In my last blog post, I was concerned that my FM antennas were raised too high for the mast. The antennas themselves, bother Triax FM5s, were attached to the rotator via a 6 feet (almost two metre) tall mast. This was surely going to place too much strain on the rotator bearings.
The weather was calm and so I thought I would leave the antennas for a few days so I could see if there was any significant difference in reception. The overall height above the ground was now close to 30 feet or 9 metres with this new height.
Also worth noting was my experience with the exceptional Dutch tropo I had on June 23rd - when both antennas were lying on the ground for maintenance!! This really made me wonder if my antennas had been too far above the ground all along.
The spell of calm weather did not last long. The winds increased quite suddenly on the morning of July 2nd. I was not expecting this. I looked at the FM mast and saw that it was leaning quite markedly into the neighbouring park. It was immediately clear that this mast was not going to survive these strong winds, which were forecast to continue for the rest of the day. I rushed to get the mast down as quickly as possible, narrowly avoiding a park-bound catastrophe. Phew!
Two days later (yesterday) and the mast was back up, but I had replaced the 6 foot top section with a much shorter, foot long stub. I cleaned up the antenna connections once again, checking reception before hoisting the mast back into the air, only to find that the vertical FM5 had stopped working once it was back in place. Annoying! So I will have to get the mast down yet again to fix this. Luckily, I have some replacement bit and pieces from older FM5s.
So what did I make of reception with the antennas higher and then lower? This is actually quite interesting.
With the antenna some four feet higher, the FM5 directivity was *very* noticeably improved. I can't say that the gain was any better. Perhaps by a tiny amount, but not enough to sing and dance about. Noise levels were reduced by a few dB though. My main desktop computer used to cause severe QRN to my reception, but this was no longer the case.
With the antenna lowered by about six feet, noise levels from my desktop computer had increased considerably. I recently made a few changes to my FM DX setup, now doing all my FM DXing on a noiseless laptop. The only real noise now is from the solar panels on the roof which, though not particularly bad, add an additional 2 or 3 dB to the general background noise, regstering around 4-6dBf on the TEF receiver. I can live with this. Medium wave, on the other hand, is totally obliterated. Luckily, my medium wave DXing is done at the farm, some 10km to south of here. Directivity still seems reasonable with the mast lower, but I noticed that general FM scatter has improved by several dB. Wow! The biggest improvement has been to the south, with national French TDF transmitters from sites like Hirson, Amiens, Brest, rouen, Rennes, Le Mans, plus others and even as far south as Strasbourg and Bourges.
So it's now down to lowering the mast once again to fix the vertical FM5, during which time I will lower the antennas by a further two feet. I will add an update to this article if there are any obvious improvements in reception.
Concluding, it does seem that my DX reception was reduced by having the mast higher. Why would this be? Something to do with ground reflection? I have no idea. Maybe somebody would like to comment.
UPDATE!
I didn't need to lower the mast again after all. The reason the vertical FM5 didn't work was because of a break in the coax feed. Alison's brother carried out some gardening work last year and accidentally cut through all the cables, so I had to make joins. More bodges! I had forgotten about this. This was a pity in a way as I was looking forward to shortening the mast a little more.
Reception on the vertical is now dramatically improved since cleaning the connections. So much so that the reception reminds me of my first experiences of FM DXing when I moved to Skegness back in 2010. I had the FM5s on a mast at the far end of the garden, well away from the bungalow, where there was just no noise at all. Putting the antennas on the roof there at the request of the landlord resulted in an increase in noise from the property and ruined my FM reception. My landlord would not allow the antennas back on the garden.
So what am I receiving? All the old Lille and other locals from northern France are back, plus dozens of stations from Belgium and the Netherlands. It was nice to hear RTL on 87.6 and 87.7 again, plus a couple of new ones to me: 93.8 Radio Veronica from Megen, interspersed with Radio Contact from St. Omer and 93.3 Joe from Vlissingen. There isn't an empty frequency on the FM band on the cleaned-up vertical FM5. Noise levels are down to 2-3dBf on the TEF. The horizontal FM5 has around 4-6dBf of noise, depending where you are on the band.
So, all in all, I am hoping this FM antenna setup will remain trouble free for another year or two. I would still like to shorten the mast a little more as there is a very definite upturn in DX with the antennas lower down.
Good DX!
Saturday, 4 July 2026
Tuesday, 23 June 2026
Slightly taller FM antenna mast goes up. But is it too tall?
I haven't measured the height, so I cannot say how tall exactly this is above the ground. I just needed this to be at the far end of the garden so it was as far as possible from noise levels produced in the bungalow where there are PLT devices and a rooftop full of solar panels.
Why "too tall"? Well, I decided to replace the top mast section, which was only a couple of feet in length, with one of six feet. The new section is only an inch diameter and fairly thin walled, so I didn't know if it was really up to the job. I thinkt his will probably put unnecessary strain on the G-250 rotator too, so it is only a matter of time before I need to lower this and put the shorter, wider section back. The antennas are surrounded by trees, as you can see, and it never gets too windy here, even during winter storms.
Here's a short video of my erection!!
Why "too tall"? Well, I decided to replace the top mast section, which was only a couple of feet in length, with one of six feet. The new section is only an inch diameter and fairly thin walled, so I didn't know if it was really up to the job. I thinkt his will probably put unnecessary strain on the G-250 rotator too, so it is only a matter of time before I need to lower this and put the shorter, wider section back. The antennas are surrounded by trees, as you can see, and it never gets too windy here, even during winter storms.
Here's a short video of my erection!!
Tropo On The Ground ... Literally!
My FM antennas are currently down for maintenance and are lying on the grass.
The Es had subsided and only the regulars from Spain and Italy were coming through, so it seemed like a good time to carry out the maintenance, which should have taken only a couple of hours. (Ha!)
I had no idea there was going to be a tropo event when I lowered my mast. Funny though, I don't know what possessed me to decide to tune the radio with the antennas lying on the ground, but I did. There were big signals from Hoogersmilde in particular with full RDS, plus many other transmitters coming through from the Netherlands and also Germany, particularly from the Bremen area. These were just about at RDS level.
This got me wondering. Is there an optimum height for an FM antenna above the ground or the roof of a house? Can you go too high?
My FM antennas are usually located on a 6 metre mast at the end of the garden in order to minimise noise pickup from the house, from which there are many sources. The solar panels also generate a little noise but not enough to be a problem.
The south is one of my best directions. During the daytime, I get scatter from French transmitters as far as Strasbourg and Bourges. The east is absolutely hopeless, probably due to taller buildings in the town centre which is only a couple of hundred metres away. Locals from as far as Manchester come through when beaming north-west and Mount Leinster in Ireland is a regular to the west.
During yesterday evening's tropo, Hoogersmilde reached 33dBf on the TEF without amplification!! The antenna was literally lying on wet grass following a heavy shower. It was pointing to the north too! This just made me wonder about possibly benefitting by NOT having my FM antennas quite so high in the future. I will experiment with heights before the antennas are resurrected. I will still go ahead with a slight raising of the antennas with the addition of a new mast extension. It will only add another couple of metres but I was thinking that it will make some difference and should improve the signal-to-noise a little.
So my question is, has anybody else had similar experiences with their FM antennas performing better when lowered?
I also have to wonder what the effect of ground interaction is. Obviously there is a critical science behind this, all of which I am quite ignorant, but I always understood that FM antennas should work better, the higher they are.
Don't you just love these weird little antenna quirks? :O)
I had no idea there was going to be a tropo event when I lowered my mast. Funny though, I don't know what possessed me to decide to tune the radio with the antennas lying on the ground, but I did. There were big signals from Hoogersmilde in particular with full RDS, plus many other transmitters coming through from the Netherlands and also Germany, particularly from the Bremen area. These were just about at RDS level.
This got me wondering. Is there an optimum height for an FM antenna above the ground or the roof of a house? Can you go too high?
My FM antennas are usually located on a 6 metre mast at the end of the garden in order to minimise noise pickup from the house, from which there are many sources. The solar panels also generate a little noise but not enough to be a problem.
The south is one of my best directions. During the daytime, I get scatter from French transmitters as far as Strasbourg and Bourges. The east is absolutely hopeless, probably due to taller buildings in the town centre which is only a couple of hundred metres away. Locals from as far as Manchester come through when beaming north-west and Mount Leinster in Ireland is a regular to the west.
During yesterday evening's tropo, Hoogersmilde reached 33dBf on the TEF without amplification!! The antenna was literally lying on wet grass following a heavy shower. It was pointing to the north too! This just made me wonder about possibly benefitting by NOT having my FM antennas quite so high in the future. I will experiment with heights before the antennas are resurrected. I will still go ahead with a slight raising of the antennas with the addition of a new mast extension. It will only add another couple of metres but I was thinking that it will make some difference and should improve the signal-to-noise a little.
So my question is, has anybody else had similar experiences with their FM antennas performing better when lowered?
I also have to wonder what the effect of ground interaction is. Obviously there is a critical science behind this, all of which I am quite ignorant, but I always understood that FM antennas should work better, the higher they are.
Don't you just love these weird little antenna quirks? :O)
Sunday, 7 June 2026
The East Coast Anomaly
It's real! But what is it?
