ITALY RAI Milan 900 kHz QSL

NEW ZEALAND Radio New Zealand QSL

Prior to 1990, Radio New Zealand broadcast from Titahi Bay with two 7.5 kW transmitters which had been left behind by the US military after the Second World War.

Although intended for the Pacific and Australia, the station was heard in South Africa on occasions. Radio New Zealand made it through to the coastal location of Sandbaai on the 15th Jaunuary 1985. The station was received with a fair consistant signal on 15485 kHz at 0425 hours UTC via the FRG-7 and 30 metre longwire antenna. I was fortunate to receive the above QSL card in response to my reception report.

HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS

A gallery of interesting historical photographs from a bygone era is available on the Radio New Zealand website.

NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS KYOI Saipan QSL

The Pacific remains a fascinating target area for the South African dxer. Apart from Australia and New Zealand, memorable and sensational shortwave catches such as the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Vanuatu have been reported in South Africa by a few experienced dxers.

In 1985 I experienced regular reception from KFBS and KYOI from Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands.

I was fortunate to obtain a QSL from KYOI in response to my reception report from a broadcast on the 11th January 1985.

KYOI - A BRIEF HISTORY

KYOI was a commercial shortwave station that began transmitting from the Pacific island of Saipan on the 17th December 1982. Initial frequencies were 11900, 15190, 15405, and 9670 kHz.

Broadcasting "contemporary hits" rock music with the slogan 'Super Rock', KYOI was not only an instant hit in the intended target area of Japan but also unexpectedly with listeners worldwide. It was one of the few places on the shorwave dial where one could listen to a contemporary rock music format with virtually no interruption.

In December 1986 the Christian Science Monitor purchased KYOI. The format of KYOI was changed in 1987 after which the broadcasting of music programs ended in 1989 with the changing of the station callsign to KHBI.

THE KYOI STORY

Avialable at the Raio Heritage website, The KYOI Story is an interesting account of the history of the station.

IRELAND RTE Radio 1 Tullamore 567 kHz QSL

RTE Tullamore on 567 kHz was received for the first time at 2340 hours UTC on the 8th December 1984 via the FRG-7 and 20 metre longwire antenna at Pinelands.

I received a picturesque QSL card showing a 9th century round tower overlooking Ardmore Bay in response to my reception report.

The station made it through on a few rare occasions prior to 14th October 1997 when 567 Cape Talk (our local Cape Town radio station) began broadcasting on 567 kHz.

RTE1 MEDIUMWAVE CLOSEDOWN

RTE Tullamore closed down on the 24th March 2008. Dxer Paul Logan posted a nostalgic You Tube video clip of the final announcement before station closedown.

KRLD Dallas TX 1080 kHz QSL

KRLD Dallas TX on 1080 kHz was received for the first time at 0517 hours UTC on the 26th August 1984 via the FRG-7 and 20 metre longwire antenna at Pinelands.

Chief Engineer Roy Jenkins kindly responded to my reception report with a QSL card and a cool looking vintage KRLD 1080 Cowboys metallic sticker.

ANTIGUA ZDK St.Johns 1100 kHz QSL

Antigua shoreline (Photograph Wikimedia Commons).


The bussiness card and friendly thank you note received from ZDK accountant/sales representative James Beckles.

It was a pleasant surprise to receive ZDK St. Johns Antigua on 1100 kHz for the first time (A South African First) on the 18th August 1984 via the FRG-7 and 20 metre longwire antenna at Pinelands.

ZDK accountant/sales representative James Beckles verified the reception with a kind thank you card in response to my reception report to the station.

LUXEMBOURG Radio Luxembourg 1440 kHz QSL

Radio Luxembourg was heard regularly on 1440 kHz via the FRG-7 and 20 metre longwire antenna at Pinelands during the 1980's.

I was fortunate to receive a QSL card in response to my reception report from a broadcast on the 16th August 1984.

TRANSKEI Capital Radio 585 kHz QSL

Capital Radio 604 used to broadcast to listeners in South Africa from transmitters located in the Transkei.

The station actually operated on 603 kHz (and 585 kHz) medium wave, but promoted a frequency to which the jingles would rhyme.

Capital Radio 604 began transmitting on 26 December 1979 and was shut down in 1996.The station was an almost carbon copy of Capital Radio 194 (1548 kHz) in London. The Capital 194 logo was slightly modified by changing the bird to a seagull and obviously changing the number to 604.

An interesting archive web site http://www.capital604.com/ contains photographs, video, jingles and recent interviews with ex-604 personal.

