G1VVP - Skegness DX
DXing on England's East Coast
Saturday, 28 February 2026
My Current DX Location
My home is in Skegness, but I met my lady friend, Alison, in 2019. I had no idea she had a farm WITH LAND SUITABLE FOR ANTENNAS! (Ahem!) I have to admit that I became rather excited when I realised that she had five acres. She used to have 24 acres but sold most of that to a neighbouring farmer. (Damn!) Five acres sounds like a lot, but the downside was that her farmhouse was positioned on the wrong side of the fields. This resulted in any coax length needing to be as long as 300 meteres! Also, the arrangement of the fields did not quite allow for a full sized beverage unless it pointed north-west, where I could stretch out 200m - resonant at almost the top of medium wave. Other directions were shorter, down to South America little more than 110m.
The farm is located in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, not far from the village of Sutton St. James. It's quite isolated and only has one neighbouring farmouse, which generates noise a lot of the time, so I have to locate my flag antenna at the opposite end to the offending farmhouse.
From the moment I met Alison, I knew that the farm was going to be sold at some point 'soon'. Last year, this became a reality, but there was a delay. At the moment, the plan is to get the farm ready for sale this coming summer, but I am wondering if this will happen as her life is so hectic. I was extremely pleased when Alison told me that she was hoping to retain half of the acreage so I could continue my hobby. Some minor legalities were involved in this process but planning permission was granted at the end of last year so this can now happen. Another downside is that there won't be an electricity supply so I will have to invest in a couple of leisure batteries. One on the go while the other is charging. An NUC computer will also be needed as these are not so heavy on battery usage.
The town of Long Sutton is often brought into the conversation and friends often asked where this fits in. Long Sutton is the home of Alison's ageing parents, where we spend a good deal of time caring for them. I have an FM DX setup here, although I do spend a lot of time at home in Skegness where I also have an FM DX setup.
There is a Kiwi receiver at the farm, known as the Fenland Kiwi. This shares the flag antenna with my Perseus receiver. The Fenland Kiwi has been provided by the Medium Wave Circle and is accessible only by its members.
The Aziloop and "Should I get one?"
Anyway, I have been thinking about getting an Aziloop - and I expect I might well do, but it won't be prioritised over other up and coming expenses, so next year looks like a possibility.
What advantages could there be? The electronic rotation would be incredibly useful. But since I don't have an internet connection there, apart from the Kiwi connection which is not actually mine, I wouldn't be able to control the direction, and its many other features, over the internet, but I presume it is possible to pre-programme things like direction changes.
What about gain and directivity? Would there be significant improvements over my large (5.5m tall x 20m long) flag? Not necessarily, but there would be some advantages. The Aziloop fine tunes everything very nicely, but it would need minor adaptation, i.e. appropriate ground planes, to help it perform better at the bottom of the medium wave band. Even then, it would need to be flipped from K9AY mode to mag-loop mode below about 700 kHz., at which point it would become a loop! :(
After a lot of discussion on the Medium wave Circle's Facebook page, plus private emails between radio friends, I get the firm message that the gain from the Aziloop is not as high as a beverage (understandable) but even when compared to a large flag or K9AY and large DKaz. This may not be an issue of course. A few very contended users rate their Aziloops very highly and all seem to state that it's the best little antenna they have had. I understand that you can construct them with larger dimensions but I don't know the acceptable parameteres, so please don't quote me on this. I am still learning.
There is no doubt at all that this antenna is a performer, especially above 2 MHz. Some say that the high price is justified and actually quite reasonable. It's creator, Dave Evans, certainly knows his onions and has gone to considerable lengths to make this work. Short of actually trying one, I would like to think that I will be the proud owner of one in another year or so, but I won't be prioritising the purchase as I have other financial priorities in the next year or two. I am poor! Being self-employed in the industry I choose to work has good and bad times. It's seasonal, plus I have just been hit with a four figure sum for a replacement clutch for my car.
My large flag is more than adequate for my needs at the moment. Providing I maintain it well and give it the TLC it deserves, I cannot see a huge amount of difference between this and the Aziloop. The remotely controlled directivity of the Aziloop is the real selling point for me, so I think it would be incredibly useful to own one.
Any improvements to antennas of this size and performance will almost certainly be negligible, so I don't think I am missing out on DX by not having one.
So this is my current thinking on the matter. It's a luxury which would be very useful, but not absolutely essential. Will I buy one? I'd like to but not just yet. When you look at the different antennas we use for medium wave DX, you learn fairly quickly that there is not one 'all-singing, all-dancing' antenna. They all have their pros and cons. The general consensus is that the beverage wins out over all those antennas mentioned above. After that, I think the rest are on a par. No doubt some will agree and some will disagree. Comments welcome below.
