Tree Trimming, so I can lower the FM antenna mast

Time for a spot of antenna maintenance, but that tree has grown so much in the last year that I cannot lower the mast. See how wonky it has become?

You wouldn't believe the amount of tree trimming and felling I have done in the last few years. You cut the things down and they bloody grow back up again! Whaaaat?

Oh, yes. Never have your dogs in the garden when doing this. I put them in back in the house several times, asking Alison NOT to let them out while heavy branches were falling. Then she does. Phew! That was close.

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for SkegnessDX Blog https://skegnessdx.blogspot.com/

Effective Date: June 6 2026

1. Introduction SkegnessDX respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard the personal information of visitors when accessing our Blogger website https://skegnessdx.blogspot.com/. By using our blog, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

2. Information We Collect We may collect the following types of information from visitors:

Personal Information: Information you voluntarily provide, such as your name and email address when subscribing to our newsletter or leaving comments. Non-Personal Information: Automatically collected data, such as your IP address, browser type, device information, operating system, and pages visited on our blog. Cookies and Tracking Technologies: We may use cookies to enhance user experience, analyze trends, and gather demographic information. You can disable cookies through your browser settings, but some features may not function properly.

3. How We Use Your Information We may use your information for purposes including, but not limited to:

Sending newsletters or updates if you’ve subscribed. Responding to comments, questions, or inquiries. Analyzing traffic and improving the content and performance of our blog. Complying with legal obligations.

4. Sharing Your Information We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. However, we may share non-personal information with third-party service providers for analytics, advertising, and website management purposes.

5. Third-Party Services Our blog may use third-party services (such as Google Analytics, AdSense, or social media platforms) that may collect information automatically. These services have their own privacy policies, and we encourage you to review them.

6. Data Security We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information. However, no method of transmission or storage over the internet is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Children’s Privacy Our blog is not intended for children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have collected such information, we will take steps to delete it.

8. Your Rights You have the right to:

Access, update, or delete your personal information. Unsubscribe from newsletters or marketing communications. Opt out of cookies where applicable.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [Insert Contact Email].

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date.

10. Contact Us If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

Email: blog@g1vvp.co.uk Blog: https://skegnessdx.blogspot.com/


Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.


Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

Email: blog@g1vvp.co.uk

Mile-a-Minute Vines Vs my Triax FM5s. The Vines Win!

It's about a year since I straightened and re-erected my Triax FM5 antennas here in Long Sutton. "Mile-a-minute vine" had taken over one of the guy ropes and had literally pulled down the antenna mast, bending it in half, along with several of the antenna elements, with it ultimately landing along the hedge row which seperates this property from the park. It laid there for a good few months before I managed to get around to fixing it, with some of it protruding into the park itself!

FM DX was at the bottom of my list of priorities then, but I had been intending to get back into the hobby. I managed to retrieve the antenna out of the hedge with some difficulty, That 'mile-a-minute vine' had successfully wrapped itself around everything and it was a lengthy process trying to free it all, making sure I did not cause further damage, cutting through the coax and rotator cable. Ooops! I did. Finally, it was a simple case of straightening the elements, giving the antenna connections a quick service, and then re-erection could take place on a new 25 foot mast, but not before I bent a few of the elements once again when the antennas went back up! These got caught on a nearby tree, but to hell with that as I just wanted to get the antenna back up quickly now, so this has been the state of the antenna for the last year. See photos below.

That nearby tree has shot up in no uncertain terms over the last year and is currently only a couple of feet away from the antennas, but then, so is another tree on the park, which is 'protected' and therefore I am not able to cut off a branch or two, though I am tempted. The antenna mast will have to be moved before too long, but I will keep it where it is for another year, further growth permitting.

In the meantime, enjoy a few photos of yet another antenna disaster!

What Happened To My K9AYs?

The simple answer is that I reinstated the flag after less than satisfactory results with a couple of K9AYs.

I was warned! Some DXers had told me that the K9AY would not outperform a flag. Quite encouraging if you're already a flag owner. But there's plenty of evidence to show that the K9AY is also a great performer. I have always been aware of the unavoidable fact that some people get on really well with certain antennas while others don't. It can depend on location, among many other things, so there are people who have had the opposite experience. To begin with, I had been reading about the superior performance of the K9AY and how directional it was when two were constructed and phased against each other. I had to try it. Having to move my flag several times each year to chase different 'propagational seasons' was a pain. If I could construct one antenna and have it electrically rotatable, it would solve that problem.

