Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
88.9 0835 LUX RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg, Dudelange/Ginsterberg (gld) OM, as web 573km
92.2 0843 HOL Omrop Fryslân Radio, Jirnsum/Rijksweg (fri) Playing classical music! 365km
93.9 0844 HOL Radio Noord-Holland, Wieringermeer/Robbenoordbos (nho) ID and Bryan Ferry
song 318km
105.9 0849 G City Talk, Liverpool/Allerton Park (EN-MER) Off the back of the FM5!
John Keith Phone-in 215km
89.6 0850 F RDL-Radio Dallas Loisirs, Saint-Omer/Racquinghem (62) French song,
as web 306km
89.6 0851 BEL VBRO, Brugge/Walakker (vlg-wvl) Suddenly swamped RDL with Dutch song,
as web 295km
89.9 0853 D NDR Kultur, Bungsberg/NDR-Mast (shs) Seems to be a regular at new QTH 694km
90.0 0854 D NDR Kultur, Aurich (nds) Appeared as 89.9 Bungsberg faded 478km
90.3 0855 D WDR 5, Nordhelle (nrw) OM talk, as web 553km
93.6 0857 BEL Club FM, Koolskamp/Watertoren (vlg-wvl) Dance music, as web 309km
93.8 0857 HOL Slam!FM, Megen/Alticom Toren (nbr) Promo and ID 387km
95.4 0858 HOL BNR Nieuwsradio, Gilze/Prinsenbosch (nbr) Dutch OM business talk 358km
98.0 0900 HOL Radio Decibel, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) Vocal ID and bell, as 97.6 320km
98.7 0900 HOL Freez FM, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Presumed as Dutch OM 407km
99.9 0901 BEL VRT Radio 1, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Dominant over Radio Norwich! 431km
102.0 0902 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Lingen-Damaschke (nds) OM news, as 101.8 477km
104.7 0903 D WDR Eins Live, Nordhelle (nrw) Pops, as 106.7 553km
89.7 0951 D WDR 3, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) Classical, as web 493km
90.2 0951 D NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Classical music, as web 477km
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Triax FM5, four meters AGL, currently fixed horizontally to the south-east.
Sunday, 23 February 2014
Friday, 21 February 2014
Skegness Log: 21-02-14 (FM)
Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
88.4 0147 F France Culture, Bar-le-Duc/Willeroncourt (55) String quartet, as web 607km
88.4 0441 D MDR Figaro, Leipzig Wiederau (sac) Classical music, as web. Not in //
with Bayern 2 at this time 843km
88.4 0641 D Bayern 2, Pfaffenberg (bay) OM financial news, as web 712km
Since my stream recordings were curtailed on the 20th, all at the same time, I thought I would do 88.4 again. The same thing happened again, at the same time. Hmmph! Maybe it's just Sky running broadband tests on this new connection - *if* that's what they really do. That's what they told me on the phone anyway. As luck would have it, only the same stations were logged as on the previous morning.
I managed very little listening during the daytime. Hopefully some more radio time soon.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Triax FM5, four meters AGL, currently fixed horizontally to the south-east.
88.4 0147 F France Culture, Bar-le-Duc/Willeroncourt (55) String quartet, as web 607km
88.4 0441 D MDR Figaro, Leipzig Wiederau (sac) Classical music, as web. Not in //
with Bayern 2 at this time 843km
88.4 0641 D Bayern 2, Pfaffenberg (bay) OM financial news, as web 712km
Since my stream recordings were curtailed on the 20th, all at the same time, I thought I would do 88.4 again. The same thing happened again, at the same time. Hmmph! Maybe it's just Sky running broadband tests on this new connection - *if* that's what they really do. That's what they told me on the phone anyway. As luck would have it, only the same stations were logged as on the previous morning.
I managed very little listening during the daytime. Hopefully some more radio time soon.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Triax FM5, four meters AGL, currently fixed horizontally to the south-east.
Thursday, 20 February 2014
Skegness Log: 20-02-14 (FM)
Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
88.4 0003 F France Culture, Bar-le-Duc/Willeroncourt (55) French OM, as web 607km **
88.4 0005 D Bayern 2, Pfaffenberg (bay) Presume Pfaffenberg. Piano music, as web 713km **
88.4 0013 D MDR Figaro, Leipzig Wiederau (sac) Lively symphony, as web 844km **
Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
92.0 0858 D WDR 5, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) German YL, as web. Over UNID pops 494km
90.6 0859 D WDR 5, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) YL ID and Nachrichten.
Almost noise free 591km
93.2 0859 D WDR 2, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) Ad break, as web 591km
94.6 0901 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) German OM and YL in news,
as web 713km
90.2 0903 HOL 100% NL, Roosendaal/Alticom Toren (nbr) ID and pops 334km
90.2 0904 D NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Coming up over 100%NL with classical,
as web 477km
100.8 0906 D WDR 2, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Pops, as web. Almost noise free 484km
101.4 0910 BEL VRT Studio Brussel, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Pops and ID.
Nice peaks 431km
102.0 0912 BEL VRT MNM, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Pops, as web. Noise free on peak 431km
102.5 0916 HOL Radio 538, Tjerkgaast/Alticom Toren (fri) Pops, as web. Mixing unid French 361km
102.8 0916 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Wesel-Büderich (nrw) German OM, as web 456km
102.9 0919 BEL Nostalgie Vlaanderen, Schoten (vlg-ant) Eurythmics, as web 354km
107.8 0936 D MDR Figaro, Brocken (san) Guitar and singer, as web 713km
104.8 0938 HOL NPO Radio 1, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Dutch OM, as web. Noise free 443km
104.6 0939 HOL 100% NL, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) YL pop, as 90.2 313km
103.6 0940 HOL Radio 10, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) Just poking above the mush,
as 103.8 321km
103.8 0940 HOL Radio 10, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) Pops, as 87.7.
