Sunday, March 12, 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:

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.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Thirty Years: The Joshua Tree.


TODAY, 9 March 2017, marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the album 'The Joshua Tree'. U2 alluded to the anniversary on a social media post on Christmas Day 2016, which, in a darkened room, featured the band and a 'Joshua Tree' covered in Christmas lights.
The band have today announced a reissue of the album for the thirtieth anniversary, which will include songs never heard before.

This all comes prior to The Joshua Tree 2017 Tour, which takes place this summer.

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Medium Wave: March 2017

ANOTHER Sunday afternoon, another selection of radio broadcasts I have heard. From the logbook, an evening of broadcasts heard on Friday 3 March 2017. Housekeeping notes for those new to these posts: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz) and transmission powers in watts or kiloWatts (kW).

March 2017 : Medium Wave.
  • 3 March: 1813 UTC: 639 kHz: CRo2 Dvojka, Czech Republic. Strong to good reception, 1500 kW via Prague. 'Radio Club Junior' with Klara Novakova and guest David Svoboda, a London 2012 Olympian. Music, speech including the phone-in segment of the show, various greetings in the Czech language, including the informal 'Ahoj'. Music, speech.
  • 3 March: 1835 UTC: 639 kHz: RNE Radio Nacional, Spain. Good reception, up to 600 kW via various transmission sites. Speech from a female, brief speech from a male, female speaking at length. Male speech with ID: 'Radio Nacional Espana'. Music: Leonard Cohen?.
  • 3 March: 1856 UTC: 657 kHz : Rai RadioUno, Italy. Good reception, 100 kW via Pisa. 'Zapping' - A programme dedicated to looking at the week's news in small segments: Male in studio, male on phone. Male and female voices.

  • 3 March: 1924 UTC: 666 kHz: BBC Radio York, UK. Strong to moderate reception, 500 watts via Fulford, York. Music from George Harrison 'My Sweet Lord', female host - Georgie Spanswick, talking about what is coming up on the show and the topic of a 'free lunch' - Listener reaction with food and drink related stories, reaction from Simon with a red wine story. Text: 81333, Idents for Georgie Spanswick and BBC Radio York. Music: Jackson Five 'I Want You Back'. Traffic + Travel report - Call in on 0330... Music: Eric Carmen 'Hungry Eyes'. Call the show on 0345... [Notes: BBC Radio York was the dominant broadcast on the channel. The above QSL card, verifying reception in 1996, is from my collection.]
  •  3 March: 1954 UTC: 684 kHz: RNE Radio Nacional, Spain. Strong to moderate reception, 600 kW via Seville. Strong, clear, male speech, music (a Zither!). Time signal for 20 UTC. Female speech - News headlines? Speech is TOO QUICK for me to understand the words! Brief speech from male, female continues speaking. News from France: Marine Le Pen. Feeds from the Friday night football fixtures. Female completes the bulletin, handover to new programme with males. Music: Fatboy Slim 'Praise You'.
  • 3 March: 2016 UTC: 693 kHz: BBC Radio 5 Live, UK. Strong to good reception, up to  150 kW via Droitwich, Worcestershire / 50 kW via Stagshaw, Northumberland. The 'Friday Football Social' - Studio guest is Michail Antonio. Live updates from current sporting fixtures: Leeds United v Birmingham City; Cricket: West Indies 147-4 against England in Antuiga; Rugby League updates. Michail Antonio (West Ham United) talking about being called up for England and life as a Premier League player. 2030 UTC news update: Northern Ireland politician Mike Nesbitt has resigned.
  • 3 March: 2048 UTC: 720 kHz: BBC Radio Four, UK. Good to moderate reception, 10 kW via Lisnagarvey, Northern Ireland. 'Test Match Special' - West Indies v England LIVE from Antigua. A West Indian wicket had fallen just as I tuned in, the next Windies batsman is now at the crease and the over has begun. Male commentator with female summariser.
  • 3 March: 2116 UTC: 738 kHz: RNE Radio Nacional, Spain. Good to moderate reception, 500 kW via Barcelona. Male and female Spanish voices, female speaks of Casablanca.
  • 3 March: 2137 UTC: 756 kHz: BBC Radio Cumbria, UK. Moderate to poor reception, 1 kW via Brisco, Carlisle. Music from Rod Stewart 'Maggie May', speech from Georgie Spanswick, speaking to a female on the phone about her plans for the weekend.
  • 3 March: 2155 UTC: 756 kHz: Radio Romania Actualitati, Romania. Moderate reception, 400 kW via Sibiu, Romania. Male speech, folk music, male voice with ID, off air at 2200 UTC.
  • 3 March: 2205 UTC: 756 kHz: BBC Radio Cumbria, UK. Moderate reception, 1 kW via Brisco, Carlisle. [BBC Radio Cumbria 'in the clear'] Two Beatles songs back to back: 'Please Please Me' and 'Penny Lane' on the 'Decades Show' with Joe Costin. Music: The Strawbs 'Part of the Union'. Val Armstrong with the lyrics quiz 😊 Music: Bonnie Tyler 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'. ["Joe Costin: The World's Oldest Man" - R. Nankivell]
  • 3 March: 2230 UTC: 774 kHz: RNE Radio Nacional, Spain. Good to moderate reception, 20 - 100 kW via various transmission sites. Male conversation at length, includes a clear mention of Brexit!
That concludes the logs for March 2017.
Until the next time, keep listening!
📻