There is definitely something happening with propagation at this location. It's a kind of blockage, and a very localised one. It doesn't seem to tie in with propagational effects and happens randomly, lasting from just a few days to a few weeks. Obviously, it's an effect of propagation which I cannot pin down to anything specific, but it does seem to be quite local because other DXers 100km away can be hearing plenty of distant DX while I am not. It occurs mostly around the winter months. It starts very suddenly, in a day, and can disappear in a day, then the DX floods in again. What on earth can it be?
Furthermore, in the event of a solar-related disturbance where North American DX takes a battering, it always takes a few days longer for the east coast to recover. The east coast has proven to be an unusual location when it comes to medium wave propagation, but it can also be surprisingly good and has exceeded my expectations.
There's no doubt that North American reception generally improves the further north and west you travel in the UK. The west coast of Wales, England and Scotland tend to enjoy more reliable propagation across the Atlantic. The east coast tends to enjoy more reliable reception from East Asia. Southern parts of the UK tend to fare better to South America and the African continent, but this can still vary with the time of year and propagational variations, the greyline, etc. Yet, at times, North American reception has really surprised me, producing west coast USA and Canadian reception and many 1kW US graveyarders from as far west as Michigan and Texas, some of which haven't appeared in the UK All-Time MW DX Log. I also received 4QD Emerald, Australia, on 1548 kHz. here on October 7th 2025 when DXers in Scotland weren't able to receive it. In this instance it was all about the greyline, which happened to favour my location. So it really is all to play for when it comes to medium wave DXing, wherever you are in the UK.
So it's not all bad, as you can see from the above. There may be pros and cons to living anywhere in the UK when it comes to propagation, but the east coast has really openened my eyes. I now have three Australians in my medium wave log, numerous west coast US and Canadian stations, 1kW stations from East Asia in the order of almost 10,000km away and one of my Australians was only 2kW! 6EL in Metricup, Western Australia on 1494 kHz. at at 14564 km.
The wonders of propagation!
There is definitely something happening with propagation at this location. It's a kind of blockage, and a very localised one. It doesn't seem to tie in with propagational effects and happens randomly, lasting from just a few days to a few weeks. Obviously, it's an effect of propagation which I cannot pin down to anything specific, but it does seem to be quite local because other DXers 100km away can be hearing plenty of distant DX while I am not. It occurs mostly around the winter months. It starts very suddenly, in a day, and can disappear in a day, then the DX floods in again. What on earth can it be?
Furthermore, in the event of a solar-related disturbance where North American DX takes a battering, it always takes a few days longer for the east coast to recover. The east coast has proven to be an unusual location when it comes to medium wave propagation, but it can also be surprisingly good and has exceeded my expectations.
There's no doubt that North American reception generally improves the further north and west you travel in the UK. The west coast of Wales, England and Scotland tend to enjoy more reliable propagation across the Atlantic. The east coast tends to enjoy more reliable reception from East Asia. Southern parts of the UK tend to fare better to South America and the African continent, but this can still vary with the time of year and propagational variations, the greyline, etc. Yet, at times, North American reception has really surprised me, producing west coast USA and Canadian reception and many 1kW US graveyarders from as far west as Michigan and Texas, some of which haven't appeared in the UK All-Time MW DX Log. I also received 4QD Emerald, Australia, on 1548 kHz. here on October 7th 2025 when DXers in Scotland weren't able to receive it. In this instance it was all about the greyline, which happened to favour my location. So it really is all to play for when it comes to medium wave DXing, wherever you are in the UK.
So it's not all bad, as you can see from the above. There may be pros and cons to living anywhere in the UK when it comes to propagation, but the east coast has really openened my eyes. I now have three Australians in my medium wave log, numerous west coast US and Canadian stations, 1kW stations from East Asia in the order of almost 10,000km away and one of my Australians was only 2kW! 6EL in Metricup, Western Australia on 1494 kHz. at at 14564 km.
The wonders of propagation!
Friday, 5 June 2026
Tree Trimming, so I can lower the FM antenna mast
Time for a spot of antenna maintenance, but that tree has grown so much in the last year that I cannot lower the mast. See how wonky it has become?
You wouldn't believe the amount of tree trimming and felling I have done in the last few years. You cut the things down and they bloody grow back up again! Whaaaat?
Oh, yes. Never have your dogs in the garden when doing this. I put them in back in the house several times, asking Alison NOT to let them out while heavy branches were falling. Then she does. Phew! That was close.
You wouldn't believe the amount of tree trimming and felling I have done in the last few years. You cut the things down and they bloody grow back up again! Whaaaat?
Oh, yes. Never have your dogs in the garden when doing this. I put them in back in the house several times, asking Alison NOT to let them out while heavy branches were falling. Then she does. Phew! That was close.
Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy for SkegnessDX Blog https://skegnessdx.blogspot.com/
Effective Date: June 6 2026
1. Introduction SkegnessDX respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard the personal information of visitors when accessing our Blogger website https://skegnessdx.blogspot.com/. By using our blog, you agree to the practices described in this policy.
2. Information We Collect We may collect the following types of information from visitors:
Personal Information: Information you voluntarily provide, such as your name and email address when subscribing to our newsletter or leaving comments. Non-Personal Information: Automatically collected data, such as your IP address, browser type, device information, operating system, and pages visited on our blog. Cookies and Tracking Technologies: We may use cookies to enhance user experience, analyze trends, and gather demographic information. You can disable cookies through your browser settings, but some features may not function properly.
3. How We Use Your Information We may use your information for purposes including, but not limited to:
Sending newsletters or updates if you’ve subscribed. Responding to comments, questions, or inquiries. Analyzing traffic and improving the content and performance of our blog. Complying with legal obligations.
4. Sharing Your Information We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. However, we may share non-personal information with third-party service providers for analytics, advertising, and website management purposes.
5. Third-Party Services Our blog may use third-party services (such as Google Analytics, AdSense, or social media platforms) that may collect information automatically. These services have their own privacy policies, and we encourage you to review them.
6. Data Security We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information. However, no method of transmission or storage over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
7. Children’s Privacy Our blog is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have collected such information, we will take steps to delete it.
8. Your Rights You have the right to:
Access, update, or delete your personal information. Unsubscribe from newsletters or marketing communications. Opt out of cookies where applicable.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [Insert Contact Email].
9. Changes to This Privacy Policy We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date.
10. Contact Us If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Email: blog@g1vvp.co.uk Blog: https://skegnessdx.blogspot.com/
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Email: blog@g1vvp.co.uk
Effective Date: June 6 2026
1. Introduction SkegnessDX respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard the personal information of visitors when accessing our Blogger website https://skegnessdx.blogspot.com/. By using our blog, you agree to the practices described in this policy.
2. Information We Collect We may collect the following types of information from visitors:
Personal Information: Information you voluntarily provide, such as your name and email address when subscribing to our newsletter or leaving comments. Non-Personal Information: Automatically collected data, such as your IP address, browser type, device information, operating system, and pages visited on our blog. Cookies and Tracking Technologies: We may use cookies to enhance user experience, analyze trends, and gather demographic information. You can disable cookies through your browser settings, but some features may not function properly.
3. How We Use Your Information We may use your information for purposes including, but not limited to:
Sending newsletters or updates if you’ve subscribed. Responding to comments, questions, or inquiries. Analyzing traffic and improving the content and performance of our blog. Complying with legal obligations.
4. Sharing Your Information We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. However, we may share non-personal information with third-party service providers for analytics, advertising, and website management purposes.
5. Third-Party Services Our blog may use third-party services (such as Google Analytics, AdSense, or social media platforms) that may collect information automatically. These services have their own privacy policies, and we encourage you to review them.
6. Data Security We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information. However, no method of transmission or storage over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
7. Children’s Privacy Our blog is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have collected such information, we will take steps to delete it.
8. Your Rights You have the right to:
Access, update, or delete your personal information. Unsubscribe from newsletters or marketing communications. Opt out of cookies where applicable.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [Insert Contact Email].
9. Changes to This Privacy Policy We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date.
10. Contact Us If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Email: blog@g1vvp.co.uk Blog: https://skegnessdx.blogspot.com/
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Email: blog@g1vvp.co.uk
Monday, 25 May 2026
Mile-a-Minute Vines Vs my Triax FM5s. The Vines Win!
It's about a year since I straightened and re-erected my Triax FM5 antennas here in Long Sutton. "Mile-a-minute vine" had taken over one of the guy ropes and had literally pulled down the antenna mast, bending it in half, along with several of the antenna elements, with it ultimately landing along the hedge row which seperates this property from the park. It laid there for a good few months before I managed to get around to fixing it, with some of it protruding into the park itself!
FM DX was at the bottom of my list of priorities then, but I had been intending to get back into the hobby. I managed to retrieve the antenna out of the hedge with some difficulty, That 'mile-a-minute vine' had successfully wrapped itself around everything and it was a lengthy process trying to free it all, making sure I did not cause further damage, cutting through the coax and rotator cable. Ooops! I did. Finally, it was a simple case of straightening the elements, giving the antenna connections a quick service, and then re-erection could take place on a new 25 foot mast, but not before I bent a few of the elements once again when the antennas went back up! These got caught on a nearby tree, but to hell with that as I just wanted to get the antenna back up quickly now, so this has been the state of the antenna for the last year. See photos below.
