Today I received a polite email to QSL my reception of Tianjin Coastal Radio on 8414.5 kHz. I sent my report to tianjinradio@163.com, and three hours later I received my reply. The call sign of Tianjin Radio is XSV.
Tianjin is the third largest port in the world, after Shanghai and Singapore. That said, I don’t see them in the DSC logs as often as for example Shanghai and Guangzhou Radio. The port is situated on the Haihe river. Tianjin has a population of 14 million.
Tianjin Coastal Radio Centre
By the way, last week I was away on a skiing holiday, but I kept my receivers on DSC watch. I also triggered remote logging on the YaDD decoder. The beauty is that I could see in Tirol what was being received via YaDDNet . So I already knew that I had received Tianjin before I got home… and DX Atlas confirmed it. Not all is bad in the modern age of DX-ing!
A rare opportunity to get a paper QSL from a main European broadcaster on shortwave: the NDR “Gruß an Bord” program. It is a special program that is being broadcast by the Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) on Christmas Eve.
Paper QSL from NDR for their “Gruß an Bord” Christmas program
As they write on their website (where you can also listen back to the 2023 program):
This year “Greetings on Board” celebrates its 70th anniversary. The traditional NDR program was broadcast for the first time on Christmas Eve 1953. So that ships on the world’s oceans can receive the broadcast, NDR rents additional shortwave frequencies. The series is a bridge between seafarers who travel the world’s oceans and their relatives in Germany. The sailors send greetings home. Families and friends wish them a happy holiday at sea or in distant ports.
Apart from the paper QSL I really enjoyed this program for a number of reasons.
First of all this program was brought from the “Hamburger Duckdalben“. The Duckdalben is the International Seaman’s Mission in Hamburg. There is a lot to be told about the good work they do, please visit their site to learn more. They had a significant role during the Covid-19 episode. This had a huge impact on sailors as they couldn’t travel back home to their families for months, as was discussed in the program.
Celebrating it’s 70th anniversary, the design of the program takes you back to the old days. There was no satellite. Shortwave radio was the only way to connect sailors and their beloved ones at home. And I can’t say it better than the “Gruß an Bord” team does:
The emotional, melancholic but also happy messages from the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and children of our sailors reflect the life that continues, at home and on board. And this connection between the two, this bridge between land and sea is needed – today just as much as it was 70 years ago!
I vividly remember how Radio Nederland had similar programs for Dutch people abroad when they were still active on shortwave!
Three transmitter sites, three countries verified on one QSL!
Another reason why I enjoyed this program is because my dad (who passed away two years ago) was an engineer – “machinist” – on merchant ships of the KNSM, The “Royal Dutch Shipping Company”. For my Dutch readers: it was also referred to as “Kleine Nietige Scheepjes Maatschappij” according to my dad. In the 50’s of the previous century he made many trips to the Caribbean and the Mediterranean seas, but also to Hamburg. The “Reeperbahn” was one of the first streets abroad that I heard about as a 6 year old kid. But it took me another 10 years to find out what the Reeperbahn was really all about 😜!
I understand that for many years this program was broadcast via Norddeich Radio, a former German coastal station. I have a QSL for one of their USB transmissions on MF, see below. These days NDR rents time with some of the few major transmitting stations that are still active on shortwave. My QSL was for Issoudun, Nauen and Tashkent. The latter one is nice. I do have QSLs from Uzbekistan from the past, but it is the first QSL from this country that I can add to this blog which I started after my return to the DX hobby.
1980s QSL of Norddeich Radio, a former coastal radio station in Germany
Let’s hope that they will continue this tradition, looking forward to their 71st program this year!
This was my fourth attempt in the last 12 months and finally successful: QSL Hai Phong Radio 8414.5 kHz. They were broadcasting a DSC message to cargo ship “Ga Hong” on the South Chinese Sea. I sent my report to hphong_radio@vishipel.com.vn . It is only my 2nd QSL from Vietnam. The other one is from the Voice of Vietnam, years ago.