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Season 2016/17: The Season So Far - Part 7

GOOD evening and welcome to the final evening of February 2017, an evening of League football. 'Midweek Final Score' is being carried on the BBC Red Button service on television, it is half time in this evening's fixtures - No Carlisle United spoilers, as the results for February and fixtures for March will be the main point of this post. This evening's headline fixture in the Championship is Brighton + Hove Albion against Newcastle United - In the second half, Albion lead the Toon Army by one goal to nil - Former Carlisle United hero Glenn Murray scored a penalty on fourteen minutes.

The time has just passed 2100 (sorry, 9pm - I expect to bring you a radio post in the next week or so), so I shall begin bringing you the Carlisle United results for February:

Saturday 4th: Sky Bet League Two: Leyton Orient 1 - United 2 (Attendance: 4306)
Saturday 11th: Sky Bet League Two: United 1 - Blackpool 4 (Attendance: 6170)
Tuesday 14th: Sky Bet League Two: United 2 - Doncaster Rovers 1 (Attendance: 4527)
Saturday 18th: Sky Bet League Two: Wycombe Wanderers 1 - United 2 (Attendance: 3858)
Saturday 25th: Sky Bet League Two: United 0 - Portsmouth 3 (Attendance: 7197)
Tuesday 28th: Sky Bet League Two: Cheltenham Town 1 - United 0 (Attendance: 2433)

The League Two table this evening (28th February) shows United third on fifty-eight points, after thirty four games played.

March 2017 brings five Sky Bet League Two fixtures:

Saturday 4th: Away at Plymouth Argyle
Saturday 11th: Home v Cambridge United
Tuesday 14th: Home v Luton Town
Saturday 18th: Away at Mansfield Town
Saturday 25th: Home v Crewe Alexandra.

That concludes the update for February. One loose end - Full time in the Championship: Brighton + Hove Albion 1 - Newcastle United 2. NUFC are top of the Championship tonight.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

January + February 2017 on air

MID February and it is a Six Nations Sunday, a tournament which this blog has reflected upon (briefly) over past years. Spoiler alert: Ireland and England won on Saturday; Scotland v France is underway, five minutes played, no score.

I have had a couple of evenings listening to the Roberts R881 over the first six weeks of this year, here are the logs of what I heard on Short Wave and, to begin, Medium Wave. Notes: Time in UTC (GMT), frequency in kiloHertz (kHz), power in kiloWatt (kW) or MegaWatt (MW).