That nearby tree has shot up in no uncertain terms over the last year and is currently only a couple of feet away from the antennas, but then, so is another tree on the park, which is 'protected' and therefore I am not able to cut off a branch or two, though I am tempted. The antenna mast will have to be moved before too long, but I will keep it where it is for another year, further growth permitting.
In the meantime, enjoy a few photos of yet another antenna disaster!
FM DX was at the bottom of my list of priorities then, but I had been intending to get back into the hobby. I managed to retrieve the antenna out of the hedge with some difficulty, That 'mile-a-minute vine' had successfully wrapped itself around everything and it was a lengthy process trying to free it all, making sure I did not cause further damage, cutting through the coax and rotator cable. Ooops! I did. Finally, it was a simple case of straightening the elements, giving the antenna connections a quick service, and then re-erection could take place on a new 25 foot mast, but not before I bent a few of the elements once again when the antennas went back up! These got caught on a nearby tree, but to hell with that as I just wanted to get the antenna back up quickly now, so this has been the state of the antenna for the last year. See photos below.
That nearby tree has shot up in no uncertain terms over the last year and is currently only a couple of feet away from the antennas, but then, so is another tree on the park, which is 'protected' and therefore I am not able to cut off a branch or two, though I am tempted. The antenna mast will have to be moved before too long, but I will keep it where it is for another year, further growth permitting.
In the meantime, enjoy a few photos of yet another antenna disaster!
Monday, 20 April 2026
What Happened To My K9AYs?
The simple answer is that I reinstated the flag after less than satisfactory results with a couple of K9AYs.
I was warned! Some DXers had told me that the K9AY would not outperform a flag. Quite encouraging if you're already a flag owner. But there's plenty of evidence to show that the K9AY is also a great performer. I have always been aware of the unavoidable fact that some people get on really well with certain antennas while others don't. It can depend on location, among many other things, so there are people who have had the opposite experience. To begin with, I had been reading about the superior performance of the K9AY and how directional it was when two were constructed and phased against each other. I had to try it. Having to move my flag several times each year to chase different 'propagational seasons' was a pain. If I could construct one antenna and have it electrically rotatable, it would solve that problem.
"The Full Gary" was needed. This is the required size for a K9AY which is best resonant on the medium wave band. This is 7.5m in height with a suspended base of 9m and longer radials just below. But even with this size, I wasn't initially aware that a K9AY would perform as if it was a loop antenna at the bottom of the band. Hmm. That's not what I wanted to hear. Regardless, I continued with the construction.
As always, these things take a long time for me and it took several days to construct the central support, connect the wires and guy ropes such that I could throw it up in the air one day while disconnecting the flag and laying that down out of the way. I was hoping to have both antennas in the air for instant comparison, but this turned out to be impractical due to necessary field usage, so I took plenty of notes beforehand. I knew how the band 'felt' anyway.
The K9AY was erected without issue and hooked up, working straight away. There was some noise and signals were considerably down on to those of the flag, but I hadn't connected the base radials as I ran out of time and so had to finish those the following day.
Base radials in place ... Antenna hooked up ... Receiver on ... and ... Ugh! 30dB of noise across the band! Whaaaat? Where did this come from? I arranged a telephone call with a friend who has considerable knowledge in this field and he went through everything with me: Connections, physical dimensions, antenna location, coax, receiver, shack, etc. We checked it all. The conclusion was clear, that the noise was coming in through the antenna. But where was the noise coming from? Surely it couldn't be new noise which coincidentally fired up at on the same day I constructed my new antenna? Maybe it had been there all along but the flag was less susceptible to it. That would be more logical. Or would it? Signals were also down by a good 10dB or so compared to those of the flag.
After a few days of checking things through, I was painfully aware that I was missing DX and that I should probably get the flag up again. After all, I had tried everything.
So it was back to the flag. Was there new noise? It seems there was. What were the chances? But the noise was considerably less severe on the flag and, after a few days, most of it had disappeared. Phew!
I was warned! Some DXers had told me that the K9AY would not outperform a flag. Quite encouraging if you're already a flag owner. But there's plenty of evidence to show that the K9AY is also a great performer. I have always been aware of the unavoidable fact that some people get on really well with certain antennas while others don't. It can depend on location, among many other things, so there are people who have had the opposite experience. To begin with, I had been reading about the superior performance of the K9AY and how directional it was when two were constructed and phased against each other. I had to try it. Having to move my flag several times each year to chase different 'propagational seasons' was a pain. If I could construct one antenna and have it electrically rotatable, it would solve that problem.
"The Full Gary" was needed. This is the required size for a K9AY which is best resonant on the medium wave band. This is 7.5m in height with a suspended base of 9m and longer radials just below. But even with this size, I wasn't initially aware that a K9AY would perform as if it was a loop antenna at the bottom of the band. Hmm. That's not what I wanted to hear. Regardless, I continued with the construction.
As always, these things take a long time for me and it took several days to construct the central support, connect the wires and guy ropes such that I could throw it up in the air one day while disconnecting the flag and laying that down out of the way. I was hoping to have both antennas in the air for instant comparison, but this turned out to be impractical due to necessary field usage, so I took plenty of notes beforehand. I knew how the band 'felt' anyway.
The K9AY was erected without issue and hooked up, working straight away. There was some noise and signals were considerably down on to those of the flag, but I hadn't connected the base radials as I ran out of time and so had to finish those the following day.
Base radials in place ... Antenna hooked up ... Receiver on ... and ... Ugh! 30dB of noise across the band! Whaaaat? Where did this come from? I arranged a telephone call with a friend who has considerable knowledge in this field and he went through everything with me: Connections, physical dimensions, antenna location, coax, receiver, shack, etc. We checked it all. The conclusion was clear, that the noise was coming in through the antenna. But where was the noise coming from? Surely it couldn't be new noise which coincidentally fired up at on the same day I constructed my new antenna? Maybe it had been there all along but the flag was less susceptible to it. That would be more logical. Or would it? Signals were also down by a good 10dB or so compared to those of the flag.
After a few days of checking things through, I was painfully aware that I was missing DX and that I should probably get the flag up again. After all, I had tried everything.
So it was back to the flag. Was there new noise? It seems there was. What were the chances? But the noise was considerably less severe on the flag and, after a few days, most of it had disappeared. Phew!
Saturday, 28 February 2026
My Current DX Location
I am regularly asked where my DX setup is located and why it's no longer at home. This is the situation, as of February 2026.
My home is in Skegness, but I met my lady friend, Alison, in 2019. I had no idea she had a farm WITH LAND SUITABLE FOR ANTENNAS! (Ahem!) I have to admit that I became rather excited when I realised that she had five acres. She used to have 24 acres but sold most of that to a neighbouring farmer. (Damn!) Five acres sounds like a lot, but the downside was that her farmhouse was positioned on the wrong side of the fields. This resulted in any coax length needing to be as long as 300 meteres! Also, the arrangement of the fields did not quite allow for a full sized beverage unless it pointed north-west, where I could stretch out 200m - resonant at almost the top of medium wave. Other directions were shorter, down to South America little more than 110m.
The farm is located in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, not far from the village of Sutton St. James. It's quite isolated and only has one neighbouring farmouse, which generates noise a lot of the time, so I have to locate my flag antenna at the opposite end of the field to the offending farmhouse.
From the moment I met Alison, I knew that the farm was going to be sold at some point 'soon'. Last year, it was decided to put the farm up for sale this summer, but there are likely to be delays. Her life is so hectic, she has little time to set the process rolling. I was extremely pleased when Alison told me that she was hoping to retain half of the acreage so I could continue my hobby, giving me enough space for a large flag antenna. Some minor legal obligations had to be followed but planning permission was granted at the end of last year so the retention of part of the land will go ahead. One downside is that there won't be an electricity supply so I will have to invest in a couple of leisure batteries, one on the go while the other is charging. An NUC computer will also be needed as these are not so heavy on battery usage.
The town of Long Sutton is often brought into the conversation and radio friends often ask where this fits in. Long Sutton is the home of Alison's ageing parents, where we spend a good deal of time caring for them. I have an FM DX setup here, although I do spend a lot of time at home in Skegness where I also have an FM DX setup so I can continue that side of my hobby. The medium wave aspect takes care of itself, with laptops and external hard drives recording the band for me. It's not live DXing, which I know some frown upon, but it's the only way I can do this.
There is now a Kiwi receiver at the farm too, known as the Fenland Kiwi. This shares my flag antenna with my Perseus receiver. The Fenland Kiwi has been provided by the Medium Wave Circle and is accessible only by its members. If you wish to access this, or to join the Medium Wave Circle, which I would strongly recommend as it's a dedicated medium wave DX club with many benefits, so check them out here: https://mwcircle.org/
My home is in Skegness, but I met my lady friend, Alison, in 2019. I had no idea she had a farm WITH LAND SUITABLE FOR ANTENNAS! (Ahem!) I have to admit that I became rather excited when I realised that she had five acres. She used to have 24 acres but sold most of that to a neighbouring farmer. (Damn!) Five acres sounds like a lot, but the downside was that her farmhouse was positioned on the wrong side of the fields. This resulted in any coax length needing to be as long as 300 meteres! Also, the arrangement of the fields did not quite allow for a full sized beverage unless it pointed north-west, where I could stretch out 200m - resonant at almost the top of medium wave. Other directions were shorter, down to South America little more than 110m.
