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Wednesday, 9 April 2014

Skegness Log: 09-04-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter: 09-04-14:
106.0 1114  D  Hitradio RTL Sachsen, Auerbach/Schöneck (sac) Distinctive music, as web 
               881km **


** Personal Skegness 'First' by the respective mode

106.0 proved to be a difficult channel as Tournai had improved and blocked the channel for a good part of the night.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Triax FM5, one meter AGL, fixed south-east.

Tuesday, 8 April 2014

Skegness Log: 08-04-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter: 08-04-14:
106.5 0239 AUT Antenne Vorarlberg, Bregenz 1/Pfänder (vor) OM with distinctive voice,
               as web  917km **
106.5 0301 CZE CRo Brno, Brno/Kojál (JM) Squeaky voiced OM news, as web  1219km **
106.5 0554  D  MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Leipzig Wiederau [sac] (san) New Seekers song,
               as web  843km **


** Personal Skegness 'First' by the respective mode

Bregenz 1 was the frequent burster during the earlier part of the morning. This was less frequent by sunrise with Brno and Leipzig Wiederau taking over.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Triax FM5, one meter AGL, fixed south-east.

Monday, 7 April 2014

Skegness Log: 07-04-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter: 07-04-14:
 97.5 0012 AUT Ö1, Linz 1/Lichtenberg (obe) Classical music, as web  1111km **
 97.5 0038  D  SWR3, Bornberg (rlp) German OM over song, as web  640km **
 97.5 0452 DNK DR P4, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) Simply Red song, as web  782km **
 97.5 0748  D  MDR Info, Suhl/Erleshügel (thü) German OM talk, as web  768km **


** Personal Skegness 'First' by the respective mode

97.5 was tonight's chosen frequency. There was a big increase in the number of MS pings too. Unsurprisingly, regular bursters were Ö1 from Linz (100kW) and SWR3 from Bornberg (25kW), often appearing together in the same burst! Next to that, 5kW MDR Info from Suhl was also quite regular.

There were quite a few bursts from unidentified German language stations which I hadn't recorded. I can only presume that they were low powered Austrian or Swiss transmitters. Germany, Switzerland and Austria has become of particular interest lately and I endeavour to record all German language streams to be certain I am logging the correct station, but all Swiss station's web streams simultaneously dropped out after only eight minutes of recording on this occasion - at precisely 00:13:35 GMT in fact. I also tend not to record the stations with flea powered transmitters, i.e. 50 watts or less. Perhaps I should.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Triax FM5, one meter AGL, fixed south-east.

Sunday, 6 April 2014

Skegness Log: 06-04-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter: 06-04-14:
 96.5 0028  D  SWR3, Waldenburg (bwü) Maroon 5 song, as web  786km **
 96.5 0105  F  France Culture, Carcassonne/Pic de Nore (11) Presumed Carcassonne. French
               OM, as web  1093km **

 96.5 0122  F  France Inter, Rouen or Chaumont Unusual singing, as web  **
 96.5 0237  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Helpterberg (mev) Raucus brass music, as web  881km **
 96.5 0804  D  Bayern 2, Brotjacklriegel (bay) OM and musical bed, as web  1021km **

Band 2 Scatter: 06-04-14:
 99.0 1623 BEL Randstad FM, Mechelen/Douaneplein (vlg-ant) Presumed. Dutch ads with .be
               web addresses.   370km

102.8 1625  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Wesel-Büderich (nrw) German OM, as 101.8  456km
104.6 1626 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Tournai/Froidmont (wal-hnt) 6354 BONAMASS (corrupted scrolling
               PS) Good peak.  351km

104.8 1628 HOL NPO Radio 1, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Noise free. Dutch OM  443km
 89.5 1630 BEL VRT Klara, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw/Norkring Toren (vlg-vbr) Classical, as 89.9  376km
 89.9 1630 BEL VRT Klara, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Classical, as 89.5  431km
 97.9 1631 BEL VRT Radio 2, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Pops, as 98.6. Dominating Sutton
               Coldfield  431km


** Personal Skegness 'First'

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Triax FM5, one meter AGL, fixed south-east.

