My AM Archive : April 2021

 HALLO, hello, hi 😊

This post brings memories of broadcasts heard April 2021 on Medium Wave.  A previous post of Medium Wave logs, heard March 2021, can be found here.

Housekeeping notes: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). Logs transcribed from the original notes. Transmission power in watts or kiloWatts (kW).

Receiver used: Sangean ATS-405.

April 2021 : Medium Wave

• [Thursday] 29 April [2021]: 1424 UTC: 999 kHz: Greatest Hits Radio  Recurring message: 'Greatest Hits Radio no longer available on this frequency'. Retune to FM: 96.5 in Blackpool, 105.9 in Southport, 102.4 in Wigan.
  DAB: Greatest Hits Lancs. Freeview channel 716. Available via Smartphone or tablet from App store / Play store. Also via Smart speaker.
  800 watts via Longton (mb21 / Google maps).

(WebSDR recording: 27 April 2021, c.1730, 999 kHz via Longton)

• [Friday] 30 April [2021]: 1749 UTC: 1215 kHz: Absolute Radio  Music: The Police 'Message In A Bottle' Messy audio, due to propagation. ID: 'Home Time with Bush and Richie' Music: Razorlight.
  Good to fair reception, high power transmission: Brookmans Park (62.5 kW) or Droitwich (52.5 kW), other transmission sites at 50 kW, 16 kW, 2-1 kW.
  Echo on speech by presenters and during ad break.
  Presume Brookmans Park or Droitwich sites, possibly Moorside Edge.
  Logged to 1759 UTC.
• 30 April: 1810 UTC: 1242 kHz: Absolute Radio  Music: INXS 'New Sensation'.
  Strong to fair reception, 1 kW via Hardwick, Stockton-on-Tees.
  ID 'Absolute 80s on Absolute Radio' Music: Duran Duran 'Hungry Like The Wolf' Female host: Isle of Wight Festival coming up later this year. ID. Ad break. Music: Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
  Logged to 1820 UTC.
• 30 April: 1823 UTC: 1251 kHz: Male speech, music, very low [reception] quality at this time.
  Unidentified broadcast; Possibilities of Dankó Rádió (Hungary) (25 kW); Portugal (1 kW); Smooth (Suffolk) (760 watts).
  Music: Olivia Newton-John 'Hopelessly Devoted To You', ID lost to noise. Music: Toni Braxton 'Breathe' - Possibility of Smooth (Great Barton, Suffolk).
  Logged to 1837 UTC.
• 30 April: 1840 UTC: 1260 kHz: Absolute Radio  Female and male speech, music: Madness 'Our House'.
  Fair to poor reception, 1 kW via Lydd, Kent.
  ID, music: Martha & The Muffins 'Echo Beach'. ID, music: Soft Cell.
  Logged to 1851 UTC.

Radio Everton, on air in 1995, broadcast on 1602 kHz, 1 watt transmission.

• 30 April: 1900 UTC: 1278 kHz: Greatest Hits Radio  ID, brief speech, brief music, male speech regarding the year 1995, 'Number six in the UK'.
  Fair to poor reception, 430 watts via Tyersal Lane, Bradford.
  Music: Shed Seven 'Going For Gold' (1996). Speech by presenter regarding Shed Seven. Playing music from mid 1990's - Now playing Prodigy 'Firestarter' !
  Logged to 1909 UTC.
• 30 April: 1918 UTC: 1296 kHz: Female speech on one broadcast; Male speech on another broadcast - Audio slightly less than audible. Female host taking phone calls, mix of languages with English pleasantries - Broadcasts on 1296 kHz: XL (Langley Mill - B) Birmingham (10 kW); COPE (València / Castellar) Spain (50 kW).
  Logged to 1925 UTC.

