Band 2 Scatter
102.3 1322 F NRJ Nord Littoral, Saint-Omer/Wisques (62) Ad break and jingle ID, as web. Not as other NRJs 299km
100.7 1507 HOL Q-music, IJsselstein/Gerbrandytoren-Alticom (utr) 83C8 Q-MUSIC_ 344km
91.4 1516 F Contact, Lille/Mons-en-Baroeul 2 (59) OM ID after bangin toon 338km
91.1 1518 HOL Slam!FM, Hilversum/Media Park-Alticom (nho) Techno, as web 342km
93.6 1522 BEL Club FM, Koolskamp/Watertoren (vlg-wvl) Coldplay song, OM ID 309km
94.2 1532 BEL VRT Radio 1, Schoten (vlg-ant) Dutch song, as web 354km
104.7 1535 F France Inter, Calais/Mont d'Hubert (62) Classical, as 103.7 266km
87.6 1538 F RTL, Béthune-Lens/Bouvigny-Boyeffles (62) OM and YL, as web 343km
92.2 1539 HOL Omrop Fryslân Radio, Jirnsum/Rijksweg (fri) Slow pop, as web 365km
93.9 1540 HOL Radio Noord-Holland, Wieringermeer/Robbenoordbos (nho) Phone conversation 318km
89.6 2258 F RDL-Radio Dallas Loisirs, Saint-Omer/Racquinghem (62) Brass ensemble, as web 306km
92.0 2300 F Radio 6, Boulogne-sur-Mer/Mont d'Herquelingue (62) Cross-fading with Lille 288km
92.0 2301 F Virgin Radio, Lille/Fort de Mons-en-Baroeul (59) Cross-fading with Boulogne 339km
92.1 2303 G Desire, Essex pirate 2 Step style, as web stream
93.0 2359 HOL Radio 10, Westdorpe/Verkavelingsweg (zee) Peter Gabriel track, as 87.7 323km
Poor continental conditions recently, then an improvement this
afternoon, followed by one or two sustained signals late evening.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Friday, 3 January 2014
Friday, 27 December 2013
Skegness Log: 27-12-13 (OIRT & FM)
Band 2 Meteor Scatter
87.6 0245 S SR P1, Visby, Hudiksvall or Storumen E201
87.6 0326 NOR NRK P1, Nordhue (he) F201 _NR_____. AFs: 87.6 88.9 1094km
OIRT Sporadic E:
71.54 1625 BLR BR Radio Hrodna, Geranyony/RTPS (HR) ID and pops 1659km **
71.33 1626 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Minsk/RTPS Kalodziscy (MI) Pops, as web 1806km **
71.45 1626 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Babrujsk/RTPS Yasny Les (MA) Pops, as web 1922km **
71.18 1627 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Mahilyow/RTPS Polykovici (MA) ID between pops 1969km **
70.91 1628 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Brest/Rakitnica (BR) Pops, as web 1593km
70.43 1629 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Minsk/RTPS Kalodziscy (MI) Piano coincerto 1806km
70.10 1630 BLR BR Radio Mahilyow, Mahilyow/RTPS Polykovici (MA) Pops 1969km **
71.96 1630 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Mahilyow/RTPS Polykovici (MA) Piano concerto 1969km **
72.11 1631 BLR BR Radius FM, Minsk/RTPS Kalodziscy (MI) News, over music, as web 1806km **
72.32 1632 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Geranyony/RTPS (HR) OM and pops, as 72.74 1659km **
72.74 1632 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Mahilyow/RTPS Polykovici (MA) Pops, as 72.32 1969km **
72.89 1633 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Minsk/RTPS Kalodziscy (MI) Rock music 1806km **
73.01 1634 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Babrujsk/RTPS Yasny Les (MA) Rock track, as 72.89 1922km **
66.02 1635 BLR BR Radio Mahilyow, Babrujsk/RTPS Yasny Les (MA) Disco song, as web 1922km
66.20 1635 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Hrodna/RTPS Vul. Gorkogo (HR) Classical, as web 1551km **
66.56 1636 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Slonim/RTPS Novaja Straga (HR) OM and pops, as web 1671km
66.98 1637 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Hrodna/RTPS Vul. Gorkogo (HR) Ads, as web 1551km
67.22 1640 RUS Radio Mayak, Moskva/Ostankino (MV) OMs talk, just audible and as web 2397km **
67.76 1641 BLR BR Radio Hrodna, Hrodna/RTPS Vul. Gorkogo (HR) ID after ads 1551km
68.39 1642 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Geranyony/RTPS (HR) Classical, as web 1659km
68.57 1643 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Salihorsk/RTPS Dubei (MI) Pops and OM, as 72.89 1807km **
68.72 1643 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Svislach=Svislac (HR) Pops, as others 1581km
68.90 1644 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Hrodna/RTPS Vul. Gorkogo (HR) Pops, as others 1551km
68.96 1644 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Babrujsk/RTPS Yasny Les (MA) Dramatic classical, as web 1922km
