A very Good Friday

I didnt get to the radio until around 2215 local time (2115 UTC) tonight, but when I did switch on the receivers, the MW band was really buzzing - not with interference but with a whole raft of stations.

It was great to catch Curacau on 1617 kHz with a music programme. Back in the 1990s when I first found the Dutch MW pirates, he was a regular. Nowadays it's pretty rare to catch him on air, even more so with a whole show - I heard him qsoing in January this year but before that I have to go back to October 2013 to find him in the logbook.

Morgen Ster was an interesting one. This was not the low power station Morning Star that can be heard on 1611 kHz, but a different station - I'm pretty sure it was a regular operator using a different name, but I can't quite put my finger on which one!

Good to hear Odynn in action on 1640 tonight. He was doing really well with around 120 watts of power, and he sent some pictures straight through to me while he was on air, which he has very kindly allowed me to share with you:

Here's a compilation of some of the Dutch pirates heard here in England tonight:

And here's the lowdown on the stations heard tonight and since I last updated the blog:

Freq      Time        Station SINPO

Friday, April 14, 2017

1617       2121       Curacau 34434-45444 music programme

1625       2121       Blauwe Koe 44444 music programme

1633       2122       Morgen Ster 33333-44444 music programme

1640       2122       Odynn 33443 music programme

1648       2122       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 54434-55544 music programme

1655       2122       Relmus 34433-44444 music programme

1666       2122       Batavier 33433 music programme

1630       2147       Blauwe Daihatsu 33443 qsoing

1633       2214       Barcelona 55444 report for Morgen Ster

1640       2234       Professor Sickbok 54444-55555 report for Mijnwerker

1642       2237       Jeneverstoker 33333 report for Mijnwerker

1620       2238       Monte Carlo 44444 report for Curacau 

1641       2254       Casablanca 55444 qsoing

1633       2305       Electron 45444 qsoing

1634       2308       Monte Carlo 55444 qsoing

Observations

• Relmus often has guests in the studio. More often than not Wadloper makes an appearance, but tonight it was Sluwe Vos sharing the microphone - and he hopes to make a return to MW soon with his own transmitter
• Professor Sickbok has had contact from the Agentschap Telecom on several occasions in recent times and as a result has been very quiet on the air. Before tonight I had not heard him this year, but he popped up on his old regular frequency of 1640 kHz with a report for Vrolijke Mijnwerker and then for a qso with various other stations, including Casablanca, who himself has been less active recently than previous years. He was putting in a stonking signal on 1641 kHz

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

1640       2215       Monte Carlo 45444 qsoing

Sunday, April 9, 2017

1645       2239       Barones 45434 music programme

Saturday, April 8, 2017

1635       1750       Havanna 45444 music programme

1655       1800       Relmus 35343 music programme

1623       1807       Batavier 24332 music programme

1620       1823       Sapporo 25442 qsoing

1610       1824       Verona 24342 testing

1625       1826       Turftrekker 25342 qsoing            

1635       1852       Alaska 25332 report for Havanna

1648       2131       Moby Dick 43433 music programme

1635       2132       Batavier weak signal music programme

1629       2132       Turftrekker 35333 antenna test

1620       2134       Kruik 24222-34333 music programme

1638       2138       Osaka 34333-44444 music programme

1642       2200       Turftrekker 55444 antenna test

1623       2204       Jeneverstoker 23332 qsoing

1663       2221       Wilskracht 44333 music programme

1638       2222       Pecon 43433 qsoing

Friday, April 7, 2017

1655       1825       Relmus 35343 music programme

1655       2137       Monte Carlo 55454 qsoing

1628       2137       Twentana 45444 music programme

1633       2139       Carona 35333 qsoing

1636       2221       Romax 32442 qsoing

1638       2221       Bluebird 55444 music programme     

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

1617       2134       Witte Raaf 34443 music programme

1644       2136       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 55444 music programme

1660       2144       Monte Carlo 34333

A birthday milestone

Since we last spoke I hit a bit of a milestone with my 40th birthday. We kept it low-key with a few days hidden away in west Wales by the sea, staying in a log cabin without even a radio in sight! If we go there again, though, I will definitely take a receiver - neighbours were few and far between and the noise level would have been non-existent.

I had some great presents - plenty of real ale - and a very fitting gift from my girls . . .