PUERTO RICO WOSO San Juan 1030 kHz QSL

It was a pleasant surprise to hear WOSO San Juan, Puerto Rico on 1030 kHz for the first time at Pinelands on the 23rd June 1984 via the FRG-7 and 20 metre longwire antenna.

I was fortunate to receive a friendly verification letter from Station Manager Sergio Fernandez in response to my reception report.

Old San Juan (Photograph Kailuo Wang via Wikipedia).

ANTIGUA VOA Relay 1580 kHz QSL

MONACO TWR Monte Carlo 1467 kHz QSL

DOMINICA ZGBC 1060 kHz QSL

It was a pleasant surprise to hear the Gospel Broadcasting Corporation from Dominica on 1060 kHz for the first time on the 14th May 1984. The station made it through to Pinelands via the FRG7 and 20 metre longwire antenna.

I received an informative programme guide from Engineering Technician Roosevelt LeBlanc after a follow-up reception report to the station.

OMAN BBC Relay 1413 kHz QSL

Another regular visitor is the BBC relay from Oman on 1413 kHz.

I received a QSL card from the BBC (with no details) in response to my reception report from the 8th May 1984. The station was heard via the FRG7 and 20 metre longwire antenna at Pinelands.

BOTSWANA VOA Relay 621 kHz QSL

The Voice of America relay from Botswana on 621 kHz was regularly heard at Pinelands with a Yaseu Musen FRG-7 receiver and 20 metre longwire antenna.

I received a QSL card in response to my reception report from the 24th April 1984.

YAESU MUSEN FRG-7 RECEIVER

After a three year break from dxing, I returned to the hobby in 1984 with a newly aquired Yaesu Musen FRG-7 receiver. The FRG-7 proved to be a remarkable performer with a quiet noise floor and good sensitivity. I guess it's no surprise that this set has become a classic receiver.

The front of an original FRG-7 brochure, obtained when I purchased the receiver.

WHO Des Moines IA 1040 kHz QSL

WHO Des Moines IA on 1040 kHz was heard in Pinelands on the 28th August 1980 via the Siera receiver and 20 metre longwire antenna.

I was fortunate to receive the above QSL card in response to my reception report

CALLSIGN ORIGIN

George Kuhns, the president of the owning company Bankers Life, promoted the creation of the station. He chose the callsign WHO due to the fact that during the 1920s, people searching for stations on the radio dial would ask, "Who is it ?"

CFGO Ottawa ON 1440 kHz QSL

The 1980's proved to be an fascinating era for dxing in South Africa with many memorable highlights received for the first time.

Pinelands remained a good location for dx from North America during the early part of the decade. During the middle 1980's the "Sea Gain" effect at Sandbaai (Hermanus) provided sensational reception from Australia. The latter part of the decade will be remembered for some remarkable dxpeditions to Swartriet, situated on the West Coast of South Africa, where a 1 km beverage antenna was set up for the first time by dxer Vince Stevens.

I was fortunate to receive a few interesting QSL's during the 1980's. The verifications featured in the following posts will include highlights from North America, the Caribbean and Australia.

The first QSL card to arrive in my mailbox during the 1980's was from CFGO Ottawa ON on 1440 kHz. The Canadian station made a surprise appearance on the 19th August 1980 via the Siera receiver and 20 metre longwire antenna at Pinelands.


This CFGO sticker was included with the QSL card. Also included was a cool key chain which became a useful item for my car keys during the 1980's but has long since disintegrated !

WSJS Winston-Salem NC 600 kHz T-Shirt and Mug

It was a pleasant surprise to receive a WSJS T-shirt and mug from across the Atlantic this week !

Morning Show News Director Smith Patterson kindly sent through the items in response to my reception report to the station.

Thank you Smith for your kind gift which will certainly be put to good use during future dxpeditions !

The WSJS T-shirt, mug and Sony SRF-M37V receiver.

John Bryant

John Bryant (Photograph with kind permission from Guy Atkins c/o www.fivebelow.squarespace.com).

I was shocked and deeply saddened to hear of John Bryant's sudden passing this week.

On behalf of South African dxers John Plimmer, Graham Bell, Vince Stevens and myself, our deepest sympathy and condolences go out to John's wife Linda, daughter Mary Ellen and her family in addition to all the dxers who were fortunate to know John personally.

We are all still in a state of shock and disbelief at the moment and quite frankly, I'm still finding it hard to express the loss of such a valuable friend from the dxing world.

John Bryant's enthusiam, generosity and encouragement have been an inspiration to us in South Africa.