The farm is located in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, not far from the village of Sutton St. James. It's quite isolated and only has one neighbouring farmouse, which generates noise a lot of the time, so I have to locate my flag antenna at the opposite end of the field to the offending farmhouse.
From the moment I met Alison, I knew that the farm was going to be sold at some point 'soon'. Last year, it was decided to put the farm up for sale this summer, but there are likely to be delays. Her life is so hectic, she has little time to set the process rolling. I was extremely pleased when Alison told me that she was hoping to retain half of the acreage so I could continue my hobby, giving me enough space for a large flag antenna. Some minor legal obligations had to be followed but planning permission was granted at the end of last year so the retention of part of the land will go ahead. One downside is that there won't be an electricity supply so I will have to invest in a couple of leisure batteries, one on the go while the other is charging. An NUC computer will also be needed as these are not so heavy on battery usage.
The town of Long Sutton is often brought into the conversation and radio friends often ask where this fits in. Long Sutton is the home of Alison's ageing parents, where we spend a good deal of time caring for them. I have an FM DX setup here, although I do spend a lot of time at home in Skegness where I also have an FM DX setup so I can continue that side of my hobby. The medium wave aspect takes care of itself, with laptops and external hard drives recording the band for me. It's not live DXing, which I know some frown upon, but it's the only way I can do this.
There is now a Kiwi receiver at the farm too, known as the Fenland Kiwi. This shares my flag antenna with my Perseus receiver. The Fenland Kiwi has been provided by the Medium Wave Circle and is accessible only by its members. If you wish to access this, or to join the Medium Wave Circle, which I would strongly recommend as it's a dedicated medium wave DX club with many benefits, so check them out here: https://mwcircle.org/
The Aziloop and "Should I get one?"
Simple answer: Yes .... er, and no. (Maybe).
Firstly, I don't really use this blog anymore, but I realsie its use when it comes to posting information where I can make one posting, as opposed to multiple, individual postings when I need to explain something to the masses.
Anyway, I have been thinking about getting an Aziloop - and I expect I might well do, but it won't be prioritised over other up and coming expenses, so next year looks like a possibility. I would like to try the K9AY antenna first as the Aziloop is based in this design.
What advantages could there be to having an Aziloop? The electronic rotation would be incredibly useful. But since I don't have an internet connection there, apart from the Kiwi connection which is not actually mine, I wouldn't be able to control the direction, and its many other features, over the internet, but I presume it is possible to pre-programme things like direction changes.
What about gain and directivity? Would there be significant improvements over my large (5.5m tall x 20m long) flag? Not necessarily, but there would be some advantages. The Aziloop fine tunes everything very nicely, but it would need minor adaptation, i.e. appropriate ground planes, to help it perform better at the bottom of the medium wave band. Even then, it would need to be flipped from K9AY mode to mag-loop mode below about 700 kHz., at which point it would become a loop! :(
After a lot of discussion on the Medium wave Circle's Facebook page, plus private emails between radio friends, I get the firm message that the gain from the Aziloop is not as high as a beverage (understandable) but even when compared to a large flag or K9AY and large DKaz. This may not be an issue of course. A few very contended users rate their Aziloops very highly and all seem to state that it's the best little antenna they have had. I understand that you can construct them with larger dimensions but I don't know the acceptable parameteres, so please don't quote me on this. I am still learning.
Some say that the high price is justified and actually quite reasonable. It's creator, Dave Evans, certainly knows his onions and has gone to considerable lengths to make this antenna a serious performer on medium wave. Short of actually trying one, I would like to think that I will be the proud owner of one in another year or so, but I won't be prioritising the purchase as I have other financial priorities in the next year or two. I am not well-off. Being self-employed has its good and bad times. My work can be quite seasonal too and I have to consider winding things down now as my age is starting to work against me in more ways than one, plus I have just been hit with a four figure sum for a replacement clutch for my car.
My large flag is more than adequate for my needs at the moment. Providing I maintain it well and give it the TLC it deserves, I cannot see a huge amount of difference between this and the Aziloop. The remotely controlled directivity of the Aziloop is the real selling point for me, so I think it would be incredibly useful to own one.
Any improvements to antennas of this size and performance will almost certainly be negligible, so I don't think I am missing out on DX by not having one, apart from having the programmable and switchable directivity.
So this is my current thinking on the matter. It's a luxury which would be very useful, but not absolutely essential. Will I buy one? I'd like to but not just yet. When you look at the different antennas we use for medium wave DX, you learn fairly quickly that there is not one 'all-singing, all-dancing' antenna. They all have their pros and cons. The general consensus is that the beverage wins out over all those antennas mentioned above. After that, I think the rest are on a par. No doubt some will agree and some will disagree. Comments welcome below.
Anyway, I have been thinking about getting an Aziloop - and I expect I might well do, but it won't be prioritised over other up and coming expenses, so next year looks like a possibility. I would like to try the K9AY antenna first as the Aziloop is based in this design.
What advantages could there be to having an Aziloop? The electronic rotation would be incredibly useful. But since I don't have an internet connection there, apart from the Kiwi connection which is not actually mine, I wouldn't be able to control the direction, and its many other features, over the internet, but I presume it is possible to pre-programme things like direction changes.
What about gain and directivity? Would there be significant improvements over my large (5.5m tall x 20m long) flag? Not necessarily, but there would be some advantages. The Aziloop fine tunes everything very nicely, but it would need minor adaptation, i.e. appropriate ground planes, to help it perform better at the bottom of the medium wave band. Even then, it would need to be flipped from K9AY mode to mag-loop mode below about 700 kHz., at which point it would become a loop! :(
After a lot of discussion on the Medium wave Circle's Facebook page, plus private emails between radio friends, I get the firm message that the gain from the Aziloop is not as high as a beverage (understandable) but even when compared to a large flag or K9AY and large DKaz. This may not be an issue of course. A few very contended users rate their Aziloops very highly and all seem to state that it's the best little antenna they have had. I understand that you can construct them with larger dimensions but I don't know the acceptable parameteres, so please don't quote me on this. I am still learning.
Some say that the high price is justified and actually quite reasonable. It's creator, Dave Evans, certainly knows his onions and has gone to considerable lengths to make this antenna a serious performer on medium wave. Short of actually trying one, I would like to think that I will be the proud owner of one in another year or so, but I won't be prioritising the purchase as I have other financial priorities in the next year or two. I am not well-off. Being self-employed has its good and bad times. My work can be quite seasonal too and I have to consider winding things down now as my age is starting to work against me in more ways than one, plus I have just been hit with a four figure sum for a replacement clutch for my car.
My large flag is more than adequate for my needs at the moment. Providing I maintain it well and give it the TLC it deserves, I cannot see a huge amount of difference between this and the Aziloop. The remotely controlled directivity of the Aziloop is the real selling point for me, so I think it would be incredibly useful to own one.
Any improvements to antennas of this size and performance will almost certainly be negligible, so I don't think I am missing out on DX by not having one, apart from having the programmable and switchable directivity.
So this is my current thinking on the matter. It's a luxury which would be very useful, but not absolutely essential. Will I buy one? I'd like to but not just yet. When you look at the different antennas we use for medium wave DX, you learn fairly quickly that there is not one 'all-singing, all-dancing' antenna. They all have their pros and cons. The general consensus is that the beverage wins out over all those antennas mentioned above. After that, I think the rest are on a par. No doubt some will agree and some will disagree. Comments welcome below.
Saturday, 17 January 2026
Monday, 8 November 2021
I don't have the time to update this blog anymore.
This blog was initially created to keep a record of my DX loggings, having lost so many over the years due to hard drive failures (and not making enough backups). My latest DX loggings can be found via the FM List and AM List websites. I have done a better job of keeping my all-time logs up-to-date on my website here: http://www.g1vvp.co.uk/index.php but even these are slightly out of date.
I still have last summer's sporadic E files to check through, all 375 of them! When will I get time to go through those? Good question. Er ... probably not before the next sporadic E season, by which time ...
Work and other things in life have taken precedence. Ah! I've got my priorities right at last. ;O)
January 2026 Update: Lately, I have been running a Youtube channel where I upload some of my latest DX catches. You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/@SkegnessDX/videos
Tuesday, 26 January 2021
Post Moderation Issues - Posts disappearing after approval
I have just discovered that there are some 34 posts awaiting moderation. Most are spam, asking if I want to find out the meaning of my name!! No - I already know, thank you! John = Son of God (I'm not the Messiah) Faulkner = a trainer of falcons ;O) But the few which were from genuine DX enthusiasts whom I know were approved and then promptly disappeared. So I can only apologise for not being able to answer your questions. I remembered one of the questions about using a circle instead of a square on an FM loop antenna but I can't help with a useful answer.
I am finding very little time to add to this blog. I have several articles half written too. One day I may be able to find the time to catch up.
Good DX all!
Thursday, 6 August 2020
Sardinia Scatter in Suffolk?
I was nattering away with Tim Bucknall in the chat room the other day. We were reminiscing about old times and all those wonderful DX trips we had, visiting places like North Wales, Cornwall, the Derbyshire Peak District and the Staffordhire Moorlands, always in search of something different in the way of DX. Happy memories! Then we spoke about Suffolk. In particular, we were wondering if it would be possible to receive Corsica there. Then I remembered that we had already had! We had almost forgotten.