69.26 1645 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Geranyony/RTPS (HR) Pops, as others 1659km **
69.44 1646 BLR BR Radio Brest, Slonim/RTPS Novaja Straga (HR) Presume with ops 1671km
70.28 1649 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Smyatanichy/RTPS (GO) Pops, as others 1891km
70.79 1649 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Berazino/RTPS (MI) OM, as web 1883km **
67.22 1652 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Smyatanichy/RTPS (GO) Pops, as others 1891km
67.40 1653 ? UNID, ? OM talk, later instrumental music. Very poor
70.31 1655 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Myadzel/RTPS Telyaki (MI) Weird classical, as others 1731km
68.45 1705 BLR BR Gomel FM, Zhlobin/Vul. K.Marksa 1A (GO) Presumed with pops 1974km **
** Personal Skegness First
A nice midwinter Es opening in the OIRT band. I did not notice any band 2 Es around this time.
This is my first experience of OIRT DXing on the modified Sony XDR-F1HD. It was just like listening on band 2.
It seems meteor scatter is also doing the business since I did the i2c modification, but I think this is more likely to be down to the conditions, but there has been a huge drop in my general noise levels at times over the last couple of days which I suspect has also helped. I used to need a minimum of 35dBf before I saw any RDS, but now it seems to be as little as 25dBf. Background noise levels are as low as 4dBf in places, though a large part of today saw a return of the dreaded noise. I wonder if I'll ever get to the bottom of this. It's amazing what can be heard clearly when the noise is not present. Radio Salu on 101.7, noise free, for instance when it peaks up and conditions are hardly inspiring at the moment.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
87.6 0245 S SR P1, Visby, Hudiksvall or Storumen E201
87.6 0326 NOR NRK P1, Nordhue (he) F201 _NR_____. AFs: 87.6 88.9 1094km
OIRT Sporadic E:
71.54 1625 BLR BR Radio Hrodna, Geranyony/RTPS (HR) ID and pops 1659km **
71.33 1626 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Minsk/RTPS Kalodziscy (MI) Pops, as web 1806km **
71.45 1626 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Babrujsk/RTPS Yasny Les (MA) Pops, as web 1922km **
71.18 1627 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Mahilyow/RTPS Polykovici (MA) ID between pops 1969km **
70.91 1628 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Brest/Rakitnica (BR) Pops, as web 1593km
70.43 1629 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Minsk/RTPS Kalodziscy (MI) Piano coincerto 1806km
70.10 1630 BLR BR Radio Mahilyow, Mahilyow/RTPS Polykovici (MA) Pops 1969km **
71.96 1630 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Mahilyow/RTPS Polykovici (MA) Piano concerto 1969km **
72.11 1631 BLR BR Radius FM, Minsk/RTPS Kalodziscy (MI) News, over music, as web 1806km **
72.32 1632 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Geranyony/RTPS (HR) OM and pops, as 72.74 1659km **
72.74 1632 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Mahilyow/RTPS Polykovici (MA) Pops, as 72.32 1969km **
72.89 1633 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Minsk/RTPS Kalodziscy (MI) Rock music 1806km **
73.01 1634 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Babrujsk/RTPS Yasny Les (MA) Rock track, as 72.89 1922km **
66.02 1635 BLR BR Radio Mahilyow, Babrujsk/RTPS Yasny Les (MA) Disco song, as web 1922km
66.20 1635 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Hrodna/RTPS Vul. Gorkogo (HR) Classical, as web 1551km **
66.56 1636 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Slonim/RTPS Novaja Straga (HR) OM and pops, as web 1671km
66.98 1637 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Hrodna/RTPS Vul. Gorkogo (HR) Ads, as web 1551km
67.22 1640 RUS Radio Mayak, Moskva/Ostankino (MV) OMs talk, just audible and as web 2397km **
67.76 1641 BLR BR Radio Hrodna, Hrodna/RTPS Vul. Gorkogo (HR) ID after ads 1551km
68.39 1642 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Geranyony/RTPS (HR) Classical, as web 1659km
68.57 1643 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Salihorsk/RTPS Dubei (MI) Pops and OM, as 72.89 1807km **
68.72 1643 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Svislach=Svislac (HR) Pops, as others 1581km
