Skegness Log: 18-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 87.7 0320 POL PR 1, Konin/Zólwieniec (WP) 3211  1211km
105.7 1415  D  B5 aktuell, Wendelstein (bay) Frequent bursts, as web  1024km **

** Personal Skegness 'First'

After repositioning the garden FM5 this afternoon I noticed an even quieter FM band. The noise level is so quiet now that there is no difference in background noise whether the antenna is plugged in at the back of the XDR or if it is disconnected. An empty frequency produces a constant 4dB, though it looks less on the scale. The fact that signals as low as 10dB can be noise free just shows how quiet it is. The noise is reduced to a constant very smooth sounding mush, rather than that variable splattery hiss you often hear. Full RDS often forms with signals as low as 18dB. BBC nationals always require a few dB more.

This is quite a turn up after me moaning about the noise coming in on the 9.2, which is now up to 28dB on many frequencies at the bottom of the band, masking signals which would normally provide full RDS. It tapers off to about 10-14 dB once you get above 104 MHz, but still manages to produce increased hiss on what would otherwise be decent stereo signals.

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
Triax FM5, one metre AGL