The last few days have been interesting in a number of ways. Activity levels from the sun have been creating very volatile conditions, particularly on shortwave with signals quickly fading out from very strong to nothing in no time at all. Tonight, for example, Cupid Radio was blasting away on 6281 one minute and then he was gone the next.
MW seems a little more stable than in recent weeks, although perhaps the new loop antenna at this side is working the magic. It certainly seems to be helping with reception in the early morning, and there was a nice surprise on Wednesday when I heard Calipso on 1620 kHz. It's been a good while since I heard him on the air as he's been taking a more cautions approach in recent months. While it was good to hear this well-established pirate on the air again, it was also equally refreshing to catch a new name, for me anyway, later in the day when hearing Baantje on the same frequency.
Here's the lowdown with my recent logs:
Saturday, August 29, 2015
1665 1859 Matrix 35333 music programme
1636 1907 Keizer en Kezierin 35333 music programme
1648 2010 Moby Dick 45444 music programme
1656 2013 Malibu 25222-35333 music programme
1620 2109 Barones 35333-45444 music programme
1655 2139 Witte Raaf 35333-45444 music programme
1638 2307 Monte Carlo 45444 qsoing
1638 2314 Calimero 55444 qsoing
1630 2323 Monte Carlo 45444 qsoing
Friday, August 28, 2015
1656 2008 Mustang 54444
1638 2009 Armada 45444-55544 music programme
1646 2029 Zwarte Bizon 45434 qsoing
1645 2032 Blauwe Reiger 35333-44444 qsoing
1646 2036 Mustang 55444 qsoing
1624 2054 Boogschutter 25222 qsoing
1638 2105 Calimero 55544 music programme
1645 2111 Armada 45434 qsoing
1665 2120 Polkaman 35333
1645 2128 Noordzee 44333 qsoing
Thursday, August 27, 2015
1620 2237 Spakenburg 45333-45444 music programme
1625 2259 Jeneverstoker 34333 asking for report
1636 2333 Pandora 45434 report for Stoker
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
1620 0445 Calipso 25222-45454 music programme
1640 1908 Veronica 35222-45333 music programme
1631 1909 Marksramer (Friesland) 35232 music programme
1620 1917 Baantje 35232-35333 music programme
1539 2031 Energy FM 33433
1620 2053 Saporro 45333 report for Baantje
1633 2106 Barcelona 44444-55444 music programme
1638 2108 Calimero 55444 music programme
Observations
- There has been plenty of static knocking around on MW in the last few days with thunderstorms around Europe playing their part. Matrix was breaking through the noise tonight (Saturday) really well with his low-power transmitter, as was Malibu. And it was good to catch Witte Raaf for the first time in ages, and a pleasure to have Barones accompanying me on 1620 as I update the blog
- As I mentioned, I was also listening to SW tonight and it was a surprise to catch Desperado on 6265 kHz a couple of weeks after I heard him on 1606 and 1611 kHz on MW. It was his first time on SW and he was on air all evening with just 35 watts and an impressive signal
- On Friday evening there was an entertaining qso started off by a powerhouse signal from Mustang. It's been a while since I heard the distinguished voice of the Zwaaaaaaaaaarte Bizon, who always makes me smile with his iconic ID. Also involved in the qso was Boogschutter. A few months ago there was a station using this name together with a robotic voice, but they are two different stations. This one was considerably weaker, although perfectly audible here, and seemingly running far less power. It was another new name for me. Here's how the stations qsoing were coming across the North Sea:
- Spakenburg has returned to the air recently after a break. He's using a different vertical antenna now to when he was previously on air, although he's often experimenting with new designs. He tells me this one has a bad swr but is nevertheless working well. In fact he received a report from Italy on Thursday night with a sinpo of 55555. The signal was pretty good here too:
- Baantje is not a regular on MW and it was the first time I had heard him when catching his signal on 1620 on Wednesday evening. The static crashes were quite heavy that night, so reception was disturbed, but his low-power signal was doing pretty well. When he closed down he had a chat to Saporro, who was coming in a little bit stronger, in fact perhaps the best I have heard him. He was trying out a new transmitter, and it gets a thumbs-up from here!
- Some months ago internet station Energy was getting regular relays on 1476 kHz. What appears to be the same transmitter popped up on 1539 on Wednesday evening. The frequency is nowhere near as clear and there was plenty of mixing going on with other signals but the strength was pretty good. It would be great if whoever is responsible for these relays were to come on air with some programmes
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