STATION BY STATION
Our monitors were: Julian Anderson in Argentina, Pedro F. Arrunategui in Peru, Jairo Salazar R. and Manuel A. Rodriguez Lanza in Venezuela, Dario Monferini in Italy, Dick Moon in the South African Republic, Tore Nilsen, our Norwegian in Zambia, Victor Goonetilleke in Sri Lanka and finally Harry Weatherly in Australia. The job for some monitors was not easy due to their local sunsets. We should have known better.
We had also contact with the Swedish Embassy in Saudi Arabia to record the English service from Riyadh 30 minutes between 1600 and 2000 UTC. We couldn't include this station in the contest as they were not heard early in the autumn. Also the Swedish Embassy in Kenya was contacted, but there was some misunderstanding about the details.
901005 1830-1845. 22 station points.
An easy start of the competition, but some splash from a close frequency.
| 18.33 | The programme "Powerline" containing the gospel of John 11, and the avoiding of wrong thinking. Three words of advice. |
| 18.40 | Gospel music. "Jesus is the best thing that ever can happen to you" by Dennie Bell. |
901005 1905-1930. 32 station points.
RNZI was the first station we established contact with. As early as in June the time was set for RNZI. Then we thought it was a good time for the Mailbox programme by Tony Ring at 19.05 UTC. When we had printed the schedule we were really nervous that they should change the frequency as they was not audible on 15485 kHz due to QRM from KOL Israel and Radio Moscow in Arabic. They had also tested alternative frequencies. Anyway they was heard quite good during the contest day. At least the first half. The signal of RNZI decreast and the QRM from Moscow increased during the contest time. Tony Ring read letters from listeners. At 19.14 they played "Oh, I like it" by the Creeps from the album Blue Tomato, dedicated to all competitors. After that song they announced about the special transmission of Radio St. Helena. Then Arthur Cushen gave DX-tips via the phone. Finally a few more letters inc. those from Dan Olsson, Furulund and Lennart Andersson, Göteborg.
The winners of the Arthur Cushen 1990 book, awarded by RNZI are:
Roland Sigge, Sweden, Finn Krone, Denmark and Jarmo Levo in Finland. Congratulations.
| 19.14 | "Oh, I like it" by the Creeps. |
901005 1935-2000. 49 station points.
It seems that they are alternating a strong transmitter on 4934 kHz with a weak one on 4935 kHz. They used of course the weaker one this evening, not by our request!! They had the jambo programme Happy Sounds by Joseph Ritoh with unannounced records.
| 19.36 | "Don't you love me" by 49:ers. |
| 19.46 | Identification and jambo (greetings). |
| 19.49 | "Everybody everybody" by Black Box. |
901005 2100-2125. 81 station points.
LNBS was heard quite badly. There was QRM from Yakutsk in the USSR on the same frequency. They brought a non-stop disco music programme. Only one announcement by the DJ at 21.05.
| 21.00 | "That's the way love is". |
901005 2205-2230. 99 station points.
A very difficult station to hear. Just heard on 5051,9 kHz in Borlänge when the interfering teleprinter was silent two times ten seconds each. Then John Ekwall recognized a few bars of the well known song "The girl from Ipanema". Strange that no one in Finland could hear them good enough for an accepted report.
| 22.05 | "The logical song" by Supertramp. |
| 22.07 | "The girl from Ipanema". |
| 22.10 | "Up the road". |
| 22.13 | "Lets stay together" by Tina Turner. |
| 22.16 | "Magic" by Olivia Newton John. |
901005 2235-2300. 65 station points.
Ecos got neither good signal nor easily reported programme. We have a recording from Caracas, Venezuela. Some have tried 9640 kHz, but the station there was "Sahara Libre" from Algeria.
| 22.36 | Fosfa Suroeste: principal promotor de la Fosforita en Venezuela, abono natural. |
| 22.37 | (Programa: "Agenda de actividad"). |
| 22.49 | Promo. Gran Concurso. (competition). Commeccial: "... Light" (soft drink). |
| 22.51 | PSA. "Dia del cenco" el domingo 21 de Octubre. Commercial: Grano San Cristobal. |
| 22.52 | Commercial: Almacen Hermita: General Electric. Commercial: Digalo con musica de los Cerros Sevilla. Commercial: Loteria de Tachira. |
| 22.53 | Commercial: Banco Metropolitana. Commercial: "... Deodorant". |
| 22.54 | Commercial: CA-Sistemas, equipo de computacion. |
901005 2305-2330. 68 station points.
We don't have a good monitor report on this one. The listening time was too early for our monitors in Peru and Argentina. At 23.05 there was a programme from Radio Vaticana. At 23.19, 23.22 and 23.26 unannounced Spanish pop songs with the possible titles "Corazon ; Para tu and "Conmigo". The signal was very weak. No detail points are given here.
