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Tuesday, 24 February 2015

Skegness Log: 24-02-15 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 87.8 0314  E  Rock FM, León (CAL-LE) E2CF ______F_  1250km **
 88.2 0344  E  RNE Radio 3, Boal/Pico Penouta (AST-O) E213 RN______  1199km **
 87.6 0407  E  esRadio, Santiago de Compostela (GAL-C) E287   1315km
 90.6 0407  E  Los 40 Principales, Santiago de Compostela (GAL-C) E235  1321km

** Personal 'First'

A vertically polarised westerly 9.2 this morning!

An observation which may be of interest: The first meteor burst I noted this morning, at 0314, lasted four seconds and more than 20 stations, all of them Spanish I believe, came in solidly across the lower quarter of the band. Judging by their strength, each one of these stations *should* have produced RDS, but none did - all except for one station which looked far too weak for RDS, yet DID! The next burst at 0344 lasted roughly twice that length, with lots of good level signals, yet only one of them, which happened to be the weakest signal, delivered the goods. That's how it often is with meteor scatter.

Unfortunately, I forgot to delete yesterday's meteor scatter recordings from my hard drive (that's the sixth time I have forgotten this in two weeks. You think I'd learn!) and so I only grabbed one recording. It seems conditions were much better too so I wonder what other goodies might have been forthcoming.

A late evening 90 minute session with the 9,2 horizontally beaming north-north-west produced no meteor scatter at all.

Good DX!

John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx

Receiver:
Elad FDM-S2

Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is 3 metres asl.
Triax FM3, one metre above the ground as a phasing antenna.
Fringe Electronics 20dB & Labgear 30dB band 2 pre-amps.
HS Publications Antenna Phaser.

Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console & RDS Spy via VAC.

Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.

Monday, 23 February 2015

Skegness Log: 23-02-15 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
103.2 0746 CZE CRo Dvojka, Votice/Mezivrata (ST) 232E R-DVOJ__  1069km
105.5 0746 CZE Evropa 2, Votice/Mezivrata (ST) 2204  1069km

These two were the only stations identified with the antenna beamed north-north-west, horizontally! French and German language stations were also widely heard. I think this demonstrates the angle of refraction caused by the meteor trails.

There was one other interesting station which didn't come up strong enough for RDS, on 89.9. I didn't note the time but it was sometime after 0200. All that was heard was a blank carrier. I wondered if this could have been Kringvarp Foroya from the Faroe Islands, a 'wanted' country. Not many stations broadcast dead air overnight these days, unless I heard a lengthy gap between songs.

I'll be beaming west and vertically overnight tomorrow.

Good DX!

John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx

Receiver:
Elad FDM-S2

Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is 3 metres asl.
Triax FM3, one metre above the ground as a phasing antenna.
Fringe Electronics 20dB & Labgear 30dB band 2 pre-amps.
HS Publications Antenna Phaser.

Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console & RDS Spy via VAC.

Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.

Sunday, 22 February 2015

Skegness Log: 22-02-15 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 97.6 0428  E  Cadena Dial, Santiago de Compostela (GAL-C) Pops, as 98.5  1315km **
 98.5 0428  E  Cadena Dial, Ferrol/Monte As Penas (GAL-C) E274 CA______  1247km **
 94.2 0450  E  Onda Cero, Pamplona=Iruña/El Perdón (NAV-NA) E2EE ON______  1168km **
105.0 0542  E  RNE Radio 5 Todo Noticias, Liérganes/Peña Cabarga (CNT-S) E515  1128km
100.8 0605  E  Onda Cero, Toledo (CAM-TO) E888 ONDA____  1510km
103.0 0605  E  Unika FM, Villaviciosa de Odón/Pinares Llanos (MAD-M) E42C  1458km
 92.4 2332  D  RBB Kulturradio, Berlin/Scholzplatz (brb) D323  868km

** Personal 'First'

All overnight loggings were made with the antenna pointing west-south-west and vertically. The late evening log saw the antenna horizontal and north-north-west. A few Swedish and Norwegian regulars also came in on this heading.

Good DX!

John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx

Receiver:
Elad FDM-S2

Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is 3 metres asl.
Triax FM3, one metre above the ground as a phasing antenna.
Fringe Electronics 20dB & Labgear 30dB band 2 pre-amps.
HS Publications Antenna Phaser.

Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console & RDS Spy via VAC.

Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.

