DX Notes: November - December 2016

MAY I begin this post by wishing you all a Merry Christmas, as I compose this post at 1620 UTC on Christmas Day - Sunday 25 December 2016.

For the final time in 2016 on RFTFT, a compilation of radio broadcast logs. Times listed are UTC (Universal Time Co-ordination, same as GMT), frequencies are listed as kHz (kiloHertz), unless otherwise stated in the log.

November 2016: Medium Wave

• 14 November: 1436 UTC: 1557 kHz: Mixture of signals, unable to identify, though the strongest most likely to be BBC Radio Lancashire (250 watts via Lancaster [Oxcliffe]).
• 14 November: 1516 UTC: 1566 kHz: Mixture of signals lost in the white noise and static, possibilities on this channel include BBC Somerset (1 kW via Taunton [Relays of BBC Bristol]), also Premier Christian Radio (800 watts via Guildford). Holland also broadcasts on this frequency; That broadcast was discounted.
• 14 November: 1541 UTC: 1575 kHz: Female speech started strongly, soon faded. Serious propagation. Logs show RAI Radio 1 (Italy) and SER (Spain) on this channel.

• 14 November: 1555 UTC: Log notes show the onset of dusk at this time; Birds beginning to roost.
• 14 November: 1600 UTC: 1584 kHz: Music, followed by female speech - News bulletin? Male speech too. Music: Huey Lewis & The News 'Power of Love'; The Mamas & The Papas 'Monday Monday'. Traffic & travel report identified BBC Hereford & Worcester, 300 watts to North Herefordshire, via Woofferton, Shropshire. Moderate to poor reception. Music: Culture Club.
• 14 November: 1731 UTC: 1593 kHz: This is not a UK channel, though it did sound like a broadcast trying to break through - Logs only state Romania. Discounted.
• 14 November: 1740 UTC: 1602 kHz: Music: 'Rivers of Babylon', Cliff Richard 'Power To All Our Friends', The Drifters. No speech or ID logged! Logs list BBC Radio Kent (250 watts, Rusthall), Desi Radio (70 watts, Southall), Thruxton (1 watt, Andover) as UK broadcasts, Seagull (Holland) and SER (Spain) as European broadcasts on this channel. Music continued: Thin Lizzy 'The Boys Are Back In Town'.

• 14 November: 1827 UTC: 1638 kHz: Music, which includes whistling! Logs list the Dutch pirate De Vrolijke Mijnwerker [The Merry Miner]. Fade out... Fade in! Logs state polka music...✔ I believe this to be the broadcast I am hearing. Fair to poor reception.
• 14 November: 1849 UTC: 1656 kHz: Music - Though logs state the closest broadcasts to this channel are De Vrolijke Mijnwerker (see above) or Zender Matrix (Holland) on or around 1670 kHz. Yodeling music. Polka music. Very faint reception.

December 2016: Short Wave

• 20 December: 2043 UTC: 6195 kHz: Voice of America, English to Africa via Botswana. Moderate reception. 'African Beat': English speech, music to close of broadcast. VOA ID: 'Yankee Doodle'. ✱ 2100 UTC: 6195 kHz now broadcast from Sao Tome: News headlines: Shooting of Russian Ambassador to Turkey. Evacuation of Aleppo. US President Elect Donald Trump meets staff. New electronic laws in Thailand. 'VOA1 - The Hits'. Music: Twenty One Pilots 'Heathens'. Ellie Goulding. Improved reception from Sao Tome: Good to moderate reception. English to Africa via Sao Tome.
• 20 December: 2142 UTC: 7285 kHz: China Radio International, English to Europe & Africa, via Albania. Strong to good reception. Male and female hosts of the English language programme 'Roundtable'. Topics include listener feedback online; Smog; The pace of life; Emojis and memes.

• 20 December: 2225 UTC: 9420 kHz: Music, with a Mediterranean flavour... Logs state Voice of Greece and a 2012 schedule does confirm Greece on this channel at this time. Upbeat music, male and female vocalists, speech from a male - In Greek? Music with female vocalist. Strong to good reception.

That concludes the logs for 2016.

RFTFT's Top 3 of 2016: Video Edition

Springtime with Sharapova

Roxanne Leah Townsend

This hair makes me feel so kinky - it's the curls... pic.twitter.com/PHSCnUgO4J

— Makeupby_ROXY (@roxi_townsend) April 12, 2016

Wallpaper of the Week, 1 May 2016

The above videos were included in the original Top 3 of 2016 posts, as refered to in the post dated Sunday 18 December 2016.

