Video: Live FM DXing During Sporadic E Event: 16-05-14

This is the first time I have made a recording of a live DXing session during a sporadic E event. I thought I would add it to my blog for others to see.

This was a good opening to the Balkans and possibly Turkey, including reception of Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia. Also heard were the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Albania, Romania and Poland. This was quite a haul and I received many personal 'firsts', including several low powered local stations.

Some unusual reception was experienced during this opening when conditions may have extended into Turkey. Note the Turkish language on 92.5 at 11 minutes and 28 seconds in the video. The PI code of 3417 would appear to confirm that this was a Turkish station, but the PI code is not known and so the station remains unidentified.

Apologies to those who are unable to hear the audio in this recording as YouTube have blocked it in certain countries due to brief instances of 'copyright' music appearing. 

Skegness Log: 15-05-14 (FM)

Band 2 Sporadic E:
 97.0 0655  S  SR P3, Hörby/Sallerup TM (sn) Lively Swedish YL, as web  913km **
 91.8 0702 NOR NRK Petre, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnipa (ro) YL news over music, as web  703km **
 97.2 0724  S  SR P3, Uddevalla/Herrestad TM (vg) Lively OM  YL, as web  922km **
 97.2 0733  D  Deutschlandradio Kultur, Inselsberg (thü) OM ID jingle  739km **
 87.9 0813  S  SR P1, Malmö, Örebro or Östersund. OM  YL banging around, as web
 89.6 0849  S  SR P1, Nässjö/Teracom mast Berg (jo) Swedish YL and music, as web  1031km **

Band 2 Tropospheric:
 93.3 0550 DNK DR P1/DR P2, Aalborg-Frejlev/Svenstrupvej 25 (njy) OM phone caller, as web 
               740km
 91.8 0554 NOR NRK Petre, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnipa (ro) V weak on scatter. YL pop song,
               as web  703km
 98.7 0648 NOR NRK P2, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnipa (ro) Norwegian YL, as web. Scatter at 703km  703km
 97.0 0654 NOR NRK Petre, Greipstad/Eidsåvegen (va) OM phone in, as web. Tropo or scatter? 
               734km
 97.2 0725 DNK DR P3, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk-sjy) OMs, as web. Via scatter 
               617km
 87.9 0852  D  MDR Figaro, Inselsberg (thü) Piano music, as web  739km
 87.9 1444  D  NDR Info, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) Jingle ID and info  599km
100.1 1504  D  RPR 1., Haardtkopf (rlp) OM ID after news  593km
102.1 1718 DNK R.24/7, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk-sjy) Danish OM. Seemingly via
               scatter.  617km
 98.0 2029 HOL Radio Decibel, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) Housey Housey, as 97.6  320km
107.5 2031 HOL Scheldemond FM, Oostburg/Watertoren (zee) V weak. Light pops, as web  296km
105.5 2034 BEL Topradio, Staden/Stadenberg (vlg-wvl) Bang bang thump thump techNO thank you,
               as web  299km
 99.4 2036 BEL Topradio, Gent/IVAGO Proeftuinstraat 43 (vlg-ovl) Bang bang, as web  333km
 96.1 2039 HOL FunX, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) Reggae, as web  320km
 96.3 2039 HOL Radio Veronica, Loon op Zand/Alticom Toren (nbr) Phone caller, as 96.6  365km

** Personal Skegness 'First'

This morning's meteor scatter was done live. Bursts were frequent so it quickly became clear which stations or transmitters were coming through.

It seems that the morning tropo from Denmark and Norway was not tropo at all, but aircraft scatter, no doubt helped along by the high pressure, but it continued for the rest of the day, up and down, apart from the Norwegians, which fizzled out completely by mid-afternoon.

There was an enhancement come the evening, however, with Belgium and Holland increasing in strength slightly.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOrAbHyPpIflDXo62HWyOiA

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

Aerial:
Körner 9.2 at 5.5 metres AGL. Yaesu G-5500 elevation/azimuth rotator.