January 2017: Medium Wave.
  • 25 January: 1812 UTC: 540 kHz: MR Kossuth Radio, Hungary. Good to strong reception, 2 MW via Solt, Hungary. 'Sports World' covering a Women's volleyball Cup match.
  • 25 January: 1906 UTC: 549 kHz: Jil FM, Algeria. Good to strong reception, up to 600 kW via Sidi Hamadouche, Algeria. Music and speech, French and Arabic services.
  • 25 January: 1935 UTC: 567 kHz: RNE Radio 5, Spain. Moderate to poor reception, up to 100 kW via Murcia, Spain. Male and female speech, Spanish.
  • 25 January: 1958 UTC: 585 kHz: BBC Radio Scotland, UK. Good to strong reception, 2 kW via Dumfries, Scotland. Football! Heart of Midlothian v Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup - GOAL Hearts 0 - Raith Rovers 1 (Deflected goal). Also playing: Celtic 0 - St Johnstone 0.
  • 25 January: 2018 UTC: 585 kHz: RNE Radio Nacional, Spain. Good to strong reception, up to 100 kW via Madrid, Spain. MORE football! Celta Vigo v Real Madrid - Male commentators mention Bale, Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, referee blows his whistle. Isco. [Full Time: 2-2]
  • 25 January: 2036 UTC: 603 kHz: BBC Radio 4, UK. Good to strong reception. 2 kW via Wrekenton, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England. 'Future Proofing': How sport plays its part in society. Link into the 'Four Thought' programme.
  • 25 January: 2108 UTC: 621 kHz: RTBF International, Belgium. Strong to moderate reception, 300 kW via Wavre, Belgium. 'Viva Sports' Male speech, presumably at a football fixture. Mentions of 'goalkeeper', 'El Classico', 'Anderlecht'. Full Time? Male in quiet studio reading football scores. Music: Clean Bandit 'Rockabye'.
  • 25 January: 2148 UTC: 639 kHz: RNE Radio Nacional, Spain. Good to strong reception, up to 600 kW via various transmission sites. Football: Celta Vigo v Real Madrid - Male commentary. Full Time? Highlights package.
  • 25 January: 2209 UTC: 639 kHz: CRo2 Dvojka, Czech Republic. Good to moderate reception, 1500 kW via Prague. 'Night Micro forum' with Marie Retková. Female conversation, music: Frank Sinatra 'Strangers In The Night'. Conversation continues.

February 2017: Short Wave.
  • 2 February: 1201 UTC: 9430 kHz: FEBC International, Philippines. Moderate reception, 100 kW to Asia, via Bocaue, Philippines. Music, top of the hour idents in various languages, music. Chinese - Mandarin language.
  • 2 February: 1240 UTC: 9560 kHz: Vatican Radio, Vatican City, The Vatican. Poor reception, 250 kW to Asia + Oceania via Philippines. Chinese language programme, female and male speech. ID signal.
  • 2 February: 1312 UTC: 9645 kHz: Reach Beyond Australia, Australia. Moderate to poor reception, English language to Asia, via Kununurra, Australia. 'Hope for the Heart' programme with male and female voices.
  • 2 February: 1345 UTC: 9740 kHz: BBC World Service, UK. Moderate to poor reception, female speech at length, male on telephone. English to East + South East Asia via Kranji, Singapore.
  • 2 February: 1452 UTC: 9880 kHz: China Radio International, China. Good to moderate reception, 100 kW via Nanning, China. Cambodian language - Music, female speech, ID sequence, off air at 1457 UTC.
  • 2 February: 1509 UTC: 9900 kHz: Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran. Moderate to poor reception, 500 kW via Sirjan, Iran. Hindi language - Very muffled speech, heavy propagation. Music, female speech. [Online as 'ParsToday']
  • 2 February: 1532 UTC: 9920 kHz: BBC World Service, UK. Good to moderate reception, 250 kW via Nakhon Sawan, Thailand. Urdu language: Female speech, translating an American English male, translating an English speaking female.
  • 2 February: 1555 UTC: 11635 kHz: BBC World Service, UK. Poor reception. 250 kW via Kranji, Singapore. Urdu language: Female in studio, with male on phone. Music, female speech. Off air at 1559 UTC.
  • 2 February: 1606 UTC: 11725 kHz: China Radio International, China. Poor reception. 150 kW via Cerrik, Albania. Arabic language: Flamboyant music, male speech, extended music.
  • 2 February: 1617 UTC: 11735 kHz: Either Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation, Zanzibar [50 kW via Dole, Zanzibar, Swahili language] Or Rádio Trans Mundial, Brazil [50 kW via Santa Maria - Camobi, Brazil, Portuguese language]. Moderate reception, male speech, music.
  • 2 February: 1632 UTC: 11815 kHz: Voice of Turkey, Turkey. Strong to moderate reception, 500 kW via Emirler, Turkey. Turkish language, male speech, music.
  • 2 February: 1639 UTC: 11900 kHz: Voice of America, USA. Moderate to poor reception, English to Africa via Sentech, Meyerton, South Africa. Female and male presentation team of 'South Sudan In Focus'.
  • 2 February: 1736 UTC: 11930 kHz: Radio Marti, USA. Moderate to poor reception, Spanish to Cuba via Greenville, North Carolina, USA. Strong speech from a male, with female speech too.
  • 2 February: 1750 UTC: 11945 kHz: NHK World Radio, Japan. Good to strong reception, 250 kW via Issoudun, France. Music: Earth, Wind & Fire 'Boogie Wonderland', Japanese speech, music. Female speech, male speech, ID, time signal for 1800 UTC, ID. Male speech: News bulletin. Female speech.
  • 2 February: 1828 UTC: 11975 kHz: BBC World Service, UK. Good reception, 250 kW to Africa, via Ascension Island. French language service, male speech, ID as 'BBC Afrique', ID set to music - Off air at 1829 UTC.
  • 2 February: 1835 UTC: 12075 kHz: Voice of America, USA. Strong to moderate reception. French language service to Africa, via Botswana. Male and female speech, with idents.
  • 2 February: 1854 UTC: 12160 kHz: WWCR 2, USA. Poor reception, 100 kW via Nashville, Tennessee, USA. English language: Male voice with web address, music, female speech.
  • 2 February: 1925 UTC: 15400 kHz: BBC World Service, UK. Good to strong reception, English to West + Central Africa via Ascension Island - Football! Ghana v Cameroon in the African Cup of Nations - Live commentary from the Stade de Franceville, half an hour played. Ghana corner, dispossessed, Cameroon corner - 30 yard shot on goal, Ghana 'keeper punches the ball out. 0-0 on 30 minutes in the Semi-Final. Ghana have a shot on goal - Wide of the post.
That completes the logs for January and February - Much more comprehensive than I thought! I hope you have found this post informative and interesting. Until the next time - Enjoy.

