Happy 2026!

A very happy New Year to you all. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends, lots of good food and drink and perhaps time for a little radio here and there. As it happens, the festive season here didn't allow a great deal of time for listening, but the receivers are now back in listen mode and I'm tuning around whenever I can. 

Freq Time Station name SINPO (type of broadcast)

Tuesday, January 6, 2026

1660 1514 Studio 19 weak signal (t)

1638 1721 Schaduwjager 35443 (m)

1645 1731 Batavier 35433-45444 (m)

1656 1731 Digitaal 35433-45444 (m)

1670 1814 Kristal 35443-45444 (m)

1629 1824 Sapporo 35333 (m)

1620 1832 Blauwe Fazant 35443 (m)

1611 1904 Helical 35333-45444 (m)

1620 1949 Marjanne 55444 (m)

1642 2000 Vatje 69 35443-45444 (m)

1685 2028 Black Power 45444 (m)

1665 2042 Meteoor 35333-45444 (q)

1665 2043 Zeepiraat 25332-35443 (q)

(m) = station was broadcasting a music programme
(q) = station was qsoing
(r) = station asking for a reception report from another station
(t) = station was testing

Observations

• Well can’t you just tell that the festive season is over and done with for another year. I switched on the receiver this afternoon to hear a much-reduced noise level. All of the Christmas lights in the neighbourhood have been taken down, all those dodgy power supplies are away in the attics for another year and interference on the AM bands is way down. Happy days!
• For those wondering, the noise level here now is around S2 (at best), which is very pleasing and makes listening much more pleasurable than it has been over the previous weeks. 
• Given the band is now much quieter, I was relishing the chance to have some good listening experiences today, but it started off a little tentatively, with Studio 19 putting in a weak signal on 1660 kHz. A couple of hours later there was music on 1638 kHz and it turned out to be Schaduwjager, who usually sends over a killer signal to these parts but was somewhat weaker today having made some adjustments to his antenna. I hope he changes it back to how it was so I can once again get amazing reception!
• Conditions generally seemed to be down during late afternoon and early evening, but they slowly recovered and by later evening and with the rain coming down heavily, signals had improved. Pick of them were Marjanne with his regular Tuesday evening show on 1620 kHz, and Black Power, who was sounding particularly punchy up on 1685 kHz.

Sunday, January 4, 2026

1620 1732 King Kong 34333-44444, 55444 at 1857 (m)

1667 1757 Digitaal 35443 (m)

1656 1807 Contikenzo weak signal-24322, 35443 at 1931 (m)

1642 1941 Meteoor 35443-45444 (q)

1642 1945 Zeepiraat 25332 (q)

1638 1959 Blauwe Fazant 35443 (q)

1638 2009 Moonlight 35333 (q)

1665 2017 Armada 45444 (q)

Observations

• Some interesting activity this evening, with Contikenzo venturing to the top of the MW band in parallel with a shortwave service on 3920 and 5800 kHz. The station is a regular on Sunday evenings on SW where the signals are usually booming. Today, however, the 1.6 MHz outlet was actually the best of the three!
• I always enjoy hearing Zeepiraat. His name conjures all sorts of scenes in my head and this station is indeed mobile, so you never quite know where he's going to be when you hear him!
• Armada has been putting in a much better signal here the last few times I've heard him, compared to previously, so I messaged him and asked if something had changed at his side. Sure enough, he reported that he's now operating a different antenna system that is also facing in a different direction to previously. It's certainly working well for me, so let's hope it stays that way!

Saturday, January 3, 2026

1656 1421 Ijsvogel 34433 (t)

1629 1423 Mosfet 45444 (q)

1611 1427 Poema 34443-45444 (q)

1665 1433 Digitaal 35443-45444 (q)

1653 1447 Wipkikker 35333 (q)

1620 1500 Uniek 25432 (m)

1611 1501 Dutchman 25432 (m)

1647 1504 Spencer weak signal (m)

1611 1646 King Kong 55444-55555 (m)

1638 1726 Casablanca (Twente) 24332 (m)

1629 1755 Luka 35333-45434 (m)

1512 1759 Marskramer 44444 (m)

1665 1817 Elko  24322 (m)

Observations

• It's always a pleasure to hear stations on air when I've been to the studios and met the station operators. Today I heard Poema for the first time in a while. He was packing a fine signal across the North Sea and hearing him was a nice reminder of the time I visited his place with Radio Barones. Good times!
• It also gives a thrill when hearing a station that is very rarely on air. Today, Wipkikker was heard on 1653 kHz, and from what I can tell, the last time I heard him was in May 2016 - nearly ten years! One of the great things about this hobby is that once you have an interest, that passion stays usually for a lifetime. Sure, you might leave for a while, but people nearly always come back and the bug bites again. How wonderful is this artwork he sent me back in 2015...

• Whereas Wipkikker is rarely heard, there are many Dutch pirates operating regularly, and one of those of Radio Uniek, who was busy on 1620 kHz (a favourite frequency of his). I came across his Facebook page recently, and it's worth pointing out that more and more stations can be found on social media so it's worth keeping an eye out for them and following their accounts as you'll often see interesting pictures, videos or glean some handy information from them.

Friday, January 2, 2026

1629 1655 Mi Amigo 35333 (m)

1665 1755 Digitaal 55444 (m)

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

1620 1856 Alabama 35443 (m)

1640 1858 Batavier 35333-45444 (m)

1675 1901 Meteoor 45434 (q)

Saturday, December 20, 2025

1620 2307 King Kong 54444 (q)

1629 2307 Blauwe Koe 55444 (m)

1645 2308 Electron 35333 (m)

1652 2308 Oliebollenbakkers 44444-55544 (m)

1665 2309 Technical Man 55444 (m)

1611 2309 Arona 34333-44444 (q)

1640 2311 Spencer 25332 (m)