I thought that this was already documented in SkywavesDX, but on checking, I see that it isn't, unless I haven't searched correctly. So I thought it would be an opportune moment to document it here. I'll also add it it to my blog in due course.
The best thing about this mystery reception at Suffolk, Aldeburgh and Sizewell Cliffs, to be precise, was that it didn't seem to tie in with any tropo and was always received around the middle of the day or early afternoon and with fluttery scatter-like signals. This didn't sound like tropo at all.
Reception was understandably very weak and signals came up out of the noise only occasionally and not even every day we were at the coast. They would be quite clear for about 30 seconds, then disappear back into the noise. They were never completely noise free.
It was always the same three frequencies too. 88.8, 95.3 and 96.5. It's such a long time ago now that I forget the exact programme content, but we always heard Italian voices. We often spoke about these mystery stations and never knew where the Italian signals could be coming from, never really daring to speculate that they could be from Sardinia. They were probably logged tentatively somewhere and may be documented on the SkywavesDX Yahoo group. Again, my own searching has revealed nothing. Maybe nothing was logged, not even tentatively as I wouldn't have had any idea who I was receiving. (Update: After checking through his own notes, Tim found 13/07/2002 to be one of those dates.) So why the uncertainty? These were pre-FM List days and reliable frequency/transmitter information was often difficult to come by. This reception took place across the late 90s and early 00s. We didn't make detailed loggings of these as we probably assumed they must be something rather more mundane than Sardinia. It wasn't until I took a holiday to Palafrugell in Catalunya in 2005 that I had an inkling of what we may have, and dare I say 'probably' received.
It was a family holiday and I managed to escape for a couple of hours late one evening to do some DXing in the hills. I found a local high spot called Mont Ras, just outside the town. It was a small hill, rather than a mountain, but it provided good reception of all the local stations from in and around the area. I managed to find this bandscan on the Skywaves Yahoo Group archive, posted on 06/06/2005. This is a copy of that report.
Palafrugell (CAT) Bandscan July 30th & 31st, 2005.
87.6 Catalunya Cultura, Comprodon CCULTURA
87.8 Catalunya Musica, Calonge-Castell d'Aro CATMUSIC
87.8 Xtra FM, Sant Feliu De Guixols _XTRAFM_
88.1 Cadena 40, Rocacorba 40P_____
88.4 R RM, UNID site RADIORM_
88.6 UNID, semi-local station with no RDS. All talk
88.6 IB3 R, Monte Toro-Alaior, Balearic Islands IB3RADIO
88.7 R RM, Collserola. Tropo? RADIORM_
88.9 Catalunya Cultura, Rocacorba CCULTURA
89.1 R Marca Barcelona, Collserola _MARCA__
89.2 RFM Provence, Marseille / Grande Etiole (13) __RFM___
89.4 Cadena COPE Girona, Rocacorba __COPE__ _GIRONA_
89.6 R Dialogue, Marseille (13) DIALOGUE
89.9 Onda Rambla Girona, Girona __ONDA__ _RAMBLA_ _RADIO__ _PUNTO__ A_GIRONA _89.9_FM
90.1 Onda Rambla Girona, UNID site __ONDA__ _RAMBLA_ _RADIO__ _PUNTO__ A_GIRONA _89.9_FM
90.4 Onda Cero R, UNID site ONDACERO
90.8 UNID. R Vila? 50 watts from Viladecaballs near Terrassa
91.1 RNE Clasica, Rocacorba RNE-CLAS
91.4 RAC 105 FM, Castell d'Aro RAC105__
91.6 RTV Activitat, Santa Coloma De Farnes
91.9 RAC 105, Banyoles RAC105__
92.1 France Inter, UNID site __INTER_
92.2 France Musiques, Nice / Mont Chauve (06) MUSIQUES
92.3 R Star, Marseille / Petit Sanguin (13) 4kW
92.5 Catalunya R, Calonge-Castell d'Aro CATRADIO
92.7 Frequence Girona, Girona COMRADIO
92.9 Catalunya R, Palafrugell CATRADIO
93.3 RNE-1 Catalunya, Rocacorba RNE_1___
93.6 R Capital, UNID site. Thought this was Spanish but unsure CAPITAL_
93.8 France Culture? Nothing listed
94.0 RNE R Cinco, UNID site RNE_5___
94.1 Catalunya Informacio, Calonge-Castell d'Aro CATINFO_
94.4 SER Girona FM, Girona __SER___
94.7 Catalunya R, UNID site
94.7 Alcudia R, Son Sant Marti, Balearic Islands
94.8 UNID French classical station, not France Musique
94.9 France Musique, Toulon / Cap Sicie (83)
95.1 Ona R Girona, Rocacorba __ONA___ CATALANA _GIRONA_ _95.1_FM
95.3 RAI-2, Monte Limbara, Sardinia! RADIO2__
95.4 R Maria, UNID site R.MARIA_
95.6 R Club 25 FM, Barcelona CLUB25FM
95.9 RNE-3, Rocacorba RNE_3___
96.3 R Costa Brava, Palamos RCBRAVA_ _96.3_FM __ONA___ _MUSICA_
96.5` France Culture, Carcasonne / Pic De Nore (11) `
96.5 UNID Italian station playing club music 00:15 GMT 31/05
96.7 Catalunya Musica, Rocacorba CATMUSIC_
97.0 Catalunya Cultura, Palafrugell CCULTURA
97.2 UNID classical, think France Musique, Perpignan / Pic De Neoulous (66)
97.4 UNID local station, no RDS. R Sant Gregori?
97.7 R Begur La Sintonia, Begur R,BEGUR_ ___LA___ SINTONIA DEL_MAR_
97.9 Catalunya Informacio, UNID site
98.1 Ona Catalana R Olot, Olot RADIOLOT __ONA___ CATALANA
98.2 RNE-4, UNID site RADIO_4_
98.5 Ona Musica Girona, Rocacorba __ONA___ _MUSICA_ _GIRONA_ _98.5_FM
98.9 Cadena Dial, UNID site --DIAL--
99.2 Catalunya Cultura, Calonge-Castell d'Aro CCULTURA
99.4 Catalunya Informacio, Macanet De Cabrenys CATINFO_
99.6 Flaix FM Girona, Girona FLAIX_FM
99.8 France Musiques, Ile d'Elbe / Monte Capanne (20)
99.9 RAC-1, UNID site RAC_1___
100.1 RAC-1, Girona RAC_1___
100.2 "???? FM" ID Spanish tropo, fading
100.4 Catalunya Musica, Palafrugell CATMUSIC
100.7 Flaixbac FM, Rocacorba FLAIXBAC
101.0 R Clasica, UNID site RNE-CLAS
101.3 R RM, Macanet De Cabrenys
101.6 France Bleu Roussillon, Pepignan / Pic De Neoulous (66)
101.7 Catalunya Informacio, Rocacorba CATINFO_
101.9 Ona Girona, Girona _GIRONA_ CATALANA 101,9_FM
102.2 Catalunya R, Rocacorba CATRADIO
102.5 RNE-1, UNID site
102.7 R Platja d'Aro, Mas Nou RPA102.7
102.8 Caytalunya Cultura, Macanet De Cabrenys
103.0 RNE-1, UNID site RNE_1___
103.2 Sud R, Sorede / Pic De Neulos (66) SUDRADIO
103.3 UNID
103.4 R Estel, Girona R-ESTEL_
103.5 RNE-1, UNID site
103.6 UNID
103.7 R Santa Cristina, Santa Cristina d'Aro RADIO___ SANTA___ CRISTINA 100X100_ _MUSICA_
103.9 UNID French
104.0 Ona Emporda, Macanet De Cabrenys
104.2 Maxima FM, Barcelona MAXIMAFM
104.3 RMC Info, Several sites possible RMC_INFO
104.4 Ona Emporda, Figueres __ONA___ CATALANA EMPORDA_ 104.4_FM
104.5 R Cinco, Alfabia perhaps in Balearic Islands
104.8 Catalunya Informacio, Palafrugell CATINFO_
105.1 R Teletaxi, UNID site TELETAXI FM_Y_OLE ALEGRIA_ 24_HORES
105.3 France Info, many sites, perhaps Marseille / Grande Etoile (13) __INFO__
105.5 Catalunya R, Macanet De Cabrenys CATRADIO
105.7 Flaix FM, Terrassa
105.7 France Info, Nice / Mont Cauve (06) perhaps or Montauban (82) ? __INFO__
105.8 R Dimensione Suono, Cagliari? *_RDS_*_
105.8 RNE-3, Monte Torro-Alaior, Balearic Islands RNE_3___
105.9 NRJ Perpignan, Perpignan (66) __NRJ___
106.1 Flaixbac FM Barcelona, Sant Feliu De Barcelona
106.2 RNE-4, Rocacorba RNE_4___
106.4 Gum FM, Lloret De Mar _GUM_FM_
106.5 Riviera R, Menton / Cap Martin (06) _RADIO__ HOT_HITS NEWS+FUN ___IN___ ENGLISH_ RIVIERA_
106.6 R Estel, Barcelona
106.8 Europa FM, Girona EUROPAFM
107.0 R Sant Feliu, Sant Feliu De`Guixols (surely more than 10 Watts?) RSF107.0
107.1 R Montgri, Torroella De Montgri
107.3 Catalunya Cultura, UNID site
107.5 R Palamos, Palamos _RADIO__ PALAMOS_ A_C_A_R_ 107,5_FM LA_RADIO AL_PUNT_
107.8 R Palafrugell, Palafrugell RADIO___ PALAFRU- GELL-24H 107.8_FM
SUMMARY: The holiday was at Palafrugell, near Girona, midway down the Costa Brava coast between Portbou and Barcelona. The lie of the land was hilly but not exceptionally so. The local high spot was the Far Sant Sebastia - a lighthouse which was about a couple of miles away but parking anywhere near it resulted in severe overload due, I suspect, to the local Palafrugell transmitters being up there, so 90% of the above log was made at the village of Mont Ras near the botanical gardens on the opposite side of the Calella de Palafrugell bay or further down the bay. The elevation was minimal but I was hoping other nearby hills slightly further inland would block out the locals.
