Pages

Friday 31 January 2014

Meteor Scatter Videos on my YouTube Channel

Since putting the FM5 on the garden I have been able to enjoy noise-free reception across FM. This has enabled the reception of some very weak signals which would have otherwise been buried under mountains (up to 30 dBf - XDR-GTK software) of noise.

Reception has been so good, it has been like being on a DX trip to a remote location. There's simply zero noise. So many signals can fade in from nowhere, via scatter modes, which otherwise wouldn't have stood a chance on my rooftop antenna, which is now receiving so much noise it has become unusable.

To demonstrate, I have taken some recordings from the computer using Bandicam software. Here are the pick of the bunch, but many more can be viewed on my YouTube page.

89.0 Radio Impuls, Ostrava, via meteor scatter:  2014-01-26

Good Overnight Meteor Scatter: 89 5, 2014-01-20

Quadrantids Meteor Scatter Highlights 03 01 14

Overnight Meteor Scatter - 01 01 14

Thursday 30 January 2014

Skegness Log: 30-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 90.2 1334  D  MDR JUMP, Inselsberg (thü) Part of jingle ID  739km **
 90.2 1409  D  Radio Teddy, Berlin/Alexanderplatz (brb) Boy band song, as web  881km **

 90.2 0725  I  Radio Maria, Three transmitters listed Prayer. Mention of "Le Lodi"
               programme. Thanks FM Franco for help.


** Personal Skegness 'First'

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Wednesday 29 January 2014

Skegness Log: 29-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 88.1 1034  I  RAI Radio1, Several listed including three high power OM news, as web.
               Frequent bursts **
 88.1 1250 SRB Radio Beograd 1, Ovcar (Srb) Don McLean song, as web  1779km **
 88.1 1306 SUI RSI Rete Uno, Monte San Salvatore (ti) Sades Paradise, as
               web stream  1010km **
 88.1 1312  G  BBC Radio 2, Several Sites possible Maybe North Hesssary Tor?
               A fluttery Jeremy Vine!   **
 87.6 2111  D  Antenne Brandenburg, Frankfurt (Oder) Booßen (brb) Neil Diamonds
               "I Am I Said", as web. Two second burst  951km **


** Personal Skegness 'First'

Poor meteor scatter yesterday but much better today. It's been 'pings' rather than 'bursts' but there were a few longer ripples of activity lasting up to about five seconds during the last few hours of the day.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Monday 27 January 2014

Skegness Log: 27-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 88.5 0023 AUT Hitradio Ö3, Innsbruck 1/Patscherkofel (tir) Israel Kamakawiwoole
               song, as web  1030km **
 95.8 1258  I  RAI Radio3, Trieste/Monte Belvedere (RAI) (ts) Presume Trieste.
               Italian YL, as web  1278km **
 95.8 1313  D  Bayern 3, Grünten (Allgäu) (bay) End of song and OM, as web  942km **
 95.8 1348  D  WDR 5, Ederkopf (nrw) Country song, as web  593km **
 95.8 1545  D  RBB Radio Eins, Berlin/Alexanderplatz (brb) YL phone caller,
               several seconds.   881km **
 93.4 2118  D  RBB infoRADIO/Sorbisches Prog., Cottbus Calau (brb) OM, as web.
               Several short bursts  935km **
 93.4 2142  D  delta radio, Hamburg/Heinrich-Hertz-Turm (ham) Vocal ID. Thanks
               pe1etr, Jurgen and Konrad DX for confirmation. Matches jingle ID 100%
               on recorded jingle ID.  642km **


** Personal Skegness 'First'

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Sunday 26 January 2014

Skegness Log: 26-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 91.2 0104 AUT Ö1, Graz 1/Schöckl (ste) Frequent pings of jazz, as web  1262km **
 95.4 0148 AUT Ö2 - Radio Steiermark, Graz 1/Schöckl (ste) German song, as web  1262km **
 89.0 1001 CZE Radio Impuls, Ostrava/Hostálkovice (MO) 2203 ____ULS_  1287km **
 89.0 1225  F  France Culture, Le Mans/Mayet (72) YL, as web. Three short bursts  599km **
 89.0 1259  D  89.0 RTL, Brocken (san) German pop song, as web  713km **
 89.0 1304  D  SWR4 Baden-Württemberg, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) German OM, as web  834km **
 99.1 1420 AUT Antenne Steiermark, Graz 1/Schöckl (ste) Taylor Swift song, as web.
               Several short pings over the last hour  1262km **

Band 2 Tropospheric:
101.7 1422 BEL AFN PowerNet, Everberg (vlg-vbr) Brief noise free peak. US OM  386km

** Personal Skegness 'First'

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Saturday 25 January 2014

Skegness Log: 25-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Tropospheric:
 89.4 1243  F  France Musique, Brest/Roc Trédudon (29) F203  604km
 89.9 1245  F  France Musique, Rennes/Saint-Pern (35) F203  564km
 95.4 1250  F  France Inter, Brest/Roc Trédudon (29) F201 __INTER_  604km
 94.2 1251  F  France Culture, Nantes/Haute-Goulaine (44) Talk, as 98.0  675km
 90.6 1252  F  France Inter, Nantes/Haute-Goulaine (44) OM, as 103.7  675km
 89.2 1253  F  France Culture, Cherbourg-Octeville/Digosville (50) OM, as 98.0  413km
100.7 1256  F  France Bleu Cotentin, Cherbourg-Octeville/Digosville (50)
               French song, ID, France Bleu Le Weekend. Noise free  413km

