Report from Dunlo, PA, USA for 28 November 2010

[Dave Valko]

Conditions seemed good the evening before at 0130 UTC with LHH 4026 quiteaudible, so I was hoping it would continue into the morning. Unfortunately it didn't. Was poor to fair at best. There was a low 5 mhz MUF over a large area over Iceland. Solar Flux was at 77, the A Index at 6, at K Index a high 3 but had dropped down to 2 by the time I returned home. I almost decided not to go out to listen. Activity seemed pretty high. I think there were as many as 8 stations on the air at one time. One thing that I found odd was Spaceshuttle on 6265(6). He was barely audible when I first tuned in at 0815 UTC but got better after 1000 UTC when it should have faded out. Either conditions improved then, or it might have something to do with his proximity to the terminator. Anyway, even though conditions weren't very good, I'm glad I went out to listen. This was the coldest outting yet this season. Was down to 24 degrees outside. Was 42 F. in the Jeep at 0812, 37 at 0935, and 35 by 1100. Stayed out listening with the Perseus setup from 0700-1105 UTC.


4026 LHH 0702 "We've Only Just Begun" by the Carpenters, then another soft Pop song. 0709 short anmnt, then 2 more unrecog. songs. 0716 song anmnts and upcoming songs, then "Jackie Blew" by Ozark Mountain Daredevils". Very fady. Sometimes briefly fair, others completely gone. (28 Nov.)

5799.51 FRSH 0850:24 signal on, then mx began at 0852. Usual "Close Encounters" and fanfare IS routine at 0856. Canned ID anmnt 0858. Rock mx bridge, then opening pgm anmnt by Peter at 0900 w/ment of 5800 and 7600, wished good reception, and upcoming pgm rundown. Into "Valory" by Stevie Winwood. Tlk on historic events in the life of FRSH and played excerpts from previous broadcasts. Decent signal early on but gradual fade of course. Still audible though by 1100. Did have trouble with the nasty machine-gun UTE blasting away down here. (28 Nov.)

5810.05 R. Geronimo?? Just a blip of a signal here in the 1023-1026 time period. Nowhere near strong enough to get any audio. (28 Nov.)

5819.89 R. Saturnus Apparently came on about 15 or 20 sec. after Orion went off. May have had strains of audio during brief peaks early on, but really nothing substantial. Faded. Could still get little spikes above the noise rarely by 1040. (28 Nov.)

5820.04 Orion R. On at 0753:32. Usual Polka at 0755. 0759 Schlager. 0801 canned ID and into Percy Faith opening song. 0805 instru. Polka and live voice-over anmnts w/morning greeting, TC, ID, etc. "Off Shore Echos" ad, then "Morning Has Broken" by Cat Stevens. 0811 morning greetings to R. Saxonia and mentioned he'd be on 6255 at 1100 UTC. Said was having some problems. 0815 "Maggie Mae" by Rod Stewart. Also played "The Music Box Dancer", "TSOP", "Behind Blue Eyes", "She's Not There", "I Want to Kiss You All Over", "If You Think I'm Sexy", as well as some pleasant Dutch song. Thought he mentioned he was using "low power at this time" at 0831. Signal faded but picked back up some after 0940. Went off at 0957:08. (28 Nov.)

5830 Spurs Signal came on at 1051:25. Deep fades, but it got stronger at 1017 and realized there were spurs here, prob. caused by massive rel. broadcasters above. (28 Nov.)

6005 FRSH via Radio 700 Nearly impossible here because of massive slop-over QRM from WYFR on 6000. Did sound like Peter V.'s anniversary/history pgm at 0915. (28 Nov.)

6140 R. Gloria via Wertachtal Germany1000 "alternative radio" jingle, then M w/slow tlk wishing all listeners well, then into "Gloria". Rock song when I returned at 1007, then R. Gloria Int. Germany mailing addr in EG and GM, then live M w/e-mail addr. Back to mx. OK at this time, but mixing equally w/co-channel stn by 1016. "Off Shore Echos" ad at 1017. Finally clear at 1030 w/mailing addr again, jingle, song anmnt, then back to mx w/song "December". 1041:50 ID jingle. More mx. (28 Nov.)

