Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF) is the public broadcaster which serves the French speaking community of Belgium. It operates several television and radio networks. Its website is at www.rtbf.be.

I was able to hear their medium wave outlets at our home in southern Germany. We heard one of their FM outlets during a trip to Belgium in 1989. The FM transmitter was located in Léglise near the Luxembourg border. They also had a shortwave service for French speaking Belgians living aboard. You can see the QSL cards they sent for my receptions reports below. This is one of my favorite QSL card sets.

Jungendradio DT64 was a youth-oriented program which was produced by the Rundfunk der DDR. It was founded in 1964 and finally ceased operation as DT64 1986 in May 1993.

The medium wave frequency of 657 kHz was used exclusively by Berliner Rundfunk up to 1987. Jungendradio occupied the frequency after that. On FM before Antenne Bayern signed on to 102.7 MHz transmitting from Zugspitze, Jungendradio was audible on that channel near Munich. That would make sense because Sonneberg was just inside East Germany.

Rundfunk der DDR responded to my reception reports of 657 and 102.7 with the QSL cards you see below. I believe that the person handling the QSLs did not know or understand that Jungendradio was broadcast on 657 because they sent a card printed with Stimme der DDR on it. I will take it anyway.

above graphic by Ericmetro [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Stimme der DDR (Voice of GDR) was a radio program for German speakers who lived outside of East Germany. The programming consisted mainly of political, information, culture. On 15 November 1971, it was established as a result of the merger of Deutschlandsender and Berliner Welle. In 1990 after the two Germanys united, Stimme der DDR ceased transmissions and its facilities were absorbed by other German broadcasters.

Their medium wave outlets were all audible in our home in southern Germany, and I managed to also receive their shortwave outlet on 6115 kHz. I heard one or two of their FM outlets during a trip to Berlin. You can see the QSL cards they sent for my reception reports below.

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Radio DDR 1 was a radio network in East Germany. Its programming consisted of light entertainment and news. It was founded in 1953 and ceased transmissions in 1990 when the two Germany’s united. Its broadcasting facilities were absorbed by other German broadcasters.

It was possible to hear all of Radio DDR 1’s from our home in southern Germany. You can see the QSL cards they sent back for my receptions reports.

Berliner Rundfunk was a radio station network in East Germany. It was established soon after World War II by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany. The station’s focus was political and primarily centered around events in East Berlin. It ceased transmissions in February 1990 when the two parts of Germany united. Soon after, a private radio station co-opted the network’s name and started broadcasting on 91.4 MHz in Berlin.

I was able to receive all of their medium wave outlets at our home in Southern Germany. They sent these full data QSL cards in response to my reception reports. (Scroll down to view all of the QSL cards I received from them.)

Radio Bremen is the smallest public broadcaster in Germany, serving the city state of Bremen, which also includes Bremerhaven. Their medium wave transmitter using 936 kHz is operated by Radio Bremen. The Deutsche Telekom operates the transmitters for Radio Bremen’s FM and TV signals from the Bremen-Walle Telecommouncation Tower (seen on the left) and from a site in Bremerhaven. They also used to broadcast their programs on a shortwave transmitter on 6190 kHz.

The station responded to my reception reports by issuing the QSL cards seen below.

The US occupation authorities established the broadcaster Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor (Broadcast in the American Sector or RIAS) just after World War II to provide the German population in and around Berlin with news and political information. By the end of the Cold War, the broadcaster’s importance faded away and by the early 1990’s other German broadcasters absorbed its broadcasting facilities.

I heard them on FM during a trip to Berlin in 1987.  Their medium wave (AM) outlets were all easily audible at our home in southern Germany.  I also heard them on shortwave in the USA on 6005 kHz. They responded with QSL cards, which can be seen below, for my reception reports.

The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. During our travels in Germany and the Netherlands, we listened to the BFBS when we were in range of their transmitters. Also, during Desert Storm, I happened to catch their shortwave transmission from Cyprus in 1991. They are an excellent QSL verifier. Their office in Köln, Germany verified my FM reception reports, and their office at Bridge House in London verified my shortwave reception.

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REFERENCE:
http://www.ssvc.com

Südwestrundfunk was not on the air when we lived in Germany and Korea, so I had to wait until 2000 after we moved back to the states to try for their shortwave outlet on 7265 kHz in Rohrdorf. I logged and QSLed the SW outlet before as Südwestfunk (SWF) before SDR and SWF merged to become SWR in 1998.

The Südwestfunk (SWF) was a public service broadcaster which served parts of the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Rheinland-Pfalz, with headquarters in Baden-Baden. In 1998, SWF and Süddeutscher Rundfunk  (SDR) merged to form the new Südwestrundfunk (SWR).

Below you can see the QSLs the station sent for my receptions reports. They also sent a bunch of stickers also which are seen below as well. We heard the FM outlets during our trips to the area and the AM (Medium wave) outlets from our home. Their shortwave outlet on 7265 was a fairly easy catch throughout the world. I logged them numerous times in the USA and in Korea.

(Click on the thumbnails for larger views.)

Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) is a public broadcaster based in Hamburg. It currently serves the German states of Niedersachen, Schleswig-Holstein, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as the city of Hamburg. The network produces several programming streams which are transmitted on an FM network throughout its broadcast area. When we lived in Germany, NDR also broadcast on five medium wave (MW) frequencies, all of which from what I understand are off the air. They responded with QSL cards, which are seen below, for the reception reports sent to them. All of their MW outlets could be heard with little or no difficulty in southern Germany.

(Click on the thumbnails below for larger views.)

Süddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR) or Südfunk was a German public broadcaster serving the northern part of the state of Baden-Württemberg from 1949 to 1998. The networks headquarters were in Stuttgart. The network had numerous MW and FM transmitter throughout its broadcast area. They also had a shortwave outlet on 6030 kHz. I had the fortune to pick up a good share of them, and the network responded with QSL cards for the reception reports I sent to them.

Click on the thumbnails below to better views of the QSL cards.

Heissischer Rundfunk is a public broadcasting network serving the German state of Hesse. Its radio network consists of several audio streams. They broadcast on FM on numerous transmitters throughout Hesse and medium wave on 594 kHz on two different transmitters (Frankfurt and Hoher Meißner.) The MW transmission was easily audible in Southern Germany. We heard the FM outlets in our July 1989 trip to Northern Germany. The main station in Frankfurt responded to my reception reports with the QSL cards seen below. Their website is here.

Click on the thumbnails for full views of the QSLs.

“SR Dachmarke” by The logo may be obtained from Saarländischer Rundfunk.. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia

Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR) is a public broadcaster for the German state of Saarland. Their radio network consists of five programming streams. The radio programs are transmitted on several transmitters throughout Saarland. SR used to broadcast on medium wave on 1422 kHz until 1994. The network Deutschlandfunk took over the channel on 1 January 1995.

We heard the SR1 Europawelle network on some of their transmitters during our July 1989 trip. Below are the QSL cards they sent in response to my reports.

Deutschlandfunk is a German public broadcasting network which specializes in current affairs and news. They have an extensive network of FM stations throughout the country and several MW (AM) stations. They have broadcast on longwave and shortwave in the past, but these outlets have closed down.

They were an easy catch on MW when we lived in Southern Germany. I sent a report of their shortwave outlet for which they returned a QSL card. They also sent QSLs for two longwave, five medium wave, and one FM outlets. I recently heard their 1422 outlet here in Maryland for which they verified my reception report.

Bayerischer Rundfunk is a “public service” broadcaster for the German state of Bayern (Bavaria). As they were a local station to where we lived near Munich and they were a good QSL verifier, I decided what the heck, I would send them reception reports. In addition to the FM and MW outlets I heard in Germany, I also verified them on shortwave (6085 kHz) from Maryland.

I ended up with 16 FM stations, two MW stations, and one SW station verified by them.

(Click on the thumbnails for full views of the QSLs)

We heard Radio FFN on a trip to Northwest Germany (where my Harms ancestors are from) in July 1988. These QSLs are for their transmitters in Lingen on 101.5 MHz and Aurich on 103.1 MHz. The Lingen transmitter serves the Ems area, and the Aurich transmitter serves the Meer (or Sea) area. Radio FFN is owned and operated by Funk und Fernsehen Nordwestdeutschland GmbH in Isernhager.

Before Antenne Bayern came on the air, Radio RPR was an easy catch on my car radio on the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. Below are three QSL cards and a letter I received from them for reception reports. They also send a sticker seen here to the right.

(Click on the thumbnails for larger views.)

Antenne Bayern transmits its programs over a network of transmitters throughout Bavaria (Bayern). After a period of test transmissions in the summer of 1988, they went on the air with their first official broadcast at 0600 Central European Time on 5 September 1988.

I sent a reception report for the first hour of their first official broadcast. In return, they verified my report and sent 10 stickers, each with a different frequency. You can see copies of the verifications and the stickers below. Additionally, I recorded a couple of their test transmissions. Check them out below.

Antenne Bayern – First Hour of Broadcast – Part 1
Zugspitze
102.7 MHz
5 September 1988 0555 MEZ

Antenne Bayern – First Hour of Broadcast – Part 2
Zugspitze
102.7 MHz
5 September 1988

Antenne Bayern – Test Transmission
Munich
101.3 MHz
June 1988

Antenne Bayern – Test Transmission
Traunstein
103.7 MHz
15 August 1988

When we lived in Germany we occasionally took weekend trips to Switzerland. While there I had fun doing a little DXing and band scanning. I also sent off reception reports for QSL verifications. Below is a gallery of QSLs that I received from the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation for receptions of their FM stations that we heard while traveling around the country. Many of the stations were heard at Interlaken, our favorite destination in Switzerland.

Of interest are a couple of QSLs for tunnel re-broadcasters. They received signals on the outside of the tunnel and re-broadcast them inside the tunnel.

In addition to the 39 QSL cards shown here, I received 15 verifications with an annotation on photocopes of my reports.

(Click on the thumbnails below for full views)
(Audio clips below thumbnails – Scroll down)

DRS possibly in Langau on 90.5 MHz – 29 June 1989
Music, time pips, and morning 8:00 news by male announcer

DRS – 20 August 1988 – Music, time check for 17:00, and then DRS Nachrichten (News) by female announcer.

Radio Suisse Romande – La Premiere (RSR-1) – Music, identification, and two men talking (sporting event.)