It's been a while since I made an entry to this blog. Work and other commitments have taken over my life for the last few weeks, but that's good news of course. Time for a catch-up soon hopefully and I will fill in the blanks.
There are log updates for band 2 and medium wave, though conditions haven't been too inspiring. A half decent spell of tropo occurred earlier in March. Tropo seems to be a rare breed these days but that's probably understandable due to the time of the year and this awful extended winter we are having.
Most of my computer time has been devoted to updating my Google Sites website, but I am discovering an ever increasing amount of drawbacks with this, not least the lack of a site backing-up facility. While Google Sites is a free service I don't expect to have everything handed to me on a plate for nothing, but you'd think there would at least be a basic backing-up facility like you have with Blogger. I have therefore been looking at other free sites like Wix, but it seems they don't offer this either. I took a brief look at Webstarts, who offer HTML editing and site backups, but the control panel is so flaky it hurts. The free Webs service is also too basic for my needs. I really like the Wix system though. It's very easy to use and doesn't seem to fall over.
So it looks like I will still be using a combination of different facilities to achieve my aim. Blogger is a personal favourite - it's simple, but so easy to use and does the job well. I have tried platforms like Wordpress and Joomla in the past but they have always been hacked into, despite keeping the software and security side up-to-date. I will probably go with Wix for static web pages while using Photobucket, Picasa, Youtube, Box and Mediafire for various files, plus the excellent Google Drive for documents.
Saturday, 23 March 2013
Saturday, 23 February 2013
Skywaves Chat now on Skype
From today, Skywaves members are able to access the new Skywaves Chat room on Skype. The new room will provide instantaneous DX alerts to all who use it, and that doesn't just include members of the Skywaves Yahoo forums. It's open to non-members worldwide too. There is much to be gained by all users to alert others of impending DX conditions.
Members of the Skywaves Yahoo Groups recently suggested that there should be a chat room, as used to exist several years ago.
There was also a suggestion to open a Skywaves page on Facebook, primarily with a view to providing instant messaging, but also to promote Skywaves and indeed the hobby in general to the DX community. A Facebook group would also provide a much simpler way to share audio and video than that which exists on the current Yahoo Groups. Facebook is not for everybody though. Some people refuse to get involved with Facebook. Personally, I am not a fan myself, in fact I detest the thing, but it does give us a great way to share information and keep in touch with friends. People can to choose who they want to communicate with and who they want to block, should that become necessary. As many people know though, Facebook has a habit of changing how it looks and even altering your personal settings, on quite a regular basis too, so there is a need to keep on top of that. It's the excellent promotional base which Facebook offers, so there is also a lot to be gained from using it. It's completely free to use too.
Skype is another excellent platform which offers instant messaging. Users can share instant DX alerts in several ways too! Either in individual groups or 'globally' to all room users. You can also stream live audio and video to individuals, several chosen users at the same time, or to the entire room, which makes it an even more versatile system. Skype is free to use though may take a little getting used to for some. It's really very easy to use!
The new Chat room has only been operational for 24 hours and we have already seen people from the USA, Turkey and from across the UK and Europe accessing the group. It is also possible to open smaller rooms for people to exchange information on a more localised basis, should a DX opening exist on a much smaller and more localised level which might be irrelevant to users who are along way from the action, but it's clear to see the benefits when we all converge in one global community to share our experiences and friendship.
Just install the latest version of Skype on your computer, mobile phone, etc. and search for "SkywavesDX".
Members of the Skywaves Yahoo Groups recently suggested that there should be a chat room, as used to exist several years ago.
There was also a suggestion to open a Skywaves page on Facebook, primarily with a view to providing instant messaging, but also to promote Skywaves and indeed the hobby in general to the DX community. A Facebook group would also provide a much simpler way to share audio and video than that which exists on the current Yahoo Groups. Facebook is not for everybody though. Some people refuse to get involved with Facebook. Personally, I am not a fan myself, in fact I detest the thing, but it does give us a great way to share information and keep in touch with friends. People can to choose who they want to communicate with and who they want to block, should that become necessary. As many people know though, Facebook has a habit of changing how it looks and even altering your personal settings, on quite a regular basis too, so there is a need to keep on top of that. It's the excellent promotional base which Facebook offers, so there is also a lot to be gained from using it. It's completely free to use too.
Skype is another excellent platform which offers instant messaging. Users can share instant DX alerts in several ways too! Either in individual groups or 'globally' to all room users. You can also stream live audio and video to individuals, several chosen users at the same time, or to the entire room, which makes it an even more versatile system. Skype is free to use though may take a little getting used to for some. It's really very easy to use!
The new Chat room has only been operational for 24 hours and we have already seen people from the USA, Turkey and from across the UK and Europe accessing the group. It is also possible to open smaller rooms for people to exchange information on a more localised basis, should a DX opening exist on a much smaller and more localised level which might be irrelevant to users who are along way from the action, but it's clear to see the benefits when we all converge in one global community to share our experiences and friendship.
Just install the latest version of Skype on your computer, mobile phone, etc. and search for "SkywavesDX".
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
My Fantasy VHF Band 2-FM SDR Receiver
After chatting to DX friends about the potential for a Super-DX Receiver for the VHF FM broadcast band (band 2) we accepted the fact that we're not quite close in getting that ideal DX machine. No, we're not quite there yet, but the technology is already here now. We just need the right software.
A good example of good hardware might be the Perseus FM+ add-on to the excellent Perseus SDR receiver. This piece of genius might have the necessary specification and performance a band 2 DXer needs, but the software, as good as it may be, doesn't quite meet our needs. So what do we need?
Speaking personally, I want a receiver which is able to scan up and down the band by itself, automatically storing instances of RDS PI and PS data. I need to be able to set various parameters such as: Continuous recording; Timer recording; Audio triggers for auto-recording; Date; Time; Frequency; Fully programmable scan/search and the ability to 'tick boxes' to select the specific data you wish to 'capture'. Above all, the RDS decoding MUST be highly sensitive and accurate at low signal levels.
Taking this a step further, there will be an internet connection to an online DX cluster such as FM List, where the captured data is automatically uploaded. This data will be cross-referenced to station lists and matched to automatically create loggings, thus producing an online logbook.
There's nothing like sitting in front of the receiver and tuning live, catching the DX as it happens, but during times when I might be away from the receiver or away from home, I would like to have the option to set the receiver recording the band and DXing for me. Before you say anything ... No, I really don't believe this is cheating!
I want to be able to play back the recording of the IF at my leisure so I can DX in real-time. Yes, I know, technically that's not "real-time", but you know what I mean. Such things are already happening in the world of amateur radio with many data modes. With current technology it is possible to record a maximum IF bandwidth of 4MHz of IF, but the VHF band 2 broadcast range is 20MHz wide. Two possible solutions would be: 1. To have the receiver scanning in blocks of of 4MHz, rapidly, like a kind of switched multiplex; 2. The software should be capable of running several instances of the software, simultaneously, without making my computer fall over. SDR# can already achieve the latter with the Climax DTV300 dongle!
