eQSL from Misti Radio

 Got this nice eQSL for reception of the 6 W test transmission of Misti Radio on the frequency of 15075 kHz on 13th of February 2022 at 12.43 UTC. Thanks!

eQSL from Radio Digital

 Just received this nice and detailed eQSL for reception of Radio Digital on SW in January 2013. Many thanks to operator of the station!

eQSL from the Sunlite

 I have received this nice eQSL from the Sunlite, new shortwave station from the Netherlands. The station is currently broadcasting on 5955 kHz using 75 W transmitter in Overslag. Many thanks to Herbert Visser for the QSL and additional information on the Sunlite!

Station's website: https://sunlite.nl/

Email confirmation from Omrop Fryslân

 Thanks to Martin Wijbenga for the email confirmation of reception of Omrop Fryslân on the frequency of 92.2 MHz (transmitter in Jirnsum) during sporadic propagation in July this year! I always glad to receive this Frisian-language station here.

Station's website: https://www.omropfryslan.nl/

FRS Holland December broadcast

 Dear FRS Friends,

Sunday December 19th FRS-Holland will be on air with its annual festive December /end of the year broadcast. Details about times and frequencies will follow in the course of December.

That day we will be broadcasting varied shows with great music, radio related programme items, your November mail and…...your participation !

Your participation
FRS-Holland offers you the opportunity to participate !! We have a simple question:   

"What would be the greatest gift you could get for Christmas this year?"

Your contributions are more than welcome and will contribute to our programmes that day!
You can easily produce a little message and send it to [frs/at/frsholland.nl].
Only a few lines will do. Of course we would be most happy with spoken (mp3) messages but of course also written ones are most welcome!
It only takes a few minutes of your spare time....

We raffle a number of Radio DVD’s among those who participate in our December broadcast.

Important: deadline
A sincere request: please return your participation before Sunday December 5th.
Don't hesitate and have your share in the upcoming FRS December shows…

Reply form
For those of you sending a written message: easing up things, you will find a reply form below.

The staff of FRS-Holland is awaiting  your contributions...together we can turn December 19th into something wonderful.

73s, Peter Verbruggen on behalf of the staff being Jan, Dave, Bert, Brian & Mike.

Source: station's mailing list

FRS on air November 7th

 On Sunday November 7th, the Free Radio Service Holland will again hit the airwaves. This autumn broadcast will feature our full programming: no less than 5 hours of Sunday free radio entertainment.

 

Programmes will commence at 08:52 UTC/ 09:52 CET and close down will be just after 14:05 UTC/ 15:05 CET. Programmes will be aired on 7700//5800 kHz as well as on 6185 kHz. Please note that the 5800 kHz frequency can be altered a bit up or downwards.

Catch us on Sunday November 7th….the best in music, many interesting (radio) related items, e-mails and letters will be read out from last August (29th), flashbacks to our 10th anniversary back in October 1990. And: our programming will include a lengthy (45 minute!) edition of 'FRS goes DX' packed with news & background infos from around the world and the shortwave free radio scene. 

Jan, Dave, Bert, Mike & Peter welcome you and look forward receiving your personal comments, criticism & reception reports: P.O.Box 2702 in 6049 ZG Herten, the Netherlands  (=excellent hard copy QSL) or by e-mail: frs/a/frsholland.nl . 

FRS-Holland likes to thank each and everyone who sent a letter/ e-mail/ reception report back in August. A tip: payments for hard copy QSLs can also be made via Paypal. Simple, easy & quick! Just use frs/a/frsholland.nl !

Remember: last minute changes will be published on this very website.  See you next Sunday! 

Source: http://www.frsholland.nl/20-latest-news/153-frs-on-air-november-7th.html

Cool eQSL from Cupid Radio

 Got this cool eQSL from Cupid Radio for reception of special test transmission directed towards Japan. Eros and Thanatos, both Freud's fundamental drives, are presented on it 😎 Thanks a lot!

Reception of Cupid Radio on 15074.6 kHz

 It was great to to receive Cupid Radio on upper shortwave bands this morning again! The test transmission was targeted primarily to the listeners in Japan participating in DXpedition to the mountains in Niigata prefecture, however Cupid's signal has even been received in such a distant country as New Zealand, according to the post on HFU message board. The signal was quite good and stable here in Kyiv, without interference from other stations. Thanks for the transmission and also thanks to Paul UK DXer for the tip!

Cupid Radio - 15074.6 kHz - 10th of October 2021 - 08.00 UTC:

RX: Airspy Mini SDR + SpyVerter

ANT: 80 mb inverted Vee dipole

eQSL from Radio Pacman International

 Thanks to operator of Radio Pacman International for the nice eQSL, info sheet and photo! Thanks also to Mike Radio for the relay!

eQSL from Radio Pioneer

 Thanks for the nice eQSL for reception of Radio Pioneer on 6295 kHz!

