My AM Archive: July 2015

 SUMMER 2015 provides the memories of Medium Wave broadcasts in this post on Reporting From The Fox Tower.

The previous post in this thread, My AM Archive: April 2015, can be found here.

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

Receiver used: Roberts R881.

July 2015 : Medium Wave

[ (Friday) 3 July (2015): 1925 UTC: 999 kHz: Unconfirmed logs of broadcasts, most likely to have been Rock FM 2, Preston, though possibly Gold Nottingham or BBC Radio Solent. Poor to fair reception. Logged to 1943 UTC. ]

• 3 July: 1952 UTC: 1008 kHz: Groot Nieuws Radio  Music; Heavy propagation.
  Music with English lyrics: Female lead vocals, male backing vocals. Fade out by propagation.
  Fair to poor reception.
  Logged to 1958 UTC.

[ 3 July: 2012 UTC: 1035 kHz: Unconfirmed logs of broadcasts, possibly being Lyca Dilse, Crystal Palace, London; BBC Radio Sheffield; NorthSound 2 (Aberdeen); West Sound (Ayr). Music: Bob Marley. Fair to poor reception. Logged to 2028 UTC. ]

• 3 July: 2035 UTC: 1044 kHz: SER  Female and male speech in the Spanish language.
  Fair to poor reception.
  Transmission: 10 kW via San Sebastian, Spain.
  Logged to 2041 UTC.
• 3 July: 2044 UTC: 1053 kHz: TalkSport  Ad break: Vodafone. Content: NatWest T20 Cricket. Football World Cup; Tour de France; Steve McClaren; Tweets.
  Excellent to good reception.
  Transmission: Up to 500 kW via Droitwich.
  Logged to 2051 UTC.
• 3 July: 2059 UTC: 1071 kHz: TalkSport  Speech, ID, news headlines. Sport: Wimbledon Tennis: Heather Watson (GB) takes Serena Williams (USA) to three sets; Williams wins.
  Fair to poor reception via Wrekenton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 1 kW.
  Logged to 2104 UTC.

• 3 July: 2108 UTC: 1089 kHz: TalkSport  Males in conversation. Films. Birthdays. Slaven Bilic.
  Excellent to fair reception.
  Up to 400 kW via Moorside Edge (North England).
  Logged to 2113 UTC.
• 3 July: 2127 UTC: 1107 kHz: AFN Europe  [American Forces Network Europe] Speech; Music: Neil Diamond 'Song Sung Blue'. Speech in an American accent.
  Transmission sites: Amberg, Grafenwoehr, Vilseck, all Germany.
  Logged to 2133 UTC.

[ 3 July: 2138 UTC: 1116 kHz: Unconfirmed logs of broadcasts, possibly being BBC Radio Derby (1 kW) or BBC Radio Guernsey (500 watts). Female speech. Logged to 2204 UTC. ]

• 3 July: 2214 UTC: 1125 kHz: RTBF Viva Cite  Tentative reception of Wavre, Belgium. Speech.
  Logged to 2220 UTC.

[ 3 July: 2230 UTC: 1152 kHz: Unconfirmed logs of broadcasts, possibly being LBC (London); Clyde (Glasgow); Free (Birmingham); Metro (Newcastle-upon-Tyne); Key (Manchester); Smooth (Norfolk / Plymouth). More than one broadcast audible. Music: Rose Royce 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore'; Whitney Houston 'Didn't We Almost Have It All'. Logged to 2238 UTC. ]

• 3 July: 2245 UTC: 1161 kHz: Tay 2  Music: Crowded House 'Fall At Your Feet'; Dionne Warwick 'All The Love In The World'. Male speech; Female ID: "This is Tay 2".
  Good to fair reception; Tay 2 for Dundee via Greenside Scalp, 1.4 kW [Transmission site pictured below].
  Music: Brenda Russell. Male host; Male ID. Promo, ad break: Homebase; Yamaha motorbikes.
  ID; 23 UTC news bulletin (IRN: Independent Radio News).
  ID; Music: Elton John 'Rocket Man'. ID; Music: Dexy's Midnight Runners 'Geno'; Gerry Rafferty 'Baker Street'; Chris Rea 'Auberge'; David Bowie 'Let's Dance'. Ad break: Motorbikes for sale website. Music: George Harrison 'My Sweet Lord'.
  Logged to 2325 UTC.