I also had another radio for the collection - a very nicely restored Cambridge International tube receiver from 1953. I already have one, but it got a little smashed recently and had started to go a bit deaf, but the replacement is a very good-looking model which tunes very well and has no crackling on any of the switches. I'm having a bit of a move around in the radio room at the moment, but I will post some pictures soon and some videos of the new radio in action. For the moment, though, here's a picture of my old Cambridge looking a bit sorry for itself . . . 

I must say a big thank-you to all my radio friends in the UK, Netherlands and around Europe for the very kind birthday wishes that were greatly appreciated. And a special mention to Alf from Sweden, who I met in the Netherlands last year at the Summer Meeting and spent a very pleasant day with when visiting various Dutch pirates the following day. He sent me a wonderful recording of a station calling itself Tripple L Radio (the man with a thousand different names is perhaps slightly better known as the Black Bandit) and sending out a special birthday message to me. I didn't hear the broadcast myself, so it was great to get this in my inbox, which I'm sharing with you now. It certainly brought a smile to my face:

On to some logs now. Not a huge amount of activity to report as signals are now arriving later in the day from across the North Sea and propagation has generally been well down:

Freq       Time       Station name SINPO

Monday, April 3, 2017

1632       1742       Bizon 35443 qsoing

1670       1752       Batavier 35333 music programme

1640       1801       Veronica 25322-35333 music programme

1655       1911       Relmus 35333 music programme

1640       2139       Monte Carlo 35333 report for Veronica

1633       2140       Ruimzicht 25222-35333 report for Veronica

1633       2144       Barcelona 45333 report for Veronica  

1620       2238       Monte Carlo 35333 qsoing

Saturday, April 1, 2017

1636       1825       Keizer en Keizerin 35333 music programme

1630       1828       Yogi Bear en Einstein 35333-45444 music programme

1620       1831       Brandaris 35333-45444 asking for report

Observations

• Brandaris isn't on the air much these days, but he has a lovely depth to his modulation which makes him quite easy to spot when he is on the band. Great to catch him tonight for only the third time during 2017

Friday, March 31, 2017

1620       1836       Eldorado 24322-45444 music programme

1655       1836       Relmus 25222-35333 music programme

1641       2156       Monte Carlo 35333 qsoing

1630       2208       Blauwe Daihatsu 35333 qsoing

Thursday, March 30, 2017

1620       2122       Utopia 35333-45444 music programme

1629       2159       Jack Sparrow 45444 report for Utopia

1633       2200       Barcelona 55444 report for Utopia

1625       2207       Monte Carlo 34333 report for Utopia

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

1630       1645       Digitaal weak signal music programme

1638       1659       Noordzee 25342 qsoing

1620       1702       Sterrenboog weak signal qsoing

1636       1709       Torpedojager (Twente) weak signal qsoing

1620       1753       Moonbreaker 25342 asking for report

1638       1757       Dageraad weak signal qsoing

1632       1806       Toulouse 25332 qsoing

1645       1904       Casablanca (Twente) 25222 music programme

1611       1904       Twentana 33433-44444 music programme

1620       1906       Meteoor 45444 qsoing

1655       1946       Relmus 35333 music programme

1620       2200       Spanningzoeker 55444-55555 qsoing

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

1620       1649       Sterrenboog 25332 asking for report

1638       1650       Friese Piraat 25332 music programme   

1620       1656       Digitaal 25332 report for Sterrenboog

1645       1718       Oldtimer 35333 report for Friese Piraat

1638       1721       Digitaal 35343 qsoing

1630       1722       Blauwe Daihatsu weak signal report for Friese Piraat

1650       1759       Rodester 45444 qsoing

1645       1840       Odynn 25222 music programme

1630       1844       Marianne 35333-45444 music programme

1623       2005       Napoleon 44444 music programme

1647       2215       Barones 55444 music programme

Observations

• Good to catch two of my favourite stations Napoleon and Barones tonight. I listened to both for a good while before eventually heading to bed. The Grundig Hit Boy was was in the bedroom so I had a quick tune around not expecting to hear much without a loop. But, sure enough, there was Baro, fading up and down very slowly, and sounding very strong when the signal was on a high

Monday, March 27, 2017

1640       2140       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 55444 qsoing

1655       2142       Wilskracht 45444 qsoing

1629       2142       Bluebird 55444 music programme

1640       2145       Veronica 35434 qsoing