FRS on air August 29th

 On Sunday August 29th , the Free Radio Service Holland will take to the airwaves with a 4 hour evening broadcast.

On this occasion, programmes will commence at 17:52 UTC/ 19:52 CEST and close down will be just after midnight at 22:05 UTC/ 00:05 CET.  The current propagation pattern made us decide to start not earlier than 18:00 UTC/ 20:00 CEST. Programmes will be aired on 7700//4900 kHz as well as on 6185 kHz. Please note that the 4900 kHz frequency can be altered a bit up or downwards.

This broadcast is the unofficial celebration of our 41st Anniversary.  

Catch us on Sunday 29th August….the best in music, many interesting (radio) related items, listeners' names will be read out. It will be worth while to tune in! Reports but moreover: personal comments and criticism are more than welcome. P.O.Box 2702 in 6049 ZG Herten, the Netherlands  (=excellent hard copy QSL) or by e-mail: frs(at)frsholland.nl. 

FRS-Holland likes to thank each and everyone who sent a letter/ e-mail/ reception report back in May. A tip: payments for hard copy QSLs can also be made via Paypal. Simple, easy & quick! Just use frs(at)frsholland.nl!

Remember: last minute changes will be published on this very website!!

Source: station's mailing list

eQSL from the new Dutch SW station RockPower

 Just received non-detailed email confirmation of my yesterday's reception of the new Dutch SW radio station RockPower on 7220 kHz via new registered transmitter in Nijmegen (NIJ, in Gelderland, 51N51 005E50). The signal in Kyiv was very weak, with deep and continuous fade-outs, some fragments of music were audible now and then. Also the frequency is suffering from heavy splatter or being blocked by co-channel official broadcasters most of the transmission time here, so 7220 kHz is quite unsuitable QRG for reception in Ukraine at evening time, in my opinion. Thanks to Hans for the confirmation!

Station's website: http://www.n3tx.com/

Dutch pirate station Doppie FM received in Kyiv

 Only two strong signals were audible during the start of the brief evening Es hop from the northern part of The Netherlands on 3rd of August 2021: NPO Radio 2 on 88.0 MHz from Hoogersmilde and another station on 90.1 MHz with RDS information absent in FMList database. That was Doppie FM pirate transmission with typical Dutch music:

I didn't even expect to receive a Dutch pirate on Tuesday evening with that weak an unstable propagation, on the stroke of Es season here!

RX: Airspy Mini SDR

ANT: 80 mb dipole

eQSL from Radio Classic Sunday

 Thanks for the eQSL for reception of Radio Classic Sunday on 6185 kHz (via Radio Piepzender)!

eQSL from Radio Gaar

 Just got this stylish and detailed eQSL from Radio Gaar (relay via Radio Piepzender). The frequency of 6185 kHz is much more suitable for my location, because there is no so much local QRM from neighbours, as on 75/76 meter band. Thank you very much, Martin!

Five Dutch FM pirates received in Kyiv for 15 minutes

 New sporadic hop from The Netherlands and The United Kingdom on CCIR FM band on 3rd of July 2021 has brought new interesting catches, such as Radio Continu (new one for me, very similar to the Dutch amateur stations by its musical playlist). But the most interesting are the Dutch pirate radio transmitters which were highly active that Saturday evening.

The propagation was not very stable that day: fair signals with frequent fade-outs and rare fade-ins arrived mostly from the central and eastern part of The Netherlands alternating with numerous usual BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 3 giants on 88.1, 88.3, 88.6, 88.8, 89.1, 89.5, 89.7, 90.1, 90.5, 90.8, 91.3, 91.9 and 92.3 MHz. Also a couple of Dutch and Frisian stations from the northern part of the country were audible now and then (e.g. Grunn FM, Omrop Fryslân, etc.), but no any Belgian broadcaster was heard. In some cases, signals were available for only several minutes or even for tens of seconds. I have done SDR recording 15 minutes long without any hope for interesting results.

And here what I found after detailed analysis of my SDR recording:

1. Kampers Piraten Team (tent.) - 87.5 MHz - 16.40 - 16.44 UTC - SNR up to 25 dB - RDS PI: BE35, PS contained "VOOR REACTIES":

Nice retro repertoire, typical for the Dutch unlicensed broadcasters, unfortunately no identifications were heard during the short period of reception.

