While busy processing IQ.wav recordings for CLE-297 of the NDB list group, I enjoyed listening to Radio Delta. Within a day I received this e- QSL Radio Delta, Elburg, The Netherlands, 6060 kHz.
Radio Delta is on the air weekends on 6060 and 12075 kHz. Check their website for the latest schedule. Not only their website is pretty nice, but they can also be very proud of their studio! Professional! On 6060 they featured a program “Radio Delta goes DX”, reading listeners reports from all over Europe. Their signal is certainly strong enough!
Not sure if Bogusman still is active as a pirate station, it definitely used to be, but I sure liked their program on Channel 292, Germany. While some stations merely mimic Radio Caroline, Bogusman brought nice “alto” pop from the 80-ies.
I sent my report to: differentradio@yahoo.co.uk.
Nice e-QSL from the Bogusman, transmitting via Channel 292
Following a brief email confirmation in August I received this beautiful “Ukraine” e- QSL from NEXUS IBA 1323 kHz. They broadcast from Villa Estense in Italy.
As they wrote in the accompanying email; “Our latest QSL card is dedicated to all the people in Ukraine, those who died, and those who left their home country as refugees during the current times of war. The card was designed by Pauline Marx, a young German artist who joins us in expressing a message of hope to the people in Ukraine because there is always hope for a better future”.
NEXUS IBA 1332 kHz QSL card, dedicated to the people in Ukraine
They continue: “We run extraordinary high power broadcast on Shortwave and Medium Wave (1368 kHz) in the evenings with news and inspirational programs to reach those in the current conflict zones. If you wish to know more or support our efforts, please visit our web pages:
e QSL for the reception of the Encompass program celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the Woofferton Transmitting Station
A special e- QSL for Woofferton Transmitting Station on 17785 kHz. Encompass Digital Media is the owner of this transmitting station at Woofferton, United Kingdom. Formerly owned by the BBC it was handed over to Encompass in 1997 as a part of the privatization of the World Service distribution and transmission.
On October 17th, Encompass brought a special program celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the Woofferton Station. The program featured various personal stories of people that are working or had worked on the station. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as having been an operational manager myself (albeit in a different line of business) I can really appreciate how a team can be proud of running a complex technical facility together.
(Thanks to Franz Bleeker for bringing this broadcast to my attention!)
I was really surprised to pick up a NDB signal from the Azores with considerable signal strength. Below you can see the Pskov recording (I added the morse code for clarity):
Pretty strong signal from FIL-380 Horta/Faial Island
The email to QSL NDB FIL-380 near Horta on Faial Island indicates a power of 700W which, in combination with propagation over water, might explain why the signal came through so well. I sent my report to geral@nav.pt which is the general email address for NAV Portugal, responsible for flight safety in Portugal and the Portugese Islands.
email QSL for NDB FIL 380 kHz, near Horta on Faial Island, Azores
Horta airport is situated on Faial Island. The airport was established in 1971 and offers flights to nearby islands but also to Lisbon, Portugal. On the photo below you see the runway close to the sea and in the distance you see the volcano on nearby Pico island:
The medium wave scene is pretty dynamic right now. And 1584 kHz has always been a frequency where several low power stations compete. I got this QSL Vocea Sperantei for my reception of their program on 1584 kHz. I sent my report to rvs@rvs.ro .
e QSL letter from Vocea Sperantei, Romania, 1584 kHz
Vocea Sperantei has 4 transmitters on this frequency. All have a rather modest power of 1 kW only. Nevertheless I hear them quite often, battling with SER stations from Spain, Greatest Hit Radio from the UK, or Studio X from Italy.
Vocea Sperantei means “Voice of Hope”. The station is part of the Adventist World Radio network (as you could have guessed from the three trumpets in the logo).
As they write on their website: “In an indifferent, confused world with toppled values, Voice of Hope is a different kind of radio, with a different message. Because of the current topics, the warm and optimistic tone of the producers and the interest in the problems of the listeners, Vocea Sperantei radio is for everyone who needs a friend, strength and hope”. And indeed in these troubled times I can only applaud them for their effort.