 95.6 1311  F  France Musique, Caen/Mont Pinçon (14) F203 MUSIQUE_  469km
 91.5 1312  F  France Culture, Caen/Mont Pinçon (14) F202 _CULTURE  469km
 93.8 1425  F  France Inter, Parthenay/les Chateliers (79) Michel Polnareff song, as 103.7  712km
 91.8 1426  F  France Musique, Bourges/Neuvy (18) As 88.7  672km
 89.0 1429  F  France Culture, Le Mans/Mayet (72) Om, as 98.0  599km
 92.6 1430  F  France Inter, Le Mans/Mayet (72) OMs, as 103.7  599km
 97.0 1430  F  France Musique, Le Mans/Mayet (72) Classical, as 88.7  599km
 97.8 1431  F  France Culture, Brest/Roc Trédudon (29) Never matching the strength
               of the other Brest outlets  604km

 98.1 1431  F  France Culture, Chartres/Montlandon (28) OM, as 98.0  531km
 94.6 1433  F  France Inter, Chartres/Montlandon (28) OM, as 103.7  531km
 87.9 1436  F  France Culture, Parthenay/les Chateliers (79) OM, as 98.0  712km

I didn't start to listen to the radio until after midday, so I don't know if I missed much before.

Nice to see RDS with these weak/fair signals, something which I never report much of, unless I have been using the KT6040. Traditionally, tropo DXing is done with the XDR-F1HD here, which is very poor with RDS, but the GTK software really comes into its own now.

Tropo conditions didn't take off in any great way here. No Spanish stations were heard. Nothing from the SW of France either. Mostly it was just a small enhacement to the bigger TDF outlets in NW France.

88.2 was monitored for meteor scatter overnight but no RDS stored.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Friday 24 January 2014

Skegness Log: 24-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 89.2 1053 AUT Hitradio Ö3, Graz 1/Schöckl (ste) Jingle ID  1262km **
 89.2 1331  D  NDR Kultur, Schwerin (mev) Piano concerto, as web. NOT France Musique  740km **
 89.2 1427  I  RAI Radio1, Pescara/San Silvestro (RAI) (pe) Presume Pescara. Long burst.
               Guitar song, as web  1576km **
 89.2 1512 POL PR 3, Klodzko/Czarna Góra (DS) Rock song, as web  1178km **
 89.2 2227  D  SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Blauen (bwü) Bob Seger song, as web  793km **
 89.2 2337  D  SWR2, Ulm/Kuhberg (bwü) YL and classical music, as web  859km **

** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Thursday 23 January 2014

Skegness Log: 23-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 87.8 1456 POL PR 3, Zagan/Wichów (LU) 3233  1037km **

** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode

I have observed a decline in MS activity today. My chosen frequency to record overnight was 102.0, but it did not reveal much. After recording other reliable frequencies it soon became clear that meteor activity has fallen (here at least) by a large degree. I would estimate by 70 or 80%.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Wednesday 22 January 2014

Skegness Log: 22-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
103.6 1208  F  France Bleu Provence, Marseille/Grande Etoile (13) F405 BLEUPROV. Good MS
               burst. 40dB. 0% BER. 18 AFs and partial radiotext  1149km **

Band 2 Tropo/Scatter:
103.6 1224 BEL NRJ, New site? Jingle ID, ads and mention of Liege **


** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode

The largest MS burst received here so far happened while listening live early this afternoon. I wasn't recording but RDS Spy caught the details.

Does anybody knoe the site for the Belgian NRJ outlet on 103.6?

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Tuesday 21 January 2014

Skegness Log: 21-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 97.2 0653  F  France Musique, Perpignan/Pic de Neulos (66) Classical music, above
               and // co-channel Hirson  1202km
105.9 1234  D  MDR Info, Oschatz/Collmberg (sac) OM talk on long burst, as web  887km **
105.9 1643 POL RMF FM, Czestochowa/Wreczyca (SL) Pops, as web. Several bursts  1291km **
 97.2 1841 SVK SRo 3 Rádio Devín, Zilina/Krízava (ZA) 521B  1363km
 97.2 1847  D  Deutschlandradio Kultur, Inselsberg (thü) YL talk, as web  739km **

Band 2 Tropo/Scatter:
 97.2 1716 HOL Radio 2, Eys/Alticom Toren (lim) ID and pops  462km
102.9 1903 BEL Nostalgie Vlaanderen, Schoten (vlg-ant) Detroit Emeralds track, as web  354km
100.3 1904 HOL L1 Radio, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Sports commentary, as web  443km

** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Monday 20 January 2014

Skegness Log: 20-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 89.5 0437  D  Bayern 2, Wendelstein (bay) D312 Bayern_2. AFs: 97.8 89.5 92.4 92.2 87.9
               92.3 91.6 93.0 96.0 96.1  1024km
 89.5 0806  F  France Culture, Limoges/les Cars (87) F202 ______RE  835km


Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Skegness Log: 19-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 89.5 1230  E  RNE Radio Nacional, Xistral most likely but two others listed.
               Jingle and ID **
 89.5 2316  D  Bayern 2, Wendelstein (bay) D312 Bayern_2  1024km


** Personal Skegness 'First'

89.5 is a good frequency for MS! Lots of good signals.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Saturday 18 January 2014

Skegness Log: 18-01-14 (FM)

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


** Personal Skegness 'First'

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

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

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Further Criminal Damage

Our neighbours are at it yet again. This time we were at home while they caused damage to the CCTV system and to cabling on our Sky dish.

This follows three further instances last week involving a freestanding aerial on the garden and slanderous comments posted to social media on the internet.

It's weird though, because the aerials are clearly not the issue. We were thinking about how this began three years ago. We were on holiday at the time and had house-sitters while we were away. That's when the problems began.

Understandably, people will say that we must have done something to aggravate the situation. What could we have done to deserve these problems? The facts is we have done nothing. We have only helped our neighbours over the years.

The local housing association are keen for us to take things further and to the court room so they can be evicted, but as far as I am concerned, that is for them to do. In any case, I don't fancy the physical violence he may use if we do. He has already rendered a friend unconscious.