Skegness Log: 14-05-14 (FM)

Band 2 Sporadic E:
 87.6 1740 CZE Radio Impuls, Brno/Kojál (JM) 2203 _IMPULS_  1219km
 88.1 1742 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Petrosani/Parâng (HD) FF00. Presume Petrosani 
               1877km
 89.0 1742 ROU Radio ZU, Bucuresti (BU) E2AA Radio_ZU  2107km
 91.2 1744 ROU Magic FM, Three sites. Probably Alexandria. E210 MAGIC_FM
 87.6 1746 BUL BNR Radio Shumen, Shumen/RRTS Venets (shm) 8236 ___BNR__ _SHUMEN_  2220km
 91.8 1750 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Alexandria (TR) Jingle ID  2091km **
 88.4 1808 MRC MFM Oriental, Taourirt (otl) Vocal ID  2102km
 91.6 1809 MRC Radio Mars, Béni-Mellal/Tazerkounte (tda) ID in ad break  2397km
 92.9 1810 MRC SNRT Chaîne Inter, Béni-Mellal/Tazerkounte (tda) Arabic OM, as web  2397km **
 94.0 1812 MRC Aswat, Béni-Mellal/Tazerkounte (tda) Phone caller, as web  2397km
 89.2 1813 MRC MFM Oriental, Béni-Mellal/Tazerkounte (tda) 1283 __MFM____. Jingle ID too! 
               2397km **
 89.8 1813 MRC SNRT Chaîne Inter, Béni-Mellal/Tazerkounte (tda) French OM talking about
               Morocco  2397km
 90.6 1814 MRC SNRT Al Idaâ Al-Watania, Boumalne-Dadès (smd) Arabic OMs, as web 
               2475km **
 91.1 1816 MRC Médina FM, Tanger (ttn) Phone in, as web  1991km
 91.7 1841 MRC Radio Mars, Tétouan (ttn) Arabic OM, as web  2007km

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
106.9 1107  D  B5 aktuell, Grünten (Allgäu) or Brotjacklriegel OM ID
 98.7 1308  G  BBC Radio 1, Perhaps Melvaig. Snippet of BBC R1 presenters, as 98.3 **
 87.7 1903  E  Europa FM, Alcalá de Henares (MAD-M) E5ED  1439km **

Band 2 General Scatter:
103.5 0504  D  RPR 1., Ahrweiler/Schöneberg (rlp) ID and pops  553km
106.3 0510  D  SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Bad Marienberg (rlp) SWR4 ID sung in song  592km
107.6 0512  D  big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Bornberg (rlp) YL in ads, as web  640km
103.0 0517  D  BFBS Radio, Bielefeld/Hünenburg (nrw) OM ... Call, text or email BFBS  564km
107.3 0538  D  hr4, Heidelstein (Rhön) [bay] (hes) german YL song, as web  729km

** Personal Skegness 'First'

Mixing the propagation modes today!

I have uploaded some more videos to my YouTube channel, demonstrating scatter from stations like HR4, Heidelstein on 107.3.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOrAbHyPpIflDXo62HWyOiA

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

Aerial:
Körner 9.2 at 5.5 metres AGL. Yaesu G-5500 elevation/azimuth rotator.

Denmark & Norway Via Scatter

I always assumed it must be possible from this coast, but until this morning I had never heard it myself, though I once briefly had Norway via aircraft scatter at my previous Skegness address.

Here are three recordings of this morning's scatter. Unfortunately, the web audio did not come through in the Norwegian videos, but you should be able to hear the Norwegian presenters quite clearly.