6200.03 R. Orang Utan Came on at 0730:16 just 4 seconds after the broadcaster here went off. Mx started about 40 seconds later. 0732-0734 "I'm a Believer" by The Monkeys (appropriately enough!!). 0735 voice-over ID as "You're listening to R. Orang Utan, ?? very good morning...". 0736 think he mentioned myself "...in the USA". 0753 "Downtown" by Petula Clark. More anmnts at 0800. 0803 "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas. 0816 freq, and ID. Weakened just down to threshold level. All I could make out then was a few morning greetings. Really don't know how long he stayed on, but there was a signal here past 1030. However it sounded like an Asian was here after 1000. (28 Nov.)

6202.05 R. Scotland Int. Came on at 0957:42 and mx 3 min. later sounding like a Dusty Springfield remake. 1007 het QRM from 6201.43 and 6200.02. ID anmnt at 1017:25 w/e-mail, and ending w/canned mailing addr. Played some songs I couldn't recognize, then another anmnt at 1029, and went off at 1030:20. Not a bad signal for how late it was in the morning, but a lot of QRM. (28 Nov.)

6205 R. Powerliner Came on the air at 1032:15. Tlk at 1039 peak, and into mx. Not strong enough to copy. mx on short peaks at 1048. Was getting some weird rise to the noise floor around this freq from time to time. Got weaker and never did get any more audio. Just too late in the morning. The signal was still there though when I quit at 1100. (28 Nov.)

6210 LHH 0713 getting a spike of a signal, then some mx at 0719. Was totally absent, then suddenly came up out of nowhere at 0833. 0837 "Across Europe on Shortwave" DJ jingle. 0841 hello to Amy and said would play her request, and acknowledged listener listening on 4026. "Off Shore Echos" ad, then nice clear "Music Power" jingle, and song anmnt. Faded back down then. (28 Nov.)

6214.73 R. Torenvalk Looked like it came on the air at 0907:37. Very weak, but did get some mx at 0918 briefly, and possibly at 0930. But just at threshold audio level at best on brief peaks. Never did get any better. Went off at 1012:35. Drifted up from 6214.66 to 6214.86 at s-off. (28 Nov.)

6220.12 R. East Coast Holland Signal on at 0737:00. "Cliffs of Dover" by Eric Johnson 45 seconds later. 0741 partial canned ID "On shortwave this is...". Heavy Metal song. 0748-0756 "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, then a power ballad. Another signal from a numbers stn popped on 6222 at 0757:12 causing QRM. "Money" by Pink Floyd at 0804-0810, then "Black Magic Woman". 0832 "Ready for Love" by Bad Company. Sounded like an ID at 0835, then "Hey Jude" by The Beatles, and Bryan Adams song. 0843 nice live ID "Listeners a very good morning. You're listening to R. East Coast Holland on the shortwave band on 6220 khz in the 48 mb. A very good morning. This is R. East Coast Holland back on the air...". A soft Dutch song followed, and more DT anmnts at 0846. Dropped down a bit after 0850. Anmnts at 0900, then "Bloody Sunday" by U2. Was still going at 0908, but was gone at 0915 when I started another recording and returned. Besides the numbers station QRM, there was also some SSB traffic around 0900. (28 Nov.)

6265-6v R. Spaceshuttle (Without Borders) Signal came on at 0812:20 around 6265.5 and quickly drifted down to 6265.19 then came back up. Sounded like anmnts abt 30 sec. later. Then into mx at 0813. Sync barely able to lock on. Up to 6265.88 by 0845. Could hear mx and occas. M anncr. Starting to get a little better by 0900. 0902 definite M anncr w/ment of "International". At 0908 hrd the unmistakable R. Pyongyang IS. A SW broadcast DX pgm?? Some SSB traffic and UTE QRM 0935-0942. 6266.05 by 0944. 0946 voice-over anmnt. M anncr at 0951, then played the R. Pyongyang IS again, then into Dance mx. Ment of Spaceshuttle and Europe at 0959 and what sounded like tlk abt
propagation conditions and reception. 1000 canned jingle and back to choral mx. Got an ID for R. Without Borders at 1001 just as I was about to shut down the computer. Very odd that this would improve when it should have been fading out or totally gone!! 1010 greetings to Africa(??) "...and other parts of the world here on Spaceshuttle". Then M vcl on acoustic guitar. Up to 6266.1 at 1012. Ment of Africa and Europe, USA, Canada, etc. 1024 ment of Newfoundland, and gave ID, and bye bye, then an Andean song, another song, then gone at 1032:00. (28 Nov.)

