My AM Archive: October 2015

 AUTUMN 2015 brings these memories of Medium Wave radio broadcasts, heard in the Eden Valley, Cumbria, England.

The previous post in this thread, My AM Archive: August 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.

October 2015 : Medium Wave

• [Tuesday] 20 October [2015]: 1817 UTC: 531 kHz: Jil FM [Algeria]  Music: Choral singing, speech by female. Music and speech interchanging. French language speech.
  Fair to poor reception.
  Music: The Beatles 'The Long And Winding Road' ['Signal at best level at this point']; Music: Dionne Warwick 'Walk On By'.
  Transmission site: F'Kirina [Algeria] 600 kW.
  Logged to 1840 UTC.

Logo for Kossuth Radio, Budapest, Hungary.

• 20 October: 1848 UTC: 540 kHz: Kossuth Radio [Hungary]  Speech from male and female, ident, continuation of speech. Strong signal from MR1 Kossuth Radio, broadcasting in the Hungarian language, from Hungary. Reception fading.
  Good to poor reception.
  Top of the hour idents.
  MR1 Kossuth Radio via Solt [Hungary] 2 MW (2 MegaWatts!).
  Logged to 1900 UTC.
• 20 October: 1914 UTC: 549 kHz: UR1 Pershiy kanal [Ukraine]  Speech, followed by music: Eiffel 65 'Blue (Da Ba Dee)'. Sports programme? Weaker signal. Male speech.
  Fair reception; 550 kW via Mykolaiv/Luch [Ukraine].
  Logged to 1923 UTC.
• 20 October: 1925 UTC: 549 kHz: Spirit Radio [Ireland]  Pop / rock song, link by female into Spirit Radio ID, segue into next song.
  Good to poor reception; English language via Carrickroe transmission site, Co Donegal. 11 / 25 kW.
  Music at 1934 UTC; Male speech at 1935 UTC. Contact details for Co Wicklow, Republic of Ireland. Programme: Evenings with Olga Kaye.
  Logged to 1945 UTC.
• 20 October: 1951 UTC: 549 kHz: Deutschlandfunk [Germany]  Long piano piece, applause, male speech in German language.
  Fair to poor reception via Thurnau [Germany] 100 kW.
  Programme: 'Jazz Live' Vijay Iyer.
  Logged to 20:02 UTC.
• 20 October: 2034 UTC: 576 kHz: RNE Radio 5 [Spain]  Barely audible, but clear, Spanish, male speech.
  Poor reception via Barcelona [Spain] 100 kW.
  Logged to 2041 UTC.
• 20 October: 2046 UTC: 585 kHz: BBC Radio Scotland  Sport: Interview with Alan Stubbs, speaking about the standard of refereeing in football; Discussion also included fourth officials and linesmen - Sudden interjection by music! Male host then apologises for interruption by music, returning to football discussion, following tonight's match which was Hibernian FC v Falkirk FC. Programme: 'SportSound'.
  Excellent to fair reception; 2 kW via Dumfries, Scotland.
  10pm [UK time] news headlines: Steelworks in Motherwell & Clyde to be mothballed. Sport & weather updates.
  Programme: 'Another Country' with Ricky Ross: Owen Bradley: The Nashville Sound. Country music show, playing Patsy Cline 'Walking After Midnight' followed by 'Night Train To Memphis'.
  Logged to 2100 UTC.

Google Maps image of the Dumfries transmission site.

• 20 October: 21:11 UTC: 603 kHz: BBC Radio 4  'The World Tonight' Report regarding China's [President] Xi Jinping's state visit to the UK, meeting the Royal Family.
  Excellent to good reception; 2 kW via Wrekenton (Newcastle-Upon-Tyne).
  Logged to 2121 UTC.
• 20 October: 2127 UTC: 603 kHz: France Info  Strong, clear speech from France Info! Male speech with regards to Bashar Assad, the leader of war-torn Syria. Speech from female, male, idents and 'stabs'.
  Excellent to fair reception; 300 kW via Tramoyes, Lyon, France.
  Preview of the new 'Star Wars' movie to be released! Football: Champions League football update.
  [Broadcast in French language]
  Logged to 2144 UTC.
• 20 October: 2157 UTC: 621 kHz: RTBF International [Belgium]  Very faint music, very faint speech, female reading frequencies in kiloHertz. Music. Off air at 2200 UTC.
  Fair reception; 300 kW via Wavre, Belgium.
  Logged to 2200 UTC.
• 20 October: 2207 UTC: 630 kHz: BBC Three Counties Radio  Music: Petula Clark 'Downtown'. Male speech, man on telephone. Female speech. Music: The Corrs 'What Can I Do' (Clear audio).
  Poor reception.
  Male speech, female speech, phone call. Music: 'My Boy Lollipop'. Male speech.
  Transmission site: Lewsey Farm, Luton. 200 kW.
  Logged to 2235 UTC.

