Band 2 Meteor Scatter
87.6 0245 S SR P1, Visby, Hudiksvall or Storumen E201
87.6 0326 NOR NRK P1, Nordhue (he) F201 _NR_____. AFs: 87.6 88.9 1094km
OIRT Sporadic E:
71.54 1625 BLR BR Radio Hrodna, Geranyony/RTPS (HR) ID and pops 1659km **
71.33 1626 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Minsk/RTPS Kalodziscy (MI) Pops, as web 1806km **
71.45 1626 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Babrujsk/RTPS Yasny Les (MA) Pops, as web 1922km **
71.18 1627 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Mahilyow/RTPS Polykovici (MA) ID between pops 1969km **
70.91 1628 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Brest/Rakitnica (BR) Pops, as web 1593km
70.43 1629 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Minsk/RTPS Kalodziscy (MI) Piano coincerto 1806km
70.10 1630 BLR BR Radio Mahilyow, Mahilyow/RTPS Polykovici (MA) Pops 1969km **
71.96 1630 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Mahilyow/RTPS Polykovici (MA) Piano concerto 1969km **
72.11 1631 BLR BR Radius FM, Minsk/RTPS Kalodziscy (MI) News, over music, as web 1806km **
72.32 1632 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Geranyony/RTPS (HR) OM and pops, as 72.74 1659km **
72.74 1632 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Mahilyow/RTPS Polykovici (MA) Pops, as 72.32 1969km **
72.89 1633 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Minsk/RTPS Kalodziscy (MI) Rock music 1806km **
73.01 1634 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Babrujsk/RTPS Yasny Les (MA) Rock track, as 72.89 1922km **
66.02 1635 BLR BR Radio Mahilyow, Babrujsk/RTPS Yasny Les (MA) Disco song, as web 1922km
66.20 1635 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Hrodna/RTPS Vul. Gorkogo (HR) Classical, as web 1551km **
66.56 1636 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Slonim/RTPS Novaja Straga (HR) OM and pops, as web 1671km
66.98 1637 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Hrodna/RTPS Vul. Gorkogo (HR) Ads, as web 1551km
67.22 1640 RUS Radio Mayak, Moskva/Ostankino (MV) OMs talk, just audible and as web 2397km **
67.76 1641 BLR BR Radio Hrodna, Hrodna/RTPS Vul. Gorkogo (HR) ID after ads 1551km
68.39 1642 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Geranyony/RTPS (HR) Classical, as web 1659km
68.57 1643 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Salihorsk/RTPS Dubei (MI) Pops and OM, as 72.89 1807km **
68.72 1643 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Svislach=Svislac (HR) Pops, as others 1581km
68.90 1644 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Hrodna/RTPS Vul. Gorkogo (HR) Pops, as others 1551km
68.96 1644 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Babrujsk/RTPS Yasny Les (MA) Dramatic classical, as web 1922km
69.26 1645 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Geranyony/RTPS (HR) Pops, as others 1659km **
69.44 1646 BLR BR Radio Brest, Slonim/RTPS Novaja Straga (HR) Presume with ops 1671km
70.28 1649 BLR BR Radyjo Stalitsa, Smyatanichy/RTPS (GO) Pops, as others 1891km
70.79 1649 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Berazino/RTPS (MI) OM, as web 1883km **
67.22 1652 BLR BR Pershy Kanal, Smyatanichy/RTPS (GO) Pops, as others 1891km
67.40 1653 ? UNID, ? OM talk, later instrumental music. Very poor
70.31 1655 BLR BR Kanal Kultura, Myadzel/RTPS Telyaki (MI) Weird classical, as others 1731km
68.45 1705 BLR BR Gomel FM, Zhlobin/Vul. K.Marksa 1A (GO) Presumed with pops 1974km **
** Personal Skegness First
A nice midwinter Es opening in the OIRT band. I did not notice any band 2 Es around this time.
This is my first experience of OIRT DXing on the modified Sony XDR-F1HD. It was just like listening on band 2.
It seems meteor scatter is also doing the business since I did the i2c
modification, but I think this is more likely to be down to the
conditions, but there has been a huge drop in my general noise levels at
times over the last couple of days which I suspect has also helped. I
used to need a minimum of 35dBf before I saw any RDS, but now it seems
to be as little as 25dBf. Background noise levels are as low as 4dBf in
places, though a large part of today saw a return of the dreaded noise. I
wonder if I'll ever get to the bottom of this. It's amazing what can be
heard clearly when the noise is not present. Radio Salu on 101.7, noise
free, for instance when it peaks up and conditions are hardly inspiring
at the moment.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Friday, 27 December 2013
Thursday, 26 December 2013
Skegness Log: 26-12-13 (FM)
Band 2 Meteor Scatter
87.7 1407 E RAC 1, Barcelona/Collserola (CAT-B) E251 __AC1___ 1311km
Band 2 Scatter:
102.8 0528 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Wesel-Büderich (nrw) Opera, as web 456km
103.4 0533 BEL Joe FM, Genk or Antwerpen YL news, as web. On H **
100.3 0534 HOL L1 Radio, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Dutch pop, as web 443km
105.6 0536 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Donnersberg (rlp) Christmas song, as web 657km
107.1 0537 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Haardtkopf (rlp) Winter Wonderland song, as 105.6 593km
93.5 0539 D WDR 2, Nordhelle (nrw) Police record, as web 554km
96.6 0540 BEL RTBF Pure FM, Anderlues/Mont-Sainte-Geneviève (wal-hnt) YL ID 409km
90.0 0545 D SWR3, Haardtkopf (rlp) Rock track, as web 593km
91.1 0546 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) Cyndi Lauper, as web 550km
92.4 0547 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) Cyndi Lauper, as 91.1 560km
93.9 0548 D WDR 4, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Light pops, as 101.3 484km
90.7 0552 D WDR 4, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Pops, as web 538km
94.4 0557 F France Inter, Hirson/Landouzy-la-Ville (02) French YL, a 103.7, briefly. Presume tropo 446km
95.5 0558 D SR 3 Saarlandwelle, Göttelborner Höhe (saa) Back to back pops, as web 629km
89.6 0608 F France Culture, Villers-Cotterêts/Fleury (02) OM, as 98.0 474km
92.9 0609 F France Musique, Villers-Cotterêts/Fleury (02) OM, as 88.7 474km
98.4 0613 HOL Radio 1, Markelo/Alticom Toren (ove) OM, as web 425km
93.3 0614 LUX RTL Radio, Dudelange/Ginsterberg (gld) Sax solo in song, as web 574km
107.7 0615 LUX Den Neie Radio (DNR), Blaschette/Kandel (gld) Just overriding a nulled Kiss, as web 557km
90.8 0623 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) Bad Company track, as web 441km
90.6 0624 D SWR3, Saarburg/Geisberg (rlp) Katy Perry, as web 586km
101.7 1322 D Radio Salü, Saarbrücken/Schoksberg (saa) Rock track, as web 628km
** Personal Skegness First
All listening done with the 9.2 horizontal. Poor conditions but again with a quiet band at this time of the morning. It's the first time I have heard RTL on 93.3 via scatter.
It was interesting to see the livemeteor scatter reception of RAC1 while I was in town - I have a new Note 3 tablet and I have set up virtual private networking so I can operate the home computer while I am out and about.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
87.7 1407 E RAC 1, Barcelona/Collserola (CAT-B) E251 __AC1___ 1311km
Band 2 Scatter:
102.8 0528 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Wesel-Büderich (nrw) Opera, as web 456km
103.4 0533 BEL Joe FM, Genk or Antwerpen YL news, as web. On H **
100.3 0534 HOL L1 Radio, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Dutch pop, as web 443km
105.6 0536 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Donnersberg (rlp) Christmas song, as web 657km
107.1 0537 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Haardtkopf (rlp) Winter Wonderland song, as 105.6 593km
93.5 0539 D WDR 2, Nordhelle (nrw) Police record, as web 554km
96.6 0540 BEL RTBF Pure FM, Anderlues/Mont-Sainte-Geneviève (wal-hnt) YL ID 409km
90.0 0545 D SWR3, Haardtkopf (rlp) Rock track, as web 593km
91.1 0546 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) Cyndi Lauper, as web 550km
92.4 0547 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) Cyndi Lauper, as 91.1 560km
93.9 0548 D WDR 4, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Light pops, as 101.3 484km
90.7 0552 D WDR 4, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Pops, as web 538km
94.4 0557 F France Inter, Hirson/Landouzy-la-Ville (02) French YL, a 103.7, briefly. Presume tropo 446km
95.5 0558 D SR 3 Saarlandwelle, Göttelborner Höhe (saa) Back to back pops, as web 629km
89.6 0608 F France Culture, Villers-Cotterêts/Fleury (02) OM, as 98.0 474km
92.9 0609 F France Musique, Villers-Cotterêts/Fleury (02) OM, as 88.7 474km
98.4 0613 HOL Radio 1, Markelo/Alticom Toren (ove) OM, as web 425km
93.3 0614 LUX RTL Radio, Dudelange/Ginsterberg (gld) Sax solo in song, as web 574km
107.7 0615 LUX Den Neie Radio (DNR), Blaschette/Kandel (gld) Just overriding a nulled Kiss, as web 557km
90.8 0623 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) Bad Company track, as web 441km
90.6 0624 D SWR3, Saarburg/Geisberg (rlp) Katy Perry, as web 586km
101.7 1322 D Radio Salü, Saarbrücken/Schoksberg (saa) Rock track, as web 628km
** Personal Skegness First
All listening done with the 9.2 horizontal. Poor conditions but again with a quiet band at this time of the morning. It's the first time I have heard RTL on 93.3 via scatter.
It was interesting to see the livemeteor scatter reception of RAC1 while I was in town - I have a new Note 3 tablet and I have set up virtual private networking so I can operate the home computer while I am out and about.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Possibly The Best Christmas Present Ever! ( ... from a radio perspective)
Had I thought it would be possible to ask for "nothing" from Santa this Christmas, I would have done! "Nothing" refers to my noise levels. I'll have no noise please!
During the early part of this afternoon, I noticed my noise levels across band 2 had suddenly dropped. Since installing the Konrad i2c modification to my Sony XDR-F1HD radio, I could see just how much noise I was getting. This registered at 16 to 20 dB at the top of the band and between 18 and 22 dB at the bottom. Even these figures would have been a big improvement on the state of play a few months ago as I know my noise levels had reduced the day after I received my HS Publications noise cancelling device. Today, my noise levels register 7 to 8dB across the whole band. Why? I wonder what has happened.
Almost immediately after I noticed today's marked reduction in noise, I received almost a PI and PS from RAC1 in Barcelona on 87.7, thanks to meteor scatter.
The really interesting thing I noticed with this quiet band was that it only took 25 dB of signal to get that RDS. I needed at least 35 dB for the RDS to push through before the noise dropped down. So I guess I know why meteor scatter has never been much good here. Having a good amount gain is useful, but it comes second to having a good signal-to-noise ratio.
While typing this entry, I see that the noise levels have increased again slightly. My assumption is that something in the neighbouring property has been switched off and moved to a different location. I have about 12 to 14 dB of noise now at the bottom of the band. It's still 7 or 8 dB of noise up at the top, so there is still a good level of improvement, possibly confirmed by the fact that I am now seeing more meteor scatter results.
Doubtless it will all change again at some point, but it's a joy to have no noise and be able to hear really weak signals which are usually buried out of sight.
Here's wishing us all a Noiseless New Year!
During the early part of this afternoon, I noticed my noise levels across band 2 had suddenly dropped. Since installing the Konrad i2c modification to my Sony XDR-F1HD radio, I could see just how much noise I was getting. This registered at 16 to 20 dB at the top of the band and between 18 and 22 dB at the bottom. Even these figures would have been a big improvement on the state of play a few months ago as I know my noise levels had reduced the day after I received my HS Publications noise cancelling device. Today, my noise levels register 7 to 8dB across the whole band. Why? I wonder what has happened.
Almost immediately after I noticed today's marked reduction in noise, I received almost a PI and PS from RAC1 in Barcelona on 87.7, thanks to meteor scatter.
The really interesting thing I noticed with this quiet band was that it only took 25 dB of signal to get that RDS. I needed at least 35 dB for the RDS to push through before the noise dropped down. So I guess I know why meteor scatter has never been much good here. Having a good amount gain is useful, but it comes second to having a good signal-to-noise ratio.
While typing this entry, I see that the noise levels have increased again slightly. My assumption is that something in the neighbouring property has been switched off and moved to a different location. I have about 12 to 14 dB of noise now at the bottom of the band. It's still 7 or 8 dB of noise up at the top, so there is still a good level of improvement, possibly confirmed by the fact that I am now seeing more meteor scatter results.
Doubtless it will all change again at some point, but it's a joy to have no noise and be able to hear really weak signals which are usually buried out of sight.
Here's wishing us all a Noiseless New Year!
Wednesday, 25 December 2013
Skegness Log: 25-12-13 (FM)
Band 2 Scatter:
96.1 0723 BEL RTBF La Première, Wavre (wal-bra) French OM alternating with BBC Solent 397km
99.1 0725 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Anderlues/Mont-Sainte-Geneviève (wal-hnt) Gerry Rafferty. Noise free peak. 33dB 409km
103.0 0742 D BFBS Radio, Bielefeld/Hünenburg (nrw) OM Christmas sermon, as web 565km
100.4 0743 D WDR 2, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Enya track, as web. Briefly noise free 538km
98.1 0750 D WDR 3, Nordhelle (nrw) Stable peak. Almost noise free 554km
100.0 0751 D WDR 4, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) Vocal ID, Rod Stewart Christmas song 494km
103.8 0751 D WDR 4, Nordhelle (nrw) Stable peak. Almost noise free. As Langenberg 101.3 554km
101.7 0752 D WDR 4, Kleve/Bresserberg (nrw) Nice peak. Stable-ish, as 100.0. 30dB 421km
101.0 0754 D WDR 2, Bärbelkreuz (Eifel) (nrw) Christmas song, as web. 28dB 520km
87.7 0815 HOL Radio 10, Lelystad/Alticom Toren (fle) Still getting through on the horizontal this morning 351km
87.9 0816 HOL Omroep Zeeland, Goes/Alticom Toren (zee) Still getting through on the horizontal this morning 303km
97.8 0817 HOL Radio 2, Westdorpe/Verkavelingsweg (zee) Still getting through on the horizontal this morning 323km
98.7 0821 D AFN Wiesbaden-The Eagle, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Down in the noise 648km
98.8 0830 F France Culture, Reims/TDF Hautvillers (51) Suddenly up to 30dB then squashed by Wrotham 516km
91.8 1616 F France Musique, Bourges/Neuvy (18) Classical music, as 88.7 672km
Some early morning scatter.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
96.1 0723 BEL RTBF La Première, Wavre (wal-bra) French OM alternating with BBC Solent 397km
99.1 0725 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Anderlues/Mont-Sainte-Geneviève (wal-hnt) Gerry Rafferty. Noise free peak. 33dB 409km
103.0 0742 D BFBS Radio, Bielefeld/Hünenburg (nrw) OM Christmas sermon, as web 565km
100.4 0743 D WDR 2, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Enya track, as web. Briefly noise free 538km
98.1 0750 D WDR 3, Nordhelle (nrw) Stable peak. Almost noise free 554km
100.0 0751 D WDR 4, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) Vocal ID, Rod Stewart Christmas song 494km
103.8 0751 D WDR 4, Nordhelle (nrw) Stable peak. Almost noise free. As Langenberg 101.3 554km
101.7 0752 D WDR 4, Kleve/Bresserberg (nrw) Nice peak. Stable-ish, as 100.0. 30dB 421km
101.0 0754 D WDR 2, Bärbelkreuz (Eifel) (nrw) Christmas song, as web. 28dB 520km
87.7 0815 HOL Radio 10, Lelystad/Alticom Toren (fle) Still getting through on the horizontal this morning 351km
87.9 0816 HOL Omroep Zeeland, Goes/Alticom Toren (zee) Still getting through on the horizontal this morning 303km
97.8 0817 HOL Radio 2, Westdorpe/Verkavelingsweg (zee) Still getting through on the horizontal this morning 323km
98.7 0821 D AFN Wiesbaden-The Eagle, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Down in the noise 648km
98.8 0830 F France Culture, Reims/TDF Hautvillers (51) Suddenly up to 30dB then squashed by Wrotham 516km
91.8 1616 F France Musique, Bourges/Neuvy (18) Classical music, as 88.7 672km
Some early morning scatter.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Merry Christmas!
Yes, it's that time of year again (groan) and it won't be over quickly enough for me.
I think we all know that the true meaning of Christmas has been lost under the weight of evil commercialism. In fact I am sure the name Jesus used to take centre stage not so many years ago. But hopefully it's a time of year for us to spend with our families, our friends, those who are important to us, etc., or just to relax a little.
Whatever you are doing, here's wishing you all a very happy, peaceful and pleasant time over the festive season.
Have a great Christmas!
John
I think we all know that the true meaning of Christmas has been lost under the weight of evil commercialism. In fact I am sure the name Jesus used to take centre stage not so many years ago. But hopefully it's a time of year for us to spend with our families, our friends, those who are important to us, etc., or just to relax a little.
Whatever you are doing, here's wishing you all a very happy, peaceful and pleasant time over the festive season.
Have a great Christmas!
John
Saturday, 21 December 2013
Skegness Log: 21-12-13 (FM)
Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
87.7 0020 E RAC 1, Barcelona/Collserola (CAT-B) E251 _R______ 1311km
94.6 1121 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) YL talk, briefly while listening to
scatter and comparing with web stream 713km **
99.0 1127 F France Culture, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) Nice sustained burst. 40dB.
OM, as Lille 98.0 1149km
103.6 1136 F France Bleu Provence, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) YL talk, as web
stream 1149km **
94.2 1142 I RAI Radio1, Menconico/Monte Penice (RAI) (pv) YL heard, as web stream
while looking for Marseille 1136km **
94.2 1210 F France Musique, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) Piano concerto, as 88.7 1149km **
** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode
Apart from 87.7 RAC 1, all other MS loggings were made listening live.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Kenwood KT6040, Conrad RDS Manager & RDS Spy.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
87.7 0020 E RAC 1, Barcelona/Collserola (CAT-B) E251 _R______ 1311km
94.6 1121 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) YL talk, briefly while listening to
scatter and comparing with web stream 713km **
99.0 1127 F France Culture, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) Nice sustained burst. 40dB.
