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