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Atmospherics (merged) (Part 3)


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Old 05-06-2012, 00:48
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Sporadic E:
87.7 1931 POR RDP Antena 1, Serra do Mendro (bej) 8201 1770 km
88.1 1936 POR Rádio Comercial, Monchique/Fóia (agv) ID in commercial 1890 km
91.1 1938 POR RDP Antena 2, Serra do Mendro (bej) Jazz, as web stream 1770 km
87.6 1948 POR RDS, Seixal (set) Portuguese song, as web stream 1769 km

OK, I had some DX, but it was disappointing again. Signals were really weak and only Antena 1 on 87.7 produced a PI code. Everything else was too weak for RDS and had to be IDd through web stream parallels.

Good DX!

John
Skegness, Lincolnshire (JO03dd) 1m ASL
This thread is a continuation of: Atmospherics (merged) (Part 2)
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Old 06-06-2012, 12:49
radioredcat
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I am currently watching the paint dry that John mentioned the other day as there's a SPE drought at the moment.

It's a very poor start to the season this year and after this moan I am hoping something will come eventually.

Andy
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Old 06-06-2012, 15:47
radioredcat
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As I was bored with no dx I decided to make a creation a bit like john skywaves excellent creation with just dipoles using the one that I made up last week.

http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/100_0906.jpg

I used one of the sat shotgun cables I have running in here and they are both working ok and just got done before the heavy rain comes and I can hear lightning flashes on a noisy stafford fm (rsl).

Andy
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Old 06-06-2012, 23:19
Skywaves
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I was just about to make the same post, bemoaning the now seemingly defunct Es conditions. :yawn:

The season got off to a very early start on band 2, with frequent openings. Suddenly, it seems to have stopped!

I think the recent higher levels of solar activity have played a part in the disappearance of E skip.

Anther observation - nothing has been mega-strong via the Es so far this season. I am really beginning to wonder if we are in for a poor season.

It's still early days yet so there's time for it to pick up. Just because June may be poor doesn't mean to say July will be.

Time will tell.

John
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Old 07-06-2012, 00:05
FmBandScan
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Still nothing apart from last week either, that was the first opening for me. What date does the E season finish?
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Old 07-06-2012, 00:17
Skywaves
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The E season is usually stated as running from May to August.

June and July are the peak months with June tending to be the better of the two. The peak of the season is usually during the end of June/beginning of July.

Some years we may be lucky and have band 2 activity in April. It's brief though if it happens. Same goes for September.

There is usually a secondary, weaker Es peak around late December/early January. This usually only affects frequencies up to 50 MHz and is short-lived - perhaps only a few days.
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Old 07-06-2012, 11:01
Skywaves
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Quite a few 6m Es being reported on Sherlock at the moment. Some band 2 activity from eastern Europe in France now too.

Hopefully I won't tempt fate by posting this but I wonder if it's going to land on our shores? It's definitely getting close.

Good DX!

John
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Old 07-06-2012, 11:47
radioredcat
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I was just about to make the same post, bemoaning the now seemingly defunct Es conditions. :yawn:

The season got off to a very early start on band 2, with frequent openings. Suddenly, it seems to have stopped!

I think the recent higher levels of solar activity have played a part in the disappearance of E skip.

Anther observation - nothing has been mega-strong via the Es so far this season. I am really beginning to wonder if we are in for a poor season.

It's still early days yet so there's time for it to pick up. Just because June may be poor doesn't mean to say July will be.

Time will tell.

John
I agree John it was the same back in the 80's with DX-TV some years were poor as I was doing shift work then that's why I managed to do so much dxing then.

Of course with band 1 TV you receive more than band 2 because of the higher frequencies anyway we will have to wait for some dx.

Andy
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Old 07-06-2012, 11:54
Skywaves
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Well, the Es have graced the south coast yet again with another opening to Italy, albeit a small one, just like yesterday.

This pattern keeps repeating. It was the same last year. It's as if a particular point along the south coast is more prone to E skip than anywhere else in the UK and that just doesn't make sense if the Es are truly random.

I don't begrudge other people getting good DX, but it's very frustrating when it misses everybody else so frequently.

John
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Old 07-06-2012, 12:51
radioredcat
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I can see that on dx-sherlock italy to south uk.