I would like to share John's recent thoughtful and meaningful comment from a post for the ULR group :

" ... It sure is nice to stop for a few minutes to think about the bigger picture. It is very nice to have you all around. It makes my life much richer. Yours, too, I hope! "

Our lives have certainly been enriched by the encouraging, engaging, informative and friendly correspondence with you John.

Rest In Peace.

Dxer Guy Atkins, a close friend of John Bryant for 24 years, has kindly invited dxers to leave any thoughts or memories in the comments section for an in-memoriam post, availalble at http://fivebelow.squarespace.com/posts/2010/2/10/in-memoriam.html .

Ultralight Centurian Awards From The U.S.A.

I was fortunate to receive two additional ultralight award certificates from John Bryant on behalf of the other ultralight awards commitee members Robert Ross and Gary DeBock. My humble thanks and appreciation for the acknowledgement guys !

The two Centurian Awards are for the reception of 104 mediumwave stations from Australia with the Sony SRF-M37V and 220 metre BOG (Beverage On Ground) during the second quarter of 2009.


The interesting graphic is taken from the front cover of Citizens Radio Callbook, Spring 1928 and is known as "Our Lady of the Globes" in some quarters.

Visit http://www.dxer.ca/ for an insight into the fascinating hobby of Ultralight Radio Dxing.

Visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightdx/ which is an interesting discussion area regarding ULR Dxing.

MALTA Radio Mediterranean 1557 kHz QSL and Audio

Radio Mediterranean on 1557 kHz was heard with a strong signal via the Siera receiver and 20 metre longwire antenna at Pinelands during the late 1970's. 

The vintage QSL card above was received in response to my reception report on the 3rd May 1979.

AUDIO

The audio clip of the sign-on announcement was recorded at 1800 UTC on the 3rd May 1979 :

   

Panoramic view of Valletta, Malta (Photograph Wikimedia Commons).

WSM Nashville TN 650 kHz QSL

It was a pleasant surprise to receive WSM Nashville TN on 650 khz for the first time on the 7th May 1979 via the Siera receiver and 20 metre longwire antenna at Pinelands. I was fortunate to receive a QSL card in response to my reception report.

WSM's impressive 808 feet (246 m) Blaw-Knox tower was erected in 1932 and is the tallest of eight such towers that remain in use in North America (Photograph Wikimedia Commons).

ST. VINCENT Radio St. Vincent Kingstown 705 kHz QSL and Audio

It was a pleasant surprise to receive and identify Radio St. Vincent on 705 khz for the first time at 05h00 UTC on the 19th April 1979 via the vintage Siera valve receiver and a modest 20 metre longwire antenna at Pinelands (a fair signal peak just before local sunrise at 05h11 UTC). 

I was fortunate to receive a QSL card in response to my reception report.

AUDIO

Radio St. Vincent identified as "705 Radio" followed by an enjoyable program of jazz music.

A VOLCANIC ERUPTION AND IMPENDING EVACUATION !

More trans-Atlantic dx heard in Pinelands - 

recorded exactly five days before the above reception :

A dramatic news report concerning a volcanic eruption from WBT Charlotte NC heard in Pinelands on the 14th April at 05h00 hours UTC is available here

BAHAMAS ZNS 1 Nassau 1540 kHz QSL and Audio

ZNS 1 from the Bahamas on 1540 kHz was heard at Pinelands on the 18th April 1979 via the Siera receiver and 20 metre longwire antenna. I was fortunate to receive a QSL card in response to my reception report.

Audio

Radio Bahamas is a regular here at Fish Hoek. The station is usually received with an almost local quality signal around dawn during our dxpeditions to Seefontein as heard on this recording made on the 28th July 2005 :

U.K. Capital Radio London 1546 kHz QSL and Audio

Capital Radio from the United Kingdom on 1546 kHz made it through to Pinelands on the 1st September 1978 via the Siera receiver and 20 metre longwire antenna. I was fortunate to receive a QSL card, signed by C. Tyroll, in response to my reception report. 

The transmitter had an output of 27.5 kW producing a maximum e.r.p. of 97.5 kW to the south which would have contributed greatly to the reception in South Africa. 

AUDIO CLIP 

A huge signal from Capital Radio on 1548 kHz was recorded almost 10 years later on the 6th July 1988, during my first dxpedition to Swartriet (just north of Saldahna Bay) on the west coast of South Africa.

 

Fellow South African dxers Vince Stevens and James Arm set up a 1 kilometre beverage which was directed towards the north west. The resulting dx from North America and Europe was memorable to say the least !