Returning to previous frequencies:

• 30 April: 1930 UTC: 1197 kHz: Absolute Radio  Music: Voice of the Beehive 'Don't Call Me Baby', ID: 'Absolute 80s on Absolute Radio' Music.
  Fair to poor reception, most likely 500 watts via Nottingham (Trowell).
  Female speech, regarding the Breakfast Show. Speech regarding Absolute 80s. Ad: Plusnet (broadband).
  Logged to 1940 UTC.
• 30 April: 2004 UTC: 1296 kHz: Radio XL 1296 AM  Male speech, in Asian language, speaking of Coronavirus. ID for Radio XL, ad break, male presents weather forecast: "Temperature drop of one degree" Bollywood music.
  Good reception, 10 kW via Langley Mill - B, Birmingham.
  Male speech, Asian language, ID for XL, 1296 kHz, also via other outlets. Music from films. Promo: '7 to 9 o'clock, special this weekend, 0121 753... 1296 AM'. Ad break: Kitchens and bedrooms, Highgate, Birmingham. Fundraiser for Indian Covid appeal. ID 'Radio XL' male speech, male on telephone. Music - Male singing on telephone ! 😊 "Thank you and have a lovely weekend" Music. Promo for Butter Ghee suitable for Ramadan. 'Radio XL timecheck'.
  Logged to 2023 UTC.

"At this point, I shall have to say goodnight".

My AM Archive : March 2021

 GOOD morning, good afternoon, good evening, goodnight, wherever you are reading this blog post at this moment. It is good evening as I compose this post, at it is a few minutes after 1900 UTC / GMT. The clock on the left column of this blog is set to UTC, which I hope helps your understanding to times recorded in the posts on this blog - I really should find a link which explains the term UTC for times. That sounds like a plan for another post.

This post brings memories of broadcasts heard March 2021 on Medium Wave.  A previous post of Medium Wave logs, heard February 2021, can be found here.

Housekeeping notes: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). Logs transcribed from the original notes. Transmission power in watts or kiloWatts (kW).

Receiver used: Sangean ATS-405.

March 2021 : Medium Wave

• [Thursday] 18 March [2021]: 1815 UTC: 1098 kHz: SRo3 Rádio Devin  Music in English, male singer, UK artist James Yorkston, singing of London at New Year, references to drinking. Segue into next song: Bjork 'Vulnicara'.
  This programme is 'Folkfórum' ('Folklore'), female host: Sone Horňákovej
  (Listen to the programme from the STVR archive here)
  Good to fair reception, 25 kW via Nitra - Jarok, Slovakia.
  1829 UTC: Quick-paced ID, male speech. Change of tempo to male vocal music, English language song. Speech from the host, music was from Teho Teardo & Blixha Bargeld.
  Logged to 1834 UTC.
• 18 March: 1837 UTC: 1107 kHz: MFR 2 [Greatest Hits Radio]  Music: 'Yes Sir, I Can Boogie' (Baccara), ID: 'Good times sound like this' Music: Del Amitri 'Nothing Ever Happens'. Strong co-channel via Rome.
  1.5 kW via Tarbat Ness for Inverness. Fair to poor reception.
  Ads: Currys - PC World. Covid-19. Gold. Music: Earth Wind & Fire 'September'.
  Lost to Rome.
  Logged to 1846 UTC.
• 18 March: 1905 UTC: 1125 kHz: RNE Radio 5  Female and male in conversation, Spanish language. Possibly the show 'Por Tres Razones' ('For Three Reasons'), female host: Mamen Asencio.
  Good to fair reception, transmission power logged as 12 / 10 kW, but transmission site not noted 🤦
  ID for Radio Nacional de España at 1915 UTC.
  Logged to 1920 UTC.
  

  

  Issue one of 'The Voice for the Dales'
  The Official Fresh Radio Magazine
  Fresh Radio (1997 - 2012)