Three and a half hours have passed since I began to compose this post, so I shall bid you good evening and wish you all the enjoyment of your celebrations.

RFTFT's Most Popular: Top 3 of 2016

ONE week until Christmas Day; Two weeks until New Year's Day, so I am taking the opportunity to review 2016 on Reporting From The Fox Tower by bringing you the top three most viewed posts of the year, beginning with the most popular first.

Springtime with Sharapova

The most viewed post on Reporting From The Fox Tower during 2016 has been 'Springtime with Sharapova', which was posted May 28th and has had 1038 (One thousand and thirty-eight) views. The post anticipated the upcoming summer of sport, which included the Euro 2016 football tournament and the tennis season. It was relating to the tennis season that Springtime with Sharapova reflected on Maria Sharapova's 2014 victory at Roland Garros. Springtime with Sharapova was followed up a week later by 'Summertime with Sharapova', which did not fare as well.

To the second most popular post:

Roxanne Leah Townsend

The Silver medal for 2016 goes to Roxanne Leah Townsend, for the post 'Roxanne Leah Townsend', which was posted September 11th and has had 178 views.

The post was a celebration of Roxanne Leah Townsend, to show Rox continued love and support.

The third most popular post:

Wallpaper of the Week, 1 May 2016

The Bronze medal for 2016 goes to the 'Wallpaper of the Week' - A long standing feature, here on RFTFT - for May 1st, which has had 123 views.

The post reflected on the music video for 'Under Your Spell', which featured Eden based actress and model Abbie Steele. The image for the post was taken from the music video.

This blog has long supported Abbie's career, and will continue to do so.

Support Abbie by visiting her website, follow her Twitter updates and click 'Like' on her Facebook page.

Those are the top three most popular posts of 2016, Reporting From The Fox Tower will post over the festive season, so please do continue visiting!

This week: Taylor Alison's Birthday.

THIS coming week, on Tuesday 13 December, Miss Taylor Alison Swift celebrates her twenty-seventh Birthday, so I have taken this opportunity to share the above artwork from the now seemingly defunct Swift Bulletin.

Happy Birthday Taylor Alison!

💗

Wallpaper of the Week, 4 December 2016

This post marks the first anniversary of Storm Desmond, which brought much flooding and damage to Cumbria, which was covered here on Reporting From The Fox Tower in the posts 'Listening to the radio' and 'Carlisle United, December 2015'.

Wallpaper of the Week is a photograph I took in the early afternoon of December 8, 2015. The wood carving is to resemble a frog, which I had seen on site on previous times, so was pleased to see it had survived the flood. The location of the above image is south of Eden Bridge, Great Musgrave, which you can see on Google Maps. The road from where the photograph was taken is the B6259.

Some notes regarding this photograph: The River Eden had risen to a level that the water ran across the road, carrying debris which was caught in the wire fence, which is what you can see in the bottom left of the picture, up to the carving.

Until the next time.

Season 2016/17: The Season So Far - Part 4

"Top of the League"

SIX more fixtures for Carlisle United Football Club during November: One FA Cup fixture, one EFL Trophy fixture and four League fixtures. Here are the results of the November fixtures:

Sunday 6th: FA Cup: St Albans City 3 - United 5 (Attendance: 3473)

Wednesday 9th: EFL Trophy: United 4 - Fleetwood Town 2 (Attendance: 1420)

Saturday 12th: League: Newport County 2 - United 0 (Attendance: 2521)

Saturday 19th: League: United 3 - Exeter City 2 (Attendance: 5058)

Tuesday 22nd: League: Grimsby Town 2 - United 2 (Attendance: 4818)

Saturday 26th: League: United 5 - Mansfield Town 2 (Attendance: 4822)

As of the evening of Sunday 27 November 2016, Carlisle United are top of the League. The Sky Bet League Two table shows Carlisle United leading the table on goal difference from Plymouth Argyle, with Doncaster Rovers two points behind in third place.

December has another six fixtures for United: As November, one FA Cup fixture, one EFL Trophy fixture and four League fixtures. They are Rochdale at Brunton Park in the FA Cup; Mansfield Town's return to Brunton Park, this time in the EFL Trophy; Away at Luton Town in the League; Yeovil Town at Brunton Park in the League; Boxing Day away at Crewe and New Year's Eve away at Notts County, both League fixtures.

