Pirate DXpedition in Norway 13 October 2012

[Kai]

Hi!

Arvid Husdal and I were on a short ‘DXpedition’ along the south coast of Norway last Saturday (13 October). We first drove (from Kristiansand, where Arvid lives) to Lista, a beautiful peninsula in the very south of Norway, where we (as always on Lista) were able to pick up many Dutch pirates via ground wave (lots of salt water between Lista and Pirate Land!). It’s always amazing to see how much activity there is on a Saturday morning/afternoon on medium wave in the east and north of the Netherlands (most of the stations we heard were from the province of Drenthe, but there were also stations from Overijssel, Friesland and Noord-Holland. Perhaps Groningen as well).

In the afternoon we drove to a location near Mandal (halfway back to Kristiansand), where Arvid has discovered a recreational area with a parking space that is ideal for DXing East European pirates on MW! So we rolled out the antenna again (in the right direction) and picked up dozens of pirates from Serbia, Greece, Ukraine and Russia – of which we have been able to identify a few thanks to good helpers!

RX: 2 x Sangean ATS 909
ANT: 100m wire lying on the ground + balun

Times UTC


Lista session (local sunrise around 0600):

0705 1645 Noordzee with sentimental ballades (‘In m’n cell’, ‘Er staat in mijn tuin een graaf met een steen’) and reports S4

0707 1628 Santana with music and reports S4

0708 1656 Corona with music and reports S4

0710 1645 Rockabilly with music and reports. ‘Jonge komm bald wieder’ S4

0713 1620 Carolina with music and reports S4

0717 1651 Uniek with polka and reports S3

0723 1620 Schaduwjager with music and reports S5!

0725 1650 Digital with music and reports S4

0749 1620 Anton with reports. ‘The Winner Takes it All’, ‘Mr. Sandman’ S4

0823 1630 UNID with instrumental music S4

0825 1670 Matrix with music and reports S2 – weak but readable!

0829 1647 Zeewolf with music and reports S3

0834 1645 Spanningzoeker with polka and reports S4

0844 1620 Silvia with music and reports S2 – weak but readable!

0936 1645 UNID with polka S4

0936 1620 UNID with music S1

0942 1640 UNID with polka S2

0943 1645 UNID with polka S2

0950 1503 Radio 0511 wrestling with BBC Radio Stoke. Oldies and jingles. ID at 1000. This is a relatively low-powered station in Friesland that is on the air every weekend. S2-3

0957 1645 Blauwe Boer, tent. (possibly Telstar) with music and reports S2

1001 1640 Telstar, tent. (possibly Blauwe Boer) with music and reports S1

1003 1645 UNID with non-stop music. ‘Droog je tranen Carolien’ S4

1036 1621 UNID with ‘Move It Up’ and ‘The Free Electric Band’. Perhaps Hemmeling? S2

1041 1671 Zwarte Panter asking for contact. Later 1639, 1636 and 1623 S2-3

1048 1636 Zender Havana with a few records, later reports S3

1055 1638 Zender Osaka with music and reports. ‘Going Back West’ S3

1055 1633 Verona (we’ve heard at least two Veronas before, but this seems to be a new one) with music, later reports S3

1117 1621 Hemmeling asking for contact. Polka S2-3

1123 1655 UNID with non-stop music S2

1126 1630 Musky with music and reports. Later 1629 S2

1130 1629 UNID testing. Lots of dead air and breaks.

1131 1638 UNID S2

1134 1690 UNID with non-stop music. ‘Question’ (Moody Blues), ‘Sunshine of Your Life’ (Cream), ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ S2 – weak but readable!

1151 1651 Toekomst with reports S4

Recordings of most of the Dutch stations: https://www.box.com/s/k2elmr1l241ivkea7wlw (the distortion is Kai’s fault, not the pirates’!)


Eigebrekk session (local sunset around 1630):

1449 1705 UNID, possibly Serbian. Non-stop accordion mx. S1 – not bad more than one and a half hour before sunset.

