NDR - Gruss an Bord: December 24, 2023

COPYRIGHT NDR

Live, off-air, three-hour recording of the 70th anniversary broadcast of the special annual Gruss an Bord program from German broadcaster NDR, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, on 24 December 2023 beginning at 18:00 UTC. The broadcast features music and greetings to and from mariners around the world. The Christmas greetings were recorded at two events in Leer and Hamburg.

Relatives and friends had the opportunity to wish their loved ones at sea a happy holiday and a happy new year. The Leer event was recorded on 10 December in the Kulturspeiche and featured the Bingumer Shanty Choir and Anne-Fleur Gabor and her band while the Hamburg event was recorded on 17 December in the Duckdalben International Seamen's Club featured the Swedish-South African duo "Fjarill." The broadcast was primarily in German with some greetings in other languages. Many of the songs were in English, too.

In addition to being carried on the NDR Info and NDR Info Spezial networks, the broadcast was transmitted around the world on shortwave using transmitters in Nauen (NAU), Germany; Issoudun (ISS), France; Tashkent (TAC), Uzbekistan; and Okeechobee, Florida (RMI), U.S.A.; and was organized by Media Broadcast.

The schedule (in UTC) was:
1800-2100 on 6030 ISS 250 kW / 251 deg to North/East Atlantic
1800-2100 on 6080 TAC 100 kW / 301 deg to West/Central Europe
1800-2100 on 9635 NAU 250 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean - West
1800-2100 on 11650 ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Indian Ocean - SoAf
1800-2100 on 13725 NAU 250 kW / 205 deg to Southern Atlantic
1800-2100 on 15770 RMI 100 kW / 044 deg to North/West Atlantic
RMI, Radio Miami International, initially had problems with the start of the broadcast and missed about the first 17 minutes.

The recording is primarily of the transmission on the frequency of 11650 kHz for the first two hours and the first part of the third and 6030 kHz for the rest of the third hour as the signal degraded slightly on 11650 kHz with some adjacent frequency interference. Since the receiver was initially tuned to 15770 kHz at the beginning of the broadcast until retuning to 11650 kHz, the first minute and a half of the broadcast was replaced in the recording with the corresponding part of the archived NDR studio recording

The program was received outdoors on a Belka-DX receiver in pseudo-synchronous (AM2) mode with a bandwidth of 50 Hz - 2.7 kHz with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada. Reception was good for the most part on both recorded frequencies.

NDR - Gruss an Bord: December 24, 2022

Live, off-air, three-hour recording of the special annual Gruss an Bord broadcast from German broadcaster NDR, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, on 24 December 2022 beginning at just after 18:00 UTC. The broadcast features music and greetings to and from mariners around the world. The Christmas greetings were recorded at two events on the third Advent Sunday (11 December) in Leer and on the fourth Advent Sunday (18 December) in Hamburg.

Relatives and friends had the opportunity to wish their loved ones at sea a happy holiday and a happy new year. The Leer event featured the Bingumer Shanty Choir and Anne-Fleur Schoch and her band while the Hamburg event featured Beatles experts Stefanie Hempel and The Silver Spoons. The broadcast was primarily in German with some greetings in English, Filipino, and Portuguese as well as German. A number of songs in English, too. A news bulletin (in progress when recording began) precedes the program for a few minutes.

In addition to being carried on the NDR Info and NDR Info Spezial networks, the broadcast was transmitted around the world on shortwave using transmitters in Nauen (NAU), Germany; Issoudun (ISS), France; Tashkent (TAC), Uzbekistan; and Okeechobee, Florida (RMI), U.S.A.; and was organized by Media Broadcast.

The schedule was:
1800-2100 on 6030 ISS 250 kW / 251 deg to North/East Atlantic
1800-2100 on 6080 TAC 100 kW / 301 deg to West/Central Europe
1800-2100 on 9740 NAU 250 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean - West
1800-2100 on 11650 ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Indian Ocean - SoAf
1800-2100 on 13725 NAU 250 kW / 205 deg to Southern Atlantic
1800-2100 on 15770 RMI 100 kW / 044 deg to North/West Atlantic
RMI, Radio Miami International, experienced a power outage and was off the air for about the first two hours of the broadcast.

The recording is primarily of the transmission on the frequency of 11650 kHz for about the first two hours and 6030 kHz for the third hour as the signal degraded on 11650 kHz.

