Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Holiday time

It's been a few days since I wrote on the blog. We spent this bank holiday weekend having a little holiday in a caravan in Wales - relaxing and enjoying the good weather. Of course, the portable radio and loop came with us, and I even tried them out in the car on the way home this evening (Monday). We listened to Vuurvogel (1655 kHz) and Professor Sickbok (1640) with really good signals.


While we were in the caravan, we listened a little bit during the night time, and these are some of the stations we heard: Witte Raaf, Witte Tornado, Jan Tabak, Jeneverstoker, Batavia and Vrolijke Mijnwerker

On Saturday night we fell asleep listening to a really good, strong signal from Batavier on 1625 and when I woke up a little time later he was still going and still sounding good. And that was at a time when conditions were not particularly good.

I didn't make any logs on holiday, but here are a few stations heard this evening and some others heard recently . . .  

Monday, May 27, 2013
1620       2254       Bruin Bernard 55544-55555
1652       2254       Jeneverstoker 25422-35433 music programme
1633       2300       Barcelona 55544-55555 qsoing

Monday, May 20, 2013
1568       2030       Daniel 32532 music programme
1654       2039       Vuurvogel 55544 qsoing
1640       2040       Wadloper 45444 music programme     
1660       2041       Jan Tabak 54444 qsoing
1659       2046       Zeepiraat 33333 qsoing
1670       2048       Zeepiraat 33333 qsoing
1652       2050       Uniek 34333-45344 qsoing
1646       2052       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 55444 qsoing
1647       2058       Armada 45334 qsoing    
1637       2103       Napoleon 34333-44444 music programme           
1650       2108       Vligende Schotel 45344 music programme
1633       2109       Barcelona 55444-55555 qsoing
1645       2143       Sluwe Vos 34333 qsoing


1620       2149       Calipso 55544-55555
1647       2210       Majorca 44344 qsoing
1647       2219       Monte Carlo 45344-55344 qsoing
1653       2231       Jeneverstoker 35333 qsoing
1648       2242       Casablanca 45344 qsoing

Sunday, May 19, 2013
1630       2045       Schaduwjager 44444 music programme
1618       2047       Cowboy 35343-45444 music programme
1638       2047       Bluebird 45344 music programme
1647       2048       Witte Tornado 35434 music programme
1671       2048       Viking 35433-45444 music programme
1539       2050       Edelkampioe33433 music programme 


1648       2323       Casablanca 55444 asking for report
1665       2323       Polkaman 34333 music programme
1640       2323       Professor Sickbok 45444-55544 music programme           
1656       2340       Studio 69 24332 qsoing
1645       2345       Pandora 54444-55544 qsoing
1654       2345       Noordzee 44444-54544 music programme
1657       2350       Jeneverstoker 33433 qsoing


Observations

  • Conditions on Monday evening seemed pretty good, both when listening in the car on the portable radio and when listening at home with the Lowe HF225 and outdoor loop. Bruin Bernard and Barcelona were both peaking at the maximum 55555, while Jeneverstoker was significantly weaker with his far lower power, but doing a good job nonetheless, and playing some records for a change as he can usually be heard qsoing
  • Before we had our holiday, there was a very nice catch of the Zeepiraat. It was a first for me, and very nice to hear a station announcing a broadcasting site of the Mebo 3! The signal was fading around, but was very good on peaks, especially for low power. I posted a couple of recordings on the Am Forum here
  • There was another first for me on May 20 when I heard Daniel for the first time - and using 1568. The main MW band is becoming increasingly popular for pirate activity, especially since local and international operators are slowly switching off their MW services. I've heard Edelkampioen using 1512 for his regular broadcasts in the past, and on May 19 he was using 1539, the same frequency Batavia often uses, so this is another channel to keep an ear on
  • Low power stations always capture my interest a great deal - to hear a pirate from another country with just a few watts of power is a little special, so it was great to hear Sluwe Vos recently coming in well with just 20 watts of power. I made a recording, which you can download here. As you will hear, the signal was tremendous for the power used and, without the static, reception would have been amazing

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