The 30th and 31st were the only two days I heard DX throughout my two week stay. This was a family holiday so DX was not a priority - in fact I didn't expect to do any at all. Where possible I had a quick scan across FM in the early mornings and at the end of the evenings but nothing other than local Catalunya stations seemed to be audible, despite forecasts of good tropo for most of the period.
During the late evening on the 30th Linda, my wife, said she wouldn't mind if I drove up the local hills and did an hour or two of DXing, so off I
went, leaving at 20:30 GMT with nothing of any note audible on FM.
The next two hours saw a bandscan of local stations. It wasn't until about 00:00 GMT on the 31st that I spotted the first Italian signal on 105.8.
Then things lifted up pretty quickly for an hour but conditions were soon gone again after this.
The following evening saw some different stations coming in during a brief bandscan around 20:00, this time from our location near Palafrugell town.
Stations marked with "UNID sites" are either unlisted or possibly more distant sites being received via tropo.
I would appreciate any thoughts on the UNID Italian station on 96.5. I am wondering if this and RAI-2 were the two stations received in Suffolk in
2002 via tropo? This would appear to make some sense. Hmm, I feel a Suffolk DXpedition coming on. :o)
Good DX!
John
Following my post to Skywaves, Ruud Brand responded with the following:
"Hi John,
All the French stations except Perpignan was tropo (note that 92.1 Inter and 97.2 Musiques are from Perpignan Pic de Neoulous).
The 94.8 unid F with classical music could have been Bleu Azur from Menton.
Which RX and type of aerial did you use?
Ruud (who will stay some km's to the north coming summer holiday)"
Pedro Moñino also responded:
Some help. Most of the UNID sites must be spurious signals, I think
Pedro
... Which may well be right, given the overload I had at the Far Sant Sebastia at the opposite end of town. It was probably less than 5km away.
Finally, Fabrizio Carnevalini commented:
> 96.5 UNID Italian station playing club music 00:15 GMT 31/05. I think is RIN - Radio Italia Network, Sennori - Su Lotto (Sassari, Sardinia)
> 105.8 R Dimensione Suono, Cagliari? *_RDS_*_ is from Monte Limbara, Sardinia
I remember some further correspondence about the unidentified Italian stations we regularly received on Suffolk DX trips. These too concluded that these sites in north-east Sardinia got out very well and that these were very likely to have been what we received. It all bodes very well for this reception being from Sardinia. If so, the distance would be in excess of 1300 km - not impossible for tropo, but quite exceptional for any kind of scatter.
Thursday, 18 June 2020
Holbeach Log: 2020-06-18 (Es: ROU UKR MDA)
104.7 0958 UKR Radio Maksymum, Ivano-Frankivs'k/RPTS Zakhidnyj Polyus, vul. Stepana
Bandery, 1 (IF) 1021 ????MUM_ 1760km
104.0 1000 MDA Radio PMR/Radio 1, Tiraspol (P-TS) Thank you PFM for IDing this and matching
to podcast. 2193km **
107.2 1003 ROU Radio Impact FM, Câmpulung Moldovenesc/Rarau (SV) E20B ImpactFm
????2_FM 1890km **
105.7 1004 UKR Russkoye radio - Ukraina, Uzhhorod/vul. Gagarina, 42/1 (ZK) OM
vocal ID 1616km **
107.2 1004 UKR UR 1 Persha Prog., Kholmtsi/MPP Versiya plyus (ZK) FFFF Scrolling PS
including UZ, GO and MH 1625km
94.3 1040 ROU Radio Guerrilla, Iasi / Copou (IS) 1248 GUERILLA 2037km **
Sporadic E:
** Personal first
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
Bandery, 1 (IF) 1021 ????MUM_ 1760km
104.0 1000 MDA Radio PMR/Radio 1, Tiraspol (P-TS) Thank you PFM for IDing this and matching
to podcast. 2193km **
107.2 1003 ROU Radio Impact FM, Câmpulung Moldovenesc/Rarau (SV) E20B ImpactFm
????2_FM 1890km **
105.7 1004 UKR Russkoye radio - Ukraina, Uzhhorod/vul. Gagarina, 42/1 (ZK) OM
vocal ID 1616km **
107.2 1004 UKR UR 1 Persha Prog., Kholmtsi/MPP Versiya plyus (ZK) FFFF Scrolling PS
including UZ, GO and MH 1625km
94.3 1040 ROU Radio Guerrilla, Iasi / Copou (IS) 1248 GUERILLA 2037km **
Sporadic E:
** Personal first
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
Tuesday, 16 June 2020
Holbeach Log: 2020-06-16 (Es: C Europe, Balkans)
105.4 0540 CZE Radio Rubi, Zábreh/Jestrebí-vodárna (OL) 2B28 1198km **
107.0 0540 SVK Rádio Vlna, Dobšiná/Suchý vrch (KE) 5218 1481km **
107.2 0541 UKR UR 1 Persha Prog., Kholmtsi/MPP Versiya plyus (ZK) FFFF *UR-1* 107.2 MHZ
UZGOROD 1625km **
104.8 0542 ROU Radio Europa FM, Negresti-Oas (SM) Vocal ID 1729km **
107.2 0544 CZE CRo Plus, Olomouc/Pohorany-Jedová hora (OL) 2424 1241km **
105.9 0545 CZE Radio Cas, Frenštát pod Radhoštem/Velký Javorník (MO) 2996 1299km **
107.1 0545 CZE Rádio Blaník, Vsetín/Rokytnice-Pod Becevnou (CRa) (ZL) 2B3C 1297km **
107.3 0545 SVK Rádio Anténa Rock, Poprad/Zámcisko (PO) 5345 ANT.??CK 1463km **
107.5 0545 SVK Rádio Expres, Cadca/Jurošovský vrch (ZA) 521D 1342km **
103.3 0546 SVK Rádio Best FM, Spišská Nová Ves/Teplicka (KE) 5355 BEST_F?? 1487km **
103.7 0546 CZE Radio Haná SkyRock, Zábreh/Jestrebí-stožár u ZD (OL) 24B3 SKYROCK_ 1198km **
103.9 0546 CZE Hitrádio Orion, Valašské Mezirící/Radhošt (MO) 299F 1304km **
104.8 0546 SVK Rádio Vlna, Poprad/Hranovnica (PO) 5218 __VLNA__ 1464km **
105.6 0546 CZE Rádio Z, Olomouc/Pohorany-Jedová hora (OL) 210E 1241km **
102.8 0547 HNG Retro Rádió, Fehérgyarmat/Penyige (SSB) B208 1665km **
102.9 0547 SVK Rádio Lumen, Vocal ID. Banská Bystrica/Panský Diel or Štrbské pleso/
Hotel Panoráma **
103.8 0547 SVK SRo 1 Rádio Slovensko, Ružomberok/Úložisko (ZA) 5201 _S??_1__ 1405km **
102.8 0548 CZE Rádio Blaník, Nový Jicín/ul. Gregorova 1759/38 (MO) 2B3C 1285km **
103.0 0548 UKR UR 2 Radio Promin', Kholmtsi/MPP Versiya plyus (ZK) Jingle ID 0002 1625km **
107.7 0548 CZE Country Radio, Nový Jicín/ul. Jeremenkova - silo (MO) 2337 1285km **
104.1 0550 UKR Radio NV, Kholmtsi/MPP Versiya plyus (ZK) Many thanks to Bigic fro help with
this one. Bad hum with audio. 1625km **
107.3 0550 CZE Radio Beat, Plzen/Bory - Heyrovského 480/31 (PL) 2431 __BEAT__ 980km **
105.2 0551 POL Radio Alex, Zakopane/G. Kasprowy Wierch (MP) 30D5 1432km **
102.4 0552 CZE CRo Pardubice, Svitavy/Kamenná Horka - Palicka (PA) 280C R-PCE___ 1185km **
105.1 0552 CZE Radio Haná, Moravská Trebová/Krížový vrch - vodárna (PA) 2B16 1191km **
105.7 0553 CZE Signál Radio, Mladá Boleslav/Chloumek - vrch Knežský (ST) 2311 1049km **
106.6 0553 CZE Fajn Radio, Kutná Hora/Chvaletice-elektrárna CEZ (ST) 2335 1099km **
103.1 0554 CZE Radio Cas, Mohelnice/Horní Krcmy-Na Hranickách (OL) 2996 1207km **
106.3 0554 CZE Rádio Z, Ostrava/ul. Vítkovická 3083/1 - CSAD (MO) 210E 1293km **
105.1 0556 UKR Radio Slatina, Rakhiv/ZFKRRT, gora Terentyn (ZK) Vocal ID 1766km **
106.4 0556 ROU City Rádió, Satu Mare / str. Horea (bloc rotund) (SM) E106 CITY_FM_ 1695km **
107.5 0556 CZE Radio Haná SkyRock, Valašské Mezirící/Štepánov (vodárna) (ZL) 24B3 1291km **
103.4 0557 CZE Rádio Blaník, Hradec Králové/Roudnicka (O2) (KR) 283C 1117km **
104.7 0557 CZE Fajn Radio, Vsetín/Škývarka (ZL) 2B35 ????JN?? 1299km **
106.2 0557 CZE Country Radio, Mladá Boleslav/Kosmonosy (ST) 2337 1046km **
107.9 0557 CZE Radio Beat, Svitavy/Opatov (VDF) (PA) As 107.6 and with vocal ID 1177km **
103.3 0558 CZE Radio Haná, Šumperk/ul. Dolnostudénská 2950/5 (OL) Vocal ID 1202km **
105.2 0558 SVK Rádio Expres, Považská Bystrica/Hôrka (TN) Adverts, as 106.2 1336km **
106.1 0558 CZE Kiss, Olomouc/ul. Jeremenkova 1211/40B (Reg.centrum) (OL) 23A0 1238km **
107.6 0558 CZE Radio Beat, Šumperk/Kolšov - vrch Markovice (OL) 2431 __BEAT__ 1202km **
107.7 0558 UKR Hit FM - Ukraina, Vinohradiv/pl. Myru, 4 (ZK) Possible Hit jingle and Hit
Number 1 vocal. Telephone number 67-009-4-964 confirmed by PFM-Skywaves.
