The wonderful world of listening to the radio

Tag: SW (Page 1 of 14)

The Moosbrunn antenna is no more

The Moosbrunn shortwave antenna is no more. In August last year I still received a QSL email for the Ö1 program on 6155 kHz. Utilization of the Moosbrunn transmitters had gone down for years, until there was only a 75 minute broadcast left. But following the Russian invasion in the Ukraine the number of broadcasts went up with daily morning, afternoon, and evening programs. With global tensions rising the decision to destroy the Moosbrunn facilities is not without controversy. Last week a petition was started to reconsider. But with what seemed apparent haste, the antennas were blown up…

Below a picture of the antenna when it was still operational. It was basically an array of dipoles in front of a curtain reflector. The whole ensemble could be rotated to give the beam the desired direction.

The Moosbrunn directional HF antenna

QSL Akashvani 9620 kHz

Akashvani or All India Radio is another broadcaster that still issues nice paper QSL cards. I sent my reception report on their program in French to spectrum-manager@prasarbharati.gov.in . Seven weeks later this beautiful card was delivered.

QSL Radio Thailand World Service 7475 kHz

An e- QSL for Radio Thailand World Service 7475 kHz. Heard them in excellent quality on 7475 kHz with an English program. As my report to rthworldservice@gmail.com remained unanswered I sent them a friendly reminder and received a fully detailed card within a day.

e-QSL for Radio Thailand World Service on 7475 kHz

I really wanted to get this QSL. In the 80-ies it was a bit more difficult to receive them but when I managed to do so I got a schedule and beautiful pennant by mail, but not a confirmation that resembled a QSL.

Pennant I received from National Broadcasting Service of Thailand in the 80-ies.

QSL NTNU Ålesund 12353 kHz

Thanks to a tip from Goran Hardenmark I was made aware of a transmission from NTNU Ålesund, Norway. During a class exercise a radio check was made on 3366, 8297 and 12353 kHz. I heard nothing on 3 MHz, some weak conversation on 8 MHz (but not sure if it was NTNU), and a clear “All ships all ships” at 09:20 UTC on 12 MHz. I have to admit that I need to train my ears again for proper USB listening: I got a bit spoilt with all the digital modes!

eQSL NTNU Ålesund for their USB Radio Check on 12535 kHz

The Radio Check could be monitored via their Facebook group. And this also gave me the opportunity to chat with Mr AH Barmen who coordinated this course. He provided the following details:

The frequencies we used today are reserved for intership communication, 3366 KHz have been used for intership communication in Nordic waters, the two others are randomly picked from Appendix 17 – Sub Section B of the Radio Regulations. All maritime schools that provide training for maritime radio certificates are equipped with a ship radio station that can use these frequencies.

On our radio station we have a Sailor 6300 MF/HF radio, 150W and a 12 m antenna, in adition we have Sailor and Furuno NAVTEX receivers, two Sailor VHF’s, INMARSAT-C and an Iridium LT3100s.

I also received the special eQSL card for this event. Thank you Mr. Barmen!

QSL ZSC Cape Town Radio 16804.5 kHz

eQSL ZSC Cape Town Radio on 16804.5 kHz

QSL for ZSC Cape Town Radio 16804.5 kHz. Already in the 80-ies I tried this one when I received them in CW. No luck. More recently I tried again to get a QSL for their DSC transmissions. No luck. Then I got a contact email of Mr. Khan from Artur at Maresme DX, but even that took a 2nd attempt. But hey, here it is, a nice f/d eQSL showing the Table Mountain and the city of Cape Town, South Africa.

The call that I received as logged by ZSC itself: connect with MMSI 229989000, which is container ship CMA CGM RHONE on its way from Miami to Port Klang Malaysia.

And that was not all. The QSL was accompanied with a friendly email, a comprehensive letter describing the history of Telkom maritime services in South Africa, and a 4 page e-brochure:

QSL Radio Nordsee International 6070 kHz

QSL card Radio Nordsee International special event

August 31st, 2024 it was 50 years ago that Radio Noordzee en Radio Veronica closed down. There were quite a few broadcasts that day to commemorate. I heard Radio Northsea Nijmegen with a program via Channel 292, Germany on 6070 kHz.

Earlier I received a QSL by email, today this nice physical QSL card dropped in the mail box! Thank you so much Michel Boon at the Radio Northsea Nijmegen team!

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