Pages

Friday 28 February 2014

Skegness Log: 28-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
106.7 0119 AUT 88.6 Der Musiksender, Wiener Neustadt/Hornstein-Sonnenberg [bur] (nie)
               German song, as web  1280km **
106.7 0119  D  Landeswelle Thüringen, Sonneberg/Bleßberg (thü) Familiar German pop song,
               as web, not being played by any other German stations on this frequency
               at this time  793km **
106.7 0523 HRV HKR-Hrvatski Katolicki Radio, Ucka (pa) Croatian chorale, as web  1330km **

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
101.7 1257  D  Radio Salü, Saarbrücken/Schoksberg (saa) OM Radio Salu ID. Virtually noise
               free at peaks, but fluttery  628km
107.4 1301  D  SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Koblenz/Dieblich-Naßheck (rlp) News, as web  590km
107.1 1304  D  SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Haardtkopf (rlp) ID and traffic bleeps  593km
105.6 1306  D  SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Donnersberg (rlp) SWR4 Rhsinland Pfalz sung
               jingle  656km
 92.4 1310  D  SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) 60s song from
               The Tremeloes, as web  560km
 93.3 1312  D  WDR 2, Kleve/Bresserberg (nrw) Pops, as Nordhelle 93.5  420km
100.8 1319  D  WDR 2, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Ram Jams Black Betty, as web. Noise free!  483km
101.9 1319 HOL Sky Radio, Goes/Alticom Toren (zee) Suddenly over Peterborough  303km
102.8 1320 BEL Zen FM, Gent/Opgeëistenlaan (vlg-ovl) Alternative music, as web  328km
 96.4 1322  D  NDR 2, Dannenberg Zernien (nds) OM ID and pop song with operatic singing
               in it, as web  705km **
 96.4 1323  D  NDR Info, Aurich (nds) German YL and OM, as web, once Dannenberg faded  478km
 89.4 1327  D  NE-WS 89,4, Düsseldorf/Rheinturm (nrw) V weak pops, as web  488km
 89.6 1328  F  France Culture, Villers-Cotterêts/Fleury (02) OM, as 98.0  474km
 95.3 1330  D  YOU FM (hr), Hardberg (hes) V weak rap music, as web  712km
 97.7 1332  D  SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz, Haardtkopf (rlp) Riding above Manningtree! OM,
               as web  593km
104.0 1335  D  big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Koblenz/Kühkopf (rlp) Sonnentanz song, as web  590km
107.7 1339 LUX Den Neie Radio (DNR), Blaschette/Kandel (gld) Pops and ID  557km
104.9 1341  D  big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Ahrweiler/Schöneberg (rlp) Cash song, as web  553km
103.1 1343  D  Radio ffn, Aurich (nds) YL phone caller to OM, as web  478km
 90.7 1640  D  WDR 4, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) Soft rock song, as web  538km
 90.2 1641  D  NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) German OM. Peaking noise free
               at times  477km
 89.0 1647  D  89.0 RTL, Brocken (san) Pops, as web. Very weak  712km
105.7 1649  D  Antenne Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) IDs and pops. Noise free and
               stable peaks throughout the day  543km
 89.2 1717  D  NDR 2, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) Pops, as web. V weak  525km
 93.8 1718  D  bremen eins, Bremen-Walle (bre) YL with ID after short guitar jingle  565km
 92.1 1720  D  NDR 2, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) Just audible, mixing with BBC Radio 3,
               Sheffield  707km
 97.2 1747  F  France Musique, Hirson/Landouzy-la-Ville (02) French OM, as 88.7  446km
 97.5 1747  D  SWR3, Bornberg (rlp) V weak Sonnentanz song, as web. Competing Schoten  640km
104.2 1753 BEL AFN PowerNet, Casteau-Shape (wal-hnt) Long time no hear. US political talk
               about Congress  386km
107.2 1754  D  WDR Eins Live, Ederkopf (nrw) Weak pops, as 106.7  592km
 87.6 1756  D  hr3, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) Sara Bareilles song, as web  612km
 99.6 1756  D  hr-info, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) German OM, as web  612km
 87.8 1758  D  WDR 2, Schwerte/Sommerberg (nrw) Can clearly hear the bassline of the song,
               as web. V v weak  525km
 95.4 1803  D  Nordwestradio, Schiffdorf [nds] (Bremerhaven) (bre) German OM, as web  554km
106.9 1815  D  Radio Euskirchen, Schleiden/Broicher Höhe (nrw) Mark Morrison's Return Of
               The Mack, as web stream. V weak  514km
107.0 1915  D  WDR Eins Live, Olsberg (nrw) German YL, as 106.7  592km


** Personal Skegness 'First'

Meteor scatter was less prevalent overnight, but I was pleased to receive a 960 watt Austrian in the form of 88.6 Der Musiksender from Wiener Neustadt.

I raised the FM5 another metre today so it now clears the rooftop and can see over the conifers. This has made an enormous difference. The noise from the computer is much quieter too, plus I can hear some old favourites which I haven't heard for a long time. The usual German transmitters, such as Langenberg, Teutoburger Wald and Munster were aomost at RDS level. Great to hear Brocken and Torfhaus back together again.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

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

Aerial:
Triax FM5, five meters AGL, currently fixed horizontally to the south-east.

Skegness Log: 27-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 96.1 0047 ROU SRR Radio România Cultural, Oradea=Nagyvárad (BH) Clarinet piece, as web.
               Two second burst  1677km **
 96.1 0050 SVN Slovenija 3, Beli Kris (kp) Piano concerto, as web. Two second burst  1278km **
 96.1 0054  F  France Culture, Bayonne/la Rhune (64) Probably Bayonne. French YL,
               as web. Three second burst  1104km **
 96.1 0124  D  SR 3 Saarlandwelle, Moseltal (Perl) (saa) German pop song, as web.
               Three second burst  588km **
 96.1 0847  D  Bayern 2, Hühnerberg (bay) Not on nachtservice. YL over classical music,
               as web. Ten second burst.  871km **


** Personal Skegness 'First'

It was 96.1 tonight. Radio Romania Cultural from Oradea at 1677 km was the most consistent MS station by a long way, featuring several times each hour.

The internet dropped as per usual, this time around 0300. I spoke to Sky about this and they explained that they are still conducting line tests and will be doing so every night into early March so they can find the optimum speed for this connection. Tests are usually conducted around 02:00 and I have been told that they do drop the line at this time.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

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

Aerial:
Triax FM5, four meters AGL, currently fixed horizontally to the south-east.

Wednesday 26 February 2014

Skegness Log: 26-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 88.6 0038 AUT 88.6 Der Musiksender, Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Pops, as web  1247km **
 88.6 0046 CZE CRo Vltava, Klatovy/Doubrava (PL) Distinctive classical music, as web 
               984km
 88.6 0110 HOL BNR Nieuwsradio, Mierlo/Torenweg-Alticom (nbr) YL business talk, as web.
               Two second burst  406km **
 88.6 0124  D  Landeswelle Thüringen, Suhl/Erleshügel (thü) Joan Armatrading song, as web 
               768km **
 88.6 0134  F  France Culture, Mulhouse/Belvédère (68) French OM, as web  781km

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
 97.8 1242  D  NDR 2, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Ads, as web. Almost noise free aircraft
               scatter  477km
 90.2 1243  D  NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) German OM, as web. Almost noise
               free aircraft scatter  477km
 99.4 1245 BEL Topradio, Gent/IVAGO Proeftuinstraat 43 (vlg-ovl) Lifting well above
               the noise with dance music, as web  333km
102.0 1246  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Peaking nicely via
               aircraft scatter today   477km
 90.6 1356  D  WDR 5, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) German play, as web. Beautiful
               noise free peak on A/S  591km
 92.8 1359  D  NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) ID and YL info  477km
 94.4 1402  D  NDR Kultur, Steinkimmen (nds) German OM news  543km
101.7 1405 BEL AFN PowerNet, Everberg (vlg-vbr) US accented news suddenly appearing
               over Classic FM  386km
 94.8 1734  D  SWR3, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) Pops, as web  560km
 97.4 1741  D  SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) SWR4 ID and
               soft pops  560km

** Personal Skegness 'First'

Frequent meteor scatter overnight. 19 streams recorded. Clearly CRo Vltava and 88.6 Der Musiksender were the persistent stations. France Culture was also quite frequent. Lots of UNIDs too.

