Catching up

Monday has been interesting at the top of the MW band. Right now, just after midnight as we make our way into Tuesday morning I am listening to Jeneverstoker playing some records on 1653. The interesting thing here is that he's playing quite a few English tunes, something I've not often heard him do before.

It was good to hear Carona on the airwaves a few minutes ago, a station that always packs a good signal into these parts, but one I've not heard for a while. Earlier in the evening, Lotus was another I heard for the first time in ages. His signal was booming.

So, here are some logs from my listening tonight, and some other recent listings to complete the record . . .

Monday, February 24, 2013

1645       1745       Zwarte Boekanier 35433-45444 music programme           

1655       1745       Vliegende Schotel 25222-35333 testing

1671       1816       Armada 35333 qsoing

1640       1822       Drukstroomjager 55555 qsoing

1630       1824       Woudster 34433 qsoing

1611       1834       Denappel 34433-54544 music programme

1652       1837       Batavier 35443-45444 testing

1630       1842       Lotus 55454 qsoing

1638       1843       Bluebird 54454 qsoing

1650       1847       Drukstroomjager 54544 qsoing

927         1850       Ascona 23322 testing

1633       1854       Lotus 55544 qsoing

1620       2305       Monique 23322 testing antenna

1645       2313       Jeneverstoker 35333 music programme

1655       2325       Jan Kachel (BB) 54544 music programme

1653       2337       Jeneverstoker 32432-35333 music programme

1655       2356       Carona 45434 report for Jan Kachel 

Sunday, February 23, 2014

1638       1949       Bluebird 55544 music programme

1647       1950       Witte Tornado 55444 music programme

1620       1955       Weduwe 42432 music programme

1620       2040       Soto en Daniel 35333 music programme

1649       2129       Uniek 24332-35333 music programme

Sunday, February 16, 2014

1647       1719       Witte Tornado 35343 at 1945 music programme

1620       1720       Soto en Daniel 35333 at 1945 music programme

Saturday, February 15, 2014

1629       1730       Barones 35333 asking for report

1611       1735       Tower 25222-35333, 45444 at 1802, 55555 at 1944 music programme

1670       1736       Matrix 35333 at 1912 music programme

1620       1736       Anton 35343 at 1804 music programme

1636       1739       Keizer en Keizerin 34443-44444 music programme

1645       1935       Hooiberg 35343-45444 music programme

1620       1944       Ruisbreker 24322 music programme

1653       1957       Nova 4 45433-55444 music programme

1625       2033       Barones 54554-55555 music programme

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

1620       1652       Nova 4 35433 music programme

Monday, February 10, 2014

1636       1632       Zwarte Boekanier 35333 qsoing

1645       1634       Rocking Billy 34333 qsoing

1645       1638       Zwarte Boekanier 35333 qsoing

1638       1905       Bluebird 44444 music programme

1650       1910       Zwarte Boekanier 45444 music programme

1611       1924       Twentana 23322 music programme

1649       2215       Uniek 23322-34333 music programme

1656       2116       Nachtzwerver 25222-35333

1645       2220       Casablanca (Twente) 24222 music programme

1613       2221       Monte Carlo 35333-45444 music programme

Sunday, February 9, 2014

1647       2100       Witte Tornado 54444 music programme

1640       2101       Valkenster 44444 music programme

1670       2102       Matrix weak signal

1645       2103       Hooiberg 43443 music programme

1655       2115       Batavier 45434 music programme

2310       2133       Sluwe Vos testing in usb

1652       2222       Batavier 35333-45434 music programme

1633       2308       Barcelona 55434-55544 report for Witte Tornado and programme

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

1640       2105       Wadloper and pier clan 45434

1620       2110       Calipso testing

1651       2124       Turfsteker 24222 music programme

1645       2210       Noordzee 34333 report for Turfsteker. Later 55444

1655       2211       Batavier 45444 testing

1633       2222       Barcelona 45444 qsoing

1622       2311       Amigo 33333-44444 qsoing

1620       2315       Santana 34333 qsoing

Thursday, January 30, 2014

1620       1647       Alpenroos 34333-44444 at 1809 music programme

1622       1836       Dageraad 34333-44444 report for Alpenroos

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

1638       2120       Poema 45444 music programme

1648       2125       Kristal 55544-55555 music programme

1651       2157       Turfsteker 35333 report for Kristal

1633       2200       Barcelona 55544-55555 qsoing

1645       2207       JB 55444-55555 qsoing

1630       2215       Monte Carlo 44444 qsoing

1660       2215       Batavier 34333 music programme with 40 watts and new coil antenna

