Festive Frequencies 2017 - 2018

WELCOME to this first post on Reporting From The Fox Tower of 2018, taking a look at the log of radio broadcasts received on Christmas Eve (Sunday 24), New Year's Eve (Sunday 31 December 2017) and the first logged broadcast of 2018 (Monday 1 January).
[Housekeeping notes: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz), transmission powers in watts and kiloWatts (kW)]

Short Wave: Sunday 24 December 2017

• 24 December: 1450 UTC: 9810 kHz: Radio Romania International. Strong to good reception, 300 kW via Galbeni, Romania. Romanian speech: Female speech, music with male vocalist, male speech giving frequencies and an ID for Radio Romania International. Music to the top of the hour, birdcall (bird song), top of the hour pips, male speech, brief music, female speech, news? Gathering of world leaders, including Prince Charles and President Macron of France? Medal was mentioned. Music, female vocalist. Female speech, male speech on phone. To 1508 UTC.
• 24 December: 1521 UTC: 9840 kHz: World Harvest Radio International, USA. Good to poor reception, English to Europe, Africa and the Americas, via WHRI Angel 2, Cypress Creek, South Carolina, USA. Music in the English language, audible male and female speech, female speaks of relationships being restored, David in a relationship with Lord Jesus Christ. Male wishes listeners a 'Very Merry Christmas', female says 'Keep Christ in Christmas'. ID for World Harvest Radio, web and email addresses. New programme: 'Christian Crusaders', male speech, prayer. Music: Christmas hymns: 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!' Reading from the scriptures, broadcast interrupted by noise. To 1538 UTC.
• 24 December: 1559 UTC: 9880 kHz: China Radio International. Strong to good reception, English to Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia, via Nanning, Guangxi, China. Reception is excellent! News: China's amphibious aircraft has completed first test flight, can carry water to combat fires. Plans to develop hydrogen energy cells in China. Car plants in China. Tourist ship collides with stone-carrying barge. Fire in Philippino furniture store. Tropical storm death toll rises. Officers dismissed due to terror groups in Turkey. South Korean fire in sports centre parking lot. 'Chinese Theatre' involved in daily life of China: Wild China, through the eyes of photographers. To 1614 UTC.

• 24 December: 1629 UTC: 11560 kHz: All India Radio. Strong to good reception. Upbeat 'music hall' style song, female speech. 1630 UTC news bulletin? Pakistan, Islamabad, Kashmir. Music with male vocals. Dari? To the Indian Subcontinent? To 1645 UTC.
• 24 December: 1653 UTC: 11625 kHz: Vatican Radio. Poor reception, 250 kW via Talata-Volonondry, Madagascar. English broadcast: Male speech on a very distorted channel: "God is desperate for you to hear his word", music: 'Away In A Manger' played on the piano. Speech. Interval signal to 1700 UTC: New broadcast: 250 kW via Santa Maria di Galeria: Male speech in the French language, giving frequencies. To 1708 UTC.
• 24 December: 1743 UTC: 11930 kHz: Radio Marti, USA. Poor reception, 250 kW via Greenville B, USA. Spanish language speech by a female and male, break for music, male speech continues. Female speech, heavy noise. To 1750 UTC.

• 24 December: 1820 UTC: 13845 kHz: WWCR, USA. Moderate to poor reception, English to Europe and America via WWCR-3, Nashville, Tennessee. University Network: Pastor Melissa Scott speaks about the relationship between the Earth and the Lord. Points to think about. Heavy noise. Bible references. Reminder of the points spoken about. Reading the Bible from cover to cover gives a true reflection of events. "Proof of Cain to be able to be harmful to his brother". Be obedient. 'God's place in Jesus' scriptures'. To 1832 UTC.

Medium Wave: Sunday 31 December 2017

• 31 December: 1914 UTC: 1431 kHz: Smooth Radio, Essex / Berkshire, UK. Moderate to poor reception. Music: Madonna 'Borderline', male speech, music: John Legend 'All Of Me', Andy Williams 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You', 'Street Life', severe noise. Smooth Radio via Essex (350 watts) / Berkshire (140 watts). To 1930 UTC.
• 31 December: 2004 UTC: 1449 kHz: BBC Radio Four, UK. Good to poor reception, heavy interference and noise. Male speaks about a dance and how his father taught him to dance. The father was a military man, who died. Male speaks with an Australian / New Zealand accent - Actor Russell Crowe? BBC Radio Four via Redmoss, Aberdeen, 2 kW. To 2013 UTC.