Or could be Tjerkgaast now 313km
100.4 0942 D WDR 2, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) POps, as web 538km
100.6 0954 BEL VRT Studio Brussel, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw/Norkring Toren (vlg-vbr) Pops,
as 101.4 376km
104.9 1036 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) Pop song, as web 479km
103.4 1044 D Radio ffn, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) V weak pops, as web 525km
89.9 1130 D NDR Kultur, Bungsberg/NDR-Mast (shs) Gentle classical music,
as web 694km
91.1 1130 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) Toto song, as web 543km
93.8 1133 D bremen eins, Bremen-Walle (bre) Robert Palmer song, as web 565km
97.0 1134 D WDR 3, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) German YL, as web 591km
95.3 1143 HOL L1 Radio, Hulsberg/Emmaberg (lim) Long time no hear! Dutch music,
as 100.3 455km
100.3 1144 HOL L1 Radio, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Quite listenable at times.
As web 443km
90.2 1150 D NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Piano music, as web 477km
95.8 1150 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) Boy band and ID 478km
** Personal Skegness 'First'
We are now (just about) settled at the new address. I am currently using a temporary Triax FM5 at rooftop height. Hopefully the 9.2 will be on a scaffolding pole above the rooftop very soon. Being only a few hundred yards from my old QTH I was pleased to discover that my grid square remains the same, so no need to start new logbooks. .
Good to hear Brocken on band 2 again. So far this has been daily on scatter. Pretty good going for the time of year. I think I can also hear Inselberg on 97.2, but it's way down in the FM mush. Good to hear Bungsberg again too.
Meteor scatter is still been very good for the time of year but my overnight session was cut short this morning when my internet connection mysteriously dropped and I lost all the streams after a couple of hours.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Triax FM5, four meters AGL, currently fixed horizontally to the south-east.
88.4 0003 F France Culture, Bar-le-Duc/Willeroncourt (55) French OM, as web 607km **
88.4 0005 D Bayern 2, Pfaffenberg (bay) Presume Pfaffenberg. Piano music, as web 713km **
88.4 0013 D MDR Figaro, Leipzig Wiederau (sac) Lively symphony, as web 844km **
Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
92.0 0858 D WDR 5, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) German YL, as web. Over UNID pops 494km
90.6 0859 D WDR 5, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) YL ID and Nachrichten.
Almost noise free 591km
93.2 0859 D WDR 2, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) Ad break, as web 591km
94.6 0901 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) German OM and YL in news,
as web 713km
90.2 0903 HOL 100% NL, Roosendaal/Alticom Toren (nbr) ID and pops 334km
90.2 0904 D NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Coming up over 100%NL with classical,
as web 477km
100.8 0906 D WDR 2, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Pops, as web. Almost noise free 484km
101.4 0910 BEL VRT Studio Brussel, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Pops and ID.
Nice peaks 431km
102.0 0912 BEL VRT MNM, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Pops, as web. Noise free on peak 431km
102.5 0916 HOL Radio 538, Tjerkgaast/Alticom Toren (fri) Pops, as web. Mixing unid French 361km
102.8 0916 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Wesel-Büderich (nrw) German OM, as web 456km
102.9 0919 BEL Nostalgie Vlaanderen, Schoten (vlg-ant) Eurythmics, as web 354km
107.8 0936 D MDR Figaro, Brocken (san) Guitar and singer, as web 713km
104.8 0938 HOL NPO Radio 1, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Dutch OM, as web. Noise free 443km
104.6 0939 HOL 100% NL, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) YL pop, as 90.2 313km
103.6 0940 HOL Radio 10, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) Just poking above the mush,
as 103.8 321km
103.8 0940 HOL Radio 10, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) Pops, as 87.7.
Or could be Tjerkgaast now 313km
100.4 0942 D WDR 2, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) POps, as web 538km
100.6 0954 BEL VRT Studio Brussel, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw/Norkring Toren (vlg-vbr) Pops,
as 101.4 376km
104.9 1036 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) Pop song, as web 479km
103.4 1044 D Radio ffn, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) V weak pops, as web 525km
89.9 1130 D NDR Kultur, Bungsberg/NDR-Mast (shs) Gentle classical music,
as web 694km
91.1 1130 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) Toto song, as web 543km
93.8 1133 D bremen eins, Bremen-Walle (bre) Robert Palmer song, as web 565km
97.0 1134 D WDR 3, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) German YL, as web 591km
95.3 1143 HOL L1 Radio, Hulsberg/Emmaberg (lim) Long time no hear! Dutch music,
as 100.3 455km
100.3 1144 HOL L1 Radio, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Quite listenable at times.
As web 443km
90.2 1150 D NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Piano music, as web 477km
95.8 1150 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) Boy band and ID 478km
** Personal Skegness 'First'
We are now (just about) settled at the new address. I am currently using a temporary Triax FM5 at rooftop height. Hopefully the 9.2 will be on a scaffolding pole above the rooftop very soon. Being only a few hundred yards from my old QTH I was pleased to discover that my grid square remains the same, so no need to start new logbooks. .
Good to hear Brocken on band 2 again. So far this has been daily on scatter. Pretty good going for the time of year. I think I can also hear Inselberg on 97.2, but it's way down in the FM mush. Good to hear Bungsberg again too.