📻

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Season 2016/17: The Season So Far - Part 6

REPORTING From The Fox Tower ends January as it started - With Carlisle United Football Club's results and forthcoming fixtures.

United had five Sky Bet League Two fixtures in January; The results of which are as follows.


Monday 2nd: Sky Bet League Two: United 1 - Grimsby Town 3 (Attendance: 6865)
Saturday 7th: Sky Bet League Two: Colchester United 4 - United 1 (Attendance: 3525)
Saturday 14th: Sky Bet League Two: United 1 - Morecambe 1 (Attendance: 5524)
Saturday 21st: Sky Bet League Two: Accrington Stanley 1 - United 1 (Attendance: 2634)
Saturday 28th: Sky Bet League Two: United 1 - Barnet 1 (Attendance: 4547)

The League Two table today (29th January) shows United third on forty-nine points, after twenty eight games played.

There are six fixtures in Sky Bet League Two coming up in February:

Saturday 4th: Away at Leyton Orient
Saturday 11th: Home v Blackpool
Tuesday 14th: Home v Doncaster Rovers
Saturday 18th: Away at Wycombe Wanderers
Saturday 25th: Home v Portsmouth
Tuesday 28th: Away at Cheltenham Town.

That concludes the monthly roundup of Carlisle United Football Club.

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Celebrating #AustraliaDay with Renee


THIS week on Reporting From The Fox Tower, we are looking ahead to Australia Day 2017, which is Thursday, January 26. Australia Day is Australia's National Day; More about which you can read here.

What better way to celebrate Australia's National Day, than with one of Australia's finest ambassadors, Renee Somerfield. The above image was posted by Renee on Australia Day 2016.
Renee has featured on RFTFT previously in the 'Introducing Renee Somerfield' post.

I shall close with another image of Renee.
Happy Australia Day!


❤️

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Introducing Facing West

... Or a post that should be titled Reintroducing Facing West, as the band have appeared on this blog previously, on February 7, 2016, in the post Now Playing: Facing West.

Facing West are sisters Caitlin and Sidney Powell. Caitlin and Sidney both grew up interested in music and learned to play guitars; They both started out as solo artists, but their father suggested they became a band, which they did. They named themselves '2Girls with Guitars' in 2013, when they began to write their own songs, which paid off.
In 2014, Caitlin and Sidney recorded 'Skyline', their first EP. They also discarded '2Girls with Guitars' in favour of Facing West.
In December 2014, Caitlin and Sidney recorded their full length album 'Long Way Home'.

Since then, Facing West have gone on to write more of their own music, as well as some outstanding covers, which included their cover of Coldplay's 'Adventure Of A Lifetime', which featured in the 'Now Playing: Facing West' post. Here is Facing West's acoustic cover of 'Adventure Of A Lifetime':


Facing West worked with Fifgen Films in Portland, Oregon, early 2016, where they recorded a new version of 'Adventure Of A Lifetime', with an accompanying video, which you can see in the 'Now Playing: Facing West' post.