Sadly, the DTV300 has fallen short on performance for some DXers, however. looking at the various SDR-control software packages currently available, one would assume the future looks quite rosy for us band 2 DXers. We still have to remind ourselves that this is a very niche little interest in what is already quite a niche hobby. There would be little financial incentive for a company to produce anything suitable on a small scale. In the meantime, we'll just have to rely on those clever programmers in our hobby who might be able to come up with something which exactly suits our needs! I hope we don't have to wait too long before such a fantasy DX machine will be readily available to us.
There might be a few bits and pieces I've forgotten and so I will add things along the way. For now, this is just a quick summary.
A good example of good hardware might be the Perseus FM+ add-on to the excellent Perseus SDR receiver. This piece of genius might have the necessary specification and performance a band 2 DXer needs, but the software, as good as it may be, doesn't quite meet our needs. So what do we need?
Speaking personally, I want a receiver which is able to scan up and down the band by itself, automatically storing instances of RDS PI and PS data. I need to be able to set various parameters such as: Continuous recording; Timer recording; Audio triggers for auto-recording; Date; Time; Frequency; Fully programmable scan/search and the ability to 'tick boxes' to select the specific data you wish to 'capture'. Above all, the RDS decoding MUST be highly sensitive and accurate at low signal levels.
Taking this a step further, there will be an internet connection to an online DX cluster such as FM List, where the captured data is automatically uploaded. This data will be cross-referenced to station lists and matched to automatically create loggings, thus producing an online logbook.
There's nothing like sitting in front of the receiver and tuning live, catching the DX as it happens, but during times when I might be away from the receiver or away from home, I would like to have the option to set the receiver recording the band and DXing for me. Before you say anything ... No, I really don't believe this is cheating!
I want to be able to play back the recording of the IF at my leisure so I can DX in real-time. Yes, I know, technically that's not "real-time", but you know what I mean. Such things are already happening in the world of amateur radio with many data modes. With current technology it is possible to record a maximum IF bandwidth of 4MHz of IF, but the VHF band 2 broadcast range is 20MHz wide. Two possible solutions would be: 1. To have the receiver scanning in blocks of of 4MHz, rapidly, like a kind of switched multiplex; 2. The software should be capable of running several instances of the software, simultaneously, without making my computer fall over. SDR# can already achieve the latter with the Climax DTV300 dongle!
Sadly, the DTV300 has fallen short on performance for some DXers, however. looking at the various SDR-control software packages currently available, one would assume the future looks quite rosy for us band 2 DXers. We still have to remind ourselves that this is a very niche little interest in what is already quite a niche hobby. There would be little financial incentive for a company to produce anything suitable on a small scale. In the meantime, we'll just have to rely on those clever programmers in our hobby who might be able to come up with something which exactly suits our needs! I hope we don't have to wait too long before such a fantasy DX machine will be readily available to us.
There might be a few bits and pieces I've forgotten and so I will add things along the way. For now, this is just a quick summary.
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Good signal from China 1521
Equipment used: Perseus SDR with small garden flag antenna (3m x 7m x 3m), beaming approximately 345 degrees (north-north-west).
Sounds like this afternoon would have been a good one to be out with the beverage!
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Configuring SDR Radio v2 with Climax Digital DTV300 USB Dongle
Note: New software versions have been released since this article was written and so the following may not be 100% applicable if you use newer software versions than those mentioned below.
Please note that some of the links have changed or are no longer used. I do not plan to update this article. "This is an ex-article. It has ceased to be", as the great Monty Python might have said.
I have been asked to detail the installation procedure of my Climax Digital DTV300 USB dongle and the SDR-Radio v2 software. My own experiences may be different to other people's, but this is the way I got it to work, after a lot of trial and error.
My knowledge of driver installation could be written on the back of a postage stamp, so if there is anything amiss with my explanation below, my apologies - I would appreciate feedback or corrections if so.Some of this is from memory but I have checked through each step as much as I can.
The SDR Radio software has been designed to operate several makes of dongle and so needs to be pointed in the direction of the appropriate drivers. In my case, I needed the "RTL USB" drivers for my Climax Digital DTV300. Detailed instructions can be found here, though this did not work for me to begin with. These instructions told me to copy three dll files (page) into the SDR Radio directory in Windows. I did this but it was unsuccessful. I hadn't realised initially that Windows was unable to install the drivers by itself.
The solution was to obtain a programme called "Zadig", an alternative driver installer to the one used within Windows. Zadig uses Gzip compression and so needs to be expanded to your computer. I believe most decompression tools are capable of expanding .gz files, but if you don't have one, use the 7zip software as I did.
Unfortunately for me, the necessary "zadig.exe" file was not present in the folder once extracted. I found this file by accident when trying to install SDR# software. Step-by-step instructions on how to install SDR# with the RTL USB drivers can be found here. So, the whole procedure for me was as follows:
Download and install SDR Radio software. I used Preview 6 (build 1279)
Copy these three files (page):
Plug in the Climax Digital DTV3000 USB stick, but do not act on any prompts yet.also make sure
you do not run the software which came with the DTV300. Uninstall it and restart Windows if
you already have.
The next part involved me downloading SDR# software so I could obtain the Zadig software with which to install the RTL USB drivers.
Download the SDR# "sdr-install" test file here (page)
Extract the file and look within the "sdr-install" directory
Run the "install" batch file. This can take a minute or two and appeared to stall
The file "zadig.exe" will appear in the folder. Run it and follow the instructions here.
Run SDR Radio Console v2 and in the "Home" menu (top left) press the bue play button. In the
"Select Radio" window you should see the PROlectrix driver. Select this and click "Start"
With any luck you should now be able to access your DTV300 via the SDR Radio software.
I wouldn't be surprised if you come across a discrepancy or two above, depending on your computer's software, etc. Remember, what worked for me might not work for you, but hopefully there will be something useful in the above. Maybe it might just work first time!
Good luck!
Please note that some of the links have changed or are no longer used. I do not plan to update this article. "This is an ex-article. It has ceased to be", as the great Monty Python might have said.
I have been asked to detail the installation procedure of my Climax Digital DTV300 USB dongle and the SDR-Radio v2 software. My own experiences may be different to other people's, but this is the way I got it to work, after a lot of trial and error.
My knowledge of driver installation could be written on the back of a postage stamp, so if there is anything amiss with my explanation below, my apologies - I would appreciate feedback or corrections if so.Some of this is from memory but I have checked through each step as much as I can.
The SDR Radio software has been designed to operate several makes of dongle and so needs to be pointed in the direction of the appropriate drivers. In my case, I needed the "RTL USB" drivers for my Climax Digital DTV300. Detailed instructions can be found here, though this did not work for me to begin with. These instructions told me to copy three dll files (page) into the SDR Radio directory in Windows. I did this but it was unsuccessful. I hadn't realised initially that Windows was unable to install the drivers by itself.
The solution was to obtain a programme called "Zadig", an alternative driver installer to the one used within Windows. Zadig uses Gzip compression and so needs to be expanded to your computer. I believe most decompression tools are capable of expanding .gz files, but if you don't have one, use the 7zip software as I did.
