Some radio crates + loggings

 I wanted to post a number of times this week, but I've been away from the radio a lot. I have listened a bit off and on, but it seems like I never have enough to really justify posting on the blog.

Just got back home after helping relatives move some of their stuff. This morning I was at an auction. Live personal property auctions without lot numbers are such a waste of time because you spend the whole day standing (or sitting) around, just waiting for the thing you want to finally make its way up to the auctioneer. Probably a half dozen or so things that I was interested in weren't chosen to appear before the auctioneer in the three and a half hours that we were standing in the 38-degree temps, so when it started raining (and snow a bit later), we left.

At the auction were a couple of radio crates that I thought were really cool:

Both of these were complete crates. The RCA crate had been refitted with hinges and was probably used for storage in an attic for nearly a century. The Sparton crate was nice and clean--didn't look like it had been repurposed. I guess it was just buried under piles of stuff in someone's attic. I'm always fascinated with stuff like this that shouldn't really survive. BTW, I looked up the Sparton Equasonne Model 79 and it looks like this.

To and from the truck, we were greeted with this friendly (or maybe not so) face:

Could he be guarding the WDOG or KDOG transmitter site? Who knows? He wasn't about to share any secrets.

Here are some loggings. I'm posting dates for these because I'm including a few from earlier in the week. 

Loggings via my own receiver

Mix Radio International: 6880U, 3/26, 2350+ MRI with an ID and opera music. I can honestly say that I've never heard operatic songs on a pirate. Very strong with some flutter

X-FM: 6285, 3/27, 0229+ Listening on an SDR at the moment so that I can listen in stereo. <Later>I guess that was a mistake because I'm hearing it much better on my own receivers. I fired up the R-390A, opened the filter to 16 kHz, & am running it into the guitar amp. Sounds good!

Loggings via Twente

Verona: 1665, 3/16, 1715+ Schlager. Male announcer talking very fast in Dutch. ID per Iann's Chat.

Twentana: 1629, 1824+ Medley of '50s rock songs, into 40+ minutes of schlager & polkas. I thought I heard the announcer say "cortana" or maybe "quintana," so I checked Iann's Chat and see that Twentana is on 1629.

Radio Europe (Ukraine): 5835.2, 3/21, 1929+ RTTY QRM on 5838. Led Zep "Stairway to Heaven," Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the Devil"

Napoleon: 1660, 3/26, 2300+ Very strong with schlager & polka tunes. Male announcer with a number of mentions of "Napoleon." Song in Dutch, but with a chorus of "Oh, Angela." 

Radio Technical Man: 1660, 3/26, 2355+ Left the computer to tune in Mix Radio International on my radio and came back to clear IDs in English, French, and another language for Radio Technical Man, complete with a phone number for requests. Was what I thought was Napoleon actually Radio Technical Man or did Napoleon sign off and be followed by Radio Technical Man? Definitely a different announcer, so I guess these are two different stations. Birthday wishes to David

WFDR: 6900U, 3/27, 0130+ Kind of funny to be listening to a North American station via Twente, but the signal was actually really clear. FDR speeches

 

Mostly logs via Twente

I was busy most of this evening with things like babysitting, so I didn't have much of a chance to listen at home on my radio, but I was catching a few European pirates on the Twente web receiver while working during the day (seems to be a trend as of late for me).

At-home log on the Drake R-8

Earth Station: 6955 kHz, 2350+ UTC good signal with Beatles "Octopus's Garden"

Radio Pushka: 6920 kHz, 0515+ UTC Some goth-sounding music with synthesizers & a lot of reverb on the vocals starting to come through, into EDM

Loggings via Twente, Netherlands, web receiver

Radio Spakenburg: 1638 kHz, 1908+ UTC Very strong with schlager. Announcements & clear ID or two

Radio Spakenburg: 1629 kHz, 2213-2250* UTC Heard 3 clear IDs & announcer said “gud nacht,” I think. Gerry Raferty song skipping badly, so brief dead air & into Black Sabbath “Paranoid,” “River Deep, Mountain High”

Radio Monte Carlo: 1629 kHz, *2250- UTC On after Spakenburg & QSOing with him

1665 kHz, 1920+ UTC Schlager, then CCR “Bad Moon Rising” at 1923. Back to older schlager. Fats Domino “Let's Twist Again”

1665 kHz, 1422 UTC Instrumental surf guitar song with announcer talking, pop, schlager

