We took a holiday to Brittany between August 31st and September 8th. We had planned to stay longer and take a trip around the French Alps the following week but our plans were interrupted: We had intended to take our two Rottweilers but we found that there were many difficulties along the way which meant they had to be left at home. Fortunately, we have a very good friend, also a Rottweiler owner, who came to look after them while we were away. True enough, Rottweilers are large, fearsome looking dogs, but ours are very friendly and cuddly. Yes, I said "cuddly". We are daft when it comes to our dogs. They are part of our family and we love them dearly.
We try to take our dogs with us most places, but we find that some people prefer to cross over the road to avoid walking past them, depending on where we are. The locals love them and only want to fuss them, which they really appreciate. When walking in a rough part of Glasgow with them recently we found that people only crossed the road to avoid us. That spoke volumes about the area we were in.
Sadly, after weeks of planning and researching we discovered that Rottweilers wee classed as "Category 2 breed: Guard Dogs" in France and thus were not allowed on French camp sites. If it wasn't for a well-known web forum we would not have discovered this information. Well done tripadvisor.com! Their members were exceptionally helpful and pointed us to the appropriate website which explained all the rules concerning Rottweilers in France. Before doing this, we had emailed and phoned various government departments, embassies, European vetinary organisations and Rottweiler clubs, only to be passed around in a loop because they didn't know where Rottweilers were permitted. Our very own government department DEFRA hadn't a clue either. No surprises there.
Arriving at the camp site we promptly set up a simple receiving station, comprising a Sony XDR-F1HD and a Triax FM3, mounted on a telescopic mast at around five to six metres, so that it was above the caravan roof and clear of obstruction to the beach, which looks out over the Bay Of Biscay, just 200 metres away.
Perhaps I shouldn't give a big build-up to this report as nothing much was heard, typical of all my visits to Brittany in fact. We had expected more Spanish DX this time as the Hepburn tropo forecast looked good for this. Instead, we experienced more of a lift to the north, into south-west England. I don't wish to rubbish the DX potential of this location as I am fairly sure that conditions were not as forecast, but I have never experienced much in the way of Spanish DX from this location. Band 2 is fairly quiet at the best of times, but with careful searching and the occasional rise in conditions, it's mostly always been more distant Breton stations which come though. Maybe I have been unlucky. In contrast, I have to say that the French Land's End at the Point Du Raz, some 50 km to the north-west, was dramatically better for Spanish reception, even under apparently flat conditions. Despite this, the Pointe Du Raz does not seem to provide the same proliferation of Spanish signals experienced at the Cornish Land's End. I have been to both Land's Ends several times.
Here is the report, complete with notes to begin with. Unfortunately I lost interest with the note keeping and DXing as nothing much was heard after the 4th.
31-08-12
Poor late evening. A few Spanish transmitters at weak/noisy levels.
01-09-12
Slightly enhanced after sunrise. Some Spanish signals almost noise free. Nothing at RDS levels.
88.2 RNE Radio Clasica, Monte Paramo (GAL-LU)
88.9 Euskadi Irratia, Bilbao (PVA-BI)
89.5 RNE Radio Nacional Galicia, Xistral (GAL-LU)
90.5 RNE R.5 TN Oviedo, Boal (AST-O)
92.8 RNE R.5 TN Lugo, Monte Paramo (GAL-LU)
93.2 RNE RNE Radio Nacional Asturias, Boal (AST-O)
93.7 RNE R.5 TN Santiago, Santiago De Compostela (GAL-O)
94.4 RNE R.3, Gamoniteiro (AST-O)
95.2 UNID YL talk 0954 (Likely Onda Cero, Oviedo (AST-O) Heard at Pointe Du Raz)
95.6 UNID Phone in 0956 (Likely Cadena SER, Lugo (GAL-LU) Heard at Pointe Du Raz)
96.3 RNE Radio Clasica, Galicia (GAL-LU)
96.9 RNE R Nacional Cantabria, Lierganes (CNT-S)
98.1 RNE Radio Clasica, Santiago De Compostela (GAL-O)
99.0 RNE R.3, Santiago De Compostela (GAL-O)
99.6 RNE R.3, Monte Paramo (GAL-LU)
101.7 RNE R Nacional Galicia, Monte Paramo (GAL-LU)
100.9 UNID News 1002 (Likely Radio Galega, Valga (GAL-PO))
102.5 RNE Radio Nacional Asturias, Gamoniteiro (AST-O)
102.7 esRadio, unlisted site
102.9 RNE R.3, Lierganes (CNT-S)
103.1 RNE Radio Nacional Galicia, Santiago De Compostela (GAL-O)
103.7 Radio Galega, Monte Paramo (GAL-LU)
104.2 RNE R.3, Xistral (GAL-LU)
104.4 RNE R.5 TN Oviedo, Gamoniteiro (AST-O)
104.8 Likely Radio Galega, Monte Meda (GAL-OU)
105.0 RNE R.5 TN Santander, Lierganes (CNT-S)
01-09-12 Evening: Disappointing. Only Gamoniteiro heard extremely weakly and barely recognisable in the noise. SW England enhanced with North Hessary Tor and Redruth at one bar.