Saturday, 21 February 2015

Skegness Log: 21-02-15 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 94.4 0346 IRL RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, Mullaghanish (CO) Gaelic YL, as 94.0  653km **
102.5 0536  E  RNE Radio Nacional, Gamoniteiro (AST-O) E211  1199km
104.8 0536  E  Onda Cero, Badajoz (EXT-BA) E777. Unlisted regional PI code.
               Thanks Janpeter Van Dijk for info on this  1682km **

** Personal 'First'

I took a gamble and beamed west overnight with the antenna vertical. These three were the only stations I managed to identify, but there was also frequent reception of an Italian talk station on 102.5. I never found out what that was. 

Good DX!

John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx

Receiver:
Elad FDM-S2

Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is 3 metres asl. 
Triax FM3, one metre above the ground as a phasing antenna.
Fringe Electronics 20dB & Labgear 30dB band 2 pre-amps.
HS Publications Antenna Phaser.

Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console & RDS Spy via VAC.

Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.

Friday, 20 February 2015

Skegness Log: 20-02-15 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 96.5 0345  D  SWR3, Waldenburg (bwü) D3A3  786km
 98.5 0416 HRV HRT-HR 2, Zagreb/Sljeme (zg) C202 HRT-HR__  1381km **
 99.9 0538  D  SWR3, Heidelberg/Königstuhl, SWR (bwü) D3A3  717km **
102.8 0538  D  Radio Regenbogen, Heidelberg/Königstuhl, DTAG (bwü) D308 __GNBOGN  717km
105.6 0703  D  SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Donnersberg (rlp) D7A4  656km
103.0 0718  D  SWR3, Grünten (Allgäu) [bay] (bwü) D3A3 __SWR3__  942km
106.9 0718  D  B5 aktuell, Grünten (Allgäu) (bay) D315 B5_akt__  942km

** Personal 'First'

Not a lot of meteor activity overnight, but the brief burst from the Grünten transmitter at 0718 was impressive. Videos here:

103.0 SWR3, Grünten: http://youtu.be/19iqraTwLJw
106.9 B5 Aktuell, Grünten: http://youtu.be/R_7zafK7vwc

Good DX!

John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx

Receiver:
Elad FDM-S2

Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is 3 metres asl.
Triax FM3, one metre above the ground as a phasing antenna.
Fringe Electronics 20dB & Labgear 30dB band 2 pre-amps.
HS Publications Antenna Phaser.

Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console & RDS Spy via VAC.

Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.

Thursday, 19 February 2015

Skegness Log: 19-02-15 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 99.0 0609  I  RTR 99 - Radio Ti Ricordi, Rocca di Papa (rm) 5024  1568km **
101.3 0618  I  Radio Castel Bolognese-RCB, Brisighella/Angugnano-Via Rontana 50 (ra) 6FF3  1295km
101.7 0643 BEL AFN PowerNet, Everberg (vlg-vbr) 6037 ______ET  386km
100.4 0729  I  Radio Maria, Giano dell’Umbria/Monte Martano (pg) "Salvatore Jesu
               Christu", etc.  1464km **

102.8 0729  I  RDS - Radio Dimensione Suono, Multi-tx 5264 **
103.7 0729  I  Radio Subasio, Calvi dell’Umbria/Monte San Pancrazio (tr) 53FD SUBASI__  1499km
101.7 0753  I  Radio Subasio, San Venanzo/Ospedaletto-Monte Peglia (tr) 53FD SUBA____  1446km

** Personal 'First'

Good DX!

John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx

Receiver:
Elad FDM-S2

Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is 3 metres asl.
Triax FM3, one metre above the ground as a phasing antenna.
Fringe Electronics 20dB & Labgear 30dB band 2 pre-amps.
HS Publications Antenna Phaser.

Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console & RDS Spy via VAC.

Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.

Wednesday, 18 February 2015

Skegness Log: 18-02-15 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 97.1 0439 POL RMF FM, Wloszczowa/Dobromierz (SK) 3F44  1356km
 95.8 1401  I  RAI Radio3, Trieste/Monte Belvedere (RAI) (ts) 5403 _RAD____  1278km
 97.0 1401 NOR NRK Petre, Greipstad/Eidsåvegen (va) Norwegian YL, as 96.1  734km **
 96.3 1458 POL PR Radio Opole, Kluczbork/Komin ECO (OP) 3401  1242km **
 96.3 1505 POL PR 3, Solina/G.Jawor II (PK) 3233  1591km **
 97.4 1505 POL PR Radio Kraków, Gorlice/Komin EC Gorlice (MP) 37FC _1__05__ _K______
               1491km **