Radio Europe (Ukraine) 5835.2 kHz, 1840+ UTC Good signal. Announcement mentioned Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, & Putin. Abba “Take a Chance on Me,” etc. Nice to hear another announcement again

1620 kHz, 1952 UTC Yodeling, cowboy-styled polka “Mexicano,” Male announcer, but I couldn’t understand his ID, Buddy Holly “Oh, Boy!” To me, the ID sounded like "Radio Defrayhoho," :o) Jack Jersey “Papa was a Poor Man,” Beatles “Mr. Postman”

E-mail from Radio Europe and loggings from home and a far

I'll add loggings to this page shortly, but I wanted to post that I just received an e-mail in Ukrainian from Radio Europe. Here is the Google translated version (with some parts that I thought might be sensitive deleted):

Good afternoon dear friend. Thank you for hosting us. In conditions of war, we do not have the opportunity to answer you with a QSL card. The Russian army attacked Ukraine, bombing Ukrainian cities with 500 kg air bombs and caliber missiles. Also jet artillery and shells. Such are our affairs in the country.

Radio Europe 5835.2 kHz

Amplitude modulation
Antenna triangle
Transmitter power from 300 W to 1.5 kW.
The height of the antenna suspension is 15 meters above the ground.
Height above sea level 900 meters.
We are located ---------.
Our employees of the Radio Station: Operator ------
Technical Director ----
Information Director ----
We also work on other frequencies
From 3900 to 4200 kHz
And on the FM frequency band 98.7mHz
Our youtu.be channel
https://youtube.com/channel/UCZ-L7LJehSpoCUHidPC7qtg
Sincerely, Radio Europe

Logs from home

Mix Radio International: 6880, 3/7, 2119+ Huge, perfect signal with full quieting. Music. I made the mistake of tuning over to a station that hadn't IDed and started recording there instead. By the time I came back to MRI, it was gone.

Unid: 6925U 0010-0038* excellent signal with a folky rock song. Was getting hammered by peskies by the end. At sign off, announcer said "One, two, three, four, what have you been waiting for radio international ha, ha, ha, haaaaa." Chris on HFU said that the announcer sounded like Zeke & I have to agree

Logs via Twente on March 8 UTC

6931 0323 Woman talking, possibly in Ukrainian

6950-6990 OTH RADAR?

4625 0327 Constant buzz running on top of the buzzer. Not sure if this is data from UVB-76 or if it's separate or separate and intentionally jamming?

Columbia: 1630 2015-2030* Sounded like a Bruce Springsteen song, then schlager. While I was getting a shower, I heard a couple of clear “Columbia” IDs from the male announcer. Very strong at Twente with signal tightly clipped at 10-kHz wide

Marianna: 1617 2011+ (ID per Iann's Chat) Schlager with accordian, etc. Male announcer with some tight reverb--sounded like possibly the older mechanical reverb . . . kind of tight and “springy”

Radio Europe: 5835.2, ca. 1920-2000 Johnny Cash songs, then some Ukrainian-lanuage songs I've heard here before. Dead carrier before I checked on the Dutch MW stations

Some loggings via the Twente web receiver

 I've wanted to go into something more in-depth since Friday, but I just haven't had the time. I was working today & listening to the Twente receiver, so I thought I'd pass along a few logs rather than not post anything:

Logs via Twente, Netherlands, web receiver

Radio Europe (Ukraine): 5835.2 kHz, ca. 1400+ Johnny Cash “I Walk the Line,” Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven,” Doors “Light My Fire,” Buffalo Springfield “For What It's Worth,” Beatles “She Loves You,” Cream “Sunshine of Your Love.” Later into Ukrainian music. Didn't hear any IDs

5125 kHz 1744 UTC Russian military data of some sort. Heard it running any time I checked the frequency. No jamming today.

6285 kHz 1745-1756* UTC US-accented political speech talking about nuclear war. Fair/weak signal, sounded like possibly a speech at the UN?

1647 kHz 1758- Perfect signal with full quieting. Eagles “Hotel California,” Neil Young “Heart of Gold,” Dire Straits “Sultans of Swing,” Helen Reddy “You're So Vain.” No IDs. Went to get lunch; came back & it was gone. I checked UK DXer's Shortwave DX blog & the MW Free Radio blog and I see that Radio Turfsteker and Radio DB use 1647, so maybe one of these two?