Meteor scatter is still been very good for the time of year but my overnight session was cut short this morning when my internet connection mysteriously dropped and I lost all the streams after a couple of hours.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Triax FM5, four meters AGL, currently fixed horizontally to the south-east.
Wednesday, 19 February 2014
Settled In Our New Home At Last!
On Monday 10th February, we were handed the keys to our new property. It was all very short notice, but that's what we expected anyway. Luckily, we had already prepared as much as we could by getting a lot of the packing done in advance. We were then given an official period of two weeks to vacate the old place - plenty of time! This is day ten of fourteen and we are almost done. All that remains is a spot of last-minute tidying at the old place, making sure it's left in a clean condition and then a couple of journeys to the skips and that's the lot!
We took it upon ourselves to do the removals ourselves, excluding the larger and heavier items of course which we trusted to a local "Man With A Van", who did a great job. This saved us a small fortune, although it meant taking about 25 car journeys to transfer the rest of our belongings. The new place is still in town and, as luck would have it, even in the same locator square, so I don't feel the need to create new logbooks from scratch.
Before moving to the new address, we made a few visits to check everything out, not least listening for any amounts of electrical noise which might be a nuisance to our radio listening. I know this is not the best reason for choosing or declining a property, but it's one of the things we considered.
The new place has two rooms less, but they are actually slightly larger. Hmm - that means the carpets won't fit. Damn! Thanks to a little bit of improvisation though we managed to work a way around this. We had a few roll ends and offcuts we'd saved from the last place after the carpet people had fitted them. I am pretty good at fitting carpets so that side of things is nicely taken care of.
To recap. The main reason for our move was the shocking rent increase and bedroom tax, so we have Mr Cameron and Co. to thank. We were getting into a mess with things and they were only going to get worse, so it was a decision we had made a few months ago. We had looked around a few places and had even considered another swap, but we left the old housing association and decided to risk it with a new landlord to increase the possibilities. Another factor which had encouraged us to move was the terrible problems we had endured from our old neighbours for three years.
The new place is a detached bungalow, which means we don't have any neighbours! :O) It seemed to be the right thing to do. It was more affordable too, being slightly smaller. There are gardens all around the new property and, thanks to some clever planning, none of the nearest neighbours' windows look into our property, so we are quite well out of the way.
But what about radio? It's less than a mile from the beach and this shows beautifully across band 2. Continental signals are stronger and, one of the most important things for me, there is no noise across the band either. It's the same for medium wave too! I can hear really weak signals on band 2, lifting out of the noise with the greatest of ease and I have only been using a Triax FM5 one metre above the ground during a few random listening tests. The more 'regular' continentals have all been noise free. In fact it's so quiet, it's been like listening on one of my remote radio camping trips. German transmitters at Aurich, Lingen, Osnabruck, Steinkimmen, Langenburg, Kleve, Aachen, Bonn, Munster and Bremen have all been providing noise-free signals on peak. The big question is, how long will it last? Well, as has often been said, nothing is guaranteed. Noise can appear at any time. We're all living with that ticking time bomb regarding noise these days. I am just keeping my fingers crossed it will last.
Finally, I raised the FM5 to rooftop height this afternoon. The elements are still entangled in the conifers so I need to cut some of this away. Since raising this I found can hear Brocken again! This has been absent for almost two years at the old place due to the noise. How nice to be hearing it again, albeit down in the mush, but it's clear enough. I also think I heard DLR Kultur from Inselberg on 97.2 a few minutes ago. There are other very weak signals I can only guess about so, noise permitting, the new QTH looks like being a lot of radio fun. Fingers crossed it lasts!
We took it upon ourselves to do the removals ourselves, excluding the larger and heavier items of course which we trusted to a local "Man With A Van", who did a great job. This saved us a small fortune, although it meant taking about 25 car journeys to transfer the rest of our belongings. The new place is still in town and, as luck would have it, even in the same locator square, so I don't feel the need to create new logbooks from scratch.
Before moving to the new address, we made a few visits to check everything out, not least listening for any amounts of electrical noise which might be a nuisance to our radio listening. I know this is not the best reason for choosing or declining a property, but it's one of the things we considered.
The new place has two rooms less, but they are actually slightly larger. Hmm - that means the carpets won't fit. Damn! Thanks to a little bit of improvisation though we managed to work a way around this. We had a few roll ends and offcuts we'd saved from the last place after the carpet people had fitted them. I am pretty good at fitting carpets so that side of things is nicely taken care of.
To recap. The main reason for our move was the shocking rent increase and bedroom tax, so we have Mr Cameron and Co. to thank. We were getting into a mess with things and they were only going to get worse, so it was a decision we had made a few months ago. We had looked around a few places and had even considered another swap, but we left the old housing association and decided to risk it with a new landlord to increase the possibilities. Another factor which had encouraged us to move was the terrible problems we had endured from our old neighbours for three years.
The new place is a detached bungalow, which means we don't have any neighbours! :O) It seemed to be the right thing to do. It was more affordable too, being slightly smaller. There are gardens all around the new property and, thanks to some clever planning, none of the nearest neighbours' windows look into our property, so we are quite well out of the way.
But what about radio? It's less than a mile from the beach and this shows beautifully across band 2. Continental signals are stronger and, one of the most important things for me, there is no noise across the band either. It's the same for medium wave too! I can hear really weak signals on band 2, lifting out of the noise with the greatest of ease and I have only been using a Triax FM5 one metre above the ground during a few random listening tests. The more 'regular' continentals have all been noise free. In fact it's so quiet, it's been like listening on one of my remote radio camping trips. German transmitters at Aurich, Lingen, Osnabruck, Steinkimmen, Langenburg, Kleve, Aachen, Bonn, Munster and Bremen have all been providing noise-free signals on peak. The big question is, how long will it last? Well, as has often been said, nothing is guaranteed. Noise can appear at any time. We're all living with that ticking time bomb regarding noise these days. I am just keeping my fingers crossed it will last.
