Luxembourg 100.7 fair mono at present. I think it's starting...

Is anyone else noticing a distinct lack of tropo considering what the Hepburn maps are showing? The last 24 hours have seen not a lot happening apart from a slight lift towards Luxembourg. I'm guessing that since this is the first post on this thread since around 10pm last night suggests it's not just me who's lacking in the sausage department.

I've been monitoring the band all day and there has been nothing. There was also absolutely nothing yesterday as well.We wait months for Hepburn to show anything positive and when it does nothing materialises. I expect the next thing is Hepburn will downgrade for the weekend. I'm seriously thinking of giving up fm and tv Dx in favour of HF and even MW Dx.

Yep, that's exactly what I was thinking. We'll find out very shortly...

Don't give up on VHF DXing though. Any time between September and December has the potential for big tropo openings.

What are the Hepburn charts?

These ones:

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo_nwe.html

The update has weakened the colours to the east for tonight but the suggestion is still for good tropo over the weekend.

I hope we do get a real 'blockbuster' opening on FM before 2012 is out.

My dipoles are working as last night Ireland came up and I was receiving an a signal on 87.6 with an Irish accent and fmlist says UCB Ireland/Wicklow on this frequency.

Then today I received UCB as they announced it so that's brilliant as I have not received that before and it keeps coming and going.

It's quite amusing watching the RDS alternating between Classic fm/Wrotham and Today fm/Kippure on 100.9.

Andy

Will you always get this under your new setup or is it partly down to these great tropo openings we have been having recently .I guess you probably get Ireland under flat the same as I get the Dutch. I've also been monitoring band 3 on chs 6 and 10 for RTE tv but absolutely nothing.

Thanks Nick. Hadnt seen those or heard of them before, but guess they must be based on forecast atmospheric soundings.

Quite a number of French stations coming through especially in amongst the various R1 TXs around 99Mhz area, which I can pull out with he 80Khz filter setting on my SDR setup, suspect they are all in the Normandy area just across the water.

Tempo on 101.2 is loud from Brest at a range of 275km, so some enhancement over relatively short ranges is there.
Need to do some homework and try to match up online streams with transmitter freqs so that I can identify the stations I can hear!!

Just got back in after going to the local pub and found BR Klassik on 107.9! It's presently 2 bars with stereo. I think the lift is starting...

It really is happening in the SouthEast corner. I have Bayern 2 on 89.5 with full RDS (recording it on RDSSpy) which FMList identifies as Wendelstein at 906 km. Luxembourg on 88.9 and 100.7 also with full RDS the later with 0%BER.

Normally 89.5 would be VTR Klara - so I'm hoping to get 1000km +

Wendelstein is within a stone's throw of Austria.

Same here Dave. Bayern 2 Wendelstein on 93.7 weak but clear, which is 1040 km from here. Wasn't expecting this!

89.5 Bayern 2 from Wendelstein is 2 bars with stereo. Possibly Oxford underneath is adding to the signal but that is pretty impressive. If Hepburn is right and it continues to improve over the next 12-18 hours things could really start to get interesting.

Just tried 90.9 looking for ORF 1 from Salzburg (well you never know). No Salzburg but there is a very weak DRS 1 from Rigi, Switzerland.

Conditions haven't been very good here despite hepburns predictions. But then again as Chris (brumlad36) pointed out to me, I have the elements on my antenna the wrong way.

B5 Aktuell good mono on 106.9 from Grünten, Bayern (Bavaria). Must try for Switzerland on 105.6 shortly...

Can't believe it. I've just taken in my aerials. Well out they go again in hope it reaches norfolk. Nick are these horizontal that you are all getting? I'm guessing it's all Germany now.

...and 105.6 does indeed have a weak DRS 3 on it. It's not The Breeze, thankfully, as there was a whispered 'DRS' ID just as I tuned in.

I got the full suite of stations from Wendelstein over the last 90 minutes as I've scanned up the band. 89.5, 93.7, 98.5, 102.3 and 105.7 - all good quality sound and the pi code on RDS spy. And of course lots of other German stations.

And YES! - thank you Nick. Switzerland on 90.90 DSR1 - identified from the web stream at 22:40 and still there as I post this comment - not strong but easily identifiable. First reception of that country for me.

I think I shall go to be early and get up early - and hope the tropo is as good as the forecast.

David

Sittingbourne

French and germany reaching here now and the sony is working fine.

88.70 2131 D WDR 3, Sackpfeife (Wittgenstein) [hes] (nrw) 816 km

There's several Fench stations on RMC 87.6 and unid on 94.9 wiping out R lincolnshire.

Andy

I think I'll stay up late and get up early Luckily I finish work at 2pm on Fridays.

Hornsgrinde was up to 2 bars/stereo earlier on on 96.2 (SWR 2), 98.4 (SWR 3) and 100.4 (Radio Regenbogen), the latter being separated quite nicely from Rowridge 100.3 on the Kenwood tuner.

Austria has been heard on the Sussex coast on 102.1 from Bregenz. I will check 93.3 as that's a clear channel for me.

Yes! I think I have ORF Österreich 1 from Bregenz on 93.3! It's very weak but it definitely seems to be in parallel with the web stream...

EDIT: this is 100% confirmed - they were just playing some sort of oompah band/choral piece exactly as the webstream. First time ever receiving Austria via tropo.
Last edited by Nick_G : 06-09-2012 at 23:13

The French signal on 94.9 is France Inter F201 as provided by rdsspy.

Andy

Bloody hell Bregenz is lighting up 1 bar on the Kenwood's meter now on 93.3!

I guess I am missing all this because I'm on vertical? There's nothing coming in from outside the UK