1608 2920U Doktor (S2); Baraban (S3); Argon (S1 – weak but readable); Serzhant, Dnepropetrovsk (tent.), (S3), Udarnik, Krasnodarskiy krai (S1), Epokha (S2) and Ataka, Tambov (tent.) (S1) giving each other signal reports in the usual hooligan way. Voice only. Fairly good signals even though it was still daylight at our side. Pleasant listening with little noise. Thanks to Alexandr for the IDs! Recording: https://www.box.com/s/0bsrlt7cherrit7dls6q

1613 1654 Rode Ster, Friesland. Quite strong in spite of wrong antenna direction (broad side towards the Netherlands).

1620 1628 UNID Serbian station. Voice and music. No ID. S3 Thanks to TEXASSerbia for checking!

1639 1708 Captain, Axaia (The Peloponnese). Talk, ‘modern’ music. Thanks to Dimitris on the Anodos forum for the ID!

1646 1669 UNID Serbian (?) station. Non-stop folk music.

1649 1684 Parus, Kirovohrad, Ukraine testing and asking for a report. Voice only. S3 Thanks to Alexandr!

1649 1682 Dimond, Pozarevac, Serbia QSOing with Kale. Lots of echo. Voice only. S2 Thanks to TEXASSerbia!

1651 1684 Kale, Pozarevac, Serbia QSOing with Dimond. Voice only. S2-3 Thanks to TEXASSerbia!

1656 1624 Umka, near Mladenovac, Serbia with music and ID. Later heard QSOing (see below). S3 Thanks to TEXASSerbia! Recording: https://www.box.com/s/k4vcb69q9gorkho8wwm8

1657 1647 Kontrola, near Kucevo, Serbia calling. Voice only. Quite strong. Thanks to TEXASSerbia!

1701 1690 ΚΟΣΤΑΣ ΧΡΥΣΑ ΑΓΟΡΙΑ (Costas Golden Boys), Leivadia, Greece. Music, talk (in QSO). S3 Thanks to Jackson on the Anodos forum for the ID.

1703 1710 UNID ‘testing 1, 2’ (in Greek). Voice only. No ID on our recording (thanks to Dimitris on the Anodos forum for checking!)

1707 1690 AΛΗΤΟΒΙΟΣ (Alitovios), Ptolemaida, Greece. Pop music, talk (in QSO). S3 Thanks to Jackson on the Anodos forum for the ID. Costas Golden Boys and Alitovios: https://www.box.com/s/u31fj2gj1hp1tsdtvebv

1715 3033 Aladdin, ‘rayon 6’ (i.e. Caucasus and Transcaucasia – the old Soviet ham radio region no. 6) playing Russian pop music and chansons (Alexandr calls it ‘thieves’ songs’). Op giving ID and talking about tiresome and cheerful songs. Sounded like a genuine music programme. Thanks to Alexandr for the help! S3 Recording: https://www.box.com/s/z8tm8r66ab1bcofe63yp

1721 1700 UNID. Greek music, talk in Greek.

1755 1676 Kalibar, near Mladenovac, Serbia QSOing with Umka and Tornado. Played a bit of music as well. S3 Thanks to TEXASSerbia!

1755 1674 Umka/James, Mladenovac, Serbia QSOing with Kalibar and Tornado. Voice only. S3 Thanks to TEXASSerbia!

1755 1675 Tornado, Varazdin, Croatia QSOing with Kalibar and Umka. Voice only. S3-4 Thanks to TEXASSerbia! Kalibar, Umka and Tornado: https://www.box.com/s/53y4hii173gryg5mzx4j

+ Many more UNIDs (the band got very crowded and confusing as it became darker!)

73

Kai Salvesen

[Caroline]

Hi Kai,

GREAT logs from your side, really...especially those from southeast Europe!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks a lot!!!!!

Best wishes to you,
Caroline.