So what is his problem? We simply haven't a clue. Maybe he suffers from PMT, my wife jokingly suggests.

More here: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/psychopathic-neighbour.html

Hopefully we might find another property soon.

Friday 17 January 2014

Skegness Log: 17-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 87.6 0512  D  NDR 2, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Schönen guten Morgen - NDR2 Morgen .....
               Tnx Philip W4WDX  650km
 87.6 0803 CZE Radio Impuls, Brno/Kojál (JM) 2203  1219km

Band 2 Tropo/Scatter:
 89.6 1731 BEL VBRO, Brugge/Walakker (vlg-wvl) Ads and ID  295km
105.5 1736  D  WDR Eins Live, Bärbelkreuz (Eifel) (nrw) Peaking with 101.0, etc.  520km
 91.2 1758 BEL RTBF Musiq'3, Bruxelles/Tour des Finances (bru) Classical, as web  377km
 92.2 1813 HOL Omrop Fryslân Radio, Jirnsum/Rijksweg (fri) Fair signal. Jingle ID  365km
 93.2 1825 HOL Waterstad FM, Jirnsum/Rijksweg (fri) RandB toon, As web  365km
105.5 1834 BEL Topradio, Staden/Stadenberg (vlg-wvl) Brief noise free peak  299km


Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM5, one metre AGL

Thursday 16 January 2014

Skegness Log: 16-01-14 (FM) Es, Ts and MS!

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 91.1 0859 CZE CRo Radiozurnál, Ceské Budejovice/Klet - CRa (JC) 232F R-ZURNAL  1084km

Band 2 Sporadic E:
 87.6 1244 HNG MR 1 Kossuth Rádió, Györ - Szabad hegy (Gyo) Brief speech.
               Confirmed by Józsi in Hungary  1368km **

Band 2 Tropo/Scatter:
 88.9 1118 LUX RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg, Dudelange/Ginsterberg (gld) Noise free  574km
102.0 1124 BEL VRT MNM, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Ads, as web  431km
100.1 1125  F  France Bleu Haute Normandie, Rouen/Grand-Couronne (76) Discussion, over
               Sutton Coldfield  426km
100.8 1145  D  WDR 2, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) OM, as web  484km
 87.6 1215  D  hr3, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) OM  YL chat, as web  612km
 91.4 1355 HOL Radio 4, Markelo/Alticom Toren (ove) Classical  425km
 92.8 1402 BEL RTBF Musiq'3, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) Sombre music,
               as web  441km
 96.1 1423 BEL RTBF La Première, Wavre (wal-bra) Peaking noise free  397km
 98.1 1424  F  France Culture, Chartres/Montlandon (28) OM  YL, as 98.0  531km
 99.0 1425 BEL Randstad FM, Mechelen/Douaneplein (vlg-ant) Regular on FM3.
               IDs and pops, Virtually noise free levels  371km
 90.6 1728  D  WDR 5, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) YL, as web  591km
102.8 1824 BEL Zen FM, Gent/Opgeëistenlaan (vlg-ovl) Easy listening, as web  328km
 98.7 1826 HOL Freez FM, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Ad break, as web  408km
 95.4 1828 HOL BNR Nieuwsradio, Gilze/Prinsenbosch (nbr) OM  YL, as web  359km
 95.2 1829 HOL Slam!FM, Alphen aan den Rijn/Alticom Toren (zho) Slamming tunes, as 91.1  313km


** Personal Skegness 'First'

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM3 (Meteor Scatter)

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Skegness Log: 15-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 91.1 2359  G  BBC Radio 3, Llangollen, Oban and Les Platons most likely. Initial ping from
               something else, then trailing out with BBC R3. Weak **


** Personal Skegness 'First'

Another superb night of MS. Plenty of pings and lots of bursts. This was heard live. No way of knowing which tx it was. Still using the FM3, although I am hoping to swap this for an FM5 later today when the coast is clear.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM3 (Meteor Scatter)

Rare Low Power Meteor Scatter DX - 103.0 Ö3, 40 Watts Or Less!

This January, my eyes have been opened to DX I wouldn't have believed was possible on the FM broadcast band. Low power 'community strength' transmitters, propagating via meteor scatter. We know that many high power transmitters can propagate well and are often strong enough to produce RDS data on our radio's displays, but how low in power will propagate? Of course that depends on many factors relating to the meteor itself. Meteor scatter is relatively simple via digital modes on the ham bands using low power, but I never expected this ...

On January 9th at 07:15, I was alerted to the fact that I had received a low powered transmission from Austria. This was in response to a video I had uploaded to my YouTube page. I thanked Peter, "pe1etr", for identifying this but regretted to tell him that I was unable to hear the ID he could hear. Then I received a message from Philp, W4WDX in the USA. He is an Austrian DXer but lives in the US now. He had heard my recording and reported that there was definitely an Ö3 identification in the recording. He stated that he was very familiar with the Ö3 network and there was no mistaking this identification. I still couldn't hear it.

Here lay a problem. I didn't want to dispute what Peter and Philip were saying, but I just wished I could hear this identification myself. When we listen to weak signals it is always the case that some people hear things better than others. I needed to be 100% sure of this ID, not for the sake of agreeing with Peter and Philip, but to be able to state, without doubt, that this DX claim was accurate and could be proven to other DXers who might also be sceptical.