Facing West have a number of online presences, some of which are linked to here:

Facing West on...
I hope you enjoy the music of Facing West. I shall leave you with one of Caitlin and Sidney's most recent covers: Louis Tomlinson & Steve Aoki's 'Just Hold On'.

Enjoy.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Season 2016/17: The Season So Far - Part 5

I intended this post to be the final post of 2016, rather than the first post of 2017. No matter, I shall take this opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year.

This post is continuing the coverage of Carlisle United Football Club over the course of Season 2016/17. There were six fixtures in December: One in the FA Cup, one in the EFL [Checkatrade] Trophy and four in Sky Bet League Two. The results of the six fixtures as follows:

Saturday 3rd: FA Cup: United 0 - Rochdale 2 (Attendance: 4426)
Tuesday 6th: EFL Trophy: United 2 - Mansfield Town 3 (Attendance: 1126)
Saturday 10th: Sky Bet League Two: Luton Town 1 - United 1 (Attendance: 7953)
Saturday 17th: Sky Bet League Two: United 2 - Yeovil Town 1 (Attendance: 4646)
Monday 26th: Sky Bet League Two: Crewe Alexandra 1 - United 1 (Attendance: 4962)
Saturday 31st: Sky Bet League Two: Notts County 2 - United 3 (Attendance: 3825)

The League Two table today (1st January) sees United second on forty-six points, two points behind top of the table Plymouth Argyle and ahead of Doncaster Rovers in third on goal difference.

There are five fixtures in January, all Sky Bet League Two:
Monday 2nd: Home v Grimsby Town
Saturday 7th: Away at Colchester United
Saturday 14th: Home v Morecambe
Saturday 21st: Away at Accrington Stanley
Saturday 28th: Home v Barnet.

That concludes the monthly update of Carlisle United Football Club.



Happy New Year!

As it is New Year's Day, I present Facing West performing Auld Lang Syne. Enjoy.



More about Facing West soon. Until then, enjoy!

Sunday, December 25, 2016

DX Notes: November - December 2016

MAY I begin this post by wishing you all a Merry Christmas, as I compose this post at 1620 UTC on Christmas Day - Sunday 25 December 2016.

For the final time in 2016 on RFTFT, a compilation of radio broadcast logs. Times listed are UTC (Universal Time Co-ordination, same as GMT), frequencies are listed as kHz (kiloHertz), unless otherwise stated in the log.

November 2016: Medium Wave
  • 14 November: 1436 UTC: 1557 kHz: Mixture of signals, unable to identify, though the strongest most likely to be BBC Radio Lancashire (250 watts via Lancaster [Oxcliffe]).
  • 14 November: 1516 UTC: 1566 kHz: Mixture of signals lost in the white noise and static, possibilities on this channel include BBC Somerset (1 kW via Taunton [Relays of BBC Bristol]), also Premier Christian Radio (800 watts via Guildford). Holland also broadcasts on this frequency; That broadcast was discounted.
  • 14 November: 1541 UTC: 1575 kHz: Female speech started strongly, soon faded. Serious propagation. Logs show RAI Radio 1 (Italy) and SER (Spain) on this channel.
  • 14 November: 1555 UTC: Log notes show the onset of dusk at this time; Birds beginning to roost.
  • 14 November: 1600 UTC: 1584 kHz: Music, followed by female speech - News bulletin? Male speech too. Music: Huey Lewis & The News 'Power of Love'; The Mamas & The Papas 'Monday Monday'. Traffic & travel report identified BBC Hereford & Worcester, 300 watts to North Herefordshire, via Woofferton, Shropshire. Moderate to poor reception. Music: Culture Club.
  • 14 November: 1731 UTC: 1593 kHz: This is not a UK channel, though it did sound like a broadcast trying to break through - Logs only state Romania. Discounted.
  • 14 November: 1740 UTC: 1602 kHz: Music: 'Rivers of Babylon', Cliff Richard 'Power To All Our Friends', The Drifters. No speech or ID logged! Logs list BBC Radio Kent (250 watts, Rusthall), Desi Radio (70 watts, Southall), Thruxton (1 watt, Andover) as UK broadcasts, Seagull (Holland) and SER (Spain) as European broadcasts on this channel. Music continued: Thin Lizzy 'The Boys Are Back In Town'.
  • 14 November: 1827 UTC: 1638 kHz: Music, which includes whistling! Logs list the Dutch pirate De Vrolijke Mijnwerker [The Merry Miner]. Fade out... Fade in! Logs state polka music...✔ I believe this to be the broadcast I am hearing. Fair to poor reception.
  • 14 November: 1849 UTC: 1656 kHz: Music - Though logs state the closest broadcasts to this channel are De Vrolijke Mijnwerker (see above) or Zender Matrix (Holland) on or around 1670 kHz. Yodeling music. Polka music. Very faint reception.
December 2016: Short Wave
  • 20 December: 2043 UTC: 6195 kHz: Voice of America, English to Africa via Botswana. Moderate reception. 'African Beat': English speech, music to close of broadcast. VOA ID: 'Yankee Doodle'. ✱ 2100 UTC: 6195 kHz now broadcast from Sao Tome: News headlines: Shooting of Russian Ambassador to Turkey. Evacuation of Aleppo. US President Elect Donald Trump meets staff. New electronic laws in Thailand. 'VOA1 - The Hits'. Music: Twenty One Pilots 'Heathens'. Ellie Goulding. Improved reception from Sao Tome: Good to moderate reception. English to Africa via Sao Tome.
  • 20 December: 2142 UTC: 7285 kHz: China Radio International, English to Europe & Africa, via Albania. Strong to good reception. Male and female hosts of the English language programme 'Roundtable'. Topics include listener feedback online; Smog; The pace of life; Emojis and memes.
  • 20 December: 2225 UTC: 9420 kHz: Music, with a Mediterranean flavour... Logs state Voice of Greece and a 2012 schedule does confirm Greece on this channel at this time. Upbeat music, male and female vocalists, speech from a male - In Greek? Music with female vocalist. Strong to good reception.
That concludes the logs for 2016.


