It's been a quiet day on the bands as far as reception of the Dutch MW pirates goes at our side of the North Sea, but here's what has been heard, together with some other recent station logs and news
Sunday, February 16, 2020
1611 0701 Utopia 23432
1640 0707 Eigen Risico 24422 music programme
1645 0735 Avia weak signal music programme
1640 1702 Professor Sickbok 25222-35433 music programme
1645 1736 Vonkenboer weak signal report for Professor Sickbok
1656 1740 Johnny Pecon 25332-35333 report for Vonkenboer
1655 1747 Professor Sickbok 35333-45444 qsoing
Observations
● A week ago it was Storm Ciara. Today it was Storm Dennis doing it’s worst. Here in England it has been very wet and very windy, and the Netherlands has been the same. Sunday mornings are usually a busy time for Dutch pirate activity, but it was notably quieter today. Utopia was on 1611 kHz at breakfast time while Eigen Risico was on 1640 kHz, but signals were significantly weaker than usual as the operators were running with antennas at reduced height because of the high winds. Added to that, there were long-skip propagation conditions with US legal stations audible on 1610, 1620, 1630, 1640, 1650, 1660 and 1670 kHz!
● Many of the Dutch pirates use vertical antennas sitting at the top of adjustable masts which often reach in the region of 30 metres, so during storms they tend to run at much lower heights. While signals in the Netherlands might not be much affected, their strength will be much lower outside of the country as antenna height is crucial for getting out the skywave. Great that these stations were braving the weather, however, to provide some Sunday morning music. I hope the studios were nice and warm!
● By around 0800 here in the UK, any stations on air had faded out. Signals were back at 1700, however, with Professor Sickbok on his old favourite frequency of 1640 kHz. A qso followed with various stations, but conditions later in the evening were far from optimum.
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
1645 1912 Meteoor 45434 testing
1617 2045 Marianne 55444 music programme
Monday, February 10, 2020
1648 2118 Oldtimer 45444 music programme
Sunday, February 9, 2020
1617 0653 Blauwe Piraat 35433 asking for report
1617 0701 Noordster 55444 report for Blauwe Piraat
1645 0728 Avia 25332-35333 music programme
1647 1842 Witte Tornado 45434 music programme
1642 1859 Turftrekker 34333-45434 music programme
Observations
● With Storm Ciara lashing the Netherlands today, the band was much quieter than usual on a Sunday, although conditions this morning were pretty good. Blauwe Piraat was coming in well and I also heard Avia for the first time. I thought this must be a relatively new station and after making contact with the operator found out that he has been on MW for a couple of years, although he had not previously received a reception report outside of his own country. Must have been those strong winds pushing his signal across the North Sea!
Friday, February 7, 2020
1636 0625 Dolfijn 35333-45434 music programme
Thursday, February 6, 2020
1636 0530 Torpedojager 35333 music programme
1636 0856 Noordzee 32442 report for Torpedojager
1636 0858 Havanna 44444 report for Torpedojager
1640 2359 Casablanca 55544-55555 music programme
1638 0013 Unidentified 25222 report for Casablanca
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
1633 0530 Noordzee 45434 music programme
1633 0833 Belladonna 24332 music programme
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
1635 2348 Vonkenboer 25332 music programme
1647 2354 Astronaut 24332 testing
Observations
● I managed just a little late-night listening today and caught two low-power pirates on air. Astronaut is not often active but was trying out a new 80 watt transistor transmitter. His signal was perfectly listenable and earlier in the evening had made it to Serbia as he had a qso with Radio Romeo in the Balkans.
Sunday, February 2, 2020
1611 0659 Interpol 44444 music programme
1636 0659 Santana en Cobra 45434 music programme
1631 0721 Kwiksilver 34433 report for Santana en Cobra
1655 0731 Digitaal 35333 music programme