So I took the additional step of getting in touch with three other DXers, two of whom spoke German, in order to further confirm this reception. Jurgen could hear part of the ID but couldn't be sure. Günter was clear on the "3" part of the ID and, being Austrian himself, could also confirm an Austrian pronunciation. He commented that the sound and the voice accentuation was part of a jingle or "claim" ID, perhaps the last part of "Hitradio Ö3" and not part of a plain studio moderation ID. It was not the number three as pronounced in a discussion or talk either. Furthermore, he commented that, as a possible alternative to Ö3, the powerful Grünten SWR3 tx on 103.0 would have been a strong contender, but the "3" did not sound how they would pronounce it. I must also thank Andrew Webster for listening. He too was also clear on the identification, short of being able to confirm the Austrian pronunciation. Suddenly, I could hear the jingle ID myself. I had mistakenly been listening to the German male speech prior to this and didn't spot the brief female vocal jingle drop-in. At last, I could hear it!

Only one more thing to do, to follow Günter's suggestion of recording Ö3 overnight at the same time to get a good idea of their jingle identification and hopefully catch the very jingle itself. So, after listening through six hours of Ö3's overnight programming, I have isolated several Ö3 jingle identifications. Although I did not hear what I could be sure was the actual Ö3 jingle in question, I heard several others which used the same female voice and with the same type of audio effects processing.

Here is a recording of seven identifications. The first six were obtained from the Ö3 web stream. The seventh is my off-air meteor scatter ID. I repeat this twice. Then you hear more of the actual meteor burst itself.

103.0 Ö3, Eben or Ybbsitz 0715 09-01-14

If I were completely honest, I would still be slightly sceptical were it not for Philip's first-hand knowledge of the language and the station identification, plus Günter's detailed analysis, which seem to confirm that this catch is 100% definite. I might personally put that down to 99% as we are looking at the briefest of signal fade-ins which is chopped a little at either end, but please decide for yourself. If you wish to post your views below, whether you agree or disagree, then please do so. All opinions are equally valid.

Finally, here is a link to the actual YouTube video, with all the meteor scatter and troposcatter signals. You will hear the Ö3 ID at 2 minutes and 14 seconds into the recording.


Note: YouTube appears to have blocked access to this video from certain countries due to copyright infringement. Please let me know if you are having difficulties seeing/hearing this.

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Skegness Log: 14-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 99.0 0803 AUT Hitradio Ö3, Salzburg 1/Gaisberg (ORS) (sal) Austrian weather report.
               Thanks again W4WDX  1081km **


** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM3 (Meteor Scatter)

Linux & Radio Related Software

I am becoming increasingly frustrated with Microsoft and their Windows operating system. After buying several versions of Microsoft Windows over the years I am becoming ever more of its limited lifespan. This was highlighted last week when I came to install XP Professional on an old laptop. After 'validating' Windows I discovered that support for XP (security updates, etc.) was being discontinued in a few weeks. It has also bee impossible to access current updates.

I have to ask why we allow ourselves to buy software which has unreasonably restrictive time limitations? We wouldn't buy other products which had these kinds of limitation. You wouldn't buy a car if you knew it was going to reject spare parts because they were too old.

The forced move to Windows 7 two years ago was unwanted and I quickly discovered that some of my radio and audio production software could no longer be used under this system. Compatibility Mode was not always helpful and some drivers were not supported under Windows Virtual Machine. Thanks Microsoft!

A computer-literate friend suggested I try Linux and one of its countless interfaces. He recommended Debian and Ubuntu as a good place to start. My immediate concern was that I wouldn't be able to run my radio software under Linux, but he pointed out that the XDR-GTK software was actually written for Linux. Then he proceeded to show me how Perseus SDR software could be run under Linux - and could even be modified and re-programmed via the open source coding. Suddenly I found myself in a rather bewildering but exciting new world of opportunities where I might need to learn about computing all over again, starting from scratch in some respects, but hopefully moving to a system which: Has enormous potential and offers some useful improvements over Windows; Still runs the same software; Runs it more efficiently and Allows greater user control. I also understand that there are less security issues outside Windows, less likelihood of contracting some malware or virus, etc. There are many other advantages and, most surprising of all, it's FREE!

I have already had a play with Debian and Ubuntu on an old laptop. It was very nice to see all drivers, i.e. video card, sound card, all being installed automatically. The user interfaces were in fact very similar to Windows, so there was no problem with understanding how to get started.

There didn't seem to be any unnecessary bloat of the kind you might get with Windows. The installation was quicker, simpler and the laptop was faster as a result. It also means I can use other, older laptops with more minimalist Linux installations, depending on the software I intend to use of course. It is even possible to run the operating system from a CD or USB pen.

So there is lots to learn and I am sure it will take me a while. I appreciate that I may still need to run Windows for certain applications, but it would be nice to get rid of some of those annoying Windows quirks. 

Monday 13 January 2014

Skegness Log: 13-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 89.4 0408 AUT Hitradio Ö3, Sankt Pölten/Jauerling (nie) Traffic news. Thanks to W4WDX
               for help.  1182km **
 89.4 0453 POL Radio Zet, Luban/Nowa Karczma (DS) Polish language. Only one
               possibility. Tnx W4WDX  1036km **
 89.4 0453 CZE Kiss Hády, Boskovice/Habrí (JM) 500W! Czech language. Only one
               possibility. Thanks W4WDX.  1201km **
 89.4 0726  S  SR P1, Borlänge or Arvidsjaur Swedish language. Two possibilities.
               Tnx W4WDX **
 89.4 0729 POL PR 1, Kraków/Choragwica (MP) Mixing Radio Zet. Tnx W4WDX  1407km **


** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode

After uploading a video to YouTube showing yesterday's s meteor scatter, I have received a lot of correspondence and analysis from Philip, W4WDX, an Austrian DXer who now resides in the USA, for which I am very grateful. It's probably reasonable to make assumptions to certain signals which arrive via meteor scatter, though certainly not all. I would have missed these were it not for Philip. I have never logged anything where I haven't heard the ID or seen the RDS, but it can occasionally be quite obvious which station or transmitter you are receiving, judging by the language alone. This was a particularly good haul. If only my own language recognition was better. 