68.90 1644 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Hrodna/RTPS Vul. Gorkogo (HR) Pops, as others 1551km
68.96 1644 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Babrujsk/RTPS Yasny Les (MA) Dramatic classical, as web 1922km
69.26 1645 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Geranyony/RTPS (HR) Pops, as others 1659km **
69.44 1646 BLR BR Radio Brest, Slonim/RTPS Novaja Straga (HR) Presume with ops 1671km
70.28 1649 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Smyatanichy/RTPS (GO) Pops, as others 1891km
70.79 1649 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Berazino/RTPS (MI) OM, as web 1883km **
67.22 1652 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Smyatanichy/RTPS (GO) Pops, as others 1891km
67.40 1653 ? UNID, ? OM talk, later instrumental music. Very poor
70.31 1655 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Myadzel/RTPS Telyaki (MI) Weird classical, as others 1731km
68.45 1705 BLR BR Gomel FM, Zhlobin/Vul. K.Marksa 1A (GO) Presumed with pops 1974km **
** Personal Skegness First
A nice midwinter Es opening in the OIRT band. I did not notice any band 2 Es around this time.
This is my first experience of OIRT DXing on the modified Sony XDR-F1HD. It was just like listening on band 2.
It seems meteor scatter is also doing the business since I did the i2c modification, but I think this is more likely to be down to the conditions, but there has been a huge drop in my general noise levels at times over the last couple of days which I suspect has also helped. I used to need a minimum of 35dBf before I saw any RDS, but now it seems to be as little as 25dBf. Background noise levels are as low as 4dBf in places, though a large part of today saw a return of the dreaded noise. I wonder if I'll ever get to the bottom of this. It's amazing what can be heard clearly when the noise is not present. Radio Salu on 101.7, noise free, for instance when it peaks up and conditions are hardly inspiring at the moment.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Thursday, 26 December 2013
Skegness Log: 26-12-13 (FM)
Band 2 Meteor Scatter
87.7 1407 E RAC 1, Barcelona/Collserola (CAT-B) E251 __AC1___ 1311km
Band 2 Scatter:
102.8 0528 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Wesel-Büderich (nrw) Opera, as web 456km
103.4 0533 BEL Joe FM, Genk or Antwerpen YL news, as web. On H **
100.3 0534 HOL L1 Radio, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Dutch pop, as web 443km
105.6 0536 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Donnersberg (rlp) Christmas song, as web 657km
107.1 0537 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Haardtkopf (rlp) Winter Wonderland song, as 105.6 593km
93.5 0539 D WDR 2, Nordhelle (nrw) Police record, as web 554km
96.6 0540 BEL RTBF Pure FM, Anderlues/Mont-Sainte-Geneviève (wal-hnt) YL ID 409km
90.0 0545 D SWR3, Haardtkopf (rlp) Rock track, as web 593km
91.1 0546 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) Cyndi Lauper, as web 550km
92.4 0547 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) Cyndi Lauper, as 91.1 560km
93.9 0548 D WDR 4, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Light pops, as 101.3 484km
90.7 0552 D WDR 4, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Pops, as web 538km
94.4 0557 F France Inter, Hirson/Landouzy-la-Ville (02) French YL, a 103.7, briefly. Presume tropo 446km
95.5 0558 D SR 3 Saarlandwelle, Göttelborner Höhe (saa) Back to back pops, as web 629km
89.6 0608 F France Culture, Villers-Cotterêts/Fleury (02) OM, as 98.0 474km
92.9 0609 F France Musique, Villers-Cotterêts/Fleury (02) OM, as 88.7 474km
98.4 0613 HOL Radio 1, Markelo/Alticom Toren (ove) OM, as web 425km
93.3 0614 LUX RTL Radio, Dudelange/Ginsterberg (gld) Sax solo in song, as web 574km
107.7 0615 LUX Den Neie Radio (DNR), Blaschette/Kandel (gld) Just overriding a nulled Kiss, as web 557km
90.8 0623 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) Bad Company track, as web 441km
90.6 0624 D SWR3, Saarburg/Geisberg (rlp) Katy Perry, as web 586km
101.7 1322 D Radio Salü, Saarbrücken/Schoksberg (saa) Rock track, as web 628km
** Personal Skegness First
All listening done with the 9.2 horizontal. Poor conditions but again with a quiet band at this time of the morning. It's the first time I have heard RTL on 93.3 via scatter.
