Great Sunday

So today we were busy at a car boot sale, selling some old items we found in the loft and turning them into money. And of course, Lisa could not help having a little look around at some of the other cars. And you'll never guess what she found . . . 

The pirate scarf - this season's must-have accessory!

Perfect for our trip to the Netherlands next month!

It was barbecue time when we got home, and what better way to enjoy some time outdoors than with a soundtrack from Radio Barones. With a little help from the remote receiver at Enschede (too earlier for reception on my own radios) and a bluetooth speaker we were listening to the Baro on the patio in perfect quality on 1593 kHz.

As I write these words it's around 1830 UTC and while there are only faint traces of pirate activity at the top of MW, there are some good signals on SW, including Foxfire (6240), Joey (6290) and Pink Panther (6803). Hopefully the propagation will be with us later on MW.

Bring on the winter

Now I like a little bit of sunshine - it makes a nice change to the wind and the rain. But what I don't particularly like is summertime propagation conditions on AM. Reception is so unpredictable, and with the long hours of daylight, it means there is a much smaller window for receiving pirates on MW. When the days are at their shortest in the middle of winter, I can start hearing stations from around midday. Right now there is little point in checking the radio until around 2100. Of course, it means I have plenty of times for other enjoyable pastimes, but I do like to hear a few pirates every now and again!

As I write these words I'm listening to a qso between Vrolijke Mijnwerker, Jeneverstoker and Astronaut, but signals are down on what I would usually expect. Mijnwerker is one of the powerhouses at the top of the MW, but the sinpo from him this evening is around 44333, sometimes peaking a bit higher.

Those who regularly read the blog might have seen I mentioned a station called OSM on my last update. I posted a message on the AM Forum asking if anybody could help with some details about the station. And I got a couple of replies, including one from the O Superman himself. It turns out this is a station from many years ago who has returned to the air this year after a break of some years. Great to hear him back on air. 

Not many of them, but here are a few logs from this side.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

1630       2240       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 44333-45444 qsoing

1650       2246       Jeneverstoker 24332 qsoing

1638       2257       Bluebird 55544

1616       2308       Amigo 34333 asking for report

1625       2320       King 23222-34333 report for Amigo
1620       2325       Amigo 35333 qsoing

Monday, June 16, 2014

1655       2110       Witte Raaf 45444 music programme

1636       2110       Pandora 55444 music programme

1640       2130       Veronica 33443 music programme

Birthday celebrations

It's been a busy time over here for the last few days as I was preparing for my wife's 30th birthday. There was a marathon in the kitchen, cooking and preparing. And there was a lengthy wrapping session. And today were the celebrations. It's been a great day, and I'm ready for a good sleep, but just before I hit the sack, I've popped into the radio room to see what pirate activity I can detect.

There is a huge amount of static on the MW band, more than I've heard for a good while and, after some very warm weather today, it certainly sounds like a thunderstorm or two is on its way. However, there are some decent signals, with Barones on 1637, Witte Tornado on 1648, Tower on 1611 and Dinkelland, who has been on 1620 qsoing. However, best signal of all is from Odynn on 6288 kHz. It's been a good while since I heard him on MW, but I hear he could be back on there soon, and I look forward to it. Hopefully his signal will be as good as it is on SW right now.

Here's the lowdown on the latest logs from this side. Not too many on the MW as conditions have not been great. There is always a lull in reception for me at this time of the year. However, it's only a couple of weeks until the longest day of the year. Goodness, it will soon be Christmas!

Sunday, June 9, 2014

1611       2205       Tower 25222-35233 music programme

1637       2205       Barones 35232-45333 music programme

1647       2205       Witte Tornado 45333 music pogramme

1620       2214       Dinkelland 45344 qsoing

1655       2228       Test Piraat 35232 qsoing

1655       2246       Digitaal 45333-45344 qsoing

Saturday, June 8, 2014

1630       2230       Akai 35333

1648       2233       Monte Carlo 35333 qsoing

1646       2237       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 45333-45344 qsoing

1648       2248       Jeneverstoker 33333 qsoing

Monday, June 2, 2014

1648       2252       Monte Carlo 35333 qsoing

1640       2255       Professor Sickbok 45444 qsoing

Sunday, June 1, 2014

1620       2054       Sluwe Vos 34333-44444 music programme

1630       2054       Akai 43333 music programme

1636       2054       Barones 44433-55444 music programme

1640       2055       Professor Sickbok 54444 music programme

1512       2102       Tempico music programme

1625       2117       Monte Carlo 43443-44444 report for Akai

1648       2122       Uniek 24222-34333 music programme

Saturday, May 31, 2014

1655       2220       Zwarte Ridder (via Studio 69) 35333-45444 music programme

1648       2220       Moby Dick 45444 music programme

1620       2220       Ruisbreker 23322-44444 music programme 

1633       2239       Monte Carlo 55444-55555 testing

1635       2253       Zwarte Schaduw 25222-35333 report for Monte Carlo

1619       2334       813? weak signal

1637       2337       OSM 35333-45454 asking for a report

Observations

• Good to hear Dinkelland on air this evening. He's quite a rare catch these days. He sounded very good, flattening quite a lot of the static, with his quality modulation coming through loud and clear
• A couple of weeks back it was interesting to hear Ruisbreker on air just a week after the AT paid a visit and gave a warning for his activities on FM. His signal was peaking up quite nicely after some antenna modifications
• That same night, Monte Carlo was sounding superb, hitting the maximum 55555 sinpo during his qso with Zwarte Schaduw. And there were a couple of interesting catches at the end of the evening. I might be mistaken, but I thought I caught an ID of Radio 813 on 1619, a station I have not heard for many years. And then there was a station that seemed to be calling itself OSM announcing a location of Flevoland. A bit of a mystery, that one