Reporting From The Fox Tower will bring you the results of the Year-end fixtures, though as the final fixture falls on New Year's Eve, it could be the first day of January 2017 that the results are published on this blog - The first fixture of 2017 falls on the second day of the New Year!

#BluesForever

Twenty Five Years

Freddie Mercury

5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991

Remembering Jonah: One Year On.

THE past week saw the first anniversary of the passing of Jonah Lomu.

 Jonah passed away 18 November 2015.

The Memorial Service for Jonah took place Monday 30 November 2015.

The Memorial Service was carried live on the Team All Blacks website, from which the still image above was taken, and is still available on the site. Watch the Memorial Service here.

The Service was led by John Campbell of Radio New Zealand.

John Campbell leading the Memorial Service, 30 November 2015.

Taylor Swift for Vanity Fair.

REPORTING From The Fox Tower enjoys keeping you up to date with the media engagements of Taylor Alison Swift. Previous posts have included engagements with Vogue Australia and GQ - This post brings you Taylor Alison's September 2015 engagement with Vanity Fair.

This post opened with Taylor partaking in a game of 'Word Association', which is the video above.
The next video reflects on Taylor being one of the Best Dressed. Enjoy this video.

The engagement also featured a photo shoot with Mario Testino, which saw Taylor Alison look very glamorous, as seen here.

Finally, for this post, click here to link to the Vanity Fair interview.

Until next time...

Wallpaper of the Week, 6 November 2016: Taylor Swift.

Taylor Alison Swift.

Season 2016/17: The Season So Far - Part 3

"The unbeaten run continues"

SIX matches, six wins. That is Carlisle United's record for October 2016. The six matches were one Checkatrade Trophy match and five Sky Bet League Two matches. Here are the October 2016 results:

• Saturday 1st: League: United 2 - Colchester United 0 (Attendance: 4516)
• Tuesday 4th: Trophy: United 2 - Blackburn Rovers 0 (Attendance: 1253)
• Saturday 8th: League: Morecambe 0 - United 3 (Attendance: 3773 [1996 United fans])
• Saturday 15th: League: United 3 - Hartlepool United 2 (Attendance 7333)
• Saturday 22nd: League: Stevenage 1 - United 2 (Attendance: 2720 [447 United fans])
• Saturday 29th: League: United 3 - Crawley Town 1 (Attendance: 56190

The fixture list for November has another six games: Away at St Albans City in the FA Cup (6th); Home to Fleetwood Town in the Trophy (9th); Away in the League at Newport County (12th) and Grimsby Town (22nd); Home in the League to Exeter City (19th) and Mansfield Town (26th).

#BluesForever

The 1989 World Tour: Lorde & Leona.

IN this final look at the 1989 World Tour, the 'best of the guests' are Lorde, pictured above, and Leona Lewis, pictured below.

I do hope you have enjoyed the media I have shared from the 1989 World Tour.

I would also like to take this moment to mention that, a couple of weeks ago, the eleventh anniversary of the creation of this blog passed by. I would like to thank you for your continuing visits and continuing support of Reporting From The Fox Tower.

DX Notes, July - October 2016.

A while has passed since the last update on the broadcasts I have heard on the Medium Wave and Short Wave bands, so here is a collective of both bands over the course of the months of July to October.

Times are listed in UTC (Universal Time Co-ordination, which equals Greenwich Mean Time).
Frequencies are listed in kiloHertz (kHz).

July 2016: Short Wave

• 28 July: 2042 UTC: 15825 kHz: WWCR, Nashville TN USA. Good to moderate reception. English to Europe, Middle East, America via Nashville. Programme may have been 'Into The Blue' with Terry Herd.

September 2016: Medium Wave

• 3 September: 1858 UTC: 1458 kHz: Lyca Radio, Brookmans Park, London. Moderate reception. Broadcasting to the Asian Community; Asian music.
• 3 September: 1915 UTC: 1458 kHz: BBC Newcastle, Wrekenton, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Moderate reception. Music: Elton John & Kiki Dee - 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart'; Bruce Springsteen - 'Dancing In The Dark'. ID: "...For the North East, BBC Newcastle".
• 3 September: 2034 UTC: 1548 kHz: Forth 2, Colinswell, Edinburgh. Strong to moderate reception. Music: Madison Avenue 'Don't Call Me Baby'. Speech from the male host, Sean. Ad break. ID for Forth 2. Music: Michael Jackson 'Bad'.