Tonight, the internet permitted me to record over two and half hours of streams overnight before cutting off! I must get on to Sky. Not had them a week and four complaints already: 1. Internet keeps dropping connection; 2. Our new ex-directory number is showing in CLI displays, and 3. Additional charges on the bill after being assured that there were no charges for moving (we have exactly the same setup). This is not good enough Sky!

I now realise that I need to fully configure a laptop for DXing and all DX related software as my main computer is still causing too much interference. I have added some additional ferrite rings on cables but this has not made a lot of difference.

Good DX!

John Faulkner, Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) <3m ASL.
Blog: http://skegnessdx.blogspot.co.uk

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

Aerial:
Triax FM5, four meters AGL, currently fixed horizontally to the south-east.

Tuesday 25 February 2014

Skegness Log: 25-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 88.6 2338 CZE CRo Vltava, Klatovy/Doubrava (PL) Czech OM talking, as web  984km **
 88.6 2348  F  France Culture, Mulhouse/Belvédère (68) French OM, as web. Five second burst 
               781km **

** 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:
Triax FM5, four meters AGL, currently fixed horizontally to the south-east.

Sunday 23 February 2014

Skegness Log: 23-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
 88.9 0835 LUX RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg, Dudelange/Ginsterberg (gld) OM, as web  573km
 92.2 0843 HOL Omrop Fryslân Radio, Jirnsum/Rijksweg (fri) Playing classical music!  365km
 93.9 0844 HOL Radio Noord-Holland, Wieringermeer/Robbenoordbos (nho) ID and Bryan Ferry
               song  318km
105.9 0849  G  City Talk, Liverpool/Allerton Park (EN-MER) Off the back of the FM5!
               John Keith Phone-in  215km
 89.6 0850  F  RDL-Radio Dallas Loisirs, Saint-Omer/Racquinghem (62) French song,
               as web  306km
 89.6 0851 BEL VBRO, Brugge/Walakker (vlg-wvl) Suddenly swamped RDL with Dutch song,
               as web  295km
 89.9 0853  D  NDR Kultur, Bungsberg/NDR-Mast (shs) Seems to be a regular at new QTH  694km
 90.0 0854  D  NDR Kultur, Aurich (nds) Appeared as 89.9 Bungsberg faded  478km
 90.3 0855  D  WDR 5, Nordhelle (nrw) OM talk, as web  553km
 93.6 0857 BEL Club FM, Koolskamp/Watertoren (vlg-wvl) Dance music, as web  309km
 93.8 0857 HOL Slam!FM, Megen/Alticom Toren (nbr) Promo and ID  387km
 95.4 0858 HOL BNR Nieuwsradio, Gilze/Prinsenbosch (nbr) Dutch OM business talk  358km
 98.0 0900 HOL Radio Decibel, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) Vocal ID and bell, as 97.6  320km
 98.7 0900 HOL Freez FM, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Presumed as Dutch OM  407km
 99.9 0901 BEL VRT Radio 1, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Dominant over Radio Norwich!  431km
102.0 0902  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Lingen-Damaschke (nds) OM news, as 101.8  477km
104.7 0903  D  WDR Eins Live, Nordhelle (nrw) Pops, as 106.7  553km
 89.7 0951  D  WDR 3, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) Classical, as web  493km
 90.2 0951  D  NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Classical music, as web  477km

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:
Triax FM5, four meters AGL, currently fixed horizontally to the south-east.

Friday 21 February 2014

Skegness Log: 21-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 88.4 0147  F  France Culture, Bar-le-Duc/Willeroncourt (55) String quartet, as web  607km
 88.4 0441  D  MDR Figaro, Leipzig Wiederau (sac) Classical music, as web. Not in //
               with Bayern 2 at this time  843km
 88.4 0641  D  Bayern 2, Pfaffenberg (bay) OM financial news, as web  712km


Since my stream recordings were curtailed on the 20th, all at the same time, I thought I would do 88.4 again. The same thing happened again, at the same time. Hmmph! Maybe it's just Sky running broadband tests on this new connection - *if* that's what they really do. That's what they told me on the phone anyway. As luck would have it, only the same stations were logged as on the previous morning.

I managed very little listening during the daytime. Hopefully some more radio time soon.

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:
Triax FM5, four meters AGL, currently fixed horizontally to the south-east.

Thursday 20 February 2014

Skegness Log: 20-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 88.4 0003  F  France Culture, Bar-le-Duc/Willeroncourt (55) French OM, as web  607km **
 88.4 0005  D  Bayern 2, Pfaffenberg (bay) Presume Pfaffenberg. Piano music, as web  713km **
 88.4 0013  D  MDR Figaro, Leipzig Wiederau (sac) Lively symphony, as web  844km **

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
 92.0 0858  D  WDR 5, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) German YL, as web. Over UNID pops  494km
 90.6 0859  D  WDR 5, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) YL ID and Nachrichten.
               Almost noise free  591km
 93.2 0859  D  WDR 2, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) Ad break, as web  591km
 94.6 0901  D  MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, Brocken (san) German OM and YL in news,
               as web  713km
 90.2 0903 HOL 100% NL, Roosendaal/Alticom Toren (nbr) ID and pops  334km
 90.2 0904  D  NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Coming up over 100%NL with classical,
               as web  477km
100.8 0906  D  WDR 2, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Pops, as web. Almost noise free  484km
101.4 0910 BEL VRT Studio Brussel, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Pops and ID.
               Nice peaks  431km
102.0 0912 BEL VRT MNM, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Pops, as web. Noise free on peak  431km
102.5 0916 HOL Radio 538, Tjerkgaast/Alticom Toren (fri) Pops, as web. Mixing unid French  361km
102.8 0916  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Wesel-Büderich (nrw) German OM, as web  456km
102.9 0919 BEL Nostalgie Vlaanderen, Schoten (vlg-ant) Eurythmics, as web  354km
107.8 0936  D  MDR Figaro, Brocken (san) Guitar and singer, as web  713km
104.8 0938 HOL NPO Radio 1, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Dutch OM, as web. Noise free  443km
104.6 0939 HOL 100% NL, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) YL pop, as 90.2  313km
103.6 0940 HOL Radio 10, Amsterdam/Alticom Toren (nho) Just poking above the mush,
               as 103.8  321km
103.8 0940 HOL Radio 10, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) Pops, as 87.7.
               Or could be Tjerkgaast now  313km
100.4 0942  D  WDR 2, Bonn/Venusberg (nrw) POps, as web  538km
100.6 0954 BEL VRT Studio Brussel, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw/Norkring Toren (vlg-vbr) Pops,
               as 101.4  376km
104.9 1036  D  Antenne Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) Pop song, as web  479km
103.4 1044  D  Radio ffn, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) V weak pops, as web  525km
 89.9 1130  D  NDR Kultur, Bungsberg/NDR-Mast (shs) Gentle classical music,
               as web  694km
 91.1 1130  D  NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) Toto song, as web  543km
 93.8 1133  D  bremen eins, Bremen-Walle (bre) Robert Palmer song, as web  565km
 97.0 1134  D  WDR 3, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) German YL, as web  591km
 95.3 1143 HOL L1 Radio, Hulsberg/Emmaberg (lim) Long time no hear! Dutch music,
               as 100.3  455km
100.3 1144 HOL L1 Radio, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Quite listenable at times.
               As web  443km
 90.2 1150  D  NDR Kultur, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Piano music, as web  477km
 95.8 1150  D  NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) Boy band and ID  478km


** Personal Skegness 'First'

We are now (just about) settled at the new address. I am currently using a temporary Triax FM5 at rooftop height. Hopefully the 9.2 will be on a scaffolding pole above the rooftop very soon. Being only a few hundred yards from my old QTH I was pleased to discover that my grid square remains the same, so no need to start new logbooks. .