Saturday, 17 January 2026
Monday, 8 November 2021
I don't have the time to update this blog anymore.
This blog was initially created to keep a record of my DX loggings, having lost so many over the years due to hard drive failures (and not making enough backups). My latest DX loggings can be found via the FM List and AM List websites. I have done a better job of keeping my all-time logs up-to-date on my website here: http://www.g1vvp.co.uk/index.php but even these are slightly out of date.
I still have last summer's sporadic E files to check through, all 375 of them! When will I get time to go through those? Good question. Er ... probably not before the next sporadic E season, by which time ...
Work and other things in life have taken precedence. Ah! I've got my priorities right at last. ;O)
January 2026 Update: Lately, I have been running a Youtube channel where I upload some of my latest DX catches. You can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/@SkegnessDX/videos
Tuesday, 26 January 2021
Post Moderation Issues - Posts disappearing after approval
I have just discovered that there are some 34 posts awaiting moderation. Most are spam, asking if I want to find out the meaning of my name!! No - I already know, thank you! John = Son of God (I'm not the Messiah) Faulkner = a trainer of falcons ;O) But the few which were from genuine DX enthusiasts whom I know were approved and then promptly disappeared. So I can only apologise for not being able to answer your questions. I remembered one of the questions about using a circle instead of a square on an FM loop antenna but I can't help with a useful answer.
I am finding very little time to add to this blog. I have several articles half written too. One day I may be able to find the time to catch up.
Good DX all!
Thursday, 6 August 2020
Sardinia Scatter in Suffolk?
Thursday, 18 June 2020
Holbeach Log: 2020-06-18 (Es: ROU UKR MDA)
Bandery, 1 (IF) 1021 ????MUM_ 1760km
104.0 1000 MDA Radio PMR/Radio 1, Tiraspol (P-TS) Thank you PFM for IDing this and matching
to podcast. 2193km **
107.2 1003 ROU Radio Impact FM, Câmpulung Moldovenesc/Rarau (SV) E20B ImpactFm
????2_FM 1890km **
105.7 1004 UKR Russkoye radio - Ukraina, Uzhhorod/vul. Gagarina, 42/1 (ZK) OM
vocal ID 1616km **
107.2 1004 UKR UR 1 Persha Prog., Kholmtsi/MPP Versiya plyus (ZK) FFFF Scrolling PS
including UZ, GO and MH 1625km
94.3 1040 ROU Radio Guerrilla, Iasi / Copou (IS) 1248 GUERILLA 2037km **
Sporadic E:
** Personal first
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
Tuesday, 16 June 2020
Holbeach Log: 2020-06-16 (Es: C Europe, Balkans)
107.0 0540 SVK Rádio Vlna, Dobšiná/Suchý vrch (KE) 5218 1481km **
107.2 0541 UKR UR 1 Persha Prog., Kholmtsi/MPP Versiya plyus (ZK) FFFF *UR-1* 107.2 MHZ
UZGOROD 1625km **
104.8 0542 ROU Radio Europa FM, Negresti-Oas (SM) Vocal ID 1729km **
107.2 0544 CZE CRo Plus, Olomouc/Pohorany-Jedová hora (OL) 2424 1241km **
105.9 0545 CZE Radio Cas, Frenštát pod Radhoštem/Velký Javorník (MO) 2996 1299km **
