Even radio 1 97.7 Manningtree has faded into just noise or has lost its link and got another station right over it.

Tons of Dutch stations in the car this morning. A couple of new ones:

104.800 Roermond/Alticom Toren lim nl NPO Radio 1 Cur s 100.00

Something on 97.9, not sure which station out of these two:
97.900 Rhenen/Nieuwe Veenendaalseweg utr nl Radio M Utrecht s 3.300
97.900 Tjerkgaast/Alticom Toren fri nl Radio Continu s 2.500

Also new was BBC Surrey on 104.0.

I was also receiving some London stations and my usual stations from Egem. On the way home, Egem was RDSing.

Lastly, just as I was about to get out of the car this morning I heard a weak Antenne Niedersachsen on 105.7.

There were quite a lot of German signals on the band when I got home at 5.20 pm including Grünten on 106.9 and Hornisgrinde on 98.4. However since then conditions have been going downhill with most of the German DX gone. I also heard a weak France Inter on 87.9 earlier on briefly from Toulouse/Pic du Midi.

I have found that sometimes the noise floor is noticeably higher beaming east (like tonight), and the quietest direction in general is south. South is where my 'local' BBC national relay at Rowridge is as well so I have been tending to beam that way since the aerial overhaul.

Tropo down to SW France has developed this evening with e.g.

87.9 France Inter Toulouse/Pic du Midi (has been squashed by France Culture Parthenay more recently)
91.1 France Musique Niort
92.7 France Musique Bayonne/La Rhune
96.4 France Culture Niort good signal up to 2 bars with easy stereo
99.4 France Inter Niort good signal up to 2 bars with easy stereo
100.5 France Bleu Gascogne Bayonne/La Rhune
103.9 Sud Radio Bayonne/La Rhune only weak so far

Nothing from Spain as yet.

And now France Inter Bordeaux on 89.7 with just 6 kW, weak but clearly in parallel with other outlets.

Add Lyon Mont Pilat (99.8) and Clermont-Ferrand (90.4) to the list...

Bordeaux was almost fully-quieting mono for a while on 89.7.

Interesting txes heard in the last 110 minutes:

Clermont-Ferrand
Lyon Mont Pilat
Guéret
Ussel-Meymac

and the highlight so far: a weak France Culture on 90.5 which was peaking SSE, which I think must be the Souillac/les Bruges Pipiou tx with 200 watts at 737 km.

Conditions have swung round this morning towards NE France, Belgium and Luxembourg e.g.

Lille (up to 4 bars on the Denon)
Dudelange (up to 3 bars)
Léglise
Anderlues
Tournai
Hirson
Reims
Troyes

plus a weak Hornsigrinde heard earlier on on 98.4. Usual cross-channel signals are also up.

Down here in West Cornwall thick hill fog and FM lift conditions still persist with stations from SW and W Wales clashing with French stations.

87.6 RMC Le Havre/Harfleur 220 km weak
87.9 France Inter Toulouse/Pic du Midi 929 km
87.9 France Culture Parthenay/les Chateliers 502 km
88.2 France Culture Ussel-Meymac/Mont Bessou 679 km
88.6 France Culture Vannes/Moustoir'Ac 395 km
88.8 France Culture Lyon/Mont Pilat 784 km up to 2 bars
88.9 Skyrock Bretagne Rennes/Cesson-Sévigné ZI 348 km weak
89.7 France Inter Bordeaux/Bouliac 715 km
89.7 France Musique Chartres/Montlandon 357 km
89.8 France Culture Argenton-sur-Creuse/Malicornay 561 km
90.4 France Inter Clermont-Ferrand/Puy-de-Dôme 684 km
90.5 France Culture Souillac/les Bruges Pipiou 737 km 200 watts!
91.1 France Musique Niort/Maisonnay 568 km up to 3 bars
91.4 France Culture Angers/Rochefort-sur-Loire 436 km, some splatter from Caen
91.8 France Musique Bourges/Neuvy 524 km
92.2 France Musique Tours/Chissay [41] 465 km
92.4 France Musique Lyon/Mont Pilat 784 km up to 2 bars
92.7 France Musique Bayonne/la Rhune 881 km
93.2 France Inter Angers/Rochefort-sur-Loire 436 km
93.8 France Inter Parthenay/les Chateliers 502 km
94.2 France Culture Nantes/Haute-Goulaine 450 km
94.3 France Bleu Creuse Guéret/Signal du Maupuy 610 km
94.4 unid rock/pop in French
94.6 France Inter Chartres/Montlandon 357 km
94.9 France Inter Bourges/Neuvy 524 km
96.4 France Culture Niort/Maisonnay 568 km up to 3 bars
97.2 France Musique Argenton-sur-Creuse/Malicornay 561 km
98.1 France Culture Chartres/Montlandon 357 km
98.5 France Musique Parthenay/les Chateliers 502 km
98.9 France Musique Nantes/Haute-Goulaine 450 km
99.4 France Inter Niort/Maisonnay 568 km up to 3 bars
99.7 France Musique Ussel-Meymac/Mont Bessou 679 km
99.8 France Inter Lyon/Mont Pilat 784 km up to 2 bars
99.9 France Inter Tours/Chissay [41] 465 km
100.5 France Bleu Gascogne Bayonne/la Rhune 881 km
100.7 France Inter Guéret/Signal du Maupuy 610 km
101.6 NRJ Flers Flers/la Chapelle-Biche 284 km
101.8 France Bleu Loire Océan Nantes/Haute-Goulaine 450 km
101.9 France Inter Argenton-sur-Creuse/Malicornay 561 km
103.4 France Info Lyon/Mont Pilat 784 km up to 2 bars
103.8 Europe 1 Saint-Brieuc/Plérin Towercast 316 km
103.9 Sud Radio Bayonne/la Rhune 881 km
104.5 unid dance music
105.0 France Bleu Touraine Tours/Chissay [41] 465 km
105.5 France Info multiple sites
106.3 unid with Pink Floyd track