• 3 September: 2055 UTC: 1557 kHz: Smooth Radio, Kings Heath, Northampton. Moderate reception. Music: Fern Kinney 'Together We Are Beautiful'. ID for Smooth Radio. Music: 'In Your Eyes'. Ad break. News bulletin [10pm]. Music: The Carpenters; Prince.

October 2016: Short Wave [Tropical Band]

• 9 October: 1902 UTC: 3985 kHz: Radio Slovakia International. Moderate reception. English to Europe via Radio 700, Kall-Krekel, Germany. News stories from the past week (male host). The 'Listener's Tribune' show: Female (lead) host, speaking with a male colleague. Listener's letters. Conclusion of programme with contact details.
• 9 October: 1927 UTC: 3985 kHz: Radio 700, Kall-Krekel, Germany. Moderate reception. Music: Paul McCartney & Wings 'Band On The Run'. ID for Radio 700. Music continues... Tea break. 1952 UTC: Music continues - Neil Diamond 'Solitary Man'; The Beatles 'Love Me Do'; Elton John 'Crocodile Rock'.
• 9 October: 2002 UTC: 3995 kHz: HCJB Deutschland, Weenermoor, Germany. Moderate reception. German language broadcast, primarily to Europe. Music. Male speech. Relaxed style of programme.

• 9 October: 2023 UTC: 4015 kHz: Laser Hot Hits. UK. Good to moderate reception. ★Pirate★ Male speech giving frequencies, ID for Laser Hot Hits and the website address. Music. Links: "Jazz, funk and soul, we start in the 80s; Starting with 'Mercy, Mercy'"... "Best funk and soul on the way... for a Sunday... 'Oh What A Feeling'". Music and speech.
• 9 October: 2107 UTC: 5000 kHz: WWV, Boulder CO USA. Strong to good reception. Time Signal station. Continuous tone. Audible 'pips' every second. 'Double-ticks' at 2120 UTC.
• 9 October: 2149 UTC: 5960 kHz: China Radio International. Strong to good reception. English to Europe & Africa via Albania. 'Roundtable': Female and male hosts. College / University students in China can overspend; Females spending more than males. 'Chinese Studio' / 'Learn Chinese' programme: "How do you say 'stir fry' in Chinese?" is the Question of the day. Conclusion of programme at 2200 UTC.

That is the list of broadcasts heard over recent months. Please note the station names contain links to their websites. I do hope you find the above information of interest. Enjoy.

The 1989 World Tour: The Guests.

CONTINUING our look back at The 1989 World Tour, which followed the release of the album 1989, the tour was not only a showcase for the music of and the number of costume changes by Taylor Alison Swift, but also the guest list.

One of Taylor's guests, Selena Gomez, is pictured here on the Tour.

More guests, coming soon.

Until then, enjoy.

The 1989 World Tour: Sparkles!

Oh. My. Goodness. Taylor Alison Swift sparkled during the 1989 World Tour.

The above image is intentionally posted twice because I Love it. ☺

Season 2016/17: The Season So Far - Part 2

CARLISLE United's season has continued throughout Successful September - Results in a moment. The above image links back to the previous Carlisle United post dated 1st September, which covered United's matches in August. The image, courtesy of Carlisle United Football Club, is BBC Radio Cumbria's United commentator James Phillips and former United midfielder Chris Billy, commentating for BBC Radio Cumbria on the Checkatrade Trophy match away at Oldham Athletic, which United won 5-4 on 30th August.

On to the results for September 2016: Five matches, all EFL Sky Bet League Two:

• Saturday 3rd: United 1 - Accrington Stanley 1 (Attendance: 5128)
• Saturday 10th: United 2 - Leyton Orient 2 (Attendance: 4465)
• Saturday 17th: Blackpool 2 - United 2 (Attendance: 5471)
• Saturday 24th: United 1 - Wycombe Wanderers 0 (Attendance: 4354)
• Tuesday 27th: Doncaster Rovers 2 - United 2 (Attendance: 4773).

As September comes to a close, United are unbeaten in the League, having played 10 matches, a goal difference of +3 and 16 points.

United have six fixtures in October: League Two v Colchester United at Brunton Park; Checkatrade Trophy v Blackburn Rovers Under 23 at Brunton; League Two away at Morecambe; Hartlepool United at Brunton; Away at Stevenage and October closes with Crawley Town at Brunton.

C'mon Ye Blues!

The 1989 World Tour.

Bringing some photographic / video / Graphic Interchange Format (GIF) memories of Taylor Swift's 1989 World Tour to Reporting From The Fox Tower.

