Wall-to-wall activity

After a great day enjoying some warm weather - between the rain and hail showers! - I switched on the radio at around 2100 utc. Saturday nights are always busy on MW and this evening was no exception. It was wall-to-wall all night long and as I write these words there are stations still on air. Barcelona, for example, is booming in on 1633 while he plays a few records after qsoing . . . 

Also still on air at 0030 utc (0230 Dutch time) is Moby Dick on 1648 and Polkaman on 1665. There is also a little Balkan activity higher up the band.

Here's the list of stations heard here in England this evening:

Saturday, April 27, 2013

1620       2105       Batavia 35433 music programme

1629       2105       Quintus 45434-55544 music programme

1636       2105       Keizer En Keizerin 25322 music programme

1641       2105       UK44 24332-34333 music programme

1648       2105       Moby Dick 45444-55444 music programme

1671       2106       Viking 35433-45444 music programme

1665       2108       Polkaman 24322 music programme

1685       2110       Bravo Sierra 25332 music programme

1642       2130       Akai 44444 music programme

1655       2136       Witte Raaf 44434-55444 music programme

1611       2145       Dinkelland 34443 music programme

1636       2205       Spakenburg 44434-54444 qsoing

1647       2205       Noordzee 44444 qsoing

1647       2213       Monte Carlo 44444 qsoing

1662       2217       Majorca 33433-44444 qsoing

1665       2217       Relmus 43443 music programme

1647       2220       Digitaal 43443-55444 qsoing

1675       2228       Relmus 45444 music programme

1636       2312       Romax 34433-44444 qsoing

1625       2321       Batavier 45444-55555

1633       2333       Barcelona 55544 qsoing

1645       2336       Dinkelland 33333-44343 qsoing

1656       2352       Noordzee 54444 qsoing

Observations

• There were some cracking signals on the Kenwood tonight. Quintus was blasting in with a long programme on 1629 - his regular channel at the top of the MW band. Also on air with a music show and cracking signal was Witte Raaf on 1655
• It's been a while since I last heard UK44 on air, so it was good to hear him with non-stop music and jingles on 1641
• A very big signal cropped up on 1625 at around 2320 utc. It turned out to be Batavier, who is now regularly strong here at our location in the UK. His big pal Relmus was on air at the same time, starting off on 1665 before moving to 1675. He sent over a couple of pictures while he was transmitting . . . 

• As usual, plenty of stations were qsoing. I haven't heard Dinkelland for a while and, after a music programme on 1611, he joined in the chatting to a whole host of stations. One of those was Majorca, who I haven't heard before. If I heard correctly, he announced that he was running 60 watts. If that is so, he was doing very well indeed. Take a listen to reception by clicking here
• Digitaal was qsoing and doing a little testing on 1645 and by the time he closed down his signal was very strong indeed. He often runs around only 100 watts, so if he was using normal power, it was very impressive, with a sinpo peaking as high as 55444

Thrilling Thursday?

It's been an interesting night on the MW band. After the sun had set - after some rain, as you can see in the picture - I switched on the Kenwood R5000 and heard plenty of signals. As I write these words at around 2345 utc, Santana is still busy with a music programme on 1619, Bluebird is playing records on 1629 and Bravo Sierra is still going on 1656. It's good to hear some music and chatting sometimes rather than qsos, especially when there is a little English talking as well!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

1615       2026       Batavier 45434-55544 music programme

1629       2026       Bluebird 55544 music programme

1646       2027       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 55544 qsoing

1670       2029       Underground 24332 music programme

1644       2029       Vuurvogel 55444 qsoing

1620       2032       Kruik 24322-35333 music programme

1647       2037       Armada 45434-55544 qsoing

1656       2050       Bravo Sierra 24332 music programme

1649       2111       Monte Carlo 43543 qsoing

1638       2129       Batavia 34433 music programme

1654       2134       Noordzee 43433 music programme

1627       2142       Vuurvogel 44444 qsoing

1619       2206       Santana 34433-44444 qsoing then music programme

1665       2213       Polkaman 24332 music programme       

1648       2213       Casablanca 55544 qsoing

1645       2219       Noordzee 44444 qsoing

1645       2222       Monte Carlo 44444 qsoing

1629       2226       Calipso 55544 qsoing

1650       2305       Jeneverstoker 35443 qsoing

1650       2307       Monte Carlo 55544 qsoing

1665       2331       Monte Carlo 55544 qsoing

Observations

• Good to hear Underground earlier in the evening than usual and on a weeknight. It is often 0100-0200 in the early hours of a Saturday or Sunday morning when he appears on his usual frequency of 1670, so this was a nice surprise
• I was listening to 1620 for quite some time, trying to work out who was on the frequency. The station closed down at 2141 and I still wasn't sure who it was. However, he came back to qso with various stations and I finally got the ID of Kruik - and 1620 is where he can usually be found
• Bluebird is often one of the strongest stations here and tonight was no exception. He was booming in on 1629, playing music, then qsoing before playing more music. I often leave one of the old valve radios tuned to Bluebird while I'm doing things like writing this blog. In fact, I am listening to him right now!

• Among his selection of Dutch and English music, Santana was playing plenty of jingles, which were a nice touch. Not so many of the Dutch MW pirates have these, so it's always good to hear them

Building your own radio

A couple of days ago I was chatting to the operator of Radio Soerabaya. He hasn't been on air for a while, but he's still been busy with his soldering iron - making his own MW radio set. He sent me this video . . .