Unfortunately for me, the necessary "zadig.exe" file was not present in the folder once extracted. I found this file by accident when trying to install SDR# software. Step-by-step instructions on how to install SDR# with the RTL USB drivers can be found here. So, the whole procedure for me was as follows:
Download and install SDR Radio software. I used Preview 6 (build 1279)
Copy these three files (page):
- libusb-1.0.dll
- rtlsdr.dll
- SDRSourceRTL2832U.dll
Plug in the Climax Digital DTV3000 USB stick, but do not act on any prompts yet.also make sure
you do not run the software which came with the DTV300. Uninstall it and restart Windows if
you already have.
The next part involved me downloading SDR# software so I could obtain the Zadig software with which to install the RTL USB drivers.
Download the SDR# "sdr-install" test file here (page)
Extract the file and look within the "sdr-install" directory
Run the "install" batch file. This can take a minute or two and appeared to stall
The file "zadig.exe" will appear in the folder. Run it and follow the instructions here.
Run SDR Radio Console v2 and in the "Home" menu (top left) press the bue play button. In the
"Select Radio" window you should see the PROlectrix driver. Select this and click "Start"
With any luck you should now be able to access your DTV300 via the SDR Radio software.
I wouldn't be surprised if you come across a discrepancy or two above, depending on your computer's software, etc. Remember, what worked for me might not work for you, but hopefully there will be something useful in the above. Maybe it might just work first time!
Good luck!
Climax Digital DTV300 & SDR-Radio
I just purchased a Climax Digital DTV300 dongle. Wow! How on earth can an El Cheapo £15 "DVB-T/Freeview/FM Radio /DAB Receiver" do so much and perform so well?
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Well, it can if it is controlled by good software. From comments made so far, I understand these units don't cope too well in strong signal areas, however, here on the east coast I don't have that problem, thankfully, so the DTV300 handles very well, but I discovered its capabilities as a worthy VHF band 2 DX machine are very close to those of my Sony XDR-F1HD.
Don't install the software which comes with this USB dongle if you want to get the best band 2 performance. Instead, try using something like SDR Radio or SDR# as these offer much more control than the bundled software. Both of these are free and each have their own advantages. Personally, I like the SDR Radio software as, although rather complicated at first sight, does a lot, lot more.
My interest in these dongles was aroused a couple of weeks ago when I read that they can be used as SDRs (Software Defined Radios) on the the VHF band 2 FM broadcast spectrum, allowing up to 2 MHz of recording bandwidth. I wasn't convinced, initially, until I read some reports on the Skywaves FM Forum stating just how good they actually were. I was advised to get one to have a play, so I did.
To begin with, the installation of the software isn't exactly straight-forward, though there is a lot of help documented on various websites and forums, such as the SDR Radio Forum and the SDR Radio website. It took me a good few hours to work out how to complete the installation as the appropriate drivers were not initially found by the software, which needs to be told where to find the appropriate drivers.
Once up and running, I was blown away by the DTV300's performance on band 2. It was actually as good as that of my Sony XDR-F1HD and with only subtle differences. The DTV300 probably doesn't quite match up to the XDR-F1HD's superb selectivity - even when using the software's fully variable bandwidth, but it wasn't far behind. I was more impressed by the DTV300's gain. The XDR-F1HD has a slight mute on weak signals, but soon opens up once a very weak signal increases in strength. The DTV300 doesn't have this mute when used with the SDR Radio and SDR# software. Or at least you can disable this annoyance if it has. The results were better access and improved audio clarity on very weak signals which is somewhat reduced on the XDR-F1HD. Once the signal increases, then the XDR-F1HD probably wins - but not by much.
I am primarily looking at the DTV300 from a DX perspective, but the audio quality was also good when used with SDR-Radio and SDR#. The DTV300 also has RDS capability. The sensitivity threshold for RDS data is set too high, in my opinion and I wondered if it might be possible to lower this so RDS forms accurately with lower signal levels. If this can be done then you have quite a beast of a DX receiver.
Recording Demonstration:
Click here for a recording, demonstrating the difference in reception between the SDR Radio/DTV300 setup and the Sony XDR-F1HD. The station I used in this demonstration was RTBF La Premiere, Tournai, on 106.0 MHz. I deliberately beamed slightly south of the direction of Tournai so you can hear the splatter of semi-local Kiss FM from Stoke Holy Cross on 106.1 (wide and splattery). I also had the SDR Radio set to its widest IF bandwidth of 192 kHz. The brighter sounding audio is that of the DTV300 via the SDR Radio software, while the more muffled sounding audio is the Sony XDR-F1HD, which starts off the recording. The antenna in use is a Triax FM5, on the roof of the bungalow, beaming south-south-east.
Don't install the software which comes with this USB dongle if you want to get the best band 2 performance. Instead, try using something like SDR Radio or SDR# as these offer much more control than the bundled software. Both of these are free and each have their own advantages. Personally, I like the SDR Radio software as, although rather complicated at first sight, does a lot, lot more.
My interest in these dongles was aroused a couple of weeks ago when I read that they can be used as SDRs (Software Defined Radios) on the the VHF band 2 FM broadcast spectrum, allowing up to 2 MHz of recording bandwidth. I wasn't convinced, initially, until I read some reports on the Skywaves FM Forum stating just how good they actually were. I was advised to get one to have a play, so I did.
To begin with, the installation of the software isn't exactly straight-forward, though there is a lot of help documented on various websites and forums, such as the SDR Radio Forum and the SDR Radio website. It took me a good few hours to work out how to complete the installation as the appropriate drivers were not initially found by the software, which needs to be told where to find the appropriate drivers.
Once up and running, I was blown away by the DTV300's performance on band 2. It was actually as good as that of my Sony XDR-F1HD and with only subtle differences. The DTV300 probably doesn't quite match up to the XDR-F1HD's superb selectivity - even when using the software's fully variable bandwidth, but it wasn't far behind. I was more impressed by the DTV300's gain. The XDR-F1HD has a slight mute on weak signals, but soon opens up once a very weak signal increases in strength. The DTV300 doesn't have this mute when used with the SDR Radio and SDR# software. Or at least you can disable this annoyance if it has. The results were better access and improved audio clarity on very weak signals which is somewhat reduced on the XDR-F1HD. Once the signal increases, then the XDR-F1HD probably wins - but not by much.
I am primarily looking at the DTV300 from a DX perspective, but the audio quality was also good when used with SDR-Radio and SDR#. The DTV300 also has RDS capability. The sensitivity threshold for RDS data is set too high, in my opinion and I wondered if it might be possible to lower this so RDS forms accurately with lower signal levels. If this can be done then you have quite a beast of a DX receiver.
Recording Demonstration:
Click here for a recording, demonstrating the difference in reception between the SDR Radio/DTV300 setup and the Sony XDR-F1HD. The station I used in this demonstration was RTBF La Premiere, Tournai, on 106.0 MHz. I deliberately beamed slightly south of the direction of Tournai so you can hear the splatter of semi-local Kiss FM from Stoke Holy Cross on 106.1 (wide and splattery). I also had the SDR Radio set to its widest IF bandwidth of 192 kHz. The brighter sounding audio is that of the DTV300 via the SDR Radio software, while the more muffled sounding audio is the Sony XDR-F1HD, which starts off the recording. The antenna in use is a Triax FM5, on the roof of the bungalow, beaming south-south-east.