"The Full Gary" was needed. This is the required size for a K9AY which is best resonant on the medium wave band. This is 7.5m in height with a suspended base of 9m and longer radials just below. But even with this size, I wasn't initially aware that a K9AY would perform as if it was a loop antenna at the bottom of the band. Hmm. That's not what I wanted to hear. Regardless, I continued with the construction.

As always, these things take a long time for me and it took several days to construct the central support, connect the wires and guy ropes such that I could throw it up in the air one day while disconnecting the flag and laying that down out of the way. I was hoping to have both antennas in the air for instant comparison, but this turned out to be impractical due to necessary field usage, so I took plenty of notes beforehand. I knew how the band 'felt' anyway.

The K9AY was erected without issue and hooked up, working straight away. There was some noise and signals were considerably down on to those of the flag, but I hadn't connected the base radials as I ran out of time and so had to finish those the following day.

Base radials in place ... Antenna hooked up ... Receiver on ... and ... Ugh! 30dB of noise across the band! Whaaaat? Where did this come from? I arranged a telephone call with a friend who has considerable knowledge in this field and he went through everything with me: Connections, physical dimensions, antenna location, coax, receiver, shack, etc. We checked it all. The conclusion was clear, that the noise was coming in through the antenna. But where was the noise coming from? Surely it couldn't be new noise which coincidentally fired up at on the same day I constructed my new antenna? Maybe it had been there all along but the flag was less susceptible to it. That would be more logical. Or would it? Signals were also down by a good 10dB or so compared to those of the flag.

After a few days of checking things through, I was painfully aware that I was missing DX and that I should probably get the flag up again. After all, I had tried everything.

So it was back to the flag. Was there new noise? It seems there was. What were the chances? But the noise was considerably less severe on the flag and, after a few days, most of it had disappeared. Phew!

My Current DX Location

I am regularly asked where my DX setup is located and why it's no longer at home. This is the situation, as of February 2026.

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 of the field 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, it was decided to put the farm up for sale this summer, but there are likely to be delays. Her life is so hectic, she has little time to set the process rolling. I was extremely pleased when Alison told me that she was hoping to retain half of the acreage so I could continue my hobby, giving me enough space for a large flag antenna. Some minor legal obligations had to be followed but planning permission was granted at the end of last year so the retention of part of the land will go ahead. One 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 radio friends often ask 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 so I can continue that side of my hobby. The medium wave aspect takes care of itself, with laptops and external hard drives recording the band for me. It's not live DXing, which I know some frown upon, but it's the only way I can do this.

There is now a Kiwi receiver at the farm too, known as the Fenland Kiwi. This shares my flag antenna with my Perseus receiver. The Fenland Kiwi has been provided by the Medium Wave Circle and is accessible only by its members. If you wish to access this, or to join the Medium Wave Circle, which I would strongly recommend as it's a dedicated medium wave DX club with many benefits, so check them out here: https://mwcircle.org/

The Aziloop and "Should I get one?"

Simple answer: Yes .... er, and no. (Maybe). Firstly, I don't really use this blog anymore, but I realsie its use when it comes to posting information where I can make one posting, as opposed to multiple, individual postings when I need to explain something to the masses.

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. I would like to try the K9AY antenna first as the Aziloop is based in this design.

What advantages could there be to having an Aziloop? 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.

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 antenna a serious performer on medium wave. 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 not well-off. Being self-employed has its good and bad times. My work can be quite seasonal too and I have to consider winding things down now as my age is starting to work against me in more ways than one, 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, apart from having the programmable and switchable directivity.

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.

A photo of the current Flag Antenna

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

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!

Sardinia Scatter in Suffolk?

I was nattering away with Tim Bucknall in the chat room the other day. We were reminiscing about old times and all those wonderful DX trips we had, visiting places like North Wales, Cornwall, the Derbyshire Peak District and the Staffordhire Moorlands, always in search of something different in the way of DX. Happy memories! Then we spoke about Suffolk. In particular, we were wondering if it would be possible to receive Corsica there. Then I remembered that we had already had! We had almost forgotten.

I thought that this was already documented in SkywavesDX, but on checking, I see that it isn't, unless I haven't searched correctly. So I thought it would be an opportune moment to document it here. I'll also add it it to my blog in due course.