The program was received outdoors on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 2.3 kHz filtering. Reception was good for the most part on both recorded frequencies although, as previously mentioned, signal quality on 11650 kHz degraded during the second hour of the broadcast necessitating the switch to 6030 kHz. There was some adjacent channel interference on 11650 kHz at times. Also, there was about a one-minute dropout of the 11650 kHz frequency around the start of the second hour of the broadcast. The last minute or so of the broadcast on 6030 kHz was interfered with by a co-channel digital transmission from Radio Romania International.

NDR - Gruss an Bord: December 24, 2020

A map of the world with the locations of the participants in the program. © NDR, photo: Joachim Hagen

Two live, off-air, two-hour recordings of the special annual Gruss an Bord broadcast from German broadcaster NDR, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, on 24 December 2020 beginning at 19:00 UTC. The broadcast features Christmas music and greetings to and from mariners around the world and a church service. Unlike in previous years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the programming did not feature the usual live events in Leer and Hamburg.

Relatives and friends had the opportunity to wish their loved ones at sea a happy holiday and a happy new year. At about 21:00, there was a church service from the Evangelical (Lutheran) Peace Church in Hamburg-Altona. The broadcast was primarily in German with some greetings in English and Filipino as well as German. Several songs in English, too. News bulletins preceded the first program segment and the second hour of the second program segment for a few minutes.

In addition to being carried on the NDR Info and NDR Info Spezial networks, the broadcast was transmitted around the world on shortwave using transmitters in Nauen (NAU), Germany; Moosbrunn (MOS), Austria; Issoudun (ISS), France; and Gavar (ERV), Armenia; and was organized by Media Broadcast.

The schedule for 1900-2100 UTC was:
6030 kHz ERV 100 kW / 305 deg to West/Central Europe
6080 kHz NAU 125 kW / 250 deg to Northern Atlantic
9570 kHz MOS 100 kW / 115 deg to Indian Ocean East
9740 kHz NAU 125 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean West
9800 kHz ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Waters near South Africa
11650 kHz ISS 250 kW / 195 deg to Southern Atlantic
and for 2100-2300 UTC:
6145 kHz NAU 125 kW / 250 deg to Northern Atlantic
6155 kHz ERV 100 kW / 305 deg to West/Central Europe
9590 kHz ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Waters near South Africa
9675 kHz MOS 100 kW / 115 deg to Indian Ocean East
9740 kHz NAU 125 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean West
9830 kHz ISS 250 kW / 195 deg to Southern Atlantic

The first recording is primarily of the transmission on the frequency of 6030 kHz between about 19:00 and 21:00 UTC although for the first minute or so the weaker frequency of 11650 kHz was used and for the couple of minutes or so, 6080 kHz was used. The frequency of 6080 kHz could not be used for most of the two hours due to strong co-channel interference from a special Vatican Radio broadcast. The second recording is of the transmission between about 21:00 and 23:00 UTC on the frequency of 6145 kHz.

The transmissions were received outdoors on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 2.3 kHz RF filtering. Reception was quite good for the most part for both two-hour segments although there was co-channel interference from a digital broadcast of Radio Romania International for the last few minutes of the first two-hour segment necessitating the switch to 6080 kHz.

NDR - Gruss an Bord: December 24, 2019

Two live, off-air, two-hour recordings of the special annual Gruss an Bord broadcast from German broadcaster NDR, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, on 24 December 2019 beginning at 19:00 UTC. The broadcast features Christmas music and greetings for mariners around the world and a church service. The Christmas greetings were recorded at two events on the second Advent Sunday (8 December) in Leer and on the third Advent Sunday (15 December) in Hamburg.

Relatives and friends had the opportunity to wish their loved ones at sea a happy holiday and a happy new year. The Leer event featured the Bingumer Shanty Choir and Anne-Fleur Schoch and her band while the Hamburg event also featured Anne-Fleur Schoch and her band. At about 21:00, there was a church service from St. Maria Magdelena Catholic Church in Bochum-Wattenscheid. The broadcast was primarily in German with some greetings in English, Filipino, and Indian languages as well as German. Several songs in English, too. A news bulletin (in progress when recording began) preceded the first program segment for a few minutes.

In addition to being carried on the NDR Info and NDR Info Spezial networks, the broadcast was transmitted around the world on shortwave using transmitters in Nauen (NAU), Germany; Moosbrunn (MOS), Austria; Issoudun (ISS), France; and Gavar (ERV), Armenia; and was organized by Media Broadcast.