Saturday, 26 January 2013
G1VVP / Skegness DX - Site Reorganisation
I have been paying for domains and hosting since the turn of the century ("millennium", actually - doesn't that make me sound incredibly old?!! :O) I got to thinking that this was unnecessary in this day and age as there are so many free online sites where you can host your hobby web pages and store many types of file, each without cost. Why bother paying? When I added together the cost of my domains and hosting packages I worked out that I was paying about £150 per year. "Stop" I told myself.
Things used to be different. For instance, the Skywaves domain and hosting was bought when Skywaves began to embrace online technology around the year 2000 and, reluctantly, ceased to produce its monthly printed bulletin shortly afterwards, running entirely via electronic media on the web. Back then we had a web presence with a club website and there were two Yahoo forums. The move proved to be a good one in some ways. For a start, it encouraged many more members to join and offered greater ease for members to contribute and interact. It was free! Whereas the cost of the Skywaves domain and its hosting was mostly covered by voluntary donations to begin with. These slowly dried up. Personally, I was sad to see the end of the hard copy of Skywaves - something you could actually touch and smell, but that's 'progress' for you and it did turn out to be worthwhile, growing the membership substantially. For me though, it was the same as abandoning your CD or vinyl collection in favour of mp3 files. Sadly necessary in a way, but nowhere near as romantic.
During Christmas 2012 I also decided to begin the transition of moving my own personal and paid-for web pages to a free blog and make use of free file sharing sites. I looked at Wix to begin with, which is an excellent free site-builder, but I quickly opted for something simpler and settled here with Blogspot. I also use various other free filesharing sites such as Box (DX recordings), Mediafire (larger files such as Perseus recordings), Photobucket (photos, obviously) and YouTube (videos). I have also just started to use Google Sites "here" so I can keep an online reference and backup of my personal DX logs and recording links. It makes sense and I really don't see the point in continuing to pay for something simple which is only hobby-related. This whole transition may be a lengthy process though and I will add a few bits and pieces each week.
The only service I feel I still need to pay for is a personal email address, which I find can have a few useful advantages over free email services such as Gmail or Yahoo. Mail forwarding is one of them and this is less than straight-forward with services such as Gmail, though I have to give praise to Gmail for their excellent spam filtering.
So, over the coming weeks and months, I plan to add a lot more media to my "Google Site", including lots of personal DX recordings (I discovered a huge stack of these this afternoon which were previously missing), photos and various other related files.
Things used to be different. For instance, the Skywaves domain and hosting was bought when Skywaves began to embrace online technology around the year 2000 and, reluctantly, ceased to produce its monthly printed bulletin shortly afterwards, running entirely via electronic media on the web. Back then we had a web presence with a club website and there were two Yahoo forums. The move proved to be a good one in some ways. For a start, it encouraged many more members to join and offered greater ease for members to contribute and interact. It was free! Whereas the cost of the Skywaves domain and its hosting was mostly covered by voluntary donations to begin with. These slowly dried up. Personally, I was sad to see the end of the hard copy of Skywaves - something you could actually touch and smell, but that's 'progress' for you and it did turn out to be worthwhile, growing the membership substantially. For me though, it was the same as abandoning your CD or vinyl collection in favour of mp3 files. Sadly necessary in a way, but nowhere near as romantic.
During Christmas 2012 I also decided to begin the transition of moving my own personal and paid-for web pages to a free blog and make use of free file sharing sites. I looked at Wix to begin with, which is an excellent free site-builder, but I quickly opted for something simpler and settled here with Blogspot. I also use various other free filesharing sites such as Box (DX recordings), Mediafire (larger files such as Perseus recordings), Photobucket (photos, obviously) and YouTube (videos). I have also just started to use Google Sites "here" so I can keep an online reference and backup of my personal DX logs and recording links. It makes sense and I really don't see the point in continuing to pay for something simple which is only hobby-related. This whole transition may be a lengthy process though and I will add a few bits and pieces each week.
The only service I feel I still need to pay for is a personal email address, which I find can have a few useful advantages over free email services such as Gmail or Yahoo. Mail forwarding is one of them and this is less than straight-forward with services such as Gmail, though I have to give praise to Gmail for their excellent spam filtering.
So, over the coming weeks and months, I plan to add a lot more media to my "Google Site", including lots of personal DX recordings (I discovered a huge stack of these this afternoon which were previously missing), photos and various other related files.
Friday, 25 January 2013
Good Scatter This Afternoon
Around 15:00 this afternoon I noticed an enhancement to East Anglia, the south-east of England and Lille nationals, the latter of which were at RDS levels. I assumed this may have been a pre-frontal inversion ahead of the snow which is expected here in a few hours.
About half an hour later the enhancement had gone and I began to wonder if the reception had just been via your average jet scatter, but if so it was quite stable. Maybe troposcatter is responsible but I would have thought the weather was too cold with a bitterly cold breeze outside.
What was also a surprise was my first reception here of The Wave on 96.4 from Swansea, SW Wales at 334 km. There was no apparent enhancement in that direction as Wenvoe, in the same area, was weak and fluttery. The Wave was heard only very briefly on a short troposcatter type peak and was in parallel with their web stream.
Signals had returned to normal by 16:30 and transmitters like Wrotham receded back into the noise whereas they had been at a full three bars on the Sony XDR-F1HD an hour earlier. Lille also went back into hiding.
So, conditions have been very changeable indeed this afternoon. At least it shows that scatter conditions are not constantly down, even at this time of year.
Best reception was Big FM, Koblenz on 104.0 (590 km) and SWR4, Donnersberg on 105.6 (657 km). Central France is lacking at the moment. Only getting as far down as Neufchatel (381 km) and Caen (469 km) in the north.
As I type, I have a weak WDR5 from Bonn (538 km) on 88.0 mixing with an even weaker SR1 from Gottelborner Hohe (629 km). Radio Salu, Saarbrucken on 101.7 (628 km) is present but very weak. The Dudelange transmitter in Luxembourg is also coming in noisily on 88.9 and 100.7 (574 km). Still, this is very not bad at all for January. With temperatures peaking at -1°C today and with snow on the ground I cannot possibly be disappointed.
About half an hour later the enhancement had gone and I began to wonder if the reception had just been via your average jet scatter, but if so it was quite stable. Maybe troposcatter is responsible but I would have thought the weather was too cold with a bitterly cold breeze outside.
What was also a surprise was my first reception here of The Wave on 96.4 from Swansea, SW Wales at 334 km. There was no apparent enhancement in that direction as Wenvoe, in the same area, was weak and fluttery. The Wave was heard only very briefly on a short troposcatter type peak and was in parallel with their web stream.