 96.6 1514 NOR NRK P2, Grong/Geitfjellet (nt) F202  1422km
 97.7 1514  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Berlin/Alexanderplatz (brb) D210 __DL____  880km
 98.4 1514 NOR NRK P2, Mosvik/Skavlen (nt) Presumed with Norwegian YL, as 96.6  1329km
 95.1 1634  S  SR P2, Skövde/Åsbotorp 2/Billingen TM (vg) E402  1023km **

** Personal 'First'

The 9.2 was vertical overnight, beamed east. The rest of the day I let the S2 record the middle of the band in the hope that some MS would topple Belmont 98.3. Nothing did though. I'll try again tomorrow. If I can just identify some MS on 98.3 I think the remaining Tacolneston frequencies should be relatively straight-forward.

Good DX!

John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx

Receiver:
Elad FDM-S2

Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is 3 metres asl.
Triax FM3, one metre above the ground as a phasing antenna.
Fringe Electronics 20dB & Labgear 30dB band 2 pre-amps.
HS Publications Antenna Phaser.

Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console & RDS Spy via VAC.

Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Skegness Log: 17-02-15 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 98.0 0421  I  Radio Onda d'Urto, Milano (mi) 53BA  1072km
 94.1 1659 NOR NRK P1, Frederikstad/Sprinklerfjell (of) F201  937km **
 94.8 1659 NOR NRK P1, Halden 1/Høyåsmasten (of) OM talking, as 94.1  958km **
 99.2 1659  S  SR P3, Sundsvall/Södra Stadsberget TM (vn) E203  1429km
 96.3 1702 NOR NRK P2, Gamlemsveten (mr) F202. Norwegian YL  1105km **
 98.0 2050  S  SR P3, Malmö/Jägersro TM (sn) E203  866km **
 95.3 2147 NOR NRK P2, Bagn 1/Kjeldeknatten (op) F202 __RK____  1019km
 96.4 2147 NOR NRK P2, Gausta/Gaustatoppen (te) F202  902km
 97.1 2147 NOR NRK P2, Nordhue (he) F202 _N___P2_  1094km

** Personal 'First'

Good DX!

John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx

Receiver:
Elad FDM-S2

Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is 3 metres asl.
Triax FM3, one metre above the ground as a phasing antenna.
Fringe Electronics 20dB & Labgear 30dB band 2 pre-amps.
HS Publications Antenna Phaser.

Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console & RDS Spy via VAC.

Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.

Monday, 16 February 2015

Skegness Log: 16-02-15 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 88.6 0303  I  Radio Radicale, Rocca di Papa/Monte Cavo vetta (rm) 5210 __DI____  1568km
105.3 0702  I  Dimensione Suono Due, Rocca di Papa/Monte Cavo (rm) 5E43  1568km
103.0 0708 POL PR Radio Zachód, Zielona Góra/Jemiolów (LU) 3267  1008km
105.3 0747  I  Radio Italia Solo Musica Italiana, Meldola (fc) 5220  1328km

A difficult night in which I was lucky to hear anything due to severe noise across most of the band.

Good DX!

John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx

Receiver:
Elad FDM-S2

Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is 3 metres asl.
Triax FM3, one metre above the ground as a phasing antenna.
Fringe Electronics 20dB & Labgear 30dB band 2 pre-amps.
HS Publications Antenna Phaser.

Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console & RDS Spy via VAC.

Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.