Capone (?): 1626, 1858-1907* Smokie “Lay Back in the Arms of Someone You Love” The Kalin Twins “When.” Dutch talk over instrumental music at the end. Thought I heard the ID as “Capone,” but I don't have the best track record with IDing Dutch medium-wave stations!

 

Radio Europe with IDs

I've been listening to Radio Europe (shortwave pirate from Ukraine) for hours while working over the past week. Today, I heard talk and an ID on the station for the first time. The station had IDed back in the pre-war days, but, aside from this logging below, I haven't seen any mentions of an ID or any other kind of talk. It makes me wonder if the station was discussing the situation either in Ukraine or in the immediate area of the station. I made a recording of the announcement, so I guess I should either find someone who speaks Ukrainian to translate or put it up on YouTube. 

A couple of loggings via Twente, Netherlands web receiver

Radio Europe: 5835.2  kHz 1703+ UTC New wave + Ukrainian music. Woman announcer at 1707, dead air, then man talking in Ukrainian with distorted audio. Several clear IDs & mentions of Ukraine

Radio Ronalisa: 6275 kHz, 1730+ UTC Techno and male announcer with heavy reverb. Said from Netherlands and talked about Putin & told people to stay safe 

A couple of loggings

 I saw that Anarchy One was reported tonight with excellent signals in the Northeast. I haven't heard this station in probably at least 25 years. I assume this was a relay and not a new show, but it's always something when a pirate returns after a decade (or several) of being away from the hobby.

I also missed Clever Name Radio, which seems to have great signals most everywhere in the Western Hemisphere. I was busy splitting & hauling firewood, so I missed all of the fun tonight. 

Last night, I did manage to hear Clever Name Radio, which was playing the "request lines are open" clips. I complied, keyed in my request on HF Underground in the loggings section, and they almost immediately played it. Awesome. I don't know how many regions Clever Name has been heard, but I've seen HFU reports on HFU from Colombia and Guatemala. I heard this on 6919 kHz USB and I think it was around 2200. Despite having an e-mail address, I'm not sure that CNR has ever QSLed anyone.

Over in Europe via the Twente, Netherlands, receiver, I heard:

UVB-76 jammer: 4625 kHz, 1722 UTC Michael Jackson "Smooth Criminal"

Radio Europe: 5835.2 kHz 1830+ UTC With regional (presumably Ukrainian?) music. Some modern rock, some ska, etc. Excellent signal and I was a bit surprised to hear the sudden format switch. Maybe a different person was running the playlist today? I listened for about an hour, but no announcements. I wonder if all of these broadcasts are Radio Europe or if some other stations are popping up on the frequency to offer solidarity? 

 

Brief email from ULX2 + logs

Last night I received a brief email from Alex (ULX2). He understandably didn't have a lot to say, but he did write:

    Yes, indeed. Thank you very much once again.

This was in response to my well wishes & being glad to hear that he was OK.

Speaking of OK, I heard Radio Europe again this morning and am listening right now:

Radio Europe: 5835.2, 1517-1525* Via Twente web receiver. Rolling Stones "It's Only Rock'n'Roll," another song & off at 1525 UTC

Radio Europe: 5835.2, 1903+ Via Twente web receiver. Pink Floyd "Another Brick in the Wall" Excellent signal

UVB-76 Jammer: 4625 USB, 1844+ Via Twente web receiver. Metallica "For Whom the Bell Tolls." My guess is that this is via a Ukrainian military transmitter or from a high-powered amateur because this has been reported by a number of listeners in North America

Jammer 5125 USB, 1530+ Via Twente web receiver. Squealing pigs (being slaughtered?) jamming of Russian military channel. Audio sounds to me like it's being played backward, but it's hard to tell. I think squealing pigs would sound fairly similar whether it was played forward or backward. I assume the intention is that they are letting Russians know that their troops are like "pigs heading to the slaughter."

Just 10 kHz up from that jammer is:

Charleston Radio International: 5135, 1850+ Via Twente web receiver. Strong signal with all 1930s programming. Plenty of Big Band music and some bits from old-time radio. This station has been on the air for years now and has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine, but I thought I'd mention it because of its proximity (frequency-wise) to the 5125 jammer. This one really gives you the feel of tuning around the radio during WWII.

Just saw that a bombing run took out the main TV station in Kiev