Finally, I raised the FM5 to rooftop height this afternoon. The elements are still entangled in the conifers so I need to cut some of this away. Since raising this I found can hear Brocken again! This has been absent for almost two years at the old place due to the noise. How nice to be hearing it again, albeit down in the mush, but it's clear enough. I also think I heard DLR Kultur from Inselberg on 97.2 a few minutes ago. There are other very weak signals I can only guess about so, noise permitting, the new QTH looks like being a lot of radio fun. Fingers crossed it lasts!
Monday, 10 February 2014
A Word Of Warning About Aerial Contractors & Specialist Antennas
With just two days to go before our house move, I had arranged for a friend to visit and take down my aerial, rotator and mast. This is not a big job as it is easy to climb on the roof of the bungalow with a small set of ladders. I was keen to get this lot removed before we vacated the property in case our old neighbour vandalised anything, which he probably would have done. Click here for an account of the things he got up to while we were living there and you'll understand our concerns.
We had two weeks to vacate the old bungalow after signing for our new one, which meant that we temporarily had two properties, but because of the problems we'd had at the old place, we were just keen to move out the moment we got the keys for the new one, then we could move any the valuables and sleep soundly at our new address.
Unfortunately, high winds and heavy rain prevented my friend from climbing on the roof on the day so he abandoned this until the following day. The next day arrived, with winds much calmer, but here comes another 'unfortunately', as he found he hadn't got the nerve to climb on the roof. This was becoming frustrating, but I'm glad he admitted to this as it's better to be safe than sorry. So this meant I had to get a local aerial contractor to do the job. I found a national company who appeared to be reputable.
Moving ahead to the following morning. Two bods arrived from a local aerial contractors complete with professionally signwritten and well-stocked Transit van. In other words, they looked the part. It was windy again, but the two bods wasted no time and got the ladders up and climbed on to the roof. They scratched their head and tried to work out how best to take everything down. Remembering how Andrew Webster had got the 9.2 and rotator on the mast, I tried to help by shouting up to them, explaining the reverse procedure in order to help the bods. There was silence! Eventually, they grunted. I couldn't hear them. Shouting up to the again (it was windy) they replied, sarcastically, "Yeah mate, we've never taken down a fuck**g aerial before". To say that I am now fearing for the safety of the equipment would be putting it mildly. I tried to communicate with these bods but they were intent on ignoring me. In my head, I am considering a course of action for compensation and I am beginning to accept that I might have to say goodbye to the antenna and the rotator.
Things got worse. They decided to lower the mast with the aerial and rotator still on it. I was now getting worried as this would result in the reflectors resting on the roof and possibly getting bent with the huge weight. The mast includes an aluminium scaffolding pole, a weighted (for balance) Korner 9.2 antenna and a Yaesu G-5500 rotator. This alone is approaching the weight of an adult. The fact that the whole structure was extremely top heavy caused me even more concern.
For some inexplicable reason, they took the reflectors off the 9.2, leaving the directors still mounted through the rotator. Then they REMOVED the bolts on the TK brackets while the bod on the ladder took the entire weight in ONE HAND! The other bod is still on the roof steadying the whole lopsided structure which is now being lowered groundward. The bod on the roof is about to let go! It got worse still. The bod on the ladder shouted me to grab the bottom of the scaffolding pole while he lowered it to me! WHAAAAAT? Not only am I now VERY concerned for the equipment, but I am also concerned for our loves as my wife and I attempt to grab the bottom of the pole!
With middle bod holding the bottom of the scaffolding pole, Jane and I stretch hard to grab the bottom of the pole, which is now about six feet above the ground.
Don't ask me how but, somehow, the whole structure was gradually lowered down and reached the ground. All I can say is that the middle bod must have had immense strength and an outstanding skill of balance, using just the one hand, that he managed to guide everything down safely. I then uttered a MASSIVE sigh of relief! This could have so easily gone wrong.
Needless to say, I will NOT be using Aerial Solutions for any future aerial jobs.
We had two weeks to vacate the old bungalow after signing for our new one, which meant that we temporarily had two properties, but because of the problems we'd had at the old place, we were just keen to move out the moment we got the keys for the new one, then we could move any the valuables and sleep soundly at our new address.
Unfortunately, high winds and heavy rain prevented my friend from climbing on the roof on the day so he abandoned this until the following day. The next day arrived, with winds much calmer, but here comes another 'unfortunately', as he found he hadn't got the nerve to climb on the roof. This was becoming frustrating, but I'm glad he admitted to this as it's better to be safe than sorry. So this meant I had to get a local aerial contractor to do the job. I found a national company who appeared to be reputable.
Moving ahead to the following morning. Two bods arrived from a local aerial contractors complete with professionally signwritten and well-stocked Transit van. In other words, they looked the part. It was windy again, but the two bods wasted no time and got the ladders up and climbed on to the roof. They scratched their head and tried to work out how best to take everything down. Remembering how Andrew Webster had got the 9.2 and rotator on the mast, I tried to help by shouting up to them, explaining the reverse procedure in order to help the bods. There was silence! Eventually, they grunted. I couldn't hear them. Shouting up to the again (it was windy) they replied, sarcastically, "Yeah mate, we've never taken down a fuck**g aerial before". To say that I am now fearing for the safety of the equipment would be putting it mildly. I tried to communicate with these bods but they were intent on ignoring me. In my head, I am considering a course of action for compensation and I am beginning to accept that I might have to say goodbye to the antenna and the rotator.
