I received this e-QSL and a nice friendly email from Pop Shop Radio. I heard their programme on 5950 kHz via WRMI, Okeechobee, FL, USA. Pop Shop Radio is a program made in Hope, British Columbia, Canada. Having lived in Alberta, Canada for 4 years such a Canadian QSL is always special. And yes, I have driven through hope on a trip to Vancouver. No suprise, because as Tony from Pop Shop Radio wrote: all 4 highways to Vancouver pass through Hope.
Check this link for their latest schedule. The schedules posted on the WRMI website seem a little bit outdated.
Following a tip from Hugo Matten I was trying to receive Charleville Radio VMC, Australia, transmitting weather fax messages on 13920 kHz for a while. Initially I didn’t succeed. On my suburban home QTH I’m very pleased with my Megaloop FX antenna on lower frequencies. However I am a bit worried that the performance in the higher frequency bands leaves room for improvement.
While camping I decided to test my new Boni Whip antenna in combination with the RSPdx. I purchased these specifically for camping trips. And on the first attempt I was lucky! Below you see one of the pictures I received, using HDSDR and MultiPSK. Australia is easily recognizable.
Weather report by FAX from Charleville Radio VMC, Australia
My reception on May 1st was awarded by Craig from Kordia with their beautiful eQSL card. Within in a day! Now I’m trying to catch Wiluna Radio… I got some signals, but not enough for a decent FAX image.
Today I received an email Radio 292 newsletter. They apologize for not sending out QSLs of late due to a lack of time. Ofcourse you can always try to QSL this station via one of the many individual program owners of shows they relay. Check their website for more info.
Interesting is that they will relay programmes from the European Parliament on Radio 292 for the first time. Frequencies are 6070 and 9670 kHz: May 6th : 9-10 h UTC May 9th : 17-18 h UTC May 13th : 9-10 h UTC
eQSLs are awarded. Reports should contain at least 15 minutes of content description and comments on signal quality. WebSDRs allowed. Send your reports to QSL@europarl.europa.eu
QSL RNZ Pacific 11725 kHz is my second QSL from the other side of the world in two days only!
It is always fascinating to receive radiosignals from the other side of the world. But when I got into DX-ing in the late 70-ies, Radio New Zealand International was not an easy catch. They were using two old US military transmitters from World War II with 7.5 kW only. I still remember vividly how “once-off “reception conditions allowed us to receive them in perfect quality during a DX-weekend with the BDXC in the Meppel Youth Hostel.
In support of a more proactive foreign policy towards the Pacific, new 100 kW transmitters were taken in service in 1987. Location is Rangitaiki on the Northern Island with studios in Wellington. They are rebranding to RNZ Pacific. I hear them frequently on 11725 kHz in the evening hours. Their latest schedule can be found here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/listen
RNZ Pacific is no longer processing postal reports but offers a webform . It doesn’t generate an automatic QSL, reports are still being reviewed fortunately. I sent a report for my reception on my SDRPlay RSPdx with 10 meter longwire while camping in Appelscha, Drenthe.
QSL RNZ Pacific 11725 kHz (formerly Radio New Zealand International)
Charleville Wiluna Radio with DCS messages on 16804.5 kHz is a relatively easy catch. Two things are a little bit more complicated:
First problem: what was the station I was actually listening to? Australia is a big country. In the 80-ies, individual stations had dedicated callsigns. I received VIP (Perth), VIS (Sydney), VIM (Melbourne) etc. in CW. But like in many other countries everything is now centralized, and Charleville (east coast, near Brisbane) and Wiluna (west coast, near Carnarvon) operate under the callsign VIC (formerly the Carnarvon callsign if I’m right). Mind you, both Charleville and Wiluna are not even coastal towns. Bad news: this is probably not going to change anymore…
1988 OTS QSL received via VIP Perth Radio, showing all call signs in use in those days
Second problem: whom to write to? Again “modern times”. As far as I know RCC Australia falls under the responsibility of AMSA “Australian Maritime Safety Agency“. But my email to them was answered with “this is something for Kordia”. Kordia is a service provider in Australia. But when I searched the internet I learned that Kordia was changing to “Ventia”. From my own experience I know that such changes typically result in a change of email addresses etc… so I decided to send a physical letter to the RCC Canberra address. And here comes the good news: my letter ended up with Craig Bloom, Senior Communications Operator at what is still Kordia. Craig answered with a kind email and the beautiful VIC QSL card! Drop a comment if you want to receive the contactdetails as I don’t like to publish email addresses that are not part of public domain.
UPDATE: Craig confirmed that rebranding of Kordia is complete, but their part of the operation will continue as Kordia.
KBS World Radio is the International Service of the Korean Broadcasting System for South Korea. Via the Issoudun transmitter in France I received a program for the “amis francophone” with pop music from South Korea. Getting a QSL is an easy but a bit unpersonal “do it yourself” service via a webform on the KBS World Radio website.
Radio Charleston International is probably one of the easiest identifiable stations on the bands. As far as I know this “free radio” station from Berlin, Germany, only broadcasts music from the pre-WWII era, predominantly from from the “roaring twenties”. For my report to charlestonradiointernal@yahoo.com I received this e-QSL:
The Voice of Turkey is one of the few governmental broadcasters left offering an international service in a variety of languages. And they still send out beautiful QSL cards. Last week I received this one for my reception report of their English program on 12035 kHz.
Radio Free Asia issued a new QSL card to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Rabbit. I received this QSL for my reception of their Tibetan program on 12125 kHz in January this year. Also got a leaflet explaining their mission “Bringing free press to closed societies”. The transmitter is located on the tiny island of Tinian, which is part of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Radio Free Asia “Year of the Rabbit” QSLQSL Radio Free Asia Tinian
Today was a slow day, I’m the middle of an NDB “contest” that doesn’t bring much sofar…(more about that tomorrow). So time to dig into my QSL collection for something special! I believe this is my tiniest QSL. Oh irony, it is from one of the biggest countries in the world: China! Funny fact: it came in a regular sized envelope! In those days maritime stations were broadcasting CW markers which made long distance reception relatively easy despite limited transmitter power.
The smallest QSL card in my collection: Shanghai Radio XSG
BDXC : SWL 2262 PRe VERON : NL 14228 If you want to get in touch, just leave a message on one of my posts. Please note that I don't publish email addresses of verifiers which are not part of the public domain. So if you don't see the QSL address, just leave a message and I'll get back to you.
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