Danmarks Radio 3, Rangstrup. Distance 617 km

NRK Petre, Bjerkreim. Distance 703 km

NRK Petre, Bjerkreim. Distance 703 km

Skegness Log: 13-05-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 92.0 0722 POL PR Radio Szczecin, Szczecin/Kolowo (ZP) Village People song, as web. Three
               second burst  953km **
 92.0 0747 AUT Ö1, Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Talk about American music, as web  1247km **
 87.6 0944 CZE Radio Impuls, Brno/Kojál (JM) 2203  1219km
 87.7 1016  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) Long burst. OM, as 98.0  709km
 95.0 1016  F  France Musique, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) Long burst. Classical, as 88.7 
               709km **
 88.6 1308 CZE CRo Vltava, Klatovy/Doubrava (PL) 232D  984km
 96.6 1329  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Leipzig Wiederau (sac) Jazzy music, as web  843km **
 96.6 1333 SVK SRo 1 Rádio Slovensko, Bratislava or Kosice OM on phone, as web **
 96.6 1334 POL Radio Zet, Lebork/Skórowo Nowe (PM) Simply Red song, as web  1134km **
 96.6 1336 SUI Radio SRF 2 Kultur, Rigi/Kulm (sz) Percussive classical piece, as web 
               892km **
 96.6 1336 CZE Radio Impuls, Praha/Mahlerovy sady (PR) Local song, as web  1031km **
 96.6 1413 POL RMF FM, Walcz/Rusinowo (Pila) (ZP) Banging Techno song, as web. Three second
               burst  1060km **

** Personal Skegness 'First'

The Es were close today but never close enough, and since meteor scatter was prevalent I concentrated on that. The Es season seems to have got off to a very good start again this year, but the main concentrations have been in central and eastern parts of Europe. Hopefully it will be the turn of the UK again soon.

Good DX!

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

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

Aerial:
Körner 9.2 at 5.5 metres AGL. Yaesu G-5500 elevation/azimuth rotator.

Skegness Log: 12-05-14 (FM)

OIRT Band Sporadic E:
 67.10 1447 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Pinsk/RTPS Posenichi (BR) YL singin, as web  1729km
 67.88 1448 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Pinsk/RTPS Posenichi (BR) YL and OM, as web  1729km
 68.30 1448 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Bragin/RTPS (GO) YL singing, as web  2018km
 68.45 1450 BLR BR Gomel FM, Zhlobin/Vul. K.Marksa 1A (GO) Presumed. Pops and ads  1973km
 66.08 1518 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Svislach=Svislac (HR) YL, as web  1580km **
 68.12 1519 BLR BR Radio Hrodna, Slonim/RTPS Novaja Straga (HR) YL ID and anns over lively
                music  1670km
 69.26 1520 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Geranyony/RTPS (HR) YL talking over guitar music,
                   as web  1658km
 69.92 1524 BLR BR Gomel FM, Bragin/RTPS (GO) English pop song, as web  2018km
 70.22 1524 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Salihorsk/RTPS Dubei (MI) Commentary, as web  1807km
 66.20 1526 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Gomel/RTPS Vul. Pushkina 8 (GO) English pops, as web 
                   2049km
 66.44 1527 BLR BR Gomel FM, Smyatanichy/RTPS (GO) Ads, as 69.92  1890km
 67.76 1528 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Gomel/RTPS Vul. Pushkina 8 (GO) ID and Russian talk. Tnx
                   Vladimir Doroshenko for help  2049km

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 99.6 0021 NOR NRK P2, Stord/Kattnakken (ho) Brass ensemble, as web  811km **
 99.6 0039  D  hr-info, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) German OM, as web  612km **
 99.6 0202  D  Rockland Sachsen-Anhalt, Naumburg (san) Seven Nation Army track, as web 
               814km **
 99.6 0258  I  RAI Radio3, Presume Bertinoro, but other low powers also listed Slow
               classical piece, as web **
 99.6 0313  S  SR P3, Örebro or Ånge Rolling Stones Start Me Up, as web. Four second burst **
 99.6 0637  D  Bayern 3, Hohe Linie (bay) Soft rock song, as web  943km **
 87.7 1442 POL PR 1, Konin/Zólwieniec (WP) 3211 ______A_  1211km

Band 2 Tropospheric/Scatter:
103.5 0806  D  RPR 1, Ahrweiler/Schöneberg (rlp) Pops, as 102.1  553km
102.1 0807  D  RPR 1, Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) Pops, as web  550km
 94.3 0809  F  Skyrock, Lille/Mons-en-Baroeul 1 (59) Pushing through on horizontal  338km
 88.0 1631  D  SR 1 Europawelle, Göttelborner Höhe (saa) OM ID after info  629km
101.7 1633  D  Radio Salü, Saarbrücken/Schoksberg (saa) Whispered OM ID and pops. Noise free
               on A/S  628km

** Personal Skegness 'First' via the mode

Good DX!