But beware: Care is definitely needed. After the recent spate of excellent meteor scatter it is clear that even low power FM broadcast signals can propagate quite successfully under the right meteor conditions.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM3, 1m AGL

Psychopathic Neighbour

The situation with our neighbours has reached a new low. We have reached a stage where we daren't go outside. The neighbour is now putting his head over the fence and waiting for us to go on to our garden. After the malicious lies he has posted on Facebook (yes, the dreaded Facebook - I hate it with a passion), we see he becoming more determined to cause us as much grief as possible.

Some of the facts so far. He has:

* Damaged aerial cabling.
* Cut the mains earth to the property.
* Vandalised our security system.
* Knocked a friend unconscious.
* Broken into our shed twice.
* Burnt the garden fence which separates us for firewood after it blew down in a storm.
* Taken photos of our property, pets and personal effects and posted on Facebook.
* Publically asked on Facebook how to damage our aerials - The local council have print-outs of all of
   these.
* Smashed our car windows.

I touched on these points in a recent post but there are other things, some more serious, which I cannot state for legal reasons.

This is very strict private housing association territory. You can be lucky or unlucky with neighbours, irrespective of your housing type. It will be a sad day when we move as we will leave behind a large bungalow which overlooks fields. It would be so peaceful here, living right on the edge of town, were it not for the damn neighbours.

The housing have asked if we will push things further and take the neighbours to court. It seems they are keen to remove them too but need some extra help. We don't want to go down that route as it could only make things more unpleasant.

So far, I have managed to keep my temper under control. I am not a malicious person, nor do I want to engage in physical violence, but I am finding it hugely difficult to stop myself lately. I refuse to lower myself to his level. We suspect he will get his just desserts one day anyway as we know how unpopular he is in this small town. I secretly hope that his next neighbours will be vicious bastards. :O)

Saturday 11 January 2014

You Can't Choose Your Neighbours - We're On The Move Again

You can't choose your neighbours, but with a bit of luck you might at least be able to meet before you move in to a property, as we were able to with ours.

Our neighbours seemed very accommodating at first, even helping me with some of the concreting of the mast bases which are still on the garden. Then one day they changed, reporting us for petty things on a weekly basis. We are sure we hadn't upset them. They broke into our shed twice - we have the video evidence. They took advice from their Facebook friends on how to cause damage to our aerials, the print-outs of which were handed to the landlords. They cut the mains earth cable to our property, resulting in electric shocks, especially when taking a shower. I could go on. There is much worse than this, but I cannot say for legal reasons. We have it all on video. They report us, week in, week out, for anything they can find.

We typically get several complaints a week from neighbours. Our landlords (private housing association) are very understanding and usually laugh it off, as they did yesterday when they visited regarding a complaint about my Triax FM3 which sits very quietly by itself, behind a tree, below fence height, free-standing on a small tripod base, well out of sight from everybody but our immediate neighbours. Even they would not be able to see it unless they purposely stick their head over the fence and look for it.  It's ridiculous to think that it could possibly be a problem.

The landlords are aware of the written permission we have for the 9.2 on the roof, but were keen to see this new alleged 'fixture' on our garden. We showed them. They looked for it. They studied it. They laughed. They told us not to worry and left.

It is a well known fact that we have problem neighbours. They seem well-known in the area and we haven't heard anybody say a kind word about them. However, me in my very understanding nature sometimes sympathise as I don't think any aerial is a pretty sight and I know that large DX antennas are considered a blot on the landscape by many people, but we have always done our best to be polite and reasonable with the neighbours. The problem is, being nice doesn't get you anywhere with people like this, so we are now closing all ties with our neighbours.

To be fair, the neighbours are only a small part of our problem. Our real problems are the ever-increasing rental costs and additional charges (spare room tax) forced upon us by our evil government. These two things have forced us to start looking for a new and more affordable home. We don't know where we will go and we don't really have any money to move, but we have no choice. We are a high priority due to the fact that we live in the largest disabled property of its kind in the area, which is in high demand, so we have been told that this puts us virtually at the front of the queue. My wife is registered disabled (two forms of epilepsy), so we are limited by various factors surrounding that, but we are going to be as selective as reasonably possible, but we are not in any real position to choose.

Hopefully we will be able to find a nice quiet location for the radio and closer to the sea, with a bit of luck.

Friday 10 January 2014

Skegness Log: 10-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 89.9 0208 AUT Ö2 - Radio Wien, Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) AC0C ____DIO*  1247km **
 89.9 0401  G  BBC Radio 2, Wenvoe or Black Hill BBC News **
 92.1 0729  D  Bayern 1, Brotjacklriegel (bay) Jingle ID. Thanks Konrad DX for help.  1021km **

Band 2 Sporadic E:
 97.5 1736 HRV HRT-HR 2, Otocac/Stipanov Gric (gs) C202 ____HR_2  1439km
 87.7 1738 HRV HRT-HR 1, Licka Pljesivica (gs) C201 __HR____  1456km

Band 2 Scatter:
102.8 1354  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Wesel-Büderich (nrw) German OM, as 102.7  456km
103.3 1354  D  Funkhaus Europa, Langenberg/Hordtberg (nrw) Noise free stereo  505km
 97.8 1358 HOL Radio 2, Westdorpe/Verkavelingsweg (zee) ID and ads  323km
 98.2 1358 HOL Radio 4, Loon op Zand/Alticom Toren (nbr) Fair peaks  366km
 96.3 1359 HOL Radio Veronica, Loon op Zand/Alticom Toren (nbr) Ads  366km
 97.6 1359 HOL Radio Decibel, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) Fair, with ads  313km
 94.5 1401 HOL Radio 4, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Peaking over Peterborough  443km
 92.0 1403  D  WDR 5, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) OM news, as web  494km
 89.6 1405 BEL VBRO, Brugge/Walakker (vlg-wvl) Nice peaks, almost noise free  295km
 89.6 1405  F  RDL-Radio Dallas Loisirs, Saint-Omer/Racquinghem (62) Blues song, fighting
               with VBRO  306km
 89.0 1406 BEL VRT MNM, Schoten (vlg-ant) Almost noise free  354km
100.0 1409  D  WDR 4, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) Fair on peak  494km
103.1 1429 BEL Q-Music, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw/Norkring Toren (vlg-vbr) Fair peaks. Noise free stereo  376km
 91.6 1710  D  SWR3, Koblenz/Dieblich-Naßheck (rlp) Robbie Williams, as web  591km

** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode

Three modes of propagation today!