• 31 December: 2028 UTC: 1458 kHz: Gold - Manchester, UK. Good to poor reception. Music: Cyndi Lauper 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun', 'New Year's Eve party' ID. 5 kW via Ashton Moss, Manchester. Music: 'Venus' [Co-channel reception of BBC Radio Newcastle] ID for Gold, music: 'Just Hold On', ID, T-Rex 'I Love To Boogie', 'Sweet Talking Guy'. To 2044 UTC.
• 31 December: 2050 UTC: 1467 kHz: Trans World Radio - Europe. Good to moderate reception, 1000 kW via Roumoules, France. Continuous male speech, Polish language? Speech including tentative ID and frequencies, speech continues past the top of the hour. Female speech and music? Interval signal / Off air / News bulletin? To 2106 [21:11] UTC.
• 31 December: 2123 UTC: 1485 kHz: SER, Spain. Moderate to poor reception [Co-channel male speech in English, speaking of an 'album of the week'], male and female speech in Spanish language - SER Radio Melilla, 5 kW via Melilla, the Spanish autonomous city, on the border of Morocco. To 2132 UTC.

Google Maps image of Melilla, on the Moroccan border.

[Other DX notes: 31 December: 2145 UTC: 1503 kHz: Broadcasts included speech and music - Obliterated by noise. Music: Dance music. Most likely to be RNE Radio 5 or BBC Radio Stoke. To 2156 UTC.]

• 31 December: 2237 UTC: 1530 kHz: Pulse 2, UK. Good to poor reception. Music: Bon Jovi 'Livin' On A Prayer', Ike & Tina Turner 'Disco Inferno', Tiffany 'I Think We're Alone Now', Michael Jackson 'Billie Jean'. 740 watts via Vicars Lot, Huddersfield. To 2302 UTC.
• 31 December: 2308 UTC: 1548 kHz: Forth 2, UK. Strong to moderate reception. Music: Irene Cara 'Fame', 'Last Night A DJ Saved My Life', male speech: "Good evening..."[Laughter], music: R Dean Taylor 'Ghost In My House', Men Without Hats 'Safety Dance', Electric Light Orchestra. Male speech on Forth 2, Colinswell, Edinburgh: ID 'The Greatest Hits for Edinburgh, Lothian and Fife, this is Forth 2'. Music: The Weather Girls 'It's Raining Men', ID, D:Ream 'Things Can Only Get Better'. Forth 2: 2.2 kW via Colinswell, Edinburgh. Male host with contact details. Music: Bee Gees 'You Should Be Dancing', ID, Whitney Houston 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody'. To 2344 UTC.
• 31 December: 2346 UTC: 1557 kHz: Smooth Radio, UK. Strong to moderate reception, via Kings Heath, Northampton (760 watts) or Veals Farm, Southampton (500 watts). Music: Stevie Wonder 'I Just Called To Say I Love You', male speech with time check [12 minutes to Midnight], "This show continues to one o'clock". Ad break, music: Chicago 'If You Leave Me Now', Toni Braxton 'Unbreak My Heart'. Smooth Love Songs hands over to Big Ben - The Midnight chimes from Big Ben - "Happy New Year, from Smooth Radio". Music: Foreigner 'I Want To Know What Love Is', Rod Stewart 'I Don't Want To Talk About It'. ID: "Your relaxing music mix, Smooth Radio". Music: George Michael 'Jesus To A Child', Richard Marx 'Right Here Waiting'. To 00:16 UTC.

Medium Wave: Monday 1 January 2018

• 1 January: 00:25 UTC: 1566 kHz: BBC Somerset, UK. Good to poor reception, 1 kW via Taunton, Somerset. Male speech "...In the west of England". Music: McFadden and Whitehead, male speech, music: Chic 'Le Freak', speech, music, male speech "Across the west country, thanks for joining us, whatever you are doing...". Music: Bee Gees 'Night Fever'. To 00:50 UTC.

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