Skegness Log: 22-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
103.6 1208  F  France Bleu Provence, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) F405 BLEUPROV. Good MS
               burst. 40dB. 0% BER. 18 AFs and partial radiotext  1149km **

Band 2 Tropo/Scatter:
103.6 1224 BEL NRJ, New site? Jingle ID, ads and mention of Liege **

** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode

The largest MS burst received here so far happened while listening live early this afternoon. I wasn't recording but RDS Spy caught the details.

Does anybody knoe the site for the Belgian NRJ outlet on 103.6?

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
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Skegness Log: 21-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 97.2 0653  F  France Musique, Perpignan/Pic de Neulos (66) Classical music, above
               and // co-channel Hirson  1202km
105.9 1234  D  MDR Info, Oschatz/Collmberg (sac) OM talk on long burst, as web  887km **
105.9 1643 POL RMF FM, Czestochowa/Wreczyca (SL) Pops, as web. Several bursts  1291km **
 97.2 1841 SVK SRo 3 Rádio Devín, Zilina/Krízava (ZA) 521B  1363km
 97.2 1847  D  Deutschlandradio Kultur, Inselsberg (thü) YL talk, as web  739km **

Band 2 Tropo/Scatter:
 97.2 1716 HOL Radio 2, Eys/Alticom Toren (lim) ID and pops  462km
102.9 1903 BEL Nostalgie Vlaanderen, Schoten (vlg-ant) Detroit Emeralds track, as web  354km
100.3 1904 HOL L1 Radio, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Sports commentary, as web  443km

** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode

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
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Skegness Log: 20-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 89.5 0437  D  Bayern 2, Wendelstein (bay) D312 Bayern_2. AFs: 97.8 89.5 92.4 92.2 87.9
               92.3 91.6 93.0 96.0 96.1  1024km
 89.5 0806  F  France Culture, Limoges/les Cars (87) F202 ______RE  835km

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
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Skegness Log: 19-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 89.5 1230  E  RNE Radio Nacional, Xistral most likely but two others listed.
               Jingle and ID **
 89.5 2316  D  Bayern 2, Wendelstein (bay) D312 Bayern_2  1024km

** Personal Skegness 'First'

89.5 is a good frequency for MS! Lots of good signals.

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
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Skegness Log: 18-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 87.7 0320 POL PR 1, Konin/Zólwieniec (WP) 3211  1211km
105.7 1415  D  B5 aktuell, Wendelstein (bay) Frequent bursts, as web  1024km **

** Personal Skegness 'First'

After repositioning the garden FM5 this afternoon I noticed an even quieter FM band. The noise level is so quiet now that there is no difference in background noise whether the antenna is plugged in at the back of the XDR or if it is disconnected. An empty frequency produces a constant 4dB, though it looks less on the scale. The fact that signals as low as 10dB can be noise free just shows how quiet it is. The noise is reduced to a constant very smooth sounding mush, rather than that variable splattery hiss you often hear. Full RDS often forms with signals as low as 18dB. BBC nationals always require a few dB more.

This is quite a turn up after me moaning about the noise coming in on the 9.2, which is now up to 28dB on many frequencies at the bottom of the band, masking signals which would normally provide full RDS. It tapers off to about 10-14 dB once you get above 104 MHz, but still manages to produce increased hiss on what would otherwise be decent stereo signals.

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
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Further Criminal Damage

Our neighbours are at it yet again. This time we were at home while they caused damage to the CCTV system and to cabling on our Sky dish.

This follows three further instances last week involving a freestanding aerial on the garden and slanderous comments posted to social media on the internet.

It's weird though, because the aerials are clearly not the issue. We were thinking about how this began three years ago. We were on holiday at the time and had house-sitters while we were away. That's when the problems began.

Understandably, people will say that we must have done something to aggravate the situation. What could we have done to deserve these problems? The facts is we have done nothing. We have only helped our neighbours over the years.

