Monday, 25 April 2016
Sunday, 24 April 2016
Skegness Log: 2016-04-24 (MW Africa)
1530 0300 STP Voice of America, Pinheira/Ponta Praião (sao) Singing on. ID and Yankee Doodle Fair 5908 km
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receiver: Perseus SDR Receiver
Software: Jaguar Big Cat
Antenna: Movable 10ft x 25ft flag
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receiver: Perseus SDR Receiver
Software: Jaguar Big Cat
Antenna: Movable 10ft x 25ft flag
Skegness Log: 2016-04-24 (FM Es: Italy)
Band 2 Sporadic E:
87.9 1744 I Virgin Radio, Reggio Calabria/Fortino di Pentimele (rc) 5241 2043km
88.5 1744 I Radio Cuore (RMB Belpasso), Reggio Calabria/Fortino di Pentimele (rc) 522F
__CUORE_ 2043km
89.8 1744 I Radio Maria, Scilla/Frazione Melia-Monte Scrisi (rc) 51CC R.?????? 2035km
90.4 1744 I Radio Deejay, Scilla/Frazione Melia-Monte Scrisi (rc) 5214 2035km
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.
87.9 1744 I Virgin Radio, Reggio Calabria/Fortino di Pentimele (rc) 5241 2043km
88.5 1744 I Radio Cuore (RMB Belpasso), Reggio Calabria/Fortino di Pentimele (rc) 522F
__CUORE_ 2043km
89.8 1744 I Radio Maria, Scilla/Frazione Melia-Monte Scrisi (rc) 51CC R.?????? 2035km
90.4 1744 I Radio Deejay, Scilla/Frazione Melia-Monte Scrisi (rc) 5214 2035km
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.
Early Start To The Sporadic E Season!
This has been the earliest start to a sporadic E season I can remember, although I haven't really checked so early in April before now.
The first Es opening of 2016 came shortly before midday on April 18th with a small opening to Russia on the OIRT band. Nothing was heard on band 2.
The second Es opening reached band 2 just after midday on April 19th. Arabic programming was heard for a minute or two, very weakly on 87.6. It was definitely sporadic E.
The third opening came today, April 24th, during the early evening, when the Reggio Calabira area in southern Italy came through, the MUF reaching 90.4 MHz.
A sign of things to come? Of course not ;O) The Es will happen as and when they want. This probably means nothing at all, but how nice to have such an early start to the season.
Good DX!
The first Es opening of 2016 came shortly before midday on April 18th with a small opening to Russia on the OIRT band. Nothing was heard on band 2.
The second Es opening reached band 2 just after midday on April 19th. Arabic programming was heard for a minute or two, very weakly on 87.6. It was definitely sporadic E.
The third opening came today, April 24th, during the early evening, when the Reggio Calabira area in southern Italy came through, the MUF reaching 90.4 MHz.
A sign of things to come? Of course not ;O) The Es will happen as and when they want. This probably means nothing at all, but how nice to have such an early start to the season.
Good DX!
Saturday, 23 April 2016
Skegness Log: 2016-04-23 (MW: Africa)
917 0201 NIG Radio Gotel Yola, Jabura/Modire (adw) OM ID. Thanks to Matthias Hornsteiner for
spotting this. Weak 4996 km
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receiver: Perseus SDR Receiver
Software: Jaguar Big Cat
Antenna: Movable 10ft x 25ft flag
spotting this. Weak 4996 km
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receiver: Perseus SDR Receiver
Software: Jaguar Big Cat
Antenna: Movable 10ft x 25ft flag
Thursday, 21 April 2016
Skegness Log: 2016-04-21 (FM Tropo: Germany)
Band 2 Troposheric:
89.0 0610 D 89.0 RTL, Brocken (san) D0DB ??????TL 712km
89.9 0612 D NDR Kultur, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) D383 NDR_Kult 707km
91.5 0613 D MDR JUMP, Brocken (san) D3C2 MDR_JUMP 712km
92.1 0613 D NDR 2, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) D382 _NDR_2__ 707km
94.6 0614 D MDR Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) D4D1 MDR_S-AN 712km
95.3 0615 HOL SLAM!, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) 82A5 __SL???? 320km
97.4 0616 D Deutschlandradio Kultur, Brocken (san) D220 DKULTUR_ 712km
98.0 0616 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) D381 707km
103.5 0617 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Torfhaus/DTAG (nds) D210 707km
106.3 0620 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Torfhaus/DTAG (nds) D389 ANTENNE_ 707km
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.