Saturday, 5 April 2014

Skegness Log: 05-04-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter: 05-04-14:
 95.5 0012  D  SR 3 Saarlandwelle, Göttelborner Höhe (saa) Bee Gees song, as web  629km **
 95.5 0629  D  BR Klassik, Büttelberg (bay) Piano concerto, as web  812km **
 95.5 0706  F  France Musique, Clermont-Ferrand/Puy-de-Dôme (63) YL news, as web.   842km **
 95.5 0721  D  hr2, Hoher Meißner (hes) Talking about Baroque music, as web  684km **

Band 2 Scatter: 05-04-14:
102.5 1613 BEL Q-Music, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Suddenly over Radio 538  431km
102.5 1613 HOL Radio 538, Tjerkgaast/Alticom Toren (fri) Dutch OM, as web  360km
102.9 1614 BEL Nostalgie Vlaanderen, Schoten (vlg-ant) Commodores Brick House, as web  354km
100.8 1629  D  WDR 2, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) ID and verkehrsservice  483km
101.0 1630  D  WDR 2, Bärbelkreuz (Eifel) (nrw) Verkehrsservice, as 100.8  519km
105.5 1631  D  WDR Eins Live, Bärbelkreuz (Eifel) (nrw) Pops, as 106.7  519km
103.1 1635 BEL Q-Music, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw/Norkring Toren (vlg-vbr) Pops, as web  376km
103.5 1649 HOL Radio Veronica, Roosendaal/Alticom Toren (nbr) Briefly over Essex with
               pops, as web  334km
103.5 1655 HOL Radio Gelderland, Ugchelen/Alticom Toren (gel) End of song and OM ID  391km
 99.8 1656  D  NDR 2, Steinkimmen (nds) Fade in. Soft rock song, as web  543km
 93.5 1657  D  WDR 2, Nordhelle (nrw) Marillion song, as web  553km
 90.6 1659  D  WDR 5, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) German OM, as web  591km
 93.2 1659  D  WDR 2, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) Marillion song, as 93.5  591km


** Personal Skegness 'First' via MS

95.5 was interesting overnight in that the overwhelming majority of pings and bursts were from SR3, Gottelborner Hohe. Of the few which were not SR3 (four or five pings) they were from a mystery classical music station and one I did not record. Other transmitters started to come in after 0600, France Musique being the most consistent, very likely the Clermont Ferrand transmitter.

All general scatter was received with the FM5 horizontal. I re-positioned this vertically during the afternoon but it killed off all the scatter, with the exception of Langenberg. Back in horizontal again and the Dutch scatter returned. When my one metre high FM3 and FM5 were vertical at the last QTH I noticed the same lack of scatter. Vertical really does not work well on band 2 when low down.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Triax FM5, one meter AGL, fixed south-east.

Friday, 4 April 2014

Skegness Log: 04-04-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter: 04-04-14:
 94.0 0037  F  France Musique, Vittel/Thuillières (88) Jazzy classical piece, as web 
               684km **
 94.0 0238  D  Bayern 3, Lindau/Hoyerberg (bay) Michael Sembellos Maniac, as web  907km **
 94.0 0256  F  France Culture, perhaps Bergerac. Strange twangy music, as web **
 94.0 0800  G  BBC Radio 4, Limavady most likely off the back. Corrie Corfield reading
               the News **

Band 2 Scatter: 04-04-14:
 91.7 0846 BEL VRT Radio 1, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw/Norkring Toren (vlg-vbr) Nice noise free
               peak. OM talking about chocolate!  376km
 97.5 0857 BEL VRT Radio 2, Schoten (vlg-ant) Dutch OM, as web  354km
 97.8 0857 HOL NPO Radio 2, Westdorpe/Verkavelingsweg (zee) Ad break  322km
 99.5 0858 BEL RTBF Musiq'3, Liège/Bol d'Air (wal-lge) Classical music, as web  459km
100.0 0858  D  WDR 4, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) German OM ID in ads  493km
100.3 0858 HOL L1 Radio, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Punt NL web address in ad  443km
102.0 0859 BEL VRT MNM, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Dutch ads  431km
 90.2 0900 HOL 100% NL, Roosendaal/Alticom Toren (nbr) ID and news  334km
 90.7 0900 HOL SubLime FM, IJsselstein/Gerbrandytoren-Alticom (utr) Fiat ad, punt NL
               address, ads running over the hour  344km
 90.8 0901 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) ID - RTBF
               Classic 21 Ecoutez Original. Noise free  440km
 91.0 0902 HOL Slam!FM, Tjerkgaast/Alticom Toren (fri) OM ID. Not the usual Omroep Brabant 
               360km
 91.1 0903 HOL Slam!FM, Hilversum/Media Park-Alticom (nho) Fast talking OM news, as 

               91.0  341km
 91.4 0903 HOL NPO Radio 4, Markelo/Alticom Toren (ove) Classical music  424km


** Personal Skegness 'First' via the respective mode

Another "one metre high DX session"! Maybe I should class this as an ultralight log? It was quite a rapid-fire session though with lots of Dutch stations coming up very suddenly on aircraft scatter, some leaping out well above the noise. I have noticed a scatter good peak around this time before.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Triax FM5, one meter AGL, fixed south-east.

