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747 Netherlands


621 is likely to Brussels, Belgium. http://www.mediumwave.de/ http://fmscan.org/index.php?r=m


[/quote]

Thanks. I certainly stand to be corrected on anything I post. I don't have a WRTH or anything like that with me, and I'm a little strapped for time, so I haven't gone to any of the directory websites. It's been a couple of years since I've been to Paris, but 621 has a pretty good signal there, IIRC. There also used to be a Belgian on 927, but I haven't heard it on this trip, so they're either on lower power or closed. Anyway 621 is on top of the channel in central London at night, but not as robust as in the daytime. Definitely stuff in the background.

I wound up with very little time to DX last night at my second hotel, despite the better than expected surroundings.
I was hoping to catch NFL football on Armed forces radio from Germany. Nice signal, but only music (mostly rock and metal....but I was able to catch some NFL between slingbox and ESPN America.

Otherwise, the "usual suspects" were present, 891 from Algeria perhaps the strongest skywave. 747 was surprisingly weak. I also tried for 1134 from Croatia, which seems to be a frequent visitor to North America. There was something on the channel, but it was weak. Couldn't tell if that was Croatia or something else. Faded rather frequently.

Now I'm off to Germany, and If I have any luck (or time) there, I'll report.
 
Cyber, the German you're hearing on 549, is Deutschlandfunk. I've trying to snag their 600kW signal on 1422, from over here...but, pass on the hip-hop, LOL! :D

~BG
 
Bingo! Saudi on 1521 kHz and...it's the first TA for the PR-D5. Good audio, even with the Buffalo blow-torch next door. A very pleasant surprise!

~BG
 
Tincap said:
Cyber, the German you're hearing on 549, is Deutschlandfunk. I've trying to snag their 600kW signal on 1422, from over here...but, pass on the hip-hop, LOL! :D

~BG
Click to expand...

1422 was certainly banging into London the other night. Hippin' and Hoppin'. 600kw would tend to explain things. ;D

I also tried 1521 in I was in London thinking that some trace of 'KB might be underneath. No sign of the "Buffalo Blowtorch", but I did hear something directly on channel. Must have been the Saudis, because I couldn't make out the language. Here in Germany at night, there seems to be several middle-eastern sounding signals all up and down the dial.
 
Last night....Tues....I only had a few minutes, but the band really "lit up" radically different that what I'd been getting during the previous nights. Among other things (from Stuttgart, Germany), 747 was back to being its robust self. 1521 was fair-good, definitely sounded like Arabic. BBC on 648 sounded like it was coming from across the street. BBC 693 not quite as strong, but still good. 1440 also back...and alone on the channel...in a big way.

Then there was 1134. (I assume Croatia). After being seemingly absent, it was roaring in...almost as strong as the local US Armed forces station on first adjacent 1143. I'm wondering if they had been off or on reduced power, because this one was a monster.

Finally, I heard what sounded like a blowtorch on 1530. Hadn't heard it before, and I couldn't immediately identify the language. Any ideas?

Tonight's my last night, but I'll report any news.
 
cyberdad said:
Last night....Tues....I only had a few minutes, but the band really "lit up" radically different that what I'd been getting during the previous nights. Among other things (from Stuttgart, Germany), 747 was back to being its robust self. 1521 was fair-good, definitely sounded like Arabic. BBC on 648 sounded like it was coming from across the street. BBC 693 not quite as strong, but still good. 1440 also back...and alone on the channel...in a big way.

Then there was 1134. (I assume Croatia). After being seemingly absent, it was roaring in...almost as strong as the local US Armed forces station on first adjacent 1143. I'm wondering if they had been off or on reduced power, because this one was a monster.

Finally, I heard what sounded like a blowtorch on 1530. Hadn't heard it before, and I couldn't immediately identify the language. Any ideas?

Tonight's my last night, but I'll report any news.
Click to expand...

Thanks for keeping us updated!
 
cyberdad said:
Finally, I heard what sounded like a blowtorch on 1530. Hadn't heard it before, and I couldn't immediately identify the language. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Cyber, a probable would be Vatican Radio, which could be throwing its 150 kW in your direction. Less likely would be VOA's 600 kW transmitter site, just off the Atlantic coast of Africa, on the island of São Tomé and Príncipe.

Have a safe flight back!

~BG
 
Tincap said:
Cyber, a probable would be Vatican Radio, which could be throwing its 150 kW in your direction. Less likely would be VOA's 600 kW transmitter site, just off the Atlantic coast of Africa, on the island of São Tomé and Príncipe.

Have a safe flight back!

~BG
Click to expand...

Thanks. Got home late last night after missed connection/delays at Heathrow due to wind storm.

Vatican would've made sense, because 1530 was another one that was either there in a big way or it was completely missing. If the Vatican is doing essentially the same thing on 1530 as they're doing on shortwave, then the broadcast wouldn't be continuous. Also, the exceptionally strong signal fits with the fact that Stuttgart is only about 200 miles or so from the Italian border (with Switzerland in between).

That brings me to 1134. I tuned in to the local 1143 US Armed Forces radio (for ESPN) at around 5am yesterday and got some very noticeable splatter. Assumed it was Croatia 1134, but nope, that channel was empty. Instead the splatter was coming from 1152 instead. Sounded like an Eastern European (and I'm pretty sure I heard LBC News from London in the background). My assumption given the monster signal I'd heard the past two days in the evening, was that Croatia must not be a 24-hour operation.