107.1 0545 CZE Rádio Blaník, Vsetín/Rokytnice-Pod Becevnou (CRa) (ZL) 2B3C 1297km **
107.3 0545 SVK Rádio Anténa Rock, Poprad/Zámcisko (PO) 5345 ANT.??CK 1463km **
107.5 0545 SVK Rádio Expres, Cadca/Jurošovský vrch (ZA) 521D 1342km **
103.3 0546 SVK Rádio Best FM, Spišská Nová Ves/Teplicka (KE) 5355 BEST_F?? 1487km **
103.7 0546 CZE Radio Haná SkyRock, Zábreh/Jestrebí-stožár u ZD (OL) 24B3 SKYROCK_ 1198km **
103.9 0546 CZE Hitrádio Orion, Valašské Mezirící/Radhošt (MO) 299F 1304km **
104.8 0546 SVK Rádio Vlna, Poprad/Hranovnica (PO) 5218 __VLNA__ 1464km **
105.6 0546 CZE Rádio Z, Olomouc/Pohorany-Jedová hora (OL) 210E 1241km **
102.8 0547 HNG Retro Rádió, Fehérgyarmat/Penyige (SSB) B208 1665km **
102.9 0547 SVK Rádio Lumen, Vocal ID. Banská Bystrica/Panský Diel or Štrbské pleso/
Hotel Panoráma **
103.8 0547 SVK SRo 1 Rádio Slovensko, Ružomberok/Úložisko (ZA) 5201 _S??_1__ 1405km **
102.8 0548 CZE Rádio Blaník, Nový Jicín/ul. Gregorova 1759/38 (MO) 2B3C 1285km **
103.0 0548 UKR UR 2 Radio Promin', Kholmtsi/MPP Versiya plyus (ZK) Jingle ID 0002 1625km **
107.7 0548 CZE Country Radio, Nový Jicín/ul. Jeremenkova - silo (MO) 2337 1285km **
104.1 0550 UKR Radio NV, Kholmtsi/MPP Versiya plyus (ZK) Many thanks to Bigic fro help with
this one. Bad hum with audio. 1625km **
107.3 0550 CZE Radio Beat, Plzen/Bory - Heyrovského 480/31 (PL) 2431 __BEAT__ 980km **
105.2 0551 POL Radio Alex, Zakopane/G. Kasprowy Wierch (MP) 30D5 1432km **
102.4 0552 CZE CRo Pardubice, Svitavy/Kamenná Horka - Palicka (PA) 280C R-PCE___ 1185km **
105.1 0552 CZE Radio Haná, Moravská Trebová/Krížový vrch - vodárna (PA) 2B16 1191km **
105.7 0553 CZE Signál Radio, Mladá Boleslav/Chloumek - vrch Knežský (ST) 2311 1049km **
106.6 0553 CZE Fajn Radio, Kutná Hora/Chvaletice-elektrárna CEZ (ST) 2335 1099km **
103.1 0554 CZE Radio Cas, Mohelnice/Horní Krcmy-Na Hranickách (OL) 2996 1207km **
106.3 0554 CZE Rádio Z, Ostrava/ul. Vítkovická 3083/1 - CSAD (MO) 210E 1293km **
105.1 0556 UKR Radio Slatina, Rakhiv/ZFKRRT, gora Terentyn (ZK) Vocal ID 1766km **
106.4 0556 ROU City Rádió, Satu Mare / str. Horea (bloc rotund) (SM) E106 CITY_FM_ 1695km **
107.5 0556 CZE Radio Haná SkyRock, Valašské Mezirící/Štepánov (vodárna) (ZL) 24B3 1291km **
103.4 0557 CZE Rádio Blaník, Hradec Králové/Roudnicka (O2) (KR) 283C 1117km **
104.7 0557 CZE Fajn Radio, Vsetín/Škývarka (ZL) 2B35 ????JN?? 1299km **
106.2 0557 CZE Country Radio, Mladá Boleslav/Kosmonosy (ST) 2337 1046km **
107.9 0557 CZE Radio Beat, Svitavy/Opatov (VDF) (PA) As 107.6 and with vocal ID 1177km **
103.3 0558 CZE Radio Haná, Šumperk/ul. Dolnostudénská 2950/5 (OL) Vocal ID 1202km **
105.2 0558 SVK Rádio Expres, Považská Bystrica/Hôrka (TN) Adverts, as 106.2 1336km **
106.1 0558 CZE Kiss, Olomouc/ul. Jeremenkova 1211/40B (Reg.centrum) (OL) 23A0 1238km **
107.6 0558 CZE Radio Beat, Šumperk/Kolšov - vrch Markovice (OL) 2431 __BEAT__ 1202km **
107.7 0558 UKR Hit FM - Ukraina, Vinohradiv/pl. Myru, 4 (ZK) Possible Hit jingle and Hit
Number 1 vocal. Telephone number 67-009-4-964 confirmed by PFM-Skywaves.
