Scandinavia, Winter 1995-96

TIME for another visit to my Medium Wave archives, and this time, it's Christmas!

December 1995: Medium Wave

• 24 December: 1830 UTC: 1179 kHz: Radio Sweden Christmas Eve 1995 with Jim Downing: Sweden's Xmas celebrations, sales. Jim investigates the drink known as 'Glug', giving of presents, religion at Christmas.
• 24 December: 19 UTC: 1314 kHz: Radio Norway International Christmas Eve 1995 News: Jonathan Glasse in the studio. Norway gives most foreign aid. Norway could boycott Nigeria. Exports increase. Journalists from BBC Radio Norfolk visit Norway. Norwegian man crosses Antarctica. First Christmas Day broadcast from Radio Norway International will be to the Far East, 13 UTC, 7315 kHz // 9795 kHz. 'Norway Now' feature programme hosts a selection of Christmas music.
• 25 December: 1715 UTC: 1179 kHz: Radio Sweden Christmas Day 1995 'In Touch With Stockholm' with Alan Pryke, interviews with musicians Rednex ('Cotton Eye Joe') and Doctor Alban ('It's My Life'), co-producer of the musical 'Kristina' (co-produced with Björn Ulvæus and Benny Andersson), telephone call to Sweden's Minister of Culture. Music: 'Merry Xmas (War Is Over)'.

• 26 December: 2130 UTC: 1179 kHz: Radio Sweden Boxing Day 1995 'SportScan' Keith Foster. Ice Hockey, Swedish national football team. Comparisons with the Scottish national football team. Ladies football: Women's World Cup. Highlights of the 1995 European Athletics Championships held in Gothenburg (Göteburg).
• 31 December: 1830 UTC: 1179 kHz: Radio Sweden Strong reception. New Year's Eve 1995 'Sounds Nordic' Keith Foster. Music: Herbie 'Right Kind of Mood', Cardigans, Sophie Salmani 'Only You'. Brainpool, Eric Gann, Louise, Salt.

January 1996: Medium Wave

• 1 January: 1830 UTC: 1179 kHz: Radio Sweden New Year's Day 1996 "This is Radio Sweden, broadcasting from the Swedish capital, Stockholm. The programme is 'Sixty Degrees North', 'Review of the news 1995', presented by Keith Foster". European elections, local elections. Death of a Rhino born in Sweden. Were Russia's submarines intervening in Swedish waters? Government minister resignation. Greg McIver, The Guardian, guests, comments on increase of racism in Sweden. Strong reception.
• 18 January: 2143 UTC: 1386 kHz: Radio Netherlands Kaliningrad transmitter, Russia. 'Media Network' with Jonathan Marks & Diana Janssen. Answerline: Sony radios, BBC Arabic Service TV is being censored. WRTH round-up: Sweden, Denmark, Yugoslavia. Poland. Asia: Voice of Vietnam. UNESCO correspondent. Amateur Radio in South Africa. Mike Bird Propagation Report.

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Short Wave on the Sangean ATS-405, May 2018

ANOTHER sunny, Sunday afternoon, the day after Harry and Meghan's Royal Wedding at Windsor, which was followed by Chelsea Football Club's FA Cup victory over Manchavster United at Wembley later in the day.

Before all that took place, I spent the evening of Friday 11 May 2018 tuning the Sangean ATS-405 on the Short Wave band. The logs in a moment, but first, housekeeping notes: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). Transmission power in watts or kiloWatts (kW).

Short Wave: May 2018

• [Friday] 11 May [2018]: 1841 UTC: 3320 kHz: Radio Sonder Grense, Afrikaans language via South Africa. Speech / vocals, female. Poor reception. To 1845 UTC.
• 11 May: 1849 UTC: 3330 kHz: CHU Canada, male voice, Time Signal broadcast. Poor reception. To 1853 UTC.
• 11 May: 1905 UTC: 3975 kHz: Shortwave Radio, broadcasting to Europe via Winsen, Germany. Good to Moderate reception. 'Stafford's World': Music from Bob Dylan; Bee Gees 'Nights On Broadway'. Male host [Mark Stafford] speaking about the history of the Bee Gees in the USA and UK up to Saturday Night Fever. Music: Talking Heads 'Take Me To The River'; Ray Stevens 'Get Down To Business, Mr Businessman; Agnetha Fältskog; Deep Purple. To 1922 UTC.
• 11 May: 1924 UTC: 3985 kHz: Radio Slovakia International, music, female speech. Moderate reception. ID for Slovakia, contact details including email, listen via shortwave, also listen online. Radio Slovakia International to Europe [English service] via Kall-krekel, Germany (Shortwave Service). To 1930 UTC.