It was interesting to see the livemeteor scatter reception of RAC1 while I was in town - I have a new Note 3 tablet and I have set up virtual private networking so I can operate the home computer while I am out and about.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
87.7 1407 E RAC 1, Barcelona/Collserola (CAT-B) E251 __AC1___ 1311km
Band 2 Scatter:
102.8 0528 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Wesel-Büderich (nrw) Opera, as web 456km
103.4 0533 BEL Joe FM, Genk or Antwerpen YL news, as web. On H **
100.3 0534 HOL L1 Radio, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Dutch pop, as web 443km
105.6 0536 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Donnersberg (rlp) Christmas song, as web 657km
107.1 0537 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Haardtkopf (rlp) Winter Wonderland song, as 105.6 593km
93.5 0539 D WDR 2, Nordhelle (nrw) Police record, as web 554km
96.6 0540 BEL RTBF Pure FM, Anderlues/Mont-Sainte-Geneviève (wal-hnt) YL ID 409km
90.0 0545 D SWR3, Haardtkopf (rlp) Rock track, as web 593km
91.1 0546 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) Cyndi Lauper, as web 550km
92.4 0547 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) Cyndi Lauper, as 91.1 560km
93.9 0548 D WDR 4, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Light pops, as 101.3 484km
90.7 0552 D WDR 4, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Pops, as web 538km
94.4 0557 F France Inter, Hirson/Landouzy-la-Ville (02) French YL, a 103.7, briefly. Presume tropo 446km
95.5 0558 D SR 3 Saarlandwelle, Göttelborner Höhe (saa) Back to back pops, as web 629km
89.6 0608 F France Culture, Villers-Cotterêts/Fleury (02) OM, as 98.0 474km
92.9 0609 F France Musique, Villers-Cotterêts/Fleury (02) OM, as 88.7 474km
98.4 0613 HOL Radio 1, Markelo/Alticom Toren (ove) OM, as web 425km
93.3 0614 LUX RTL Radio, Dudelange/Ginsterberg (gld) Sax solo in song, as web 574km
107.7 0615 LUX Den Neie Radio (DNR), Blaschette/Kandel (gld) Just overriding a nulled Kiss, as web 557km
90.8 0623 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) Bad Company track, as web 441km
90.6 0624 D SWR3, Saarburg/Geisberg (rlp) Katy Perry, as web 586km
101.7 1322 D Radio Salü, Saarbrücken/Schoksberg (saa) Rock track, as web 628km
** Personal Skegness First
All listening done with the 9.2 horizontal. Poor conditions but again with a quiet band at this time of the morning. It's the first time I have heard RTL on 93.3 via scatter.
It was interesting to see the livemeteor scatter reception of RAC1 while I was in town - I have a new Note 3 tablet and I have set up virtual private networking so I can operate the home computer while I am out and about.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Possibly The Best Christmas Present Ever! ( ... from a radio perspective)
Had I thought it would be possible to ask for "nothing" from Santa this Christmas, I would have done! "Nothing" refers to my noise levels. I'll have no noise please!