The local housing association are keen for us to take things further and to the court room so they can be evicted, but as far as I am concerned, that is for them to do. In any case, I don't fancy the physical violence he may use if we do. He has already rendered a friend unconscious.

So what is his problem? We simply haven't a clue. Maybe he suffers from PMT, my wife jokingly suggests.

More here: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/psychopathic-neighbour.html

Hopefully we might find another property soon.

Skegness Log: 17-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 87.6 0512  D  NDR 2, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Schönen guten Morgen - NDR2 Morgen .....
               Tnx Philip W4WDX  650km
 87.6 0803 CZE Radio Impuls, Brno/Kojál (JM) 2203  1219km

Band 2 Tropo/Scatter:
 89.6 1731 BEL VBRO, Brugge/Walakker (vlg-wvl) Ads and ID  295km
105.5 1736  D  WDR Eins Live, Bärbelkreuz (Eifel) (nrw) Peaking with 101.0, etc.  520km
 91.2 1758 BEL RTBF Musiq'3, Bruxelles/Tour des Finances (bru) Classical, as web  377km
 92.2 1813 HOL Omrop Fryslân Radio, Jirnsum/Rijksweg (fri) Fair signal. Jingle ID  365km
 93.2 1825 HOL Waterstad FM, Jirnsum/Rijksweg (fri) RandB toon, As web  365km
105.5 1834 BEL Topradio, Staden/Stadenberg (vlg-wvl) Brief noise free peak  299km

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
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Skegness Log: 16-01-14 (FM) Es, Ts and MS!

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 91.1 0859 CZE CRo Radiozurnál, Ceské Budejovice/Klet - CRa (JC) 232F R-ZURNAL  1084km

Band 2 Sporadic E:
 87.6 1244 HNG MR 1 Kossuth Rádió, Györ - Szabad hegy (Gyo) Brief speech.
               Confirmed by Józsi in Hungary  1368km **

Band 2 Tropo/Scatter:
 88.9 1118 LUX RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg, Dudelange/Ginsterberg (gld) Noise free  574km
102.0 1124 BEL VRT MNM, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Ads, as web  431km
100.1 1125  F  France Bleu Haute Normandie, Rouen/Grand-Couronne (76) Discussion, over
               Sutton Coldfield  426km
100.8 1145  D  WDR 2, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) OM, as web  484km
 87.6 1215  D  hr3, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) OM  YL chat, as web  612km
 91.4 1355 HOL Radio 4, Markelo/Alticom Toren (ove) Classical  425km
 92.8 1402 BEL RTBF Musiq'3, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) Sombre music,
               as web  441km
 96.1 1423 BEL RTBF La Première, Wavre (wal-bra) Peaking noise free  397km
 98.1 1424  F  France Culture, Chartres/Montlandon (28) OM  YL, as 98.0  531km
 99.0 1425 BEL Randstad FM, Mechelen/Douaneplein (vlg-ant) Regular on FM3.
               IDs and pops, Virtually noise free levels  371km
 90.6 1728  D  WDR 5, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) YL, as web  591km
102.8 1824 BEL Zen FM, Gent/Opgeëistenlaan (vlg-ovl) Easy listening, as web  328km
 98.7 1826 HOL Freez FM, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Ad break, as web  408km
 95.4 1828 HOL BNR Nieuwsradio, Gilze/Prinsenbosch (nbr) OM  YL, as web  359km
 95.2 1829 HOL Slam!FM, Alphen aan den Rijn/Alticom Toren (zho) Slamming tunes, as 91.1  313km

** Personal Skegness 'First'

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
Triax FM3 (Meteor Scatter)

Skegness Log: 15-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 91.1 2359  G  BBC Radio 3, Llangollen, Oban and Les Platons most likely. Initial ping from
               something else, then trailing out with BBC R3. Weak **

** Personal Skegness 'First'

Another superb night of MS. Plenty of pings and lots of bursts. This was heard live. No way of knowing which tx it was. Still using the FM3, although I am hoping to swap this for an FM5 later today when the coast is clear.