• 11 May: 1932 UTC: 3985 kHz: ID in German for Shortwave Service; Radio Tirana International in German. Male speech, soft music. Web address. Good to Moderate reception. ID, music. Radio Tirana via Kall-Krekel, Germany. To 1953 UTC.
• 11 May: 1958 UTC: 3995 kHz: HCJB Germany, 1.5 kW transmission. Music from clarinet and piano; Female and male speech in German. HCJB via Weenermoor, Germany. Music and speech. Moderate reception. To 2009 UTC.
• 11 May: 2034 UTC: 4653 kHz: Presumably Air Traffic - Speech between males, with details of numbers - 3, 5, 2, with references to the phonetic alphabet 'Romeo' and numbers '3, 7, 5, 0' and various sounds on the transmissions. Male voice sending transmissions with frequencies - Sometimes other voice is heard. Could be Shannon Aeradio, Ballygirreen, Co Clare, Ireland. Moderate reception. To 2056 UTC.
• 11 May: 2113 UTC: 4800 kHz: Music, followed by female speech, Chinese? Possibly CNR-1, Golmud, China. Female Chinese speech over a music bed, into a song. Strong to good reception. Music with female speech in Chinese. To 2122 UTC.
• 11 May: 2125 UTC: 4820 kHz: Music, Good to Moderate reception, continuous music. Possibly PBS Xizang, Chinese, 20-2230 UTC, 100 kW via Lhasa-Baiding, Tibet; - or - Voz Evangelica, Spanish, 10-05 UTC, 5 kW via Honduras.
• 11 May: 2216 UTC: Unlisted frequency of 5845 kHz carrying BBC World Service - Spurious broadcast? 'News Room' with news stories including Donald Trump and John McCain, British citizens taken hostage in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Eurovision Song Contest takes place this weekend. Sport: Nadal knocked out of latest tennis tournament. Good to moderate reception. Sport: Tennis, golf: Report by Ian Carter at the golf. To 2225 UTC.

• 11 May: 2230 UTC: 5860 kHz: Music: Toni Braxton 'Unbreak My Heart' to time pips (Time Signal) at 2230 UTC, male speech, audio 'stab', two males speaking, male speech continues. Female speech. Good to Moderate reception. Male speech. This broadcast could possibly be Radio Farda, Persian, 15-00 UTC, 250 kW via Kuwait. To 2236 UTC.
• 11 May: 2244 UTC: 5930 kHz: Strong, clear, male speech, in what I believe to be Arabic - Predominantly speech broadcast, music at 2253 UTC. Strong to good reception. Speech and music up to 2259 UTC - Off air at 2300 UTC. Possibly Radio Algerienne Chaine 1, Algeria, 2211-23 UTC, Arabic, 500 kW via Issoudun, France. To 2300 UTC.

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DX Extra: Friday 11 May 2018: 2314 UTC: 107.5 FM: Eden FM, Penrith. 25 watts via Penrith. ID: 'This is your community radio station, Eden FM'. Music: Bryan Adams (+ Chicane?) 'Don't Give Up'; Richard Ashcroft 'Fill The Night With Colour'. ID: 'Your community radio station, your 107.5 Eden FM'. Music: 'Never Can Say Goodbye'. Moderate to poor reception. 25 watts via Penrith. Music: Tim McGraw & Faith Hill 'The Rest of Our Life'. To 2324 UTC.

All for now.

Congratulations Harry and Meghan!

Introducing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, married today, Saturday 19 May 2018.

My Medium Wave Archive, Autumn 1995

1995 is where this visit to my radio listening archives takes us, to October and November of that year. These logs focus only on the Medium Wave band.
Before the logs, housekeeping notes: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). Transmission power in watts or kiloWatts (kW). Logs transcribed from the original notes.

October 1995: Medium Wave

• 24 October [1995]: 1905 UTC: 531 kHz: Leipzig, Germany, 100 kW transmission, music, male and female voices.
• 24 October: 1908 UTC: 549 kHz: DLF (Deutschlandfunk) News broadcast in German via Thurnau transmitter, Germany, 200 kW. Listening on a Hitachi TRK 5854 E receiver.
• 24 October: 1912 UTC: 558 kHz: RNE 5 (Radio Nacional Espana 5) Sports broadcast.
• 24 October: 1915 UTC: 567 kHz: RTE Radio 1 500 kW transmission from Tullamore, Republic of Ireland. Interference from Berlin (100 kW) and RNE 5 (Spain). RTE programming: Music 'Fairground' Simply Red. 'The Arts Show' with Mike Murphy.
• 24 October: 1950 UTC: 567 kHz: RTE Radio 1 Music from U2 'Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me'.