During the early part of this afternoon, I noticed my noise levels across band 2 had suddenly dropped. Since installing the Konrad i2c modification to my Sony XDR-F1HD radio, I could see just how much noise I was getting. This registered at 16 to 20 dB at the top of the band and between 18 and 22 dB at the bottom. Even these figures would have been a big improvement on the state of play a few months ago as I know my noise levels had reduced the day after I received my HS Publications noise cancelling device. Today, my noise levels register 7 to 8dB across the whole band. Why? I wonder what has happened.
Almost immediately after I noticed today's marked reduction in noise, I received almost a PI and PS from RAC1 in Barcelona on 87.7, thanks to meteor scatter.
The really interesting thing I noticed with this quiet band was that it only took 25 dB of signal to get that RDS. I needed at least 35 dB for the RDS to push through before the noise dropped down. So I guess I know why meteor scatter has never been much good here. Having a good amount gain is useful, but it comes second to having a good signal-to-noise ratio.
While typing this entry, I see that the noise levels have increased again slightly. My assumption is that something in the neighbouring property has been switched off and moved to a different location. I have about 12 to 14 dB of noise now at the bottom of the band. It's still 7 or 8 dB of noise up at the top, so there is still a good level of improvement, possibly confirmed by the fact that I am now seeing more meteor scatter results.
Doubtless it will all change again at some point, but it's a joy to have no noise and be able to hear really weak signals which are usually buried out of sight.
Here's wishing us all a Noiseless New Year!
During the early part of this afternoon, I noticed my noise levels across band 2 had suddenly dropped. Since installing the Konrad i2c modification to my Sony XDR-F1HD radio, I could see just how much noise I was getting. This registered at 16 to 20 dB at the top of the band and between 18 and 22 dB at the bottom. Even these figures would have been a big improvement on the state of play a few months ago as I know my noise levels had reduced the day after I received my HS Publications noise cancelling device. Today, my noise levels register 7 to 8dB across the whole band. Why? I wonder what has happened.
Almost immediately after I noticed today's marked reduction in noise, I received almost a PI and PS from RAC1 in Barcelona on 87.7, thanks to meteor scatter.
The really interesting thing I noticed with this quiet band was that it only took 25 dB of signal to get that RDS. I needed at least 35 dB for the RDS to push through before the noise dropped down. So I guess I know why meteor scatter has never been much good here. Having a good amount gain is useful, but it comes second to having a good signal-to-noise ratio.
While typing this entry, I see that the noise levels have increased again slightly. My assumption is that something in the neighbouring property has been switched off and moved to a different location. I have about 12 to 14 dB of noise now at the bottom of the band. It's still 7 or 8 dB of noise up at the top, so there is still a good level of improvement, possibly confirmed by the fact that I am now seeing more meteor scatter results.
Doubtless it will all change again at some point, but it's a joy to have no noise and be able to hear really weak signals which are usually buried out of sight.
Here's wishing us all a Noiseless New Year!
Wednesday, 25 December 2013
Skegness Log: 25-12-13 (FM)
Band 2 Scatter:
96.1 0723 BEL RTBF La Première, Wavre (wal-bra) French OM alternating with BBC Solent 397km
99.1 0725 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Anderlues/Mont-Sainte-Geneviève (wal-hnt) Gerry Rafferty. Noise free peak. 33dB 409km
103.0 0742 D BFBS Radio, Bielefeld/Hünenburg (nrw) OM Christmas sermon, as web 565km
100.4 0743 D WDR 2, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Enya track, as web. Briefly noise free 538km
98.1 0750 D WDR 3, Nordhelle (nrw) Stable peak. Almost noise free 554km
100.0 0751 D WDR 4, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) Vocal ID, Rod Stewart Christmas song 494km
103.8 0751 D WDR 4, Nordhelle (nrw) Stable peak. Almost noise free. As Langenberg 101.3 554km
101.7 0752 D WDR 4, Kleve/Bresserberg (nrw) Nice peak. Stable-ish, as 100.0. 30dB 421km
101.0 0754 D WDR 2, Bärbelkreuz (Eifel) (nrw) Christmas song, as web. 28dB 520km
87.7 0815 HOL Radio 10, Lelystad/Alticom Toren (fle) Still getting through on the horizontal this morning 351km
