FIRS Stanley Falkland Islands 530 kHz QSL

The Falkland Island Radio Service broadcasting on 530 kHz has been a sought-after dx target in South Africa for many years. The highlight of the recent dxpedition to Jongensgat was the reception of FIRS on 530 kHz - the first time that the Falkland Islands has been received on mediumwave in South Africa.

Station Manager Corina Goss kindly verified my reception report from 25 August with an attractive QSL card, stickers and programme schedule. Thank you Corina for the QSL card which will certainly provide a good reminder of the surprising reception !

6MD Merredin WA 1098 kHz QSL

6MD Merredin on 1098 khz made it through to Fish Hoek on quite a few occasions this year via the M37V and 220 metre BOG.

Program director Mat Cummins kindly verified a follow up report from previous reception on the 22nd March 2006 and added :

" ... I know I said last week that receiving our Collie frequency (1134) was pretty amazing but considering that Merredin is inland from Perth by at least 300km this is even more staggering ! ... Fantastic work ! "

Thanks Mat for the verification, including your generous comments !

6TZ Collie WA 1134 kHz QSL

The 2 kw signal from 6TZ Collie WA made it through to Fish Hoek on 1134 kHz via the M37V and 220 metre BOG during good propagation conditions experienced on the 16th April this year.

Radio West Program Director Mat Cummins kindly verified my reception report this week and added :

" ... The 1134 signal actually comes from Collie which is inland some way (perhaps 60km’s) and not one of the easiest signals to get either here in W.A. or of course in South Africa so what you’ve achieved is pretty rare I would suggest. We recently did some more work to that transmitter to improve reception in the area so perhaps that has also contributed to the result too ! "

Jongensgat Dxpedition - 24th to 27th August 2009

Another enjoyable dxpedition to Jongensgat with fellow dxers Vince Stevens and John Plimmer (with John's wife Dawn and friend Willie) produced some interesting dx.

After arriving safely in Vince's 4x4 on Monday afternoon (24th August), I set up and directed the 220 metre BOG towards Argentina / over the shoulder towards Japan.

CONDITIONS

Strong signals from Japan and the Philippines were noted during the evenings. Argentina dominated across the band during the early hours with many stations still present from that part of the world after 0700 UTC with the sun well up in the sky !

FALKLAND ISLAND RADIO SERVICE

The highlight of the dxpedition was the reception of Falkland Island Radio Service on 530 kHz. So far as I am aware, this is the first time that The Falkland Islands has been received on mediumwave in South Africa.

The report is available as a pdf file at http://www.box.net/shared/iepg98urif