Good to hear Brocken on band 2 again. So far this has been daily on scatter. Pretty good going for the time of year. I think I can also hear Inselberg on 97.2, but it's way down in the FM mush. Good to hear Bungsberg again too.

Meteor scatter is still been very good for the time of year but my overnight session was cut short this morning when my internet connection mysteriously dropped and I lost all the streams after a couple of hours.

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:
Triax FM5, four meters AGL, currently fixed horizontally to the south-east.

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Settled In Our New Home At Last!

On Monday 10th February, we were handed the keys to our new property. It was all very short notice, but that's what we expected anyway. Luckily, we had already prepared as much as we could by getting a lot of the packing done in advance. We were then given an official period of two weeks to vacate the old place - plenty of time! This is day ten of fourteen and we are almost done. All that remains is a spot of last-minute tidying at the old place, making sure it's left in a clean condition and then a couple of journeys to the skips and that's the lot!

We took it upon ourselves to do the removals ourselves, excluding the larger and heavier items of course which we trusted to a local "Man With A Van", who did a great job. This saved us a small fortune, although it meant taking about 25 car journeys to transfer the rest of our belongings. The new place is still in town and, as luck would have it, even in the same locator square, so I don't feel the need to create new logbooks from scratch.

Before moving to the new address, we made a few visits to check everything out, not least listening for any amounts of electrical noise which might be a nuisance to our radio listening. I know this is not the best reason for choosing or declining a property, but it's one of the things we considered.

The new place has two rooms less, but they are actually slightly larger. Hmm - that means the carpets won't fit. Damn! Thanks to a little bit of improvisation though we managed to work a way around this. We had a few roll ends and offcuts we'd saved from the last place after the carpet people had fitted them. I am pretty good at fitting carpets so that side of things is nicely taken care of.

To recap. The main reason for our move was the shocking rent increase and bedroom tax, so we have Mr Cameron and Co. to thank. We were getting into a mess with things and they were only going to get worse, so it was a decision we had made a few months ago. We had looked around a few places and had even considered another swap, but we left the old housing association and decided to risk it with a new landlord to increase the possibilities. Another factor which had encouraged us to move was the terrible problems we had endured from our old neighbours for three years.

The new place is a detached bungalow, which means we don't have any neighbours! :O) It seemed to be the right thing to do. It was more affordable too, being slightly smaller. There are gardens all around the new property and, thanks to some clever planning, none of the nearest neighbours' windows look into our property, so we are quite well out of the way.

But what about radio? It's less than a mile from the beach and this shows beautifully across band 2. Continental signals are stronger and, one of the most important things for me, there is no noise across the band either. It's the same for medium wave too! I can hear really weak signals on band 2, lifting out of the noise with the greatest of ease and I have only been using a Triax FM5 one metre above the ground during a few random listening tests. The more 'regular' continentals have all been noise free. In fact it's so quiet, it's been like listening on one of my remote radio camping trips. German transmitters at Aurich, Lingen, Osnabruck, Steinkimmen, Langenburg, Kleve, Aachen, Bonn, Munster and Bremen have all been providing noise-free signals on peak. The big question is, how long will it last? Well, as has often been said, nothing is guaranteed. Noise can appear at any time. We're all living with that ticking time bomb regarding noise these days. I am just keeping my fingers crossed it will last.

Finally, I raised the FM5 to rooftop height this afternoon. The elements are still entangled in the conifers so I need to cut some of this away. Since raising this I found can hear Brocken again! This has been absent for almost two years at the old place due to the noise. How nice to be hearing it again, albeit down in the mush, but it's clear enough. I also think I heard DLR Kultur from Inselberg on 97.2 a few minutes ago. There are other very weak signals I can only guess about so, noise permitting, the new QTH looks like being a lot of radio fun. Fingers crossed it lasts!

Monday 10 February 2014

A Word Of Warning About Aerial Contractors & Specialist Antennas

With just two days to go before our house move, I had arranged for a friend to visit and take down my aerial, rotator and mast. This is not a big job as it is easy to climb on the roof of the bungalow with a small set of ladders. I was keen to get this lot removed before we vacated the property in case our old neighbour vandalised anything, which he probably would have done. Click here for an account of the things he got up to while we were living there and you'll understand our concerns. 

We had two weeks to vacate the old bungalow after signing for our new one, which meant that we temporarily had two properties, but because of the problems we'd had at the old place, we were just keen to move out the moment we got the keys for the new one, then we could move any the valuables and sleep soundly at our new address. 

Unfortunately, high winds and heavy rain prevented my friend from climbing on the roof on the day so he abandoned this until the following day. The next day arrived, with winds much calmer, but here comes another 'unfortunately', as he found he hadn't got the nerve to climb on the roof. This was becoming frustrating, but I'm glad he admitted to this as it's better to be safe than sorry. So this meant I had to get a local aerial contractor to do the job. I found a national company who appeared to be reputable. 

Moving ahead to the following morning. Two bods arrived from a local aerial contractors complete with professionally signwritten and well-stocked Transit van. In other words, they looked the part. It was windy again, but the two bods wasted no time and got the ladders up and climbed on to the roof. They scratched their head and tried to work out how best to take everything down. Remembering how Andrew Webster had got the 9.2 and rotator on the mast, I tried to help by shouting up to them, explaining the reverse procedure in order to help the bods. There was silence!  Eventually, they grunted. I couldn't hear them. Shouting up to the again (it was windy) they replied, sarcastically, "Yeah mate, we've  never taken down a fuck**g aerial before". To say that I am now fearing for the safety of the equipment would be putting it mildly. I tried to communicate with these bods but they were intent on ignoring me. In my head, I am considering a course of action for compensation and I am beginning to accept that I might have to say goodbye to the antenna and the rotator.

Things got worse. They decided to lower the mast with the aerial and rotator still on it. I was now getting worried as this would result in the reflectors resting on the roof and possibly getting bent with the huge weight. The mast includes an aluminium scaffolding pole, a weighted (for balance) Korner 9.2 antenna and a Yaesu G-5500 rotator. This alone is approaching the weight of an adult. The fact that the whole structure was extremely top heavy caused me even more concern. 

For some inexplicable reason, they took the reflectors off the 9.2, leaving the directors still mounted through the rotator. Then they REMOVED the bolts on the TK brackets while the bod on the ladder took the entire weight in ONE HAND! The other bod is still on the roof steadying the whole lopsided structure which is now being lowered groundward. The bod on the roof is about to let go! It got worse still. The bod on the ladder shouted me to grab the bottom of the scaffolding pole while he lowered it to me! WHAAAAAT? Not only am I now VERY concerned for the equipment, but I am also concerned for our loves as my wife and I attempt to grab the bottom of the pole!   

With middle bod holding the bottom of the scaffolding pole, Jane and I stretch hard to grab the bottom of the pole, which is now about six feet above the ground. 