Thursday, 3 April 2014

Skegness Log: 03-04-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter: 03-04-14:
107.5 0025  D  BB Radio, Berlin/Schäferberg (brb) Pops, as web  864km
107.5 0035  D  SWR4 Baden-Württemberg, Buchen/Walldürner Str. (bwü) OM traffic in six
               second burst, as web  743km

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter: 03-04-14:
 88.6 0850 HOL NPO 3FM, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) U2 song, as web  407km
 91.1 0855  D  NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) Diana Ross song, as web  543km
 95.4 0900  F  France Inter, Amiens/Saint-Just-en-Chaussée [60] (80) YL, as 103.7  431km
 96.1 0901 BEL RTBF La Première, Wavre (wal-bra) OM, as web  396km
 96.6 0907 BEL RTBF Pure FM, Anderlues/Mont-Sainte-Geneviève (wal-hnt) Pops, as web.
               Noise free peak  409km
101.2 0914 HOL Sky Radio, Hilversum/Media Park-Alticom (nho) Pops, as web  341km
101.8 0915  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Aurich (nds) German OM, as web  478km
106.7 1050  D  WDR Eins Live, Langenberg/Hordtberg (nrw) ID jingle between songs  504km
104.8 1051 HOL NPO Radio 1, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Dutch OM, as web  443km
 91.1 1055 HOL Slam!FM, Hilversum/Media Park-Alticom (nho) Pops, as web  341km
 95.2 1055 HOL Slam!FM, Alphen aan den Rijn/Alticom Toren (zho) Pops, as 91.1  312km
 91.0 1057  F  Le Mouv', Lille/Mons-en-Baroeul 1 (59) Brief peak. Discussion, as web  338km
 92.8 1731 BEL RTBF Musiq'3, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) Noise free peak 
               440km
 93.2 1732 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Brussel/Financietoren=Bruxelles/Tour des Finances (bru)
               Lee Dorsey song, as web  376km
103.1 1734 BEL Q-Music, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw/Norkring Toren (vlg-vbr) Retro sounding disco
               track, as web  376km
104.0 1736  D  big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Koblenz/Kühkopf (rlp) Club track, as web  590km
100.4 1738 HOL Q-music, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Pops,as 100.7  407km
100.8 1739  D  WDR 2, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Almost noise free  483km
100.9 1740 BEL VRT Studio Brussel, Schoten (vlg-ant) Rock track, as 102.1  354km
101.0 1740  D  WDR 2, Bärbelkreuz (Eifel) (nrw) Same YL, as 100.8  519km
107.9 1741  D  WDR Eins Live, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) Acoustic track, as 106.7  493km


** Personal Skegness 'First' via the respective mode

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Triax FM5, five meters AGL.

Wednesday, 2 April 2014

Skegness Log: 02-04-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter: 02-04-14:
107.8 0013 SUI RSI Rete Uno, Säntis (ar) Laid back pop song, as web  917km **
107.8 0137 POL Radio Zet, Tarnów/Lichwin (MP) Polish song, as web  1465km **
107.8 0703  D  BB Radio, Frankfurt (Oder) Booßen (brb) Eight second burst. YL phone
               caller with music behind, as web  951km **
 93.3 1625 POL RMF FM, Bydgoszcz/Trzeciewiec (KP) Polish ads, as web. Three second
               burst  1186km **
 93.3 1742 HRV HRT-HR 1, Beli Manastir (os) YL interview, as web  1552km ** 

107.5 2314  D  BB Radio, Berlin/Schäferberg (brb) Adele song, as web. Listening live  864km **
107.5 2326  D  SWR4 Baden-Württemberg, Buchen/Walldürner Str. (bwü) OM talk and traffic,
               as web  743km **


** Personal Skegness 'First' via MS.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Triax FM5, one meter AGL.

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Common Sense Prevails

Following a visit from the planning officer from the new housing association, permission has, thankfully, been granted from the 9.2. Phew! However, after the gentleman had left I discovered that the G-5500 rotator had not been included in his notes. I doubt this will be a problem but will get in touch with the planning department tomorrow to add this.