Thank you PFM and David B for your help 1687km **
102.3 0600 CZE Radio Impuls, Zlín/Tlustá hora (ZL) Vocal ID 1281km **
106.3 0600 SVK Rádio Lumen, Rožnava/ul. Šafárikova 116 (silo) (KE) Vocal ID 1498km **
107.1 0600 ROU Radio Europa FM, Varatec (MM) Jingle ID 1778km **
104.7 0603 CZE CRo Pardubice, Pardubice/Krásné (PA) 280C R-PCE___ 1127km **
104.9 0604 CZE Radio Haná SkyRock, Boskovice/Habrí (JM) 24B3 1201km **
105.9 0614 SVK Rádio Plus, Nitra/ul. B.Slancíkovej 1 (UKF) (NR) 508E ??-??S_ 1357km **
103.2 0617 CZE CRo Dvojka, Votice/Mezivrata (ST) 232E 1069km **
106.2 0617 ROU Radio Europa FM, Sibiu/Paltinis (SB) E299 1890km **
106.2 0617 CZE Frekvence 1, Benešov/Mariánovice (ST) 2205 RADIO_F1 1061km **
106.7 0623 CZE Evropa 2, Trebíc/U Kostelícka (CRa) (VY) 2204 1166km **
106.9 0623 CZE CRo Dvojka, Jicín/Tábor (KR) 232E R-DVOJKA 1072km **
107.7 0623 CZE Kiss, Jihlava/Holý vrch (Kohlhübel) O2 (VY) 23A0 1142km **
102.3 0624 CZE CRo Dvojka, Trebíc/komín teplárny Horky (VY) As 107.1 1168km **
102.3 0624 CZE Radio Krokodýl, Jihlava/vodárna Hosov (VY) 23A2 1135km **
105.6 0624 CZE Radio Beat, Hodonín/ul. Koupelní 3759/2 (JM) 2431 1266km **
107.1 0624 CZE Kiss, Breclav/ul. Jana Palacha 34 (JM) Suspect this over Náchod as no other
Náchod frequencies available. 23A0 ??????S_ 1255km **
103.7 0625 CZE Rock Radio, Trebíc/U Kostelícka (vodojem) (VY) 2353 RO????._ 1166km **
104.8 0625 CZE Rádio Blaník, Trebíc/ul. Koželužská - komín BOPO (VY) 233C 1165km **
105.5 0625 CZE Evropa 2, Votice/Mezivrata (ST) 2204 1069km **
104.2 0626 SVK Rádio Jemné, Levice/ul. B. S.-Timravy – stožiar (NR) 5354 _Jemne__ 1395km **
102.8 0628 SVK SRo 4 Rádio_FM, Borský Mikuláš/Mária Magdaléna (TT) 5202 1286km **
103.3 0646 HNG Retro Rádió, Budapest/Széchenyi-hegy (Bud) B208 1460km **
103.9 0646 SVK Trnavské Rádio, Trnava/Coburgova 84 (komín TAZ) (TT) 5085 1320km **
104.0 0646 HNG Rádió 1, Békéscsaba / Telekom tower, Posta köz (Bek) B317 RA?????? 1644km **
** Personal first
Unidentified/Unlisted:
105.0 0557 CZE ??, ? Relay of Radio Rubi // 104.5
This was my personal best opening I have known to CZE and SVK. It was purely accidental too as I was only recording the top of the band for meteor scatter, not expecting any Es. My antenna was vertical; and pointing north-east too.
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
107.0 0540 SVK Rádio Vlna, Dobšiná/Suchý vrch (KE) 5218 1481km **
107.2 0541 UKR UR 1 Persha Prog., Kholmtsi/MPP Versiya plyus (ZK) FFFF *UR-1* 107.2 MHZ
UZGOROD 1625km **
104.8 0542 ROU Radio Europa FM, Negresti-Oas (SM) Vocal ID 1729km **
107.2 0544 CZE CRo Plus, Olomouc/Pohorany-Jedová hora (OL) 2424 1241km **
105.9 0545 CZE Radio Cas, Frenštát pod Radhoštem/Velký Javorník (MO) 2996 1299km **
107.1 0545 CZE Rádio Blaník, Vsetín/Rokytnice-Pod Becevnou (CRa) (ZL) 2B3C 1297km **
107.3 0545 SVK Rádio Anténa Rock, Poprad/Zámcisko (PO) 5345 ANT.??CK 1463km **
107.5 0545 SVK Rádio Expres, Cadca/Jurošovský vrch (ZA) 521D 1342km **
103.3 0546 SVK Rádio Best FM, Spišská Nová Ves/Teplicka (KE) 5355 BEST_F?? 1487km **
103.7 0546 CZE Radio Haná SkyRock, Zábreh/Jestrebí-stožár u ZD (OL) 24B3 SKYROCK_ 1198km **
103.9 0546 CZE Hitrádio Orion, Valašské Mezirící/Radhošt (MO) 299F 1304km **
104.8 0546 SVK Rádio Vlna, Poprad/Hranovnica (PO) 5218 __VLNA__ 1464km **
105.6 0546 CZE Rádio Z, Olomouc/Pohorany-Jedová hora (OL) 210E 1241km **
102.8 0547 HNG Retro Rádió, Fehérgyarmat/Penyige (SSB) B208 1665km **
102.9 0547 SVK Rádio Lumen, Vocal ID. Banská Bystrica/Panský Diel or Štrbské pleso/
Hotel Panoráma **
103.8 0547 SVK SRo 1 Rádio Slovensko, Ružomberok/Úložisko (ZA) 5201 _S??_1__ 1405km **
102.8 0548 CZE Rádio Blaník, Nový Jicín/ul. Gregorova 1759/38 (MO) 2B3C 1285km **
103.0 0548 UKR UR 2 Radio Promin', Kholmtsi/MPP Versiya plyus (ZK) Jingle ID 0002 1625km **
107.7 0548 CZE Country Radio, Nový Jicín/ul. Jeremenkova - silo (MO) 2337 1285km **
104.1 0550 UKR Radio NV, Kholmtsi/MPP Versiya plyus (ZK) Many thanks to Bigic fro help with
this one. Bad hum with audio. 1625km **
107.3 0550 CZE Radio Beat, Plzen/Bory - Heyrovského 480/31 (PL) 2431 __BEAT__ 980km **
105.2 0551 POL Radio Alex, Zakopane/G. Kasprowy Wierch (MP) 30D5 1432km **
102.4 0552 CZE CRo Pardubice, Svitavy/Kamenná Horka - Palicka (PA) 280C R-PCE___ 1185km **
105.1 0552 CZE Radio Haná, Moravská Trebová/Krížový vrch - vodárna (PA) 2B16 1191km **
105.7 0553 CZE Signál Radio, Mladá Boleslav/Chloumek - vrch Knežský (ST) 2311 1049km **
106.6 0553 CZE Fajn Radio, Kutná Hora/Chvaletice-elektrárna CEZ (ST) 2335 1099km **
103.1 0554 CZE Radio Cas, Mohelnice/Horní Krcmy-Na Hranickách (OL) 2996 1207km **
106.3 0554 CZE Rádio Z, Ostrava/ul. Vítkovická 3083/1 - CSAD (MO) 210E 1293km **
105.1 0556 UKR Radio Slatina, Rakhiv/ZFKRRT, gora Terentyn (ZK) Vocal ID 1766km **
106.4 0556 ROU City Rádió, Satu Mare / str. Horea (bloc rotund) (SM) E106 CITY_FM_ 1695km **
107.5 0556 CZE Radio Haná SkyRock, Valašské Mezirící/Štepánov (vodárna) (ZL) 24B3 1291km **
103.4 0557 CZE Rádio Blaník, Hradec Králové/Roudnicka (O2) (KR) 283C 1117km **
104.7 0557 CZE Fajn Radio, Vsetín/Škývarka (ZL) 2B35 ????JN?? 1299km **
106.2 0557 CZE Country Radio, Mladá Boleslav/Kosmonosy (ST) 2337 1046km **
107.9 0557 CZE Radio Beat, Svitavy/Opatov (VDF) (PA) As 107.6 and with vocal ID 1177km **
103.3 0558 CZE Radio Haná, Šumperk/ul. Dolnostudénská 2950/5 (OL) Vocal ID 1202km **
105.2 0558 SVK Rádio Expres, Považská Bystrica/Hôrka (TN) Adverts, as 106.2 1336km **
106.1 0558 CZE Kiss, Olomouc/ul. Jeremenkova 1211/40B (Reg.centrum) (OL) 23A0 1238km **
107.6 0558 CZE Radio Beat, Šumperk/Kolšov - vrch Markovice (OL) 2431 __BEAT__ 1202km **
107.7 0558 UKR Hit FM - Ukraina, Vinohradiv/pl. Myru, 4 (ZK) Possible Hit jingle and Hit
Number 1 vocal. Telephone number 67-009-4-964 confirmed by PFM-Skywaves.