89.0 0610 D 89.0 RTL, Brocken (san) D0DB ??????TL 712km
89.9 0612 D NDR Kultur, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) D383 NDR_Kult 707km
91.5 0613 D MDR JUMP, Brocken (san) D3C2 MDR_JUMP 712km
92.1 0613 D NDR 2, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) D382 _NDR_2__ 707km
94.6 0614 D MDR Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) D4D1 MDR_S-AN 712km
95.3 0615 HOL SLAM!, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) 82A5 __SL???? 320km
97.4 0616 D Deutschlandradio Kultur, Brocken (san) D220 DKULTUR_ 712km
98.0 0616 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) D381 707km
103.5 0617 D Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Torfhaus/DTAG (nds) D210 707km
106.3 0620 D Antenne Niedersachsen, Torfhaus/DTAG (nds) D389 ANTENNE_ 707km
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.
Wednesday, 20 April 2016
My 2015 Sporadic E Season Has Finally Finished!
I was just updating my web pages, adding the last few entries from my 2015 to my personal all-time E logbook, then it struck me - my 2015 season was finally over ... AT LAST!
2015 was the first Es season where I had used a band 2 SDR. It was something of an experimental process, resulting in me acquiring a large number of SDR files, all produced by my Elad FDM-S2 SDR receiver. It was all very exciting, knowing that I could record large chunks of the FM band, the whole band in only four chunks in fact! Very nearly three chunks, thanks to the 6MHz bandwidth!
DXing in this manner means that I am less likely to miss stations which are coming through. No more single channel DXing, it's now SIXTY CHANNEL DXING !!!
What did this mean?
* Lots of files to check through (well over 500 or 600 in my case - I didn't count them).
* Each file could take half an hour or longer if I wanted to investigate reception closely.
* There was never enough time to check the files ...
* Therefore I got well behind on log reporting - over seven months behind at times!
But there was a very big positive:
* Almost 9000 loggings!
* More double hop spotted than you can shake a big stick at!
The quantity of loggings never outweighs the quality of loggings, but I was very pleased to report double hop reception to Israel, Cyprus, Libya, Lebanon and Turkey - that's Istanbul AND Asiatic Turkey, right down to Adana, not that far from the Syrian border. Turkey was received on several occasions. One day I had GOOD signals right to the top of the band! It was like living in Istanbul.
The important question is, would I have had this double hop reception had I only had single frequency DXing? I estimate that between 60% - 90% if it would have been missed. I may have still had Cyprus and Turkey, but in limited quantity. It's possible I may have missed all of it. The Istanbul reception was only possible due to the recording facility. I was not at home at the time!
The whole thing was an experiment to find out what was possible with broadband FM DXing, finding out the pros and cons, but I had to check through EVERY single file. That now having been accomplished, I can say that I definitely WON'T be so eager in the future. It's just too much! In future I will record far less files. Yes, there are obvious benefits of recording large quantities of files, but it comes with diminishing returns. More files = more repetition of the same stations. Useful, perhaps, but probably not worth the extra effort, unless you are extremely keen or have a lot of spare time on your hands.
In 2016, I plan to record far fewer files and I will target certain countries. Checking hundreds of SDR files held my attention and remained interesting only for so long. I was determined to achieve my goal, and I am pleased to say that I did, but NEVER AGAIN! Ocverall, it was interesting and mostly fun, but there are limits.
Happy DXing!
2015 was the first Es season where I had used a band 2 SDR. It was something of an experimental process, resulting in me acquiring a large number of SDR files, all produced by my Elad FDM-S2 SDR receiver. It was all very exciting, knowing that I could record large chunks of the FM band, the whole band in only four chunks in fact! Very nearly three chunks, thanks to the 6MHz bandwidth!