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

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

Aerial:
Körner 9.2 at 5.5 metres AGL. Yaesu G-5500 elevation/azimuth rotator.

Skegness Log: 11-05-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 87.6 1141 CZE Radio Impuls, Brno/Kojál (JM) 2203  1219km

Band 2 Tropospheric/Scatter:
 89.7 2001  D  WDR 3, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) Screechy classical, as web, over a nulled
               Tacolneston  493km

Continuing with my mission to reduce all Belmont outlets to nothing, I removed Lincs FM almost completely today. This was the most difficult one to remove. A bit of playing around with the direction and polarisation of the 9.2 did the trick, but the beamwidth of the null was extremely tight. It was interesting to hear the signal from Lincs FM fading in and out on aircraft scatter. We live only a couple of miles from a local airfield and I suspect it's the local planes which are causing this effect as much as the high altitude passenger planes. I even observed the signal flutter in and out rather abruptly as a pigeon (or duck?) flew past the antenna!

I recorded meteor scatter on 102.2 but none of it was in parallel with any of the web streams I recorded. It was the same with the meteor scatter I recorded on 88.8 yesterday.

Good DX!

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

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

Aerial:
Körner 9.2 at 5.5 metres AGL. Yaesu G-5500 elevation/azimuth rotator.

Skegness Log: 10-05-14 (FM)

OIRT Band Sporadic E:
 67.82 1556 UKR Svitle radio Emmanuyil, L'viv/LFKRRT, Vysokyy zamok, 9 (LV) Gregorian chant
                and OM, as web  1674km
 68.99 1556 UKR UR 2 Radio Promin', L'viv/LFKRRT, Vysokyy zamok, 9 (LV) Music, as web  1674km
 67.04 1557 UKR UR 1 Persha Prog., L'viv/LFKRRT, Vysokyy zamok, 9 (LV) Presumed Lviv but
                not UR1 anymore  1674km
 66.59 1653 UKR UR 1 Persha Prog., Horishnya Vyhanka/TFKRRT, vul. Televizijna (TE) Local
                music, as web  1826km **

Band 2 Sporadic E:
 87.6 1544 SVN Radio MMR, Pecarovci (ms) 9456  1334km
 87.6 1544 HRV Podravski Radio, Durdevac/Micetinac-Veliki Kostanj (kc) C440 PO__RADIO  1436km
 87.6 1545 SRB Bum Radio, Kraljevo (Srb) 8000  1821km

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
102.3 1325  D  BR Klassik, Wendelstein or Ochsenkopf OM and piano music, as web **

Band 2 Tropospheric/Scatter:
 94.6 0748  D  MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) ID between pops  712km
 92.1 0753  D  NDR 2, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) ID between pops  707km
 89.4 1519  D  NE-WS 89,4, Düsseldorf/Rheinturm (nrw) Brief but noise free peak. Pops,
               as web  488km

** Personal Skegness 'First' via the mode

Sporadic E Notes:
More teasing Es today! I first noticed some wonderful Gypsy music on 88.7. I thought it was France Musique at first until I checked their stream. Then I realised that the bottom of the band had opened. It seems the Es had reached up to 102.3 at one point, sadly while I was in town. I had left the XDR recording meteor scatter there.

The OIRT band had a few signals too. I heard several stations I could not trace to begin with. I first wondered if double hop was involved as I could not find any web parallels to the DX, but I quickly realised that the stations were probably old familiar Ukraine transmitters which are now carrying Russian services.

Meteor Scatter Notes:
I tried to null all my Belmont frequencies this afternoon, in the hope that I might reduce their signals enough to allow meteor scatter to override them. I heard several meteor bursts over 88.8. It is my ambition to identify meteor scatter on every frequency across band 2. So far I am up around 110 frequencies so there is still a long way to go. This may be a little too ambitious, but I managed to get all Belmont frequencies down below 20dB this afternoon, with the exception of Lincs FM on 102.2 which I could only reduce to 30dB. Belmonts on 90.9 and 93.1 were relatively easy to reduce. I didn't try 98.3, which was almost 100% nullable at the last QTH, or 100.5. 94.9 has already produced Bourges on meteor scatter.

