Logs from Newfoundland Feb. 26-28

[newfoundland dxer]

Hi everyone:

Sorry for the delay in posting these logs. It has been a busy week at work.

Last weekend saw good conditions here. Friday night I had a lot of noise, but I traced the problem to the soil around my grounding rods being too dry. Unfortunately, it was also frozen, but i managed to thaw the frost on Saturday and soak the ground. My background noise level dropped from s8 to s1.

Saturday night was quite busy from the US (weekend before the Winterfest DX gathering), and Sunday morning was quite active from Europe. Conditions were good Sunday on 48m until about 0915, when some stations (such as Orion) started to fade out, while others remained decent until around 1030. Strange.

Friday, February 26
3905,0 . . 2150-2205 . Skyline International Radio, music and talk, suffering from very bad rfi, 32441, ID via Iann's chat
6220,0 . . 2245-2255 . Mystery Radio, rock/pop music, ID, 33442

Saturday, February 27
6220,0 . . 1910-1917 . Playback Int./Mystery Radio, Rolling Stones "Angie", PBI and Mystery IDs, 34443
7610,0 . . 1917-1925 . Radio Amica, dance music, ID by man, 34443
6952,0 . . 1947-1955 . Radio Jan van Gent, very weak music, ID via Iann's chat, 24341
1665,0 . . 2120-2134 . Oldtimer Radio, barely audible music, high noise level on mw tonight, 14341
6304,7 . . 2134-2140 . Radio Merlin Int., pop music, loud enough to hear the songs, but I did not recognize them, ID via Iann's chat, 24341
5804,0 . . 2207-0020 . Overijssel Radio, talk in Dutch, greetings, music, 34442
6955,2 . . 2323-2326 . WMPR (Micro Power Radio) (US), dance music, ID, 34342
6924,4 . . 2326-2336 . Radio Ronin (tent) (US), barely audible music, lots of rfi QRM at this time, 24341
6925.0u . 2336-2346 . UNID (US?), Beach Boys "409", talk by a reporter (comedy clip?), unknown song (maybe more Beach Boys), ID at 2342 sounded like "Beth" or "Best Radio", but it was under a severe burst of rfi, so I cannot be sure. Does not seem to match any postings on US sites, or any known US station name. 34342

Sunday, February 28
6925.0 . . 0021-0030 . UNID (US?), barely audible music, other listeners heard Captian Morgan Shortwave, 14341
6925.0u . 0038-0039 . UNID (US?), Don Henley "All She Wants to Do Is Dance", off without ID, 44343
6325,2 . . 0114-0124 . Radio Bonte Koe, very weak music, op played jingle ID repeatedly, which broke through the noise, 7 watt test!, 14341
6925,0u . 0130-0140 . Outhouse Radio (US), Led Zepplin, Elvis, ID at 0133, talk by op over "Rocket Man", 34443
6955.0u . 0154-0211 . UNID (US?), instrumental music, a couple of comedy clips, back to same music, possible ID as WOMR Radio or something similar at 0215, then promo for Forest Gump. 34342
5815,0 . . 0838-0915 . Orion Radio, tuned to Orion first as usual, was pleased to hear pop music at 34442, ID and geetings, signal remained strong until around 0915, when it started to fade.
6205,0 . . 0840-0940 . Borderhunter Radio, polka, jingle ID, The Romantics "What I Like About You", 34342 at tune in, down to 24341 by 0940
6280,1 . . 0845-0900 . Radio Merlin International, unknown pop song, talk, more pop, just above the noise, with occassional loud ute QRM, ID via Iann's chat, 24341
6290,0 . . 0848-0853 . Radio Trans Europe, barely audible music fading in and out, ID via Iann's chat
6265,0 . . 0853-0858 . Radio Geronimo, talk in German over rock music, heard positive ID and also "Rock and Roll Outlaws" before and after song (maybe band name?), 34343
6299,8 . . 0858-0930 . Radio Paardenkracht, song ("I Was Born on a Monday"?), ID via Iann's chat, occassioanl strong ute QRM, 34342
6310,0 . . 0902-0930 . Delta Radio, dance music, 34343 at 0902, mixing with a second station (unid) at 0925 recheck
5799,8 . . 0908-1030 . Free Radio Service Holland, unknown pop song (from the summer of 2009), ID, faded out around 1030, 24342
7600,0 . . 0908-1322 . Free Radio Service Holland, great signal all day, lots of great music and talk, occassional rtty QRM, 44443 at tune in, only dropped to 34443 by1322!
6291,0 . . 0919-0925 . Radio Shadow, barely audible music, ID via Iann's chat
5825,0 . . 0932-0940 . UNID, just traces of music poking through the noise occassionally, no details possible
6180,0 . . 0945-0950 . Radio Scotland Int., very weak music with horrrible splatter from adjacent stations, 22441
7679,3 . . 0952-1105 . Central Radio International, continuous pop music, ID via Iann's chat, 24342
6305,0 . . 0959-1002 . Radio Scotland Int., talk, including ID, very weak music, 24341
6300,0 . . 1002-1022 . Radio Spaceman, instrumental music, talk heard at 1013 but too weak to understand, ID via Iann's chat, 24341, nice to hear Spaceman back on sw!
9290,2 . . 1023-1030 . Polaris Radio, very weak music, ID via Iann's chat, 24341
12257,2. .1120-1125 . WR International, just traces of music poking throught the noise occassionally. The extra sunspots don't seem to be doing much for this freq., or maybe it's just winter conditions.
6295,0 . . 1135-1140 . Radio Scotland Int., barely audible music, 48m had pretty much closed here, but still got a trace of RSI, ID via Iann's chat
3931,6 . . 1936-1940 . Bogusman, barely audible music fading in and out, rfi cutting in and out, ID via Iann's chat
5110,0 . . 0015-0030 . Radio Ramona via WBCQ (US), Feargal Sharkey "A Good Heart", ID, email, 44443

Hopefully conditions will be good again this weekend.

Cheers, Terry

Receivers: JRC NRD-525 & Yaesu-Musen FRG-7
Antenna: 75 m long wire, 30 m from house
QTH: Conception Bay South, Newfoundland, Canada

Abbreviations and references:
(US) = United States
IS = Interval Signal
u = usb (upper side band)
L = lsb (lower side band)
v = variable
tent = tentative
pos = possible
QRM = interference
QSO = conversation
ham = licensed radio amateur operator
c/d = close down (transmitter off)
op = operator
othr = over the horizon radar
rfi = radio frequency interference (noise caused by electrical sparking, usually in power lines)
Iann's chat = http://www.easyshopdiscountzone.com/rad ... e/english/