87.9 0816 HOL Omroep Zeeland, Goes/Alticom Toren (zee) Still getting through on the horizontal this morning 303km
97.8 0817 HOL Radio 2, Westdorpe/Verkavelingsweg (zee) Still getting through on the horizontal this morning 323km
98.7 0821 D AFN Wiesbaden-The Eagle, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Down in the noise 648km
98.8 0830 F France Culture, Reims/TDF Hautvillers (51) Suddenly up to 30dB then squashed by Wrotham 516km
91.8 1616 F France Musique, Bourges/Neuvy (18) Classical music, as 88.7 672km
Some early morning scatter.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
96.1 0723 BEL RTBF La Première, Wavre (wal-bra) French OM alternating with BBC Solent 397km
99.1 0725 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Anderlues/Mont-Sainte-Geneviève (wal-hnt) Gerry Rafferty. Noise free peak. 33dB 409km
103.0 0742 D BFBS Radio, Bielefeld/Hünenburg (nrw) OM Christmas sermon, as web 565km
100.4 0743 D WDR 2, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Enya track, as web. Briefly noise free 538km
98.1 0750 D WDR 3, Nordhelle (nrw) Stable peak. Almost noise free 554km
100.0 0751 D WDR 4, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) Vocal ID, Rod Stewart Christmas song 494km
103.8 0751 D WDR 4, Nordhelle (nrw) Stable peak. Almost noise free. As Langenberg 101.3 554km
101.7 0752 D WDR 4, Kleve/Bresserberg (nrw) Nice peak. Stable-ish, as 100.0. 30dB 421km
101.0 0754 D WDR 2, Bärbelkreuz (Eifel) (nrw) Christmas song, as web. 28dB 520km
87.7 0815 HOL Radio 10, Lelystad/Alticom Toren (fle) Still getting through on the horizontal this morning 351km
87.9 0816 HOL Omroep Zeeland, Goes/Alticom Toren (zee) Still getting through on the horizontal this morning 303km
97.8 0817 HOL Radio 2, Westdorpe/Verkavelingsweg (zee) Still getting through on the horizontal this morning 323km
98.7 0821 D AFN Wiesbaden-The Eagle, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Down in the noise 648km
98.8 0830 F France Culture, Reims/TDF Hautvillers (51) Suddenly up to 30dB then squashed by Wrotham 516km
91.8 1616 F France Musique, Bourges/Neuvy (18) Classical music, as 88.7 672km
Some early morning scatter.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Merry Christmas!
Yes, it's that time of year again (groan) and it won't be over quickly enough for me.
I think we all know that the true meaning of Christmas has been lost under the weight of evil commercialism. In fact I am sure the name Jesus used to take centre stage not so many years ago. But hopefully it's a time of year for us to spend with our families, our friends, those who are important to us, etc., or just to relax a little.
Whatever you are doing, here's wishing you all a very happy, peaceful and pleasant time over the festive season.
Have a great Christmas!
John
I think we all know that the true meaning of Christmas has been lost under the weight of evil commercialism. In fact I am sure the name Jesus used to take centre stage not so many years ago. But hopefully it's a time of year for us to spend with our families, our friends, those who are important to us, etc., or just to relax a little.
Whatever you are doing, here's wishing you all a very happy, peaceful and pleasant time over the festive season.
Have a great Christmas!
John
Saturday, 21 December 2013
Skegness Log: 21-12-13 (FM)
Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
87.7 0020 E RAC 1, Barcelona/Collserola (CAT-B) E251 _R______ 1311km
94.6 1121 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) YL talk, briefly while listening to
scatter and comparing with web stream 713km **
99.0 1127 F France Culture, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) Nice sustained burst. 40dB.
OM, as Lille 98.0 1149km
103.6 1136 F France Bleu Provence, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) YL talk, as web
stream 1149km **
94.2 1142 I RAI Radio1, Menconico/Monte Penice (RAI) (pv) YL heard, as web stream
while looking for Marseille 1136km **
94.2 1210 F France Musique, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) Piano concerto, as 88.7 1149km **
** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode
Apart from 87.7 RAC 1, all other MS loggings were made listening live.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Kenwood KT6040, Conrad RDS Manager & RDS Spy.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
87.7 0020 E RAC 1, Barcelona/Collserola (CAT-B) E251 _R______ 1311km
94.6 1121 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) YL talk, briefly while listening to
scatter and comparing with web stream 713km **
99.0 1127 F France Culture, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) Nice sustained burst. 40dB.