  18 March: 1927 UTC: 1134 kHz: COPE Navarra (Spain)  Male and female speech, Spanish language. Music: The Beatles 'Here Comes The Sun'. ID for COPE Navarra. Fast-paced speech, music, ID jingle, music, time signal ('pips') for 1930 UTC, ID for COPE. Programme: 'La Linterna' ('The Lantern').
  Good to poor reception, most likely 10 kW via Salamanca. Possibility of an echo broadcast via Pamplona.
  Logged to 1936 UTC.
• 18 March: 1952 UTC: 1143 kHz: COPE Jaén (Spain)  Speech in Spanish, from male and female, lost to heavy noise. Male speech regarding football.
  Fair to poor reception, 5 kW via Jaén.
  Logged to 2001 UTC.
• 18 March: 2005 UTC: 1152 kHz: RNE Radio 5  Female speech in Spanish, 'Radio Cinco', male speech via telephone. Programme: 'Reserva Natural' ('Nature Reserve'), female host: Josefina Maestre.
  Fair to poor reception, up to 25 kW via Malaga.
  (Co-channel music: Ed Sheeran 'Perfect', Cutting Crew '(I Just) Died in Your Arms'.
  Logged to 2015 UTC.
• 18 March: 2017 UTC: 1161 kHz: Tay 2  Music: Chaka Khan 'I'm Every Woman', female ID 'This is the music marathon', music: Marvin Gaye 'Sexual Healing'. The presenter is Gavin Pearson.
  (Co-channel broadcast from Smooth Radio via Blunsdon, Swindon, Wiltshire, 160 watts)
  Music: The Jam 'That's Entertainment', ID 'The Greatest Hits' music: Stevie Wonder 'Sir Duke'. Ad break. Music: Rod Stewart 'You Wear It Well', Lenny Kravitz 'It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over', Crowded House.
  Good to poor reception, 1.4 kW via Greenside Scalp, Dundee.
  Logged to 2028 UTC.
• 18 March: 2038 UTC: 1170 kHz: Greatest Hits Radio  Music: Crowded House 'Don't Dream It's Over' Greatest Hits Radio for South Wales - 'Get involved in Cash for kids South Wales, kids in South Wales affected by Covid-19 and poverty'. Greatest Hits Radio website. Ad break: Ladbrokes.
  580 watts via Winsh-wen, Swansea (ex-Swansea Sound). Good to poor reception.
  Ad: 2021 elections. NHS health Swansea. ID: 'Greatest Hits Radio - South Wales' Music: Men At Work 'Down Under'.
  Logged to 2050 UTC.
• 18 March: 2054 UTC: 1179 kHz: Radio Valencia  Spanish speech in the 'Hora 25' programme, leading up to 2100 UTC time 'pips' signal. Female speech, interval signal, music, female speech 'España', music, applause. 'Pepa Bueno' ?
  Co-channel broadcast of male speech, possibly Romania.
  Good to poor reception, up to 50 kW via Valencia (Radio Valencia via CadenaSER).
  Logged to 2105 UTC.
  

  

  Envelope head and postmarks from YLE Radio Finland, which broadcast on 558 kHz and 963 kHz.

  18 March: 2108 UTC: 1197 kHz: Absolute Radio  Female speech, music: Travis 'Turn'.
  Fair to poor reception, possibly / most likely 400 watts via Nottingham.
  Male speech, ID, music.
  Contact address for Absolute Radio: One Golden Square, London W1F 9DJ
  Logged to 2115 UTC.

My AM Archive : February 2021

 FIFA's festival of football, also known as the World Cup, is taking place at the time this post is being composed, but this post is another visit to the archive of my loggings of radio broadcasts heard in recent years.

This post brings memories of broadcasts heard February 2021 on Medium Wave.  A previous post of Medium Wave logs, heard January 2021, can be found here.

Housekeeping notes: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). Logs transcribed from the original notes. Transmission power in watts or kiloWatts (kW).

Receiver used: Sangean ATS-405.

February 2021 : Medium Wave

• [Wednesday] 17 February [2021]: 1536 UTC: 999 kHz: Greatest Hits Radio  Music: Sylvester 'You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)' Female host, ad break: McDonald's, websites, apps, MCN Bikes, Butlin's, Radioplayer and Renault. ID.
  Good to fair reception, 800 watts via Longton (Lancashire).
  Music: Queen 'A Kind Of Magic' ID, Gabrielle 'Dreams' ID, Gabrielle was on [TV show] 'The Masked Singer', the winner of the show was Joss Stone. Music: Elvis Costello & The Attractions 'Oliver's Army'. 'Hometime Anthems' on next: Preview of music after 4pm. Ads.
  Logged to 1556 UTC.