Things got worse. They decided to lower the mast with the aerial and rotator still on it. I was now getting worried as this would result in the reflectors resting on the roof and possibly getting bent with the huge weight. The mast includes an aluminium scaffolding pole, a weighted (for balance) Korner 9.2 antenna and a Yaesu G-5500 rotator. This alone is approaching the weight of an adult. The fact that the whole structure was extremely top heavy caused me even more concern.
For some inexplicable reason, they took the reflectors off the 9.2, leaving the directors still mounted through the rotator. Then they REMOVED the bolts on the TK brackets while the bod on the ladder took the entire weight in ONE HAND! The other bod is still on the roof steadying the whole lopsided structure which is now being lowered groundward. The bod on the roof is about to let go! It got worse still. The bod on the ladder shouted me to grab the bottom of the scaffolding pole while he lowered it to me! WHAAAAAT? Not only am I now VERY concerned for the equipment, but I am also concerned for our loves as my wife and I attempt to grab the bottom of the pole!
With middle bod holding the bottom of the scaffolding pole, Jane and I stretch hard to grab the bottom of the pole, which is now about six feet above the ground.
Don't ask me how but, somehow, the whole structure was gradually lowered down and reached the ground. All I can say is that the middle bod must have had immense strength and an outstanding skill of balance, using just the one hand, that he managed to guide everything down safely. I then uttered a MASSIVE sigh of relief! This could have so easily gone wrong.
Needless to say, I will NOT be using Aerial Solutions for any future aerial jobs.
Skegness Log: 10-02-14 (FM)
Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
91.7 0739 BEL VRT Radio 1, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw/Norkring Toren (vlg-vbr) Pops, as web 376km
93.8 0740 D bremen eins, Bremen-Walle (bre) Rock track, as web 565km
89.6 0747 BEL VBRO, Brugge/Walakker (vlg-wvl) OM, as web 295km
90.5 0753 BEL RTBF Vivacité, Liège/Bol d'Air (wal-lge) French OM ads, as web 459km
90.8 0754 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) Queens Save Me song, as web 441km
93.5 0757 D WDR 2, Nordhelle (nrw) Ad break, as web 554km
96.1 0759 BEL RTBF La Première, Wavre (wal-bra) IDs in promo 397km
97.5 0759 BEL VRT Radio 2, Schoten (vlg-ant) Good Morning, Radio 2, Jingle ID and YL news 354km
103.8 0809 D WDR 4, Nordhelle (nrw) YL ID 554km
Well, that's it. DXing officially concludes at this address. My final scan across the band before unplugging the FM5.
The 9.2 comes down today. This wasn't possible over the weekend due to high winds.
I'll be offline for two weeks before Sky broadband is installed at the new address so I'll probably use wi-fi from one of the local coffee shops. It's a pity this couldn't have been arranged with more notice but we had no official confirmation that were moving until last Friday. We have a two week window in which to vacate the old address, which gives us thirteen days more than last time!
See you soon!
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)
91.7 0739 BEL VRT Radio 1, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw/Norkring Toren (vlg-vbr) Pops, as web 376km
93.8 0740 D bremen eins, Bremen-Walle (bre) Rock track, as web 565km
89.6 0747 BEL VBRO, Brugge/Walakker (vlg-wvl) OM, as web 295km
90.5 0753 BEL RTBF Vivacité, Liège/Bol d'Air (wal-lge) French OM ads, as web 459km
90.8 0754 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) Queens Save Me song, as web 441km
93.5 0757 D WDR 2, Nordhelle (nrw) Ad break, as web 554km
96.1 0759 BEL RTBF La Première, Wavre (wal-bra) IDs in promo 397km
97.5 0759 BEL VRT Radio 2, Schoten (vlg-ant) Good Morning, Radio 2, Jingle ID and YL news 354km
103.8 0809 D WDR 4, Nordhelle (nrw) YL ID 554km
Well, that's it. DXing officially concludes at this address. My final scan across the band before unplugging the FM5.
The 9.2 comes down today. This wasn't possible over the weekend due to high winds.
I'll be offline for two weeks before Sky broadband is installed at the new address so I'll probably use wi-fi from one of the local coffee shops. It's a pity this couldn't have been arranged with more notice but we had no official confirmation that were moving until last Friday. We have a two week window in which to vacate the old address, which gives us thirteen days more than last time!
See you soon!
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)
Sunday, 9 February 2014
Skegness Log: 09-02-14 (FM)
Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
102.5 0035 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pop song, as web 834km **
102.5 0037 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Pops, as web 648km **
102.5 0047 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) German song, as web 648km
102.5 0109 D NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Gerry And The Pacemakers, as web.