OM, as Lille 98.0 1149km
103.6 1136 F France Bleu Provence, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) YL talk, as web
stream 1149km **
94.2 1142 I RAI Radio1, Menconico/Monte Penice (RAI) (pv) YL heard, as web stream
while looking for Marseille 1136km **
94.2 1210 F France Musique, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) Piano concerto, as 88.7 1149km **
** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode
Apart from 87.7 RAC 1, all other MS loggings were made listening live.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Kenwood KT6040, Conrad RDS Manager & RDS Spy.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Skegness Log: 21-12-13 (MW)
1413 1500 J JOIF KBC-Kyushu Asahi Hoso, Fukuoka (kyu-fuk) Presumed. Time signal.
Too weak for vocal clarity V weak 9225 km
1557 1500 TWN RTI iLoveMusic 1557/Radio Taiwan Int., Kouhu (YL) Time signal and ID Weak 9715 km
972 1600 KOR HLCA KBS Hanminjok Bangsong 1, Dangjin (ccg) Time signal and ID, just below
Germany Weak 8740 km
1575 1600 THA Voice of America/Radio Saranrom, Ban Phachi/Rasom (pay) Asiatic language (Thai?)
and Voice Of America ID Weak 9410 km
Again, a slight improvement in Asiatic conditions.
North American DX continues to go downhill. There were barely any North American carriers visible this morning at 0200, let alone audio. I know DXers in southern Scotland have been hearing more, but this is probably the worst morning for North American MW I have experienced since moving here. Once again, it seems that when the Asiatic DX lifts up, I lose North America, and vice versa.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
Receiver: Perseus SDR
Antenna: 10ft x 25ft flag at 15 degrees
Software: Perseus v4.1a; Mestor
Too weak for vocal clarity V weak 9225 km
1557 1500 TWN RTI iLoveMusic 1557/Radio Taiwan Int., Kouhu (YL) Time signal and ID Weak 9715 km
972 1600 KOR HLCA KBS Hanminjok Bangsong 1, Dangjin (ccg) Time signal and ID, just below
Germany Weak 8740 km
1575 1600 THA Voice of America/Radio Saranrom, Ban Phachi/Rasom (pay) Asiatic language (Thai?)
and Voice Of America ID Weak 9410 km
Again, a slight improvement in Asiatic conditions.
North American DX continues to go downhill. There were barely any North American carriers visible this morning at 0200, let alone audio. I know DXers in southern Scotland have been hearing more, but this is probably the worst morning for North American MW I have experienced since moving here. Once again, it seems that when the Asiatic DX lifts up, I lose North America, and vice versa.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
Receiver: Perseus SDR
Antenna: 10ft x 25ft flag at 15 degrees
Software: Perseus v4.1a; Mestor
Friday, 20 December 2013
Winter Es!
While listening to BBC Oxford on 95.2 just after midday today I heard an Italian male appear out of nowhere and drowned out BBC Oxford. Assuming it was meter scatter I didn't act on it immediately, but decided to check the bottom of the band a few seconds later to see if there was anything down there. I found a mixture of pop music and Italian language stations from 87.5 to 88.0. They sounded too stable for meteor scatter. Checking the 6m page on DX Maps showed some Es activity between the UK and Italy and I noticed there was a report of band 2 Italian Es in Shropshire. Unfortunately, the Es had already started to drop out and were gone in seconds. A minute later, Es returned to 88.3 for a few seconds. So no log here but I will be watching more closely around midday tomorrow with a bit of luck.