2. Sirocco en Lawaai Papagaai - 88.8 MHz - 16.28 - 16.43 UTC - SNR up to 26 dB - RDS PI: 884A, PS and radiotext contained: "Sirocco / Lawaai", etc.:

QRM from co-channel BBC Radio 2 at times. Quite active pirate station, already received here on 26th on June 2021.

3. Zuidwester - 90.1 MHz - 16.28 - 16.43 UTC - SNR up to 27 dB - RDS PI: 8FFF, PS contained "-- -t--d:"

Heavy interference from co-channel BBC Radio 2. Similar RDS settings can be found on this YouTube video clip by DX Hunter Z/W Drenthe. "-- -t--d:" appears to be "de tijd:"

4. M en M Formatie (tent.) - 91.6 MHz - 16.28 - 16.43 UTC - SNR up to 29 dB - no RDS was decoded:

Unfortunately, no RDS data was detecoded at all, as stated above, but operator's voice can be heard on my recording. Many thanks to Henri for the help with this one!

5. De Baltazar en Lady - 92.1 MHz - 16.35 - 16.41 UTC - SNR up to 29 dB - RDS PI: FFF6, radiotext: "Baltazarenladyalmelo. RADIOSTREA":

Dutch oldies and more contemporary music. Only a short burst, when the station's signal reached proper level, but that was enough to decode important ID information.

It would be possible to receive even more Dutch pirates on the frequencies above 92.3 MHz indeed, however it is more difficult in Kyiv, because that frequency range is densely populated by local official FM broadcasters. Anyway, it's worth a try one of the next times.

And again, many thanks to Henri, who helped me to identify some of the listed stations. I'm very happy with such a fruitful Es hop! More stations - more experience in identifying Dutch free FM'ers.

RX: Airspy Mini SDR

ANT: 80 mb dipole

eQSL from Radio (Jong) Europa

 Thanks to John for the non-detailed eQSL for reception of the Dutch station Radio Europa on 5939.9 kHz on 4th of July 2021 via new registered shortwave transmitter in Alphen aan den Rijn (AAR)!

Three pirate FM stations were received in Ukraine during sporadic propagation from the Netherlands

 The sporadic propagation on 26th of June 2021 at 16.00 - 17.00 UTC time slot has been quite fruitful in Kyiv: many stations from the Netherlands, Belgium and United Kingdom, but the most interesting are the pirate (unlicensed) broadcasters which were also active that moment, because Saturday evening is one of the most popular broadcast time among them.

Here what I was able to receive and identify with my Airspy Mini SDR and 80 mb inverted Vee dipole antenna (as you can see, some interesting Es catches are sometimes available even without special directional VHF antennas, such as "Yagis" or log-periodic ones, thanks to the high output power levels used by the Dutch FM pirates):

1. Goud Van Oud - 87.5 MHz - 16.18 - 16.30 UTC - RDS PI: 678F, PS contained: "GOUD / VAN OUD":

Unfortunately, I have not found any iformation about this station in Internet (https://radiogoudvanoud.nl/ is a different one, I guess), except for a WhatsApp number: 06 5555 5992.

2. Sirocco en Lawaai Papagaai - 88.8 MHz - 16.16 - 16.20 UTC - RDS PI: 884A, PS and radiotext contained "Sirocco / Lawaai / Papagaai":

Typical Dutch "pirate" music repertoire. This station was the most easy to identify, thanks to the informative RDS.

3. UNID (possibly Tik Van De Meule (T.V.D.M.)?) - 90.1 MHz - 16.14 - 16.18 UTC - RDS PI: 3276, PS contained: "VOOR / REACTIES" (tent.) phrase. On some YouTube clips, Tik Van De Meule has this phrase in its RDS PS, however, I don't know if it is a common phrase for many pirates or it is rather typical only for Tik Van De Meule. Also Tik Van De Meule was mentioned in pirate streams list for 90.1 MHz one of the next days:

Hungarian DXer EnJoe from Békés has also received the same station on 90.1 MHz that day, PS logged by him is: "GI??ERFM". Any ideas what it could be?

Any help with the third one or corrections are appreciated!