Don't ask me how but, somehow, the whole structure was gradually lowered down and reached the ground. All I can say is that the middle bod must have had immense strength and an outstanding skill of balance, using just the one hand, that he managed to guide everything down safely. I then uttered a MASSIVE sigh of relief! This could have so easily gone wrong.

Needless to say, I will NOT be using Aerial Solutions for any future aerial jobs. 

Skegness Log: 10-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
 91.7 0739 BEL VRT Radio 1, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw/Norkring Toren (vlg-vbr) Pops, as web  376km
 93.8 0740  D  bremen eins, Bremen-Walle (bre) Rock track, as web  565km
 89.6 0747 BEL VBRO, Brugge/Walakker (vlg-wvl) OM, as web  295km
 90.5 0753 BEL RTBF Vivacité, Liège/Bol d'Air (wal-lge) French OM ads, as web  459km
 90.8 0754 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) Queens Save Me song, as web  441km
 93.5 0757  D  WDR 2, Nordhelle (nrw) Ad break, as web  554km
 96.1 0759 BEL RTBF La Première, Wavre (wal-bra) IDs in promo  397km
 97.5 0759 BEL VRT Radio 2, Schoten (vlg-ant) Good Morning, Radio 2, Jingle ID and YL news  354km
103.8 0809  D  WDR 4, Nordhelle (nrw) YL ID  554km


Well, that's it. DXing officially concludes at this address. My final scan across the band before unplugging the FM5.

The 9.2 comes down today. This wasn't possible over the weekend due to high winds.

I'll be offline for two weeks before Sky broadband is installed at the new address so I'll probably use wi-fi from one of the local coffee shops. It's a pity this couldn't have been arranged with more notice but we had no official confirmation that were moving until last Friday. We have a two week window in which to vacate the old address, which gives us thirteen days more than last time!

See you soon!

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:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)

Sunday 9 February 2014

Skegness Log: 09-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
102.5 0035  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pop song, as web  834km **
102.5 0037  D  hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Pops, as web  648km **
102.5 0047  D  hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) German song, as web  648km
102.5 0109  D  NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Gerry And The Pacemakers, as web.
               Two second burst  865km **
102.5 0122  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Jack Michaelson's Bad,
               as web  834km
102.5 0135  D  hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Eurodisco style, as web  648km
102.5 0144  D  hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) John Paul Young's Love Is
               In The Air  648km
102.5 0146  E  RNE Radio Nacional, Gamoniteiro (AST-O) Crooning song, as web  1199km **
102.5 0150  D  Antenne Thüringen, Ronneburg (Gera) (thü) Toto's Africa, as web  854km **
102.5 0157  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Lady Blah Blah's Alehandro,
               as web  834km
102.5 0212  D  NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Fairground Attraction's Perfect 
               865km
102.5 0219 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Michael Sembello's Maniac,
               as web  1247km **
102.5 0220  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) The Beloved's Sweet harmony,
               as web  834km
102.5 0229  D  hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) OM DJ, as web  648km
102.5 0232  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops, as web  834km
102.5 0249 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Robbie Williams' Shes
               The One, as web. First of three in a four second meteor burst  1247km
102.5 0249 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites. A Romanian
               Julio Iglesias, as web   **
102.5 0255  D  hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) OM DJ, as web  648km
102.5 0308  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops, as web  834km
102.5 0309  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops, as web  834km
102.5 0313  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Dark pops song, as web  834km
102.5 0322  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Jack Michaelson's Thriller,
               as web  834km
102.5 0326  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Jack Michaelson's Thriller,
               as web  834km
102.5 0333 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Pops, as web  1247km
102.5 0403  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pop song, as web  834km
102.5 0405  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops song, as web  834km
102.5 0407 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Katy Perry, as web.
               Four second burst  1247km
102.5 0409  D  Antenne Thüringen, Ronneburg (Gera) (thü) John Farnham's You're
               The Voice, as web  854km
102.5 0420 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Robert Palmer song,
               as web
102.5 0435  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pops, as web  834km
102.5 0438 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites YL song, as web
102.5 0439 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Male presenter,
               as web
102.5 0440  D  NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Soft rock song, as web  865km
102.5 0453  E  RNE Radio Nacional, Gamoniteiro (AST-O) Spanish OM on phone, as web  1199km
102.5 0454  D  NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Phil Collins' Groovy Kind Of Love,
               as web  865km
102.5 0512  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Pop song, as web  834km
102.5 0518  D  NDR 1 Radio MV, Garz (Rügen) (mev) Euro style pop, as web  865km
102.5 0522  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl,
               as web. Three second burst  834km
102.5 0540 RUS Radio Mayak, Kaliningrad/Ul. Shevchenko 2 (KA) Bruce Springsteen's
               High Hopes, as web  1329km **

102.5 0551 AUT Radio Ö24 (Wien), Wien 1/Kahlenberg (wie) Robbie Williams' Angels,
               as web  1247km
102.5 0623 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Abba's Chiquitita,
               as web
102.5 0707  D  hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Pops, as web  648km
102.5 0713  D  hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) German song, as web  648km
102.5 0719  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Partial ID, "Radio Siebenland",
               as web  834km
102.5 0720  D  hr4, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) Part of promo, as web  648km
102.5 0819  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Cheesy pop track, as web  834km
102.5 0853  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) Phil Collins track, as web.
               Six second burst  834km
102.5 0900  D  Radio 7, Witthoh (Tuttlingen) (bwü) ID on the hour  834km
102.5 1008 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Romanian OM,
               as web. Twelve second burst
102.5 1014 ROU SRR Radio România Actualitati, Five possible sites Local song, as web.
               Thirteen second burst

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
 88.6 1115 HOL 3FM, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Spice Girls song, as web  408km
102.8 1116  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Wesel-Büderich (nrw) German OM, as web  456km
102.0 1117  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Lingen-Damaschke (nds) OM and YL, as 102.8  477km
 98.1 1120  D  WDR 3, Nordhelle (nrw) German YL, as web  554km
104.1 1127 BEL Joe FM, Egem (vlg-wvl) 90s rock  roll track, as web  309km
102.9 1128 BEL Nostalgie Vlaanderen, Schoten (vlg-ant) Jack Michaelson song,
               as web  354km


** Personal Skegness 'First'

Thank you Tim Bucknall in Congleton for suggesting 102.5 for an overnight meteor session. This was a VERY productive frequency. To emphasize this, I logged all stations identified next their web streams (I recorded 17 overnight). Again, it's a little repetitive, but hopefully it paints a clear picture of what's happening. Tim was curious to learn if I would receive Kaliningrad and I am very pleased to report that I did indeed receive this rare 'country'. Bruce Springsteen's "High Hopes" appeared at 0540 and I was able to confirm that this was exactly the same as the Radio Mayak web stream which I recorded throughout the entire night. Ten hours of each stream were recorded in total. That's 170 hours of audio. I decided to have one last big blow out before tomorrow's move. Just about everything is packed and ready to go.

All this was possible, despite the garden FM5 receiving some noise over the last 24 hours, more so than it has done previously. Things are really getting bad here. I just hope the move to the new property proves to be far less noisy. At least I will have a greater choice of places to mount the 9.2.

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:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)

Saturday 8 February 2014

Skegness Log: 08-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
105.1 0610  F  France Info, Perpignan/Pic de Neulos (66) Presume Perpignan as this is
               a regular via MS on their other frequencies  1202km **
105.1 0708  F  France Info, Perpignan/Pic de Neulos (66) French YL, as web  1202km

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
 89.0 0915 BEL VRT MNM, Schoten (vlg-ant) ID and ads   354km
 93.8 0917 HOL Slam!FM, Megen/Alticom Toren (nbr) Dance music, as 88.2  387km
 94.7 0917 HOL Radio 4, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) Classical music,
               as 94.8. No Lille  313km


** 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:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)

Some Tropo For The Weekend, Sir?