Signals had returned to normal by 16:30 and transmitters like Wrotham receded back into the noise whereas they had been at a full three bars on the Sony XDR-F1HD an hour earlier. Lille also went back into hiding.
So, conditions have been very changeable indeed this afternoon. At least it shows that scatter conditions are not constantly down, even at this time of year.
Best reception was Big FM, Koblenz on 104.0 (590 km) and SWR4, Donnersberg on 105.6 (657 km). Central France is lacking at the moment. Only getting as far down as Neufchatel (381 km) and Caen (469 km) in the north.
As I type, I have a weak WDR5 from Bonn (538 km) on 88.0 mixing with an even weaker SR1 from Gottelborner Hohe (629 km). Radio Salu, Saarbrucken on 101.7 (628 km) is present but very weak. The Dudelange transmitter in Luxembourg is also coming in noisily on 88.9 and 100.7 (574 km). Still, this is very not bad at all for January. With temperatures peaking at -1°C today and with snow on the ground I cannot possibly be disappointed.
Monday, 21 January 2013
Band 2 Polarisation Flip
With three inches of fresh snow on the ground and a bitter northerly air flow at -2°C (the local Skegness Weather station puts the actual temperature 'feel' at -7°C) I am very surprised to be receiving European scatter.
This was Luxembourg's at 09:05 this morning on the horizontal FM5:
100.7 Honnert Comma Eins, Dudelange, Luxembourg 0907 21-01-13
It was a poor signal but it managed to push through.
About half an hour later I noticed an unusual phenomenon: The signal polarisation from European stations seemed to be all over the place. I have horizontally polarized Langengerg, Germany, for instance, on 101.3 actually coming in better on the vertical FM5, yet the vertically polarised Ijsselstein transmitter in Holland, also on 100.7, actually came in better on the horizontal FM5!
This was what Ijsselstein sounded like - quite a good peak to say it was the wrong polarisation:
100.7 Q Music, Ijsselstein 0925 21-01-13
When using the FM5 vertically I heard this very weak pirate station on 97.0:
97.0 Geweld Uit Enter, Enter (Overijssel) Afternoon 21-01-13
AThere was also a bit of meteor scatter on 97.0, still on the vertical!
Sorry about the scratchiness. This is a bug in my Delta 66 sound card which happens occasionally.
This was Luxembourg's at 09:05 this morning on the horizontal FM5:
100.7 Honnert Comma Eins, Dudelange, Luxembourg 0907 21-01-13
It was a poor signal but it managed to push through.
About half an hour later I noticed an unusual phenomenon: The signal polarisation from European stations seemed to be all over the place. I have horizontally polarized Langengerg, Germany, for instance, on 101.3 actually coming in better on the vertical FM5, yet the vertically polarised Ijsselstein transmitter in Holland, also on 100.7, actually came in better on the horizontal FM5!
This was what Ijsselstein sounded like - quite a good peak to say it was the wrong polarisation:
100.7 Q Music, Ijsselstein 0925 21-01-13
When using the FM5 vertically I heard this very weak pirate station on 97.0:
97.0 Geweld Uit Enter, Enter (Overijssel) Afternoon 21-01-13
AThere was also a bit of meteor scatter on 97.0, still on the vertical!
Sorry about the scratchiness. This is a bug in my Delta 66 sound card which happens occasionally.
Friday, 18 January 2013
It Shouldn't Happen To A DXer ...
This is an article I wrote for the Medium Wave News, the bulletin of the Medium Wave Circle, during the early 2000s, where it was entitled "The World's Unluckiest DXer!" It looks at the pros and cons of mobile DXing and rolling out huge lengths of wire with the purpose of experiencing exotic, high-latitude DX, the kind which has only been heard on organised DXpeditions to the north-west of Scotland and north-west Wales. I wanted to find out if this kind of exotic DX could be achieved at lower latitudes, i.e. the English Midlands. Having conducted further beverage experiments at my new address on the east coast this article may be worthy of resurrecting. It shows what can go wrong!
Having experienced the excellent high-latitude DX which can be achieved in the far north-west of Scotland, I wanted to try a medium wave DX trip much closer to home, purely to see if the same results could be achieved locally. I could hear exotic west coast North American in the north of Scotland, but could I receive the same stations at my location in the centre of England?
The following may seem extreme, but any other DXers have been known to carry out much more elaborate antenna experiments than those you will read about below!I first had the idea of using a beverage antenna locally in the mid 90''s. Living close to Sherwood Forest has its advantages as there are still large areas of woodland which contain natural beverage supports (also known as trees). Very little of the original forest remain these days but there are a few remote areas to be found which offer several miles of unspoilt forest.
Clipstone Forest
The roads through the remaining parts of the forest are mainly dirt tracks and it is dificult to drive a car through them. I persevered and found a secluded spot about three miles to the east of Mansfield and erected a mile long beverage antenna, laid on the ground. These are also known as BOGs. Ther beverage antenna was almost pointing at my local Clipstone mast. This mast carries two medium wave stations on 1071 and 1584kHzand, as half expected, my AR7030 receiver started to glow with the strong overload and no DX was possible due to the large amounts of signal. Not giving up, I bought an Ordnance Survey map of the area to find other suitable locations within the forest which were further away from the Clipstone mast, but virtually all of them were located close to electricity pylons.
Ransom Wood
Still in the forest, my next listening experiments were conducted in a wooded area close to the village of Rainworth. It was three miles further away from the Clipstone mast and no overload was present here, but I still found it difficult to access channels immediately adjacent to 1071 and 1584kHz. The location was not so isolated but it was possible to erect a discreet wire some 300 metres long, high among the trees and some early morning listening sessions were carried out, sadly unsuccessfully due to poor conditions. One morning, after only a few weeks of trying this spot, I noticed one or two nearby trees being felled and various tractors and heavy machinery appearing around me. Little did I know that his area of woodland was going to be felled to make way for a new dual-carriageway. Grrrr! Another location was necessary.
Huthwaite
Should I try and area closer to home? There was a lane which ran ran south-east / north-west at the back of my house. This was when I lived in the village of Huthwaite. The path had a stream running along its length and right through the middle of it and I thought this would provide a good earthing point for the beverage antenna termination. The path only ran for a few hundred feet but I thought it must be worth giving it a try as it was perfectly situated at the back of the rear garden. I could DX from home then!
So I carefully concealed a wire underneath the top of the rear of the neighbour's fences which ran along the side of the path, giving about five feet of elevation above the ground. The wire was terminated in the stream and a reasonable null was achieved, despite the short length. Perfect! Well, until a few days later. I was taking some measurements on the terminating resistor when I was approached by a youth with a crowbar! The crowbar was raised above his head, ready to strike me. He asked me what I was doing and was particularly keen to know if I was working for the police. Little did I know that I had crossed the path of a local drug dealer! He thought I was doing surveillance work for the police and had assumed that the wire was some kind of listening device so I could listen in to their mobile phone conversations! I calmly (Yes, 'calmly'! Don't ask me how I remained so calm) explained to him that I was a radio ham and this was one of my aerials. I also invited him to come and visit my receiving setup if he didn't believe me, just so he could see for himself that I was not working for the police. He seemed to accept my explanation at face value and told me "no worries". We chatted for a while. He then walked away, completely satisfied with my story and I never heard from him again. Phew!