I didn't make any serious attempt for North America during my three nights in Germany. I presumed I was just too far inland....at least for the DX 375 with no external antenna. But the bigger reason is simply that I was working and there just weren't enough hours in the day to go beyond some of the "basics". I'd have loved to have had enough time to identify all that I was hearing....especially when the band really came alive the last couple of nights.

And finally, I was late getting to the Stuttgart airport yesterday after my morning meeting ran a little long. But I did make a beeline for the newsstand after I cleared security. No "Motor und Sport". I did see a "Sport Motor" (no "und"). I wasn't sure if that was the same thing, so I opted not to pick it up. Apologies if I blew it. I'll be happy to try again next time if you want. There was certainly no shortage of car mags.
 
cyberdad said:
And finally, I was late getting to the Stuttgart airport yesterday after my morning meeting ran a little long. But I did make a beeline for the newsstand after I cleared security. No "Motor und Sport". I did see a "Sport Motor" (no "und"). I wasn't sure if that was the same thing, so I opted not to pick it up. Apologies if I blew it. I'll be happy to try again next time if you want. There was certainly no shortage of car mags.
Click to expand...

No worries, Cyber. I do have a couple of Korean car mags, which my niece has just sent to me. Not as easy to comprehend, as German is, to my Dutch blue eyes, but cool none the less!

Thanks very much for the updates!

~BG
 
Tincap said:
For those interested, I'm picking up Saudi on 1521, coming in and out from underneath the strong adjacent WKBW.

Parallel here ~> http://www.saudiradio.net/LinksRedirect.aspx?cid=1

I'm picking it up on both my DX-440 and the PR-D5, using their internal antennas.

Happy hunting!

~BG
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I checked 1521 here and found a huge het, but no audio. So I started tuning around, and wow - big TA signals everywhere tonight. I'm listening to something on 1116 khz right now, trying to ID it - first time I've heard anything on this channel. Should be an interesting night!
 
kilokat7 said:
Got it! My 1116 is 10kw Radio Pontevedra from Spain, audio came up well enough at the top of the hour to easily verify against their webstream here:

http://www.radiopontevedra.com/

Tincap: I still think it's incredible that you are able to receive your TA catches barefoot - very impressive! I really have to work at it!
Click to expand...

Yes, all my TA's have indeed been 'barefoot'...but, I'd probably need a little more than that to snag a 10kW Spaniard. Good job!

I've just gotten home and am firing the Sangeans now (while marking assignments...LOL!), to hear what's out there.

Happy hunting!

~BG
 
Picked up a nice little surprise, while monitoring 540 (trying to snag CBK).

Hungary's Radio 1 came sneaking in from underneath the slop (lots of Spanish in there, along with two carriers of SRC's Première Chaîne), with some pretty cool local folk music.

On-line here ~> http://www.mr1-kossuth.hu/

~BG
 
kilokat7 said:
Awesome catch! You've got me locked onto 540 now, not much luck here but I'm hearing the Spanish without any trouble.
Click to expand...

kilokat, CBEF must be all over you there. Usually they are the predominate signal for me on 540, but I managed to get them into the null, looking for CBK and that's when the Hungarians came knocking on my dial. They hung in long enough for me to find and ID them with the on-line parallel. Not too often one can bring in an 'on channel' TA through the North American co-channels, so ya, I'm pretty happy about snagging it!

~BG
 
kilokat, CBEF must be all over you there.
Click to expand...

You would think so, but actually no. I never even heard CBEF in the mix tonight. I've never looked at their pattern, maybe there's a deep null towards my direction, but CBEF is rarely heard here. CBK is always the dominant one for me. Nulling CBK then brings in KWMT, but not tonight. WKFN came barreling in tonight in CBK's null which is a little unusual for me. CBT is another one I'd like to bag on this channel, but no luck to date. As for Hungary, I see them listed at 2 million watts! I don't think I've ever received a TA on a domestic channel, and to be honest I've never tried since it seems impossible. Your catch certainly proves otherwise. It looks like you were in the right place at the right time. Again congrats!
 
Thought I'd bump up this thread, since I'm going to be in London later on this coming week for a long weekend visit with our daughter (who lives there). Anyone know of anything going on across the pond that I should be aware of/should try for etc.? I'll probably have the DX-375, but since I'm only taking one bag plus my briefcase, I may have to settle for just the SRF-37.
 
Well, I thought I'd bump this, since it was our unofficial TA DX thread from the past season.

BBC WS on 648 kHz, is no longer with us.

Because of the recent cuts to the BBC, the decision was taken to close down 648, as of March 27th 2011. That frequency holds some sentimental value for me, as I locked onto it often, while I lived in the Netherlands. The contour of the signal made it a challenge to snag from here, so I was never able to log it as a TA hit. And now....it's another one for the radio history file. :(

~BG
 
Add 1062 Denmark to the list of vanishing MW stations. It was recently announced that 1062 will be replaced by a 50 kw transmitter on 243 khz longwave. I heard the 1062 khz transmitter once from Michigan and it has a very unique interval signal at sign on. At only 50 kw, I doubt I would ever be able to catch the 243 khz outlet from my location.
 
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