• Meal break •

• 17 February: 1709 UTC: 1026 kHz: BBC Radio Jersey  Female speech in English - Travel update - Technical issue causes silence! Travel reports from Guernsey, Jersey, airport good, temporary traffic lights - Closure to open in fifty minutes. Guernsey open for traffic. Call 0808 100 9888 with traffic and travel information. Eliza Philippidis is the host. ID.
  Good to poor reception, 1 kW via Trinity (Jersey).
  Conversation regarding funding availability.
  Logged to 1726 UTC.
• 17 February: 1746 UTC: 1044 kHz: Radio San Sebastian  Spanish speech in male and female voices, encouraging vocalisations, including the 'Tarzan' call and Freddie Mercury's vocals at Wembley Stadium. This is Radio San Sebastian via Cadena SER network, strong to fair reception, 50 kW via San Sebastian, Spain.
  Logged to 1756 UTC.
• 17 February: 1758 UTC: 1053 kHz: TalkSport  Ads: Barclays app, BT Sport monthly pass, Motopoint (car retail), website builder, army jobs, Tradepoint. Barclays FA Women's Super League preview, Sundays. ID.
  1800 UTC TalkSport news: Prince Philip in hospital, [Covid] lockdown roadmap, ninety volunteers take part in Covid study. Weather. Sport update: Fulham FC, José Mourinho.
  Good to fair reception, up to 500 kW via Droitwich; Locally: 10 kW via Dumfries; 1 kW via Stockton-on-Tees ('Local' transmitters included, due to echo and delays on reception)
  [Transmission to East Anglia via the Postwick Transmitting Station].
  Logged to 1812 UTC.

• Tea (Drink) break •  Crescent Moon.

• 17 February: 1831 UTC: 1071 kHz: TalkSport  AO electricals ad, Covid-19 awareness ad. ID. Everton v Manchester City this evening. News headline: Prince Philip in hospital. Announcement by the Prime Minister. Sport headlines.
  Good to poor reception, 1 kW via Wrekenton (Gateshead, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne).
  Logged to 1838 UTC.

Frequencies and coverage area of Great Yorkshire Gold.

• 17 February: 1845 UTC: 1080 kHz: SER Radio Granada  Male speech in the Spanish language, sports commentary.
  Poor reception, 10 kW via Granada, Andalusia, Spain.
  Logged to 1852 UTC.
• 17 February: 1854 UTC: 1089 kHz: TalkSport  Preview of Everton v Manchester City, kick off 8:15pm 'Drive on TalkSport, with Toolstation' Ads: Tesco, BT Sport, Covid awareness, Coral, Samsung Vodafone. ID.
  Strong to fair reception, up to 400 kW via Moorside Edge, West Yorkshire - Plus other transmitters causing echo and delay.
  Logged to 1906 UTC.
• 17 February: 1908 UTC: 1098 kHz: SRo3 Rádio Devin  Male speech, music with female vocals.
  [Shared service with SRo5 Radio Patria] Male speech, central European [Slovak], female and male speech.
  Strong to fair reception, 25 kW via Nitra - Jarok, Slovakia.
  Male and female conversations. Presenter: Radoslav Passia.
  Logged to 1925 UTC.

My AM Archive : March 2019

 SIX years since originally heard, I present logs of Medium Wave (AM) broadcasts, heard March 2019.

A previous post of Medium Wave logs, dated early 2019, can be found here.

Housekeeping notes: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). Logs transcribed from the original notes. Transmission power in watts or kiloWatts (kW).