The birds

What a superb day we've had here in the UK. The sun showed itself and we had a fine time walking in the local park. And as the sun went down, our loop antenna was glowing . . .

There was time for some radio listening during the evening, and for bird watchers it was very interesting at the top of the MW band! Vuurvogel (Firebird) was busy qsoing on 1655; then Bluebird joined the chat on 1629; he was followed by the other Firebird on 1650. And while all this was going on, Kolibrie (Hummingbird) was on 1620 with his regular Tuesday music programme. I don't think I've ever heard so many Dutch birds in one place at the same time!

Here's the full list of stations heard on Tuesday evening, together with a few other recent logs . . . 

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

1664       2020       Kristal 44444 music programme

1647       2020       Calipso 55544 music programme

1620       2026       Kolibrie 25232 music programme

1654       2050       Vuurvogel 55444 qsoing

1663       2100       Readymix 34333 qsoing

1629       2105       Bluebird 35333-45343 qsoing

1655       2107       Studio 69 25222-25332 qsoing

1632       2127       Albatros 34433 qsoing

1650       2133       Firebird 25332-35443 qsoing

1646       2207       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 55544 testing

1674       2228       Pluto weak signal testing

1648       2250       Casablanca 55544 report for Mijnwerker

Sunday, April 21, 2013

1670       2035       Matrix 35433-35544 music programme

1635       2035       Johnny Camaro 25332 music programme

1647       2035       Witte Tornado 35343 music programme

1610       2040       Anton 43543-43544 music programme

1652       2045       Uniek 25322 music programme    

Observations

• Many thanks to Chris from Radio Uniek who sent over this great qsl yesterday. I think he must have the largest selection of qsls for his listeners I have ever come across. With every report seems to come another qsl and they always look great. Keep up the good work
• Apart from Kolibrie on 1620, Tuesday night was mainly qso action with some fine signals arriving from across the North Sea. Top of the pile were Calipso, Vrolijke Mijnwerker and Casablanca. Using somewhat less power was Firebird, operating with 100 watts and peaking really well
• Bluebird announced on air that he was operating with just 45 watts, but it sounded more than that at times! With less power still was Studio 69, broadcasting with his now usual 25 watts
• A few weeks ago Pluto started testing on MW with around 40 watts, and our friend Pacman heard him with a good signal. I told Pacman that I would soon hear Pluto here in England, and he told me he didn't think that would be possible. Well, this evening, I was able to detect a carrier from Pluto on 1674. I had to use USB mode to hear it, but it was audible, as was some speech saying "Radio Pluto.... Radio Pluto" . So, Pacman.... I think you must buy me a very nice cake when I see you next!
• Great to hear Albatros in the air on Tuesday night. This is the one from the south of the Netherlands, not be confused another station with the same name further north! The signal was coming in really well, and you can listen to a recording by clicking here
• Conditions on Sunday evening were far from optimum but one of the best signals on the band was coming from the east of the Netherlands and from Matrix on 1670. This was the best reception we've had of the station for some time and it was a pleasure to listen to this low power pirate. 100 watts was certainly doing very well. More programmes soon please!

Weekend listening

We woke at around 0600 utc on Saturday morning and, as the portable radio was sitting next to the bed, I thought I would have a quick tune around at the top of the MW. Straightaway there was a signal on 1645 with pretty decent reception. I soon found out it was Vriendschap, from the east of the Netherlands.

I spent most of the day at work, but as I write these words in the very early hours of Sunday morning I am listening to Chris from Radio Uniek on 1652 kHz. He is a regular with long music programmes, always on the same frequency. I'm listening again with the old Pye receiver, which is currently hooked up to a coil antenna sitting around ten metres high. Uniek is peaking at 44444, which is super reception as Chris says he is running his usual 90 watts of power.

I've been tuning around for the last half and hour or so and I've also heard Monte Carlo, Polkaman, Moby Dick and Jeneverstoker. Underground has also been busy on 1670 again, although I couldn't hear him this time, which suggests conditions are going long skip.

I'll hopefully be enjoying some sunshine on Sunday, but there will be time for some listening as well, so I will report back here soon.

Mixed bag

A quick scan around the top of the MW band this evening revealed conditions were not particularly good. Dutch pirates Calipso and Vuurvogel were nice and strong as usual, but Radio Anton on 1610 kHz was weaker than typically. That is in contrast to Tuesday evening when most signals were coming in very well while we were listening on the 1950s Pye valve radio. Batavia was doing well with his music programme, and there were some great signals from the various stations qsoing with each other. One of those was Casablanca. Have a look at this video of the reception . . . 

The Sunday Star

During the winter Radio Zonnester from the Netherlands can often be heard here in England with a long music programme on 1620 khz on a Sunday morning. Today I switched on the portable radio at around 0700 utc and got a nice surprise when the station was coming in loud and clear. With the clocks having changed and with the days getting longer, I did not expect to hear very much on the frequency, but Zonnester was blasting in and could still be heard at 0800, with reception finally disappearing at around 0815. A nice start to the day and great to listen to a pirate while lying in bed during the daytime! Have a look at the video to see my reception . . .

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