Good DX!

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

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

Aerial:
Körner 9.2 at 5.5 metres AGL. Yaesu G-5500 elevation/azimuth rotator.

Skegness Log: 09-05-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
102.6 0017 EST Raadio 2, Koeru (Jae) Lively pop track, as web. Two second burst  1708km **
102.6 0023 SVK SRo 3 Rádio Devín, Banská Stiavnica/Sitno (BB) Piano music, as web. Two
               second burst  1402km **
102.6 0045  D  Radio TON Heilbronn, Schwäbisch Hall (bwü) Belinda Carlisle, as web  795km **
102.6 0310  F  France Bleu, Multiple sites. Likely Mulhouse. This tx has been heard frequently
               via MS on 88.6 (France Culture). OM with phone number. Tnx Cédric, Stuart
               and Jean-Louis for help with this **
102.6 0559  D  RBB Fritz, Berlin/Alexanderplatz (brb) Pops, as web  880km **
102.6 0602  D  Radio ffn, Cuxhaven Otterndorf (nds) FFN own news with OM over music, as web.
               Four second burst  571km **
102.6 0602  D  NDR 2, Stadthagen/Bückeberge (nds) Pops, as web. Three second burst  606km **
102.6 0649  D  MDR Info, Weimar-Ehringsdorf (thü) YL talking to OM, as web  791km **
102.6 0659 EST Raadio 2, Koeru (Jae) In again with distinctive guitar playing, as web.
               Two second burst  1708km
 87.6 1000  E  RNE Radio Nacional, Multi-tx Top of the hour jingle. Live listening **
 88.6 1125 CZE CRo Vltava, Klatovy/Doubrava (PL) 232D R-______. Live listening  984km

** Personal Skegness 'First'

A good night for MS. I chose 102.6, a frequency usually dominated by Tournai, but putting the aerial at 70-80 degrees meant that it was much less of a problem. This bearing also probably helped bring in Raadio 2 from Koeru. Radio TON and RBB Fritz were regularly heard on pings.

Estonia is one of three new countries I have received this week via MS. Latvia and Lithuania are the other two, but then my antenna has been pointing slightly further north than usual at 70 or 80 degrees. Even so, the Spanish reception on 87.6 just shows that anything is possible. 

People are asking where the Es have gone. 1. We were spoilt by last year's phenomenal Es season in England. 2. We were sent an early teaser on the 26th with a brief band 2 opening. This was unusually early. Don't write off this year's season yet! We don't usually expect band 2 Es until the end of May, so anything before then is a bonus.

Good DX!

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

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

Aerial:
Körner 9.2 at 5.5 metres AGL. Yaesu G-5500 elevation/azimuth rotator.

Skegness Log: 08-05-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
104.1 0014 CZE Frekvence 1, Plzen/Krasov (PL) YL on phone to OM, as web  947km **
104.1 0157 ROU Kiss FM, Petrosani/Parâng (HD) Pops, as web  1877km **
104.1 0206 POL Radio Zet, Kraków/Choragwica (MP) Polish OM and bleepy music, as web  1406km **
104.1 0235 LTU ZIP FM, Kaunas - Juragiai (Kau) Soft YL song, as web  1538km **
104.1 0247  D  delta radio, Bungsberg/DTAG-Turm (shs) Vocal ID by OM  694km **
104.1 0516  D  N-JOY, Ueckermünde (mev) Distinctive pop song, as web  910km **
104.1 1227 AUT KRONEHIT, Rechnitz 2/Hirschenstein BKF (bur) Suspect Rechnitz, but Lend
               also listed at 135W  1308km **

** Personal Skegness 'First'

A night of mostly very short pings, but with some longer burst around dawn which lasted around half a minute.

104.1 around sunrise became a mixture of Joe FM from Egem and the new outlet of Radio 10 from Arnhem. Radio 10 seems to be dominating most of the time when scatter is present, but WDR4 from Olsberg also shows itself from time to time.

Good DX!

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

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

Aerial:
Körner 9.2 at 5.5 metres AGL. Yaesu G-5500 elevation/azimuth rotator.