Receiver used: Sangean ATS-405

March 2019 : Medium Wave

• [Monday] 18 March [2019]: 2002 UTC: 1134 kHz: COPE (Spain)  Male speech in Spanish language, with clips of vox pops recordings.
  Echoes and propagation; Fair reception (COPE broadcasts from multiple sites across Spain).
  Female speech in English language, dubbed into Spanish language. Music.
  Logged to 2011 UTC.
• 18 March: 2027 UTC: 1152 kHz: SRR Radio România Actualitați  Music: Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus 'Nothing Breaks Like A Heart'. Time marker for 2030 UTC (pips), female speech from Bucharest, Romania. Male speech.
  Fair reception (Co-channel music from UK broadcasts on low power).
  Logged to 2037 UTC.
• 18 March: 2041 UTC: 1161 kHz: Tay 2  Music: Boy Meets Girl 'Waiting For A Star To Fall' Male host, talks of songs coming up, including Culture Club. Segue into showbiz news - ID for Tay 2. Speech regarding BBC drama series. Ads.
  (Fade out into Smooth Radio [Details below])
  Tay 2 reception: Strong to fair. 1.4 kW to Dundee via Greenside Scalp.
  Music: Blondie 'Heart of Glass'. Tay 2 ID. Music: Annie Lennox 'Little Bird'.
  Logged to 2050 UTC.
  [Smooth Radio : Playing Enrique Inglesias 'Hero', male talks of Mother's Day coming up, music: Elton John 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight'. ID for Smooth Radio. Music: Lionel Richie.
  Fair reception. 160 watts to Wiltshire via Blunsdon, Swindon.]

From The Archive: 1494 kHz Asfaltstelegrafen - The Asphalt Telegraph QSL, 2019.

21 UTC: Tea ☺

• 18 March: 2113 UTC: 1170 kHz: Greatest Hits Radio  Music: Genesis 'I Can't Dance' ID for Greatest Hits Radio - Playing Genesis for dance school in Liverpool. Music: Mike Oldfield 'Moonlight Shadow', Wings 'Live and Let Die'.
  Strong to good reception. 320 watts via Hardwick transmitter, Stockton-on-Tees, Teesside.
  Music: Culture Club 'Karma Chameleon'.
  Logged to 2122 UTC.

Listening to 10cc 'I'm Not In Love'.

• 18 March: 2132 UTC: 1179 kHz: SER (Spain)  Male and female speech, Spanish language.
  Strong to good reception.
  Round table discussion programme.
  Logged to 2141 UTC.
• 18 March: 2151 UTC: 1197 kHz: Absolute Radio  Female and male speech, this is a low(er) power broadcast from Absolute Radio. Female and male talking about a band and album. Female host was joined in the studio by George Ezra. Female host signing off, back on air tomorrow evening. Music: Paul Simon 'You Can Call Me Al'.
  Strong to fair reception. This signal is relatively clear, possibly 400 watts via Wallasey, Merseyside (Absolute Radio recently turned off / reduced power on AM).
  Ad break, ID, no news at 22 UTC, music: The La's 'There She Goes'.
  Logged to 2205 UTC.

My AM Archive : January - February 2019

 RETURNING to where one left off, and proceeding with logs of Medium Wave (AM) broadcasts heard January 2019, plus test transmissions from Sweden, heard February 2019.

A previous post of Medium Wave logs, dated October 2018, can be found here.

Housekeeping notes: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). Logs transcribed from the original notes. Transmission power in watts or kiloWatts (kW).

Receiver used: Roberts R881.

January 2019 : Medium Wave

• [Saturday] 12 January [2019]: 1458 UTC: 999 kHz: Greatest Hits Radio  Ad break: Morrisons food stores. ID: 'Across Lancashire, Greatest Hits Radio' News at 1500 UTC: Rory Stewart wants short prison spells scrapped, Chris Grayling warns against voting against Brexit plan, explosion in France, women could miscarry if exposed to petrol / diesel. Sport: West Ham 1 - Arsenal 0. Sky News Radio.
  Greatest Hits Radio. Music: Queen 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.
  Good to fair reception. 800 watts via Longton, for Preston / Blackpool.
  ID: 'Good times sound like this, Greatest Hits Radio' Music: Prince '1999'. ID: 'Greatest Hits Radio, good times sound like this' Music: Alannah Miles 'Black Velvet'.
  Logged to 1515 UTC.

