Is it Christmas again?

If I had been in a long, deep sleep and woken up today I might have been mistaken for thinking it was Christmas again. It was -3 degrees here on Monday morning with a windchill of -7. During the afternoon it was snowing. And during the evening Radio Bluebird was playing festive music on 1647 kHz - among others we heard the Merry Christmas Polka!

On Sunday night I went to bed at around 2230 thinking I would have a good sleep. However, with my wife fast asleep I could not resist the temptation of switching on an old radio sitting next to the bed. It tunes up only to around 1650 kHz, but with the small indoor loop there were some good signals to listen to. I heard Utopia, Jack Sparrow, Babylona, Noordzee, Monte Carlo, Arrianne and Veronica. I even made a few recordings using my mobile phone. Click here to take a listen. It is a good job Lisa is a heavy sleeper!

Monday, March 11, 2013

1647       1720       Bluebird 35443 (55544 at 2203) music programme

1638       1731       Hooiberg 35333-45444 music programme

1662       1743       Digitaal 35443 qsoing

1653       1749       Baanbreker qsoing  

1633       1805       Vrijevogel music programme

1648       1851       Noordzee 43443 qsoing

1663       2142       Readymix music programme

1656       2142       Twentana 35333-45444 music programme

1630       2146       Melkbus 35333-35443 music programme

1638       2210       Armada 45444 testing

1655       2230       Monte Carlo 35333 qsoing

1655       2233       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 55444 qsoing

1647       2238       Noordzee 44444-55444 qsoing

1648       2326       Casablanca 45434-55544 qsoing

1654       0015       Jeneverstoker 24322 qsoing

1640       0027       Monte Carlo 44444-54444 qsoing

1654       0028       Noordzee 55544 qsoing

Observations

• It was 1720 when I first heard Bluebird and he was still going strong with his music programme five hours later! And at 0020 on Tuesday morning as I write these words, he is back on air qsoing! His signal is consistently strong here with good modulation
• Hooiberg is a new name for me, and he was also busy on 1638 on Sunday evening. When I heard the station I recognised the voice behind the microphone but could not think who it was. However, with a little help from my pirate PR man (!), I now know where I have heard the voice before. Listeners to 48 metres SW might also be able to work out which other station the operator runs
• Twentana was doing very well on 1656, putting in one of the best signals we have heard from him. Also peaking nicely was Melkbus with a long music programme on 1630