901005 2335-0000. 59 station points.
We had planned this station at 23.00 but some days they didn't sign on until 23.30 so we had to change the time with Juan XXIII till 23.35 to be sure. They had a fair signal on 9655 kHz and the modulation was weak. They were heard with the programme Travel Thailand, a tourist information programme they have almost every day. Therefore we can't pass reports with just "tourist information programme".
| 23.35 | TAT Public service announcement. About Thai customs. |
| 23.39 | TAT PSA. Celebration of the first anniversary of Thai wax figure museum. |
| 23.39 | Announcement: A book available on Thai handicraft. |
| 23.41 | Music by Christopher Cross. |
| 23.50 | Events this weekend in Thailand. |
901006 0725-0755. 100 station points.
R Europe was found to be a very difficult catch for the main part of the participants. Maybe one reason was that they transmitted on 7290,8 kHz in the beginning and then smoothly drifted down 300 Hz till 07.55 UTC. Many have reported another station on 7295 kHz. The programme was made by an Italian DJ assisted by Dario Monferini.
| 07.34 | "Flute on" by Johnson. |
| 07.38 | "Close to you" by Maxi Priest. |
| 07.44 | "Found love" by Double D featuring Danny. |
| 07.49 | "Heaven knows" by Cool Down Zone. |
901006 0800-0830. Deleted.
Unfortunately the station was not on the air due to technical problems. The transmitter broke down on September the 23rd at 0715 hours UTC when they changed from 9810 to 9815 kHz. They went back to the air on the l9th of October. RFI extended the Arabic service when Saddam Hussein occupied Kuwait and is on 9815 06 to 07 UTC. To avoid the QRM from France, IRRS moved to 9810 at sign on till 0715. So Hussein is to blame that the special programme by our club was not aired!! This was a great disappointment for us. Our club had prepared a music programme with "Tune me to your station" by Sky High from Borlänge, "Rastastugan" by No Cruising Boys from Falun, Llorando se fue (the original Lambada song) by Cuarteto Continental from Peru etc etc.
901006 1500-1530. Deleted.
The station is deleted from the contest due to the QRM from Radio Finland. When we set the schedule (during summer time) there was no QRM on this channel. Then there were no problems to receive FEBC.
901006 1535-1600. 65 station points.
The reception was bad on both frequencies due to QRM. The reception quality was increasing and was quite qood the last five minutes on 9590. Usually the reception on 9590 is much better than on 6th of October!!
| 15.37 | "Clear blue skies" by Cliff Richard. |
| 15.40 | "Hang in long enough" by Phil Collins. |
| 15.43 | Talked about the missionary work of mother Teresa. |
| 15.51 | "Mother Teresa".|
| 15.57 | "Born to fight" by Tracy Chapman. |
901006 1605-1630. 23 station points.
The station was audible with a very strong signal on 15475 kHz. The whole programme was unfortunately a radioplay in French and this was a real challenge. This programme was not planned by the organisers but was a surprise for us too! We had hoped on a light entertainment programme instead. Most competitors have heard this station, but to get a detailpoint you had to give a fairly accurate description on the programme. The radioplay in short:
| 16.05 | A second moon appears in the sky and it's black. A space fleet takes off to investigate the mystery. It turns out to be an invasion by extra terrestrials called dragonides who are searching for a new planet to live on. They are very hostile and big fights start with a lot of sound-effects. In the background music by Vangelis and the lead tune from "Indiana Jones" etc etc. The story is told by Jonathan Caine. |
901006 1635-1700. 25 station points.
The programme "Rock the house show" by DJ Alex was easily heard when RAI signed off at 16.37.
| 16.37 | "Show'm the bass" by M.C. Mikec 'G'. |
| 16.43 | "I've been waiting for your love". |
| 16.48 | "What did I do to you?" by Lisa Stanfield. |
| 16.53 | "Just do it" |
901006 1735-1800. 71 station points.
They was heard with fair signal with a very boring programme. When we checked this one before, they had pop music and commercials.
| 17.35-17.57 | A political programme called "Reflections" based on problems of modern society, reflected in an interview with a medical professor and the Federal Commissioner for Education. Subjects as developing of society, leadership, educational systems, profession, immigration and emigration were discussed. |
901006 1810-1830. 18 station points.
RCI was heard with good signal strength on 15260 kHz with the programme "Coast to coast". This week focusing at Canadian Northern Territories. The host interviewed a journalist from Yellowknife.
| 18.10 | Commentary about the "land-claim" conflict between the government and the indians. |
| 18.13 | About the co-operation between Canada and Soviet in questions concerning building and science problems. |
| 18.17 | "I wonder" by Tracy Riley. |
| 18.21 | Commentary about leadership-schools in north west territories. |
| 18.24 | "Mountain mystery". A story about two dead bodies found in a ravine, which turned out to be two sleeping bags. |
901006 1835-1900. 87 station points.