I actually continued to listen for a few more weeks with this short beverage behind the house but it wasn't long before someone pulled it up and left it scattered along the path. It didn't seem to matter anyway as its shorter length was not providing me with quite sufficient signal, but I still believe I heard CFRY Portage-la-Prairie, Manitoba on 920kHz one morning. So, off I went again, on my travels to find yet another location for a beverage. I think the bad luck I'd had with the previous locations had only made me more determined to find a better and more reliable location.
No Man's Hill
At last, I found a spot which proved to be the most successful, at No Man's Hill , only two miles from home which ran through a small wooded area close to a busy main road. The dense overgrowth allowed me to successfully erect a north-westerly beverage of around 400 metres which was left there for several weeks. Car parking was ideal and I could get off the main road and settle down to some serious listening without interruption. This location proved to be excellent and many high latitude stations were received during the winter of 1997 which was a solar minimum period. Among the DX heard and recorded at No Man's Hill were ...
680 CJOB Winnipeg Manitoba
880 CHQT Edmonton Alberta
980 KKMS Eagan Minnesota
1010 CBR Calgary, Alberta
1060 CKMX Calgary, Alberta
1130 CKWX Vancouver, British Colombia
1290 CFRW Winnipeg, Manitoba (Presumed)
1390 CJCY Medicine Hat, Alberta (Presumed)
1470 CJVB Vancouver, British Columbia
1510 KGA Spokane, Washington
So, this haul appeared to indicate that Sheigra-like conditions could be achieved at lower latutudes, although probably with less reliability than in the north-west of Scotland. But this wonderful location was not only going to provide me with my best DX from a location close to home, but it was also the setting for the most bizarre chain of events I have ever experienced while on a DXpedition, for a week or so later I was to discover some rather unlikely events in the very wood where I had erected my beverage. Not only that, but I was also about to read about it in the local press soon afterwards.
I was doing some maintenance on the beverage one morning when I became aware I was being watched from a distance by several youths. I was also aware that they had attempted to surround me, so I quickly made my way back to the car and drove off. I returned the following morning to continue my work only this time I took our German Shepherd along with me in the hope this would act as a deterrent, should anything untoward happen. Once again there were various youths seemingly snooping around in the woodland and paying particular attention to my beverage antenna. The dog did indeed serve as a deterrent as they kept their distance from me, but I did not fancy going deep into the woodland to repair a broken section of the wire. I hurriedly abandoned this location. Here's why:
By chance, I was reading through one of the local newspapers a week or two later and I read about the goings on in No Man's Hill Wood. They reported that the woodland had been used as a discrete area for, of all things, gay prostitution! It would appear that the youths who had tried to surround me were, as the local paper eloquently put it, "gaybashers" !! "Beveragebashers" more like! Some gay people had been hospitalilsed after being attacked by the youths. Oh well, off to find somewhere else!
Thieves Wood
Another wooded area only a few hundred metres from No Man's Hill, known as Thieves Wood, provided a great spot for a very long beverage. A 300 metre wire was installed among the densely packed trees in this area. It was also possible to continue this wire another 200 yards and terminate it in a small lake, though I never got this far. It wasn't long before the wood lived up to its name when I found the wire had been 'stolen' as I arrived one morning. Replacing the wire only had the same result a few days later, but there was something else I had overlooked. The parking location, in a small layby just off the main road, was situated only a couple of hundred metres from a local children's nursery! I had assumed this was just an old farm building to begin with. I did not fancy staying around here just in case I was accused of spying on small children, so, yet again, I hurriedly moved on!
Stainsby Common
You might not be surprised at this point when I tell you that I was getting rather low on wire. I was through about half my stock so I needed to be really careful choosing my next location. After more searching and map reading I spotted a quiet location to the west of Tibshelf village, close to the village of Astwith, overlooking the Amber Valley to Matlock and Crich. It was a country lane linking a busy road to a farm track. I didn't see much traffic using it so I setled here and erected another 300 metres of wire in a north-westerly direction. I presume I must have been being watched as I set this up as the following morning when I arrived at the spot at 5am I noticed a lot of activity on this road. The wire was still there, but there were a couple of white vans and a police car parked on the lane. A few people were looking at my aerial wire, scratching their heads. I wondered if they were DTI officials or similar so I didn't stop and just drove straight past. Was this really happening? How many more locations could I find locally? I was running out of ideas.There weren't many more locations worth considering locally, so I decided to look further afield and travel out into Derbyshire. There are large areas of moorland to the west of Chesterfield which looked like they were begging to have beverage antennas strung across them! There were also many roads which ran for a mile or more in the required direction and virtually all of these had wire fences running alongside them.
Big Moor
To begin with I found a road with such a wire and tried an experiment. First, I lay a beverage on the ground (Wasn't that the title of a Billie Joe Spears song? Beverage On The Ground?). Above the wire on the ground was a wire fence! This was unearthed across the length I chose and seemed to be continuous. Beware though - make sure you test the wire for continuity before using it. Also make sure it does not come into physical contact with anything which will earth it, such as metal supporting posts. In the case of the wire fences in Derbyshire, all the supporting posts were made of wood! I compared the gain and directivity between the beverage on the ground and the wire fence above it.. Surprisingly there was no obvious difference! I had expected the wire fence to give poor results due to lesser conductivity but it seemed to exhibit exhibited exactly the same characteristics as the wire on the ground. Both were roughly 300 metres in length. I was now asking myself the question "why bother to run out wires? There just wasn't any need anymore!
Over the coming weeks I continued my beverage experiments, comparing the characteristics of the wire on the ground and one and one resting along a hedgerow. Once again there was no significant difference between the performance of the two. Furthermore, extending the beverage by another two or three hundred metres made precious little difference to the overall gain of the antenna, nor its directivity. My conclusions were that 300 metres was a suitable length, being perfectly resonant in the centre of the medium wave band.
Curbar Edge
Finally, the last in my series of DXing disasters (for now at least!) was to take place on a stretch of road which runs close to the Curbar Edge, a few miles to the west of Sheffield. I had been camping out and listening from my car one morning in 2005. It was 7am and the day was breaking. I was ready to haul in the beverage and go home as conditions had deteriorated substantially since the midnight period. I drove from the layby where I had been parked, up to the end of the beverage and got out of the car. Meanwhile, I noticed a tractor had pulled into the layby so I got back in my car and watched closely. I doubt the wire would have been a problem but I always hate the thought of having to explain to somebody what I am doing. I thought the tractor was going to drive through the gate next to the layby and into the field. Ten or fifteen minutes passed and I could see that some kind of cutting equipment had been attached to the tractor though I could not see what it was. Hopefully it wasn't a hedg ecutter. More minutes past and I heard the sound of something tapping repetitively against my car. I wondered what on earth it was and so got out but of my car and looked around but could I see nothing. Very odd indeed! Since I was out of the car and wasting time waiting for the tractor to go away I thought I may as well start to haul in the wire, so I looked for it in the hedgerow at the side of the road. Nothing! It wasn't there anymore! I looked more closely as it is not unusual to lose the wire. I always use very thin black plastic covered wire which can easily become camouflaged in the twigs and branches. Still nothing! Suddenly, I became aware that the tractor had moved and was moving up the road towards me. I quickly got back in the car as I realised I may have been looking a little suspicious searching through the hedgerow. The tractor drove straight past me and I saw the large hedge cutting tool attached to it, my beverage antenna and several copper earth rods wrapped around it! I suspect this had damaged the cutting tool and the tractor was driving away as he was now unable to cut the rest of the hedgerow. Ooooops! Scarcely able to believe my eyes I hung my head low and drove away quietly. This was very frustrating and I thought I probably shouldn't show my face around that area for a while at least!