The Es opening was tricky since signals were mostly too low for RDS. There weren't a lot of stations, however the MUF reached at least 97.5. It might have been much higher, but I was chasing what seemed to be enhanced meteor scatter for several minutes before I reallised these were in fact Es.

Only the FM3 was able to get RDS and noise free signals. The 9.2 was subject to 20dB of noise until the late evening and I could barely hear the Es.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM3 (Meteor Scatter)

Thursday 9 January 2014

Skegness Log: 09-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
103.0 0015 HNG MR 1 Kossuth Rádió, Komádi (HaB) B203  1649km **
103.0 0514  I  RAI Radio1, Menconico/Monte Penice (RAI) (pv) 5201 RADIO1__  1136km **
 87.7 1456  S  SR P1, Halmstad/Oskarström-Slättåkra TM (ha) E201. Live listening.
               Signal up to 33 dB  900km **


** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM3 (Meteor Scatter)

Wednesday 8 January 2014

Skegness Log: 08-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 93.9 0305  D  MDR 1 Radio Sachsen, Leipzig/Wiederau (sac) Vocal ID  844km
 91.6 0729  D  Bayern 2, Hoher Bogen (bay) Programm info. Tnx Arvid Husdal for confirmation  976km **


** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receiver:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Antennas:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator
Triax FM3 (Meteor Scatter)

Sweet Spots & Dead Zones

Nothing is ever straight-forward when it comes to antennas. While the theoretical aspects hold up well, the practice often seems to suggest the contrary.

In my own example, how can it be that a simple three element band 2 beam, just one metre above the ground, out-performs a professionally crafted and carefully optimised 9 element beam on a rooftop mast? Well, it can't. But the location is probably more important than many of us realise.

This unexpected discovery only came to me when I erected a Triax FM3 on the garden for the purpose of having a 'quiet' antenna for meteor scatter DXing. The facts which follow do not suggest that a Triax FM3 can outperform a Körner 9.2.

When I bought the fabulous Körner 9.2 antenna I was very impressed with its performance across band 2. Not only was the gain noticeably superior to that of my Triax FM5, it also exhibited far better directivity than I had expected. I used my garden as a test site before getting it on the rooftop mast. I was hearing fully quieting signals from troposcatter signals in excess of 700 km. They were actually noise free at times too. The 9.2 was only on a makeshift mast at only two to three metres above the ground. This was surely going to provide a huge improvement to my band 2 DXing, and indeed it did!

The problems I faced related to locally generated electrical noise. I won't go into that again as I have probably thrashed that topic too much as it is, but once the 9.2 went on the roof, I was aware that it received considerably more noise than it did when it was under analysis on the garden. Regular viewers will be aware that I am not allowed to have an antenna on a mast on the garden due to overzealous housing regulations. All antennas have to be professionally erected on the property.

To cut a long story short, I erected a Triax FM3 on a small tripod base in the middle of the garden. It was only one metre above the ground. I checked the reception and immediately noticed a super-quiet FM band. I say "super-quiet" because the noise levels registered 4dB across the band. This is as low as the XDR-GTK software goes. This is not high-grade laboratory standard test equipment so these readings might be best considered to be approximate, though it gives me a very good reference - something I did not have on the Sony XDR-F1HD which the software controls. Knowing how this software behaves, I would expect a reading down to 1dB were it able to go that low. I have no idea why it stops at 4dB.

While I was conducting this initial reception test, I noticed that many continental transmitters were coming though, fading in to noise free levels and then dropping out again. Typical scatter conditions, but wait a minute ... this seems to be picking up more continental signals that the rooftop 9.2. How can it be from this most basic of antenna setups? It must be because the noise levels are much quieter. RDS is now forming with signals as low as 20dB! I can hear meteor bursts coming in to 26dB already! This bodes well. But can this really be dragging in more DX than the 9.2? It certainly seems to be. Time to make a comparison.

Switching between the 9.2 and the FM3 provided me with some BIG surprises which I never expected. Both antennas received roughly the same amount of signal, though continent signals were in greater abundance on the FM3, quite clearly due to the FM3 receiving less noise, but it was apparent that the FM3 was picking up the same amount of signal level as the 9.2. Again, how could this be?

I then spent the next half an hour or so moving the FM3 around the garden. There was a very well-defined 'sweet spot' close to the middle of the garden. Moving the FM3 two metres further away from the property quietened the noise levels down even more, but also reduced the signals. Even with the FM3 one metre away from its original position saw a reduction in general pick-up. I had found this sweet spot by accident. It occurred to me that the rooftop 9.2 was in a dead zone. It's the same as receiving weak signals in a moving car. You will find you can get better reception by driving the car a metre or so forwards or backwards, etc.

So I find myself in the less than fortunate position of having the 9.2 antenna in a poor location. No wonder it performed so much better on the garden - it was very close to that sweet spot when I first tried it. I am now considering moving the 9.2 elsewhere on the property. I'll have to think about this carefully and conduct more tests. Bearing the housing situation and our neighbours in mind, this could be problematical.

