Schoolboy error

Greetings from England, where the weather is incredibly changeable at the moment. Today has been very cold, while yesterday afternoon was very warm indeed and gave me the chance to do a little bit of antenna maintenance. It was my birthday on March 27 and I woke to see snow falling from the sky once again! We have moved into British summer time although it feels anything but, and spring is yet to really arrive. 

I was going to share my weekend logs with you on this post, but I have made a schoolboy error by deleting the Sunday entries (March 31, 2013) from my file! However, if my memory is correct, I heard Polkaman, Salo, Calipso, Vuurvogel, Jeneverstoker, Wadloper, Orban, Batavia, Batavier, Ruisbreker and Cowboy.

There were some nice low power catches. Batavier was testing with just five watts, while Ruisbreker, who are also active on FM, were busy with a long programme using just 40 watts of power. The results were pretty good at our location. Click here for a recording. Salo was testing on 1611 with around 30 watts with his antenna not very high, and his carrier and a little audio could be heard at this side.

And here are the logs I managed to keep on my computer! All times are UTC as usual . . . 

Monday, April 01, 2013
1620       2020       Technical Man 44444-55544 music programme
1630       2040       Utopia 44434 music programme
1512       2045       Kameleon 33533 music programme
1652       2052       Uniek 25332-35333 music programme

1665       2054       Polkaman weak signal music programme      
1675       2055       Orion West weak signal
1674       2109       Batavia 23322-34333 music programme
1638       2115       Calipso 55534-55555 music programme
1615       2153       Napoleon 43533-44544 music programme

1658       2227       Studio 69 23322-34333 music programme

1670       2315       Underground 24322-34333 music programme

1656       2349       Bluebird 45444 music programme

1636       2353       Pandora 55444-55555 music programme

Saturday, March 30, 2013
1615       2220       Batavier 54544 music programme
1648       2225       Moby Dick 45444 music programme
1636       2225       Keizer En Keizerin 34333 music programme
1675       2228       Witte Reus 23432-34333 qsoing
1611       2230       Schaduwjager 54544 qsoing
1625       2234       Monte Carlo 44544 qsoing
1611       2238       Kruik 42542 qsoing
1626       2240       Korak 24322-35443 music programme
1636       2247       Pandora 43543-54544 report for Witte Reus
1655       2250       Electron 33433-44444 qsoing
1630       2257       Babylona 34333-44444 qsoing
1662       2258       Turftrekker 22432 testing
1655       2300       Monte Carlo 55444 qsoing
1630       2306       Batavier 44444-55544 qsoing
1640       2321       Relmus 44444-55544 music programme
1660       2348       Monte Carlo 45434 qsoing
1643       0000       Monte Carlo 43433-44444 qsoing
1667       0010       Monte Carlo 43433-44444 qsoing
1633       0020       Babylona 35433-44444 music programmes
1655       0116       Jeneverstoker 35333 report
1665       0119       Polkaman 23322-34333 music programme

Friday, March 29, 2013
1629       2146       Flevojager 34333-44444 music programme
1656       2146       Bluebird 54444 music programme
1645       2146       Relmus 45534-55544 music programme
1638       2152       Batavia 33433-45433 music programme
1674       2156       Digitaal 35433-45444
1612       2250       Babylona 35333 music programme

Observations

• It was good to hear Flevojager on Friday evening for the first time in a while. He was on air with a music programme and, according to my logs, it was the first time I have heard him in 2013. There were some fine peaks on the signal
• Saturday's award for the station using the most different frequencies goes to Monte Carlo! He was busy qsoing and moving around the band trying to avoid the stations on air with music programmes. One of those was Korak, who had a long show on 1626 and was fading up quite well at times. I believe he is using only low power and a longwire antenna, so the results were pretty good. Also achieving good results was Turftrekker, who was testing with just 40 watts with his antenna around only five metres high
• Conditions on Sunday night were not too good and it was not until quite late in the evening that most stations started to come through with any strength, although Technical Man was strong throughout. Click here to take a listen. Orion West and Polkaman were weaker than usual due to the propagation, but Studio 69 was doing a good job with just 25 watts at around 2230 utc
• Kameleon was a new one for me on Sunday. He was busy on 1512 with a music programme that finished just after 2200 utc. The frequency seemed a little clearer tonight than it sometimes is
• It was good to hear 'the low power boy' Napoleon on 1615 as Sunday evening came to a close. He had a little interference from Technical Man on 1620 but his signal was still very good and with some fine music - the sort of tunes we are used to hearing on Radio Barones