• 24 October: 1951 UTC: 585 kHz: BBC Scotland [BBC Radio Solway] Football: Rangers - Aberdeen.
• 24 October: 2020 UTC: 603 kHz: BBC Radio 4 via Tyneside (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) transmitter. 'Science Now' Interference. Peter Evans the host. Telephone 0800 044 044. Announcement regarding Long Wave Transmitter problems.
• 24 October: 2050 UTC: 612 kHz: RTE 2FM Music from Oasis: 'Wonderwall' taken from the album '(What's The Story) Morning Glory ?' Dave Fanning. Sleeper 'What Do I Do Now' Boo Radleys, Smashing Pumpkins. Ads: HMV, Top 30 Request Show. 21 UTC News: Gerry Adams, John Huhme, site for sale in Cork, 26000 in employment, heavy rain. Rugby: Ireland 6, Cook Islands 12. Coca-Cola Cup, Scottish football: Rangers 0 - Aberdeen 0.
• 24 October: 2120 UTC: 648 kHz: BBC For Europe (BBC World Service) via Orfordness, 500 kw transmission. 'Britain Today' followed by 'Meridian'.
• 24 October: 2145 UTC: 666 kHz: BBC Radio York Music: Fleetwood Mac.
• 24 October: 2150 UTC: 675 kHz: Radio 10 Gold Lopik, Holland. Music: Toni Braxton 'Breathe Again'. Bryan Adams '(Everything I Do) I Do It For You'. KC & The Sunshine Band 'Please Don't Go'. Smokie 'Living Next Door To Alice'.

• 24 October: 2215 UTC: 693 kHz: BBC Radio 5 Live via Droitwich, 150 kW. Saatchi & Saatchi.
• 24 October: 2225 UTC: 720 kHz: BBC Radio 4 'The World Tonight' via Lisnagarvey, Northern Ireland, 10 kW.
• 24 October: 2245 UTC: 963 kHz: Radio Finland Music from Dallas Wayne & The Dimlights. Finnish environment. UN is needed more now. Finnish President. Israel.
• 24 October: 2306 UTC: 1053 kHz // 1089 kHz: Talk Radio UK James Whale, Ann on the phone, Alan from London. Ads: TeamTalk, 'Breakfast With Bates' Simon Bates.
• 24 October: 2325 UTC: 1179 kHz: Radio Sweden via Solvesborg, Sweden. 600 kW.
• 24 October: 2330 UTC: 1215 kHz: Virgin Radio Annie Lennox 'No More "I Love You's"', Ad break, The Rembrandts 'I'll Be There For You', Kate Bush 'Babooshka'.

November 1995: Medium Wave

• 28 November [1995]: 2135 UTC: 1179 kHz: Radio Sweden Excellent Reception. 'Sixty Degrees North': Swedish Ministry allegedly took political donations in connection with Thai Shipyard; Young people committing suicide in Sweden increases; Music: Sandra Anderson investigates changes in music including work by a producer with ABBA. Sound manipulation; North Sweden descends into 24 hour darkness.
• 29 November: 1720 UTC: 1179 kHz: Radio Sweden Strong to good reception. 'Sixty Degrees North': Swedish Government arranges a congress designed at stamping out child porn; Swedish Defence minister writes that Swedish troops do not need to join the Bosnian NATO force; 'Money Matters' with Al Simon: Swedish Krona. Welfare state: Interview with an economist.

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Season 2017/18: The Season So Far - Part 9

"IT is most likely the next post (Part 9) will follow the fixture on May 5th. Who knows what the above fixtures will bring...!"

The above quote was the final line of Part 8, published on the evening of Easter Saturday (March 31). Carlisle United Football Club's final fixtures have been played, so let's see what those fixtures would bring.

April 2018: Results

Monday 2nd: League Two: United 0 - Lincoln City 1
Saturday 7th: League Two: Swindon Town 0 - United 0
Saturday 14th: League Two: Morecambe 1 - United 1
Saturday 21st: League Two: United 1 - Luton Town 1
Saturday 28th: League Two: Port Vale 1 - United 2

May 2018: Results

Saturday 5th: League Two: United 1 - Newport County 1

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The forty-six League fixtures have been completed - Here is the final League Two table:

Carlisle United Football Club finish the League season on 67 points, with a goal difference of +8. The Blues are tenth in the table following the final fixture.

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One other story to bring from the close of the season is that of the announcement by the manager, Mr Keith Curle, that he is now moving on to seek out new challenges, after three and three-quarter years at Brunton Park. To bring this coverage of Carlisle United in Season 2017/18 to a close, signing off with one of the final images of Mr Curle on match day, following the full time whistle against Newport County. Image © BBC Cumbria Sport.

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