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from Julius Hermans, Breedenbroek, Netherlands
I would like to comment on the discussion about the UNID station on 1660
and the remarks made by several people. I was really annoyed by the easy remarks
"just wait for the ID when you hear a station" and "e-mail lists makes us too
lazy to listen properly". Here are my arguments:
I have been a MW-DX'er for 20 years now. I favour MW-DX'ing as it is always
full of surprises, you never know for sure which station will be dominant on a
certain frequency.
For example if I tune in on our Dutch mornings on 1026 Khz BBC
Radio Cambridgeshire is normally the dominant station on that frequency, but in
exception the BBC Radio Jersey station can be dominant and I noted real
exceptions when ILR Downtown radio Belfast was dominant (a real DX-catch here in
Holland!). So, if I hear a British station on 1026 I always have to be careful
which station I hear. Do I hear an ID? Are there any other clues? for example
trafficnews from the Belfast area, news from the Channel isles. These might give
clues to the ID, but you have always to be careful!!
So when I DX on mediumwave and I receive a station of which I think:"a real
catch" and I miss the ID and any other clues to the identification. Well,
that is a case of bad luck as I cannot be certain that the station I
will hear the next day at the same time & frequency was the same as the one
I logged the day before (just read above on 1026).
On MW you are never sure to receive the same again.
So, as each DX'er I always wait for an ID or other clues like traffic or adverts. But as we all know stations fade in & out, QRM pops up. This especially happens with DX-catches(as they are the weaker stations). It happens regularly to me that I hear something interesting for 20 minutes
or so and I am left without an ID....a fade-out at minute 59 again, s/on of
nearby strong tx etc etc. I wish I could have waited for an ID but it did
not come and it does not work that way. All serious DX'ers can give examples of
just missing a fantastic ID.
Another way of solving this kind of UNID could be to ask help of the
DX-friends. This is my next step if I am left without an ID. Is there anyone out
there in the DX-community who heard the same. At this stage I go on the various
DX-newsgroups and ask for help. So, it is a not a case of not wanting to wait
for an ID, it was a case of bad luck that I missed an ID...
Two examples:
1-A few weeks Karel Honzik reported to me he heard popmusic from the
sixties on 1395 Khz. It was UNID for him. Well, I could report back that half a
hour before his logging I noted one of the South London pirates on 1395,
playing ....60's popmusic. Ofcourse, this is not 100% sure, but Karel has a
certain amount of "certainty" he has heard the same...
2-Rene van Hoof reported hearing non-stop popmusic on 1650. The signal came
from the west but he considered it too strong to be transatlantic. Well, I read
on the MWC-newsgroup that Steve Whitt heard radio Antares-London on 1650 at the
same time and with the same format of music, again no 100% ID for Rene, but some
"certainty"
When I check with newsgroups I always have to be careful: I once shared my
loggings with an other Dutch DX'er, we both heard an US-station on 1510 at the
same time. It turned out we heard a different station although we only live
150 kilometers apart!
Well, I might have used too many words but I like to stress: the
remark:"just wait for the ID" is too easy for me. As a serious DX'er I know it
is not that easy and serious DX' ers are not too lazy to wait for ID's!!!
Julius Hermans, the Netherlands
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