My marriage came to an end almost two months ago. My second failed marriage in fact! (I must be doing something wrong!) This resulted in me moving to a new address.
My new home is in the coastal community of Seathorne, just up the road from Skegness. I have a small top floor flat (there are three flats below me), situated right by the sea and with my own access to the beach.
It seemed like a good idea to rent such a place at the time as I thought this would lift my spirits. DXing right at the beach, etc.!! While this might sound like a DX dream come true, the flat is quite small and my enthusiasm to play radio has taken quite a tumble.
On the occasion when I do listen to band 2, using just a barefoot Sony XDR-F1HD and an unamplified Triax FM5 beam in the living room, pressed up against the east-facing window looking straight out to sea, I hear dozens of German signals from as far as the Baden-Württemberg and Thuringen regions and even the nearer parts of Bavaria, sometimes with noise free signals!
This is 'scatter', mostly aircraft scatter of course, but with some other interesting ducting effects, all of which are very much more apparent than at my old place. The problem is, it's the same signals over and over again. Dutch stations proliferate! I want something new.
It's all very nice and I'm sure that many radio enthusiasts would dream of DXing from such an advantageous location, but it's not really registering in my life at the moment.
My Körner 9.2 antenna would surely bring in some amazing scatter at this location were it on the roof, but it stays at the old place for now.
Medium wave DXing is not really possible at the new flat. My flag antenna and Perseus receiver are still at the old place, lying dormant. I don't really have much room for storage at the new flat, so some things will have to remain at the old address until I can find somewhere larger. I have a six month contract unfortunately, so I may not be able to escape without losing my deposit.
Right now, I am trying to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the new location, but I am struggling. If I am able, I might move away and try to make a fresh start somewhere else, but I don't know where. The thing is, I can't really afford to at the moment so I will have to stay put. There are much worse places I could be though.
Pleasant early morning walks over the dunes in the bright morning sunshine is very pleasant indeed. I usually take my 'IF narrowed' Degen DE1103 with me and hear the same continental stations coming through.
If I can develop the enthusiasm, I might try some overnight MW sessions out in the wilds of the nature reserves around The Wash. Maybe I'll give 10m a go again, but I really hate having to try to get through lengthy pile-ups in the hope of working someone. Not my idea of fun.
If this sounds like self-pity, I won't try to deny it. I am not myself at the moment and have no get up and go whatsoever. I am struggling with my work and have started lagging behind with orders, but I am eating reasonably well again. (I couldn't eat a thing for the first two or three weeks. My general health has suffered a little, but I have lost some weight, which isn't a bad thing! :O)