Rather weak signal on this one. They were heard on all three frequencies, but best on 2485 kHz. Many have also reported a jazz programme on 2485 kHz! We believe this is a harmonic from mediumwave.
| 18.35 | "The time has come" by John Farnham. |
| 18.37 | "Wild Montana skies" by Emmylou Harris and John Denver. |
| 18.41 | "As long as I'm alive" by Little River Band, |
| 18.46 | "Falling" by Julee Cruise (from the TV-px Twin Peaks). |
| 18.5l | "September song" by Jeff Lynne. |
| 18.54 | "Goodnight my love" by E1 Debarge |
901006 2005-2040. 22 station points.
When our club decided to arrange the Nordic DX-Championship we worked hard trying to activate a non Sw country in the contest. In March we sent letters to St. Helena, Gibraltar (GBC and BFBS), Brunei, Western Samoa (SW under construction) and to Pitcairn Island (VP2OOPI). We also had some contacts with Norway trying to activate Bjornoya or Jan Mayen. After these letters we received negative answers from St. Helena (difficulties with a license for broadcasting), Gibraltar BC and Brunei (was positive but had no longer the SW transmitter available). After that John Ekwall (who were one of the organisers behind Radio Syd's SW transmission in 1984) helped us with names of Cable & Wireless in London. After letters to London C&W took some action, but John Ekwall made some important phonecalls till it finally was clear with a transmission from the island of St. Helena. On August the 1:st it also was much easier with communications to the island, when they got a satellite link to UK. Then we could call/fax direct. That made the job much easier.
Unfortunately the carrier was too weak to provide AM reception. The station signed on at 19.27 with the "Country express" programme with very good reception. Then we called Cable & Wireless and asked if it was them we heard, and it was, yippee! They were testing to C&W on Ascension Island. At 19.38 they turned on the transmitter on 9340 USB and during 18 minutes they were in parallel! The strength on 11092 was much better so we said they could turn off the 9340 transmitter which they immediately did. Unfortunately the reception quality decreased at 19.55 when a strong carrier started on 11092,0 kHz which spoiled the readability much for some, especially for those who don't have a notch on the receiver.
| 20.05 | (BBC World news, a shortwave relay from Ascension). 20.09 Public service announcement: Transport pick up times to Day centres for the elderly. |
| 20.09 | PSA: A revenue collection at the Rings Hurst Community centre. |
| 20.09 | PSA: Sheep hound at Man & Horse. |
| 20.09 | PSA: Some 30 seapack berths available to Cape Town and return on the voyage of the RMS St. Helena Island. Bookings at Salomon shipping office. |
| 20.10 | For sale: White Rover 2000 car. Reg. No. 661. Tel: 4322. |
| 20.10 | For sale: Mini Clubman estate car. Reg. No.1312. Tel: 4217. |
| 20.11 | (Weather report.) |
| 20.12 | (Prerecorded identification by Tony Leo.) |
| 20.13 | ("Anything Goes" radio show hosted by Joy Lawrence.) |
| 20.13 | "Ding-a-dong" by Teach-in. |
| 20.15 | "Rivers of Babylon" by Boney M. |
| 20.20 | "A little love and understanding" by Gilbert Becaud. |
| 20.23 | (Prerecorded identification by Tony Leo.) |
| 20.23 | "Final countdown" by Europe. |
| 20.26 | Telephone interview with Tomas (Johansson) of STDXR about the Nordic DX Championship. |
| 20.30 | "Take a chance on me" by ABBA. |
| 20.33 | (A phonecall from Phil Perkins, High Wycombe, U.K.) |
| 20.34 | "It's time" by Jimmy Cliff. |
| 20.39 | "Rain is falling" by the Electric Light Orchestra. LP:Time. |
We have received 332 reports from all continents. The reception was good in Europe and eastern North America. The signal strength was in progress during the transmission in northwest North America. Some were lucky that they didn't turn off the transmitter at 20.40 UTC. They signed off at 21.00 UTC. The signal was very weak in Australia, but our monitor Harry Weatherly has in fact a good recording. All reports have been forwarded to St. Helena. Some will surely receive the cards in 1991! We are sorry for the delay. As you know the communications to the island are not the best. No more written reports will be accepted for QSL after publishing this. If you didn't receive a QSL we recommend you to send a cassette directly to St. Helena for a QSL.