RFTFT's Top 3 of 2016: Video Edition







The above videos were included in the original Top 3 of 2016 posts, as refered to in the post dated Sunday 18 December 2016.

Three and a half hours have passed since I began to compose this post, so I shall bid you good evening and wish you all the enjoyment of your celebrations.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

RFTFT's Most Popular: Top 3 of 2016

ONE week until Christmas Day; Two weeks until New Year's Day, so I am taking the opportunity to review 2016 on Reporting From The Fox Tower by bringing you the top three most viewed posts of the year, beginning with the most popular first.



The most viewed post on Reporting From The Fox Tower during 2016 has been 'Springtime with Sharapova', which was posted May 28th and has had 1038 (One thousand and thirty-eight) views. The post anticipated the upcoming summer of sport, which included the Euro 2016 football tournament and the tennis season. It was relating to the tennis season that Springtime with Sharapova reflected on Maria Sharapova's 2014 victory at Roland Garros. Springtime with Sharapova was followed up a week later by 'Summertime with Sharapova', which did not fare as well.

To the second most popular post:



The Silver medal for 2016 goes to Roxanne Leah Townsend, for the post 'Roxanne Leah Townsend', which was posted September 11th and has had 178 views.
The post was a celebration of Roxanne Leah Townsend, to show Rox continued love and support.

The third most popular post:



The Bronze medal for 2016 goes to the 'Wallpaper of the Week' - A long standing feature, here on RFTFT - for May 1st, which has had 123 views.
The post reflected on the music video for 'Under Your Spell', which featured Eden based actress and model Abbie Steele. The image for the post was taken from the music video.
This blog has long supported Abbie's career, and will continue to do so.
Support Abbie by visiting her website, follow her Twitter updates and click 'Like' on her Facebook page.

Those are the top three most popular posts of 2016, Reporting From The Fox Tower will post over the festive season, so please do continue visiting!

Sunday, December 11, 2016

This week: Taylor Alison's Birthday.


THIS coming week, on Tuesday 13 December, Miss Taylor Alison Swift celebrates her twenty-seventh Birthday, so I have taken this opportunity to share the above artwork from the now seemingly defunct Swift Bulletin.

Happy Birthday Taylor Alison!
💗

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Wallpaper of the Week, 4 December 2016


This post marks the first anniversary of Storm Desmond, which brought much flooding and damage to Cumbria, which was covered here on Reporting From The Fox Tower in the posts 'Listening to the radio' and 'Carlisle United, December 2015'.

Wallpaper of the Week is a photograph I took in the early afternoon of December 8, 2015. The wood carving is to resemble a frog, which I had seen on site on previous times, so was pleased to see it had survived the flood. The location of the above image is south of Eden Bridge, Great Musgrave, which you can see on Google Maps. The road from where the photograph was taken is the B6259.

