitter had an output of 300 kW. In recent years operations were already trimmed down to 50 kW, and transmissions confined to shipping weather forecast and news bulletins.

QSL Zuid West Brabant AM 1467 kHz

January 8, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 1 Comment

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.

QSL Zuidwest Brabant AM, Heerle — 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.

QSL NDB PEP-297 Prilep

January 7, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

A QSL for NDB PEP on 297 kHz from Prilep, North Macedonia. My 2nd QSL from this country. The beacon is located 1733 kms from my QTH. The Cyrillic text on the email translates as “keep up the good work”!

email QSL for NDB PEP on 297 kHz from North Macedonia

QSL Asfalttelegrafen 1494 kHz

January 6, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 1 Comment

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.

The Hercules transmitter of Asfalttelegrafen

QSL 100 kW Marathon Moosbrunn 6070 kHz

January 5, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

Several program providers were very active during the Christmas season. I already reported on RNEI and friends, active on 5940 kHz, but hampered by Radio Piepzender…. The 100 kW Marathon organized by SM Radio Dessau was more succesful. Good reception without interference. While I listened to Dessau and DARC I provided details on the other stations… which cost me browny points 😜. I promise to do better next year mr. Max Berger from SM Radio Dessau!

QSL for SM Radio Dessau and friends on 6070 kHz — e QSL from SM Radio Dessau for 100 kW Marathon via Moosbrunn

I sent reports to some of the individual contributors… So far only Intensiv Radio from RadioDXfreunde replied…

QSL Galei Zahal 1287 kHz

January 4, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 3 Comments

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 back on 1287 and 945 kHz

January 3, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 1 Comment

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.

QSL SAQ Grimeton Xmas 2023 on 17.2 kHz

January 2, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 4 Comments

Of the 4 SAQ Grimeton broadcasts I was able to listen to in 2023 this was by far the best reception with a clear CW signal, S4. A week later I received their e-QSL!

QSL SAQ Grimeton Christmas 2023 — e-QSL for the SAQ Grimeton Christmas Eve morning transmission 2023

SAQ Grimeton is a former wireless telegraph station in Sweden. It generates radio signals using an AC generator (called an alternator) designed by the Swedish engineer Alexanderson. This technology was used prior to the development of vacuum tube oscillators. You can learn more about the history of this station and its planned transmissions on the website of the Alexander assocation.

QSL Weekend Music Radio 6295 kHz

January 1, 2024 / Peter Reuderink / 0 Comments

A 21 (!) page PDF file served as a QSL from Weekend Music Radio 6295 kHz. Including a fully detailed QSL card, legacy QSL cards, and lots of background information and photo’s from Weekend Music Radio.