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
Triax FM3 (Meteor Scatter)

Rare Low Power Meteor Scatter DX - 103.0 Ö3, 40 Watts Or Less!

This January, my eyes have been opened to DX I wouldn't have believed was possible on the FM broadcast band. Low power 'community strength' transmitters, propagating via meteor scatter. We know that many high power transmitters can propagate well and are often strong enough to produce RDS data on our radio's displays, but how low in power will propagate? Of course that depends on many factors relating to the meteor itself. Meteor scatter is relatively simple via digital modes on the ham bands using low power, but I never expected this ...

On January 9th at 07:15, I was alerted to the fact that I had received a low powered transmission from Austria. This was in response to a video I had uploaded to my YouTube page. I thanked Peter, "pe1etr", for identifying this but regretted to tell him that I was unable to hear the ID he could hear. Then I received a message from Philp, W4WDX in the USA. He is an Austrian DXer but lives in the US now. He had heard my recording and reported that there was definitely an Ö3 identification in the recording. He stated that he was very familiar with the Ö3 network and there was no mistaking this identification. I still couldn't hear it.

Here lay a problem. I didn't want to dispute what Peter and Philip were saying, but I just wished I could hear this identification myself. When we listen to weak signals it is always the case that some people hear things better than others. I needed to be 100% sure of this ID, not for the sake of agreeing with Peter and Philip, but to be able to state, without doubt, that this DX claim was accurate and could be proven to other DXers who might also be sceptical.

So I took the additional step of getting in touch with three other DXers, two of whom spoke German, in order to further confirm this reception. Jurgen could hear part of the ID but couldn't be sure. Günter was clear on the "3" part of the ID and, being Austrian himself, could also confirm an Austrian pronunciation. He commented that the sound and the voice accentuation was part of a jingle or "claim" ID, perhaps the last part of "Hitradio Ö3" and not part of a plain studio moderation ID. It was not the number three as pronounced in a discussion or talk either. Furthermore, he commented that, as a possible alternative to Ö3, the powerful Grünten SWR3 tx on 103.0 would have been a strong contender, but the "3" did not sound how they would pronounce it. I must also thank Andrew Webster for listening. He too was also clear on the identification, short of being able to confirm the Austrian pronunciation. Suddenly, I could hear the jingle ID myself. I had mistakenly been listening to the German male speech prior to this and didn't spot the brief female vocal jingle drop-in. At last, I could hear it!

Only one more thing to do, to follow Günter's suggestion of recording Ö3 overnight at the same time to get a good idea of their jingle identification and hopefully catch the very jingle itself. So, after listening through six hours of Ö3's overnight programming, I have isolated several Ö3 jingle identifications. Although I did not hear what I could be sure was the actual Ö3 jingle in question, I heard several others which used the same female voice and with the same type of audio effects processing.

Here is a recording of seven identifications. The first six were obtained from the Ö3 web stream. The seventh is my off-air meteor scatter ID. I repeat this twice. Then you hear more of the actual meteor burst itself.

If I were completely honest, I would still be slightly sceptical were it not for Philip's first-hand knowledge of the language and the station identification, plus Günter's detailed analysis, which seem to confirm that this catch is 100% definite. I might personally put that down to 99% as we are looking at the briefest of signal fade-ins which is chopped a little at either end, but please decide for yourself. If you wish to post your views below, whether you agree or disagree, then please do so. All opinions are equally valid.

Finally, here is a link to the actual YouTube video, with all the meteor scatter and troposcatter signals. You will hear the Ö3 ID at 2 minutes and 14 seconds into the recording.

Note: YouTube appears to have blocked access to this video from certain countries due to copyright infringement. Please let me know if you are having difficulties seeing/hearing this.