Thursday, January 31, 2013

Late night qsoing

It is the early hours of Thursday morning as I write these words, and the MW band has gone quiet after a late-night qso. I did not switch on the radio until just after 2300 UTC but, as usual, there was activity from the Netherlands although propagation conditions were not good. Several of the legal US stations had started to come through, suggesting long skip, with the effect that signals from across the North Sea were not as strong as they often are. Here is what I heard, along with logs from the past few days . . .

Wednesday, January 30, 2013
1640       2328       Electron 24322-34433 qsoing 
1650       2329       Noordzee 35433-45444 qsoing
1660       2332       Eendracht 23322 qsoing
1665       2334       Polkaman 24432
1638       2337       Calipso 45444-55544 qsoing
1657       2346       Jeneverstoker 23332-34333 qsoing
1655       2348       Bruine Beer 35433-45434 qsoing

Tuesday, January 29, 2013
1663       1656       Digitaal 44444 qsoing    
1663       1700       Readymix 34543 qsoing
1648       2237       Electron 34443 qsoing
1647       2238       Armada 44444 qsoing
1629       2241       Bluebird 24432-34433 music programme
1658       2248       Electron 45544 qsoing
1627       2254       Noordzee 43543-54544 music programme
1665       2303       Polkaman 33433-44544 music programme
1655       2326       Carona 55555 qsoing      
1624       2334       Salamander 42432 qsoing
1655       2348       Jeneverstoker 35333 qsoing
1636       2357       Romax 34343-44444 qsoing
1650       2358       Monte Carlo 44444 qsoing




Monday, January 28, 2013
1656       2115       Studio 69 44444 qsoing
1648       2118       Readymix 34433 music programme
1659       2120       Oldtimer 34433 qsoing
1638       2130       Calipso 55544 music programme
1620       2146       Ijsbeer 24433-34443 qsoing
1669       2152       Korak 24322 qsoing with Ijsbeer
1639       2214       Professor Sickbok 32542 (later 45544)
1655       2328       Jeneverstoker 35423 qsoing
1633       2329       Barcelona 55544-55555 qsoing
1647       2332       Noordzee 55444 qsoing
1647       2334       Casablana 55544 qsoing
1629       0028       Bluebird 25422-35433 report for Barcelona and then music programme


Observations

  • Good to hear Eendracht back in action. It was a shame 1660 kHz was not a little clearer as there was a hetrodyne caused by a legal station from Costa Rica, who often comes through when conditions are right
  • The voice behind Bruine Beer was a famous one. I wonder just how many names the Black Bandit has used over the years?
  • Bluebird has been busy over the last few days with some fine peaks on his signal, made even more impressive as he uses only 80 watts
  • There was a new name for me on Monday evening when Ijsbeer was heard on 1620 in qso with Korak, who was using 1669. Interesting that these low-power Dutch stations were talking to each other in English for some of their broadcasts. Korak might be better known to some readers for his work on shortwave in the 1990s. He used to be a Saturday night regular, pumping out a solid signal on 76 metres. Maybe he will be back on that band one day. For now, it was good to hear his voice on MW. You can download a short recording here. And you can listen to qso partner Ijsbeer here

1 comment:

  1. A good solid stack of logs! Not nearly as much heard here in Bristol, but Calipso Radio was coming in strong on my old transistor radio with an enjoyable programme of music for several hours in the middle evening. No external antenna, and just a dial display! At times in the small hours, I have pulled in Radio Seagull on 1395 kHz, so they seem to be back on that frequency. Rock solid signal tonight also from Sunrise Radio on 1458 kHz via their London transmitter. Nice to see that, with all the pushing of FM and DAB, there are still commercial radio stations that actively promote AM! Sunrise is a legal ILR of course, but it did start life as Sina Radio Int, an FM pirate in London in 1984!

    Best

    Terry

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