Saturday, April 06, 2013

Noises and surprises

I switched on my radio on Friday evening to be greeted with some terrible local interference at the top of the MW band. I soon worked out that I was the cause of the noise as I had my camcorder battery on charge and it has no regard for dxers! So, I turned it off and turned my attention to the Dutch pirates. Just like the night before, there was a lot of static around, which could have been a result of a solar flare earlier in the evening. 

Despite the noise, there were a few stations coming through, although nothing like the usual amount for a Friday night. I had a quick scan of the shortwave 48 metre band at around 2140 utc and found that pirates were still coming through. In fact, as I write this at 2345 utc, Powerliner from the Netherlands is still blasting through with S9+10 and a sinpo of 55434. Reception on 48 metres at this time of the day has been unheard of for some time now - a very nice effect of the sun flare.

It is often wall-to-wall qsos on MW, but it was programmes tonight . . .

Friday, April 05, 2013
1625       2130       Witte Reus 45343-45344 music programme
1640       2137       Witte Raaf 44343-45444 music programmes
1665       2147       Polkaman 24322 music programme
1659       2203       Studio 69 23322 music programme
1656       2203       Bluebird 44343 music programme
1647       2220       Monte Carlo 44344 asking for report
1630       2233       Monte Carlo 45344 music programme
1670       2316       Underground 25332 music programme

Observations

  • Strongest signal of the evening goes to Witte Raaf, who was booming in here from when he was first heard to when he closed down at 2347 utc. He was using 200 watts, peaking at 400 watts with the audio, although it sounded like more. Great work
  • Witte Reus was busy on 1625 from the studio of Batavier, and with Relmus on the microphone as well. Another good signal
  • Underground signed on at around 2315 utc and is still going strong on 1670 with his unusual mix of Dutch and English music! As I write this, his sinpo is 24332. If the noise level would drop a bit, it would be better, but  I can understand most of what Steve is talking about
  • I check the Twente SDR every now and again and noticed a strong signal on 1620 earlier this evening. I had a listen for a while and quite enjoyed the music and presenting style. it turned out to be Radio Morningstar. I check the frequency on my own radio, but could not even detect a carrier, which was a shame. I have heard the carrier in the past, but it would be good to hear some audio from Morningstar and to enjoy his fine programmes
  • A station I did not hear myself on Friday was Radio Pluto. Better known for his exploits on shortwave, he was testing on 1644 during the afternoon with a helical antenna. The power was only low, but I am determined to hear Pluto's signal on my own radio. I have made a deal with him that he will test when we find a clear frequency and conditions are good with a low noise level

1 comment:

  1. Hello,

    When you hear Radio Pluto on mw...
    Then I fall from my (studio) chair!

    Good dx,

    Radio Pepper

    ReplyDelete