Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Germany's new shortwave station XVRB Radio on the air



Germany

* sign-on / sign-off*
log edited for clarity

6045 kHz, XVRB Radio, via Wertachtal (100 kW, non directional), *0900-1000.* Sunday Sept 18. New station since Aug 21, broadcasts on 3rd Sunday is XVRB Radio. Transmitter switch on from 0857, started with six tone interval signals from 0900-0901. English, many IDs, Rock'n'Roll and Oldies concert. It is The Music Museum at www.xvrb.org/ . E-mail: xvrbradio@gmail.com . S=9+15 to +20dBm in Austria, Germany and Netherlands. SINPO 55555, in Bulgaria, SINPO 45544. Next broadcast scheduled for Sunday Oct 16. (Bueschel, Ivanov, Koie and Robic). They verified my e-mail report a few hours later:

Dear Erik,
Thank you very much for your reception report. It's very nice to be informed the signal was 'loud and proud' reaching you in Holte.
Confirming your report, let us tell you a little bit more about XVRB:
The last few years we noticed that a lot of AM (=MW. Ed) and SW radio stations were shut down. For many years we also noticed that the good old soul and rock 'n' roll sound was almost literaly fading away. Too much 'format radio' just plays some records over and over again. We don't like that too much. At about spring time this year the question raised: Who's gonna play this good old music on AM radio today or in the future coming?
As we were trying to give an answer to that question we came to just one answer: We have to do it by ourselves. If we don't....no one will. That would be a pity, because the AM radio experience (which goes for SW as well of course) is a great one. We don't want to loose it. Not for our generation of AM radio fans or next generations to come.
That was the main reason why we set up XVRB radio: Just to make contact with all these SW fans, DX-people and music lovers. The station is privately funded, hence the one hour slot one Sunday a month. (We would like to be on the air a little bit more often. At the moment it's better we can guarantee our listeners we can maintain this time slot, every third Sunday of the month; as you never know, what the future will bring, financially spoken.
So-in short-XVRB tries to bring the fun element of old style shortwave music radio back to it's audience. As our next broadcast will be next Sunday, October 16 - 0900-1000 UTC we put you on our mailing list (if you like to) to remind you we're on the air again.” (Koie, Sep 19)
(DX Window 437)