John

Tuesday 7 January 2014

No Noise Is Good Noise - Conclusion

I have been able to observe my noise levels in glorious detail since performing the Konrad i2c modification on my XDR-F1HD. It is becoming very clear why I have had so much difficulty with propagation modes such as meteor scatter and very weak scatter.

Although my location is coastal and I can receive many continental signals virtually all the time, there are periods when nothing seems to get through. It's as if my antenna has been unplugged. Without a signal meter, it has been impossible to know that I had any noise at all since 25dB of noise sounds almost identical to 5 dB of noise, thanks to the white noise heard with FM modulation.

Over the last few weeks I have been able to make three clear observations.

1. Noise levels are constantly variable and timings are random.
2. Noise varies between 14dB - 30dB (No amplification. 4dB = antenna unplugged)
3. There is more than one noise source.

Now I see the picture more clearly I realise that the amounts of noise vary from day to day and it doesn't just depend on the the time of day, thus I can probably rule out thermostatically controlled devices. The intensity of the noise also varies, as does the overall 'sound' of the noise, which can be a smooth 'white noise' or a slightly rough growl. The noise fades in and out too, sometimes slowly over several minutes and sometimes more abruptly in a matter of seconds. It never seems to be instant, as if indicating that somebody has switched on some apparatus, as I had expected it to be.

23dB is more than the amount necessary to get a fully quieting mono signal. Typically I find that a 15 to 18 dB signal can be noise free, unless the noise is present, then a 30dB signal can be noisy. The noise tends to disappear overnight now, returning anytime between 0700 and 0930, according to recent observations. It can be gone at 10:00 or, as is usual, continue throughout the day.

Since the noise levels have become more intermittent here recently, I have been able to hear very weak scatter again. I have also experienced a big improvement in meteor scatter DX.

Sometimes the noise is just as strong in the vertical plane as it is in the horizontal. Sometimes vertical is much quieter. The noise can be stronger at the top of band 2 now, whereas it was always worse at the bottom until recently. Moreover, the direction of the noise now varies between north-east and south-east, though typically it comes from the east. This confirms that there is definitely more than one noise source.

It has always been assumed that the neighbouring property was the source of the noise: 1. Because the directions is correct and 2. because our neighbours use PLT devices and a lot of additional gadgetry due to having a handicapped son, lighting effects, video players, mechanical hoists, etc., much of which is left on constantly. However, our neighbours very recently had to go away for two days. While this doesn't prove or disprove anything, the noise continued in its random fashion throughout the duration of them being away.

Noise is the scourge of modern DXing and there's very little we can do about it, unless we have good neighbours and have the courage to approach them with the purpose of checking their equipment and finding solutions. Having consulted OFCOM recently I was shocked to learn that even relatively simple things like fish tank heaters have been known to propagate high levels of noise high into VHF at a distance of 5 miles!

There was also their story of the radio ham who moved to a remote location, several miles from anybody so he could escape noise. He suddenly discovered one day that he had devastating noise levels and traced them to electricity pylons several miles away.

If you have a clean, quiet band, enjoy it while you can. It may not last.

Monday 6 January 2014

Skegness Log: 06-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 94.6 0335 POL RMF FM, Poznan/Srem (WP) 3F44 ______Hz. AF: 93.5, 94.6, 94.8   1128km **


** Personal Skegness 'First' via this mode



Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator

Sunday 5 January 2014

Skegness Log: 05-01-14 (FM) More Midwinter Es !!

Band 2 Sporadic E:
 88.6 1914  I  Radio Delta 1, Roccamorice-Maiella-Fonte Tettone (pe) 535E R.DELTA1 - then 545E  1594km
 88.1 1916  I  RAI Radio1, Abriola/Monte Pierfaone (RAI) (pz) 5201 _RADIO1_  1824km
 87.7 1917  I  Veronica MyRadio, Tolentino/Colle Redentore (mc) Vocal ID and ads  1458km
 89.5 1918  I  RTL 102.5, Cammarata/Monte Cammarata (ag) 5218 RTL102.5  2008km
 87.5 1922  I  Radio Radicale, Villa Castelli/Monte Fellone (ta) OSqueaky OM, as web  1901km
 88.6 1926  I  RAI Radio1, Motta Montecorvino/Monte Sambuco (RAI) (fg) OM, as 88.1  1698km **
 87.8 1929  I  Ritmo 80, Corato/Monte Ripanno (ba) 5A72   1796km


** Personal Skegness 'First'

A late midwinter Es opening! Thanks to Andy P at Skywaves for the alert.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator

The Quadrantids Meteor Shower - Video Highlights


This year's Quadrantids produced a spectacular display of signals across the FM band. The peak for me came during the middle of the afternoon on January 3rd. I had to miss most of this due to meeting friends in town (yes, I have some!), but I left the computer recording video and audio.

January 2nd was a failure as I forgot to activate the audio on my overnight recording. There wasn't any RDS showing in the video, so I probably didn't miss much.

During the peak, there were bursts lasting more than a minute. It was like sporadic E at times, in fact I thought there was an Es opening at one point.

As is typically with meteor scatter, most of the signals remain below RDS threshold, but I still managed to produce my largest meteor scatter log for 15 years - since the Leonid storm of November 1998 in fact. For me, this year's Quadrantids were just about as good as that Leonids peak.