02-09-12 Morning: Rubbish! As 01-09-12 evening.
UK nationals Rowridge and a presumed Haverfordwest received via scatter.
02-09-12 Evening: Spanish? Where? I can't hear any.
03-09-12 Morning: Yawn! Even semi-local French stations are down in strength. SW England with some enhancement though.
03-09-12 Evening: Still no sign of Spain but SW England and The English Midlands coming in well. North Hessary Tor RDSing with two bars.
107.0 Heart, Redruth
95.2 RTE Lyric FM, Clermont Carn
95.2 BBC Radio Cornwall, Caradon Hill
94.3 BBC Radio 4, Wenvoe
92.1 BBC Radio 3, Wenvoe
92.5 BBC Radio 4, North Hessary Tor
90.3 BBC Radio 3, North Hessary Tor
88.1 BBC Radio 2, North Hessary Tor
100.0 Classic FM, North Hessary Tor
102.8 Pirate FM, Redruth
89.7 BBC Radio 2, Redruth
91.9 BBC Radio 3, Redruth
102.2 Pirate FM, Caradon Hill
97.7 BBC Radio 1, North Hessary Tor
99.3 BBC Radio 1, Redruth
99.5 BBC Radio 1, Wenvoe
101.5 Classic FM, Redruth
100.3 Classic FM, Rowridge
89.3 BBC Radio 2, Haverfordwest
93.7 BBC Radio 4, Haverfordwest
97.1 BBC Radio 1, Les Platons
89.6 BBC Radio 2, Les Platons
91.1 BBC Radio 3, Les Platons
88.3 BBC Radio 3, Sutton Coldfield
92.7 BBC Radio 4, Sutton Coldfield
97.9 BBC Radio 1, Sutton Coldfield
100.1 Classic FM, Sutton Coldfield
101.1 Classic FM, Haverfordwest
101.7 Classic FM, Wenvoe
95.5 BBC Somerset, Mendip
94.8 BBC Radio 4, Les Platons
94.3 BBC Radio 4, Wenvoe
93.3 BBC Radio 4, Llangollen
91.5 BBC Radio 3, Haverfordwest
102.5 BBC Radio Pembrokeshire, Haverfordwest
107.2 Newstalk 106-108, Mount Leinster
04-09-12 Morning: Southern England enhancement continuing to grow slightly, add ...
89.1 BBC Radio 2, Wrotham
04-09-12 Evening: SW England not so good but Spain returning into the small hours. Chiefly Galicia. Post sunrise: Only Gamoniteiro audible weakly.
100.4 Radio Nacional Galicia, Culluredo (GAL-O)
99.0 RNE R.3, Santiago De Compostela (GAL-O)
98.5 UNID Spanish phone-in 0304
102.8 Radio Nacional Galicia, Monte Meda (GAL-OU)
106.4 Radio Principado De Asturias, Gamiteiro (AST-O)
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As the holiday progressed we realised we were missing our dogs more and more. So much so that we decided to curtail the holiday and make our way back home! Our plan now was to spend a week in Cornwall with the dogs.
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