Tropo Anybody?

This is the Hepburn Tropo Forecast map for 0600 today. As you will note, there are no colours (no tropo activity expected) on the map AT ALL! It's the first tropo-lacking map I have ever seen in years of watching the William Hepburn forecasts for on north-western Europe!

A few days ago, Nick Gilly in Whitchurch, Hapmshire told me about another of these maps showing zero colours. He commented it was the first totally grey map he too had seen on the site.

There are usually some colours somewhere. It shows how disturbed conditions are currently.

Roll on summer!

Friday 7 February 2014

Skegness Log: 07-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
105.2 0119  D  Radio Arabella, München-Ismaning (bay) Donna Lewis song, as web  970km **
105.2 0334  D  Radio Arabella, München-Ismaning (bay) Paul McCartney and Michael
               Jackson song, as web  970km
105.2 0422  D  Radio Arabella, München-Ismaning (bay) Rolling Stones Satisfaction,
               as web. Two successive bursts  970km
105.2 0530  D  big fm (Baden-Württemberg), Langenbrand (bwü) Ellie Goulding song,
               as web  755km **
105.2 0616  D  big fm (Baden-Württemberg), Langenbrand (bwü) Part of Big FM jingle
               heard  755km
105.2 0636  D  big fm (Baden-Württemberg), Langenbrand (bwü) Different Ellie
               Goulding song, as web. Four second burst  755km
105.2 0730  D  Hitradio RTL Sachsen, Dresden-Wachwitz (sac) OM talking over music,
               as web  951km **
105.2 0743  D  big fm (Baden-Württemberg), Langenbrand (bwü) Black Eyed Sprouts
               song, as web. Four second burst  755km
105.2 0807  D  Hitradio RTL Sachsen, Dresden-Wachwitz (sac) Swedish Bungalow
               Mafia, as web  951km
 93.8 1213  D  SWR2, Waldenbyrg or Saarburg William Tell Overture, as web   **
105.3 1240 HNG MR 3 Bartok Radio, Budapest - Széchenyi-hegy (Bud) Distinctive classical
               music, as web  1461km **
105.5 2133  F  France Info, Bayonne/la Rhune (64) French OM on phone, as web  1104km **
105.5 2146  F  France Info, Bayonne/la Rhune (64) French YL, as web  1104km


** Personal Skegness 'First'

I discovered a great little tool this morning (for people who can't handle basic arithmetic like me) by the name of Time Calculator.

After realising I had made a couple of errors with my time calculations I searched for something which did it for me - accurately! This is the problem I have found. When I begin my overnight recordings in WaveLab, I name the file according to the date and the start time of that particular recording. All meteor bursts are clearly visible along the timeline, which has hours and minutes marked along it. You can in fact change the start time in WaveLab to something meaningful, thus producing the actual correct time along the timeline, but this has never worked for me. So "00:00" might correspond to a correct time of 01:45" and therefore "02:15" will correspond to "04:00", as examples. The problem is, as I quickly discovered this morning, that my calculations were going wrong and I was out by an hour, etc. If I had two brains cells I might be better at this (or dangerous, as they say), but this little web calculator does the calculations for you. You enter the actual start time of the recording and then you enter the hours and minutes given on the timeline which correspond to a meteor burst. I think I will be using this regularly now.

Two days to the house move! The 9.2 antenna should be coming down today providing the weather stays calm. I might be out of action for a short while, but I will try to do what I did when we moved here and put up an FM3 on day one and try a quick bandscan, time permitting (Jane insists!)

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:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)

Thursday 6 February 2014

Skegness Log: 06-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
105.3 0045 AUT Kronehit, Sankt Pölten/Jauerling (nie) Advert, as web  1182km **
105.3 0113  D  B5 aktuell, Kreuzberg (Rhön) (bay) German YL, as web  733km **
105.3 0138  D  NDR Info, Schwerin (mev) Crooning song, as web. Seven second burst  740km **
105.3 0142  I  RMC - Radio Monte Carlo, Romagnese/Monte Calenzone (pv) Italian female
               vocalist, as web  1132km **
105.3 0204  F  France Info, Marseille/Petite Etoile (13) OM talking about the
               UK, as web. Two second burst  1148km **
 91.0 0903 HOL Omroep Brabant, Roosendaal/Alticom Toren (nbr) Ad break. Sudden burst
               lifted well above aircraft scatter  334km **

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
105.3 0816 HOL Radio 1, Hulsberg/Emmaberg (lim) YL talk, as web  455km
 90.6 0818  D  WDR 5, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) German YL, as 107.1  591km
107.1 0819  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Bremen-Walle (bre) Almost noise free. German YL  565km
 97.5 0830 BEL VRT Radio 2, Schoten (vlg-ant) Pops, as 98.6  354km
 97.9 0831 BEL VRT Radio 2, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Pops, as 98.6  431km
100.3 0832 HOL L1 Radio, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) News and ads, L Een ID  443km
 93.3 0835  D  WDR 2, Kleve/Bresserberg (nrw) Light pops, as web  421km
 89.9 0849  F  France Musique, Rennes/Saint-Pern (35) Classical, as 88.7, beaming east!  564km
 90.0 0850 HOL 100% NL, Loon op Zand/Alticom Toren (nbr) Lively song, as 90.2  366km
 93.9 0851  D  WDR 4, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Light pops, as web  484km
 96.3 0855 HOL Radio Veronica, Loon op Zand/Alticom Toren (nbr) Rock song, as web  366km
 91.0 0901 HOL Omroep Brabant, Roosendaal/Alticom Toren (nbr) Ad break, as web  334km


** 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:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)

Moving House Again

It's only just over three years ago since we last moved. This time we are moving for two reasons.

1. We are struggling to afford to rent the place we are in now.

2. Nobody should have to suffer with neighbours like ours. They have been relentless in their destruction of our property, last week breaking the windows on our car.

Actually, I could add a third reason.

3. There is now so much electrical noise getting into my antennas at the current property that my rooftop antenna has become unusable. This is not a sole reason for moving of course, but it's a problem I will be happy to see the back of.

Our new property does seem a lot quieter, electrically, based on two visits and brief listening sessions yesterday using a modified Degen DE1103, one in session in mid-afternoon, the other mid-evening. In fact, it seems ultra quiet on both medium wave and band 2. I'm sure there will be *some* noise at some point as nobody seems to escape this modern evil anymore, not unless they are very lucky. Time can only tell.

Our neighbours have been something else. Their behaviour has always been erratic. Friendly one minute, aggressive the next. Why they have taken it upon themselves to make our lives a misery we have no idea. We have done nothing to cause this. We even used to be quite good friends at one time and go out socially.

The new location is like an oasis in a sea of urban sprawl. It's a detached property and has gardens all round it. Although it is surrounded by other housing, it is quite enclosed at the end of a footpath and is blocked from view by tall conifers and high fencing. There are fairly long gardens on two sides of the property so there is potential for hiding a few antennas. It's very modern but not as big as our current property. We will miss the open views we have enjoyed across the fields here.

So there are pros and cos, but isn't that always the case?