Two second burst 865km **
102.5 0122 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Jack Michaelson's Bad,
as web 834km
102.5 0135 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Eurodisco style, as web 648km
102.5 0144 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) John Paul Young's Love Is
In The Air 648km
102.5 0146 E RNE Radio Nacional, Gamoniteiro (AST-O) Crooning song, as web 1199km **
102.5 0150 D Antenne Thüringen, Ronneburg (Gera) (thü) Toto's Africa, as web 854km **
102.5 0157 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Lady Blah Blah's Alehandro,
as web 834km
102.5 0212 D NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Fairground Attraction's Perfect
865km
102.5 0219 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Michael Sembello's Maniac,
as web 1247km **
102.5 0220 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) The Beloved's Sweet harmony,
as web 834km
102.5 0229 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) OM DJ, as web 648km
102.5 0232 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops, as web 834km
102.5 0249 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Robbie Williams' Shes
The One, as web. First of three in a four second meteor burst 1247km
102.5 0249 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites. A Romanian
Julio Iglesias, as web **
102.5 0255 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) OM DJ, as web 648km
102.5 0308 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops, as web 834km
102.5 0309 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops, as web 834km
102.5 0313 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Dark pops song, as web 834km
102.5 0322 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Jack Michaelson's Thriller,
as web 834km
102.5 0326 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Jack Michaelson's Thriller,
as web 834km
102.5 0333 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Pops, as web 1247km
102.5 0403 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pop song, as web 834km
102.5 0405 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops song, as web 834km
102.5 0407 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Katy Perry, as web.
Four second burst 1247km
102.5 0409 D Antenne Thüringen, Ronneburg (Gera) (thü) John Farnham's You're
The Voice, as web 854km
102.5 0420 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Robert Palmer song,
as web
102.5 0435 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops, as web 834km
102.5 0438 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites YL song, as web
102.5 0439 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Male presenter,
as web
102.5 0440 D NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Soft rock song, as web 865km
102.5 0453 E RNE Radio Nacional, Gamoniteiro (AST-O) Spanish OM on phone, as web 1199km
102.5 0454 D NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Phil Collins' Groovy Kind Of Love,
as web 865km
102.5 0512 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pop song, as web 834km
102.5 0518 D NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Euro style pop, as web 865km
102.5 0522 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl,
as web. Three second burst 834km
102.5 0540 RUS Radio Mayak, Kaliningrad/Ul. Shevchenko 2 (KA) Bruce Springsteen's
High Hopes, as web 1329km **
102.5 0551 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Robbie Williams' Angels,
as web 1247km
102.5 0623 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Abba's Chiquitita,
as web
102.5 0707 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Pops, as web 648km
102.5 0713 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) German song, as web 648km
102.5 0719 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Partial ID, "Radio Siebenland",
as web 834km
102.5 0720 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Part of promo, as web 648km
102.5 0819 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Cheesy pop track, as web 834km
102.5 0853 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Phil Collins track, as web.
Six second burst 834km
102.5 0900 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) ID on the hour 834km
102.5 1008 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Romanian OM,
as web. Twelve second burst
102.5 1014 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Local song, as web.
Thirteen second burst
Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
88.6 1115 HOL 3FM, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Spice Girls song, as web 408km
102.8 1116 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Wesel-Büderich (nrw) German OM, as web 456km
102.0 1117 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Lingen-Damaschke (nds) OM and YL, as 102.8 477km
98.1 1120 D WDR 3, Nordhelle (nrw) German YL, as web 554km
104.1 1127 BEL Joe FM, Egem (vlg-wvl) 90s rock roll track, as web 309km
102.9 1128 BEL Nostalgie Vlaanderen, Schoten (vlg-ant) Jack Michaelson song,
as web 354km
** Personal Skegness 'First'
Thank you Tim Bucknall in Congleton for suggesting 102.5 for an overnight meteor session. This was a VERY productive frequency. To emphasize this, I logged all stations identified next their web streams (I recorded 17 overnight). Again, it's a little repetitive, but hopefully it paints a clear picture of what's happening. Tim was curious to learn if I would receive Kaliningrad and I am very pleased to report that I did indeed receive this rare 'country'. Bruce Springsteen's "High Hopes" appeared at 0540 and I was able to confirm that this was exactly the same as the Radio Mayak web stream which I recorded throughout the entire night. Ten hours of each stream were recorded in total. That's 170 hours of audio. I decided to have one last big blow out before tomorrow's move. Just about everything is packed and ready to go.
All this was possible, despite the garden FM5 receiving some noise over the last 24 hours, more so than it has done previously. Things are really getting bad here. I just hope the move to the new property proves to be far less noisy. At least I will have a greater choice of places to mount the 9.2.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)
102.5 0035 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pop song, as web 834km **
102.5 0037 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Pops, as web 648km **
102.5 0047 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) German song, as web 648km
102.5 0109 D NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Gerry And The Pacemakers, as web.
Two second burst 865km **
102.5 0122 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Jack Michaelson's Bad,
as web 834km
102.5 0135 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Eurodisco style, as web 648km
102.5 0144 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) John Paul Young's Love Is
In The Air 648km
102.5 0146 E RNE Radio Nacional, Gamoniteiro (AST-O) Crooning song, as web 1199km **
102.5 0150 D Antenne Thüringen, Ronneburg (Gera) (thü) Toto's Africa, as web 854km **
102.5 0157 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Lady Blah Blah's Alehandro,
as web 834km
102.5 0212 D NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Fairground Attraction's Perfect
865km
102.5 0219 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Michael Sembello's Maniac,
as web 1247km **
102.5 0220 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) The Beloved's Sweet harmony,
as web 834km
102.5 0229 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) OM DJ, as web 648km
102.5 0232 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops, as web 834km
102.5 0249 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Robbie Williams' Shes
The One, as web. First of three in a four second meteor burst 1247km
102.5 0249 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites. A Romanian
Julio Iglesias, as web **
102.5 0255 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) OM DJ, as web 648km
102.5 0308 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops, as web 834km
102.5 0309 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops, as web 834km
102.5 0313 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Dark pops song, as web 834km
102.5 0322 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Jack Michaelson's Thriller,
as web 834km
102.5 0326 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Jack Michaelson's Thriller,
as web 834km
102.5 0333 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Pops, as web 1247km
102.5 0403 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pop song, as web 834km
102.5 0405 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops song, as web 834km
102.5 0407 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Katy Perry, as web.