Thank you for visiting Reporting From The Fox Tower!

📻

My AM Archive: Winter 2007-2008

WHAT more could you ask for, on Valentine's Day, during a pandemic, than memories of medium wave radio broadcasts, thirteen to fourteen years ago. Well, that's the situation we're in, so let's make the most of it.

My AM Archive is a continual thread of my Medium Wave logbooks, bringing them online for posterity, and for other like-minded radio listeners to enjoy.

Logs of Short Wave broadcasts are also on this blog, under the My DX Archive thread.

The previous post in this thread, My AM Archive: October 2007, 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.

December 2007 : Medium Wave

• [Thursday] 27 December [2007]: 1650 UTC: 1557 kHz: France Info  French speaking female with French speaking male on telephone. Monitoring Monthly [magazine] (February 2006) shows France Info via Nice, France, 300 kW. Fair to poor reception - Poor signal. Female speech at 17 UTC, stronger signal: Excellent to good reception. Male and female speaking to a reporter regarding an explosion and murder of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. Fade out to 1710 UTC.
• 27 December: 1718 UTC: 1575 kHz: Voice of Russia  Female and male speech - British DX Club indicates Voice of Russia via Berg, Germany - German language broadcast. Fair to poor reception. Female speech in German language, to 1740 UTC.

BBC Radio Nottingham logo, early 1990s.

• 27 December: 1743 UTC: 1584 kHz: BBC Radio Nottingham  Male speech, ID at 1744 UTC for BBC Radio Nottingham - Male host (Alan Clifford) in conversation with male on telephone: "Tell me about yourself"; Music: America 'Horse With No Name'; Baccara 'Yes Sir I Can Boogie'. Female speech, music, female on phone. Music: 'You've Got A Friend'.
  Co-channel interference from a commercial radio station - Ad break - British DX Club shows Tay AM / London Turkish - Most likely Tay AM.
  BBC Radio Nottingham details: 1 kW via Nottingham (Clipstone). Drivetime with Alan Clifford.
  Female speech at 1800 UTC: "Six o'clock news"... Reaction to murder of Benazir Bhutto... Weather. Music: Gerry Rafferty 'Baker Street'.
  Tay AM details: 210 watts via Perth (Friarton Road) but no IDs. To 1805 UTC.
• 27 December: 1812 UTC: 1602 kHz: Radio Vitoria  Voices and sound effects from Radio Vitoria via Vitoria, Spain. Good to fair reception, 25 kW. Female and male voices. Spanish language broadcast. To 1824 UTC.
• 27 December: 1834 UTC: 1611 kHz: Vatican Radio  Male voice, broadcasting to Central and East Europe - Poor reception, Lithuanian language. 1840 UTC: Vatican Radio ID signature tune, Latvian language on Europe 2nd Programme. Speech, music, female speech, tune, male speech. To 1855 UTC.

February 2008 : Medium Wave

• [Saturday] 23 February [2008]: 0842 UTC: 567 kHz: RTE Radio 1  Excellent reception; 500 kW via Tullamore. 'Positive Age' programme: Doctor Pierce Lyons returns to Ireland from USA to discuss food production on a global scale. Next week's guest: Professor Gerry Boyle.
  'Farmweek' hosted by Damian O'Reily. Ad break.
  0900 UTC: RTE News: Arrests in Cork. Fire at Shell oil depot in Co Mayo. Drogheda drugs raid. Aer Lingus new works practices. Weather. Press review. Sport: Ireland v Scotland in Rugby Union Six Nations match. Ad break.
  Eammon Dirvan interviews Martin Maguinness. To 0928 UTC.
• 23 February: 0950 UTC: 585 kHz: BBC Radio Scotland  Excellent reception; 2 kW via Dumfries. Gregor Townsend in the studio to discuss Scotland in the Six Nations Rugby Union Championship. 'Sports Weekly'.
  10 UTC news: British Airways employees tribunal. No plans for DNA database. Shannon Matthews of Dewsbury still missing. Stealth bomber crashes in Guam. Stamp duty rose to 60%. Sport: 6 Nations: Ireland v Scotland, Wales v Italy, France v England. SPL football; Golf. England lose to New Zealand in Cricket. Travel news, weather.
  The Janice Forsyth Show: Music: The Associates 'No Sign Of Life' from 'Young America' album. Parakeets in Scotland. Music: Ryan Adams. Today's guest is Omid Djalili. Music: Sting 'Englishman in New York'; Aswad 'Shine'. To 1030 UTC.
• 23 February: 1151 UTC: 603 kHz: BBC Radio 4  Excellent reception; 2 kW via Wrekenton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 'From Our Own Correspondent' hosted by Kate Adie: Report from an eyesight clinic in Bangladesh. Producer: Tony Grant. Trailer: Eric Coates.
  12 UTC news: DNA. To 1203 UTC.