Es catches 19.05.2021

15:31	87.70	MHz	S	SR P1	Halmstad/Oskarström (tent.)	60	kW	1350	km	309	°
15:31	88.60	MHz	DNK	Radio Nordjyske	Hjørring	0.5	kW	1550	km	309	°
15:31	89.00	MHz	DNK	Radio Nordjyske	Tolne	1	kW	1530	km	309	°
15:31	91.00	MHz	DNK	DR P1	Tolne	10	kW	1530	km	309	°
15:31	91.20	MHz	S	SR P2	Halmstad/Oskarström (tent.)	60	kW	1350	km	309	°
15:37	89.40	MHz	POL	Radio Maryja	Stargard	2	kW	1110	km	293	°
15:37	90.30	MHz	POL	Twoje Radio	Stargard	2	kW	1110	km	293	°
15:38	87.60	MHz	D	NDR 2	Hamburg-Moorfleet	80	kW	1430	km	292	°
15:38	87.70	MHz	HOL	Radio 10	Lelystad	110	kW	1740	km	288	°
15:38	89.20	MHz	D	NDR Kultur	Schwerin	30	kW	1340	km	293	°
15:38	89.50	MHz	D	NDR 1 Welle Nord	Hamburg-Moorfleet	10	kW	1430	km	292	°
15:38	89.80	MHz	HOL	Omroep Flevoland	Lelystad	25	kW	1740	km	288	°
15:38	90.30	MHz	D	NDR 90,3	Hamburg-Moorfleet	80	kW	1430	km	292	°
15:38	90.50	MHz	D	NDR 1 Radio MV	Helpterberg	100	kW	1200	km	293	°
15:38	92.00	MHz	POL	PR Radio Szczecin	Szczecin/Kołowo	60	kW	1130	km	293	°
15:39	89.30	MHz	D	Bremen Eins (tent.)	Schiffdorf (Bremerhaven)	25	kW	1530	km	292	°
15:39	90.00	MHz	D	NDR Kultur	Aurich	25	kW	1600	km	291	°
15:39	91.10	MHz	D	NDR 1 Niedersachsen	Steinkimmen	100	kW	1540	km	290	°
15:39	92.10	MHz	D	Bremen NEXT	Schiffdorf (Bremerhaven)	25	kW	1530	km	292	°
15:40	88.30	MHz	D	Bremen Zwei	Bremen-Walle	100	kW	1520	km	290	°
15:40	89.10	MHz	HOL	Grunn FM	Groningen	4	kW	1660	km	290	°
15:40	91.20	MHz	D	NDR 1 Niedersachsen	Dannenberg/Zernien	25	kW	1370	km	290	°
15:40	91.80	MHz	HOL	NPO Radio 1	Hoogersmilde	93	kW	1670	km	289	°
15:40	92.20	MHz	HOL	Omrop Fryslân Radio (tent.)	Jirnsum	25	kW	1720	km	290	°
15:41	88.60	MHz	HOL	NPO 3FM	Hoogersmilde	40	kW	1670	km	289	°
15:41	88.80	MHz	D	rbb 88.8	Berlin	80	kW	1210	km	288	°
15:41	90.70	MHz	D	NDR Info (tent.)	Dannenberg/Zernien	3	kW	1370	km	290	°
15:41	91.00	MHz	HOL	SLAM!	Tjerkgaast (tent.)	10	kW	1720	km	289	°
15:41	91.30	MHz	HOL	Simone FM	?	?	kW	????	km	???	°
15:48	91.30	MHz	D	NDR 1 Welle Nord	Kronshagen (Kiel)	15	kW	1450	km	296	°
15:50	88.20	MHz	D	NDR Kultur	Rostock-Toitenwinkel	160	kW	1310	km	296	°
15:50	88.70	MHz	DNK	DR P1 (tent.)	Ølgod	10	kW	1570	km	301	°
15:50	90.60	MHz	DNK	Pop FM	Sønder Højrup	1	kW	1440	km	300	°
15:51	91.00	MHz	D	NDR 1 Radio MV (tent.)	Rostock-Toitenwinkel	100	kW	1310	km	296	°
15:52	88.30	MHz	DNK	Globus Guld	Holsted/Glejbjerg	0.63	kW	1550	km	300	°
15:55	87.80	MHz	DNK	Nova	Varde/Nordenskov	10	kW	1560	km	300	°
15:55	90.70	MHz	DNK	DR P3	Vejle/Gl. Højen	10	kW	1510	km	301	°
15:55	91.10	MHz	DNK	Skala FM	Odense C	1.6	kW	1450	km	300	°
15:55	92.10	MHz	DNK	Classic FM	Kolding	0.5	kW	1510	km	300	°

All the stations were identified by ID jingles, RDS, playlists, podcasts, parallel frequencies or parallel web streams. Power values are ERP, distances are approximate.

RX: Airspy Mini SDR

ANT: 80 mb dipole

Dutch FM pirate received in Kyiv

 Many thanks to Jelmer for the help with identification of Zender Glaubedran! The station has been received on 13th of May 2021 on 87.8 MHz during brief Es opening from Belgium and The Netherlands here. This is my 3rd Dutch pirate station received on FM band. Please read the previous post for more details and audio clip with recording of the reception.