Since these minor disasters I have concentrated on improving my setup at home. I have since added Dream IF-DSP software and constructed a very efficient ewe antenna. I have also placed several chokes inline with my antenna cables which has got rid of the awful noise levels which used to wipe out the entire medium wave band. For now at least there is little point in going out into the countryside to DX, but I have to admit it was good fun while it lasted.
Conclusion
I really do feel that it is possible to come close to the kind of reception conditions experienced in more northerly climes, but it is probably not possible to *match* the reception. The site at No Man's Hill would appear to prove this point due to the high latitude reception in 1997, listed above. But generally, the conditions for the times when I carried out the majority of my beverage tests (between 1995 and 2004) were rather poor. Even up in the north of Scotland nothing particularly exciting was being heard at the time.The medium wave band in this part of central England is awash with continental signals at night and these will block many transatlantic channels. This situation is slightly different in northern Scotland where the continental signals, though still present, do not affect transatlantic reception quite so adversely. The north of Scotland will also be the first to experience higher latitude DX in winter, which often needs an extra day or two of quiet conditions before it propagates southward. So it's not all doom and gloom, but the possibilities are reduced in some ways, not least due to finding a suitable location to erect a beverage and actually keep it there!
Happy DXing!
John Faulkner
Skywaves Administrator
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following may seem extreme, but any other DXers have been known to carry out much more elaborate antenna experiments than those you will read about below!I first had the idea of using a beverage antenna locally in the mid 90''s. Living close to Sherwood Forest has its advantages as there are still large areas of woodland which contain natural beverage supports (also known as trees). Very little of the original forest remain these days but there are a few remote areas to be found which offer several miles of unspoilt forest.
Clipstone Forest
The roads through the remaining parts of the forest are mainly dirt tracks and it is dificult to drive a car through them. I persevered and found a secluded spot about three miles to the east of Mansfield and erected a mile long beverage antenna, laid on the ground. These are also known as BOGs. Ther beverage antenna was almost pointing at my local Clipstone mast. This mast carries two medium wave stations on 1071 and 1584kHzand, as half expected, my AR7030 receiver started to glow with the strong overload and no DX was possible due to the large amounts of signal. Not giving up, I bought an Ordnance Survey map of the area to find other suitable locations within the forest which were further away from the Clipstone mast, but virtually all of them were located close to electricity pylons.
Ransom Wood
Still in the forest, my next listening experiments were conducted in a wooded area close to the village of Rainworth. It was three miles further away from the Clipstone mast and no overload was present here, but I still found it difficult to access channels immediately adjacent to 1071 and 1584kHz. The location was not so isolated but it was possible to erect a discreet wire some 300 metres long, high among the trees and some early morning listening sessions were carried out, sadly unsuccessfully due to poor conditions. One morning, after only a few weeks of trying this spot, I noticed one or two nearby trees being felled and various tractors and heavy machinery appearing around me. Little did I know that his area of woodland was going to be felled to make way for a new dual-carriageway. Grrrr! Another location was necessary.
Huthwaite
Should I try and area closer to home? There was a lane which ran ran south-east / north-west at the back of my house. This was when I lived in the village of Huthwaite. The path had a stream running along its length and right through the middle of it and I thought this would provide a good earthing point for the beverage antenna termination. The path only ran for a few hundred feet but I thought it must be worth giving it a try as it was perfectly situated at the back of the rear garden. I could DX from home then!
So I carefully concealed a wire underneath the top of the rear of the neighbour's fences which ran along the side of the path, giving about five feet of elevation above the ground. The wire was terminated in the stream and a reasonable null was achieved, despite the short length. Perfect! Well, until a few days later. I was taking some measurements on the terminating resistor when I was approached by a youth with a crowbar! The crowbar was raised above his head, ready to strike me. He asked me what I was doing and was particularly keen to know if I was working for the police. Little did I know that I had crossed the path of a local drug dealer! He thought I was doing surveillance work for the police and had assumed that the wire was some kind of listening device so I could listen in to their mobile phone conversations! I calmly (Yes, 'calmly'! Don't ask me how I remained so calm) explained to him that I was a radio ham and this was one of my aerials. I also invited him to come and visit my receiving setup if he didn't believe me, just so he could see for himself that I was not working for the police. He seemed to accept my explanation at face value and told me "no worries". We chatted for a while. He then walked away, completely satisfied with my story and I never heard from him again. Phew!
I actually continued to listen for a few more weeks with this short beverage behind the house but it wasn't long before someone pulled it up and left it scattered along the path. It didn't seem to matter anyway as its shorter length was not providing me with quite sufficient signal, but I still believe I heard CFRY Portage-la-Prairie, Manitoba on 920kHz one morning. So, off I went again, on my travels to find yet another location for a beverage. I think the bad luck I'd had with the previous locations had only made me more determined to find a better and more reliable location.
No Man's Hill
At last, I found a spot which proved to be the most successful, at No Man's Hill , only two miles from home which ran through a small wooded area close to a busy main road. The dense overgrowth allowed me to successfully erect a north-westerly beverage of around 400 metres which was left there for several weeks. Car parking was ideal and I could get off the main road and settle down to some serious listening without interruption. This location proved to be excellent and many high latitude stations were received during the winter of 1997 which was a solar minimum period. Among the DX heard and recorded at No Man's Hill were ...
680 CJOB Winnipeg Manitoba
880 CHQT Edmonton Alberta
980 KKMS Eagan Minnesota
1010 CBR Calgary, Alberta
1060 CKMX Calgary, Alberta
1130 CKWX Vancouver, British Colombia
1290 CFRW Winnipeg, Manitoba (Presumed)
1390 CJCY Medicine Hat, Alberta (Presumed)
1470 CJVB Vancouver, British Columbia
1510 KGA Spokane, Washington
So, this haul appeared to indicate that Sheigra-like conditions could be achieved at lower latutudes, although probably with less reliability than in the north-west of Scotland. But this wonderful location was not only going to provide me with my best DX from a location close to home, but it was also the setting for the most bizarre chain of events I have ever experienced while on a DXpedition, for a week or so later I was to discover some rather unlikely events in the very wood where I had erected my beverage. Not only that, but I was also about to read about it in the local press soon afterwards.