Wednesday 5 February 2014

Skegness Log: 05-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
107.4 0136 POL Radio Zet, Krosno/Sucha Góra (PK) Polish song, as web. two second burst 
               1530km **
107.4 0137  D  SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Koblenz/Dieblich-Naßheck (rlp) Slow pops,
               as web  591km **
107.4 0142  I  Radio Suby, Palombara Sabina/Monte Gennaro (rm) Distinctive jazzy
               piece, as web  1543km **
107.4 0217  I  Radio Suby, Palombara Sabina/Monte Gennaro (rm) More jazz, as web.
               Six second burst  1543km
107.4 0239 POL Radio Zet, Krosno/Sucha Góra (PK) OM, as web. Four second burst  1530km
107.4 0337  I  Radio Suby, Palombara Sabina/Monte Gennaro (rm) Jazz version of
               Lets face The Music And Dance, as web  1543km
107.4 0617  D  Hitradio Ohr, Lahr/Schutterlindenberg (bwü) Trance/rock epic,
               as web  752km **
107.4 0711  I  Radio Suby, Palombara Sabina/Monte Gennaro (rm) Italian rap, as web 
               1543km
107.4 0844  D  Radio Wuppertal, Wuppertal/Westfalenweg (nrw) YL presenter, as web.
               On local announcement slot  508km **
107.4 0935  D  delta radio, Kaltenkirchen (shs) Rihanna song, as web  647km **

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
 87.6 0726 BEL Nostalgie Vlaanderen, Oudenburg/Zeeweg (vlg-wvl) New site? Triggerfinger,
               as web  288km **
 87.9 0729 HOL Omroep Zeeland, Goes/Alticom Toren (zee) Mika song, ID  303km
100.0 0747  D  WDR 4, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) German song, as 101.3  494km
102.5 0755 HOL Radio 538, Tjerkgaast/Alticom Toren (fri) Jingle ID after phone caller. Noise free briefly  361km
 94.8 0757 HOL Radio 4, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Classical music, as web  408km
107.9 0759  D  WDR Eins Live, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) ID and news  494km


** Personal Skegness 'First'

Poor aircraft scatter conditions today. Perhaps not surprising considering the atrocious weather. The winds didn't batter the east coast too badly overnight but I understand there is a more vigourous storm system working its way across the Atlantic for Saturday.

On the meteor side, one of the NRW local stations was a regular visitor to 107.4, but since there are several stations which carry the same overnight programme it is impossible to know which one/s were received. Radio Wuppertal was spotted later, however, with a local female presenter which wasn't in parallel to the others (Lippe, etc.)

Another one I'm fairly sure I heard several times this morning was Antenna Karnten from Spittal (2.7kW) but the pings were just that little bit too brief to be 100%. Maybe next time.

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:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)

Skegness Log: 04-01-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
107.6 0027  D  Ostseewelle, Garz (Rügen) (mev) OM talking over music, as web  865km **
107.6 0239 ROU Pro FM, Oradea=Nagyvárad (BH) Brief burst of Romanian pop song. as web  1678km **
107.6 0241  D  big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Bornberg (rlp) German OM talking, as web.
               Two second burst  640km **
107.6 0251 SVN Radio Koper, Tinjan (kp) Female singer throughout seven second burst,
               as web  1289km **
107.6 0251 POL Radio eM, Katowice/Kosztowy (SL) Jazzy synth at beginning of
               three second burst  1333km **
107.6 0251  D  Antenne Thüringen, Remda (Saalfeld) (thü) Pop song, as web.
               Three second burst  789km **
107.6 0252  D  B5 aktuell, Hühnerberg (bay) German OM, as web  871km **
107.6 0515  I  Radio Company, Aviano/Castaldia-Piancavallo (Col del Lovo) (pn)
               Back To Black song, as web  1176km **
107.6 1026  D  Antenne Thüringen, Remda (Saalfeld) (thü) Pops, as web  789km
107.6 1031  D  big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Bornberg (rlp) YL talking over musical bed,
               as web  640km
107.6 1031  D  B5 aktuell, Hühnerberg (bay) OM news, as web  871km
107.6 1102  D  Radio Lausitz, Löbau/Schafberg (sac) Terence River Trent Near Derby's
               Sign Your Name, as web. Four second burst  1006km **
107.6 1142  D  Radio Lausitz, Löbau/Schafberg (sac) Toto's Africa, as web  1006km
107.6 1157  D  Radio Lausitz, Löbau/Schafberg (sac) Lorde's Royal song, as web  1006km

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
 88.5 0843  F  France Culture, Bourges/Neuvy (18) French YL, as 98.0  672km
 89.0 0844  F  France Culture, Le Mans/Mayet (72) French YL, as 88.5  599km
 91.2 0845 BEL RTBF Musiq'3, Brussel/Financietoren=Bruxelles/Tour des Finances (bru)
               Classical music, as web  377km
 89.6 0846  F  France Culture, Villers-Cotterêts/Fleury (02) French YL, as 98.0  474km
 91.8 0847  F  France Musique, Bourges/Neuvy (18) Classical music, as 88.7  672km
 94.0 0847  F  France Culture, Rouen/Grand-Couronne (76) French song, as 98.0  426km
 95.4 0848  F  France Inter, Amiens/Saint-Just-en-Chaussée [60] (80) French OM, as 103.7 
               431km
 96.1 0848 BEL RTBF La Première, Wavre (wal-bra) French OM, as web  397km
 96.6 0849 BEL RTBF Pure FM, Anderlues/Mont-Sainte-Geneviève (wal-hnt) Pops, as web  409km
 92.2 0853 HOL Omrop Fryslân Radio, Jirnsum/Rijksweg (fri) Dutch OM, as web  365km


** Personal Skegness 'First'

This is becoming more and more addictive. Two sessions recorded this morning, both focusing on 107.6. I omitted most of the repetition today.

Big FM from Bornberg was the dominant station, although Antenne Thuringen and B5 Aktuell appeared frequently.

Despite recording 20+ of the highest powered streams again I found several stations popping up which were not in parallel with any of them.

A mystery classical music station was also quite frequent. I suspect this will be Hungary's Bartok, which I did not record.

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:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise issue)

Monday 3 February 2014

Skegness Log: 03-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 87.7 0259  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) Discussion, as web.
               Five second burst  709km
 87.7 0301  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) Discussion, as web  709km
 87.7 0310  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) French discussion,
               as web  709km
 87.7 0349  D  MDR Figaro, Chemnitz/Geyer (sac) Classical, as web  905km **
 87.7 0350  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) French YL, as web  709km
 87.7 0351  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) Discordant chorus,
               as web  709km
 87.7 0355  D  MDR Figaro, Chemnitz/Geyer (sac) Harpsichord, as web  905km
 87.7 0356 HRV HRT-HR 1, Licka Pljesivica (gs) Slavic song, near beginning of 1 minute
               and 20 second meteor burst  1456km **
 87.7 0356  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) French OM at head of
               1 minute and 20 second meteor burst. As web  709km
 87.7 0357  D  MDR Figaro, Chemnitz/Geyer (sac) Classical, as web. Ending the 1 minute
               and 20 second meteor burst  905km
 87.7 0359  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) Accordion music,
               as web  709km
 87.7 0400  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) Accordion music,
               as web  709km
 87.7 0408  D  MDR Figaro, Chemnitz/Geyer (sac) Classical, as web  905km
 87.7 0409  D  MDR Figaro, Chemnitz/Geyer (sac) Classical, as web  905km
 87.7 0417  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) Piano music, as web  709km
 87.7 0421  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) Piano, as web  709km
 87.7 0425 SVK Fun Rádio, Kosice/Dubník (KE) Techno beats, as web  1545km
 87.7 0426 SVK Fun Rádio, Kosice/Dubník (KE) Techno beats, as web. Five second burst 
               1546km
 87.7 0434  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) French OM, as web  709km
 87.7 0500  E  RAC 1, Barcelona/Collserola (CAT-B) OM starting news, as web  1311km
 87.7 0513  S  SR P1, Halmstad/Oskarström-Slättåkra TM (ha) Reporting on Danish
               matter, as web  900km **
 87.7 1021  D  Bayern 1, Passau (500W) or Weiler (100W) German Enya-ish song, as web.
               Trailing end of a 7 second burst in which Strasbourg was mostly
               dominant **
 87.7 2115  D  NDR Info, Flensburg-Engelsby (shs) Slow jazz type piece, as web  627km **
 87.7 2133  S  SR P1, Halmstad/Oskarström-Slättåkra TM (ha) Swedish YL in busy
               room, as web  900km
 87.7 2135 SVK Fun Rádio, Kosice/Dubník (KE) Rock song, as web  1545km