A very nice lift into SW and central France developed on the evening of the 29th October as a warm front moved north of here introducing warm humid air from the S/SW. Conditions seemed a little elevated when I got back from work with varying and fluttery signals from the likes of Niort as well as background levels on the nearer cross-Channel signals being above normal. However, it was just before 8 pm that I noticed that Toulouse on 87.9 was starting to push through the weak fluttery signal from Parthenay, which gradually stabilised and reached fai mono levels. Shortly after this I noticed France Bleu Gascogne on 100.5 from Bayonne, also weak. I tried the usual suspect frequencies for Spain but nothing was heard, although 88.9 did yield a weak French phone-in which turned out to be Skyrock from St. Brieuc.

Signals from Niort and Bayonne steadily increased in strength (87.9 was to be occupied by Parthenay for most of the remaining period) and were later joined by other signals from more inland/central parts such as Tours, Bordeaux (89.7 which was in for quite a while), Ussel-Meymac, Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand, Argenton-sur-Creuse and Chartres. I thought Bordeaux was going to be the highlight but then at around midnight I found a weak France Culture on 90.5. Looking it up on myFM the only transmitter that fit the conditions was Souillac at 737 km and listed with just 200 watts! It got taken out by R3 shortly afterwards but it came back a little later and was almost fully-quieting at 12.30 am. So some very good conditions indeed, and better than I was expecting.

The above log doesn't include txes that are available on demand/frequently such as Caen, Rennes, Les Platons, Laval, Alençon, Le Mans, Brest, Rouen etc.

Maybe we will get some more decent conditions over the next 24 hours before the weather deteriorates over the weekend. We can but hope.

Just crap loads of French stuff all over the band here.
Every dial got a station on even on my little Tescun just in the garden here.

Egem is blasting in tonight. I'm also getting quite a few French and Dutch.

A couple of new ones for me:
90.70 BEL VRT Radio 2 Brussegem
92.30 BEL RTBF Vivacité Anderlues/Mont-Sainte-Geneviève

Usual French stuff been receivable. Mainly UK stations which have been noticeable here especially earlier on, at one point both Wave 105 & Planet Rock were coming through on 105.2. A lot of UK nationals with RDS and a few locals, nothing too exciting. Kiss FM on 106.4 from Mendlesham does seem to be coming through occasionally.

Update on last log posted: it appears that the France Culture transmitter I received on 90.5 was more likely to have been Chambéry/Mont du Chat with 8 kW at 813 km, not Souillac. Lyon/Mont Pilat was coming through well at the time and Chambéry is SE of Lyon and not too far away it transpires, so it seems the most likely candidate.

Yesterday Dutch repeaters all over 2m and 70cm. Sadly it's completely flat here now.

Slight cross-Channel lift here with Caen up to 2 bars. Cherbourg and Rennes were enhanced earlier.

I've just moved to the North East side of Worcester, and it seems a pretty interesting place for radio reception; especially for me coming from Mid Staffordshire and living in Bristol/Bath for a fair amount of time.

I have a DAB dipole in the loft and can get the Wolverhampton & Shropshire, Birmingham, Hereford & Worcester, Gloucestershire and (surprisingly, just about) South East Wales multiplexes.