I was doing some maintenance on the beverage one morning when I became aware I was being watched from a distance by several youths. I was also aware that they had attempted to surround me, so I quickly made my way back to the car and drove off. I returned the following morning to continue my work only this time I took our German Shepherd along with me in the hope this would act as a deterrent, should anything untoward happen. Once again there were various youths seemingly snooping around in the woodland and paying particular attention to my beverage antenna. The dog did indeed serve as a deterrent as they kept their distance from me, but I did not fancy going deep into the woodland to repair a broken section of the wire. I hurriedly abandoned this location. Here's why:
By chance, I was reading through one of the local newspapers a week or two later and I read about the goings on in No Man's Hill Wood. They reported that the woodland had been used as a discrete area for, of all things, gay prostitution! It would appear that the youths who had tried to surround me were, as the local paper eloquently put it, "gaybashers" !! "Beveragebashers" more like! Some gay people had been hospitalilsed after being attacked by the youths. Oh well, off to find somewhere else!
Thieves Wood
Another wooded area only a few hundred metres from No Man's Hill, known as Thieves Wood, provided a great spot for a very long beverage. A 300 metre wire was installed among the densely packed trees in this area. It was also possible to continue this wire another 200 yards and terminate it in a small lake, though I never got this far. It wasn't long before the wood lived up to its name when I found the wire had been 'stolen' as I arrived one morning. Replacing the wire only had the same result a few days later, but there was something else I had overlooked. The parking location, in a small layby just off the main road, was situated only a couple of hundred metres from a local children's nursery! I had assumed this was just an old farm building to begin with. I did not fancy staying around here just in case I was accused of spying on small children, so, yet again, I hurriedly moved on!
Stainsby Common
You might not be surprised at this point when I tell you that I was getting rather low on wire. I was through about half my stock so I needed to be really careful choosing my next location. After more searching and map reading I spotted a quiet location to the west of Tibshelf village, close to the village of Astwith, overlooking the Amber Valley to Matlock and Crich. It was a country lane linking a busy road to a farm track. I didn't see much traffic using it so I setled here and erected another 300 metres of wire in a north-westerly direction. I presume I must have been being watched as I set this up as the following morning when I arrived at the spot at 5am I noticed a lot of activity on this road. The wire was still there, but there were a couple of white vans and a police car parked on the lane. A few people were looking at my aerial wire, scratching their heads. I wondered if they were DTI officials or similar so I didn't stop and just drove straight past. Was this really happening? How many more locations could I find locally? I was running out of ideas.There weren't many more locations worth considering locally, so I decided to look further afield and travel out into Derbyshire. There are large areas of moorland to the west of Chesterfield which looked like they were begging to have beverage antennas strung across them! There were also many roads which ran for a mile or more in the required direction and virtually all of these had wire fences running alongside them.
Big Moor
To begin with I found a road with such a wire and tried an experiment. First, I lay a beverage on the ground (Wasn't that the title of a Billie Joe Spears song? Beverage On The Ground?). Above the wire on the ground was a wire fence! This was unearthed across the length I chose and seemed to be continuous. Beware though - make sure you test the wire for continuity before using it. Also make sure it does not come into physical contact with anything which will earth it, such as metal supporting posts. In the case of the wire fences in Derbyshire, all the supporting posts were made of wood! I compared the gain and directivity between the beverage on the ground and the wire fence above it.. Surprisingly there was no obvious difference! I had expected the wire fence to give poor results due to lesser conductivity but it seemed to exhibit exhibited exactly the same characteristics as the wire on the ground. Both were roughly 300 metres in length. I was now asking myself the question "why bother to run out wires? There just wasn't any need anymore!
Over the coming weeks I continued my beverage experiments, comparing the characteristics of the wire on the ground and one and one resting along a hedgerow. Once again there was no significant difference between the performance of the two. Furthermore, extending the beverage by another two or three hundred metres made precious little difference to the overall gain of the antenna, nor its directivity. My conclusions were that 300 metres was a suitable length, being perfectly resonant in the centre of the medium wave band.
Curbar Edge
Finally, the last in my series of DXing disasters (for now at least!) was to take place on a stretch of road which runs close to the Curbar Edge, a few miles to the west of Sheffield. I had been camping out and listening from my car one morning in 2005. It was 7am and the day was breaking. I was ready to haul in the beverage and go home as conditions had deteriorated substantially since the midnight period. I drove from the layby where I had been parked, up to the end of the beverage and got out of the car. Meanwhile, I noticed a tractor had pulled into the layby so I got back in my car and watched closely. I doubt the wire would have been a problem but I always hate the thought of having to explain to somebody what I am doing. I thought the tractor was going to drive through the gate next to the layby and into the field. Ten or fifteen minutes passed and I could see that some kind of cutting equipment had been attached to the tractor though I could not see what it was. Hopefully it wasn't a hedg ecutter. More minutes past and I heard the sound of something tapping repetitively against my car. I wondered what on earth it was and so got out but of my car and looked around but could I see nothing. Very odd indeed! Since I was out of the car and wasting time waiting for the tractor to go away I thought I may as well start to haul in the wire, so I looked for it in the hedgerow at the side of the road. Nothing! It wasn't there anymore! I looked more closely as it is not unusual to lose the wire. I always use very thin black plastic covered wire which can easily become camouflaged in the twigs and branches. Still nothing! Suddenly, I became aware that the tractor had moved and was moving up the road towards me. I quickly got back in the car as I realised I may have been looking a little suspicious searching through the hedgerow. The tractor drove straight past me and I saw the large hedge cutting tool attached to it, my beverage antenna and several copper earth rods wrapped around it! I suspect this had damaged the cutting tool and the tractor was driving away as he was now unable to cut the rest of the hedgerow. Ooooops! Scarcely able to believe my eyes I hung my head low and drove away quietly. This was very frustrating and I thought I probably shouldn't show my face around that area for a while at least!
Since these minor disasters I have concentrated on improving my setup at home. I have since added Dream IF-DSP software and constructed a very efficient ewe antenna. I have also placed several chokes inline with my antenna cables which has got rid of the awful noise levels which used to wipe out the entire medium wave band. For now at least there is little point in going out into the countryside to DX, but I have to admit it was good fun while it lasted.
Conclusion
I really do feel that it is possible to come close to the kind of reception conditions experienced in more northerly climes, but it is probably not possible to *match* the reception. The site at No Man's Hill would appear to prove this point due to the high latitude reception in 1997, listed above. But generally, the conditions for the times when I carried out the majority of my beverage tests (between 1995 and 2004) were rather poor. Even up in the north of Scotland nothing particularly exciting was being heard at the time.The medium wave band in this part of central England is awash with continental signals at night and these will block many transatlantic channels. This situation is slightly different in northern Scotland where the continental signals, though still present, do not affect transatlantic reception quite so adversely. The north of Scotland will also be the first to experience higher latitude DX in winter, which often needs an extra day or two of quiet conditions before it propagates southward. So it's not all doom and gloom, but the possibilities are reduced in some ways, not least due to finding a suitable location to erect a beverage and actually keep it there!
Happy DXing!
John Faulkner
Skywaves Administrator
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