BBC Cymru Wales postmark, July 2005.

• 23 February: 1216 UTC: 657 kHz: BBC Radio Wales  Two male hosts with ID for BBC Radio Wales, fair to poor reception, 2 kW via Wrexham. Build up to Six Nations Rugby: Wales v Italy, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. Singing of Italian National Anthem. To 1230 UTC.
• 23 February: 1254 UTC: 666 kHz: BBC Radio York  Music: Sheryl Crow. ID for BBC Radio York. Traffic and travel. Richard Allinson, The Albums Show. Music: Joni Mitchell. Excellent to good reception; 500 watts via Fulford, York.
  13 UTC news: Bedale man wins £1 Million at a betting shop in Thirsk. Shannon Matthews of Dewsbury still missing. School visits to Auschwitz. Thefts. Knaresborough Castle restoration. Sport: Football: York City; Harrogate Town. Six Nations rugby; Cricket. Weather.
  Richard Allinson, The Albums Show: Music 'Here Come The Girls'; The Rolling Stones 'Start Me Up'; Holly Rose 'Apple'. To 1330 UTC.

• 23 February: 2045 UTC: 675 kHz: Radio Maria Netherlands  Continual music, with a religious theme, with choirs, with songs from musicals. Excellent reception. To 2101 UTC.
• 23 February: 2126 UTC: 684 kHz: RNE 1  Live La Liga football on RNE 1 via Seville, E (Spain), 600 kW. Excellent to good reception. Fixtures: Sevilla v Real Zaragoza. Valencia 1 - Rec Huelva 1. To 2136 UTC.
• 23 February: 2140 UTC: 693 kHz: BBC Radio Five Live  France 13 - England 24. Excellent to good reception. Multiple transmissions. Six Nations Rugby Union live commentary: France 13 - England 24 Full Time. Ian Robertson commentary from Stade de France, Paris. Interview with Nick Easter of England. To 2151 UTC.
• 23 February: 2208 UTC: 711 kHz: France Bleu / France Info  French speaking female. Excellent to good reception; 300 kW via Rennes. Sport report from Stade de France, Paris: Two males, French language, Six Nations Rugby Union result: France 13 - England 24. To 2214 UTC.

WDR QSL.

•  23 February: 2223 UTC: 720 kHz: WDR 2 Germany  Good to fair reception; 85 kW via Langenberg, D (Germany). Music, speech by male host. Music: Cornershop 'Brimful of Asha'; Queen 'We Will Rock You'. To 2235 UTC.
• 23 February: 2241 UTC: 720 kHz: BBC Radio 4  Excellent to fair reception; 10 kW via Lisnagarvey, Northern Ireland. Round-table discussion regarding suicide. To 2248 UTC.

Notes:

Contact details:

Radio Maria Nederland

Postbus 67, 5482 WH SCHIJNDEL (Holland)

[Email address withheld]

RNE 1

Radio Nacional de España, Casa de la Radio, Emisioñ Inglesa, PO Box 156.202 MADRID 28080 ESPAÑA (Spain)

[Email address withheld]

WDR 2

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln, 50600 KÖLN (COLOGNE) (GERMANY)

[Email address withheld]

Thank you for visiting Reporting From The Fox Tower!

Medium Wave, March - May 1996

SPRINGTIME 1996 is the next stop on the visit to my listening archives, with extensive logs from March, April and May that year. A gentle reminder of the housekeeping notes regarding abbreviations in the logs: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz). Transmission power in watts or kiloWatts (kW). Logs transcribed from the original notes.