Successful on my 4th attempt: eQSL from Hai Phong Radio / XVG
Hai Phong Radio is probably the station from Vietnam that I receive most often. Ho Chi Minh Radio is another regular one. I received Nha Trang Radio once on 8 MHz. This station apparently doesn’t operate on higher frequencies. I sent reports to these latter two stations via regular mail, but never received a reply. So if someone has a good (email)address, feel free to put it in the comments.
A fully detailed eQSL from Radio Veronica on 5955 kHz. The transmitter is located in Westdorpe/Overslag in the Zeeuws Vlaanderen region near the border of The Netherlands with Belgium. The transmitter is listed with 1 kW. HF propagation can be a bit tricky, but given the signal strength overhere in Woerden (120 kilometers) I do think they are broadcasting with less power than that.
I sent my report to qsl@radioveronica.nl and received the eQSL from qslcards@radiocorp.nl
Sunlite is now Radio Veronica on 5955 kHz
The station is owned by Herbert Visser. He is founder/owner of Radiocorp , the company behind radiostations like 100%NL, SLAM! and SUNLITE. Herbert apparently runs the short wave station on 5955 as a hobby project. Broadcasts started in December 2021, intially relaying the Sunlite programs.
In 2023 Radiocorp was bought by Mediahuis, the company that also bought Radio Veronica. This probably explains the switch to relay Radio Veronica programs since end 2023. Herbert changed his eQSL format accordingly. Many shortwave listeners had hoped that Veronica Vintage would be relayed, which would be a better fit for an AM transmitter.
Nothing beats getting a real QSL card in your mailbox. Ideally with nice stamps on it. So getting two QSLs from Radio Carpathia made me very happy yesterday. Thank you Luca!
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!
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…
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.
e QSL from Weekend Music Radio, Scotland
Not sure if this meets my “safety at work” standards…
Jack admits that the studio requires some cleaning and organizing
For the reception of the Yule Marathon on December 25th I received this QSL from RNEI (Radio Northern Europe International) & friends. The broadcast came from the 125 kW transmitter in Woofferton, United Kingdom. I sent a report to Radio Carpathia via radiocarpathia@gmail.com for their part of the program. A separate report was sent to RNEI as well, but I understand from their own website that they are at least 1 year behind in answering reports.
QSL 125 kW Yule Marathon by RNEI & Friends
The 125 kW should have guaranteed excellent reception quality. Unfortunately the frequency planners at Woofferton had not foreseen that Radio Piepzender, a low power station from Zwolle, The Netherlands, would also use this frequency on a Monday (normally they are only active in the weekend). They were relaying Radio Experience. Shortly before the broadcast an email request was sent asking them to move to 6185 kHz. But that was not honored. And so the RNEI transmission was partly ruined by interference.
It is remarkable that Piepzender with their advertised 150 Watt could produce interference with a 125 kW station as far as Italy and Ukraine, so maybe their power output is a bit higher.
This is the final post of this year… see you back in 2024!
Around the Christmas weekend there were quite a few producers who had their programs aired via stations like Channel 292 or for example Woofferton. I got his nice QSL from ABC Germany, via Channel 292 on 9670 kHz. I sent my report to detvanrijn@gmx.net .
e QSL ABC Germany via Channel 292 Germany
The QSL was accompanied with a long detailed email in Dutch from Detlev Reiermann, who was on the air with his DJ name “Det van Rijn”. Detlev grew up in Gronau, close to the border with The Netherlands, close to Enschede – a Free Radio hotspot in those days. As a teenager he worked as DJ in discotheques and hospital radio. And in this capacity he was asked in 1977 to produce a show for a local (Free Radio – I guess) – station. That show was called “ABC Germany”.
Detlev turned his hobby into his profession and worked as sound/video engineer for WDR and as assistant technical director for Deutschlandfunk. When he retired he decided to revive ABC Germany as a hobby. The show is presented in English, German and Dutch.
The next special ABC Germany program is scheduled for next Sunday, December 31st, from 13-15 h CET on 9670 kHz. Regular broadcasts as indicated on the QSL card.
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.
Feel free to copy anything on this weblog. A link back to my site is appreciated.