6280 Top R. Signal on the air at 0918:30. Too many UTE bursts, mainly from 6281 to use the sync. Seemed like mx came on at 0926. Dance mx. 0931 SFX and canned ID by M in electronically altered deep voice repeating "radio" and slowing down. 0939 "Walk of Life" by Dire Straites, followed by a Dance song, then another. The signal then went off the air at 0948:04. The UTE QRM was just horrendous. Was actually lucky to get the ID. (28 Nov.)

6280.04 UNID. Signal came on here at 0755:30. Went off at 0758:26, but came back on at 0759:52. Then went off again at 0801:00. (28 Nov.)

6287 R. Shadow Came on at 0724:00. Mx at 0729. Oldie at 0732. Really dropped down after 0737 and at threshold audio at best. Had to cut down the bandwidth at 0952 when North Korea 6285 carrier came on. Never did come back up and went off at 1016:50. Nasty UTE on the freq from time to time. (28 Nov.)

6300.28 R. Brandaris Int. Signal here at 0803. Peppy instru. mx at 0805. 0807 instru. version of "Take a Chance on Me". More instru. songs. 0816 "Flinestones" song. Quick canned ID at 0817:55. Into "Bus Stop" by The Hollies. Long anmt at 0825 including ID, freq, SMS, and e-mail addr. 0839 morning greetings and rpt acknowledgements to a number of listeners. 0900 "Africa" by Toto, but getting a bit of noise QRM at this time. 0916 SMS number sounded like 0031-630965772. Long anmnts at 0942. Fading but still IDable by 1000. Another signal of equal strength showed up on 6300 at 1021:13. Was still able to hear an ID at 1044 on a brief peak. Went off the air at 1048:12. (28 Nov.)

6304.87 R. Paardenkracht Signal came on at 1030:51, and maybe some mx. Went off at 1032:42. Back on at 1034:19 and definitely mx at 1036 on short peak, and again at 1038:33. Good enough to recog. "I Saw Her Again Last Night" Mama & Papas 1039-1041. 1041:50 poss. very short anmnt by M in heavy echo but may have been part of the song. Then what sounded like a lively Dutch song. 1045-1047 "Groovy Kind of Love", then another oldie. 1050 novelty whistling oldie. 1051:25 good morning, hello", and back to mx. "Simon Says" by 1910 Fruitgum Factory. 1053:30 M back in GM and DT w/long anmnt, including ID and freq. Went off at 1058:00. Just a short xmsn for him!! (28 Nov.)

6305 UNID. Found a signal here at 0723, but wasn't there at 0716. Nonstop Hawaiian songs. Seemed like someone just put on a Hawaiian mx CD and left it run. SP SSB traffic 0734-0802 which made it confusing at times. Made it appear there were anmnts. Then another signal came on at 0738 but went off in abt a min. This went off at the end of a song at 0812:47. No anmnts hrd. Fairly decent on peaks. Did anyone else hear this one?? (28 Nov.)

6310 UNID. Signal showed up here as early at 1018 and gradually got better. Close to audio threshold on peaks around the BoH, but never anything positive. Gradually weakened. Disappeared or seemed to go off the air at 1056. Was someone here?? (28 Nov.)

6310.66 R. Bonofox Came on at 0739:21 and instru. piano mx 50 seconds later. Then what sounded like an instru. organ version of "In the Mood". Signal dropped down after 0747 like others. 0748 M vcl sounded like Karayoke. Then another organ song. 0755 sounded like a short canned "Bonofox calling" ID, more organ mx and voice-over ID anmnts. 0757 ID and poss. addr. Kind of sounded like the Kinks at 0803. Techno version of "Popcorn" at 0805. "Hello" at 0807, and radiobonofox@hotmail.com e-mail addr, then nice ID at 0808 and e-mail again. 0813 "Working My Way Back to You" by The Spinners, then "Come On Eilene" by Dexys Midnight Runners at 0816. Getting bursts from a UTE on 6312.5 every once in a while. 0824 "Birdie Dance" song and more voice-over anmnts. 0842 canned ID and then live anmnts. 0852 "Wild Boys" by Duran Duran. 0855 canned ID w/Dog barking and laughing. Reggae mx at 0901, then nice ID anmnt on peak at 0903:10. Still audiable at 0919:04 when it closed down. (28 Nov.)

6324.60 Misti R.?? Signal came on at 0818:41. Certainly sounded like a M anncr at 0820 and again at 0821. Sounded like mx at 0827. Seemed strong enough for respectable audio on the peaks, but nothing but whispers until definite mx at 0845. Then faded down to almost nothing by 0849. Went off at 0856:06. Really fady signal. (28 Nov.)