The best thing about this mystery reception at Suffolk, Aldeburgh and Sizewell Cliffs, to be precise, was that it didn't seem to tie in with any tropo and was always received around the middle of the day or early afternoon and with fluttery scatter-like signals. This didn't sound like tropo at all.

Reception was understandably very weak and signals came up out of the noise only occasionally and not even every day we were at the coast. They would be quite clear for about 30 seconds, then disappear back into the noise. They were never completely noise free.

It was always the same three frequencies too. 88.8, 95.3 and 96.5. It's such a long time ago now that I forget the exact programme content, but we always heard Italian voices. We often spoke about these mystery stations and never knew where the Italian signals could be coming from, never really daring to speculate that they could be from Sardinia. They were probably logged tentatively somewhere and may be documented on the SkywavesDX Yahoo group. Again, my own searching has revealed nothing. Maybe nothing was logged, not even tentatively as I wouldn't have had any idea who I was receiving. (Update: After checking through his own notes, Tim found 13/07/2002 to be one of those dates.) So why the uncertainty? These were pre-FM List days and reliable frequency/transmitter information was often difficult to come by. This reception took place across the late 90s and early 00s. We didn't make detailed loggings of these as we probably assumed they must be something rather more mundane than Sardinia. It wasn't until I took a holiday to Palafrugell in Catalunya in 2005 that I had an inkling of what we may have, and dare I say 'probably' received.

It was a family holiday and I managed to escape for a couple of hours late one evening to do some DXing in the hills. I found a local high spot called Mont Ras, just outside the town. It was a small hill, rather than a mountain, but it provided good reception of all the local stations from in and around the area. I managed to find this bandscan on the Skywaves Yahoo Group archive, posted on 06/06/2005. This is a copy of that report.

Palafrugell (CAT) Bandscan July 30th & 31st, 2005.