Four second burst 1247km
102.5 0409 D Antenne Thüringen, Ronneburg (Gera) (thü) John Farnham's You're
The Voice, as web 854km
102.5 0420 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Robert Palmer song,
as web
102.5 0435 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops, as web 834km
102.5 0438 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites YL song, as web
102.5 0439 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Male presenter,
as web
102.5 0440 D NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Soft rock song, as web 865km
102.5 0453 E RNE Radio Nacional, Gamoniteiro (AST-O) Spanish OM on phone, as web 1199km
102.5 0454 D NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Phil Collins' Groovy Kind Of Love,
as web 865km
102.5 0512 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pop song, as web 834km
102.5 0518 D NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Euro style pop, as web 865km
102.5 0522 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl,
as web. Three second burst 834km
102.5 0540 RUS Radio Mayak, Kaliningrad/Ul. Shevchenko 2 (KA) Bruce Springsteen's
High Hopes, as web 1329km **
102.5 0551 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Robbie Williams' Angels,
as web 1247km
102.5 0623 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Abba's Chiquitita,
as web
102.5 0707 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Pops, as web 648km
102.5 0713 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) German song, as web 648km
102.5 0719 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Partial ID, "Radio Siebenland",
as web 834km
102.5 0720 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Part of promo, as web 648km
102.5 0819 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Cheesy pop track, as web 834km
102.5 0853 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Phil Collins track, as web.
Six second burst 834km
102.5 0900 D Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) ID on the hour 834km
102.5 1008 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Romanian OM,
as web. Twelve second burst
102.5 1014 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Local song, as web.
Thirteen second burst
Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
88.6 1115 HOL 3FM, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Spice Girls song, as web 408km
102.8 1116 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Wesel-Büderich (nrw) German OM, as web 456km
102.0 1117 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Lingen-Damaschke (nds) OM and YL, as 102.8 477km
98.1 1120 D WDR 3, Nordhelle (nrw) German YL, as web 554km
104.1 1127 BEL Joe FM, Egem (vlg-wvl) 90s rock roll track, as web 309km
102.9 1128 BEL Nostalgie Vlaanderen, Schoten (vlg-ant) Jack Michaelson song,
as web 354km
** Personal Skegness 'First'
Thank you Tim Bucknall in Congleton for suggesting 102.5 for an overnight meteor session. This was a VERY productive frequency. To emphasize this, I logged all stations identified next their web streams (I recorded 17 overnight). Again, it's a little repetitive, but hopefully it paints a clear picture of what's happening. Tim was curious to learn if I would receive Kaliningrad and I am very pleased to report that I did indeed receive this rare 'country'. Bruce Springsteen's "High Hopes" appeared at 0540 and I was able to confirm that this was exactly the same as the Radio Mayak web stream which I recorded throughout the entire night. Ten hours of each stream were recorded in total. That's 170 hours of audio. I decided to have one last big blow out before tomorrow's move. Just about everything is packed and ready to go.
All this was possible, despite the garden FM5 receiving some noise over the last 24 hours, more so than it has done previously. Things are really getting bad here. I just hope the move to the new property proves to be far less noisy. At least I will have a greater choice of places to mount the 9.2.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)
Saturday, 8 February 2014
Skegness Log: 08-02-14 (FM)
Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
105.1 0610 F France Info, Perpignan/Pic de Neulos (66) Presume Perpignan as this is
a regular via MS on their other frequencies 1202km **
105.1 0708 F France Info, Perpignan/Pic de Neulos (66) French YL, as web 1202km
Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
89.0 0915 BEL VRT MNM, Schoten (vlg-ant) ID and ads 354km
93.8 0917 HOL Slam!FM, Megen/Alticom Toren (nbr) Dance music, as 88.2 387km
94.7 0917 HOL Radio 4, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) Classical music,
as 94.8. No Lille 313km
** Personal Skegness 'First'
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)
105.1 0610 F France Info, Perpignan/Pic de Neulos (66) Presume Perpignan as this is
a regular via MS on their other frequencies 1202km **
105.1 0708 F France Info, Perpignan/Pic de Neulos (66) French YL, as web 1202km
Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
89.0 0915 BEL VRT MNM, Schoten (vlg-ant) ID and ads 354km
93.8 0917 HOL Slam!FM, Megen/Alticom Toren (nbr) Dance music, as 88.2 387km
94.7 0917 HOL Radio 4, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) Classical music,
as 94.8. No Lille 313km
** Personal Skegness 'First'
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)
Some Tropo For The Weekend, Sir?
Tropo Anybody?
This is the Hepburn Tropo Forecast map for 0600 today. As you will note, there are no colours (no tropo activity expected) on the map AT ALL! It's the first tropo-lacking map I have ever seen in years of watching the William Hepburn forecasts for on north-western Europe!
A few days ago, Nick Gilly in Whitchurch, Hapmshire told me about another of these maps showing zero colours. He commented it was the first totally grey map he too had seen on the site.
There are usually some colours somewhere. It shows how disturbed conditions are currently.
Roll on summer!