Some notes regarding this photograph: The River Eden had risen to a level that the water ran across the road, carrying debris which was caught in the wire fence, which is what you can see in the bottom left of the picture, up to the carving.

Until the next time.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Season 2016/17: The Season So Far - Part 4

"Top of the League"
SIX more fixtures for Carlisle United Football Club during November: One FA Cup fixture, one EFL Trophy fixture and four League fixtures. Here are the results of the November fixtures:

Sunday 6th: FA Cup: St Albans City 3 - United 5 (Attendance: 3473)
Wednesday 9th: EFL Trophy: United 4 - Fleetwood Town 2 (Attendance: 1420)
Saturday 12th: League: Newport County 2 - United 0 (Attendance: 2521)
Saturday 19th: League: United 3 - Exeter City 2 (Attendance: 5058)
Tuesday 22nd: League: Grimsby Town 2 - United 2 (Attendance: 4818)
Saturday 26th: League: United 5 - Mansfield Town 2 (Attendance: 4822)

As of the evening of Sunday 27 November 2016, Carlisle United are top of the League. The Sky Bet League Two table shows Carlisle United leading the table on goal difference from Plymouth Argyle, with Doncaster Rovers two points behind in third place.

December has another six fixtures for United: As November, one FA Cup fixture, one EFL Trophy fixture and four League fixtures. They are Rochdale at Brunton Park in the FA Cup; Mansfield Town's return to Brunton Park, this time in the EFL Trophy; Away at Luton Town in the League; Yeovil Town at Brunton Park in the League; Boxing Day away at Crewe and New Year's Eve away at Notts County, both League fixtures.

Reporting From The Fox Tower will bring you the results of the Year-end fixtures, though as the final fixture falls on New Year's Eve, it could be the first day of January 2017 that the results are published on this blog - The first fixture of 2017 falls on the second day of the New Year!

#BluesForever


Sunday, November 20, 2016

Remembering Jonah: One Year On.

THE past week saw the first anniversary of the passing of Jonah Lomu.
 Jonah passed away 18 November 2015.

The Memorial Service for Jonah took place Monday 30 November 2015.


The Memorial Service was carried live on the Team All Blacks website, from which the still image above was taken, and is still available on the site. Watch the Memorial Service here.

The Service was led by John Campbell of Radio New Zealand.


John Campbell leading the Memorial Service, 30 November 2015.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Taylor Swift for Vanity Fair.

REPORTING From The Fox Tower enjoys keeping you up to date with the media engagements of Taylor Alison Swift. Previous posts have included engagements with Vogue Australia and GQ - This post brings you Taylor Alison's September 2015 engagement with Vanity Fair.

This post opened with Taylor partaking in a game of 'Word Association', which is the video above.
The next video reflects on Taylor being one of the Best Dressed. Enjoy this video.


The engagement also featured a photo shoot with Mario Testino, which saw Taylor Alison look very glamorous, as seen here.


Finally, for this post, click here to link to the Vanity Fair interview.

Until next time...

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Season 2016/17: The Season So Far - Part 3

"The unbeaten run continues"

SIX matches, six wins. That is Carlisle United's record for October 2016. The six matches were one Checkatrade Trophy match and five Sky Bet League Two matches. Here are the October 2016 results:
  • Saturday 1st: League: United 2 - Colchester United 0 (Attendance: 4516)
  • Tuesday 4th: Trophy: United 2 - Blackburn Rovers 0 (Attendance: 1253)
  • Saturday 8th: League: Morecambe 0 - United 3 (Attendance: 3773 [1996 United fans])
  • Saturday 15th: League: United 3 - Hartlepool United 2 (Attendance 7333)
  • Saturday 22nd: League: Stevenage 1 - United 2 (Attendance: 2720 [447 United fans])
  • Saturday 29th: League: United 3 - Crawley Town 1 (Attendance: 56190
The fixture list for November has another six games: Away at St Albans City in the FA Cup (6th); Home to Fleetwood Town in the Trophy (9th); Away in the League at Newport County (12th) and Grimsby Town (22nd); Home in the League to Exeter City (19th) and Mansfield Town (26th).

#BluesForever

Sunday, October 23, 2016

The 1989 World Tour: Lorde & Leona.

IN this final look at the 1989 World Tour, the 'best of the guests' are Lorde, pictured above, and Leona Lewis, pictured below.