Andy
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Old 07-06-2012, 18:09
Nick_G
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Had a couple of North Africans fade up in the car on the way home on 87.6 and 87.7 but only briefly. Left the Kenwood sat on 87.7 whilst eating tea and Algeria came up twice, total time about 5 or 6 minutes. Good solid signal when it peaked though.

I don't hold out much hope for the season this year to be honest; it's all very patchy and there seems to be a distinct lack of strong and sustained openings like in previous years.
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Old 07-06-2012, 20:27
radioredcat
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Well the SPE season so far is as good as the weather it's appalling and it's bucketing down here and the wind is increasing flaming june some chance.

Andy
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Old 07-06-2012, 23:14
Skywaves
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Really surprised to hear Portugal fade in and out very briefly on 87.9 a few minutes ago. Just one instance of it, quite weak and lasting only 15 - 20 seconds. I had what I can only presume was Algeria on 87.8 just before 6pm local but I couldn't find a web parallel to confirm it.

Oh well, it was something.

Good DX!

John
Skegness, Lincolnshire
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Old 07-06-2012, 23:18
Skywaves
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I was wondering about delving into band 1 TV DXing again. It's more for carrier detection than anything else as I would only be able to use a loft aerial and so gain would probably not be great.

I could do with some dimensions to build a wideband beam, three or four elements would be good and I should be able to use a rotator.

Frequency range I am looking for is 45-80 MHz. I would use my three element 6m beam but the bandwidth is VERY narrow - something like 49.5-52 MHz.

Thanks if anybody can help.

John
Skegness, Lincolnshire
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Old 07-06-2012, 23:25
Skywaves
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Hey - I am replying to my own question! I just found this:

http://home.iprimus.com.au/toddemsli...X_aerials.html

There's a three element wideband Jaybeam design about half way down the page.

The five element looks tempting too!
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Old 08-06-2012, 07:49
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Hey - I am replying to my own question! I just found this:

http://home.iprimus.com.au/toddemsli...X_aerials.html

There's a three element wideband Jaybeam design about half way down the page.

The five element looks tempting too!
lol should have done the Google search before making the post.
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Old 08-06-2012, 11:24
Skywaves
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Since the Es are quiet at the moment I thought I would do some comparisons between this year's E season and last year's, doing a basic count of my own loggings.

From 01-05-12 to 08-06-12: 243 loggings from 18 countries.

From 01-05-11 to 08-06-11: 490 loggings from 24 countries.

So I am lagging behind this season by 247 loggings and 6 countries.

I had beaten this year's totals by 26-05-11 last season with 339/24. By the end of May last year I had received 403/24.

*** Interestingly, there was a comparatively quiet period around this time last year. This puts things into perspective for me. It seems that, if conditions are down this season, they're probably not down by much. If the season does its thing I guess all hell will be let loose over the next week.

OK, it's just 'stats' and the Es are always unpredictable, but it passed the time while the Es are taking a break.

Good DX!

John
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Old 08-06-2012, 12:47
DDaveBB
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I was wondering about delving into band 1 TV DXing again. It's more for carrier detection than anything else as I would only be able to use a loft aerial and so gain would probably not be great.

I could do with some dimensions to build a wideband beam, three or four elements would be good and I should be able to use a rotator.

Frequency range I am looking for is 45-80 MHz. I would use my three element 6m beam but the bandwidth is VERY narrow - something like 49.5-52 MHz.

Thanks if anybody can help.

John
Skegness, Lincolnshire
I don't think you will be able to get a yagi type array to give you a bandwidth of 45-80 MHz. From the link you posted I ran the '3-ele Jaybeam' aerial through the 4NEC2 modelling program - matching is poor over the bandwidth. You need to add a parasitic element in front of the dipole as per the wideband dipole shown in the first figure. Use it to replace the dipole in the 3 element Jaybeam shown in the next figure.

That will give you steadily rising gain from 45-65 MHz with a f/b ratio of around 10dB. The 3:1 SWR is 49-64 - so the bandwidth just fits Band I (remember it's a computer model and no guarantees I've got it right). The 4ele design didn't give anything more in terms of gain/bandwidth from the model I ran

Then again you could try a Moxon with a director - made with 0.5 inch elements - it gives a similar bandwidth - but occupies a lot less space. The longest element is under 90 inches compared to 147 inches for the yagi, and a boom length of 48 inches compared to 74 inches for the yagi. F/B is very good around 48-50 MHz and around 8 dB over the range 52-64 dB (I've not run any optimisation of the dimensions produced by the Moxgen.exe program to get the initial dimensions).

Note: from my original reading of Mr Moxon's handbook (20 or more years ago) the Moxon is less affected by nearby metal objects - so is also a plus point.

Hope the above helps - and btw - I've just got 2 FM5's delivered!

Last edited by DDaveBB : 08-06-2012 at 12:52. Reason: add note
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Old 08-06-2012, 12:56
Skywaves
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Thanks for the info Dave.

It's all going to be a compromise with wideband yagis, but at least it gives me a window on the bandwidth I require.

I will try your suggestion.

John
Skegness, Lincolnshire
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Old 08-06-2012, 13:19
Hybrid tellies
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I was wondering about delving into band 1 TV DXing again. It's more for carrier detection than anything else as I would only be able to use a loft aerial and so gain would probably not be great.

John
Skegness, Lincolnshire
As a band 1 dxer myself I would be cautious about putting to much effort into band 1 tv dx. Most of Europe has switched over to UHF digital tv with the few countries left about to make the switch. There is quite a bit to be seen from east Europe, Ukrain, Belarus, and Russia, but even these countries are talking about switching off there analogue tv networks in the near future. I have seen Syria and Jordan from the Middle East and reports of various African stations being seen but these openings are less frequent but still a joy to see especially as I only use a loft aerial. I'me not trying to put anyone off, but just poInting out that dx on band 1 is getting more challenging.
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Old 08-06-2012, 13:23
Skywaves
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That's fair enough. I just thought I would use it to monitor carriers more than anything else. I would also use it for band 2 Es predictions on the 6m band.

Cheers

John
Skegness, Lincolnshire


As a band 1 dxer myself I would be cautious about putting to much effort into band 1 tv dx. Most of Europe has switched over to UHF digital tv with the few countries left about to make the switch. There is quite a bit to be seen from east Europe, Ukrain, Belarus, and Russia, but even these countries are talking about switching off there analogue tv networks in the near future. I have seen Syria and Jordan from the Middle East and reports of various African stations being seen but these openings are less frequent but still a joy to see especially as I only use a loft aerial. I'me not trying to put anyone off, but just ponting out that dx on band 1 is getting more challenging.
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Old 08-06-2012, 14:21
Skywaves
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I don't think you will be able to get a yagi type array to give you a bandwidth of 45-80 MHz.
Just had some thoughts Dave and wondered how the following would look on a computer model ...

I know you can connect dipoles of different lengths to the same feed point. HF hams do this. But let's say I have three or four dipoles cut for individual channels A3, A4 & A5, all connected to the same feedpoint. Would a computer model look favourable? The elements would travel out in a spider leg type configuration.

As I say, this type of multi-band dipole is common on HF but the dipoles are cut for bands which are many MHz apart so there is relatively little interaction. I suspect that my idea of a dipole cut to channels which are closer together would result in the outermost dipoles acting as a director and a reflector. I just thought that single cut dipoles might produce better results.

To complicate things further, let's say I also add another wire cut for 50.15 MHz (and a simple balun (ferrite ring/four turns of RG58 at the feedpoint) so I might be able to work 6m DX. How would this look now?

Perhaps I should just stick to receive and forget the 6m option.

Thanks

John
Skegness, Lincolnshire
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Old 08-06-2012, 14:56
Nick_G
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Some Portuguese Es on the car radio on the way home about 40 minutes ago:

87.6 Portuguese MOR music - RDS presumed
87.9 Portuguese talk - Antena 1
88.0 a station IDing as 'Mega Hits'
88.7 Antena 2 with RDS
94.4 Antena 2 with RDS

All gone by the time I got home.
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Old 08-06-2012, 15:40
radioredcat
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I have just been out and on my return Antenna 1 on 87.7 on both my tuners so I will look at the video recordings also just had a french sounding station on 87.6.

Edit: The french sounding station (Algeria) keeps comiing and going at the moment.

Andy
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Old 08-06-2012, 15:55
Skywaves
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88.1 Radio Batna, Metlili (Algeria) presumed here, overriding North Hessary Bore.

John
Skegness, Lincolnshire
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