Saturday 4 January 2014

Skegness Log: 04-01-14 (FM - More Quadrantids!)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter
 88.0 0052  D  SR 1 Europawelle, Göttelborner Höhe (saa) D3B1  629km **
 89.5 0059  I  RAI Radio1, Bologna/Colle Barbiano (RAI) (bo) Tentative site. 5201  1256km **
 91.7 0100  I  RAI Radio2, Bologna/Colle Barbiano (RAI) (bo) Tentative site. Italian pops, as web  1256km **
 91.7 0327 POL PR 3, Czestochowa/Wreczyca (SL) 3233  1291km **

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter
100.0 1340  D  WDR 4, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) Fair peaks. German song, as web  494km
100.4 1340  D  WDR 2, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Fair peaks, OM as web  538km
102.5 1341  D  hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) OM interview, as web. Fair peaks  648km
 99.6 1342  D  hr-info, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) OM, as web  612km
102.9 1342  D  RPR 1, Bad Marienberg (rlp) Pops, as web  592km
104.3 1343  D  hr4, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) Gentle piano pop, as web  612km
105.6 1344  D  SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Donnersberg (rlp) German pop  657km
 88.9 1346 LUX RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg, Dudelange/Ginsterberg (gld) Noise free peaks!   574km
 94.6 1348  D  MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) Comical German song, as web  713km
 89.5 1359 HOL 100% NL, Utrecht or Alkmaar Pops, ad break, as web. Sudden peak on horizontal 9.2!
 91.0 1401  D  hr1, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) OM news  612km
 95.8 1412  D  NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) Noise free at around 17dB. No noise today! :O)  479km
 98.0 1415 HOL Radio Decibel, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) Bang Bang Bang. As 97.6  321km
 97.0 1416 HOL Station NCR, Achterhoek area Dutch music, as web **
100.2 1423 HOL BNR Nieuwsradio, Lochem/Streek Beton (gel) Brief fade-in. OM, as web  426km
103.5 1425 HOL Radio Gelderland, Ugchelen/Alticom Toren (gel) OM phone in, as web  392km
103.6 1426 HOL Radio 10, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) Glen Frey song, as 87.7  103.8  321km


** Personal Skegness 'First'

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator

Friday 3 January 2014

Skegness Log: 03-01-14 (FM - Quadrantids Meteor Shower)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter
 93.9 0624 HNG MR 2 Petöfi Radio, Kabhegy (Ves) Vocal ID heard  1405km
 87.7 1451 POL PR 1, Konin/Zólwieniec (WP) 3211  1211km
 87.7 1635  E  RAC 1, Barcelona/Collserola (CAT-B) E251  1311km
 87.7 1743 SVK Fun Rádio, Kosice/Dubník (KE) 5340 __NRAD__  1545km
 88.3 1839 POL PR 1, Opole/Chrzelice (OP) Presume Opole. 3211  1229km
 95.3 1842 POL RMF FM, Opole/Chrzelice (OP) Bruno Mars track, as web  1229km
 95.3 1858  I  RAI Radio2, Tempio Pausania/Monte Limbara (RAI) (ot) Distinctive pop music, as web  1521km **
 95.3 1900  F  France Inter, Troyes/les Riceys (10) OM and crowd, as 103.7  643km
 95.3 1900  E  Los 40 Principales, Zaragoza/Juslibol (ARA-Z) E274  1276km
 87.6 1904  F  France Culture, Angoulême/le Four Lachaux (16) OM, as 87.7  832km **
 87.7 1904  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) OM, as 98.0  709km
 87.6 1917  D  NDR 2, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Promo jingle including One Direction song  650km **
 87.6 2006 CZE Radio Impuls, Brno/Kojál (JM) 2203  1219km
 94.4 2031  F  France Inter, Gex/Montrond (01) Several bursts, YL and music as 103.7  858km **


** Personal Skegness 'First'

Well this is a turn up! Probably my biggest meteor log in 15 years.

This shower was supposed to peak during the early morning of January 3rd but, as I type, I am hearing longer bursts and more frequently than this time 24 hours ago! Some of today's meteor scatter actually sounded like E skip!

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator

Skegness Log: 02-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Scatter
102.3 1322  F  NRJ Nord Littoral, Saint-Omer/Wisques (62) Ad break and jingle ID, as web. Not as other NRJs  299km
100.7 1507 HOL Q-music, IJsselstein/Gerbrandytoren-Alticom (utr) 83C8 Q-MUSIC_  344km
 91.4 1516  F  Contact, Lille/Mons-en-Baroeul 2 (59) OM ID after bangin toon  338km
 91.1 1518 HOL Slam!FM, Hilversum/Media Park-Alticom (nho) Techno, as web  342km
 93.6 1522 BEL Club FM, Koolskamp/Watertoren (vlg-wvl) Coldplay song, OM ID  309km
 94.2 1532 BEL VRT Radio 1, Schoten (vlg-ant) Dutch song, as web  354km
104.7 1535  F  France Inter, Calais/Mont d'Hubert (62) Classical, as 103.7  266km
 87.6 1538  F  RTL, Béthune-Lens/Bouvigny-Boyeffles (62) OM and YL, as web  343km
 92.2 1539 HOL Omrop Fryslân Radio, Jirnsum/Rijksweg (fri) Slow pop, as web  365km
 93.9 1540 HOL Radio Noord-Holland, Wieringermeer/Robbenoordbos (nho) Phone conversation  318km
 89.6 2258  F  RDL-Radio Dallas Loisirs, Saint-Omer/Racquinghem (62) Brass ensemble, as web  306km
 92.0 2300  F  Radio 6, Boulogne-sur-Mer/Mont d'Herquelingue (62) Cross-fading with Lille  288km
 92.0 2301  F  Virgin Radio, Lille/Fort de Mons-en-Baroeul (59) Cross-fading with Boulogne  339km
 92.1 2303  G  Desire, Essex pirate 2 Step style, as web stream
 93.0 2359 HOL Radio 10, Westdorpe/Verkavelingsweg (zee) Peter Gabriel track, as 87.7  323km


Poor continental conditions recently, then an improvement this afternoon, followed by one or two sustained signals late evening.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <2m ASL.

Receivers:
Sony XDR-F1HD with Konrad i2c modification & XDR-GTK software.

Aerial:
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator