Thanks. An amazing lift, one that I will always remember.

I think that engineers still have some clout over in Germany, at least a bit more than at the BBC!

I have this week got back in the game of FM DX at my new place on the Isle of Wight. I now have an Antiference 5 element aerial on a 16ft pole which clears the roof by a few feet as it could only be bracketed on the back wall.

I wanted a Triax but have reason to believe these are now hard to source in the UK and are discontinued.

I'd be interested in comparing notes with Nick G as my aerial is pointing East like yours.

I can hear BBC Sussex on 95.3 from Brighton, weak but audible, plus Capital 95.8, BBC London 94.9, LBC 97.3, Kiss 100 and Smooth 102.2 all weak but through the noise floor and occasionally fluttering up to a clear level.

Furthest signal so far is France Inter on 103.7 from Lille, which is there at same weak strength as the London stations. Pity I didn't get this sorted last month as I missed some good lift, but just now it's flat

I live in Newport on the Island and would be keen to see if Nick can hear what I'm getting and also the pros and cons of the Triax v's Antiference model?

Thanks

Long time no hear You do seem to move around a bit!

Pity you don't live in Ventnor. That is apparently one of the best places in the UK for French DX, particularly as it is shielded from the main tx sites such as Rowridge & Chillerton Down.

I would guess it would be similar to your reception in Bournemoth, but possibly with a better take-off to the NE as the north of the island is flat and you don't get too many hills on the mainland until you hit the North Downs. I think the South Downs are far enough to the east to not cause too much of an obstacle towards London/East Anglia.

I'm not sure about the differences between the Antiference and the Triax as I have only ever used the FM5. I would like to upgrade it one of these days to a model with more gain together with a rotator.

Conditions have been rubbish the last few days with Lille really struggling on some evenings. Can you hear anything from Contact on 93.7?

Hi Powerplay I don't think there will be any difference between the Antiference and the Triax they are both good aerials in my opinion.
I use a Antiference FM 3 on a rotator I also made a replica of the FM 3 but with .5 " tubing as I had loads of it and that works very good,It's mounted just above gutter height to reduce the local stations.

I wanted to make an Antiference FM 5 but could not find the dimensions for it on the net so I made the FM 3 instead.
Here in the Nortwest England the band is crowded but I have had good results.

Anyway good luck I am sure you will have some good DX there with the Antiference.

Here is a picture of the FM 3 on the rotator along with UHF logs.
http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps8dca4156.jpg

And the homebrew FM 3.
http://i593.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps264cd736.jpg

Andy

Hi Andy & Nick Yes it's good to be back here and Bournemouth seems like so long ago! 93.7 I get a community station from Portsmouth Express FM, so no Contact But signals from Brighton up slightly as getting Heart 103.5 (joy) lol!

Looking forward to comparing notes next high pressure! Oh and looking East from here about 3 miles way there are some hills which may be a disadvantage to the continent. Ventnor is a good location for France but rubbish to live, nothing there!

Here is a scan I did in Rye last month

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeLP3pr0fFA

I got BBC Essex on both 103.5 and 95.3 also got the one I done at Beachy Head to upload.

Picked up lots and France coming in strong. Shame you didn't get idents for 105.1, 100.7 and 96.5?

Here is Beachy Head scan 1

http://youtu.be/_QDCqJ9K4BY

Other good spots for FM DX include the pub car park on the top of the Devil's Dyke (north of Brighton) and the top
of Ditchling Beacon(north east of Brighton).

Number 2 walking back to the car shame we did not get more time up there was only up there for about an hour.

http://youtu.be/XmXwe6E-Yz0

Shame no cliff like this in Essex

Sold deleted.
Last edited by ACL777 : 20-10-2013 at 10:50

Why are you selling off your DX equipment? Are you just going to rely on a dongle from now on?

I would have thought that an XDR-F1HD would have better overall performance than a cheap dongle.

The dongle was a let down. Sensitivity was ok but it suffered from a big frequency drift. I'm selling off all my stuff as I'm giving up DX. It was not an easy decision but for personal reasons its best that I do. The F1 has sold, its a receiver in beautiful condition and as you say an outstanding performer. I'm just selling off my Fairhaven RD500 scanner on eBay now and my equipment will be gone. I guess at this point I should thank you and everyone else on Digital Spy who have taken the time over the last 2 years to answer my questions and give sound advice in regards to all areas of dxing, it has been much appreciated. Cheers!

Oh that's bad news and I have been there definitely not an easy decision but I got back into it and glad I did so hopefully you will be back.

Anyway good luck for the future.

Andy

Thanks Andy. At least what I've learnt from all of you will stay with me if I ever do return to it in the future.

Sorry to hear that. Best of luck with the future and as Andy says it would be nice to see you on here again.

Thanks.

Sorry to hear that you are leaving us. But all the best for the future.

Hi ACL777, don't think we have interacted much as I've not been about on here for a while now, but just to wish you luck and sorry you are giving up the hobby.

I'm guessing no DX conditions now anyway till next summer.

Well there's time yet for another tropo opening this year (I hope lol) we had a good opening last November of course SPE we will have to wait until next year.

I have uploaded recordings from the last tropo opening on 27-28/09/13.
https://app.box.com/s/ipc0omah26bhcapol4ak

https://app.box.com/s/emmkk8x5lmakn1lj4z0q

Andy

Wave 105.2 coming in loud and clear in Brighton(it is
a station for East Dorset). France Musique audible on 95.6,for most of today 211013. Capital 95.8 received, it is usually shielded by the South Downs in most of Brighton.

Going to be really windy Sunday into Monday they say.
If you have a really high aerial you may want to make sure its secure.

I'm more concerned about the satellite dish- I've been studying the trajectory between the dish mount and where the car is parked, taking into account wind direction.

If the forecasts are correct I think I'll be right in the firing line here for the high winds.

Fingers crossed...

Tuning to AM I was surprised to hear Pulse Radio 1530khz
with its slogan ACROSS WEST YORKSHIRE here in Brighton tonight. I think VOA in French for Africa was in the background.

Today I have been receiving Cheltenham Radio from Cheltenham racecourse on and off along with Heart Wiltshire 102.2/Wave 105 105.2.

So hopefully this is the start of a decent tropo opening.

Chelenham Radio.
https://app.box.com/s/eiihmed66g5r099m9dio

Andy