It seems the neighbour complaint was simply because they were worried that the FM5 I had been using temporarily would collapse into her property and cause damage or injury. As I explained in my previous blog entry this is just not likely to happen due to the trees. The planning officer saw this and took photos of the conifers, so I presume the neighbour is going to be asked to cut down or remove the conifers. Conifers are not allowed in these properties it seems.

I have been instructed not to go ahead with the installation until I have received official written permission. I have also been told that I need to provide proof of insurance cover and have the 9.2 fitted by a professional aerial installer, providing a receipt. Everything is covered this way. Luckily I know a good company whose price is very reasonable.

It's things like this which make me feel slightly disillusioned about the whole hobby. While DXing is straight-forward enough, the hobby is considered slightly off the beaten track by most people and downright weird to some. I dread to think what the neighbours will think to a rotating aerial once it is erected. Will it attract unwanted attention? This was highlighted very nicely at the previous address. Even children would stop me in the street to ask what the aerial was and what I was listening to with it. That makes a change from people thinking I am a spy or working for the police - yes, that happens too. The problem I have is that it all leaves me feeling quite isolated and 'different'. An unwanted centre of attention.

I wish I could just enjoy the hobby without having to worry what people think. I know I shouldn't let this bother me, but it does bother me as what I am doing is publicly visible and some people seem slightly scared by it. Or they see me as some kind of freak. I have known so many other hobbyists suffer this problem. Hopefully it will just make people leave me alone ;O)

Körner 9.2 Installation Halted

After all the problems we had with aerials and neighbours at our last address, I had hoped for better things here. It seems this may not be the case. Neighbours! Damn neighbours! 

After already being granted verbal permission to erect the 9.2 antenna, our new local housing association planning department telephoned me yesterday to halt today's installation of my 9.2, on the grounds that my temporary FM5 antenna had fallen into a neighbour's garden. Let me assure you it most certainly had not. The neighbour in question has a small row of very tall conifer trees which would not allow such a thing to happen. These are actually higher than my FM5. Maybe I should complain that the same conifers have spread several feet into our garden. So much so, in fact, that there is no room for me to rotate my FM5 aerial easily where it is. Even the planning officer wondered if this was a slight exaggeration on the part of the neighbour if she was only concerned that the FM5 might fall into her garden. That's not how the complaint was received, however. Either way, it couldn't possibly have fallen anywhere as it was pressed firmly against the bungalow wall by the trees.

This neighbour has always seemed friendly, and even spoke to us this morning, but she obviously did not wish to confront us face to face about this matter.

So, our new planning officer said I would now have to go via East Lindsey District Council's Planning Department and obtain written permission to have my 9.2 erected, which he doubted they would approve. This would cost me £72. It actually costs around £400 should it need to go to the Public Notice stage, after which they could still refuse permission and not have to refund the fee, but such planning applications would usually be necessary only for larger structures, such as tall lattice towers, etc. I am really surprised to be referred to the local council.

The new planning officer also decided that he needed to check whether there might be a local covenant which restricts aerials at the new property. Personally, I would very much doubt this to be the case as many of the bungalows around here have unusually large masts for their television aerials, some as high as 20 feet above the rooftops. I would consider it very unfair if I were refused, so I hope common sense wins in the end.

After his visit, I telephoned ELDC and described the nature of my request, giving the physical size of the 9.2 antenna, including details about the rotator, etc., and the officer there said this was not an 'unusual' request and was classed as a "De Minimis" issue and so would not need written permission. I had not heard of this expression before, but it basically means that this is a simple domestic matter which does not require full planning permission. Phew! The officer referred me back to the local housing officer, who is now due to visit us later today as a result and will either grant or refuse permission for my 9.2 and the rotator, based on how he sees it.

If permission is refused then I am not even allowed to have a free-standing FM aerial. If this happens then I will need to take the matter further as I cannot see that it is reasonable for the planning department to disallow something as simple as an FM radio antenna, though I wonder if I may have to scale things down and use something like an FM3.

Somewhat dismayed.