Conditions on the up

Plenty of Monday night action to report with loads of qsoing going on throughout the evening, together with a few stations on air with music programmes. Here's what I heard using the Kenwood R-5000 and Wellbrook loop antenna:

Freq Time Station name SINPO Type of broadcast

Monday, November 9, 2020

1646 0644 Eigen Risico 25322 (q)

1636 0650 Marconist 25222 (q)

1643 1734 Telefunken 35333 (m)

1629 1804 Vrijevogel 25222-35333 (m)

1663 1807 Digitaal 45444 (m)

1640 1812 Wegpiraat 35333 (q)

1640 1815 Casablanca 55444-55555 (q)

1648 1822 Pereboom 34443-44444 (q)

1615 1832 Admiraal 45434 (m)

1640 1840 Zwarte Boekanier 44444 (q)

1620 1847 Monza 45444-55555 (q)

1660 1848 Concorde 44444 (q)

1646 1849 Vrolijke Mijnwerker 45444 (q)

1656 1850 Oldtimer 45444 (m)

1611 1851 Vloedgolf 35333-45444 (q)

1638 1859 Ruimzicht 25232 (m)

1645 1915 Casablanca (Twente) 35333 (q)

1673 1941 Armada 35333 (m)

1625 2030 Pandora 45444-55444 (m)

1638 2228 Bluebird 45434-55444 (m)

(q) = station was qsoing; (m) = station was broadcasting a music programme; (t) station was testing

Good to hear Vloedgolf pop up for a qso on 1611 kHz

Observations

• It’s been quite a while since I listened around on a morning, but I was awake earlier than usual today so I thought I’d have a scan around. Marconist had been on 1636 kHz spinning some records, and when he closed down the Eigen Risico came up to give him a report. Both stations had similar signals here but they were starting to weaken when I tuned in. In another month to six weeks it will be possible to hear the Dutch pirates really well at this time as we approach the shortest day of the year, but for now I think I need to get out of bed a little earlier!
• A few days ago I mentioned how I had been listening to Melkbus with his antenna sitting at five metres above the ground. And tonight, something very similar with Telefunken coming in with a decent signal and his antenna at just six metres high. Just shows that propagation conditions must be pretty decent.
• There was plenty of qsoing this evening, including a contact between Concorde, Digitaal, Serbian pirate Romeo and Croatian pirate Tornado. It was a good night for Concorde, who was also heard in Iceland. Not bad for just 200 watts!
• Propagation conditions were excellent tonight and there were some knockout signals, particularly earlier in the evening. Just listen to these recordings of Monza (1620 kHz) and Casablanca (1640):

MW Free Radio · Casablanca 1640 (November 9, 2020)

MW Free Radio · Monza 1620 (November 9, 2020)