Please note I have sourced the material from the internet, so I do not hold the copyright for the content and I respect the copyright holders for their work.

Enjoy.

♥

All You Had To Do Was Stay - The 1989 World Tour.

Miss Taylor Alison Swift.

Above: A GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) snapshot of 'All You Had To Do Was Stay', performed on the 1989 World Tour. (No audio)

Below: An image of Miss Swift, same costume, at a 1989 World Tour show.

This is the first of a series of posts taking a look back at the 1989 World Tour, including pictures, videos and other media, such as the GIF image above.

Enjoy.

♥

Roxanne Leah Townsend.

A celebration of Roxanne Leah Townsend.

Image: November 2015. Video: April 2016.

This hair makes me feel so kinky - it's the curls... pic.twitter.com/PHSCnUgO4J

— Makeupby_ROXY (@roxi_townsend) April 12, 2016

#Roxi
♥

Introducing Renee Somerfield.

Introducing Renee Somerfield.

♥

Season 2016/17: The Season So Far - Part 1

Eight football matches have been played this season by Carlisle United Football Club - That was only in the month of August! As with previous seasons, Reporting From The Fox Tower will keep you up to date with United between now and May 2017. The results from EFL Sky Bet League Two, the EFL Cup and the EFL Checkatrade Trophy for August are as follows:

• League: Saturday 6th [August]: Portsmouth 1 - United 1 (Attendance: 17570)
• EFL Cup: Tuesday 9th: United 2 - Port Vale 1 (Attendance: 3363)
• League: Saturday 13th: United 1 - Plymouth Argyle 0 (Attendance: 5129)
• League: Tuesday 16th: United 1 - Cheltenham Town 1 (Attendance: 4203)
• League: Saturday 20th: Cambridge United 2 - United 2 (Attendance: 4139)
• EFL Cup: Tuesday 23rd: Derby County 1 - United 1 [1-1 After Extra Time; Derby County won 14-13 on penalty kicks] (Attendance: 9860)
• League: Saturday 27th: Barnet 0 - United 1 (Attendance: 1620)
• Checkatrade Trophy, Northern Group D, Match 1: Tuesday 30th: Oldham Athletic 4 - United 5 (Attendance: 1897)

The fixtures for September are all in Sky Bet League Two: Accrington Stanley and Leyton Orient at Brunton Park (Saturday 3rd and 10th respectively), Blackpool at Bloomfield Road (Saturday 17th), Wycombe Wanderers at Brunton Park (Saturday 24th) and Doncaster Rovers at Keepmoat Stadium (Tuesday 27th).

Until next time, enjoy.

Wallpaper of the Week, 28 August 2016

Scordale footbridge

Picture taken 4 October 2015.

Thank you Rio de Janeiro.

Rio de Janeiro, Olympic host city, 2016.

Wallpaper of the Week: Taylor Swift for Vogue Australia

Taylor Swift for Vogue Australia.

November 2015.

Enjoy.

Wallpaper of the week: Taylor Swift for GQ.

Taylor Swift for GQ.

October 2015.

Fifty Years.

England 4 - West Germany 2

Wembley Stadium

Saturday 30 July 1966

Un troisième Tour Triumph!

Félicitations Chris Froome, vainqueur du Tour de France pour la troisième fois. Vive la France! Vive le Tour!

From The Archives: Wallpaper of the Week

Classic.

Summer 2016 and Summer 2006

CONGRATULATIONS to Andy Murray, who has become Wimbledon Champion for the second time, with a straight sets victory over the Canadian Milos Raonic.

In a match that lasted two hours and forty-eight minutes, Andy Murray won the first set 6-4, though Raonic would make Murray work for the victory - The second and third sets both went to tiebreaks: Set two 7-6 (7-3) and set three 7-6 (7-2).

Congratulations once again to Andy Murray.

From The Archives: Summer 2006

AS with previous posts here on Reporting From The Fox Tower, the archives have been visited to mark the tenth anniversary of this blog. This post takes us back to the summer of 2006 and the above image is of the Marriage of musician Zac Hanson to Kathryn Tucker, which was the headline of a post sharing some Showbiz news of the day.

I'm pleased to report that research shows Mr & Mrs Hanson celebrated their tenth anniversary this summer, with their three children.

The archives also showed an interest in tennis in the summer of 2006, which would be ideal to close this post, following the victory of Andy Murray at Wimbledon.

From summer 2006: Miss Maria Sharapova.

Until the next time, enjoy.