Number of reception reports forwarded to Radio St. Helena.
| Austria | 1 | Finland | 58 | Norway | 6 |
| Argentina | 3 | W Germany | 11 | South Africa | 5 |
| Australia | 10 | E Germany | 1 | Sweden | 100 |
| Belgium | 1 | Ireland | 2 | Switzerland | 2 |
| Brazil | 3 | Israel | 2 | United Kingdom | 17 |
| Canada | 24 | Italy | 9 | USA | 63 |
| Chile | 1 | Holland | 6 | ||
| Denmark | 7 | New Zealand | 1 |
In USA the States: AL 1, CT 1, DE 1, FL 4, GA 1, IA 1, IL 3, RY 1, LA 1, ME 1, MD 3, MA 5, MI 5, NC 3, NE 1, NJ 3, NY 6, OH 2, OR 3, OR 1, PA 7, VA 3, WA 2 and WI 3.
901006 2050-2110. 93 station points.
As we didn't receive any monitor report, due to the poor reception in Argentina, we had to use our own recordings to form an opinion about the programme, therefore we have not given any detail points. At the last check two weeks before the contest they had a nice reportable programme with lots of commercials, but during the contest the programme was religious with Ave Maria played more or less like background music and with a few commercials just before 21.00 UTC and at the end of the contest time. Then they changed programme. They were heard best on 11830 kHz, but some have tried on 4915 kHz behind Ghana!
901006 2115-2140. 43 station points.
We had planned armchair listening with a nice rock programme as they usually have on Saturdays. Not this Saturday! Instead they had the most boring programme in the whole contest. They had planned a live transmission from a church on the east coast, but had problems with the satellite link. The first six minutes they had an open carrier. Then unknown classical music 21.21-21.34.
| 21.37 | About the greatest challenge in the world. How to be a good parent. |
901006 2240-2305. Deleted.
This station was not heard by our monitors in South America and we could just trace the carrier the last five minutes. Therefore this one is deleted. We got a large number of contest reports, but we believe these were reports of the Brazilian stations on 4824,9 and 4825,0 kHz. Strange that R Atlantida was heard well on 4790 kHz at the contest time.
901006 2330-0000. 65 station points.
The contest programme from AWR called "Costa Rica Today" was dedicated as a special programme for the Stora Tuna DX Klubb and the Nordic DX Championship after a request on telephone to David L. Gregory, General manager. They had three quiz questions in the programme, so you could win an extra prize. The transmission was heavy disturbed by Radio Svoboda on 9725 kHz, but the reception was rather good at the end of the programme. The last record by ABBA saved the station for many of the participants, but several have very good reports for the whole programme. The language was in English, but some have reported a religious Spanish station on 11870 kHz. This was not AWR Costa Rica. AWR was also heard on 11870 with Costa Rica Today but very fair.
| 23.36 | "Forever and ever" by Johnston Singers. |
901007 0001-0020. Deleted. (Nobody heard this one).
We have a monitor report of the MW frequency made by Julian Anderson in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It seems that nobody heard this station. Reported to been heard in Norway at 0100. There were two QRM:ing stations. One Russian and Radio Yugoslavia with Spanish! All who have sent us contest reports have reported Radio Yugoslavia. Unfortunately Yugoslavia changed the schedule after the end of the summer time. El Espectador was heard quite well during the summer time two weeks before the competition. In the beginning of the listening time there was news "Informa El Espectador". Then there were music: "Tears on my pillow" "Heard it through the grapevine", "Stand by me", "Sitting on the dock of the bay", "Hey Jude", "All my loving" and "Ain't she nice".
901007 0030-0055. 81 station points.
Only two weeks before the contest LV del Cinaruco had a very good reception in Sweden. Bad condition during the contest day gave a poor and disturbed reception of the signal. During our test before the contest the station also had an own local programme at 00.30. During the contest there was a CARAC0L programme with no local announcements. Therefore there were few participants who have got programme points on this station. Some commercials for Coca Cola saved many reports. The jury also got a bad recording of the programme, but a Spanish speaking lady helped us to get some programme details:
| 00.31 | Commercials for Carbajal S.A. |
| 00.33 | Commercials for Cerveza Aguila. Commercials for Coca Cola. Commercials for Camaros pantalones para hijos. Commercials for Coco Rico. |
| 00.34 | Music. "Salsa en estilo". |
| 00.39 | Commercials for Coco Rico. Commercials for Camaros pantalones. |
| 00.40 | Music. "Mi hijo y yo" by El grupo Tres Savalas. |
| 00.45 | Commercials for Cerveza Aguila. Commercials for Camaros pantalones. |
| 00.46 | Salsa music. "Otra vez" by Solista Roberto. |
| 00.52 | Commercials for Cerveza Aguila. Commercials for Coca Cola. Commercials for Camaros pantalones". |
(Till Internet av Erik Johansson)