1645       2236       Noordzee 54444 qsoing

Monday, January 27, 2014

1638       1110       Bluebird 25332 qsoing

1638       1115       Utopia qsoing

1636       1120       Havanna 35333

1640       1125       Kontakt (Noordzee) qsoing

1648       1755       Casablanca 54444 qsoing

1655       1801       Zwarte Boekanier 35333-45444 qsoing

1643       1824       Toulouse 34433 music programme

1643       2213       Sluwe Vos 44444-55444 music programme

1634       2312       Test Piraat (Vliegende Schotel?) 35333

1654       2344       Jeneverstoker 44444 report for Sluwe Vos

1625       2352       Snowman 25322-35333 report for Sluwe Vos

1638       2359       Bluebird 55555 music programme 

Observations

• Radio Caroline could be heard on 1652 tonight. It was actually their internet feed being transmitted by Batavier with around 80 watts of power with his antenna only a few metres high. Neverthless, the signal was reaching us very well. Above is a picture of his transmitter while on air
• There was an interesting station on 1620 late on Monday evening. Continuing the offshore theme, it was calling itself Radio Monique and testing an antenna with around 200 watts. The signal here was weak to fair. I don't have any more details at this time
• Perhaps the most interesting Monday catch was Ascona down on 927 kHz. I have heard reports of his tests on this frequency, but never heard them - until tonight. The signal was not great, but it lifted enough for me to hear a clear ID and to be able to identify the music being played. Apparently, the antenna was standing at only six metres high during the broadcast. There are imminent plans to increase this significantly, so I should hopefully have a stronger signal next time. As for the frequency, there were some very distant stations operating on the channel, but none to cause significant interference, so perhaps this is another in-band channel that could get some use in the coming months, to go with the more-often used 1512 and 1476
• You might notice an entry in the list for Sluwe Vos on 2310 kHz on February 9. This is not a mistake! Following storm damage to his antenna which got severely bent in the wind, it was working best on this frequency, rather than his usual 1645 kHz. So he tried a little low-power test in SSB. The signal was coming in quite well!

Board games, late-night snacks and the Technical Man

After I left the radio room on Sunday night I headed upstairs for some time with my wife. We had a few drinks and played a board game called Sequence. And, yes, you guessed . . . the radio was not far away. You can see in the picture that the small Lowe received was tuned to 3905 kHz while we listened to the Technical Man, who was coming in loud and clear on the 76 metre band. And when he closed, we retuned to MW and found Napoleon playing some late-night music. 

Bad news from Almelo

Some bad news I just heard. This morning at around 11am local time, the MW pirate Twee Gebroeders broadcasting from Almelo in the east of the Netherlands was taken off air by the AT. They were in the area to remove an unmanned FM pirate, whose antenna was hidden inside a high voltage pylon.

I heard the Twee Gebroeders, who were broadcasting on 1655 kHz with a power of around 80 watts, were handed a bill for 2,200 euro by the AT. it seems they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The wind continues to howl

Greetings from a blustery UK. It has been a few weeks since I last posted on the blog, for which I must apologise. I have been busy with my work. However, I have still been listening when I can and enjoying some pirate sounds from the Netherlands.

I was hoping to get out into the garden today and get my mast back up in the air with a coil antenna for MW at the top. However, the high winds continue and today we had gusts of nearly 50 miles an hour - just too much to do antenna work. Hopefully the weather will calm down soon. In the mean time, the outdoor loop antenna for 0-30 MHz continues to do a very good job on a different mast attached to the house.

I tuned in to the top of the MW band last night with a glass of wine in hand. There were some strong signals coming in from Moby Dick on 1648 and Mexicano on 1625. It was also good to hear Dinkelland, Spakenburg and Noordzee qsoing around 1620 kHz.

Right now on Sunday evening I am listening to Weduwe on 1620 kHz, while Bluebird (1638) and Witte Tornado (1647) are also coming in well, although conditions are variable it seems.

There was a nice surprise last Sunday when Barones was on air for the first time since his broadcast on December 31 / January 1. I heard him at around 1700 utc with some music on 1629 before he returned later with a programme on 1625. For those of you who missed it, you can listen to some of the 1629 broadcast here