From the archive: Südwestrundfunk (SWR) QSL, 2009.
SWR broadcast on 576, 666, 711, 828, 1017 and 1485 kHz.

Cup of tea time!

• 12 January: 1548 UTC: 1035 kHz: Lyca Dilse 1035  Music, ad break, website, telephone number, music.
  Lyca Dilse 1035, 2.5 kW via Crystal Palace, London.
  Female and male speech for an Asian audience.
  Strong to fair reception.
  'The Afternoon' (Saturday) with Bali Brahmbhatt.
  Sky news at 4pm: Rory Stewart wants prison reform. Arrests following robbery in Manchester. Sport: Football. Weather report by Southall Travel. Travel report.
  Logged to 1606 UTC.
• 12 January: 1609 UTC: 1044 UTC: SER (Spain)  Multiple voices, in the Spanish language, with lots of sound effects.
  Good to fair reception.
  Logged to 1616 UTC.
• 12 January: 1623 UTC: 1053 kHz: talkSport  'Matchday Live' - Poorly synchronised transmitters, many echoes.
  [Most likely] 500 kW via Droitwich + 10 kW via Dumfries.
  Signals settle.
  Strong to good reception.
  Logged to 1632 UTC.
• 12 January: 1637 UTC: 1071 kHz: talkSport  Latest football results on 'Matchday Live': Premier League, Championship, League One.
  Fair reception; [most likely] 1 kW via Wrekenton for Newcastle upon Tyne.
  Faded since first reception.
  Logged to 1645 UTC.
• 12 January: 1651 UTC: 1089 kHz: talkSport  'Matchday Live' Full Time updates at football.
  Good to fair reception - Echoes from transmitters up to 1 second apart!
  [Most likely] 400 kW via Moorside Edge + other high powered transmitters in north of England / Scotland / Northern Ireland.
  Logged to 1702 UTC.

Break.

Note: 12 January: 1930 UTC: 1098 kHz: Speech from a female, with music from a female opera singer. Female speech, music, speech, music. Good to fair reception. Could be any of Iran (200 kW), Saudi (100 kW), Slovakia (25 kW), Spain (10 - 25 kW), Italy (100 watts).
Logged to 1935 UTC.

From the archive: Radio Asia 558 AM, which broadcast to Greater
London via Spectrum Radio 558 AM
('Spectrum International 558')

• 12 January: 1954 UTC: 1134 kHz: COPE (Spain)  Low power transmissions from COPE (Spain), multiple synchronised transmitters, same power, very slight echo.
  Fair reception.
  Logged to 1957 UTC.

"Closing this Roberts R881 DX on the frequency of 1134 kHz at 20:00 UTC. Goodnight! ☺"

February 2019 : Medium Wave

• [Tuesday] 19 February [2019]: 0124 UTC: 1494 kHz: The Asphalt Telegraph  Test transmissions (from Sweden) on new frequency of 1494 (ex - 1476) kHz. Low power of 300 watts. Heavy music (continuous rock music).
  Fair to poor reception (at best).
  Peaks during music, not heard an ID.
  Transmission site is Boras, Sweden.
  Best audio at 0133 UTC, sustained through to 0135 UTC. Speech at 0136 UTC - ID? Music. Bass sounds good.
  Signing off at 0140 UTC.
  Receiver used: Sangean ATS - 405.
• [Sunday] 24 February [2019]: 0119 UTC: 1494 kHz: The Asphalt Telegraph  Test transmissions from Sweden, on air on 1494 kHz on power higher than 300 watts.
  Rock music: Iron Maiden 'Run For The Hills'
  I hear ID for The Asphalt Telegraph with drum track!
  Contacts: 1494 kHz at gmail dot com or radio sweden international dot com
  Male speech.
  Fair to poor reception.
  Male speech and idents for The Asphalt Telegraph. Music at 0126 UTC.
  Transmission via Boras, Sweden.
  Music at 0128 UTC.
  Logged to 0130 UTC.
  Receiver used: Sangean ATS - 405.
  ["Music continues - I'm saying goodnight at 0135 UTC - Thank you Sweden!"]
  

📻