Thank you PFM and David B for your help 1687km **
102.3 0600 CZE Radio Impuls, Zlín/Tlustá hora (ZL) Vocal ID 1281km **
106.3 0600 SVK Rádio Lumen, Rožnava/ul. Šafárikova 116 (silo) (KE) Vocal ID 1498km **
107.1 0600 ROU Radio Europa FM, Varatec (MM) Jingle ID 1778km **
104.7 0603 CZE CRo Pardubice, Pardubice/Krásné (PA) 280C R-PCE___ 1127km **
104.9 0604 CZE Radio Haná SkyRock, Boskovice/Habrí (JM) 24B3 1201km **
105.9 0614 SVK Rádio Plus, Nitra/ul. B.Slancíkovej 1 (UKF) (NR) 508E ??-??S_ 1357km **
103.2 0617 CZE CRo Dvojka, Votice/Mezivrata (ST) 232E 1069km **
106.2 0617 ROU Radio Europa FM, Sibiu/Paltinis (SB) E299 1890km **
106.2 0617 CZE Frekvence 1, Benešov/Mariánovice (ST) 2205 RADIO_F1 1061km **
106.7 0623 CZE Evropa 2, Trebíc/U Kostelícka (CRa) (VY) 2204 1166km **
106.9 0623 CZE CRo Dvojka, Jicín/Tábor (KR) 232E R-DVOJKA 1072km **
107.7 0623 CZE Kiss, Jihlava/Holý vrch (Kohlhübel) O2 (VY) 23A0 1142km **
102.3 0624 CZE CRo Dvojka, Trebíc/komín teplárny Horky (VY) As 107.1 1168km **
102.3 0624 CZE Radio Krokodýl, Jihlava/vodárna Hosov (VY) 23A2 1135km **
105.6 0624 CZE Radio Beat, Hodonín/ul. Koupelní 3759/2 (JM) 2431 1266km **
107.1 0624 CZE Kiss, Breclav/ul. Jana Palacha 34 (JM) Suspect this over Náchod as no other
Náchod frequencies available. 23A0 ??????S_ 1255km **
103.7 0625 CZE Rock Radio, Trebíc/U Kostelícka (vodojem) (VY) 2353 RO????._ 1166km **
104.8 0625 CZE Rádio Blaník, Trebíc/ul. Koželužská - komín BOPO (VY) 233C 1165km **
105.5 0625 CZE Evropa 2, Votice/Mezivrata (ST) 2204 1069km **
104.2 0626 SVK Rádio Jemné, Levice/ul. B. S.-Timravy – stožiar (NR) 5354 _Jemne__ 1395km **
102.8 0628 SVK SRo 4 Rádio_FM, Borský Mikuláš/Mária Magdaléna (TT) 5202 1286km **
103.3 0646 HNG Retro Rádió, Budapest/Széchenyi-hegy (Bud) B208 1460km **
103.9 0646 SVK Trnavské Rádio, Trnava/Coburgova 84 (komín TAZ) (TT) 5085 1320km **
104.0 0646 HNG Rádió 1, Békéscsaba / Telekom tower, Posta köz (Bek) B317 RA?????? 1644km **
** Personal first
Unidentified/Unlisted:
105.0 0557 CZE ??, ? Relay of Radio Rubi // 104.5
This was my personal best opening I have known to CZE and SVK. It was purely accidental too as I was only recording the top of the band for meteor scatter, not expecting any Es. My antenna was vertical; and pointing north-east too.
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
Monday, 15 June 2020
Holbeach Log: 2020-06-15 (Es: GRC)
87.9 0846 GRC ERA Sport, Patra/Panahaiko (wgr-akh) Phone-in, as web. Note: A PI reset has
occurred to FFFF. Thank you Panos and Bigic for the clarification. 2336km
** Personal first
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
occurred to FFFF. Thank you Panos and Bigic for the clarification. 2336km
** Personal first
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
Sunday, 14 June 2020
Holbeach Log: 2020-06-14 (Es: DNK S)
88.0 1120 S Star FM, Vännäs/Granlundsberget TM (vb) E245 1629km **
88.6 1126 S RIX FM, Ånge (vn) Jingle ID 1381km **
101.2 1155 S Megapol, Unlisted site E243 MEGAPOL_ **
97.2 1224 DNK DR P3, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk) More likely to be Es due to signal
strength 9203 617km **
91.8 1231 S SR P1, Arjeplog/Galtispuoda TM (no) 300 watts. As 88.3 1736km
** Personal first
I am quite sure that my reception of Rangstrup on 97.2 was sporadic E. Although I can receive the Rangstrup transmitter on aircraft/troposcatter, this transmitter never reaches anything close to RDS levels in these modes and is only ever down in the noise. It's rare too and and requires good scatter conditions. I would find it hard to believe that it came up to RDS levels by chance at this time, so I am logging this a 100% sporadic E. I even went as far as monitoring 97.2 for four hours after the Es event and Rangstrup did not surface once. This beats my shortest sporadic E distance record by 23 km. Rangstrup is 617 km. This overtakes my previous record of 640 km from 98.7 NDR Kultur from Hannover Hemmingen (nds) on June 21st 2015.
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
88.6 1126 S RIX FM, Ånge (vn) Jingle ID 1381km **
101.2 1155 S Megapol, Unlisted site E243 MEGAPOL_ **
97.2 1224 DNK DR P3, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk) More likely to be Es due to signal
strength 9203 617km **
91.8 1231 S SR P1, Arjeplog/Galtispuoda TM (no) 300 watts. As 88.3 1736km
** Personal first
I am quite sure that my reception of Rangstrup on 97.2 was sporadic E. Although I can receive the Rangstrup transmitter on aircraft/troposcatter, this transmitter never reaches anything close to RDS levels in these modes and is only ever down in the noise. It's rare too and and requires good scatter conditions. I would find it hard to believe that it came up to RDS levels by chance at this time, so I am logging this a 100% sporadic E. I even went as far as monitoring 97.2 for four hours after the Es event and Rangstrup did not surface once. This beats my shortest sporadic E distance record by 23 km. Rangstrup is 617 km. This overtakes my previous record of 640 km from 98.7 NDR Kultur from Hannover Hemmingen (nds) on June 21st 2015.
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
Saturday, 13 June 2020
Holbeach Log: 2020-06-13 (Es: AZR E)
100.4 0826 E Vaughan Radio, Madrid/Círculo Bellas Artes (MAD-M) English then classical
music, as web 1448km **
107.3 0830 E FM Bierzo, Bembibre (CAL-LE) A007 1273km **
87.7 0855 AZR RDP Antena 3, Pico da Barrosa (RDP) (smg) Pops, as web 2617km
** Personal first
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
music, as web 1448km **
107.3 0830 E FM Bierzo, Bembibre (CAL-LE) A007 1273km **
87.7 0855 AZR RDP Antena 3, Pico da Barrosa (RDP) (smg) Pops, as web 2617km
** Personal first
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
Friday, 12 June 2020
Holbeach Log: 2020-06-12 (Es: AZR FIN)
Sporadic E:
87.7 1917 AZR RDP Antena 3, Pico da Barrosa (RDP) (smg) Occasional bursts of dance music,
as web 2617km
87.9 1928 FIN YLE Radio Yksi, Espoo - Esbo/Saunalahti-Tillinmäki (uu) OM, as web 1665km
I was pleased to catch the Azores once again. They have been received equally as regularly as Italy and the Balkans this season!
I have returned to reporting loggings in chronological order as I feel this will help considering these rapidly changing conditions.
This log does not necessarily reflect the conditions for the day. Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
87.7 1917 AZR RDP Antena 3, Pico da Barrosa (RDP) (smg) Occasional bursts of dance music,
as web 2617km
87.9 1928 FIN YLE Radio Yksi, Espoo - Esbo/Saunalahti-Tillinmäki (uu) OM, as web 1665km
I was pleased to catch the Azores once again. They have been received equally as regularly as Italy and the Balkans this season!
I have returned to reporting loggings in chronological order as I feel this will help considering these rapidly changing conditions.
This log does not necessarily reflect the conditions for the day. Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)