DXing in this manner means that I am less likely to miss stations which are coming through. No more single channel DXing, it's now SIXTY CHANNEL DXING !!!
What did this mean?
* Lots of files to check through (well over 500 or 600 in my case - I didn't count them).
* Each file could take half an hour or longer if I wanted to investigate reception closely.
* There was never enough time to check the files ...
* Therefore I got well behind on log reporting - over seven months behind at times!
But there was a very big positive:
* Almost 9000 loggings!
* More double hop spotted than you can shake a big stick at!
The quantity of loggings never outweighs the quality of loggings, but I was very pleased to report double hop reception to Israel, Cyprus, Libya, Lebanon and Turkey - that's Istanbul AND Asiatic Turkey, right down to Adana, not that far from the Syrian border. Turkey was received on several occasions. One day I had GOOD signals right to the top of the band! It was like living in Istanbul.
The important question is, would I have had this double hop reception had I only had single frequency DXing? I estimate that between 60% - 90% if it would have been missed. I may have still had Cyprus and Turkey, but in limited quantity. It's possible I may have missed all of it. The Istanbul reception was only possible due to the recording facility. I was not at home at the time!
The whole thing was an experiment to find out what was possible with broadband FM DXing, finding out the pros and cons, but I had to check through EVERY single file. That now having been accomplished, I can say that I definitely WON'T be so eager in the future. It's just too much! In future I will record far less files. Yes, there are obvious benefits of recording large quantities of files, but it comes with diminishing returns. More files = more repetition of the same stations. Useful, perhaps, but probably not worth the extra effort, unless you are extremely keen or have a lot of spare time on your hands.
In 2016, I plan to record far fewer files and I will target certain countries. Checking hundreds of SDR files held my attention and remained interesting only for so long. I was determined to achieve my goal, and I am pleased to say that I did, but NEVER AGAIN! Ocverall, it was interesting and mostly fun, but there are limits.
Happy DXing!
Tuesday, 19 April 2016
Skegness Log: 2016-04-19 (MW)
1400 0204 GRD Harbour Light of the Windwards, Carriacou. God, God and MORE God! Fair over CBG.
Fair 7033 km
1290 0259 VEN YVLF Radio Puerto Cabello, Puerto Cabello. Most consistent TA, despite
flag bearing 290 degrees. Fair 7637 km
1590 0300 USA WARV Warwick RI. ID - WARV Warick-Providence Weak 5308 km
1210 0332 CAN VOAR Saint John s NL. YL singing, difficult in dreadful 1215 splatter
(Absolute Radio) offset 1210.007 3734 km
1400 0400 CAN CBG Gander NL. CBC News Fair 3775 km
1500 0400 USA WFED Washington DC. WFED ID, etc. Weak 5861 km
1560 0600 USA WFME New York NY. Still hanging on at 0600 Weak 5538 km
Poor conditions overnight. It was a struggle to ehar these.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receiver: Perseus SDR Receiver
Software: Jaguar Big Cat
Antenna: Movable 10ft x 25ft flag
Fair 7033 km
1290 0259 VEN YVLF Radio Puerto Cabello, Puerto Cabello. Most consistent TA, despite
flag bearing 290 degrees. Fair 7637 km
1590 0300 USA WARV Warwick RI. ID - WARV Warick-Providence Weak 5308 km
1210 0332 CAN VOAR Saint John s NL. YL singing, difficult in dreadful 1215 splatter
(Absolute Radio) offset 1210.007 3734 km
1400 0400 CAN CBG Gander NL. CBC News Fair 3775 km
1500 0400 USA WFED Washington DC. WFED ID, etc. Weak 5861 km
1560 0600 USA WFME New York NY. Still hanging on at 0600 Weak 5538 km
Poor conditions overnight. It was a struggle to ehar these.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receiver: Perseus SDR Receiver
Software: Jaguar Big Cat
Antenna: Movable 10ft x 25ft flag
Monday, 18 April 2016
Skegness Log: 2016-04-18 (FM)
Band 2 Sporadic E:
66.05 1137 RUS Radio Rossii, Pskov/ORTPC (PS) OOM, as web 1821km
69.86 1141 RUS Radio Rossii, Dedovichi (PS) Presumed. Not as web but maybe on local
programme? 1922km
First Es of the season!