Also did an FM bandscan in my car this morning and found Heart Bristol on 96.3 just behind the Free Radio 96.4 splatter. BBC Radio Stoke fairly strong on 94.6 (we seem fairly well screened from Ridge Hill), and Signal 1 just behind Free Coventry on 96.9 and just behind the Bridge on 102.6.

Makes me think that with a directional DAB antenna I'd possibly get Stoke & Stafford DAB if I could get a null towards Coventry.

Sounds good Adam. Is there any chance of getting a decent FM or DAB aerial on the roof there? What's the best direction for take-off?

There has been a lift here over Wednesday evening through to most of Friday despite the latter day being wet and miserable but it was just the nearer cross-Channel French txes and SE England that was enhanced.

Belgium coming through quite well here now.

Hi Nick,

Unfortunately its a mid-terrace with no chimney so there's nowhere out of the way to put one and have a good view in all directions (it could either face north or south). We've already had to have a fairly large UHF aerial put on the front as even though radio reception is good, Freeview is quite weak here (Sutton Coldfield is best choice but LOS is broken by the Lickey Hills). I might try a multi element FM/DAB aerial in the loft though

This morning in my car at work in Droitwich I was getting BBC Devon from North Hessary Tor battling it out with Capital Wrexham & Chester on 103.4, and winning a lot of the time!

Well, as S/SW seems to be a good direction judging from your report of BBC Devon in Droitwich you could have the aerial beaming south so areas like SW England, Cotentin, Brittany and even the north coast of Spain could be accessible when tropo conditions are up. Since overhauling my aerial system I have tended to park the beam south as the noise floor is lowest in this direction and it's also pointing at the 'local' BBC tx at Rowridge. It definitely works well for France as the cross-Channel txes are in daily. On some days it's been a bit of a struggle, on other days I can get the likes of Caen with a decent signal.

The maps look reasonable for the next few days and if anything interesting comes in I will of course report it on here.

That's a good idea. I might take a look in the new year when the weather starts to get a bit better at least.

We definitely seem to have good take off to the South West round here, even though our house is on the North side of the high ground to the East of Worcester. BBC Gloucestershire on 104.7 is obliterated by BBC H&W 104.6 from Kidderminster, yet Gloucestershire DAB from Churchdown Hill is just as strong as Hereford & Worcester!

It's a pity about Wolverhampton & Shrewsbury DAB being co-channel with Bristol; I do lose that DAB signal sometimes though which I guess is possibly Bristol and Bath's doing!

Sat in the car park at Lyppard Grange Tesco earlier (a bit further South on the South side of the high ground), Mendip Kiss 101 had RDS, and 102.6 was Heart Somerset rather than Signal 1! 95.5 BBC Somerset also just about there under BBC WM and BBC Bristol could be made out pretty well on 94.9. Complete opposite of BBC Gloucestershire 104.7 obliterating H&W on 104.6 there too. BBC Leicester on 104.9 is also surprisingly an easy catch with RDS, just like in Staffordshire though I suppose. Copt Oak seems to get out well in pretty much every direction.

Hi Adam,

You're quite right there. I receive BBC Leicester on 104.9 here in Lincoln, with easy RDS, at all times.

Also, at my location, we don't need to rely on reception of national BBC or Classic FM from our local transmitter at Belmont. The BBC nationals and Classic FM are all received in perfect stereo with full RDS from Holme Moss (70 miles away)! Although, I have known Classic FM (101.1) from Holme Moss to be totally obliterated by Sporadic E from Croatia (or it may have been Slovakia or Slovenia), in the summer of 2013

As for DAB/DAB+, I have received a German MUX on 5C and a Danish MUX on 8B.
My Roberts Stream 83i has also received a Dutch MUX at some point, because it's stored loads of Dutch stations (including 538 and Q music). This happened at a time I was unaware any Dutch MUX was being received. The radio must have "found" the MUX and stored stations, without me doing a MUX scan!
All the above has been received at my home location, here in Lincoln,

When the weather improves, I'd like to take the Roberts and a suitable Band III antenna to the East Coast, to see if any continental MUXs are receivable during "flat" conditions.

There is a place (click link)
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.34...oQyw!2e0?hl=en
not too far from here, where FM radio reception from The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany is possible even during "flat" conditions. It'll be interesting to see if any DAB/DAB+ MUXs can be received from Europe, at that location.

Cheers,

Chris.

I think BBC Leicester is the strongest FM local station as it gets out all the way from Worcestershire all the way to the Humber bridge.

Belgian and Dutch stations coming through this morning and last night.