March 1996: Medium Wave

• March 1996: New Talk Radio UK address: Talk Radio UK, PO Box 1089, LONDON W1A 1PP (Moz Dee).

April 1996: Medium Wave

• 8 April: 1823 UTC: 567 kHz: RTE Radio 1 (Ireland) 500 kW transmission. Patti Page performs 'Tennessee Waltz' on 'O'Brien on Song', hosted by Jack O'Brien.
• 8 April: 1857 UTC: 585 kHz: BBC Radio Scotland 2kW transmission from Dumfries. Music programme: 'Jump The Q'.
• 8 April: 1859 UTC: 603 kHz: BBC Radio 4 2kW transmission. Monday Play: 'Uganda'
• 8 April: 19 UTC: 612 kHz: RTE 2FM (Ireland) News: Paul Reynolds reports from the Apprentice Boys stand-off in Belfast, Beef crisis, vandalism at Co Galway fish farm. Weather. Dave Fanning plays Radiohead: 'Street Spirit'. 2FM via Athlone transmitter. Music from Nirvana 'In Bloom', 'Heart Shaped Box'.
• 8 April: 1931 UTC: 648 kHz: BBC World Service Interview with Ian Paisley regarding the Apprentice Boys march in Belfast.
• 8 April: 1934 UTC: 675 kHz: 675 Radio 10 Gold Amsterdam, Holland. Jos Van Heerden presents 'Super Gold' Beatles 'Strawberry Fields'. The Move 'Flowers In The Rain'.
• 8 April: 1955 UTC: 693 kHz: BBC Radio 5 Live Sport: Feathered Gale won the Irish Grand National, Workington Town got beat by Sheffield Eagles in Rugby Super League. Live football: Newcastle United 0, Blackburn Rovers 0.

• 8 April: 2032 UTC: 909 kHz: BBC Radio 5 Live Sport: Alan Green commentates on the football match Newcastle United v Blackburn Rovers, the score is 0-0. Faustino Asprilla has been substituted.
• 8 April: 2038 UTC: 963 kHz: YLE Radio Finland News from Sweden, report from Helsinki. Easter comment. Heavy interference.
• 8 April: 2043 UTC: 1053 kHz: Talk Radio UK Ronnie Barbour discusses family values. Tony from Luton discusses accents. Ad break: Ford Transit vans. News: Belfast, NYSE, slimming pills, skier killed in France. Football result: Newcastle United 1 - Blackburn Rovers 2. James Whale on the air. Callers: David in Glasgow, Deirdre in Belfast.

May 1996: Medium Wave

• 14 May: 1720 UTC: 567 kHz: RTE Radio 1 500 kW transmission from Tullamore, Ireland. 'Farm News' programme, weather forecast now on air.
• 14 May: 1730 UTC: 585 kHz (513 metres?) BBC Radio Scotland : 2kW transmission from Dumfries. 'Coastlines': Ecology report.
• 14 May: 1755 UTC: 666 kHz: BBC Radio York 'North Yorkshire Sport' with racing results. 500 watt transmission from Fulford. Traffic reports: Whitby A174, A684 via Leyburn. 'North Yorkshire Tonight': Report from a hospital union in Sheffield.

• 14 May: 1818 UTC: 675 kHz: Radio 10 Gold 120 kW transmission from Lopic, Holland. Music: Sandie Shaw, 'Puppet On A String'.
• 14 May: 1833 UTC: 756 kHz: BBC Radio Cumbria 1kW transmission from Carlisle. Music with Mark Paxton.
• 14 May: 1837 UTC: 774 kHz: BBC Radio Leeds 500 watt transmission via Farnley. 'Yorkshire Sport': Top table of Neil Back (rugby), Geoffrey Richmond (football) and Mike Edge (swimming coach) discuss tolerance of behaviour by sportsmen towards officials. Cricket report by Jonathan Agnew. 'Night Sport' looks towards Euro 96. Call 0113 244 3222 (Leeds).
• 14 May: 1911 UTC: 882 kHz: BBC Radio Wales. 100 kW transmission via Washford. Sport: Cardiff Arms Park hosts Neath v Pontypridd (Live Rugby). Sending off: Steve Lewis, red card, headbutt. Neath are Champions!
• 14 May: 1924 UTC: 909 kHz: BBC Radio Five 909 kHz = 330 metres. Live Rugby League: Wigan 20 - Halifax 0. Transmitter: Moorside Edge, 200 kW transmission. Rugby League result. Topical sport broadcast: 'Inside Edge' with Rob Bonner.
• 14 May: 1958 UTC: 1179 kHz: Radio Sweden Solvesborg transmitter, 600 kW transmission. English programme: 'Sixty Degrees North' with Sara Larsch, Swedish Youth Culture, Techno art.