 87.6   Catalunya Cultura, Comprodon   CCULTURA

 87.8   Catalunya Musica, Calonge-Castell d'Aro   CATMUSIC

 87.8   Xtra FM, Sant Feliu De Guixols   _XTRAFM_

 88.1   Cadena 40, Rocacorba   40P_____

 88.4   R RM, UNID site   RADIORM_

 88.6   UNID, semi-local station with no RDS.  All talk

 88.6   IB3 R, Monte Toro-Alaior, Balearic Islands   IB3RADIO

 88.7   R RM, Collserola.  Tropo?   RADIORM_

 88.9   Catalunya Cultura, Rocacorba   CCULTURA

 89.1   R Marca Barcelona, Collserola   _MARCA__

 89.2   RFM Provence, Marseille / Grande Etiole (13)   __RFM___

 89.4   Cadena COPE Girona, Rocacorba   __COPE__  _GIRONA_

 89.6   R Dialogue, Marseille (13)   DIALOGUE

 89.9   Onda Rambla Girona, Girona   __ONDA__  _RAMBLA_  _RADIO__  _PUNTO__ A_GIRONA  _89.9_FM

 90.1   Onda Rambla Girona, UNID site   __ONDA__  _RAMBLA_  _RADIO__ _PUNTO__  A_GIRONA  _89.9_FM

 90.4   Onda Cero R, UNID site   ONDACERO

 90.8   UNID.  R Vila? 50 watts from Viladecaballs near Terrassa

 91.1   RNE Clasica, Rocacorba   RNE-CLAS

 91.4   RAC 105 FM, Castell d'Aro   RAC105__

 91.6   RTV Activitat, Santa Coloma De Farnes

 91.9   RAC 105, Banyoles   RAC105__

 92.1   France Inter, UNID site   __INTER_

 92.2   France Musiques, Nice / Mont Chauve (06)   MUSIQUES

 92.3   R Star, Marseille / Petit Sanguin (13) 4kW

 92.5   Catalunya R, Calonge-Castell d'Aro   CATRADIO

 92.7   Frequence Girona, Girona    COMRADIO

 92.9   Catalunya R, Palafrugell   CATRADIO

 93.3   RNE-1 Catalunya, Rocacorba   RNE_1___

 93.6   R Capital, UNID site.  Thought this was Spanish but unsure   CAPITAL_

 93.8   France Culture?  Nothing listed

 94.0   RNE R Cinco, UNID site   RNE_5___

 94.1   Catalunya Informacio, Calonge-Castell d'Aro   CATINFO_

 94.4   SER Girona FM, Girona   __SER___

 94.7   Catalunya R, UNID site

 94.7   Alcudia R, Son Sant Marti, Balearic Islands

 94.8   UNID French classical station, not France Musique

 94.9   France Musique, Toulon / Cap Sicie (83)

 95.1   Ona R Girona, Rocacorba   __ONA___  CATALANA  _GIRONA_  _95.1_FM

 95.3   RAI-2, Monte Limbara, Sardinia!   RADIO2__

 95.4   R Maria, UNID site   R.MARIA_

 95.6   R Club 25 FM, Barcelona   CLUB25FM

 95.9   RNE-3, Rocacorba   RNE_3___

 96.3   R Costa Brava, Palamos   RCBRAVA_  _96.3_FM  __ONA___  _MUSICA_

 96.5`  France Culture, Carcasonne / Pic De Nore (11) `

 96.5   UNID Italian station playing club music 00:15 GMT  31/05

 96.7   Catalunya Musica, Rocacorba   CATMUSIC_

 97.0   Catalunya Cultura, Palafrugell   CCULTURA

 97.2   UNID classical, think France Musique, Perpignan / Pic De Neoulous (66)

 97.4   UNID local station, no RDS.  R Sant Gregori?

 97.7   R Begur La Sintonia, Begur   R,BEGUR_  ___LA___  SINTONIA  DEL_MAR_

 97.9   Catalunya Informacio, UNID site

 98.1   Ona Catalana R Olot, Olot   RADIOLOT  __ONA___  CATALANA

 98.2   RNE-4, UNID site   RADIO_4_

 98.5   Ona Musica Girona, Rocacorba   __ONA___  _MUSICA_  _GIRONA_  _98.5_FM

 98.9   Cadena Dial, UNID site   --DIAL-- 

 99.2   Catalunya Cultura, Calonge-Castell d'Aro   CCULTURA

 99.4   Catalunya Informacio, Macanet De Cabrenys   CATINFO_

 99.6   Flaix FM Girona, Girona   FLAIX_FM

 99.8   France Musiques, Ile d'Elbe / Monte Capanne (20)

 99.9   RAC-1, UNID site   RAC_1___

100.1   RAC-1, Girona   RAC_1___

100.2   "???? FM" ID  Spanish tropo, fading

100.4   Catalunya Musica, Palafrugell   CATMUSIC

100.7   Flaixbac FM, Rocacorba   FLAIXBAC

101.0   R Clasica, UNID site   RNE-CLAS

101.3   R RM, Macanet De Cabrenys

101.6   France Bleu Roussillon, Pepignan / Pic De Neoulous (66)

101.7   Catalunya Informacio, Rocacorba   CATINFO_

101.9   Ona Girona, Girona   _GIRONA_  CATALANA  101,9_FM

102.2   Catalunya R, Rocacorba   CATRADIO

102.5   RNE-1, UNID site

102.7   R Platja d'Aro, Mas Nou   RPA102.7

102.8   Caytalunya Cultura, Macanet De Cabrenys

103.0   RNE-1, UNID site   RNE_1___

103.2   Sud R, Sorede / Pic De Neulos (66)   SUDRADIO

103.3   UNID

103.4   R Estel, Girona   R-ESTEL_

103.5   RNE-1, UNID site

103.6   UNID

103.7   R Santa Cristina, Santa Cristina d'Aro   RADIO___  SANTA___ CRISTINA  100X100_  _MUSICA_

103.9   UNID French

104.0   Ona Emporda, Macanet De Cabrenys

104.2   Maxima FM, Barcelona   MAXIMAFM

104.3   RMC Info, Several sites possible   RMC_INFO

104.4   Ona Emporda, Figueres   __ONA___  CATALANA  EMPORDA_  104.4_FM

104.5   R Cinco, Alfabia perhaps in Balearic Islands

104.8   Catalunya Informacio, Palafrugell   CATINFO_

105.1   R Teletaxi, UNID site   TELETAXI  FM_Y_OLE  ALEGRIA_  24_HORES