I do hope you have enjoyed the media I have shared from the 1989 World Tour.

I would also like to take this moment to mention that, a couple of weeks ago, the eleventh anniversary of the creation of this blog passed by. I would like to thank you for your continuing visits and continuing support of Reporting From The Fox Tower.

Sunday, October 16, 2016

DX Notes, July - October 2016.

A while has passed since the last update on the broadcasts I have heard on the Medium Wave and Short Wave bands, so here is a collective of both bands over the course of the months of July to October.

Times are listed in UTC (Universal Time Co-ordination, which equals Greenwich Mean Time).
Frequencies are listed in kiloHertz (kHz).

July 2016: Short Wave
  • 28 July: 2042 UTC: 15825 kHz: WWCR, Nashville TN USA. Good to moderate reception. English to Europe, Middle East, America via Nashville. Programme may have been 'Into The Blue' with Terry Herd.
September 2016: Medium Wave
  • 3 September: 1858 UTC: 1458 kHz: Lyca Radio, Brookmans Park, London. Moderate reception. Broadcasting to the Asian Community; Asian music.
  • 3 September: 1915 UTC: 1458 kHz: BBC Newcastle, Wrekenton, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Moderate reception. Music: Elton John & Kiki Dee - 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart'; Bruce Springsteen - 'Dancing In The Dark'. ID: "...For the North East, BBC Newcastle".
  • 3 September: 2034 UTC: 1548 kHz: Forth 2, Colinswell, Edinburgh. Strong to moderate reception. Music: Madison Avenue 'Don't Call Me Baby'. Speech from the male host, Sean. Ad break. ID for Forth 2. Music: Michael Jackson 'Bad'.
  • 3 September: 2055 UTC: 1557 kHz: Smooth Radio, Kings Heath, Northampton. Moderate reception. Music: Fern Kinney 'Together We Are Beautiful'. ID for Smooth Radio. Music: 'In Your Eyes'. Ad break. News bulletin [10pm]. Music: The Carpenters; Prince.
October 2016: Short Wave [Tropical Band]
  • 9 October: 1902 UTC: 3985 kHz: Radio Slovakia International. Moderate reception. English to Europe via Radio 700, Kall-Krekel, Germany. News stories from the past week (male host). The 'Listener's Tribune' show: Female (lead) host, speaking with a male colleague. Listener's letters. Conclusion of programme with contact details.
  • 9 October: 1927 UTC: 3985 kHz: Radio 700, Kall-Krekel, Germany. Moderate reception. Music: Paul McCartney & Wings 'Band On The Run'. ID for Radio 700. Music continues... Tea break. 1952 UTC: Music continues - Neil Diamond 'Solitary Man'; The Beatles 'Love Me Do'; Elton John 'Crocodile Rock'.
  • 9 October: 2002 UTC: 3995 kHz: HCJB Deutschland, Weenermoor, Germany. Moderate reception. German language broadcast, primarily to Europe. Music. Male speech. Relaxed style of programme.
  • 9 October: 2023 UTC: 4015 kHz: Laser Hot Hits. UK. Good to moderate reception. ★Pirate★ Male speech giving frequencies, ID for Laser Hot Hits and the website address. Music. Links: "Jazz, funk and soul, we start in the 80s; Starting with 'Mercy, Mercy'"... "Best funk and soul on the way... for a Sunday... 'Oh What A Feeling'". Music and speech.
  • 9 October: 2107 UTC: 5000 kHz: WWV, Boulder CO USA. Strong to good reception. Time Signal station. Continuous tone. Audible 'pips' every second. 'Double-ticks' at 2120 UTC.
  • 9 October: 2149 UTC: 5960 kHz: China Radio International. Strong to good reception. English to Europe & Africa via Albania. 'Roundtable': Female and male hosts. College / University students in China can overspend; Females spending more than males. 'Chinese Studio' / 'Learn Chinese' programme: "How do you say 'stir fry' in Chinese?" is the Question of the day. Conclusion of programme at 2200 UTC.
That is the list of broadcasts heard over recent months. Please note the station names contain links to their websites. I do hope you find the above information of interest. Enjoy.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

The 1989 World Tour: The Guests.

CONTINUING our look back at The 1989 World Tour, which followed the release of the album 1989, the tour was not only a showcase for the music of and the number of costume changes by Taylor Alison Swift, but also the guest list.

One of Taylor's guests, Selena Gomez, is pictured here on the Tour.


More guests, coming soon.
Until then, enjoy.