OM, as Lille 98.0 1149km
103.6 1136 F France Bleu Provence, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) YL talk, as web
stream 1149km **
94.2 1142 I RAI Radio1, Menconico/Monte Penice (RAI) (pv) YL heard, as web stream
while looking for Marseille 1136km **
94.2 1210 F France Musique, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) Piano concerto, as 88.7 1149km **
** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode
Apart from 87.7 RAC 1, all other MS loggings were made listening live.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.
Kenwood KT6040, Conrad RDS Manager & RDS Spy.
Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Skegness Log: 21-12-13 (MW)
1413 1500 J JOIF KBC-Kyushu Asahi Hoso, Fukuoka (kyu-fuk) Presumed. Time signal.
Too weak for vocal clarity V weak 9225 km
1557 1500 TWN RTI iLoveMusic 1557/Radio Taiwan Int., Kouhu (YL) Time signal and ID Weak 9715 km
972 1600 KOR HLCA KBS Hanminjok Bangsong 1, Dangjin (ccg) Time signal and ID, just below
Germany Weak 8740 km
1575 1600 THA Voice of America/Radio Saranrom, Ban Phachi/Rasom (pay) Asiatic language (Thai?)
and Voice Of America ID Weak 9410 km
Again, a slight improvement in Asiatic conditions.
North American DX continues to go downhill. There were barely any North American carriers visible this morning at 0200, let alone audio. I know DXers in southern Scotland have been hearing more, but this is probably the worst morning for North American MW I have experienced since moving here. Once again, it seems that when the Asiatic DX lifts up, I lose North America, and vice versa.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
Receiver: Perseus SDR
Antenna: 10ft x 25ft flag at 15 degrees
Software: Perseus v4.1a; Mestor
Too weak for vocal clarity V weak 9225 km
1557 1500 TWN RTI iLoveMusic 1557/Radio Taiwan Int., Kouhu (YL) Time signal and ID Weak 9715 km
972 1600 KOR HLCA KBS Hanminjok Bangsong 1, Dangjin (ccg) Time signal and ID, just below
Germany Weak 8740 km
1575 1600 THA Voice of America/Radio Saranrom, Ban Phachi/Rasom (pay) Asiatic language (Thai?)
and Voice Of America ID Weak 9410 km
Again, a slight improvement in Asiatic conditions.
North American DX continues to go downhill. There were barely any North American carriers visible this morning at 0200, let alone audio. I know DXers in southern Scotland have been hearing more, but this is probably the worst morning for North American MW I have experienced since moving here. Once again, it seems that when the Asiatic DX lifts up, I lose North America, and vice versa.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
Receiver: Perseus SDR
Antenna: 10ft x 25ft flag at 15 degrees
Software: Perseus v4.1a; Mestor
Friday, 20 December 2013
Winter Es!
While listening to BBC Oxford on 95.2 just after midday today I heard an Italian male appear out of nowhere and drowned out BBC Oxford. Assuming it was meter scatter I didn't act on it immediately, but decided to check the bottom of the band a few seconds later to see if there was anything down there. I found a mixture of pop music and Italian language stations from 87.5 to 88.0. They sounded too stable for meteor scatter. Checking the 6m page on DX Maps showed some Es activity between the UK and Italy and I noticed there was a report of band 2 Italian Es in Shropshire. Unfortunately, the Es had already started to drop out and were gone in seconds. A minute later, Es returned to 88.3 for a few seconds. So no log here but I will be watching more closely around midday tomorrow with a bit of luck.
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Skegness Log: 18-12-13 (FM)
Band 2 Tropospheric:
94.4 0716 D hr1, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Cher song, as web 648km
94.6 0718 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) Pops, as web 713km
94.8 0718 D SWR3, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) Light ops, as web 560km
98.1 0721 D WDR 3, Nordhelle (nrw) German YL, as web 554km
98.7 0722 D AFN Wiesbaden-The Eagle, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) ID, phone
number and Gloria Branigan track, Just about noise free 648km
104.8 0730 HOL Radio 1, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Ads and clunky jingles 443km
100.0 0732 D WDR 4, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) German pop, as web 494km
100.8 0733 D WDR 2, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Noise free. Weather and ID 484km
103.0 0735 D BFBS Radio, Bielefeld/Hünenburg (nrw) V weak but clearly as web stream 565km
107.1 0737 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Bremen-Walle (bre) German OM, as web. Almost noise free 565km
107.0 0743 D WDR Eins Live, Olsberg (nrw) Black Eyed Peas, as 106.7 592km
107.2 0743 D WDR Eins Live, Ederkopf (nrw) Black Eyed Peas, as 106.7 593km
88.0 0750 D WDR 5, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Documentary? As web 538km
103.8 0809 D WDR 4, Nordhelle (nrw) Light pops, as 101.3 554km
97.0 0813 D WDR 3, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) German YL, as web 591km
99.0 0814 D hr1, Hoher Meißner (hes) Rolling Stones Start Me Up, as web 684km
107.7 0816 LUX Den Neie Radio (DNR), Blaschette/Kandel (gld) Pops, as web 557km
** Personal Skegness 'First';
A spot of early morning DXing today!
I have been playing around with the source code of the i2c mod/Seeeduino board, now I have an idea how to do this. I reset all the antenna alignment figures to values which corresponded to the peaks i found with live adjustments across the band. So the XDR is now fully aligned across the band. Improvements are mostly very subtle but the default values were quite a way out in places. 61 to 63 is fairly typical and some of the values were set down as 53. The drop in signal is very noticeable when lowering these values from 61 to 53 but much more stable above, so 61 to 70 makes little difference.
I made a video of a quick band-sweep around 8am this morning and uploaded this to my YouTube channel. Scatter conditions were about average but there was a minor enhancement to south-east England. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8pCcG4JMmo
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with i2C mod. (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
94.4 0716 D hr1, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Cher song, as web 648km
94.6 0718 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) Pops, as web 713km
94.8 0718 D SWR3, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) Light ops, as web 560km
98.1 0721 D WDR 3, Nordhelle (nrw) German YL, as web 554km
98.7 0722 D AFN Wiesbaden-The Eagle, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) ID, phone
number and Gloria Branigan track, Just about noise free 648km
104.8 0730 HOL Radio 1, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Ads and clunky jingles 443km
100.0 0732 D WDR 4, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) German pop, as web 494km
100.8 0733 D WDR 2, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Noise free. Weather and ID 484km
103.0 0735 D BFBS Radio, Bielefeld/Hünenburg (nrw) V weak but clearly as web stream 565km
107.1 0737 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Bremen-Walle (bre) German OM, as web. Almost noise free 565km
107.0 0743 D WDR Eins Live, Olsberg (nrw) Black Eyed Peas, as 106.7 592km
107.2 0743 D WDR Eins Live, Ederkopf (nrw) Black Eyed Peas, as 106.7 593km
88.0 0750 D WDR 5, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Documentary? As web 538km
103.8 0809 D WDR 4, Nordhelle (nrw) Light pops, as 101.3 554km
97.0 0813 D WDR 3, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) German YL, as web 591km
99.0 0814 D hr1, Hoher Meißner (hes) Rolling Stones Start Me Up, as web 684km
107.7 0816 LUX Den Neie Radio (DNR), Blaschette/Kandel (gld) Pops, as web 557km
** Personal Skegness 'First';
A spot of early morning DXing today!
I have been playing around with the source code of the i2c mod/Seeeduino board, now I have an idea how to do this. I reset all the antenna alignment figures to values which corresponded to the peaks i found with live adjustments across the band. So the XDR is now fully aligned across the band. Improvements are mostly very subtle but the default values were quite a way out in places. 61 to 63 is fairly typical and some of the values were set down as 53. The drop in signal is very noticeable when lowering these values from 61 to 53 but much more stable above, so 61 to 70 makes little difference.
I made a video of a quick band-sweep around 8am this morning and uploaded this to my YouTube channel. Scatter conditions were about average but there was a minor enhancement to south-east England. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8pCcG4JMmo
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with i2C mod. (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
Monday, 16 December 2013
Konrad i2C Modification of the Sony XDR-F1HD
Konrad, in Poland, has produced a modification to the Sony XDR-F1HD whereby it can be linked to your home computer, via a Seeeduino "open source hardware facilitator" board, and then controlled from your computer. The modification doesn't just provide a way for your computer to tune the radio, but it also adds a host of really useful features via a clever interface, which can actually improve the performance of the XDR-F1HD.
There is also another good reason for having this modification. I have heard from several DXers that their XDR-F1HD's displays have failed. While the tuner itself continues to work, they are suddenly left in the dark, not knowing what frequency they are tuned to, etc. This modification extends an enhanced user interface to your computer screen which allows full visibility and control over the XDR, so should your XDR fail in this way, you can continue to use it, thanks to this modification.
The details of the modification are explained, step by step, on the Konrad website. Unlike this article, there is no waffle there. In this article, I will talk you through some of the fears I had before performing this modification.
What I found rather worrying on the page was their disclaimer, which reads: "Warning: This modification is provided ‘as is’. Do everything on your own responsibility! There’s always a risk of a permanent damage to your tuner!! Always unplug the power cord before doing anything inside it and use a properly grounded soldering iron.". Hmm. That put me off straight away!
My soldering abilities are good, but the soldering irons I own are not really suitable for working with small components, however, there are no micro-components involved in this modification.
Going back to the early 80s, I used to work for an electronics company in which in I assembled PCBs. One of my jobs was to assemble PCBs for multi-standard television receivers. These were for the MOD and were to be used on ships in the Falklands Task Force. So I had good training and clear instructions, though I had no understanding of how the circuits worked. I remember being amazed when those circuits were eventually tested and I learnt that all eleven of them worked first time! So with that knowledge, and the confidence it gave me, I thought I would risk tackling the soldering in this little project.
Breaking it down, step by step: To perform this modification you will need to: 1. Solder four wires between the XDR-F1HD's internal circuit board and the Seeeduino circuit board; 2. A transistor needs to be soldered in too; 3. Software needs running and code needs compiling for upload to the chips inside the Seeeduino board. All this is possibly simple(ish) enough for somebody with a basic knowledge of soldering and maybe a little help from friends who are technically more competent than I am.
Knowing that a fair number of DXers were wanting this modification for their own XDRs, but were reluctant to tackle the job themselves, I thought I would include a detailed account of everything I did. I hope this will be useful and I even wondered if I might offer my services to carry out this modification for others, should I be successful and find the job reasonably simple. Unfortunately for me, I found the job extremely stressful and far more time consuming than I had expected. Those who know me are aware that I do not deal with stress well at all. Just be prepared for a bit of waffle!
Thursday, 13-12-2013
The Seeeduino board dropped on my doormat this morning. Not much time to attempt this job today so I will wait until tomorrow. Actually, I am still trying to decide if it is a good idea for me to tackle this job. Could I find somebody to do this for me? I knew this was unlikely.
Saturday, 14-12-2013
Bravely, I unscrewed the lid of the XDR-F1HD and looked in fear at the components within. How much dust? !!! A thick layer of dust had accumulated in several areas. A Dyson cleaner, with a small, soft brush attachment, was brought in to suck out most of the dust. So far, so good.
Ah - I had not taken the XDR's cooling fan into account. I added this when I first bought the radio. Did I superglue it? Hmm. It felt solid and wouldn't shift at all, so the available internal space was going to be very tight for the soldering iron. I could get the soldering iron where I needed it - only just, but I was probably going to melt some of the internal plastic casing or cause some other damage. I persevered nonetheless. Personally, I don't mind too much if there are a few scratches and dents here and there. I'm the same with cars. I look after these things, but they are there to do a job, not to look pretty.
After an hour of messing around I had to give up and accept that there just wasn't sufficient room to poke and prod around in there with the fat soldering tip - the smallest one I had. The tip wasn't in good shape either. Would it last long enough for me to get the job done?
From the start, my intention was to take photographs of each stage of the modification. In view of the enormous blobs of solder which were accumulating across the PCB I thought it best to abandoned that idea or risk serious embarrassment. My workmanship was becoming embarrassingly shoddy, especially as I had re-soldered all the wires several times to ensure there weren't any dry joints.
That cooling fan was not going to let me in, so I got a large flat blade screwdriver and prized it away from the tuner casing and plastic rear panel. It came away thanks to some brute force and ignorance (two good friends of mine) and I had room to manoeuvre at last. Go away Blogger! (Blogger is telling me I have spelled manoeuvre incorrectly. NO I HAVEN'T!) I re-soldered the wires and transistor one more time, feeling satisfied that each one was making a good contact, despite loosening all the jumpers on the PCB my soldering iron came into contact with.
Finished! Well, the XDR PCB side at least. The rest should be relatively simple. Next to feed the wires through a hole I made in the rear of the XDR casing, re-attach the cooling fan and perform a last-minute idiot check on my connections for possible shorting. DAMN! While I was prodding around the BS170 decided to wave goodbye to one of its legs. It had snapped off right at the casing.
I didn't have another transistor so I needed to locate some quickly. Would Maplin have any? Don't be silly John! It's an electronic component's shop! "The Electronic's Specialists" they call themselves. Not a BS170 in sight! Time to locate an alternative. A spot of Googling told me that the 2N7000 was a common enough alternative transistor and appeared to be suitable. Now then, would my nearest Maplin store have any in stock? I would have to wait until the morning to find out. Don't you just hate it when you are keen to get a job done and have all these unnecessary hold-ups?
Concluding today, I spent three hours on the soldering and I was thankful that everything appeared to work properly after I returned the radio to its original state. Well, "bodged" the radio back to it's original state. It now looks like an elephant has been inside.
Sunday, 15-12-2013
Maplin in Boston had TWO 2N7000 transistors in stock. Their Lincoln store had five. The Boston store is only 25 miles from here against Lincoln's 45 miles so I reserved my order online and drove to Boston.
On entering the store I was greeted (pounced on in fact ... I kid you not!) by the most irritating man who thought he was God's gift to the retail trade. I don't like to be rude and always make an effort to be polite but, in this case, my lack of response to his OTT sales tactics left him slightly bewildered. I simply pulled a piece of paper out of my pocket and showed it to him. It contained my order number. Undeterred, he shot into the store room with it, still bursting with enthusiasm, and I still hadn't uttered a word to him! I did try to be more polite when he returned with the goods, but I was tempted to express my disgust at the price of these transistors - 1.09 each! While that's hardly a large sum of money, this was ELEVEN times more expensive then the same transistors at RS Components. There was no way I was going to chance the Christmas post. Oh, I purchased a nice new soldering iron while I was at Maplin Ripofftronics.
The next issue I faced was to wonder which wires on the 2N7000 transistor were the base, the collector and the emitter. These were now labelled as the gate, the drain and the source. Hmmm. Which was which? I have forgotten about these things and it's 27 years since I studied this for the RAE (Radio Amateur's Examination). Thankfully, Andy Webster in Wigan came to the rescue via Skype chat and pointed out that my understanding of transistors was a little prehistoric. I wondered why there was no longer a little red dot on the body of the transistor - apparently that went out with the dinosaurs! :O) Andy explained which pins were which but I eventually noticed that all the relevant information was explained on the Konrad website! Silly me for missing it.
Right - waffle over and down to business! Bah! It's getting a bit late and I feel like collapsing to bed. Maybe I'll finish this tomorrow ... or the day after ... or next week ..... perhaps.
Monday, 16-12-2013
I made a start on the re-soldering the wires inside the XDR, mid-afternoon. It was an unlucky start as that nice new tip on my nice new soldering iron had burnt away already, rendering it useless. I had no choice but to use an old and totally unsuitable large-tipped soldering iron. I was as careful as I could be, but I continued to deposit even larger blobs of solder on to the PCB. I made sure there were no shorts and I could see that the mountainous blobs were holding the wires in place rigidly. Personally, I just got to the point where I didn't care how unprofessional my soldering looked, as long as I got the job done and everything worked. I finished the XDR wiring after about an hour.
The next job was to solder the wires to the Seeeduino board. I actually completed this task very quickly and also very neatly. It looked quite professional too! No problems here at all! Moving on ...
The final stage - installing the software. Firstly, I must say enormous thank yous to two fellow 'Skywavers', without whom I would probably not have completed this job: Julian Hardstone, who gave me some solid advice at the onset of this project; Stuart Heathcock, who donated a substantial amount of his time on the Skywaves Skype Chat, going through the software procedures and ensuring the source code and software ended up in the correct directories on the computer. This actually proved to be a major headache and took two to three hours to sort out. The problem was eventually solved though and it was time to install the drivers, run the "sketch" software, upload the data to the Seeeduino chips and fire up the XDR-GTK software. These last stages I worked out for myself. But, without the help of Julian and Stuart, .... etc. Who knows what might have happened?
I ran the XDR-GTK software and watched the XDR display go dim. Hmm. Had I broken it? NO! A second or two later and the XDR sprung to life! The XDR-GTK screen displayed all those nice features I had seen on various YouTube videos over the last few months. The display showed 87.5 so I entered 88.8 for my local BBC Radio 2 Belmont transmitter and there it was! It worked FIRST TIME! What a relief!
If you're still with me, you will understand why I found the whole procedure quite daunting. It actually made me feel ill while I was doing it. Not only had I no idea if this was going to work, but that fear of permanently destroying the XDR-F1HD was eating away at me throughout. This was the most complex operation of its kind I have performed on any of my radio equipment and I really do not want to do it again. Famous last words, as you will discover below.
As I stated above, I deliberately wanted to construct a blow-by-blow account of everything which happened throughout this procedure as I thought it might be useful to other DXers. If you have learnt something from my mistakes, then that's a good thing. We ALL make them! I really couldn't face having to go through this all again, especially on somebody else's equipment. It would drive me mad!
