Saturday, January 10, 2015

What I've been listening to . . .

Early-evening conditions are some way down as I sit in the radio room at around 1800 and Dutch pirates who would usually be rocking the receiver are nowhere near as strong, and others are struggling to move the meter. So, while all is quiet, I thought I would give you a log update as I've not done one for ages. Here are the stations I've heard this year, together with some observations. All times are in UTC as usual

Friday, January 9, 2015
1648          1626         Luxemburg 25222-35333 testing 
1620          1641         Sterrekijker 35333-55544 music programme

Thursday, January 8, 2015
1620          1711         Pontiac 44444 qsoing
1648          1713         Luxemburg 34443 music programme
1620          1716         Monza 44454 qsoing
1620          1721         Digitaal 25452 qsoing
1651          1741         Turfsteker 35333 testing
1615          1744         Karel De Kaper 25332-35333 long music programme
1653          1751         Turfsteker 35333 testing
1622          1800         Dageraad 35333 music programme
1659          1824         Nova 4 55454-55555 asking for report
1635          1835         1604 25322-35433 testing with report for Nova 4
1649          1842         Nova 4 55444 qsoing
1635          1929         Batavier 25222-35333 music programme
1651          2213         Turfsteker 35333 music programme
1625          2247         WDR 35333 music programme
1630          2308         Pandora music programme


Wednesday, January 7, 2015
1620          1718         Jamaica 55444 qsoing
1622          1720         Pontiac 55444 qsoing
1647          1722         Zeewolf 25332 qsoing
1645          1726         Spanningzoeker 55444 qsoing
1622          1802         Digitaal 25322 qsoing
1664          1812         Paradiso weak signal (small traces of audio) qsoing
1625          1812         Wegpiraat 34333
1645          1818         Batavier 25222-35333 music programme
1625          1925         Dageraad 35333 qsoing
1629          1932         Johnny Camaro 35333 music programme
1640          2020         Batavier music programme
1647          2022         Mustang 55444 testing
1638          2314         Calimero 55444 music programme

A look inside the transmitter of Wegpiraat
Many thanks for Wegpiraat for sending these images 

Tuesday, January 6, 2015
1631          1816         Wegpiraat 25322-35333 qsoing
1639          1821         Klaverboer qsoing
1638          1826         Osaka 25322-35333 qsoing
1635          1828         Baanbreker 25332 qsoing
1620          1846         Schaduwjager 55444 qsoing
1620          1850         Derdeman 25222 qsoing
1636          1857         Havanna 53544 qsoing
1625          2115         Quintus 35443 music programme
1656          2124         Nachtzwerver 25332-35333 music programme
1627          2130         Sapporo weak signal report for Quintus
1630          2202         Toulouse 55444 asking for report
1630          2204         Marianne 35443 report for Toulouse
1625          2206         Noorderzon 34333 qsoing
1650          2214         Valkenster 35333 music programme

Monday, January 5, 2015
1629          2206         Benjamin 34443-44444 testing
1638          2208         Calimero 55544-55555 music programme
1645          2209         Torpedojager (Twente) 45444 music programme
1630          2252         Monte Carlo 33333-34443 report for Torpedojager

Saturday, January 3, 2015
1636          2057         Keizer en Keizerin 24322 music programme
1648          2120         Moby Dick 35333 music programme

Friday, January 2, 2015
1670          1818         Hooiberg 35443-45444 music programme
1656          2217         Snowman 25222-35333 music programme
1615          2221         Desperado 25222 music programme
1641          2313         Ridiculous weak signal report for Hooiberg
1622          2359         Soerabaya 25232 asking for report
1629          0024         Napoleon 35333-35443 music programme

Thursday, January 1, 2015
1670          1639         Batavier 25332-35443 music programme
1655          2258         Turfsteker 25232-35333 music programme
1625          2330         Noorderzon 24322-35333 music programme

Observations

  • Conditions midweek were pretty good, and there was lots of activity too. The most interesting evening for me was Thursday when I heard no less than three new stations
  • WDR from North West Overijjsel was relayed by Noorderzon, who has previously rebroadcast other stations. The signal was perfectly listenable here, and WDR hopes to make further transmissions on MW via this method
  • 1604, who I heard broadcasting from Twente with a report for Nova 4, is a name that has been used in the past. Whether this is the return of an old station, a new pirate, or somebody using a different name, I'm not sure. Herman from Radio Zeewolf told me the story of this interesting name, which comes a song about a pigeon returning from a flight - the best pigeon has the number 1604. The name has traditionally been used by pirates as they often keep pigeons somewhere near their transmitter
  • The third new one for me on Thursday was Karel De Kaper. This pirate from Friesland has previously used 1512 kHz but was busy with a very long programme on 1615 kHz. I heard him just before 1800, and he was still going strong nearly six hours later. The transmitter power is around 50 watts, and the signal was peaking quite nicely here
  • On the subject of low power, it was very interesting to hear Digitaal trying out just ten watts on Wednesday and Thursday. The signal on 1620 kHz was fading around but was pretty good when it peaked. On Wednesday evening, Digitaal was qsoing with Paradiso. I have heard of this station before but never received the signal. This time I was able to detect the carrier and some slight traces of audio, which isn't too bad considering I believe he runs only a few watts of power
  • Also with low power (about 55 watts), Luxemburg has been testing over the last few days. It had been a while since I heard him (October 7, 2013 according to my logs), so that was a welcome return. Also logged for the first time in ages during the last few days was Benjamin. He had a visit from his technical man, who made some adjustments to get the equipment working properly and the result was a good signal and strong modulation on 1629 kHz on Monday night

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