Sunday, 15 February 2015

Skgness Log: 15-02-15 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 89.1 0204 CZE CRo Radiožurnál, Plzen/Krašov (PL) 232F R-ZURNAL  947km
 89.9 0204 AUT Ö2 - Radio Wien, Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) AC0C __DI____  1247km
 87.7 0207 SVK Fun Rádio, Košice/Dubník (KE) 5340 FU____IO  1544km
 89.0 0207 CZE Radio Impuls, Ostrava/Hoštálkovice (MO) 2203 ____ULS_  1287km
 87.6 0209 CZE Radio Impuls, Brno/Kojál (JM) 2203 _I__ULS_  1219km
 89.5 0209 HNG Music FM, Budapest - Széchenyi-hegy (Bud) Jingle ID  1460km
 91.3 0226  D  SR 2 Kultur, Göttelborner Höhe (saa) D3B2 ______ch  629km
 91.2 0233  D  Bayern 1, Ochsenkopf (bay) German song, as 90.7 (D311)  865km
 90.5 0243  D  NDR 1 Radio MV, Helpterberg (mev) D371  881km **
 90.7 0248  D  Bayern 1, Grünten (Allgäu) (bay) D311 __ye____. AFs point to this tx  942km
 90.5 0257 POL PR Radio Rzeszów, Krosno/Sucha Góra (PK) 3417  1530km
 88.2 0300  D  Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) D312  812km
 89.2 0300 AUT Hitradio Ö3, Graz 1/Schöckl (ste) A203 HI______  1261km
 91.2 0300 AUT Ö1, Graz 1/Schöckl (ste) A201 __OE_1__  1261km
 91.4 0300  D  Bayern 1, Büttelberg (bay) D311 ___er___.   812km
 92.1 0300 HRV HRT-HR 1, Zagreb/Sljeme (zg) C201 __T-HR_1  1381km
 88.5 0304 CZE CRo Radiožurnál, Trutnov/Cerná hora (KR) 232F __ZURN__  1091km
 90.5 0304 CZE CRo Hradec Králové, Trutnov/Cerná hora (KR) 280A R_HK____  1091km
 92.1 0304 CZE Radio Impuls, Trutnov/Cerná hora (KR) 2203 __MP____  1091km
 91.1 0306 CZE CRo Radiožurnál, Ceské Budejovice/Klet - CRa (JC) 232F  1084km
 98.1 0335  D  WDR 3, Nordhelle (nrw) D393  553km
 98.1 0337 HRV HRT-HR 2, Beli Manastir (os) C202 HR______  1552km **
 93.9 0421  I  RAI Radio3, Bologna/Colle Barbiano (RAI) (bo) 5203   1256km
 95.8 0422  D  Bayern 3, Grünten (Allgäu) (bay) D313 __YERN__  942km
 98.7 0422  D  SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Grünten (Allgäu) [bay] (bwü) D301  942km
 94.7 0423  D  Bayern 3, Hoher Bogen (bay) D313  975km
100.1 0519  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Brotjacklriegel (bay) D210  1021km
103.6 0524 POL PR Radio Merkury, Walcz/Rusinowo (Pila) (ZP) 3755 __EL____  1060km
103.8 0551  D  Antenne Niedersachsen, Barsinghausen (nds) D389  620km **
104.9 0551 POL Radio ESKA, Wroclaw/G.Sleza (DS) 3293 ____KA_  1147km
100.2 0600 POL RMF FM, Bialystok/Krynice (PL) 3F44 _RAK____  1506km
104.7 0600 POL Radio Maryja, Bialystok/Krynice (PL) 3232 R_MARY__  1506km
103.5 0607 HRV HKR-Hrvatski Katolicki Radio, Zagreb/Sljeme (zg) C204  1381km
103.3 0621  D  Antenne Bayern, Unterringingingen (bay) D318  863km
103.7 0706  D  SR Unser Ding, Saarbrücken/Schoksberg (saa) D3B5  628km
104.9 0706  D  Hitradio Ohr, Offenburg (bwü) D40D HITRADIO _O_H_R__  751km
105.6 0706 SUI Radio SRF 3, Säntis (ar) 43B3 _SRF_3__  917km
107.8 0706 SUI RSI Rete Uno, Säntis (ar) 43E1 RETE__NO  917km
103.5 0712  D  Antenne Bayern, Brotjacklriegel (bay) D318  1021km
102.9 0727 CZE Radio Impuls, Ceské Budejovice/Klet - CRa (JC) 2203 ______S_  1084km

** Personal 'First'

After a poor morning yesterday I found there was a dramatic increase in the number of pings and longer bursts. One burst lasted almost two minutes but was too weak to show any RDS. That's always the case though. There's at least a ping per second if you look at the tiniest dots on the File Analyser waterfall, but the huge majority were barely at audio level.

So here's a snapshot of everything identified, excluding the really repetitive 'predictables'. The 9.2 was beamed east and horizontal. In view of the increase in activity I will probably stay east tomorrow but put the 9.2 into vertical mode again.

Pick of the bunch today was Hitradio Ohr from Offenberg on 103.7 with full scrolling RDS: http://youtu.be/Vfy54-Er1ug

Good DX!

John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx

Receiver:
Elad FDM-S2

Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is 3 metres asl.
Triax FM3, one metre above the ground as a phasing antenna.
Fringe Electronics 20dB & Labgear 30dB band 2 pre-amps.
HS Publications Antenna Phaser.

Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console & RDS Spy via VAC.

Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.