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
 88.6 0804 HOL 3FM, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Ad break clonks in noise  408km
 89.6 0805  F  RDL-Radio Dallas Loisirs, Saint-Omer/Racquinghem (62) YL news, as web  306km
 89.6 0806 BEL VBRO, Brugge/Walakker (vlg-wvl) Suddenly over RDS  295km
 90.2 0807 HOL 100% NL, Roosendaal/Alticom Toren (nbr) Dutch song, as web  334km
 91.3 0807 HOL BNR Nieuwsradio, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) OM,
               as web  313km
 91.4 0807 HOL Radio 4, Markelo/Alticom Toren (ove) Classical music, as web  425km
 91.8 0808 HOL Radio 1, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) YL, as web  408km
 92.2 0809 HOL Omrop Fryslân Radio, Jirnsum/Rijksweg (fri) Katy Perry, roaring, as web 
               365km
 92.6 0809 HOL Radio 2, Ijsselstein/Gerbrandytoren-Alticom (utr) DJ ID  344km
 92.8 0810 BEL RTBF Musiq'3, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam) Classical  441km
 93.2 0810 HOL Waterstad FM, Jirnsum/Rijksweg (fri) French song, as web  365km
 93.9 0811 HOL Radio Noord-Holland, Wieringermeer/Robbenoordbos (nho) OM on phone,
               as web  318km
 94.2 0812 BEL VRT Radio 1, Schoten (vlg-ant) OM over music, as 95.7  354km
 94.7 0813 HOL Radio 4, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) Classical, no Lille  313km
 95.2 0813 HOL Slam!FM, Alphen aan den Rijn/Alticom Toren (zho) Club track, as web  313km
 95.3 0814 HOL BNR Nieuwsradio, Zwollerkerspel/Alticom Toren (ove) Dutch woman on
               phone, as 91.3  397km
 95.4 0815 HOL BNR Nieuwsradio, Gilze/Prinsenbosch (nbr) Dutch womam on phone, as 95.3 
               359km
 95.8 0816  D  NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) Pops, ovr UNID classical  479km
 96.8 0818 HOL 3FM, IJsselstein/Gerbrandytoren-Alticom (utr) OM phone caller, as web  344km
 97.6 0819 HOL Radio Decibel, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) M People song,
               DJ ID, as web  313km
 99.5 0819 BEL RTBF Musiq'3, Liège/Bol d'Air (wal-lge) Violins, as 92.8  459km
100.0 0820  D  WDR 4, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) Elton John song, as 101.3  494km
103.8 0821 HOL Radio 10, Rotterdam/Alticom Toren (Waalhaven) (zho) Michael Jackson,
               as 87.7  313km
104.6 0822 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Tournai/Froidmont (wal-hnt) Ads in French  351km
104.7 0822  F  France Inter, Calais/Mont d'Hubert (62) OM shouting about Montreal,
               as 103.7  266km
106.0 0823 BEL RTBF La Première, Tournai/Froidmont (wal-hnt) French discussion, as web 
               351km
106.7 0823  D  WDR Eins Live, Langenberg/Hordtberg (nrw) Suddenly out of the noise  505km
107.5 0828 HOL Scheldemond FM, Oostburg/Watertoren (zee) Just making it through
               in the noise, as web  296km
107.9 0830  D  WDR Eins Live, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) Almost noise free, as 106.7  494km
107.1 1110  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Bremen-Walle (bre) German OM, as web  565km


I included all meteor loggings from the first hour of my recording. Note how many times the same three transmitters are received. There would easily have been around 100 entries of duplicates from Strasbourg, Chemnitz and Kosice. Pings and bursts were fast and furious from these transmitters for the first hour or two of the night, but there were still plenty of bursts from unidentified stations and I recorded 20 streams overnight. The methods I use are now becoming much simpler to organise regarding the sample rate conversions from the various web streams. Is this all a bit OTT? Yes, quite probably, but it's good fun at the moment.

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:
Triax FM5, one metre AGL
Rooftop Körner 9.2, 8m AGL & Yaesu G-5500 azimuthal/elevation rotator (temporarily out of action due to local noise problem)

Sunday 2 February 2014

Skegness Log: 02-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 88.2 0124  D  Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) Jazzy piece, as web  813km
 88.2 0223 SUI Radio SRF 1, Bantiger or Feschel MLTR song, as web
 88.2 0419  D  NDR Kultur, Marlow (mev) Piano piece, as web  814km
 88.2 0430  D  NDR Kultur, Marlow (mev) YL talking about Josef Haydn, as web  814km
 88.2 0437  D  Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) Folk song, as web  813km
 88.2 0459  D  Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) Promo, as web  813km
 88.2 0508  D  Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) OM in outside broadcast, as web  813km
 88.2 0510  D  Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) German YL, as web  813km
 88.2 0512  D  Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) Folk music, as web  813km
 88.2 0519  D  Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) YL talk in classroom, as web  813km
 88.2 0520  D  NDR Kultur, Marlow (mev) Classical, as web  814km
 88.2 0524 NOR NRK P1, Skien 1/Vealøs (te) Rod Stewart song, as web  890km
 88.2 0543  D  NDR Kultur, Marlow (mev) Choral piece, as web  814km
 88.2 0600  D  NDR Kultur, Marlow (mev) NDR Kultur, nachrichten ID  814km
 88.2 0736 HOL Radio 2, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Sensual jazzy female soloist,
               as web. One second burst.   443km
 88.2 0745  D  Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) German YL, as web  813km
 88.2 0748  D  Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) German OM, as web  813km
 88.2 0824  D  Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) German OM, as web  813km
 88.2 0827  D  Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) German OM, as web. Eight second
               meteor burst  813km
 88.2 0932 SUI Radio SRF 1, Bantiger or Feschel German YL, as web
 88.2 0942  D  NDR Kultur, Marlow (mev) Slowly spoken German YL, as web  814km
 88.2 1006  D  Bayern 2, Büttelberg (bay) Musical bed, as web  813km
 87.7 2130 SVK Fun Rádio, Kosice/Dubník (KE) Euro disco song, as web  1545km
 87.7 2131  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) French OM, as web  709km
 87.7 2207  D  MDR Figaro, Chemnitz/Geyer (sac) Double bass and piano, as web  905km
 87.7 2236  F  France Culture, Strasbourg/TDF Nordheim (67) French song, as web  709km
 87.7 2237 SVK Fun Rádio, Kosice/Dubník (KE) Pops, as web. Two second burst  1545km