Just one more problem: Just as I thought I had got everything set up correctly, it all stopped working. Every time I pressed "Connect" on the XDR-GTK software, I got a message saying "Could not start radio". To say I was worried would be an understatement. I spent the next two hours trying all kinds of things, even going as far as to start the software installation again from scratch, uninstalling the drivers and re-setting the Seeeduino board along the way. Even after installation there was a Windows message which kept appearing on the bottom right corner of the computer screen, informing me that the USB device was damaged or not connected. Naturally I was beginning to fear the worst, but I hadn't made any changes to cause this problem, as far as I was aware. It took an hour or two before I realised that the issue was down to the fact that the XDR-F1HD had to be powered up before the XDR-GTK software was started. It was that simple! It seems the XDR-GTK software will not start the radio by itself. Phew!
Don't forget to allow time for the radio to 'warm up' before running the software. Turn on the XDR and wait between 15 seconds or so and a minute. Valve radios are quicker! The colder the ambient room temperature, the longer it takes for the XDR to initialise. While out in the car one cold winter's evening, it took 20 minutes! 10 seconds seems to be adequate for a hot summer's day.
Folks - this was a tough one for me. If you are more technically skilled than this then please go ahead and try the modification yourself, but if you are like me or don't know one end of a screwdriver from the other, steer well clear.
Good luck if you do decide to give it a go. Please ask me any questions - I am happy to help if I can, but this project is NOT for the faint-hearted and I survived only by the skin of my teeth - and also because of the help I received from Julian, And and Stuart - oh, and I must mention my lovely wife, Jane, who bought me the Seeduino board as a Christmas present!
Hopefully I will publish some demonstrations of the XDR-GTK software in the coming days on my YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
There is also another good reason for having this modification. I have heard from several DXers that their XDR-F1HD's displays have failed. While the tuner itself continues to work, they are suddenly left in the dark, not knowing what frequency they are tuned to, etc. This modification extends an enhanced user interface to your computer screen which allows full visibility and control over the XDR, so should your XDR fail in this way, you can continue to use it, thanks to this modification.
The details of the modification are explained, step by step, on the Konrad website. Unlike this article, there is no waffle there. In this article, I will talk you through some of the fears I had before performing this modification.
What I found rather worrying on the page was their disclaimer, which reads: "Warning: This modification is provided ‘as is’. Do everything on your own responsibility! There’s always a risk of a permanent damage to your tuner!! Always unplug the power cord before doing anything inside it and use a properly grounded soldering iron.". Hmm. That put me off straight away!
My soldering abilities are good, but the soldering irons I own are not really suitable for working with small components, however, there are no micro-components involved in this modification.
Going back to the early 80s, I used to work for an electronics company in which in I assembled PCBs. One of my jobs was to assemble PCBs for multi-standard television receivers. These were for the MOD and were to be used on ships in the Falklands Task Force. So I had good training and clear instructions, though I had no understanding of how the circuits worked. I remember being amazed when those circuits were eventually tested and I learnt that all eleven of them worked first time! So with that knowledge, and the confidence it gave me, I thought I would risk tackling the soldering in this little project.
Breaking it down, step by step: To perform this modification you will need to: 1. Solder four wires between the XDR-F1HD's internal circuit board and the Seeeduino circuit board; 2. A transistor needs to be soldered in too; 3. Software needs running and code needs compiling for upload to the chips inside the Seeeduino board. All this is possibly simple(ish) enough for somebody with a basic knowledge of soldering and maybe a little help from friends who are technically more competent than I am.
Knowing that a fair number of DXers were wanting this modification for their own XDRs, but were reluctant to tackle the job themselves, I thought I would include a detailed account of everything I did. I hope this will be useful and I even wondered if I might offer my services to carry out this modification for others, should I be successful and find the job reasonably simple. Unfortunately for me, I found the job extremely stressful and far more time consuming than I had expected. Those who know me are aware that I do not deal with stress well at all. Just be prepared for a bit of waffle!
Thursday, 13-12-2013
The Seeeduino board dropped on my doormat this morning. Not much time to attempt this job today so I will wait until tomorrow. Actually, I am still trying to decide if it is a good idea for me to tackle this job. Could I find somebody to do this for me? I knew this was unlikely.
Saturday, 14-12-2013
Bravely, I unscrewed the lid of the XDR-F1HD and looked in fear at the components within. How much dust? !!! A thick layer of dust had accumulated in several areas. A Dyson cleaner, with a small, soft brush attachment, was brought in to suck out most of the dust. So far, so good.
Ah - I had not taken the XDR's cooling fan into account. I added this when I first bought the radio. Did I superglue it? Hmm. It felt solid and wouldn't shift at all, so the available internal space was going to be very tight for the soldering iron. I could get the soldering iron where I needed it - only just, but I was probably going to melt some of the internal plastic casing or cause some other damage. I persevered nonetheless. Personally, I don't mind too much if there are a few scratches and dents here and there. I'm the same with cars. I look after these things, but they are there to do a job, not to look pretty.
After an hour of messing around I had to give up and accept that there just wasn't sufficient room to poke and prod around in there with the fat soldering tip - the smallest one I had. The tip wasn't in good shape either. Would it last long enough for me to get the job done?
From the start, my intention was to take photographs of each stage of the modification. In view of the enormous blobs of solder which were accumulating across the PCB I thought it best to abandoned that idea or risk serious embarrassment. My workmanship was becoming embarrassingly shoddy, especially as I had re-soldered all the wires several times to ensure there weren't any dry joints.
That cooling fan was not going to let me in, so I got a large flat blade screwdriver and prized it away from the tuner casing and plastic rear panel. It came away thanks to some brute force and ignorance (two good friends of mine) and I had room to manoeuvre at last. Go away Blogger! (Blogger is telling me I have spelled manoeuvre incorrectly. NO I HAVEN'T!) I re-soldered the wires and transistor one more time, feeling satisfied that each one was making a good contact, despite loosening all the jumpers on the PCB my soldering iron came into contact with.
Finished! Well, the XDR PCB side at least. The rest should be relatively simple. Next to feed the wires through a hole I made in the rear of the XDR casing, re-attach the cooling fan and perform a last-minute idiot check on my connections for possible shorting. DAMN! While I was prodding around the BS170 decided to wave goodbye to one of its legs. It had snapped off right at the casing.
I didn't have another transistor so I needed to locate some quickly. Would Maplin have any? Don't be silly John! It's an electronic component's shop! "The Electronic's Specialists" they call themselves. Not a BS170 in sight! Time to locate an alternative. A spot of Googling told me that the 2N7000 was a common enough alternative transistor and appeared to be suitable. Now then, would my nearest Maplin store have any in stock? I would have to wait until the morning to find out. Don't you just hate it when you are keen to get a job done and have all these unnecessary hold-ups?
Concluding today, I spent three hours on the soldering and I was thankful that everything appeared to work properly after I returned the radio to its original state. Well, "bodged" the radio back to it's original state. It now looks like an elephant has been inside.
Sunday, 15-12-2013
Maplin in Boston had TWO 2N7000 transistors in stock. Their Lincoln store had five. The Boston store is only 25 miles from here against Lincoln's 45 miles so I reserved my order online and drove to Boston.
On entering the store I was greeted (pounced on in fact ... I kid you not!) by the most irritating man who thought he was God's gift to the retail trade. I don't like to be rude and always make an effort to be polite but, in this case, my lack of response to his OTT sales tactics left him slightly bewildered. I simply pulled a piece of paper out of my pocket and showed it to him. It contained my order number. Undeterred, he shot into the store room with it, still bursting with enthusiasm, and I still hadn't uttered a word to him! I did try to be more polite when he returned with the goods, but I was tempted to express my disgust at the price of these transistors - 1.09 each! While that's hardly a large sum of money, this was ELEVEN times more expensive then the same transistors at RS Components. There was no way I was going to chance the Christmas post. Oh, I purchased a nice new soldering iron while I was at Maplin Ripofftronics.
The next issue I faced was to wonder which wires on the 2N7000 transistor were the base, the collector and the emitter. These were now labelled as the gate, the drain and the source. Hmmm. Which was which? I have forgotten about these things and it's 27 years since I studied this for the RAE (Radio Amateur's Examination). Thankfully, Andy Webster in Wigan came to the rescue via Skype chat and pointed out that my understanding of transistors was a little prehistoric. I wondered why there was no longer a little red dot on the body of the transistor - apparently that went out with the dinosaurs! :O) Andy explained which pins were which but I eventually noticed that all the relevant information was explained on the Konrad website! Silly me for missing it.
Right - waffle over and down to business! Bah! It's getting a bit late and I feel like collapsing to bed. Maybe I'll finish this tomorrow ... or the day after ... or next week ..... perhaps.
Monday, 16-12-2013
I made a start on the re-soldering the wires inside the XDR, mid-afternoon. It was an unlucky start as that nice new tip on my nice new soldering iron had burnt away already, rendering it useless. I had no choice but to use an old and totally unsuitable large-tipped soldering iron. I was as careful as I could be, but I continued to deposit even larger blobs of solder on to the PCB. I made sure there were no shorts and I could see that the mountainous blobs were holding the wires in place rigidly. Personally, I just got to the point where I didn't care how unprofessional my soldering looked, as long as I got the job done and everything worked. I finished the XDR wiring after about an hour.
The next job was to solder the wires to the Seeeduino board. I actually completed this task very quickly and also very neatly. It looked quite professional too! No problems here at all! Moving on ...
The final stage - installing the software. Firstly, I must say enormous thank yous to two fellow 'Skywavers', without whom I would probably not have completed this job: Julian Hardstone, who gave me some solid advice at the onset of this project; Stuart Heathcock, who donated a substantial amount of his time on the Skywaves Skype Chat, going through the software procedures and ensuring the source code and software ended up in the correct directories on the computer. This actually proved to be a major headache and took two to three hours to sort out. The problem was eventually solved though and it was time to install the drivers, run the "sketch" software, upload the data to the Seeeduino chips and fire up the XDR-GTK software. These last stages I worked out for myself. But, without the help of Julian and Stuart, .... etc. Who knows what might have happened?
I ran the XDR-GTK software and watched the XDR display go dim. Hmm. Had I broken it? NO! A second or two later and the XDR sprung to life! The XDR-GTK screen displayed all those nice features I had seen on various YouTube videos over the last few months. The display showed 87.5 so I entered 88.8 for my local BBC Radio 2 Belmont transmitter and there it was! It worked FIRST TIME! What a relief!
If you're still with me, you will understand why I found the whole procedure quite daunting. It actually made me feel ill while I was doing it. Not only had I no idea if this was going to work, but that fear of permanently destroying the XDR-F1HD was eating away at me throughout. This was the most complex operation of its kind I have performed on any of my radio equipment and I really do not want to do it again. Famous last words, as you will discover below.
As I stated above, I deliberately wanted to construct a blow-by-blow account of everything which happened throughout this procedure as I thought it might be useful to other DXers. If you have learnt something from my mistakes, then that's a good thing. We ALL make them! I really couldn't face having to go through this all again, especially on somebody else's equipment. It would drive me mad!
Just one more problem: Just as I thought I had got everything set up correctly, it all stopped working. Every time I pressed "Connect" on the XDR-GTK software, I got a message saying "Could not start radio". To say I was worried would be an understatement. I spent the next two hours trying all kinds of things, even going as far as to start the software installation again from scratch, uninstalling the drivers and re-setting the Seeeduino board along the way. Even after installation there was a Windows message which kept appearing on the bottom right corner of the computer screen, informing me that the USB device was damaged or not connected. Naturally I was beginning to fear the worst, but I hadn't made any changes to cause this problem, as far as I was aware. It took an hour or two before I realised that the issue was down to the fact that the XDR-F1HD had to be powered up before the XDR-GTK software was started. It was that simple! It seems the XDR-GTK software will not start the radio by itself. Phew!
Don't forget to allow time for the radio to 'warm up' before running the software. Turn on the XDR and wait between 15 seconds or so and a minute. Valve radios are quicker! The colder the ambient room temperature, the longer it takes for the XDR to initialise. While out in the car one cold winter's evening, it took 20 minutes! 10 seconds seems to be adequate for a hot summer's day.
Folks - this was a tough one for me. If you are more technically skilled than this then please go ahead and try the modification yourself, but if you are like me or don't know one end of a screwdriver from the other, steer well clear.
Good luck if you do decide to give it a go. Please ask me any questions - I am happy to help if I can, but this project is NOT for the faint-hearted and I survived only by the skin of my teeth - and also because of the help I received from Julian, And and Stuart - oh, and I must mention my lovely wife, Jane, who bought me the Seeduino board as a Christmas present!
Hopefully I will publish some demonstrations of the XDR-GTK software in the coming days on my YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Skegness Log: 12-12-13 (FM)
Band 2 Tropospheric:
106.1 0052 NOR P4 R Hele Norge, Halden 1/Høyåsmasten (of) Ads and OM, as web 958km
87.8 0935 NOR NRK P1, Hovdefjell (aa) Pops, phone in, as web 806km
88.2 0938 NOR NRK P1, Skien 1/Vealøs (te) Pops, as web 890km
91.4 0946 DNK DR P1/DR P2, Thisted/Hanstholmvej 46 (njy) OM, as web 681km
91.8 0947 NOR NRK Petre, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnippa (ro) Pops, as web 703km
92.5 0948 NOR NRK P2, Greipstad/Eidsåvegen (va) Play or discussion, as web 734km
94.0 0952 D Radio Ostfriesland, Aurich-Haxtum (nds) Jingle ID 476km
94.2 0954 NOR NRK P1, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnippa (ro) OM and YLs, as web 703km
94.8 0956 NOR NRK P1, Halden 1/Høyåsmasten (of) OM and YLs, as web 958km
95.0 0957 NOR NRK Petre, Lyngdal/KalåsknIben (va) Lively OM, as web 697km
95.6 0957 D N-JOY, Morsum (Sylt) (shs) Pops, as web 566km
97.0 1010 NOR NRK Petre, Greipstad/Eidsåvegen (va) Football discussion, as web 734km
97.6 1011 NOR NRK P1, Lyngdal/KalåsknIben (va) OM talk, as web 697km
99.0 1014 DNK DR P4, Varde/Nordenskov/Kærgårdsvej 41B (sdk-sjy) Pops and ID 608km
88.5 1030 BEL BRF 1, Liège/Bol d'Air (wal-lge) Jingle ID after ads 459km **
93.3 1048 LUX RTL Radio, Dudelange/Ginsterberg (gld) Jingle ID 574km
98.3 1053 BEL RTBF Vivacité, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) RDS: VIVAVITE Belmont? On this frequency? Surely not? 441km
98.4 1104 D SWR3, Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) ID and traffic 748km
101.7 1111 D Radio Salü, Saarbrücken/Schoksberg (saa) Jingle ID 628km
103.0 1113 D BFBS Radio, Bielefeld/Hünenburg (nrw) Pops and ID 565km
97.3 1133 S SR P4, Halmstad/Oskarström-Slättåkra TM (ha) ID, anns and pops, as web 900km
87.6 1144 HOL Radio 10, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Oldies, as 87.7 408km
** Personal Skegness 'First';
I did not start listening to the band properly until 0930 this morning so I probably missed some DX from earlier. I was able to make a quick check of conditions at 0400 and the band sounded very lively indeed. The final stages of the tropo had vacated the band by 1700. Belgium and Holland were the last to wave goodbye.
I logged everything which wasn't a regular continental yesterday and Tuesday. Today I just 'topped up' the log with any different DX stations.
As yesterday, conditions were strange. It was only the larger horizontal transmitters which were propagating, and there some big signals from Profondeville, Liege, Steinkimmen, Holstebro, Lyngdal and other transmitters. Going vertical you would never have guessed there was much of a tropo at all.
At the time of compiling this log I hear a small enhancement in conditions to continental regulars, but there are no traces of Scandinavia or northern Germany.
Recordings:
98.3 RTBF Vivacite, Profondeville 1057 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/61i7xiap10az5o7on1jy
88.5 BRF1, Liege 1030 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/yauki9iaumimezeogc9f
103.0 BFBS 1, Bielefeld 1113 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/wgoc7sbmke98pbw80o81
103.1 Radio FFN, Aurich 1119 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/vbf9d9laa8v3ny32hvri
103.4 Radio FFN, Osnabruck 1125 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/b9h9zjwzw515i08sdo0q
98.5 DR P4 Midt & West, Holstebro 1130 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/4d2ui1hzoizqwh10xl4k
97.3 SR P4, Halmstad 1133 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/itp80ab55vna4iqpv1no
92.4 NDR1, Osnabruck 1140 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/8si8l98dbj12n9j5069p
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
106.1 0052 NOR P4 R Hele Norge, Halden 1/Høyåsmasten (of) Ads and OM, as web 958km
87.8 0935 NOR NRK P1, Hovdefjell (aa) Pops, phone in, as web 806km
88.2 0938 NOR NRK P1, Skien 1/Vealøs (te) Pops, as web 890km
91.4 0946 DNK DR P1/DR P2, Thisted/Hanstholmvej 46 (njy) OM, as web 681km
91.8 0947 NOR NRK Petre, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnippa (ro) Pops, as web 703km
92.5 0948 NOR NRK P2, Greipstad/Eidsåvegen (va) Play or discussion, as web 734km
94.0 0952 D Radio Ostfriesland, Aurich-Haxtum (nds) Jingle ID 476km
94.2 0954 NOR NRK P1, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnippa (ro) OM and YLs, as web 703km
94.8 0956 NOR NRK P1, Halden 1/Høyåsmasten (of) OM and YLs, as web 958km
95.0 0957 NOR NRK Petre, Lyngdal/KalåsknIben (va) Lively OM, as web 697km
95.6 0957 D N-JOY, Morsum (Sylt) (shs) Pops, as web 566km
97.0 1010 NOR NRK Petre, Greipstad/Eidsåvegen (va) Football discussion, as web 734km
97.6 1011 NOR NRK P1, Lyngdal/KalåsknIben (va) OM talk, as web 697km
99.0 1014 DNK DR P4, Varde/Nordenskov/Kærgårdsvej 41B (sdk-sjy) Pops and ID 608km
88.5 1030 BEL BRF 1, Liège/Bol d'Air (wal-lge) Jingle ID after ads 459km **
93.3 1048 LUX RTL Radio, Dudelange/Ginsterberg (gld) Jingle ID 574km
98.3 1053 BEL RTBF Vivacité, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) RDS: VIVAVITE Belmont? On this frequency? Surely not? 441km
98.4 1104 D SWR3, Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) ID and traffic 748km
101.7 1111 D Radio Salü, Saarbrücken/Schoksberg (saa) Jingle ID 628km
103.0 1113 D BFBS Radio, Bielefeld/Hünenburg (nrw) Pops and ID 565km
97.3 1133 S SR P4, Halmstad/Oskarström-Slättåkra TM (ha) ID, anns and pops, as web 900km
87.6 1144 HOL Radio 10, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Oldies, as 87.7 408km
** Personal Skegness 'First';
I did not start listening to the band properly until 0930 this morning so I probably missed some DX from earlier. I was able to make a quick check of conditions at 0400 and the band sounded very lively indeed. The final stages of the tropo had vacated the band by 1700. Belgium and Holland were the last to wave goodbye.
I logged everything which wasn't a regular continental yesterday and Tuesday. Today I just 'topped up' the log with any different DX stations.
As yesterday, conditions were strange. It was only the larger horizontal transmitters which were propagating, and there some big signals from Profondeville, Liege, Steinkimmen, Holstebro, Lyngdal and other transmitters. Going vertical you would never have guessed there was much of a tropo at all.
At the time of compiling this log I hear a small enhancement in conditions to continental regulars, but there are no traces of Scandinavia or northern Germany.
Recordings:
98.3 RTBF Vivacite, Profondeville 1057 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/61i7xiap10az5o7on1jy
88.5 BRF1, Liege 1030 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/yauki9iaumimezeogc9f
103.0 BFBS 1, Bielefeld 1113 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/wgoc7sbmke98pbw80o81
103.1 Radio FFN, Aurich 1119 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/vbf9d9laa8v3ny32hvri
103.4 Radio FFN, Osnabruck 1125 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/b9h9zjwzw515i08sdo0q
98.5 DR P4 Midt & West, Holstebro 1130 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/4d2ui1hzoizqwh10xl4k
97.3 SR P4, Halmstad 1133 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/itp80ab55vna4iqpv1no
92.4 NDR1, Osnabruck 1140 12-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/8si8l98dbj12n9j5069p
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Skegness Log: 11-12-13 (FM)
Band 2 Tropospheric:
89.0 0827 D 89.0 RTL, Brocken (san) ID 713km
89.2 0827 D NDR 2, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) OM, as web 526km
90.6 0828 D WDR 5, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) YL and OM, as web 591km
91.1 0829 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) ID after Village People track 543km
93.2 0831 D WDR 2, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) YL, as web 591km
93.8 0832 D bremen eins, Bremen-Walle (bre) Traffic, ID and pops 565km
94.6 0833 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) OM and YL talk, as web 713km
95.4 0834 D Nordwestradio, Schiffdorf [nds] (Bremerhaven) (bre) African sounding song, as web 554km
95.8 0834 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) That awful Soley Soley song, as web 479km
97.0 0835 D WDR 3, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) OMs chuckling to themselves, as web 591km
97.4 0836 D Deutschlandradio Kultur, Brocken (san) OM talk, as web 713km
98.1 0838 D NDR 2, Aurich (nds) German pops, as web 479km
99.8 0839 D NDR 2, Steinkimmen (nds) German pops, as web 543km
100.8 0839 D Bremen Vier, Schiffdorf [nds] (Bremerhaven) (bre) OM and YL, pops, as web 554km
101.2 0840 D Bremen Vier, Bremen-Walle (bre) OM and YL, as 100.8 565km
101.4 0840 D Radio SAW, Brocken (san) Pops, as web 713km
101.8 0841 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Aurich (nds) German YL 479km
102.3 0841 D Radio ffn, Steinkimmen (nds) Pops, as web 543km
103.1 0842 D Radio ffn, Aurich (nds) Pops, as 103.1 479km
103.6 0843 D Radio Hamburg, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Pops, as web 650km
105.7 0846 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) Adverts 543km
107.1 0847 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Bremen-Walle (bre) German YL 565km
87.6 0853 D NDR 2, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Pops, as web 650km
89.6 0859 D NDR 1 Welle Nord, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) Foster The People song, as web 627km
90.0 0902 D NDR Kultur, Aurich (nds) News 479km
90.2 0903 D NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) News, as 90.0 477km
90.3 0903 D NDR 90,3, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) German news 650km
91.2 0904 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Dannenberg Zernien (nds) German news, as 91.1 706km
94.4 0907 D NDR Kultur, Steinkimmen (nds) Classical, as web 543km
94.8 0922 DNK DR P1, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) OMs and YLs talking, as web 782km
97.5 0923 DNK DR P4, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) OM and YL talk, as web 782km
99.6 0924 DNK DR P3, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) Phone caller, as web 782km
101.6 0925 DNK R.24/7, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) YLs, as web 782km
103.9 0925 DNK Nova FM, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) ID and SMS info 782km
104.1 0926 D delta radio, Bungsberg/DTAG-Turm (shs) Rock song, as web 695km
104.3 0927 D Energy Bremen, Schiffdorf [nds] (Bremerhaven) (bre) OM talk, as web 554km
104.6 0928 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Cuxhaven Otterndorf (nds) Pops, as web 571km
104.9 0929 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) Pops, as 104.6 479km
105.1 0943 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Rosengarten-Langenrehm (nds) Pops and ID 635km
105.7 0945 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) OM, as 105.1 543km
89.0 0948 DNK DR P1/DR P2, Sønder Højrup/Sdr. Højrupvejen 21 (sdk-fyn) OM and YL, as web 701km
92.6 0949 DNK DR P3, Sønder Højrup/Sdr. Højrupvejen 21 (sdk-fyn) OM an dYL talk, as web 701km
96.8 0950 DNK DR P4, Sønder Højrup/Sdr. Højrupvejen 21 (sdk-fyn) Danish OM and YL, as web 701km
96.5 0955 DNK DR P4, København-Gladsaxe/Isbanevej 4 (hvs) Pops, as web 837km
97.0 1000 S SR P3, Hörby/Sallerup TM (sn) YLs and ID 913km
97.2 1001 DNK DR P3, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk-sjy) OM News 617km
97.8 1004 D NDR 2, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) OM news 477km
98.7 1006 D NDR 2, Morsum (Sylt) (shs) Olly Murzzzzz, as web 566km
99.2 1010 D NDR Kultur, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Classical, as web 650km
99.9 1013 DNK DR P4, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk-sjy) Phone caller, as web 617km
92.4 1015 S SR P2, Hörby/Sallerup TM (sn) Operatics, as web 913km
101.4 1016 S SR P4, Hörby/Sallerup TM (sn) YL, as web 913km
92.8 1152 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) OMs YL, as web 477km
93.4 1153 DNK Nova FM, Sønder Højrup/Sdr. Højrupvejen 21 (sdk-fyn) McDonalds as, as web 701km
94.2 1156 D N-JOY, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Pops, as web 650km
96.3 1157 D NDR 2, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) Pops, as web 599km
96.4 1158 D NDR Info, Aurich (nds) German OM, as web 479km
96.7 1159 D Funkhaus Europa, Bremen-Walle (bre) Announcements, as web 565km
98.7 1201 D AFN Wiesbaden-The Eagle, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) US accented South African news 648km
105.9 1203 D Hit Radio FFH, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Pops, as web 648km
99.0 1204 D N-JOY, Bungsberg/NDR-Mast (shs) Wetter and ID 694km
100.6 1207 D Radio ffn, Rosengarten-Langenrehm (nds) ID and pops 635km
102.0 1208 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Lingen-Damaschke (nds) OM, as 101.8 477km
102.1 1208 DNK R.24/7, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk-sjy) YL, as web 617km
102.3 1208 DNK R.24/7, København-Gladsaxe/Isbanevej 4 (hvs) YL, as 102.1 837km
102.9 1210 D RPR 1., Bad Marienberg (rlp) Pops, as web 592km
103.2 1211 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Rosengarten-Langenrehm (nds) OM, as web 635km
103.5 1212 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Torfhaus/DTAG (nds) OM on phone, as web 707km
105.6 1215 D delta radio, Flensburg Freienwill (shs) Ads, as web 626km
98.7 1529 NOR NRK P2, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnippa (ro) Jingle, YL and OM 703km
87.9 1534 D NDR Info, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) ID and info! 599km
91.8 1536 NOR NRK Petre, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnippa (ro) Pops, as web 703km
95.1 1537 DNK DR P1/DR P2, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk-sjy) YL, as web 617km
96.1 1538 D NDR Kultur, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) Classical 627km
107.3 1544 D Ostseewelle, Schwerin (mev) ID after speech, pops 740km
105.3 1617 D NDR Info, Schwerin (mev) YL, as web 740km
106.3 1619 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Torfhaus/DTAG (nds) Ads, ID and pops 707km
88.7 1622 DNK DR P1, Ølgod/Baunshøjvej 7/Baunshøj (sdk-sjy) Danish OMs, as web 609km
90.2 1623 DNK DR P1, Holstebro - Mejrup/Kalsgårdvej 11 (mjy) Danish OMs 645km
98.5 1714 D NDR 2, Schwerin (mev) OM, as 98.1 740km
99.4 1714 D NDR Kultur, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) Classical, as web 599km
100.2 1715 D R.SH, Bungsberg/DTAG-Turm (shs) German pops, as web 695km
101.4 1715 D R.SH, Flensburg Freienwill (shs) German pops, as 100.2 626km
102.6 1716 D Radio ffn, Cuxhaven Otterndorf (nds) Boyzone, as 102.3 571km
106.4 1719 D NDR 1 Welle Nord, Neumünster Armstedt (shs) Christmas song, as web 636km
107.4 1719 D delta radio, Kaltenkirchen (shs) ID and promo 647km
87.7 1732 D NDR Info, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) OM, as 87.9 627km
89.2 1733 D NDR Kultur, Schwerin (mev) YL, as web 740km
89.9 1734 D NDR Kultur, Bungsberg/NDR-Mast (shs) Classical, as 90.0 694km
92.8 1738 D NDR 1 Radio MV, Schwerin (mev) Pops, as web. Differrent programme to NDR1 Niedersachsen 740km
93.2 1739 D NDR 2, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) Phone caller and pops 627km
93.3 1739 DNK DR P1, Aalborg-Frejlev/Svenstrupvej 25 (njy) OM, as web 740km
94.2 1741 NOR NRK P1, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnippa (ro) Childrens song, as web 703km
94.3 1741 D NDR Kultur, Morsum (Sylt) (shs) Piano, as 94.4 566km
95.0 1744 NOR NRK Petre, Lyngdal/KalåsknIben (va) Outside broadcast, as web 697km
102.9 1800 D R.SH, Kaltenkirchen (shs) Jingle ID and slow rock song 647km
103.3 1801 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Flensburg Freienwill (shs) News 626km
103.8 1801 D R.SH, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) Pops, as web 599km
104.8 1803 D delta radio, Westerland (Sylt) (shs) Rock song, as web 557km
105.9 1805 D delta radio, Kiel/Fernsehturm (shs) German rap rock song, as 105.6 657km
92.9 1817 DNK DR P3, Holstebro - Mejrup/Kalsgårdvej 11 (mjy) Rap, as web 645km
92.5 1832 NOR NRK P2, Greipstad/Eidsåvegen (va) YL, as web 734km
97.0 1833 NOR NRK Petre, Greipstad/Eidsåvegen (va) YL and OM, as web 734km
97.6 1835 NOR NRK P1, Lyngdal/KalåsknIben (va) _NRK_P1_ Jingle ID and traffic info 697km
102.0 1842 NOR Radio Norge, Lyngdal/KalåsknIben (va) -NORGE-_ Pops and phone caller 697km
101.0 1855 NOR Radio Norge, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnippa (ro) Abbas Mama Mia, as 102.0 703km
97.7 1945 DNK DR P4, Ølgod/Baunshøjvej 7/Baunshøj (sdk-sjy) Pops, as web 609km
88.3 1958 NOR NRK P2, Lyngdal/KalåsknIben (va) End of symphony and YL, as web 697km
98.8 2114 D NDR Kultur, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) OM, as web 526km
100.3 2115 DNK R.24/7, Holstebro - Mejrup/Kalsgårdvej 11 (mjy) OM, as web 645km
103.0 2240 DNK R.24/7, Århus/Søsterhøj/Ny Moesgårdsvej 61 (mjy) YL, as web 716km
103.4 2241 DNK Nova FM, Holstebro - Mejrup/Kalsgårdvej 11 (mjy) Pops, as 103.9 645km
107.9 2242 D delta radio, Lübeck Berkenthin (shs) ID after pop 690km
88.1 2243 DNK DR P2, Århus/Søsterhøj/Ny Moesgårdsvej 61 (mjy) Classical, as web 716km
91.7 2245 DNK DR P3, Århus/Søsterhøj/Ny Moesgårdsvej 61 (mjy) Pops, as web 716km
Today was more or less a repeat of yesterday, with the same areas coming in. Add Denmark, Norway and Sweden, however, but nothing from Poland unfortunately. Conditions seemed to be constantly up and down, just like yesterday, but with slightly stronger signals. Norway and Denmark even produced some RDS.
There was a fair amount of DX from within England and south Wales too. Some semi-local BBC national transmitters were un-nullable, but I wonder if the conditions had something to do with this. I remember having two-bar XDR signals from LBC 97.3 and Skyrock, St Omer 106.9 while beaming NNE towards Norway. Swinging the 9.2 around to point directly at these two did not alter their reading at all. It was as if the tropo was coming in from above.
At the time of posting this I am still getting RDS from Denmark and Norway, but also one or two Germans too - all three bar signals on the XDR.
The band is also quite noisy with the weight of the DX as more than one station try to dominate some frequencies.
A couple of recordings to demonstrate the strength of the Lyngdal transmitter - easily the strongest DX of today.
97.6 NRK P1, Lyngdal 1835 11-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/ybd52nbleu33d7v5xitr
102.0 Radio Norge, Lyngdal 1842 11-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/ztw6jxl7p7eddfg2uurd
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
89.0 0827 D 89.0 RTL, Brocken (san) ID 713km
89.2 0827 D NDR 2, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) OM, as web 526km
90.6 0828 D WDR 5, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) YL and OM, as web 591km
91.1 0829 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) ID after Village People track 543km
93.2 0831 D WDR 2, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) YL, as web 591km
93.8 0832 D bremen eins, Bremen-Walle (bre) Traffic, ID and pops 565km
94.6 0833 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) OM and YL talk, as web 713km
95.4 0834 D Nordwestradio, Schiffdorf [nds] (Bremerhaven) (bre) African sounding song, as web 554km
95.8 0834 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) That awful Soley Soley song, as web 479km
97.0 0835 D WDR 3, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) OMs chuckling to themselves, as web 591km
97.4 0836 D Deutschlandradio Kultur, Brocken (san) OM talk, as web 713km
98.1 0838 D NDR 2, Aurich (nds) German pops, as web 479km
99.8 0839 D NDR 2, Steinkimmen (nds) German pops, as web 543km
100.8 0839 D Bremen Vier, Schiffdorf [nds] (Bremerhaven) (bre) OM and YL, pops, as web 554km
101.2 0840 D Bremen Vier, Bremen-Walle (bre) OM and YL, as 100.8 565km
101.4 0840 D Radio SAW, Brocken (san) Pops, as web 713km
101.8 0841 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Aurich (nds) German YL 479km
102.3 0841 D Radio ffn, Steinkimmen (nds) Pops, as web 543km
103.1 0842 D Radio ffn, Aurich (nds) Pops, as 103.1 479km
103.6 0843 D Radio Hamburg, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Pops, as web 650km
105.7 0846 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) Adverts 543km
107.1 0847 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Bremen-Walle (bre) German YL 565km
87.6 0853 D NDR 2, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Pops, as web 650km
89.6 0859 D NDR 1 Welle Nord, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) Foster The People song, as web 627km
90.0 0902 D NDR Kultur, Aurich (nds) News 479km
90.2 0903 D NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) News, as 90.0 477km
90.3 0903 D NDR 90,3, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) German news 650km
91.2 0904 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Dannenberg Zernien (nds) German news, as 91.1 706km
94.4 0907 D NDR Kultur, Steinkimmen (nds) Classical, as web 543km
94.8 0922 DNK DR P1, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) OMs and YLs talking, as web 782km
97.5 0923 DNK DR P4, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) OM and YL talk, as web 782km
99.6 0924 DNK DR P3, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) Phone caller, as web 782km
101.6 0925 DNK R.24/7, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) YLs, as web 782km
103.9 0925 DNK Nova FM, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) ID and SMS info 782km
104.1 0926 D delta radio, Bungsberg/DTAG-Turm (shs) Rock song, as web 695km
104.3 0927 D Energy Bremen, Schiffdorf [nds] (Bremerhaven) (bre) OM talk, as web 554km
104.6 0928 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Cuxhaven Otterndorf (nds) Pops, as web 571km
104.9 0929 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) Pops, as 104.6 479km
105.1 0943 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Rosengarten-Langenrehm (nds) Pops and ID 635km
105.7 0945 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) OM, as 105.1 543km
89.0 0948 DNK DR P1/DR P2, Sønder Højrup/Sdr. Højrupvejen 21 (sdk-fyn) OM and YL, as web 701km
92.6 0949 DNK DR P3, Sønder Højrup/Sdr. Højrupvejen 21 (sdk-fyn) OM an dYL talk, as web 701km
96.8 0950 DNK DR P4, Sønder Højrup/Sdr. Højrupvejen 21 (sdk-fyn) Danish OM and YL, as web 701km
96.5 0955 DNK DR P4, København-Gladsaxe/Isbanevej 4 (hvs) Pops, as web 837km
97.0 1000 S SR P3, Hörby/Sallerup TM (sn) YLs and ID 913km
97.2 1001 DNK DR P3, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk-sjy) OM News 617km
97.8 1004 D NDR 2, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) OM news 477km
98.7 1006 D NDR 2, Morsum (Sylt) (shs) Olly Murzzzzz, as web 566km
99.2 1010 D NDR Kultur, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Classical, as web 650km
99.9 1013 DNK DR P4, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk-sjy) Phone caller, as web 617km
92.4 1015 S SR P2, Hörby/Sallerup TM (sn) Operatics, as web 913km
101.4 1016 S SR P4, Hörby/Sallerup TM (sn) YL, as web 913km
92.8 1152 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) OMs YL, as web 477km
93.4 1153 DNK Nova FM, Sønder Højrup/Sdr. Højrupvejen 21 (sdk-fyn) McDonalds as, as web 701km
94.2 1156 D N-JOY, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Pops, as web 650km
96.3 1157 D NDR 2, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) Pops, as web 599km
96.4 1158 D NDR Info, Aurich (nds) German OM, as web 479km
96.7 1159 D Funkhaus Europa, Bremen-Walle (bre) Announcements, as web 565km
98.7 1201 D AFN Wiesbaden-The Eagle, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) US accented South African news 648km
105.9 1203 D Hit Radio FFH, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Pops, as web 648km
99.0 1204 D N-JOY, Bungsberg/NDR-Mast (shs) Wetter and ID 694km
100.6 1207 D Radio ffn, Rosengarten-Langenrehm (nds) ID and pops 635km
102.0 1208 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Lingen-Damaschke (nds) OM, as 101.8 477km
102.1 1208 DNK R.24/7, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk-sjy) YL, as web 617km
102.3 1208 DNK R.24/7, København-Gladsaxe/Isbanevej 4 (hvs) YL, as 102.1 837km
102.9 1210 D RPR 1., Bad Marienberg (rlp) Pops, as web 592km
103.2 1211 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Rosengarten-Langenrehm (nds) OM, as web 635km
103.5 1212 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Torfhaus/DTAG (nds) OM on phone, as web 707km
105.6 1215 D delta radio, Flensburg Freienwill (shs) Ads, as web 626km
98.7 1529 NOR NRK P2, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnippa (ro) Jingle, YL and OM 703km
87.9 1534 D NDR Info, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) ID and info! 599km
91.8 1536 NOR NRK Petre, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnippa (ro) Pops, as web 703km
95.1 1537 DNK DR P1/DR P2, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk-sjy) YL, as web 617km
96.1 1538 D NDR Kultur, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) Classical 627km
107.3 1544 D Ostseewelle, Schwerin (mev) ID after speech, pops 740km
105.3 1617 D NDR Info, Schwerin (mev) YL, as web 740km
106.3 1619 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Torfhaus/DTAG (nds) Ads, ID and pops 707km
88.7 1622 DNK DR P1, Ølgod/Baunshøjvej 7/Baunshøj (sdk-sjy) Danish OMs, as web 609km
90.2 1623 DNK DR P1, Holstebro - Mejrup/Kalsgårdvej 11 (mjy) Danish OMs 645km
98.5 1714 D NDR 2, Schwerin (mev) OM, as 98.1 740km
99.4 1714 D NDR Kultur, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) Classical, as web 599km
100.2 1715 D R.SH, Bungsberg/DTAG-Turm (shs) German pops, as web 695km
101.4 1715 D R.SH, Flensburg Freienwill (shs) German pops, as 100.2 626km
102.6 1716 D Radio ffn, Cuxhaven Otterndorf (nds) Boyzone, as 102.3 571km
106.4 1719 D NDR 1 Welle Nord, Neumünster Armstedt (shs) Christmas song, as web 636km
107.4 1719 D delta radio, Kaltenkirchen (shs) ID and promo 647km
87.7 1732 D NDR Info, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) OM, as 87.9 627km
89.2 1733 D NDR Kultur, Schwerin (mev) YL, as web 740km
89.9 1734 D NDR Kultur, Bungsberg/NDR-Mast (shs) Classical, as 90.0 694km
92.8 1738 D NDR 1 Radio MV, Schwerin (mev) Pops, as web. Differrent programme to NDR1 Niedersachsen 740km
93.2 1739 D NDR 2, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) Phone caller and pops 627km
93.3 1739 DNK DR P1, Aalborg-Frejlev/Svenstrupvej 25 (njy) OM, as web 740km
94.2 1741 NOR NRK P1, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnippa (ro) Childrens song, as web 703km
94.3 1741 D NDR Kultur, Morsum (Sylt) (shs) Piano, as 94.4 566km
95.0 1744 NOR NRK Petre, Lyngdal/KalåsknIben (va) Outside broadcast, as web 697km
102.9 1800 D R.SH, Kaltenkirchen (shs) Jingle ID and slow rock song 647km
103.3 1801 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Flensburg Freienwill (shs) News 626km
103.8 1801 D R.SH, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) Pops, as web 599km
104.8 1803 D delta radio, Westerland (Sylt) (shs) Rock song, as web 557km
105.9 1805 D delta radio, Kiel/Fernsehturm (shs) German rap rock song, as 105.6 657km
92.9 1817 DNK DR P3, Holstebro - Mejrup/Kalsgårdvej 11 (mjy) Rap, as web 645km
92.5 1832 NOR NRK P2, Greipstad/Eidsåvegen (va) YL, as web 734km
97.0 1833 NOR NRK Petre, Greipstad/Eidsåvegen (va) YL and OM, as web 734km
97.6 1835 NOR NRK P1, Lyngdal/KalåsknIben (va) _NRK_P1_ Jingle ID and traffic info 697km
102.0 1842 NOR Radio Norge, Lyngdal/KalåsknIben (va) -NORGE-_ Pops and phone caller 697km
101.0 1855 NOR Radio Norge, Bjerkreim/Urdalsnippa (ro) Abbas Mama Mia, as 102.0 703km
97.7 1945 DNK DR P4, Ølgod/Baunshøjvej 7/Baunshøj (sdk-sjy) Pops, as web 609km
88.3 1958 NOR NRK P2, Lyngdal/KalåsknIben (va) End of symphony and YL, as web 697km
98.8 2114 D NDR Kultur, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) OM, as web 526km
100.3 2115 DNK R.24/7, Holstebro - Mejrup/Kalsgårdvej 11 (mjy) OM, as web 645km
103.0 2240 DNK R.24/7, Århus/Søsterhøj/Ny Moesgårdsvej 61 (mjy) YL, as web 716km
103.4 2241 DNK Nova FM, Holstebro - Mejrup/Kalsgårdvej 11 (mjy) Pops, as 103.9 645km
107.9 2242 D delta radio, Lübeck Berkenthin (shs) ID after pop 690km
88.1 2243 DNK DR P2, Århus/Søsterhøj/Ny Moesgårdsvej 61 (mjy) Classical, as web 716km
91.7 2245 DNK DR P3, Århus/Søsterhøj/Ny Moesgårdsvej 61 (mjy) Pops, as web 716km
Today was more or less a repeat of yesterday, with the same areas coming in. Add Denmark, Norway and Sweden, however, but nothing from Poland unfortunately. Conditions seemed to be constantly up and down, just like yesterday, but with slightly stronger signals. Norway and Denmark even produced some RDS.
There was a fair amount of DX from within England and south Wales too. Some semi-local BBC national transmitters were un-nullable, but I wonder if the conditions had something to do with this. I remember having two-bar XDR signals from LBC 97.3 and Skyrock, St Omer 106.9 while beaming NNE towards Norway. Swinging the 9.2 around to point directly at these two did not alter their reading at all. It was as if the tropo was coming in from above.
At the time of posting this I am still getting RDS from Denmark and Norway, but also one or two Germans too - all three bar signals on the XDR.
The band is also quite noisy with the weight of the DX as more than one station try to dominate some frequencies.
A couple of recordings to demonstrate the strength of the Lyngdal transmitter - easily the strongest DX of today.
97.6 NRK P1, Lyngdal 1835 11-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/ybd52nbleu33d7v5xitr
102.0 Radio Norge, Lyngdal 1842 11-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/ztw6jxl7p7eddfg2uurd
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
Tuesday, 10 December 2013
Skegness Log: 10-12-13 (FM)
Band 2 Tropospheric:
88.0 1040 F Frequence Horizon, Béthune-Lens/Bouvigny-Boyeffles CV11 (62) ID 344km
88.2 1059 F Radio Classique, Lille/Fort de Mons-en-Baroeul (59) Classical, as web.Mixing Roermond 339km
89.2 1101 F RTL 2, Lille/Fort de Mons-en-Baroeul (59) Michael Jackson, as web 339km
105.5 1105 G Swindon 105.5, Swindon/Football Stadium (EN-WLT) Programme news and phone number 226km
89.6 1114 F RDL-Radio Dallas Loisirs, Saint-Omer/Racquinghem (62) Promo and ID 306km
90.5 1115 HOL SubLime FM, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) ID and slow pops 408km
91.1 1116 HOL Slam!FM, Hilversum/Media Park-Alticom (nho) Rap, ID and promo 342km
91.2 1118 F Contact, Abbeville/Behen Blockhaus (80) Ad break, as web 358km
91.4 1118 F Contact, Lille/Mons-en-Baroeul 2 (59) Ad break, then as 91.2 338km
91.6 1120 HOL Radio Veronica, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) ID between pops 321km
92.0 1121 F Virgin Radio, Lille/Fort de Mons-en-Baroeul (59) ID after rock song 339km
92.1 1126 G Desire FM, London pirate ID and lively dance music
92.2 1128 G Metro Love Radio, London pirate Reggae, as web
92.8 1130 F NRJ, Béthune/Fresnicourt-le-Dolmen (62) French pop song, as web 341km
93.4 1132 HOL Radio Rijnmond, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) YLs nattering, as web 313km
93.8 1135 F Contact, Saint-Omer/Tatinghem (62) ID and pops 297km
94.2 1138 F Europe 1, Saint-Omer/Wisques (62) Interview, as web 299km
96.5 1146 G WBLS, London pirate Ghanaian phone in about Ghana and Nelson Mandela
97.2 1149 F RFM, Saint-Omer/Wisques (62) IDs after pops 299km
98.4 1216 F RTL, Dieppe/la Côte Enragée (76) Phone caller, as web 364km
99.0 1221 F RPL 99FM, Lille/Lambersart (59) Very bangin toons with lots of bass 334km
99.2 1225 F RTL 2, Calais/Mont d'Hubert (62) U2s Mysterious Ways, as web 266km
99.8 1226 F Mona FM, Lille/Fort de Mons-en-Baroeul (59) French song, as web 339km
101.8 1235 G Naija FM, London pirate Presidential speeches, as Tune In stream **
101.6 1240 F RFM, Boulogne-sur-Mer/Mont Lambert (62) Sting song, as web 285km
102.3 1242 F NRJ, Saint-Omer/Wisques (62) Ad break, as web 299km
102.5 1243 F RFM, Calais/Mont d'Hubert (62) French pops song, as web 266km
104.0 1248 BEL Bel RTL, Bruxelles/The Hotel (bru) OM and music, as web 378km
87.6 1252 F RTL, Béthune-Lens/Bouvigny-Boyeffles (62) OM, as 87.7 343km
107.5 1253 HOL Scheldemond FM, Oostburg/Watertoren (zee) Carpenters song, as web 296km
90.0 1318 HOL 100% NL, Loon op Zand/Alticom Toren (nbr) Reggae track, as 90.2 366km
91.2 1325 F Contact, Abbeville/Behen Blockhaus (80) Bang bang bang bang! As 91.4 358km
91.8 1330 HOL FunX, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) ID and promos 313km
105.0 1405 HOL Origineel FM, Goes/Alticom Toren (zee) Cyndi Lauper and Roxy Music tracks, as web 303km
105.5 1408 HOL Scheldemond FM, Oostburg/Watertoren (zee) Elvis, as 107.5 296km
107.1 1432 F Rire et Chansons, Abbeville/Huchenneville (80) Phone in with humourous drop-ins, as web 359km
88.3 1648 BEL Q-Music, Oostvleteren/Elzendamme (vlg-wvl) ID in pile-up 295km
89.3 1649 HOL 89,3 Radio West, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) Temperature and ID 313km
93.3 1656 HOL Ujala Radio, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) In Dutch! Phone caller, as web 321km
95.9 1657 HOL Fresh FM, Alphen aan den Rijn/Alticom Toren (zho) Ad break, as web 313km
96.1 1659 HOL FunX, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) ID and news just before the hour 321km
98.4 1703 HOL FunX, Den Haag/Alticom Toren (zho) Weather and ID 296km
104.0 1723 HOL Radio 10, Haarlem/Alticom Toren (nho) Shakin Steven, as we 305km
89.0 2010 DNK DR P1/DR P2, Sønder Højrup/Sdr. Højrupvejen 21 (sdk-fyn) YL, as web 701km
89.6 2010 D NDR 1 Welle Nord, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) Earth and Fire song, as web 627km
87.6 2011 D NDR 2, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Pops, as web 650km
87.7 2011 D NDR Info, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) YL, as 87.9 627km
87.9 2012 D NDR Info, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) YL, as 87.7 599km
90.2 2015 D NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Classical, as web 477km
93.2 2018 D NDR 2, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) Pops, as web 627km
93.8 2019 D bremen eins, Bremen-Walle (bre) Garfunkels Bright Eyes, as web 565km
96.1 2020 D NDR Kultur, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) German OM, as web 627km
96.3 2021 D NDR 2, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) Pops, we web 599km
96.7 2023 D Funkhaus Europa, Bremen-Walle (bre) Pops and unidentified European language, as web 565km
97.8 2025 D NDR 2, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Boney M track, ID 477km
99.2 2027 D NDR Kultur, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Talking about a pianist, as web 650km
99.4 2028 D NDR Kultur, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) OM and piano, as 99.2 599km
99.8 2030 D NDR 2, Steinkimmen (nds) ID and pops 543km
100.2 2031 D R.SH, Bungsberg/DTAG-Turm (shs) Soft rock track, as web 695km
100.8 2031 D Bremen Vier, Schiffdorf [nds] (Bremerhaven) (bre) Soft pops, as web 554km
101.2 2032 D Bremen Vier, Bremen-Walle (bre) Soft pops, as 100.8 565km
101.4 2032 D R.SH, Flensburg Freienwill (shs) Soft rock track, as 100.2 626km
101.5 2037 HOL Sky Radio, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) Pops, as web 313km
101.6 2038 DNK R.24/7, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) OM and traffic sounds, as web 782km
101.8 2040 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Aurich (nds) Piano, as web 479km
102.1 2040 DNK R.24/7, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk-sjy) Car broadcast, as web 617km
102.3 2041 D Radio ffn, Steinkimmen (nds) Jingle ID and pops 543km
103.3 2042 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Flensburg Freienwill (shs) Semi classical music, as web 626km
103.9 2043 DNK Nova FM, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) Danish OM phone caller, as web 782km
104.1 2045 D delta radio, Bungsberg/DTAG-Turm (shs) Rock song, as web 695km
104.3 2045 D Energy Bremen, Schiffdorf [nds] (Bremerhaven) (bre) German song, as web 554km
104.9 2047 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) Billy Idol song then ID 479km
104.6 2048 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Cuxhaven Otterndorf (nds) OM phone caller, as 104.9 571km
105.1 2049 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Rosengarten-Langenrehm (nds) ID and pops 635km
105.6 2050 D delta radio, Flensburg Freienwill (shs) Rock, as web 626km
105.7 2050 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) Pops, as 105.1 543km
105.9 2051 D delta radio, Kiel/Fernsehturm (shs) Rock song, as 105.6 657km
106.4 2052 D NDR 1 Welle Nord, Neumünster Armstedt (shs) POps, as web 636km
106.8 2053 D alster radio 106!8, Hamburg-Rahlstedt (ham) Pink song, as web 657km
107.1 2053 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Bremen-Walle (bre) Classical 565km
107.4 2054 D delta radio, Kaltenkirchen (shs) Rap song! As web 647km
107.7 2055 D Deutschlandradio Kultur, Cuxhaven Otterndorf (nds) Gentle string music, as web 571km
98.8 2124 D NDR Kultur, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) OM, as web 526km
101.6 2126 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Cuxhaven Otterndorf (nds) Opera, as web 571km
103.1 2128 D Radio ffn, Aurich (nds) Pops, as web 479km
103.2 2128 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Rosengarten-Langenrehm (nds) R and B song, as web 635km
103.6 2129 D Radio Hamburg, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) ID and ads 650km
90.3 2131 D NDR 90,3, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Christmas R and B song, as web 650km
90.5 2132 D NDR 1 Welle Nord, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) YL, as 90.3 599km
91.1 2132 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) Soft pops, as web 543km
94.4 2134 D NDR Kultur, Steinkimmen (nds) Classical, as web 543km
95.4 2137 D Nordwestradio, Schiffdorf [nds] (Bremerhaven) (bre) Gentle song, as web 554km
95.8 2153 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) German song 479km
96.4 2154 D NDR Info, Aurich (nds) Gentle song, as web 479km
98.1 2156 D NDR 2, Aurich (nds) Pops, as 87.6 479km
102.0 2158 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Lingen-Damaschke (nds) YL, as 101.8 477km
102.8 2202 D R.SH, Westerland (Sylt) (shs) Laura Branigans Gloria, jingle ID 557km
105.3 2206 D NDR Info, Schwerin (mev) Pops, as web 740km
89.2 2213 D NDR 2, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) Pops, as 87.6 526km
92.2 2332 F Fun Radio, Dunkerque/le Banc Vert (59) Phone callers, as web 275km
93.0 2335 HOL Radio 10, Westdorpe/Verkavelingsweg (zee) Oldies, Vocal jingle ID 323km
93.3 2336 HOL Radio 10, Breskens/Graansilo Vissershaven (zee) Pops, as 93.0 295km **
101.3 2345 F NRJ, Dunkerque/le Banc Vert (59) Phone caller, as web 275km
** Personal Skegness 'First'
Tropo began here quite abruptly at 10:40 with northern France and coastal Belgium suddenly lifting to fair levels. Several transmitters reached RDS level, most notably the regulars such as Egem, Tournai and Lille.
Holland joined in with some good signals by mid afternoon, but it wasn't until after 20:00 that Germany participated, chiefly with stations from the Schleswig-Holstein and Niedersachsen regions, though Nordrhein Westfalen was also in attendance with some of the more regular transmitters like Teutoburger Wald, Langenburg and Aachen. Virtually all German signals were either weak or very weak/noisy.
Germany had faded by late evening and northern France and coastal Belgium took over once more to round off the day's DX, but even these signals had mostly disappeared by midnight.
I wouldn't say the levels of DX have matched the predicted tropo conditions, certainly not in terms of anticipated signal levels, but hopefully there will be more to come in the next couple of days.