The schedule for 1900-2100 UTC was:
6030 kHz ERV 100 kW / 305 deg to West/Central Europe
6080 kHz NAU 125 kW / 250 deg to Northern Atlantic
9570 kHz MOS 100 kW / 115 deg to Indian Ocean East
9740 kHz NAU 125 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean West
9800 kHz ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Waters near South Africa
11650 kHz ISS 250 kW / 195 deg to Southern Atlantic
and for 2100-2300 UTC:
6145 kHz NAU 125 kW / 250 deg to Northern Atlantic
6155 kHz ERV 100 kW / 305 deg to West/Central Europe
9590 kHz ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Waters near South Africa
9675 kHz MOS 100 kW / 115 deg to Indian Ocean Eastbound
9740 kHz NAU 125 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean West
9830 kHz ISS 250 kW / 195 deg to Southern Atlantic

The first recording is of the transmission on the frequency of 6080 kHz between about 19:00 and 21:00 UTC. The second recording is of the transmission between about 21:00 and 23:00 UTC on the frequency of 6145 kHz. Near the beginning of the second recording, some other frequencies were tried to confirm the best one.

The transmissions were received outdoors on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 2.3 kHz RF filtering. Reception was quite good for both two-hour segments although the second one got slightly noisy as time progressed.

NDR - Gruss an Bord: December 24, 2018

Two live, off-air, two-hour recordings of the special annual Gruss an Bord broadcast from German broadcaster NDR, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, on 24 December 2018 beginning at 19:00 UTC. The broadcast features Christmas music and greetings for mariners around the world and a church service. The Christmas greetings were recorded at two events on the second Advent Sunday (9 December) in Leer and on the third Advent Sunday (16 December) in Hamburg. Relatives and friends had the opportunity to wish their loved ones at sea a happy holiday and a happy new year. The Leer event featured the Bingumer Shanty Choir and the trio Anne-Fleur Schoch trio while the Hamburg event featured Isabella Rapp and the Lars-Luis Linek band. At about 21:00, there was a protestant Christmas Mass from the Neustädter Hof and Stadtkirche St. Johannis in Hanover. The broadcast was primarily in German with some greetings and songs in English. A news bulletin preceded the program segments at 19:00 and 22:00 UTC.

In addition to being carried on the NDR Info and NDR Info Spezial networks, the broadcast was transmitted around the world on shortwave using transmitters in Nauen (NAU), Germany; Moosbrunn (MOS), Austria; Issoudun (ISS), France; and Gavar (ERV), Armenia; and was organized by Media Broadcast.

The schedule for 1900-2100 UTC was:
6030 kHz ERV 100 kW / 305 deg to West/Central Europe
6080 kHz NAU 125 kW / 250 deg to Northern Atlantic
9570 kHz MOS 100 kW / 115 deg to Indian Ocean East
9740 kHz NAU 125 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean West
9800 kHz ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Indian Ocean/South Africa
11650 ISS 250 kW / 195 deg to Southern Atlantic
and for 2100-2300 UTC:
6145 kHz NAU 125 kW / 250 deg to Northern Atlantic
6155 kHz ERV 100 kW / 305 deg to West/Central Europe
9590 kHz ISS 250 kW / 148 deg to Indian Ocean/South Africa
9650 kHz MOS 100 kW / 115 deg to Indian Ocean East
9720 kHz NAU 125 kW / 130 deg to Indian Ocean West
9830 kHz ISS 250 kW / 195 deg to Southern Atlantic

The first recording is primarily of the transmission on the frequency of 11650 kHz between 19:00 and about 20:00 UTC, then switching to the frequency of 6080 kHz. During the news bulletin, the various frequencies were tried. The second recording is of the transmission between about 21:00 and 23:00 UTC on the frequency of 6145 kHz. Again, the various frequencies were tried to find the best one.

The transmissions were received outdoors on a Tecsun PL-880 receiver with a Tecsun AN-03L 7-metre wire antenna in Hanwell (just outside Fredericton), New Brunswick, Canada, in AM mode with 5 kHz RF filtering. Reception started out just fair and somewhat noisy, not surprising given that the receiver was not in a target zone. Improves slightly with change of frequency at 20:00 UTC. Reception during the second recording was fairly good but, again, with some noise.