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
 91.1 0631  D  NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Steinkimmen (nds) Albert Hammond song, as web  543km
 94.4 0632  D  NDR Kultur, Steinkimmen (nds) Classical music, as web  543km
 95.2 0633 HOL Slam!FM, Alphen aan den Rijn/Alticom Toren (zho) Club beats, as web  313km
 95.8 0633  D  NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Aurich (nds) Albert Hammond song, as 91.1  479km
 96.1 0634 BEL RTBF La Première, Wavre (wal-bra) French OM  397km
 96.8 0634 HOL 3FM, IJsselstein/Gerbrandytoren-Alticom (utr) Pops, as web  344km
 97.0 0636  D  WDR 3, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) Strings, as web  591km
 99.8 0636  D  NDR 2, Steinkimmen (nds) Pops, as web  543km
105.5 0637  D  WDR Eins Live, Teutoburger Wald/Bielstein (nrw) Pops, as 106.7  591km
 91.4 0641 HOL Radio 4, Markelo/Alticom Toren (ove) Classical music, as web  425km
 91.8 0642 HOL Radio 1, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) OM  YL talk, as web  408km
 92.0 0642  D  WDR 5, Münster/Baumberg (nrw) Talks, maybe OB, as web  494km
 92.8 0643  D  NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Lingen-Damaschke (nds) Light pops, as web  477km
 93.8 0645 HOL Slam!FM, Megen/Alticom Toren (nbr) Banging toons, as web  387km
 93.9 0646  D  WDR 4, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Robbie Williams, as web  484km
 96.5 0647  D  Deutschlandradio Kultur, Langenberg/Hordtberg (nrw) German song.
               Almost noise free  505km
 98.1 0648  D  WDR 3, Nordhelle (nrw) Classical. Almost noise free  554km
 99.2 0648  D  WDR 2, Langenberg/Hordtberg (nrw) German YL  505km
 99.8 0648  D  NDR 2, Steinkimmen (nds) Paul Young song, as web  543km
104.8 0649 HOL Radio 1, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim) Dutch OMs, as web  443km
 93.5 0654  D  WDR 2, Nordhelle (nrw) Bee Gees song, as web  554km
 93.8 0655  D  bremen eins, Bremen-Walle (bre) Pops, as web  565km
 87.9 0705 HOL Omroep Zeeland, Goes/Alticom Toren (zee) Dutch pop  303km
 88.0 0705 HOL Radio 2, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Reggae song, as web  408km
 89.9 0706 BEL VRT Klara, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Weather  431km
 97.3 0709  D  WDR 3, Kleve/Bresserberg (nrw) Classical piece, as web  421km
 97.4 0710  D  SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Linz (Rhein)/Ginsterhahner Kopf (rlp) OM and
               YL talking, as web  560km
 99.1 0710 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Anderlues/Mont-Sainte-Geneviève (wal-hnt) French news,
               mentioning Charleroi  409km
 99.5 0712 BEL RTBF Musiq'3, Liège/Bol d'Air (wal-lge) French YL, as web  459km
100.6 0713 BEL VRT Studio Brussel, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw/Norkring Toren (vlg-vbr) Pops,
               as 102.1  376km
102.5 0715 HOL Radio 538, Tjerkgaast/Alticom Toren (fri) Jason Mraz, as web  361km
 97.9 1206 BEL VRT Radio 2, Genk/VRT Zendmast (vlg-lim) Dutch sports news, noise
               free  431km
101.0 1207 HOL Sky Radio, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre) Pops, ID  408km
101.2 1208 HOL Sky Radio, Hilversum/Media Park-Alticom (nho) Pops, as 101.0  342km
101.3 1208  D  WDR 4, Langenberg/Hordtberg (nrw) 13dB and noise free. German song  505km


It was the turn of 88.2 overnight. There were lots of classical music bursts but due to shared programming it was not possible to be more specific which station it was, but both NDR Kultur and Bayern 2 came in numerous times, including NDR Kultur with an actual vocal ID.

Signals would have been sufficient to produce RDS but I didn't use Bandicam overnight as this poor computer is being pushed to enough extremes with dozens of huge audio files as it is (and it's starting to buckle). What I find amazing is that there are so many different stations coming through, it's impissible to make any guesses. It seems that it's mostly the more powerful transmitters are producing the RDS while the lower powered transmitters are still pushing through with great ease.

Once again, I have logged ALL instances of identified meteor scatter just to show the regularity of the signals. Quite amazing stuff.

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 1 February 2014

Skegness Log: 01-02-14 (FM)

Band 2 Meteor Scatter:
 88.3 0202  G  BBC Radio 2, Bressay (SC-SHE) BBC News. Several second burst above
               Sutton Coldfield  781km **
 88.3 0214  D  SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Raichberg (bwü) German OM, numerous bursts,
               as web  813km **
 88.3 0238  D  SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Raichberg (bwü) Bruce Springsteens High
               Hopes, as web  813km
 88.3 0246  D  SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Raichberg (bwü) Fairground Attractions Perfect,
               as web  813km
 88.3 0327  D  SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Raichberg (bwü) George Michael  Aretha
               Franklin song, as web  813km
 88.3 0343  D  SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Raichberg (bwü) Paper Lace Billy Dont Be A
               Hero, as web  813km
 88.3 0513  D  SWR1 Baden-Württemberg, Raichberg (bwü) Scissor Sisters song, as
               web  813km
 87.6 0713  D  BR Klassik, Dillberg (bay) Concerto, as web  879km **
 87.6 0910  D  hr3, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) Klangkarussel song, as web  612km **
 87.6 0945  D  Antenne Brandenburg, Frankfurt (Oder) Booßen (brb) Buffalo Soldier,
               as web  951km
 87.6 0948 CZE Radio Impuls, Brno/Kojál (JM) Katy Perry, as web  1219km
 87.6 0956 NOR NRK P1, Nordhue (he) Norwegian OM and YL, as web  1094km
 87.6 0957  D  NDR 2, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Brooke Fraser song, as web  650km
 87.6 1006  D  BR Klassik, Dillberg (bay) Sombre classical, as web  879km
 87.6 1020  D  NDR 2, Hamburg-Moorfleet (ham) Five second burst. Pops, as web  650km

Band 2 Aircraft Scatter:
 87.7 0602 HOL Radio 10, Lelystad/Alticom Toren (fle)  351km
 87.9 0603 HOL Omroep Zeeland, Goes/Alticom Toren (zee)  303km
 88.2 0603 HOL Radio 2, Roermond/Alticom Toren (lim)  443km
 88.4 0603 HOL Slam!FM, Roosendaal/Alticom Toren (nbr)  334km
 89.2 0603  F  France Musique, Reims/TDF Hautvillers (51)  516km
 90.3 0605  D  WDR 5, Nordhelle (nrw)  554km
 90.7 0605 HOL SubLime FM, Ijsselstein/Gerbrandytoren-Alticom (utr)  344km
 91.2 0605 BEL RTBF Musiq'3, Brussel/Financietoren=Bruxelles/Tour des Finances (bru)  377km
 91.7 0606 BEL VRT Radio 1, Sint-Pieters-Leeuw/Norkring Toren (vlg-vbr)  376km
 91.8 0606 HOL Radio 1, Smilde/Alticom Toren (dre)  408km
 92.0 0606  D  WDR 5, Münster/Baumberg (nrw)  494km
 95.4 0607  F  France Inter, Amiens/Saint-Just-en-Chaussée [60] (80)  431km
 96.8 0607  F  France Inter, Reims/TDF Hautvillers (51)  516km
 97.5 0608 BEL VRT Radio 2, Schoten (vlg-ant)  354km
 97.8 0608 HOL Radio Veronica, IJsselstein/Gerbrandytoren-Alticom (utr)  344km
 98.0 0608  F  France Culture, Lille/Bouvigny le Mont [62] (59)  343km
 98.6 0608 BEL VRT Radio 2, Egem (vlg-wvl)  309km
 99.1 0608 BEL RTBF Classic 21, Anderlues/Mont-Sainte-Geneviève (wal-hnt)  409km
102.7 0609 BEL RTBF La Première, Profondeville-Rivière/Sart à Soile (wal-nam)  441km


** Personal Skegness 'First'

This is a more complete picture of today's scatter.

I recorded 88.3 and 87.6 overnight for meteor scatter. I included duplicate loggings to show how regular some signals have been.

The aircraft scatter log was based on a quick scan from the bottom to the top of the band including all continentals I heard in a single sweep. This is the first time I haven't included programme details for reasons of quickness.

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