Recordings:
105.0 Origineel FM, Goes 1629 10-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/ijalf8feft5u1hablkni
89.3 Radio West, Rotterdam 1731 10-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/o2jsvkxstpwykpxcsmje
106.9 Skyrock, St Omer 1635 10-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/ansp6iylf3wu6880x71p
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
88.0 1040 F Frequence Horizon, Béthune-Lens/Bouvigny-Boyeffles CV11 (62) ID 344km
88.2 1059 F Radio Classique, Lille/Fort de Mons-en-Baroeul (59) Classical, as web.Mixing Roermond 339km
89.2 1101 F RTL 2, Lille/Fort de Mons-en-Baroeul (59) Michael Jackson, as web 339km
105.5 1105 G Swindon 105.5, Swindon/Football Stadium (EN-WLT) Programme news and phone number 226km
89.6 1114 F RDL-Radio Dallas Loisirs, Saint-Omer/Racquinghem (62) Promo and ID 306km
90.5 1115 HOL SubLime FM, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) ID and slow pops 408km
91.1 1116 HOL Slam!FM, Hilversum/Media Park-Alticom (nho) Rap, ID and promo 342km
91.2 1118 F Contact, Abbeville/Behen Blockhaus (80) Ad break, as web 358km
91.4 1118 F Contact, Lille/Mons-en-Baroeul 2 (59) Ad break, then as 91.2 338km
91.6 1120 HOL Radio Veronica, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) ID between pops 321km
92.0 1121 F Virgin Radio, Lille/Fort de Mons-en-Baroeul (59) ID after rock song 339km
92.1 1126 G Desire FM, London pirate ID and lively dance music
92.2 1128 G Metro Love Radio, London pirate Reggae, as web
92.8 1130 F NRJ, Béthune/Fresnicourt-le-Dolmen (62) French pop song, as web 341km
93.4 1132 HOL Radio Rijnmond, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) YLs nattering, as web 313km
93.8 1135 F Contact, Saint-Omer/Tatinghem (62) ID and pops 297km
94.2 1138 F Europe 1, Saint-Omer/Wisques (62) Interview, as web 299km
96.5 1146 G WBLS, London pirate Ghanaian phone in about Ghana and Nelson Mandela
97.2 1149 F RFM, Saint-Omer/Wisques (62) IDs after pops 299km
98.4 1216 F RTL, Dieppe/la Côte Enragée (76) Phone caller, as web 364km
99.0 1221 F RPL 99FM, Lille/Lambersart (59) Very bangin toons with lots of bass 334km
99.2 1225 F RTL 2, Calais/Mont d'Hubert (62) U2s Mysterious Ways, as web 266km
99.8 1226 F Mona FM, Lille/Fort de Mons-en-Baroeul (59) French song, as web 339km
101.8 1235 G Naija FM, London pirate Presidential speeches, as Tune In stream **
101.6 1240 F RFM, Boulogne-sur-Mer/Mont Lambert (62) Sting song, as web 285km
102.3 1242 F NRJ, Saint-Omer/Wisques (62) Ad break, as web 299km
102.5 1243 F RFM, Calais/Mont d'Hubert (62) French pops song, as web 266km
104.0 1248 BEL Bel RTL, Bruxelles/The Hotel (bru) OM and music, as web 378km
87.6 1252 F RTL, Béthune-Lens/Bouvigny-Boyeffles (62) OM, as 87.7 343km
107.5 1253 HOL Scheldemond FM, Oostburg/Watertoren (zee) Carpenters song, as web 296km
90.0 1318 HOL 100% NL, Loon op Zand/Alticom Toren (nbr) Reggae track, as 90.2 366km
91.2 1325 F Contact, Abbeville/Behen Blockhaus (80) Bang bang bang bang! As 91.4 358km
91.8 1330 HOL FunX, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) ID and promos 313km
105.0 1405 HOL Origineel FM, Goes/Alticom Toren (zee) Cyndi Lauper and Roxy Music tracks, as web 303km
105.5 1408 HOL Scheldemond FM, Oostburg/Watertoren (zee) Elvis, as 107.5 296km
107.1 1432 F Rire et Chansons, Abbeville/Huchenneville (80) Phone in with humourous drop-ins, as web 359km
88.3 1648 BEL Q-Music, Oostvleteren/Elzendamme (vlg-wvl) ID in pile-up 295km
89.3 1649 HOL 89,3 Radio West, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) Temperature and ID 313km
93.3 1656 HOL Ujala Radio, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) In Dutch! Phone caller, as web 321km
95.9 1657 HOL Fresh FM, Alphen aan den Rijn/Alticom Toren (zho) Ad break, as web 313km
96.1 1659 HOL FunX, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) ID and news just before the hour 321km
98.4 1703 HOL FunX, Den Haag/Alticom Toren (zho) Weather and ID 296km
104.0 1723 HOL Radio 10, Haarlem/Alticom Toren (nho) Shakin Steven, as we 305km
89.0 2010 DNK DR P1/DR P2, Sønder Højrup/Sdr. Højrupvejen 21 (sdk-fyn) YL, as web 701km
89.6 2010 D NDR 1 Welle Nord, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) Earth and Fire song, as web 627km
87.6 2011 D NDR 2, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Pops, as web 650km
87.7 2011 D NDR Info, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) YL, as 87.9 627km
87.9 2012 D NDR Info, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) YL, as 87.7 599km
90.2 2015 D NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Classical, as web 477km
93.2 2018 D NDR 2, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) Pops, as web 627km
93.8 2019 D bremen eins, Bremen-Walle (bre) Garfunkels Bright Eyes, as web 565km
96.1 2020 D NDR Kultur, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) German OM, as web 627km
96.3 2021 D NDR 2, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) Pops, we web 599km
96.7 2023 D Funkhaus Europa, Bremen-Walle (bre) Pops and unidentified European language, as web 565km
97.8 2025 D NDR 2, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Boney M track, ID 477km
99.2 2027 D NDR Kultur, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Talking about a pianist, as web 650km
99.4 2028 D NDR Kultur, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) OM and piano, as 99.2 599km
99.8 2030 D NDR 2, Steinkimmen (nds) ID and pops 543km
100.2 2031 D R.SH, Bungsberg/DTAG-Turm (shs) Soft rock track, as web 695km
100.8 2031 D Bremen Vier, Schiffdorf [nds] (Bremerhaven) (bre) Soft pops, as web 554km
101.2 2032 D Bremen Vier, Bremen-Walle (bre) Soft pops, as 100.8 565km
101.4 2032 D R.SH, Flensburg Freienwill (shs) Soft rock track, as 100.2 626km
101.5 2037 HOL Sky Radio, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) Pops, as web 313km
101.6 2038 DNK R.24/7, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) OM and traffic sounds, as web 782km
101.8 2040 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Aurich (nds) Piano, as web 479km
102.1 2040 DNK R.24/7, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk-sjy) Car broadcast, as web 617km
102.3 2041 D Radio ffn, Steinkimmen (nds) Jingle ID and pops 543km
103.3 2042 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Flensburg Freienwill (shs) Semi classical music, as web 626km
103.9 2043 DNK Nova FM, Næstved - Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) Danish OM phone caller, as web 782km
104.1 2045 D delta radio, Bungsberg/DTAG-Turm (shs) Rock song, as web 695km
104.3 2045 D Energy Bremen, Schiffdorf [nds] (Bremerhaven) (bre) German song, as web 554km
104.9 2047 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) Billy Idol song then ID 479km
104.6 2048 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Cuxhaven Otterndorf (nds) OM phone caller, as 104.9 571km
105.1 2049 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Rosengarten-Langenrehm (nds) ID and pops 635km
105.6 2050 D delta radio, Flensburg Freienwill (shs) Rock, as web 626km
105.7 2050 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) Pops, as 105.1 543km
105.9 2051 D delta radio, Kiel/Fernsehturm (shs) Rock song, as 105.6 657km
106.4 2052 D NDR 1 Welle Nord, Neumünster Armstedt (shs) POps, as web 636km
106.8 2053 D alster radio 106!8, Hamburg-Rahlstedt (ham) Pink song, as web 657km
107.1 2053 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Bremen-Walle (bre) Classical 565km
107.4 2054 D delta radio, Kaltenkirchen (shs) Rap song! As web 647km
107.7 2055 D Deutschlandradio Kultur, Cuxhaven Otterndorf (nds) Gentle string music, as web 571km
98.8 2124 D NDR Kultur, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) OM, as web 526km
101.6 2126 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Cuxhaven Otterndorf (nds) Opera, as web 571km
103.1 2128 D Radio ffn, Aurich (nds) Pops, as web 479km
103.2 2128 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Rosengarten-Langenrehm (nds) R and B song, as web 635km
103.6 2129 D Radio Hamburg, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) ID and ads 650km
90.3 2131 D NDR 90,3, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Christmas R and B song, as web 650km
90.5 2132 D NDR 1 Welle Nord, Heide Welmbüttel (shs) YL, as 90.3 599km
91.1 2132 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) Soft pops, as web 543km
94.4 2134 D NDR Kultur, Steinkimmen (nds) Classical, as web 543km
95.4 2137 D Nordwestradio, Schiffdorf [nds] (Bremerhaven) (bre) Gentle song, as web 554km
95.8 2153 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) German song 479km
96.4 2154 D NDR Info, Aurich (nds) Gentle song, as web 479km
98.1 2156 D NDR 2, Aurich (nds) Pops, as 87.6 479km
102.0 2158 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Lingen-Damaschke (nds) YL, as 101.8 477km
102.8 2202 D R.SH, Westerland (Sylt) (shs) Laura Branigans Gloria, jingle ID 557km
105.3 2206 D NDR Info, Schwerin (mev) Pops, as web 740km
89.2 2213 D NDR 2, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) Pops, as 87.6 526km
92.2 2332 F Fun Radio, Dunkerque/le Banc Vert (59) Phone callers, as web 275km
93.0 2335 HOL Radio 10, Westdorpe/Verkavelingsweg (zee) Oldies, Vocal jingle ID 323km
93.3 2336 HOL Radio 10, Breskens/Graansilo Vissershaven (zee) Pops, as 93.0 295km **
101.3 2345 F NRJ, Dunkerque/le Banc Vert (59) Phone caller, as web 275km
** Personal Skegness 'First'
Tropo began here quite abruptly at 10:40 with northern France and coastal Belgium suddenly lifting to fair levels. Several transmitters reached RDS level, most notably the regulars such as Egem, Tournai and Lille.
Holland joined in with some good signals by mid afternoon, but it wasn't until after 20:00 that Germany participated, chiefly with stations from the Schleswig-Holstein and Niedersachsen regions, though Nordrhein Westfalen was also in attendance with some of the more regular transmitters like Teutoburger Wald, Langenburg and Aachen. Virtually all German signals were either weak or very weak/noisy.
Germany had faded by late evening and northern France and coastal Belgium took over once more to round off the day's DX, but even these signals had mostly disappeared by midnight.
I wouldn't say the levels of DX have matched the predicted tropo conditions, certainly not in terms of anticipated signal levels, but hopefully there will be more to come in the next couple of days.
Recordings:
105.0 Origineel FM, Goes 1629 10-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/ijalf8feft5u1hablkni
89.3 Radio West, Rotterdam 1731 10-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/o2jsvkxstpwykpxcsmje
106.9 Skyrock, St Omer 1635 10-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/ansp6iylf3wu6880x71p
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
Friday, 6 December 2013
Skegness Log: 06-12-13 (MW)
972 1400 KOR HLCA KBS
Hanminjok Bangsong 1, Dangjin (ccg) Time signal, music and OM.
Almost equal levels Germany at times. Weak 8740 km
1017 1400 J JOLB NHK2, Fukuoka (kyu-fuk) Presumed. Japanese time signal. Almost
certainly JOLB. Too weak for ID. Mixing weaker CRI. V weak 9242 km
1278 1400 CHN UNID CNR station. Distinctive three slower Chinese pips, as heard on
Scandinavian files. Not heard here before. V weak
1323 1400 CHN China Radio Int., Ürümqi/Hutubi-SARFT654 (XJ) Interval signal V weak 6041 km
1413 1400 J JOIF KBC-Kyushu Asahi Hoso, Fukuoka (kyu-fuk) Presumed. Clear time signal
but squashed by Premier Christian Radio. Japanese OM underneath, V weak
9225 km **
JOLB is likely. The signal was too weak for an ID but I don't see anything else it could really be. Listening to Scandinavian Perseus files also shows this and CRI to be the regulars on 1017.
While scanning around the band on the Scandinavian files I have I noticed a slight variation of the The Chinese time signal on 1278. Instead of six pips, with the sixth pip being an octave higher, this one was three pips, with the third still an octave higher. A Beijing ID was heard on the Scandinavian file. I noticed this for the first time here today. It was too weak to hear any vocals and I wouldn't even like to guess the site, but it's another one to watch out for at least.
** Personal Skegness First
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
Receiver: Perseus SDR
Antenna: 10ft x 25ft flag at 15 degrees
Software: Perseus v4.1a; HDSDR v2.63; Mestor
Almost equal levels Germany at times. Weak 8740 km
1017 1400 J JOLB NHK2, Fukuoka (kyu-fuk) Presumed. Japanese time signal. Almost
certainly JOLB. Too weak for ID. Mixing weaker CRI. V weak 9242 km
1278 1400 CHN UNID CNR station. Distinctive three slower Chinese pips, as heard on
Scandinavian files. Not heard here before. V weak
1323 1400 CHN China Radio Int., Ürümqi/Hutubi-SARFT654 (XJ) Interval signal V weak 6041 km
1413 1400 J JOIF KBC-Kyushu Asahi Hoso, Fukuoka (kyu-fuk) Presumed. Clear time signal
but squashed by Premier Christian Radio. Japanese OM underneath, V weak
9225 km **
JOLB is likely. The signal was too weak for an ID but I don't see anything else it could really be. Listening to Scandinavian Perseus files also shows this and CRI to be the regulars on 1017.
While scanning around the band on the Scandinavian files I have I noticed a slight variation of the The Chinese time signal on 1278. Instead of six pips, with the sixth pip being an octave higher, this one was three pips, with the third still an octave higher. A Beijing ID was heard on the Scandinavian file. I noticed this for the first time here today. It was too weak to hear any vocals and I wouldn't even like to guess the site, but it's another one to watch out for at least.
** Personal Skegness First
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
Receiver: Perseus SDR
Antenna: 10ft x 25ft flag at 15 degrees
Software: Perseus v4.1a; HDSDR v2.63; Mestor
Flooding, Nelson Mandela & Our Evil Government
It's been a very rough day in Skegness. Severe winds gusting to 70 mph (112 kmph) have literally battered the coastline causing a lot of damage, though we seemed to get away with the worst of it. Some towns and villages around here had to be evacuated. Most notably was the town of Boston where 18,000 people were told to leave their homes.
Obviously I was concerned about my FM antenna mast coming down but I am thankful to report that it didn't. The weight of this structure is about 75 kilos with the thick aluminium pole and the heavy duty rotator. Fingers crossed this stays up but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't. Some large trees were snapped just around the corner from here though.
What was of more concern today was the threat to life as weather forecasters predicted a large tidal surge of similar proportions to the storm which flooded Skegness in 1953. Severe "Red Alert" weather warnings and flood alerts existed across the east coast from Yorkshire down to Essex and they're not over yet.
The winds abated by early evening but the tidal surge was expected to cause flooding here around 6:45 to 7:30 pm. Curiosity got the better of me and I took my camera out to the sea front to see what was happening. The police had closed lots of roads along the sea front so it was difficult to get a clear picture of what was happening, but having seen local photos on Facebook depicting minor flooding I realised that the sea defenses had been breached.
The damage turned out to be 'relatively' minor here, though pathways have been torn up and there is flood damage to a few sea front properties. The real damage was down the coast in Boston, some 20 miles from here. BBC Radio Lincolnshire was reporting that much of the town centre was under two feet (more than half a metre) of water.
We're not out of the woods yet as more tidal surges are expected over the next 24 hours but hopefully the worst has passed.
I'll finish this off with a little grumble. This evening I learnt that Nelson Mandela had passed away. Obviously this is very sad news. I must point out that I do not wish to be disrespectful towards Nelson Mandela and all those concerned with his passing, but it really pisses me off big time how all the television news channels, including the BBC and ITV regional networks, suddenly stopped their coverage of the local flooding situation and gave us something which is not important to us locally, especially at a time when we need as much local information as possible about something which is far more important to us and potentially life-threatening.
Plus it has been the perfect day for this evil government of ours to bury all their bad news which we should be hearing about.
Obviously I was concerned about my FM antenna mast coming down but I am thankful to report that it didn't. The weight of this structure is about 75 kilos with the thick aluminium pole and the heavy duty rotator. Fingers crossed this stays up but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't. Some large trees were snapped just around the corner from here though.
What was of more concern today was the threat to life as weather forecasters predicted a large tidal surge of similar proportions to the storm which flooded Skegness in 1953. Severe "Red Alert" weather warnings and flood alerts existed across the east coast from Yorkshire down to Essex and they're not over yet.
The winds abated by early evening but the tidal surge was expected to cause flooding here around 6:45 to 7:30 pm. Curiosity got the better of me and I took my camera out to the sea front to see what was happening. The police had closed lots of roads along the sea front so it was difficult to get a clear picture of what was happening, but having seen local photos on Facebook depicting minor flooding I realised that the sea defenses had been breached.
The damage turned out to be 'relatively' minor here, though pathways have been torn up and there is flood damage to a few sea front properties. The real damage was down the coast in Boston, some 20 miles from here. BBC Radio Lincolnshire was reporting that much of the town centre was under two feet (more than half a metre) of water.
We're not out of the woods yet as more tidal surges are expected over the next 24 hours but hopefully the worst has passed.
I'll finish this off with a little grumble. This evening I learnt that Nelson Mandela had passed away. Obviously this is very sad news. I must point out that I do not wish to be disrespectful towards Nelson Mandela and all those concerned with his passing, but it really pisses me off big time how all the television news channels, including the BBC and ITV regional networks, suddenly stopped their coverage of the local flooding situation and gave us something which is not important to us locally, especially at a time when we need as much local information as possible about something which is far more important to us and potentially life-threatening.
Plus it has been the perfect day for this evil government of ours to bury all their bad news which we should be hearing about.
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Skegness Log: 03-12-13 (FM)
Band 2 Tropospheric:
88.4 0622 D Bayern 2, Pfaffenberg (bay) German YL, as web 713km
89.5 0624 D Bayern 2, Wendelstein (bay) OMs talk, as web 1024km
89.9 0625 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Weinbiet (rlp) Dirty Dancing theme, as web 686km
90.6 0626 D hr1, Hardberg (hes) Pops, as web 712km
90.8 0628 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Bornberg (rlp) OM and music, as web 640km
91.4 0630 D Bayern 1, Büttelberg (bay) YL and OM, as web 813km
91.8 0631 D SWR2, Raichberg (bwü) YL, as web 813km
92.8 0632 D SWR3, Bad Marienberg (rlp) ID and traffic 592km
93.4 0633 D Bayern 3, Pfaffenberg (bay) ID and YL traffic 713km
101.2 0635 D hr3, Habichtswald (hes) OM info, as web 647km
99.0 0636 AUT Hitradio Ö3, Salzburg 1/Gaisberg (ORS) (sal) Pops, as web 1081km
95.3 0639 D You FM (hr), Hardberg (hes) Soft rock track, as web 712km
97.8 0644 D SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Heidelberg/Königstuhl, SWR (bwü) OM ID and pops 717km
101.6 0655 D hr4, Hardberg (hes) Soft pops, as web 712km
102.9 0656 D RPR 1, Bad Marienberg (rlp) Show promo and ID 592km
104.1 0658 D SWR4 Baden-Württemberg, Heidelberg/Königstuhl, SWR (bwü) German song, as web
717km
104.8 0659 D hr1, Heidelstein (Rhön) [bay] (hes) Promo and jingle ID 729km
104.9 0700 D big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Ahrweiler/Schöneberg (rlp) Pops and ID 554km
105.3 0701 D B5 aktuell, Kreuzberg (Rhön) (bay) YL and OM news, as web 733km
106.8 0704 D Hit Radio FFH, Driedorf/Höllberg (hes) Katy Perry song, as web 605km
99.0 0719 D hr1, Hoher Meißner (hes) ID and Hues Corporation song 684km
103.7 1201 D Radio 7, Aalen/Braunenberg (bwü) Talking about banks, ID 835km **
91.1 1206 D SWR2, Aalen/Braunenberg (bwü) YL and classical music, as web 835km
107.1 1208 D Radio TON Ostwürttemberg, Aalen/Braunenberg (bwü) Pops, as web 835km
107.6 1209 D B5 aktuell, Hühnerberg (bay) OM ID 871km
107.8 1211 D 107.8 Antenne AC, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Pops, a web 484km
105.7 1213 D B5 aktuell, Wendelstein (bay) OM ID 1024km
103.6 1214 D RPR 1, Kalmit (rlp) YL ID and pops 687km
102.6 1216 D RPR 1, Saarburg/Geisberg (rlp) Pops, as 103.5 103.6 586km **
100.4 1218 D Radio Regenbogen, Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) Robbie Williams, as web 748km
98.4 1219 D SWR3, Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) Pops and YL ID 748km
92.1 1223 D NDR 2, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) YL song, as web 707km
106.3 1258 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) OM, as web 748km
106.4 1259 D B5 aktuell, Pfaffenberg (bay) OM, as web 713km **
107.7 1302 LUX Den Neie Radio (DNR), Blaschette/Kandel (gld) ID after news, then pops 557km
103.1 1312 D RPR 1, Bornberg (rlp) Warbling Whitney Houston, as web 640km
103.0 1313 D Antenne Bayern, Pfaffenberg (bay) Jack Michaelson, as web 713km
96.1 1320 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Koblenz/Dieblich-Naßheck (rlp) Light pops 591km
89.0 1330 D SWR4 Baden-Württemberg, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) German OM talking over music,
as web 834km **
88.2 1338 D Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) YL, as web 813km
107.6 2021 D Antenne Thüringen, Remda (Saalfeld) (thü) German YL song, as web 789km
107.8 2022 D MDR Figaro, Brocken (san) Discordant classical music, as web 713km
106.3 2024 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Torfhaus/DTAG (nds) Rock song, as web 707km
103.2 2026 D hr4, Habichtswald (hes) Piano pop, as web 647km
** Personal Skegness 'First'
The final stages of the tropo, which persisted throughout the day, increasing and subsiding, moving around slightly. Signals were mostly poor but noise free.
The day started with the last strands of Salzburg on 99.0, then conditions slowly moved to Nordrhein-Westfalen where the strongest signals were. Rheinland Pfalz was still up and down and a sprinkling of Bavarians topped things off nicely. Teutoburger Wald increased as the afternoon wore on and became the strongest German of the whole opening, peaking to three XDR bars, and it was the last to leave, still audible at local midnight.
Checking the band at 5am on the 4th revealed a post-tropo flatness.
Recording:
103.7 Radio 7, Aalen 1201 03-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/ntdenjgq72hf07m5a46n
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
88.4 0622 D Bayern 2, Pfaffenberg (bay) German YL, as web 713km
89.5 0624 D Bayern 2, Wendelstein (bay) OMs talk, as web 1024km
89.9 0625 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Weinbiet (rlp) Dirty Dancing theme, as web 686km
90.6 0626 D hr1, Hardberg (hes) Pops, as web 712km
90.8 0628 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Bornberg (rlp) OM and music, as web 640km
91.4 0630 D Bayern 1, Büttelberg (bay) YL and OM, as web 813km
91.8 0631 D SWR2, Raichberg (bwü) YL, as web 813km
92.8 0632 D SWR3, Bad Marienberg (rlp) ID and traffic 592km
93.4 0633 D Bayern 3, Pfaffenberg (bay) ID and YL traffic 713km
101.2 0635 D hr3, Habichtswald (hes) OM info, as web 647km
99.0 0636 AUT Hitradio Ö3, Salzburg 1/Gaisberg (ORS) (sal) Pops, as web 1081km
95.3 0639 D You FM (hr), Hardberg (hes) Soft rock track, as web 712km
97.8 0644 D SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Heidelberg/Königstuhl, SWR (bwü) OM ID and pops 717km
101.6 0655 D hr4, Hardberg (hes) Soft pops, as web 712km
102.9 0656 D RPR 1, Bad Marienberg (rlp) Show promo and ID 592km
104.1 0658 D SWR4 Baden-Württemberg, Heidelberg/Königstuhl, SWR (bwü) German song, as web
717km
104.8 0659 D hr1, Heidelstein (Rhön) [bay] (hes) Promo and jingle ID 729km
104.9 0700 D big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Ahrweiler/Schöneberg (rlp) Pops and ID 554km
105.3 0701 D B5 aktuell, Kreuzberg (Rhön) (bay) YL and OM news, as web 733km
106.8 0704 D Hit Radio FFH, Driedorf/Höllberg (hes) Katy Perry song, as web 605km
99.0 0719 D hr1, Hoher Meißner (hes) ID and Hues Corporation song 684km
103.7 1201 D Radio 7, Aalen/Braunenberg (bwü) Talking about banks, ID 835km **
91.1 1206 D SWR2, Aalen/Braunenberg (bwü) YL and classical music, as web 835km
107.1 1208 D Radio TON Ostwürttemberg, Aalen/Braunenberg (bwü) Pops, as web 835km
107.6 1209 D B5 aktuell, Hühnerberg (bay) OM ID 871km
107.8 1211 D 107.8 Antenne AC, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Pops, a web 484km
105.7 1213 D B5 aktuell, Wendelstein (bay) OM ID 1024km
103.6 1214 D RPR 1, Kalmit (rlp) YL ID and pops 687km
102.6 1216 D RPR 1, Saarburg/Geisberg (rlp) Pops, as 103.5 103.6 586km **
100.4 1218 D Radio Regenbogen, Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) Robbie Williams, as web 748km
98.4 1219 D SWR3, Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) Pops and YL ID 748km
92.1 1223 D NDR 2, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) YL song, as web 707km
106.3 1258 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) OM, as web 748km
106.4 1259 D B5 aktuell, Pfaffenberg (bay) OM, as web 713km **
107.7 1302 LUX Den Neie Radio (DNR), Blaschette/Kandel (gld) ID after news, then pops 557km
103.1 1312 D RPR 1, Bornberg (rlp) Warbling Whitney Houston, as web 640km
103.0 1313 D Antenne Bayern, Pfaffenberg (bay) Jack Michaelson, as web 713km
96.1 1320 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Koblenz/Dieblich-Naßheck (rlp) Light pops 591km
89.0 1330 D SWR4 Baden-Württemberg, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) German OM talking over music,
as web 834km **
88.2 1338 D Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) YL, as web 813km
107.6 2021 D Antenne Thüringen, Remda (Saalfeld) (thü) German YL song, as web 789km
107.8 2022 D MDR Figaro, Brocken (san) Discordant classical music, as web 713km
106.3 2024 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Torfhaus/DTAG (nds) Rock song, as web 707km
103.2 2026 D hr4, Habichtswald (hes) Piano pop, as web 647km
** Personal Skegness 'First'
The final stages of the tropo, which persisted throughout the day, increasing and subsiding, moving around slightly. Signals were mostly poor but noise free.
The day started with the last strands of Salzburg on 99.0, then conditions slowly moved to Nordrhein-Westfalen where the strongest signals were. Rheinland Pfalz was still up and down and a sprinkling of Bavarians topped things off nicely. Teutoburger Wald increased as the afternoon wore on and became the strongest German of the whole opening, peaking to three XDR bars, and it was the last to leave, still audible at local midnight.
Checking the band at 5am on the 4th revealed a post-tropo flatness.
Recording:
103.7 Radio 7, Aalen 1201 03-12-13
https://app.box.com/s/ntdenjgq72hf07m5a46n
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
Monday, 2 December 2013
Skegness Log: 02-12-13 (FM)
Band 2 Tropospheric:
94.6 0036 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) Pops, as web 713km
105.9 0106 D Hit Radio FFH, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Pops, as web 648km
104.9 0107 D big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Ahrweiler/Schöneberg (rlp) Phone caller, as web 554km
104.0 0108 D big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Koblenz/Kühkopf (rlp) Phone caller, as 104.9 590km
102.5 0109 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) German song, as web 648km
103.6 0109 D RPR 1., Kalmit (rlp) Jazzy music, as web 687km
89.0 0111 D 89.0 RTL, Brocken (san) Pops, as web 713km
97.4 0113 D Deutschlandradio Kultur, Brocken (san) Relaxing guitar music, as web 713km
98.4 0114 D SWR3, Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) German pop, as web 748km
106.3 0115 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) German OM, as web 748km
100.4 0117 D Radio Regenbogen, Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) Pops, as web 748km
107.8 0129 D MDR Figaro, Brocken (san) Violin concerto, as web 713km
107.1 0131 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Haardtkopf (rlp) German song, as web 593km
101.0 0134 D WDR 2, Bärbelkreuz (Eifel) (nrw) Pops, as web 520km
105.5 0134 D WDR Eins Live, Bärbelkreuz (Eifel) (nrw) Indie song, as web 520km
101.3 0135 D ANTENNE 1, Stuttgart-Frauenkopf (bwü) Back to back pops, as web 790km **
102.3 0136 D AFN Stuttgart-The Eagle, Stuttgart-Frauenkopf (bwü) US accent in Lincs FM
splatter 790km
105.7 0144 D SWR2, Stuttgart/Hoher Bopser (bwü) Classical, as web 790km
94.0 0147 D SWR2, Koblenz/Dieblich-Naßheck (rlp) Classical, as web 591km
88.0 0153 D SR 1 Europawelle, Göttelborner Höhe (saa) Pops, as web 629km
95.3 0200 D You FM, Hardberg (hes) Black Eyed Peas song, as web 712km **
95.5 0203 D SR 3 Saarlandwelle, Göttelborner Höhe (saa) German OM, as web 629km
99.6 0206 D hr-info, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) German OM, as web 612km
101.4 0208 D Radio SAW, Brocken (san) Pops, as web 713km
87.6 0211 D hr3, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) German OM, as web 612km
104.3 0211 D hr4, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) Film song, as web 612km
89.9 0212 D NDR Kultur, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) Piano concerto, as web 707km
91.1 0213 F France Inter, Villers-Cotterêts/Fleury (02) French OMs, as 103.7 474km
91.5 0216 D MDR Jump, Brocken (san) Struggling against Holme Moss 713km
92.1 0216 D NDR 2, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) Pops, as web 707km
105.6 0218 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Donnersberg (rlp) YL song, as web 657km
106.9 0221 D B5 aktuell, Grünten (Allgäu) (bay) OM and YL, as web 942km
101.0 0222 D BR Klassik, Grünten (Allgäu) (bay) Piano music, as web 942km
90.7 0223 D Bayern 1, Grünten (Allgäu) (bay) Freaky chillout music, as web 942km
101.6 0228 D hr4, Hardberg (hes) Light pops, as web 712km
104.0 0238 D SWR4 Baden-Württemberg, Feldberg (Schwarzwald) (bwü) Jolly tune, as web. Briefly
over Koblenz 799km
93.8 0240 D SWR3, Feldberg (Schwarzwald) (bwü) Falcos Amadeus, as web 799km
107.8 0242 SUI RSI Rete Uno, Säntis (ar) Opera, as web 917km
105.7 0246 D B5 aktuell, Wendelstein (bay) ARD Infonacht, as web 1024km
102.3 0248 D BR Klassik, Wendelstein (bay) Classical, as web 1024km
98.5 0249 D SWR3, Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) Pops, as web 550km
89.5 0251 D Bayern 2, Wendelstein (bay) Classical, as web 1024km
92.0 0252 D SWR2, Donnersberg (rlp) Classical, as web 657km
107.3 0255 D SWR4 Baden-Württemberg, Raichberg (bwü) Beach Boys song, as web 813km
87.9 0300 D MDR Figaro, Inselsberg (thü) OM news, as web 739km
89.8 0303 D SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Feldberg (Schwarzwald) (bwü) OM news, as web 799km
90.6 0304 D hr1, Hardberg (hes) Presumed site. OM and traffic. Producing echo against another
ARD service 712km
91.8 0305 D SWR2, Raichberg (bwü) Opera, as web 813km
93.0 0306 D SWR2, Haardtkopf (rlp) Opera, as 91.8 593km
94.3 0307 D SWR3, Raichberg (bwü) Indie track, as web 813km
99.0 0310 D hr1, Hoher Meißner (hes) Madonna track, as web 684km
104.8 0313 D hr1, Heidelstein (Rhön) [bay] (hes) Nickelback song, as web 729km
105.6 0314 SUI Radio SRF 3, Säntis (ar) Pops, as web. One bar. Noise free stereo 917km
95.4 0316 SUI Radio SRF 2 Kultur, Säntis (ar) Classical, as web 917km
105.3 0321 D B5 aktuell, Kreuzberg (Rhön) (bay) YL, as web 733km
107.9 0321 D BR Klassik, Kreuzberg (Rhön) (bay) Classical, as web 733km
106.7 0322 D big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Kalmit (rlp) OM, as web, mixing with Langenberg 687km
91.7 0327 D MDR 1 Radio Thüringen, Sonneberg/Bleßberg (thü) Slow pops, as 94.6 793km
92.2 0327 D SWR3, Stuttgart/Hoher Bopser (bwü) Pops, as 94.3 790km
102.9 0336 D RPR 1., Bad Marienberg (rlp) Pops, as web 592km
107.6 0338 D big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Bornberg (rlp) Phone caller, as web 640km
107.2 0339 D SWR3, Kettrichhof (rlp) YL and pops, as web. Mixing Ederkpof 674km
99.9 0851 SUI RTS La Première, Säntis (ar) Echoey French OM, as web. Two bars, noise free 917km
91.0 0855 D hr1, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) OMs and music, as web 612km
91.1 0856 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) Abba, as web 550km
98.6 0900 F France Inter, Épinal/Bois de la Vierge (88) ID on the hour. Jingle, as web.
Briefly over Egem 704km
89.4 0901 F France Musique, Épinal/Bois de la Vierge (88) Classical and YL, as 88.7 704km **
98.7 0903 D AFN Wiesbaden-The Eagle, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) AP news 648km
99.0 0905 AUT Hitradio Ö3, Salzburg 1/Gaisberg (ORS) (sal) Briefly OM news, then pops, on
Hoher Meissner fade, as web 1081km
99.4 0907 F France Culture, Sarrebourg/le Donon (57) Thoughtful OM, as web 704km
100.6 0912 D RPR 1., Ober-Olm (rlp) YL song, as web 649km **
101.9 0917 D Antenne Bayern, Heidelstein (Rhon) (bay) Madonna song, as web 729km
102.1 0917 D RPR 1., Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) YL info over music, as web 550km
106.2 0926 D hr3, Heidelstein (Rhön) [bay] (hes) Grungy song, as web 729km
107.3 0927 D hr4, Heidelstein (Rhön) [bay] (hes) German YL song, as web 729km
107.7 0929 D Antenne Bayern, Hochries (bay) Promo for BB Radio Bayern then ID and weather
1034km
90.2 0937 D MDR Jump, Inselsberg (thü) German pop song, as web 739km
91.6 0938 D SWR3, Koblenz/Dieblich-Naßheck (rlp) Pops, as web 591km
92.6 0941 D SWR2, Blauen (bwü) Opera, as web 793km
100.4 0955 D Radio Regenbogen, Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) ID and ads. Two bars, noise free stereo
748km
103.4 1006 D Antenne 1, Raichberg (bwü) Pops, as web 813km
89.3 1013 D hr3, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Pops, as web. Holme Moss fade 648km
93.3 1016 F France Musique, Chaumont/Chalindrey (52) OM, as 88.7 694km
93.6 1018 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) French and German songs, as web
550km
94.8 1019 D SWR3, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) Pops, as 94.3
560km
97.2 1021 D Deutschlandradio Kultur, Inselsberg (thü) Gentla eong, as web 739km
97.4 1022 F France Musique, Verdun/Septsarges (55) OM and YL talk, as 98.0
548km
97.4 1022 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) German song, as web
560km
107.1 1031 D B5 aktuell, Ochsenkopf (bay) YL, as web. Over Haardtkopf 865km
107.6 1034 D B5 aktuell, Hühnerberg (bay) OM, as web 871km
105.0 1059 D Radio 7, Iberger Kugel (bwü) ID and news 923km
101.9 1212 D WDR 5, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) OM and YL, as web 484km
101.2 1216 D hr3, Habichtswald (hes) Cher song and ID 647km
99.8 1218 F France Inter, Metz/Luttange (57) OM on phone, as web 600km
106.8 1218 F France Info, Metz/Luttange (57) YL and OM, as 105.2 600km
106.6 1219 D big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) Pink song, over Smooth 550km
89.8 1225 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Bad Marienberg (rlp) Earth and Fire song, jingle ID 592km
89.9 1226 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Weinbiet (rlp) Pops and ID, as 89.8 686km
92.7 1239 D hr3, Hardberg (hes) Peeping over Sutton Coldfield with Duffy song, as web 712km
97.8 1244 D SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Heidelberg/Königstuhl, SWR (bwü) Billy Ocean song, as web
717km
98.7 1245 D SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Grünten (Allgäu) [bay] (bwü) Billy Ocean song, ID 942km
103.0 1248 D SWR3, Grünten (Allgäu) [bay] (bwü) Pops, as web 942km
103.4 1249 F France Info, Lyon/Mont Pilat (42) OM, as 105.2 917km
104.1 1259 D WDR 4, Olsberg (nrw) Adverts, as web 592km
92.8 1316 D SWR3, Bad Marienberg (rlp) OM ID and soft pops 592km
96.3 1321 D? UNID, ? Classical. German OM. No parallels found
94.4 1601 D hr1, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) OM news peaking above Swingate 648km
101.8 1606 D WDR 2, Ederkopf (nrw) ID after traffic. Jingle ID 593km
105.1 1607 D Hit Radio FFH, Hoher Meißner (hes) Jingle ID 684km
95.9 1912 D WDR 3, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) YL, as web, Coming up over Humberside 484km
93.9 1915 D WDR 4, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Rock and roll, as web 484km
95.4 1916 D SWR2, Bad Marienberg (rlp) OM and YL, as web 592km
106.8 2100 D Hit Radio FFH, Driedorf/Höllberg (hes) Jingle ID 605km
90.0 2249 D SWR3, Haardtkopf (rlp) Pops, as web 593km
91.5 2251 BEL RTBF Vivacité, Léglise/Vlessart (wal-lux) French song, as web 524km
93.3 2253 LUX RTL Radio, Dudelange/Ginsterberg (gld) Jingle ID between pops 574km
90.6 2257 D SWR3, Saarburg/Geisberg (rlp) Pops, as web 586km
93.8 2257 D SWR2, Saarburg/Geisberg (rlp) YL talk, as web 586km
97.7 2300 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Haardtkopf (rlp) YL new, as web. Over Manningtree 593km
100.1 2302 D RPR 1., Haardtkopf (rlp) ID after news. Over Sutton coldfield 593km
103.2 2305 BEL NRJ, Léglise/Vlessart (wal-lux) Phone caller, as web 524km **
106.9 2309 D Radio Euskirchen, Schleiden/Broicher Höhe (nrw) Lively pops, as web 515km
Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
91.4 1200 CZE Radio Impuls, Plzen/Krasov (PL) YL news, as web 947km **
91.4 1200 HOL Radio 4, Markelo/Alticom Toren (ove) Short ME burst following Plzen 425km **
** Personal Skegness 'First' via the respective mode
December 2nd saw a weak but widespread tropo which brought in a few new catches here. The Salzburg transmitter put in yet another appearance!
One thing which has amazed me over the last year is the regularity of the reception of the FM3 Salzburg transmitter on 99.0 via tropo. It wasn't that long ago that popular discussions about the limits of tropospheric reception in the UK questioned whether we would ever receive Austrian tropo. Suddenly, about a year ago, there it was, and it has been a fairly regular occurrence ever since! "Fairly regular", that is, compared to the lack of the same reception prior to this.
The meteor scatter loggings came by accident and an interesting catch came in the form of Holland. I had to leave the tropo for about half an hour around midday and I noticed that the German reception area was nearing the Czech border. So I left WaveLab recording 91.4 while I was away from the receiver, hoping that Radio Impuls from Plzen would appear. It did! But not via tropo. I recorded 91.4 on the left channel and Radio Impuls's web stream on the right channel so I could make comparisons with anything which appeared on the recording. When I played it back I discovered a large meteor burst with Radio Impuls clearly bursting through and in parallel with the web stream. I could also hear the Dutch Radio 4 on 91.4 and immediately after Plzen had crumbled away I heard the same Dutch OM as per Radio 4 off-air replace Plzen. This is 425 km meteor scatter!
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
94.6 0036 D MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) Pops, as web 713km
105.9 0106 D Hit Radio FFH, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Pops, as web 648km
104.9 0107 D big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Ahrweiler/Schöneberg (rlp) Phone caller, as web 554km
104.0 0108 D big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Koblenz/Kühkopf (rlp) Phone caller, as 104.9 590km
102.5 0109 D hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) German song, as web 648km
103.6 0109 D RPR 1., Kalmit (rlp) Jazzy music, as web 687km
89.0 0111 D 89.0 RTL, Brocken (san) Pops, as web 713km
97.4 0113 D Deutschlandradio Kultur, Brocken (san) Relaxing guitar music, as web 713km
98.4 0114 D SWR3, Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) German pop, as web 748km
106.3 0115 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) German OM, as web 748km
100.4 0117 D Radio Regenbogen, Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) Pops, as web 748km
107.8 0129 D MDR Figaro, Brocken (san) Violin concerto, as web 713km
107.1 0131 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Haardtkopf (rlp) German song, as web 593km
101.0 0134 D WDR 2, Bärbelkreuz (Eifel) (nrw) Pops, as web 520km
105.5 0134 D WDR Eins Live, Bärbelkreuz (Eifel) (nrw) Indie song, as web 520km
101.3 0135 D ANTENNE 1, Stuttgart-Frauenkopf (bwü) Back to back pops, as web 790km **
102.3 0136 D AFN Stuttgart-The Eagle, Stuttgart-Frauenkopf (bwü) US accent in Lincs FM
splatter 790km
105.7 0144 D SWR2, Stuttgart/Hoher Bopser (bwü) Classical, as web 790km
94.0 0147 D SWR2, Koblenz/Dieblich-Naßheck (rlp) Classical, as web 591km
88.0 0153 D SR 1 Europawelle, Göttelborner Höhe (saa) Pops, as web 629km
95.3 0200 D You FM, Hardberg (hes) Black Eyed Peas song, as web 712km **
95.5 0203 D SR 3 Saarlandwelle, Göttelborner Höhe (saa) German OM, as web 629km
99.6 0206 D hr-info, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) German OM, as web 612km
101.4 0208 D Radio SAW, Brocken (san) Pops, as web 713km
87.6 0211 D hr3, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) German OM, as web 612km
104.3 0211 D hr4, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) Film song, as web 612km
89.9 0212 D NDR Kultur, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) Piano concerto, as web 707km
91.1 0213 F France Inter, Villers-Cotterêts/Fleury (02) French OMs, as 103.7 474km
91.5 0216 D MDR Jump, Brocken (san) Struggling against Holme Moss 713km
92.1 0216 D NDR 2, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) Pops, as web 707km
105.6 0218 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Donnersberg (rlp) YL song, as web 657km
106.9 0221 D B5 aktuell, Grünten (Allgäu) (bay) OM and YL, as web 942km
101.0 0222 D BR Klassik, Grünten (Allgäu) (bay) Piano music, as web 942km
90.7 0223 D Bayern 1, Grünten (Allgäu) (bay) Freaky chillout music, as web 942km
101.6 0228 D hr4, Hardberg (hes) Light pops, as web 712km
104.0 0238 D SWR4 Baden-Württemberg, Feldberg (Schwarzwald) (bwü) Jolly tune, as web. Briefly
over Koblenz 799km
93.8 0240 D SWR3, Feldberg (Schwarzwald) (bwü) Falcos Amadeus, as web 799km
107.8 0242 SUI RSI Rete Uno, Säntis (ar) Opera, as web 917km
105.7 0246 D B5 aktuell, Wendelstein (bay) ARD Infonacht, as web 1024km
102.3 0248 D BR Klassik, Wendelstein (bay) Classical, as web 1024km
98.5 0249 D SWR3, Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) Pops, as web 550km
89.5 0251 D Bayern 2, Wendelstein (bay) Classical, as web 1024km
92.0 0252 D SWR2, Donnersberg (rlp) Classical, as web 657km
107.3 0255 D SWR4 Baden-Württemberg, Raichberg (bwü) Beach Boys song, as web 813km
87.9 0300 D MDR Figaro, Inselsberg (thü) OM news, as web 739km
89.8 0303 D SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Feldberg (Schwarzwald) (bwü) OM news, as web 799km
90.6 0304 D hr1, Hardberg (hes) Presumed site. OM and traffic. Producing echo against another
ARD service 712km
91.8 0305 D SWR2, Raichberg (bwü) Opera, as web 813km
93.0 0306 D SWR2, Haardtkopf (rlp) Opera, as 91.8 593km
94.3 0307 D SWR3, Raichberg (bwü) Indie track, as web 813km
99.0 0310 D hr1, Hoher Meißner (hes) Madonna track, as web 684km
104.8 0313 D hr1, Heidelstein (Rhön) [bay] (hes) Nickelback song, as web 729km
105.6 0314 SUI Radio SRF 3, Säntis (ar) Pops, as web. One bar. Noise free stereo 917km
95.4 0316 SUI Radio SRF 2 Kultur, Säntis (ar) Classical, as web 917km
105.3 0321 D B5 aktuell, Kreuzberg (Rhön) (bay) YL, as web 733km
107.9 0321 D BR Klassik, Kreuzberg (Rhön) (bay) Classical, as web 733km
106.7 0322 D big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Kalmit (rlp) OM, as web, mixing with Langenberg 687km
91.7 0327 D MDR 1 Radio Thüringen, Sonneberg/Bleßberg (thü) Slow pops, as 94.6 793km
92.2 0327 D SWR3, Stuttgart/Hoher Bopser (bwü) Pops, as 94.3 790km
102.9 0336 D RPR 1., Bad Marienberg (rlp) Pops, as web 592km
107.6 0338 D big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Bornberg (rlp) Phone caller, as web 640km
107.2 0339 D SWR3, Kettrichhof (rlp) YL and pops, as web. Mixing Ederkpof 674km
99.9 0851 SUI RTS La Première, Säntis (ar) Echoey French OM, as web. Two bars, noise free 917km
91.0 0855 D hr1, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) OMs and music, as web 612km
91.1 0856 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) Abba, as web 550km
98.6 0900 F France Inter, Épinal/Bois de la Vierge (88) ID on the hour. Jingle, as web.
Briefly over Egem 704km
89.4 0901 F France Musique, Épinal/Bois de la Vierge (88) Classical and YL, as 88.7 704km **
98.7 0903 D AFN Wiesbaden-The Eagle, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) AP news 648km
99.0 0905 AUT Hitradio Ö3, Salzburg 1/Gaisberg (ORS) (sal) Briefly OM news, then pops, on
Hoher Meissner fade, as web 1081km
99.4 0907 F France Culture, Sarrebourg/le Donon (57) Thoughtful OM, as web 704km
100.6 0912 D RPR 1., Ober-Olm (rlp) YL song, as web 649km **
101.9 0917 D Antenne Bayern, Heidelstein (Rhon) (bay) Madonna song, as web 729km
102.1 0917 D RPR 1., Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) YL info over music, as web 550km
106.2 0926 D hr3, Heidelstein (Rhön) [bay] (hes) Grungy song, as web 729km
107.3 0927 D hr4, Heidelstein (Rhön) [bay] (hes) German YL song, as web 729km
107.7 0929 D Antenne Bayern, Hochries (bay) Promo for BB Radio Bayern then ID and weather
1034km
90.2 0937 D MDR Jump, Inselsberg (thü) German pop song, as web 739km
91.6 0938 D SWR3, Koblenz/Dieblich-Naßheck (rlp) Pops, as web 591km
92.6 0941 D SWR2, Blauen (bwü) Opera, as web 793km
100.4 0955 D Radio Regenbogen, Hornisgrinde/SWR (bwü) ID and ads. Two bars, noise free stereo
748km
103.4 1006 D Antenne 1, Raichberg (bwü) Pops, as web 813km
89.3 1013 D hr3, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Pops, as web. Holme Moss fade 648km
93.3 1016 F France Musique, Chaumont/Chalindrey (52) OM, as 88.7 694km
93.6 1018 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) French and German songs, as web
550km
94.8 1019 D SWR3, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) Pops, as 94.3
560km
97.2 1021 D Deutschlandradio Kultur, Inselsberg (thü) Gentla eong, as web 739km
97.4 1022 F France Musique, Verdun/Septsarges (55) OM and YL talk, as 98.0
548km
97.4 1022 D SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) German song, as web
560km
107.1 1031 D B5 aktuell, Ochsenkopf (bay) YL, as web. Over Haardtkopf 865km
107.6 1034 D B5 aktuell, Hühnerberg (bay) OM, as web 871km
105.0 1059 D Radio 7, Iberger Kugel (bwü) ID and news 923km
101.9 1212 D WDR 5, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) OM and YL, as web 484km
101.2 1216 D hr3, Habichtswald (hes) Cher song and ID 647km
99.8 1218 F France Inter, Metz/Luttange (57) OM on phone, as web 600km
106.8 1218 F France Info, Metz/Luttange (57) YL and OM, as 105.2 600km
106.6 1219 D big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Scharteberg (Eifel) (rlp) Pink song, over Smooth 550km
89.8 1225 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Bad Marienberg (rlp) Earth and Fire song, jingle ID 592km
89.9 1226 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Weinbiet (rlp) Pops and ID, as 89.8 686km
92.7 1239 D hr3, Hardberg (hes) Peeping over Sutton Coldfield with Duffy song, as web 712km
97.8 1244 D SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Heidelberg/Königstuhl, SWR (bwü) Billy Ocean song, as web
717km
98.7 1245 D SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Grünten (Allgäu) [bay] (bwü) Billy Ocean song, ID 942km
103.0 1248 D SWR3, Grünten (Allgäu) [bay] (bwü) Pops, as web 942km
103.4 1249 F France Info, Lyon/Mont Pilat (42) OM, as 105.2 917km
104.1 1259 D WDR 4, Olsberg (nrw) Adverts, as web 592km
92.8 1316 D SWR3, Bad Marienberg (rlp) OM ID and soft pops 592km
96.3 1321 D? UNID, ? Classical. German OM. No parallels found
94.4 1601 D hr1, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) OM news peaking above Swingate 648km
101.8 1606 D WDR 2, Ederkopf (nrw) ID after traffic. Jingle ID 593km
105.1 1607 D Hit Radio FFH, Hoher Meißner (hes) Jingle ID 684km
95.9 1912 D WDR 3, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) YL, as web, Coming up over Humberside 484km
93.9 1915 D WDR 4, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Rock and roll, as web 484km
95.4 1916 D SWR2, Bad Marienberg (rlp) OM and YL, as web 592km
106.8 2100 D Hit Radio FFH, Driedorf/Höllberg (hes) Jingle ID 605km
90.0 2249 D SWR3, Haardtkopf (rlp) Pops, as web 593km
91.5 2251 BEL RTBF Vivacité, Léglise/Vlessart (wal-lux) French song, as web 524km
93.3 2253 LUX RTL Radio, Dudelange/Ginsterberg (gld) Jingle ID between pops 574km
90.6 2257 D SWR3, Saarburg/Geisberg (rlp) Pops, as web 586km
93.8 2257 D SWR2, Saarburg/Geisberg (rlp) YL talk, as web 586km
97.7 2300 D SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Haardtkopf (rlp) YL new, as web. Over Manningtree 593km
100.1 2302 D RPR 1., Haardtkopf (rlp) ID after news. Over Sutton coldfield 593km
103.2 2305 BEL NRJ, Léglise/Vlessart (wal-lux) Phone caller, as web 524km **
106.9 2309 D Radio Euskirchen, Schleiden/Broicher Höhe (nrw) Lively pops, as web 515km
Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
91.4 1200 CZE Radio Impuls, Plzen/Krasov (PL) YL news, as web 947km **
91.4 1200 HOL Radio 4, Markelo/Alticom Toren (ove) Short ME burst following Plzen 425km **
** Personal Skegness 'First' via the respective mode
December 2nd saw a weak but widespread tropo which brought in a few new catches here. The Salzburg transmitter put in yet another appearance!
One thing which has amazed me over the last year is the regularity of the reception of the FM3 Salzburg transmitter on 99.0 via tropo. It wasn't that long ago that popular discussions about the limits of tropospheric reception in the UK questioned whether we would ever receive Austrian tropo. Suddenly, about a year ago, there it was, and it has been a fairly regular occurrence ever since! "Fairly regular", that is, compared to the lack of the same reception prior to this.
The meteor scatter loggings came by accident and an interesting catch came in the form of Holland. I had to leave the tropo for about half an hour around midday and I noticed that the German reception area was nearing the Czech border. So I left WaveLab recording 91.4 while I was away from the receiver, hoping that Radio Impuls from Plzen would appear. It did! But not via tropo. I recorded 91.4 on the left channel and Radio Impuls's web stream on the right channel so I could make comparisons with anything which appeared on the recording. When I played it back I discovered a large meteor burst with Radio Impuls clearly bursting through and in parallel with the web stream. I could also hear the Dutch Radio 4 on 91.4 and immediately after Plzen had crumbled away I heard the same Dutch OM as per Radio 4 off-air replace Plzen. This is 425 km meteor scatter!
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1.7m (5'9") ASL.
Website: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
Personal All Time VHF Logbooks: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/vhf-band-2-logs
VHF Band 2 DX Recordings: https://sites.google.com/site/skegnessdx/skegness-vhf-band-2-fm-dx-recordings
Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD (tropospheric)
Kenwood KT6040 (sporadic E & meteor scatter)
Icom IC7000 (OIRT)
Conrad RDS Manager
Aerials:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL www.box.com/s/h1a5z3bu94vppln3zsfn
Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Software:
RDS Spy v1.00r2 www.rdsspy.com
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