Pages

Friday 2 May 2014

Skegness Log: 02-05-14 (FM)

Band 2 General Scatter: (Pre-amp Test)
 95.5 0817  D  SR 3 Saarlandwelle, Göttelborner Höhe (saa) Pops, as web. Testing pre-amp  629km
 87.8 0833  D  WDR 2, Schwerte/Sommerberg (nrw) Pops, as web. Testing pre-amp  525km
107.1 0834  D  SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz, Haardtkopf (rlp) Noise free. Schlager. Testing pre-amp 
               593km
 91.8 0837  D  WDR 2, Hohe Warte (nrw) Almost noise free. Bangles song, as 93.3. Testing Pre-amp 
               544km
 95.0 0839  D  hr-info, Rimberg (hes) ID and Ukraine news. Testing pre-amp  678km
 87.9 0841  D  MDR Figaro, Inselsberg (thü) Classical. Weak on NPO fade. Testing pre-amp 
               739km
103.4 0843  D  Radio ffn, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) Almost noise free. Pops, as web.
               Testing pre-amp  525km
103.0 0846  D  BFBS Radio, Bielefeld/Hünenburg (nrw) Pops, as web. Noise free. Testing
               pre-amp  564km
101.9 0848  D  WDR 5, Aachen/Stolberg (nrw) Mixing Peterborough and Goes. Testing pre-amp  483km
102.7 0852  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Nordhelle (nrw) Clobbering Peterborough. Testing pre-amp 
               553km
103.5 0853  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Torfhaus/DTAG (nds) YL on phone, as web. Testing pre-amp 
               707km
107.0 0855  D  WDR Eins Live, Olsberg (nrw) Ads, as 107.9. Noise free on A/S peak. Testing
               pre-amp  592km
105.3 0857  D  B5 aktuell, Kreuzberg (Rhön) (bay) YL, as web. Testing pre-amp  732km
105.3 0858  D  NDR Info, Schwerin (mev) German OM, as web, mixing Kreuzberg. Testing pre-amp 
               739km
 90.4 0904 HOL SubLime FM, Hoorn/Electronweg (nho) Chic song, as 90.7. Testing pre-amp  325km
 89.5 0917 HOL 100% NL, Alkmaar or Utrecht. Probably the latter.  Country song, as web. Testing
               pre-amp
 99.0 0925  D  hr1, Hoher Meißner (hes) Very fluttery but almost noise free on peak. UB40, as
               web. Testing pre-amp  684km
100.2 0928 HOL BNR Nieuwsradio, Lochem/Streek Beton (gel) Dutch OMs talk, as web. Testing
               pre-amp  426km **
102.8 0931  D  Deutschlandfunk (DLF), Wesel-Büderich (nrw) OM, as 102.0. Testing pre-amp  456km
104.0 0936  D  big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz), Koblenz/Kühkopf (rlp) Decent, clear signal. Pops,
               as web. Testing pre-amp  590km
 92.1 1033  D  NDR 2, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) Virtually noise free. Pops, as web. Testing
               pre-amp  707km
 98.0 1034  D  NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Torfhaus (Harz-West) (nds) Buddy Holly song, as web.
               Dominating Lille. Testing pre-amp  707km
 97.4 1036  D  Deutschlandradio Kultur, Brocken (san) Almost noise free. YL, as web. Testing
               pre-amp  712km
101.7 1039  D  WDR 4, Kleve/Bresserberg (nrw) German song with bagpipes and ID. Testing
               pre-amp  420km
102.6 1040  D  NDR 2, Stadthagen/Bückeberge (nds) Pops, as web. Peaking above Tournai. Testing
               pre-amp  606km


** Personal Skegness 'First'

I plumbed in my Fringe Electronics 22dB pre-amp today, remembering how good this used to be at the old QTH. Back then, it was installed at the mast head, but today I only connected it by the receiver, just to see if it made any difference. The Fringe Electronics pre-amps are known for their good signal-to-noise figures.

I suspect it DID make a difference as I heard more continental DX than I have heard here to date. It enabled me to hear NDR Info from Schwerin on 105.3 for the first time on scatter anyway, so that seemed very promising.

The one thing I didn't like with the pre-amp inline was the increase in general FM mush, which you are bound to get, but when signals peaked they really did seem to be relatively noise free compared with the reception I am used to. I just prefer to listen to an FM band without any horrible mush. I will have a play with this again at some point, but probably not in a hurry, and connect it in such a way that I can make quicker 'before and after' comparisons. Instant comparisons are necessary with constantly fading scatter.

Good DX!

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

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

Aerial:
Körner 9.2 at 5.5 metres AGL. Yaesu G-5500 elevation/azimuth rotator.

No comments:

Post a Comment