Via Enaire, the air navigation and aeronautical information service provider in Spain, I got a QSL for NDB IZA-394 Ibiza. This radio beacon is located in Santa Eulalia del Rio on the island of Ibiza. It serves as approach beacon for the airport of Ibiza, and take off beacon for the airports of Menorca and Palma de Mallorca. The transmitter is a Marconi SS 2000A with 200W output power. The Antenna is a “T” as you can see on the picture they so kindly provided:
Technical Info NDB IZA-394 kHz Santa Eulalia, Ibiza
The Woofferton shortwave station will celebrate its 80th birthday on October 17, 2023. The Mayor of Leominster and the Deputy Mayor of Ludlow will join other dignitaries at a special event in Woofferton to mark the occasion. The transmitter facility was built by the BBC during the Second World War to accommodate additional shortwave transmitters. When the station officially began broadcasting on October 17, 1943, it had six 50 kW RCA transmitters, acquired through a loan-lease agreement. The station has been modernized several times over the years and is now DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) capable and offers daily digital radio programs. There will be a special program on shortwave (and other platforms) for the birthday on October 17, 2023: 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. UTC:
Transmitter 95 Marconi BD272 from 1963: 15245 kHz (250 kW, 294°) towards North America
Transmitter 96 RIZ: 17785 kHz (250 kW kW, 114°) towards Europe
Transmitter 92 RIZ: 11725 kHz-DRM (110 kW DRM, 114°) towards Europe
The program details the history of the broadcasting facility, which was used not only for the BBC and then the Voice of America, but for numerous other foreign services. Station employees will have their say about the history and present of the broadcasting system. QSL hunters can apply for an E-QSL by submitting meaningful reception reports to radio @ encompass.tv. There is even a raffle. (Dave Porter via Alan Pennington/Wolfgang Büschel)
Forty years ago I received a QSL for the non-directional beacon LJS on Bjørnøya or Bear Island. Administratively Bjørnøya is part of Svalbard or Spitsbergen, a territory of Norway. Given its remote location Spitsbergen (including Bear Island) is a separate radio country according to the EDXC list. I somehow assumed that there was no NDB active anymore on the island. But last week I received a beacon BJO on 316 kHz and learned that its location is Bjørnøya.
The maritime radio station Bjørnøya Radio closed in 1996 when – like so many other stations – the station was converted to remote operation from the Kystradio Nord center. But the Bjørnøya Meteorological Station is still staffed, one of the reasons being that a couple of times per day weather balloons have to be launched.
Bjørnøya Meteorological Station (photo: https://bjornoya.org/)
I decided to give it a try, and emailed the Meteo station to find out if they knew about the beacon and could confirm my reception report. Within hours I got a reply from Lisanne… in Dutch! Lisanne is one of two Dutch people in a team of 9 persons that run the Meteo station. They are on duty from June to December when they will be relieved by the next team. Lisanne is trained as meteorologist and it is her 2nd stint on the island.
The team of 9 people on Bjørnøya Meteorological Station. Lisanne in the center, wearing a light blue jacket.
Lisanne wrote that although Bjørnøya Radio is closed, they still transmit a weather bulletin twice a day (10:05 h UTC and 22:05 h UTC) on 1757 kHz. It is preceded by an announcement on 2182 kHz. Lisanne shared this nice Facebook movie about it. But she told me also that they did not send a signal with call sign BJO. There is an amateur radio at the station for visiting amateurs, but that one hadn’t been used either in the past year.
Bjørnøya Meteorological Station (blue H marks their Heliport) and the location of NDB BJO (green dot)
I thanked Lisanne for the nice picture and the reply. And explained to her that the transmitter/antenna I was looking for was probably close to the station and the nearby heliport. A day later another email came in. Over coffee she had raised my question again and with the help of the airports.com site learned that a few kilometers to the east, on the so-called Nordpunktet (North Point) there was an antenna and a little cabin which housed the NDB transmitter. I got a couple of nice photo’s as well.
The fuse cabinet of the Thales NDB transmitter is located in the Meteo Station itself
The little cabin housing NDB transmitter BJO and the antenna
There is a story connected with the little cabin. In 1971 an operator of the Meteo Station named Bjørn Tessem was attacked by a polar bear. He was found near the door of the cabin, with the bear over him. Most likely he attempted to enter the cabin to save himself but the door was locked. There is a small memorial plaque about this event on the wall of the cabin.
Memomarial Plaque for operator Bjørn Tessem who died following a polar bear attack
So you can see how the reception of just three letters BJO in morse code, received over 2500 kms, lead to a surprising conversation, a few nice pictures and a tragic story.
My sincere thanks to Lisanne and the team members at Bjørnøya Meteorological Station, who also gave me permission to publish their photo’s. They have their own website at https://bjornoya.org/ .
The Voice of America broadcasts under the name Studio 7 to Zimbabwe. The programs in Shona, Ndebele and English are aired from Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana. I sent a reception report to the usual qsl@usagm.gov address, but also wrote to studio7@voanews.com .
Praxedes Jeremiah, senior editor at Studio 7 sent an email reply. The program on 6045 kHz I listened to was in Shona language, but so many English words were used that I could understand which topics were discussed.
QSL for VoA Studio 7 program from Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana
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