6325.05 R. Quintus Came on sometime between 0908 and 0915. Finally start w/Polka at 0917 w/Trumpet solo, followed by a pleasant Schlager, then "We Love the Pirate Stations" at 0924. Another Polka at 0932. 0939 anmnt in DTand EG w/nice ID "...listeners good morning. This is Pirate R. Quintus ?? from the Netherlands..." and freq in DT. Greeting and ackcknowledged rpt from Iann. Another ID at 0940:40. Song by Kid Rock. Another anmnts at 1011 but all I could copy was a couple morning greetings. Fading by this time. Was still barely audible at 1100 and even could hear another anmnt at 1059. Freq rock steady. Awful pulsing UTE notched out. Had to use the passband shift because of other UTEs around 6327. (28 Nov.)

6374.73 R. Sonic Continuation of Meatloaf at 0751. Anmnt at 0753:00 where he the freq as "6374.5" and "Good morning all". "Purple Rain" by Prince. Seemed like deadair at 0802 but not sure. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler at 0812. At 0816:08, just before the Bonnie Tyle song was over, he moved the freq again back up to 6380.58, probably in an attempt to avoid the UTE on 6377 that showed up around 0755. (see below). (28 Nov.)

6380.61 R. Sonic Signal came on at 0741:00 followed by mx a half min. later. Apparent tlk as part of a song at 0742. Suddenly really came up strong at 0742:45. At 0746:00 he realized he was off freq and adjusted it to 6380.08. Then nice ID "...good morning, R. Sonic here on 6380...". Into "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights" by Meatloaf. At 0751:45 he readjusted and moved the freq to 6374.73. Back at 0816:10 w/end of Bonnie Tyler song. In the middle of the second song, he left at 0822:13. (see above). (28 Nov.)

6394.07 R. Scotland Int. Came on the air at 0828:50, but it wasn't until 0840 that pgming started. "Who Can It Be Now" by Men at Work 0843-0846, followed by a soft FR song. Live ID anmnts at 0854 saying something about the audio and seemed to be testing it. More anmnts at 0856 and said he did something to the audio but "it doesn't seem any different...the audio is still the same". TSOP at 0857, then played the Percy Faith song that Orion plays. Said was closing down, e-mail, and mailing addr at 0902. Canned ID at 0904, and off at 0904:14. Good signal at times but affected by QSB. (28 Nov.)

6540.35 R. Brigitte?? Signal here first rising as a little "blip" above the noise floor at 0833:23. Then looked like it went off from 0837-0841, but it could have just been a prolonged fade out. Really no hope of any audio. Just strong enough for the sync to lock on at times. Seemed to still be on after 1000. (28 Nov.)

6919.96 Mike R. Signal on at 0802:20. Finally mx up at 0808:40 w/two songs by Alan Parsons Project. Canned ID jingles at 0818, 0824, 0829, 0837, and 0853. Played the same song twice at 0833 and 0843!! Went off the air at 0858:06. Was hoping to hear some live anmnts. Good signal and about 90% readable. (28 Nov.)

6952.97 R. Jan Van Gent Signal on at 0738:49. Mx started at 0739:48 then immediately stopped. Weak mx again abt a min. later. Pretty nice signal strength for abt 15 min. but there was no audio. Went off at 0803:37. Must have been having tech. difficulties. (28 Nov.)

7600.41 FRSH 0910, more old bdcst clips from 1988 w/Toto and Genesis songs and anmnts by Peter. Dedemsvaart, Netherlands addr, jingles, etc. Nice strong clear signal. Did fade a bit in a few minutes. 1104 anmnt w/"Welcome along" and ID. About 100% copy at this time. Then cont. Pirate history pgm and tlk abt Peter's QSLs, EMR, Happy Station in 1978. (28 Nov.)

7 stns on 48 mb at 0752.

No sign of Atlantic R., Amica, Sextant, or Saxonia.

[R Spaceshuttle]

R Spaceshuttle and Spaceshuttle Without Borders team thanks you Dave for the report

Greetings

Dick The Operator

[JoJo]

Hello Dave,

thanks for the log, much appreciated. Well not bad at all your reception, I had tuned the DDS to 5820,01kc so I guess we don't needs to calbrate our stuff

cheers to you and your family, best regards, John

[Radio Scotland]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for reporting both, 6202 and 6395 khz broadcasts.

Greetings, Albert

www.radioscotland.nl