Friday, 7 February 2014
Skegness Log: 07-02-14 (FM)
Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
105.2 0119 D Radio Arabella, München-Ismaning (bay) Donna Lewis song, as web 970km **
105.2 0334 D Radio Arabella, München-Ismaning (bay) Paul McCartney and Michael
Jackson song, as web 970km
105.2 0422 D Radio Arabella, München-Ismaning (bay) Rolling Stones Satisfaction,
as web. Two successive bursts 970km
105.2 0530 D big fm (Baden-Württemberg), Langenbrand (bwü) Ellie Goulding song,
as web 755km **
105.2 0616 D big fm (Baden-Württemberg), Langenbrand (bwü) Part of Big FM jingle
heard 755km
105.2 0636 D big fm (Baden-Württemberg), Langenbrand (bwü) Different Ellie
Goulding song, as web. Four second burst 755km
105.2 0730 D Hitradio RTL Sachsen, Dresden-Wachwitz (sac) OM talking over music,
as web 951km **
105.2 0743 D big fm (Baden-Württemberg), Langenbrand (bwü) Black Eyed Sprouts
song, as web. Four second burst 755km
105.2 0807 D Hitradio RTL Sachsen, Dresden-Wachwitz (sac) Swedish Bungalow
Mafia, as web 951km
93.8 1213 D SWR2, Waldenbyrg or Saarburg William Tell Overture, as web **
105.3 1240 HNG MR 3 Bartok Radio, Budapest - Széchenyi-hegy (Bud) Distinctive classical
music, as web 1461km **
105.5 2133 F France Info, Bayonne/la Rhune (64) French OM on phone, as web 1104km **
105.5 2146 F France Info, Bayonne/la Rhune (64) French YL, as web 1104km
** Personal Skegness 'First'
I discovered a great little tool this morning (for people who can't handle basic arithmetic like me) by the name of Time Calculator.
After realising I had made a couple of errors with my time calculations I searched for something which did it for me - accurately! This is the problem I have found. When I begin my overnight recordings in WaveLab, I name the file according to the date and the start time of that particular recording. All meteor bursts are clearly visible along the timeline, which has hours and minutes marked along it. You can in fact change the start time in WaveLab to something meaningful, thus producing the actual correct time along the timeline, but this has never worked for me. So "00:00" might correspond to a correct time of 01:45" and therefore "02:15" will correspond to "04:00", as examples. The problem is, as I quickly discovered this morning, that my calculations were going wrong and I was out by an hour, etc. If I had two brains cells I might be better at this (or dangerous, as they say), but this little web calculator does the calculations for you. You enter the actual start time of the recording and then you enter the hours and minutes given on the timeline which correspond to a meteor burst. I think I will be using this regularly now.
Two days to the house move! The 9.2 antenna should be coming down today providing the weather stays calm. I might be out of action for a short while, but I will try to do what I did when we moved here and put up an FM3 on day one and try a quick bandscan, time permitting (Jane insists!)
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)
105.2 0119 D Radio Arabella, München-Ismaning (bay) Donna Lewis song, as web 970km **
105.2 0334 D Radio Arabella, München-Ismaning (bay) Paul McCartney and Michael
Jackson song, as web 970km
105.2 0422 D Radio Arabella, München-Ismaning (bay) Rolling Stones Satisfaction,
as web. Two successive bursts 970km
105.2 0530 D big fm (Baden-Württemberg), Langenbrand (bwü) Ellie Goulding song,
as web 755km **
105.2 0616 D big fm (Baden-Württemberg), Langenbrand (bwü) Part of Big FM jingle
heard 755km
105.2 0636 D big fm (Baden-Württemberg), Langenbrand (bwü) Different Ellie
Goulding song, as web. Four second burst 755km
105.2 0730 D Hitradio RTL Sachsen, Dresden-Wachwitz (sac) OM talking over music,
as web 951km **
105.2 0743 D big fm (Baden-Württemberg), Langenbrand (bwü) Black Eyed Sprouts
song, as web. Four second burst 755km
105.2 0807 D Hitradio RTL Sachsen, Dresden-Wachwitz (sac) Swedish Bungalow
Mafia, as web 951km
93.8 1213 D SWR2, Waldenbyrg or Saarburg William Tell Overture, as web **
105.3 1240 HNG MR 3 Bartok Radio, Budapest - Széchenyi-hegy (Bud) Distinctive classical
music, as web 1461km **
105.5 2133 F France Info, Bayonne/la Rhune (64) French OM on phone, as web 1104km **
105.5 2146 F France Info, Bayonne/la Rhune (64) French YL, as web 1104km
** Personal Skegness 'First'
I discovered a great little tool this morning (for people who can't handle basic arithmetic like me) by the name of Time Calculator.
After realising I had made a couple of errors with my time calculations I searched for something which did it for me - accurately! This is the problem I have found. When I begin my overnight recordings in WaveLab, I name the file according to the date and the start time of that particular recording. All meteor bursts are clearly visible along the timeline, which has hours and minutes marked along it. You can in fact change the start time in WaveLab to something meaningful, thus producing the actual correct time along the timeline, but this has never worked for me. So "00:00" might correspond to a correct time of 01:45" and therefore "02:15" will correspond to "04:00", as examples. The problem is, as I quickly discovered this morning, that my calculations were going wrong and I was out by an hour, etc. If I had two brains cells I might be better at this (or dangerous, as they say), but this little web calculator does the calculations for you. You enter the actual start time of the recording and then you enter the hours and minutes given on the timeline which correspond to a meteor burst. I think I will be using this regularly now.
Two days to the house move! The 9.2 antenna should be coming down today providing the weather stays calm. I might be out of action for a short while, but I will try to do what I did when we moved here and put up an FM3 on day one and try a quick bandscan, time permitting (Jane insists!)
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)
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