• 14 May: 2011 UTC: 1197 - 1215 kHz: Virgin Radio Music : The Police - 'Every Breath You Take'. Ad break. Highlights of this morning's 'Russ And Jono's Breakfast Experience'.
• 14 May: 2017 UTC: 1386 kHz: Voice of Russia Transmitter site: Bolshakovo or Kaliningrad, 2500 kW transmission. Classical music.
• 14 May: 2023 UTC: 1440 kHz: Radio Netherlands Dutch language broadcast via RTL Marnach, LUX (Luxembourg). 1200 kW transmission.

Thank you for reading this post on Reporting From The Fox Tower.

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6 Nations 2017: The Final Results

THIS year's RBS Six Nations Championship is complete - So here are the round-by-round results, with dates and venues:

Round 1:
Saturday 4 February: Scotland 27 - Ireland 22  (Murrayfield, Edinburgh)
Saturday 4 February: England 19 - France 16  (Twickenham, London)
Sunday 5 February: Italy 7 - Wales 33  (Stadio Olimpico, Rome)

Round 2:
Saturday 11 February: Italy 10 - Ireland 63  (Stadio Olimpico)
Saturday 11 February: Wales 16 - England 21  (Principality Stadium, Cardiff)
Sunday 12 February: France 22 - Scotland 16  (Stade de France, Paris)

Round 3:
Saturday 25 February: Scotland 29 - Wales 13  (Murrayfield)
Saturday 25 February: Ireland 19 - France 9  (Aviva Stadium, Dublin)
Sunday 26 February: England 36 - Italy 15  (Twickenham)

Round 4:
Friday 10 March: Wales 22 - Ireland 9  (Principality Stadium)
Saturday 11 March: Italy 18 - France 40  (Stadio Olimpico)
Saturday 11 March: England 61 - Scotland 21  (Twickenham)

Round 5:
Saturday 18 March: Scotland 29 - Italy 0  (Murrayfield)
Saturday 18 March: France 20 - Wales 18  (Stade de France)
Saturday 18 March: Ireland 13 - England 9  (Aviva Stadium)

At the completion of all the fixtures, here is the final table (compiled by me, as a Microsoft Word document):

So it is congratulations to ENGLAND, the Six Nations Champions for 2017!

🏉

6 Nations: Competitions within a Competition

THE RBS 6 Nations rugby union tournament has matches which have their own individual prizes - And this post is bringing you those results in the tournament and hopefully bring you a little bit of information about the trophies.

The first of these trophies was the Centenary Quaich, which has been presented to the winners of the annual Scotland - Ireland fixture since 1989. The 2017 holders of the Quaich are Scotland, who defeated Ireland 27-22 at Murrayfield, on the opening day of the 6 Nations tournament, Saturday 4 February. Here is Scotland Captain Greig Laidlaw lifting the Quaich after the match:

TWO more trophies were played for on the afternoon of Saturday 11 March: First, the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy (Italian: Trofeo Garibaldi; French: Trophée Garibaldi), which has been presented to the winners of the France - Italy fixture since 2007. Here is the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy:

The 2017 holders of the Trophy are France, who defeated Italy at Stadio Olimpico on March 11. The result: Italy 18 - France 40. Here is very short footage of France with the Trophy, courtesy of the FF Rugby Twitter feed:

#XVdeFrance Les Bleus remportent le trophée Garibaldi 👏 #ITAFRA pic.twitter.com/5quhiM2d1R

— FF Rugby (@FFRugby) March 11, 2017

FINALLY, the Calcutta Cup match also took place on Saturday 11 March. The Calcutta Cup is one of the oldest trophies, introduced in 1879, and is competed for every year between England and Scotland. The 2017 holders of the Cup are England, who defeated Scotland 61-21 at Twickenham on March 11. Here is England Captain Dylan Hartley with the Calcutta Cup, after receiving it from the platform party:

There is one final round of matches, taking place on Saturday 18 March, which will complete the 2017 RBS 6 Nations.