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.
66.05 1137 RUS Radio Rossii, Pskov/ORTPC (PS) OOM, as web 1821km
69.86 1141 RUS Radio Rossii, Dedovichi (PS) Presumed. Not as web but maybe on local
programme? 1922km
First Es of the season!
Good DX!
John Faulkner
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receivers:
Elad FDM-S2 (Meteor Scatter and sporadic E)
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c mod. (Tropo/Scatter)
Aerials:
Körner 9.2 @ 5.5 metres agl. QTH is approximately 3 metres asl, 1km from the sea.
Fringe Electronics 20dB pre-amp.
Software:
Elad FDM-SW2, SDR Console File Analyser & RDS Spy via VAC.
XDR-GTK v0.3.1 for the Sony XDR-F1HD
Rotator:
Yaesu G-5500 azimuth & elevation rotator, allowing antenna to be vertical, horizontal, etc.
Friday, 15 April 2016
Skegness Log: 2016-04-15 (MW)
1290 0100 VEN YVLF Radio Puerto Cabello, Puerto Cabello (cbb) ID - La Voz De.... Radio
Puerto Cabello Weak 7637 km
1400 0100 GRD Harbour Light of the Windwards, Carriacou/Tarleton Point (cpm) ID - This
is The Harbour Light Of The Windward at 01:00:40 Fair 7033 km
1660 0100 PTR WGIT Canóvanas (PR) OM with WGIT call Fair 6806 km
1500 0155 VEN YVRZ Radio 2000 AM, Cumaná (suc) OM ID V weak 7396 km
1610 0301 AIA Caribbean Beacon, The Valley (tvy) Presumed. Talking about the
House of God Fair 6629 km
750 0330 VEN YVKS RCR 750 Radio Caracas, Caracas (dcf) Low offset. OM talk. Thanks
Barry Davies & Thomas Nilsson/RealDX for help. V weak 7574 km
670 0333 VEN YVLL Radio Rumbos, Caracas (dcf) Thanks Thomas Nilsson/RealDX for
help V weak 7573 km **
** Personal 'First'
Poor conditions, but audio popped up on a few interesting frequencies. 690 and 1240 had the strongest Latins, but they were splattered into next week might be worth checking back in a few days then ;)
Both Caracas stations are now on new lower offsets, 670 being 669,9881 and 750 is 749.9885.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receiver: Perseus SDR Receiver
Software: Jaguar Big Cat
Antenna: Movable 10ft x 25ft flag
Puerto Cabello Weak 7637 km
1400 0100 GRD Harbour Light of the Windwards, Carriacou/Tarleton Point (cpm) ID - This
is The Harbour Light Of The Windward at 01:00:40 Fair 7033 km
1660 0100 PTR WGIT Canóvanas (PR) OM with WGIT call Fair 6806 km
1500 0155 VEN YVRZ Radio 2000 AM, Cumaná (suc) OM ID V weak 7396 km
1610 0301 AIA Caribbean Beacon, The Valley (tvy) Presumed. Talking about the
House of God Fair 6629 km
750 0330 VEN YVKS RCR 750 Radio Caracas, Caracas (dcf) Low offset. OM talk. Thanks
Barry Davies & Thomas Nilsson/RealDX for help. V weak 7574 km
670 0333 VEN YVLL Radio Rumbos, Caracas (dcf) Thanks Thomas Nilsson/RealDX for
help V weak 7573 km **
** Personal 'First'
Poor conditions, but audio popped up on a few interesting frequencies. 690 and 1240 had the strongest Latins, but they were splattered into next week might be worth checking back in a few days then ;)
Both Caracas stations are now on new lower offsets, 670 being 669,9881 and 750 is 749.9885.
Good DX!
John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/g1vvp
Vimeo Channel: https://vimeo.com/skegnessdx
Receiver: Perseus SDR Receiver
Software: Jaguar Big Cat
Antenna: Movable 10ft x 25ft flag
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