105.3   France Info, many sites, perhaps Marseille / Grande Etoile (13) __INFO__

105.5   Catalunya R, Macanet De Cabrenys   CATRADIO

105.7   Flaix FM, Terrassa

105.7   France Info, Nice / Mont Cauve (06) perhaps or Montauban (82) ? __INFO__

105.8   R Dimensione Suono, Cagliari?   *_RDS_*_

105.8   RNE-3, Monte Torro-Alaior, Balearic Islands   RNE_3___

105.9   NRJ Perpignan, Perpignan (66)   __NRJ___

106.1   Flaixbac FM Barcelona, Sant Feliu De Barcelona

106.2   RNE-4, Rocacorba   RNE_4___

106.4   Gum FM, Lloret De Mar   _GUM_FM_

106.5   Riviera R, Menton / Cap Martin (06)   _RADIO__  HOT_HITS  NEWS+FUN ___IN___  ENGLISH_  RIVIERA_

106.6   R Estel, Barcelona

106.8   Europa FM, Girona   EUROPAFM

107.0   R Sant Feliu, Sant Feliu De`Guixols (surely more than 10 Watts?) RSF107.0

107.1   R Montgri, Torroella De Montgri

107.3   Catalunya Cultura, UNID site

107.5   R Palamos, Palamos   _RADIO__  PALAMOS_  A_C_A_R_  107,5_FM LA_RADIO  AL_PUNT_

107.8   R Palafrugell, Palafrugell   RADIO___  PALAFRU-  GELL-24H  107.8_FM

SUMMARY: The holiday was at Palafrugell, near Girona, midway down the Costa Brava coast between Portbou and Barcelona. The lie of the land was hilly but not exceptionally so. The local high spot was the Far Sant Sebastia - a lighthouse which was about a couple of miles away but parking anywhere near it resulted in severe overload due, I suspect, to the local Palafrugell transmitters being up there, so 90% of the above log was made at the village of Mont Ras near the botanical gardens on the opposite side of the Calella de Palafrugell bay or further down the bay. The elevation was minimal but I was hoping other nearby hills slightly further inland would block out the locals.

The 30th and 31st were the only two days I heard DX throughout my two week stay. This was a family holiday so DX was not a priority - in fact I didn't expect to do any at all. Where possible I had a quick scan across FM in the early mornings and at the end of the evenings but nothing other than local Catalunya stations seemed to be audible, despite forecasts of good tropo for most of the period.

During the late evening on the 30th Linda, my wife, said she wouldn't mind if I drove up the local hills and did an hour or two of DXing, so off I

went, leaving at 20:30 GMT with nothing of any note audible on FM.

The next two hours saw a bandscan of local stations. It wasn't until about 00:00 GMT on the 31st that I spotted the first Italian signal on 105.8.

Then things lifted up pretty quickly for an hour but conditions were soon gone again after this.

The following evening saw some different stations coming in during a brief bandscan around 20:00, this time from our location near Palafrugell town.

Stations marked with "UNID sites" are either unlisted or possibly more distant sites being received via tropo.

I would appreciate any thoughts on the UNID Italian station on 96.5. I am wondering if this and RAI-2 were the two stations received in Suffolk in

2002 via tropo? This would appear to make some sense. Hmm, I feel a Suffolk DXpedition coming on. :o)

Good DX!

John

Following my post to Skywaves, Ruud Brand responded with the following:

"Hi John,

All the French stations except Perpignan was tropo (note that 92.1 Inter and 97.2 Musiques are from Perpignan Pic de Neoulous).

The 94.8 unid F with classical music could have been Bleu Azur from Menton.

Which RX and type of aerial did you use?

Ruud (who will stay some km's to the north coming summer holiday)"

Pedro Moñino also responded:

Some help. Most of the UNID sites must be spurious signals, I think

Pedro

... Which may well be right, given the overload I had at the Far Sant Sebastia at the opposite end of town. It was probably less than 5km away.

Finally, Fabrizio Carnevalini commented:

> 96.5 UNID Italian station playing club music 00:15 GMT 31/05. I think is RIN - Radio Italia Network, Sennori - Su Lotto (Sassari, Sardinia)

> 105.8 R Dimensione Suono, Cagliari? *_RDS_*_ is from Monte Limbara, Sardinia

I remember some further correspondence about the unidentified Italian stations we regularly received on Suffolk DX trips. These too concluded that these sites in north-east Sardinia got out very well and that these were very likely to have been what we received. It all bodes very well for this reception being from Sardinia. If so, the distance would be in excess of 1300 km - not impossible for tropo, but quite exceptional for any kind of scatter.