Thank you PFM and David B for your help 1687km **
102.3 0600 CZE Radio Impuls, Zlín/Tlustá hora (ZL) Vocal ID 1281km **
106.3 0600 SVK Rádio Lumen, Rožnava/ul. Šafárikova 116 (silo) (KE) Vocal ID 1498km **
107.1 0600 ROU Radio Europa FM, Varatec (MM) Jingle ID 1778km **
104.7 0603 CZE CRo Pardubice, Pardubice/Krásné (PA) 280C R-PCE___ 1127km **
104.9 0604 CZE Radio Haná SkyRock, Boskovice/Habrí (JM) 24B3 1201km **
105.9 0614 SVK Rádio Plus, Nitra/ul. B.Slancíkovej 1 (UKF) (NR) 508E ??-??S_ 1357km **
103.2 0617 CZE CRo Dvojka, Votice/Mezivrata (ST) 232E 1069km **
106.2 0617 ROU Radio Europa FM, Sibiu/Paltinis (SB) E299 1890km **
106.2 0617 CZE Frekvence 1, Benešov/Mariánovice (ST) 2205 RADIO_F1 1061km **
106.7 0623 CZE Evropa 2, Trebíc/U Kostelícka (CRa) (VY) 2204 1166km **
106.9 0623 CZE CRo Dvojka, Jicín/Tábor (KR) 232E R-DVOJKA 1072km **
107.7 0623 CZE Kiss, Jihlava/Holý vrch (Kohlhübel) O2 (VY) 23A0 1142km **
102.3 0624 CZE CRo Dvojka, Trebíc/komín teplárny Horky (VY) As 107.1 1168km **
102.3 0624 CZE Radio Krokodýl, Jihlava/vodárna Hosov (VY) 23A2 1135km **
105.6 0624 CZE Radio Beat, Hodonín/ul. Koupelní 3759/2 (JM) 2431 1266km **
107.1 0624 CZE Kiss, Breclav/ul. Jana Palacha 34 (JM) Suspect this over Náchod as no other
Náchod frequencies available. 23A0 ??????S_ 1255km **
103.7 0625 CZE Rock Radio, Trebíc/U Kostelícka (vodojem) (VY) 2353 RO????._ 1166km **
104.8 0625 CZE Rádio Blaník, Trebíc/ul. Koželužská - komín BOPO (VY) 233C 1165km **
105.5 0625 CZE Evropa 2, Votice/Mezivrata (ST) 2204 1069km **
104.2 0626 SVK Rádio Jemné, Levice/ul. B. S.-Timravy – stožiar (NR) 5354 _Jemne__ 1395km **
102.8 0628 SVK SRo 4 Rádio_FM, Borský Mikuláš/Mária Magdaléna (TT) 5202 1286km **
103.3 0646 HNG Retro Rádió, Budapest/Széchenyi-hegy (Bud) B208 1460km **
103.9 0646 SVK Trnavské Rádio, Trnava/Coburgova 84 (komín TAZ) (TT) 5085 1320km **
104.0 0646 HNG Rádió 1, Békéscsaba / Telekom tower, Posta köz (Bek) B317 RA?????? 1644km **
** Personal first
Unidentified/Unlisted:
105.0 0557 CZE ??, ? Relay of Radio Rubi // 104.5
This was my personal best opening I have known to CZE and SVK. It was purely accidental too as I was only recording the top of the band for meteor scatter, not expecting any Es. My antenna was vertical; and pointing north-east too.
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
Monday, 15 June 2020
Holbeach Log: 2020-06-15 (Es: GRC)
occurred to FFFF. Thank you Panos and Bigic for the clarification. 2336km
** Personal first
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)
Sunday, 14 June 2020
Holbeach Log: 2020-06-14 (Es: DNK S)
88.6 1126 S RIX FM, Ånge (vn) Jingle ID 1381km **
101.2 1155 S Megapol, Unlisted site E243 MEGAPOL_ **
97.2 1224 DNK DR P3, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk) More likely to be Es due to signal
strength 9203 617km **
91.8 1231 S SR P1, Arjeplog/Galtispuoda TM (no) 300 watts. As 88.3 1736km
** Personal first
I am quite sure that my reception of Rangstrup on 97.2 was sporadic E. Although I can receive the Rangstrup transmitter on aircraft/troposcatter, this transmitter never reaches anything close to RDS levels in these modes and is only ever down in the noise. It's rare too and and requires good scatter conditions. I would find it hard to believe that it came up to RDS levels by chance at this time, so I am logging this a 100% sporadic E. I even went as far as monitoring 97.2 for four hours after the Es event and Rangstrup did not surface once. This beats my shortest sporadic E distance record by 23 km. Rangstrup is 617 km. This overtakes my previous record of 640 km from 98.7 NDR Kultur from Hannover Hemmingen (nds) on June 21st 2015.
Due to time constraints I am only logging personal firsts and other stations of interest, so my loggings do not reflect the conditions for the day.
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 3m ASL.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire (JO02ar) 3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Antenna:
Skegness, Lincolnshire:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Holbeach, Lincolnshire:
2 x Triax FM5, H & V (Crossed, on the same boom) 5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation (Skegness)
Yaesu G-250 Rotator (Holbeach)