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Skegness Log: 18-12-13 (FM)
Band 2 Tropospheric:
94.4 0716 D hr1, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Cher song, as web 648km
94.6 0718 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) Pops, as web 713km
94.8 0718 D SWR3, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) Light ops, as web 560km
98.1 0721 D WDR 3, Nordhelle (nrw) German YL, as web 554km
98.7 0722 D AFN Wiesbaden-The Eagle, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) ID, phone
number and Gloria Branigan track, Just about noise free 648km
104.8 0730 HOL Radio 1, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Ads and clunky jingles 443km
100.0 0732 D WDR 4, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) German pop, as web 494km
100.8 0733 D WDR 2, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Noise free. Weather and ID 484km
103.0 0735 D BFBS Radio, Bielefeld/Hünenburg (nrw) V weak but clearly as web stream 565km
107.1 0737 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Bremen-Walle (bre) German OM, as web. Almost noise free 565km
107.0 0743 D WDR Eins Live, Olsberg (nrw) Black Eyed Peas, as 106.7 592km
107.2 0743 D WDR Eins Live, Ederkopf (nrw) Black Eyed Peas, as 106.7 593km
88.0 0750 D WDR 5, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Documentary? As web 538km
103.8 0809 D WDR 4, Nordhelle (nrw) Light pops, as 101.3 554km
97.0 0813 D WDR 3, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) German YL, as web 591km
99.0 0814 D hr1, Hoher Meißner (hes) Rolling Stones Start Me Up, as web 684km
107.7 0816 LUX Den Neie Radio (DNR), Blaschette/Kandel (gld) Pops, as web 557km
** Personal Skegness 'First';
A spot of early morning DXing today!
I have been playing around with the source code of the i2c mod/Seeeduino board, now I have an idea how to do this. I reset all the antenna alignment figures to values which corresponded to the peaks i found with live adjustments across the band. So the XDR is now fully aligned across the band. Improvements are mostly very subtle but the default values were quite a way out in places. 61 to 63 is fairly typical and some of the values were set down as 53. The drop in signal is very noticeable when lowering these values from 61 to 53 but much more stable above, so 61 to 70 makes little difference.
I made a video of a quick band-sweep around 8am this morning and uploaded this to my YouTube channel. Scatter conditions were about average but there was a minor enhancement to south-east England. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8pCcG4JMmo
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with i2C mod. (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
94.4 0716 D hr1, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Cher song, as web 648km
94.6 0718 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) Pops, as web 713km
94.8 0718 D SWR3, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) Light ops, as web 560km
98.1 0721 D WDR 3, Nordhelle (nrw) German YL, as web 554km
98.7 0722 D AFN Wiesbaden-The Eagle, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) ID, phone
number and Gloria Branigan track, Just about noise free 648km
104.8 0730 HOL Radio 1, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Ads and clunky jingles 443km
100.0 0732 D WDR 4, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) German pop, as web 494km
100.8 0733 D WDR 2, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Noise free. Weather and ID 484km
103.0 0735 D BFBS Radio, Bielefeld/Hünenburg (nrw) V weak but clearly as web stream 565km
107.1 0737 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Bremen-Walle (bre) German OM, as web. Almost noise free 565km
107.0 0743 D WDR Eins Live, Olsberg (nrw) Black Eyed Peas, as 106.7 592km
107.2 0743 D WDR Eins Live, Ederkopf (nrw) Black Eyed Peas, as 106.7 593km
88.0 0750 D WDR 5, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Documentary? As web 538km
103.8 0809 D WDR 4, Nordhelle (nrw) Light pops, as 101.3 554km
97.0 0813 D WDR 3, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) German YL, as web 591km
99.0 0814 D hr1, Hoher Meißner (hes) Rolling Stones Start Me Up, as web 684km
107.7 0816 LUX Den Neie Radio (DNR), Blaschette/Kandel (gld) Pops, as web 557km
** Personal Skegness 'First';
A spot of early morning DXing today!
I have been playing around with the source code of the i2c mod/Seeeduino board, now I have an idea how to do this. I reset all the antenna alignment figures to values which corresponded to the peaks i found with live adjustments across the band. So the XDR is now fully aligned across the band. Improvements are mostly very subtle but the default values were quite a way out in places. 61 to 63 is fairly typical and some of the values were set down as 53. The drop in signal is very noticeable when lowering these values from 61 to 53 but much more stable above, so 61 to 70 makes little difference.
I made a video of a quick band-sweep around 8am this morning and uploaded this to my YouTube channel. Scatter conditions were about average but there was a minor enhancement to south-east England. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8pCcG4JMmo
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with i2C mod. (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
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