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Midsummer Medium Wave logs

FRIDAY 3 July 2015, the evening of, was spent beside the Roberts R881, tuned to the Medium Wave band and here is what I heard. Times in UTC / GMT; Frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz) :

• 1925 UTC; 999 kHz : Rock FM 2, Preston. Music: The Cutting Crew, speech, ad break. Johnny Cash 'Ring of Fire'. James Blunt. Elvis Presley 'Burning Love'. The Style Council, Maroon 5. Presenter: Ray Rose. Transmission: 800 watts via Longton for Preston - Blackpool. Reception: Moderate to poor.
• 1952 UTC; 1008 kHz : Groot Nieuws Radio, Veenendaal, HOL (Holland). Music, English lyrics, female vocalist. 'Groot Nieuws Radio' translates as 'Great News Radio'. Dutch language service. Reception: Moderate to poor.

Sometimes, the Medium Wave band can be chaotic, and at 2012 UTC, on the frequency of 1035 kHz, came so many possibilities. Some of the programming I heard included female speech, male speech, music: Bob Marley 'One Love'. Just some of the broadcasts on the frequency included Lyca Dilse (Crystal Palace, London), BBC Radio Sheffield (BBC Asian Network), Northsound 2 (Aberdeen), WestSound (Ayr). Reception: Moderate to poor.

• 2035 UTC; 1044 kHz : Cadena SER, SER Euskadi, Radio San Sebastian, Spain. Male and female speech. Transmission: 10kW (kiloWatts) via San Sebastian, Spain. Reception: Poor.
• 2044 UTC; 1053 kHz : TalkSport, Droitwich. Ad break: Vodafone. NatWest T20 Cricket. Male hosts speaking of the FIFA Women's Football World Cup, men's FIFA World Cup, Le Tour de France. Newcastle United Football Club recruit Steve Mclaren as head coach. Tweets. Transmission: Up to 500 kW via Droitwich. Reception: Good.
• 2059 UTC; 1071 kHz : TalkSport, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Speech, ID, news headlines. Wimbledon Tennis: Heather Watson (GB) takes Serena Williams (US) to three sets; Williams wins. 1kW via Wrekenton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Reception: Moderate to poor.
• 2108 UTC; 1089 kHz : TalkSport, Moorside Edge. Speech: Male hosts, films, birthdays. The new head coach of West Ham United is Slaven Bilic. Up to 400 kW via Moorside Edge (North England). Reception: Moderate.
• 2127 UTC; 1107 kHz : AFN Europe, Germany. Speech, ad break, music: Neil Diamond 'Song Sung Blue'. AFN Europe is Armed Forces Network Europe; the American Forces broadcaster in Europe. Transmission via Amberg, Grafenwoehr, Vilseck, Germany.

It could have been the battle of the BBC Locals on 1116 kHz at 2138 UTC, I could hear female speech. Broadcasts listed on the frequency: BBC Radio Derby (1kW) and BBC Radio Guernsey (500 watts), plus whatever else was coming in from Europe at the time.

• 2214 UTC; 1125 kHz : RTBF VivaCite, Wavre, Belgium. Speech - Not BBC Wales.

The battle of the commercials was taking place on 1152 kHz at 2230 UTC. I heard conflicting music tracks from Rose Royce 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore', Whitney Houston, male speech. On this frequency at that time were LBC (London), Clyde (Glasgow), Free (Birmingham), Metro (Newcastle-upon-Tyne), Key (Manchester) and Smooth (Norfolk / Plymouth). I could hear more than one broadcast!

• 2245 UTC; 1161 kHz : Tay 2, Dundee. Music: Crowded House 'Fall At Your Feet', Dionne Warwick? 'All The Love In The World'. Male speech, female speech, ID for Tay 2. Madonna? 'Caught In The Middle'? Reception: Good to moderate. Transmission: 1.4 kW via Greenside Scalp, Dundee. Promo, ad break: Homebase. Midnight news bulletin. ID. Music: Elton John 'Rocket Man', Dexys Midnight Runners 'Geno'. Gerry Rafferty 'Baker Street', Chris Rea 'Auberge / Let's Dance'. Ad break: Motorbikes for sale. George Harrison 'My Sweet Lord'.

At 2325 UTC (GMT), I called it a night.