February 11, 2015 is a day that will mark itself in history of FMDX. For the first time ever I have experienced a winter tropo with distances over 1000 km including Belgium, Netherlands and Norway. Furthermore, both Dutch and Norwegian signals were persistent at the same time! First signs of propagation appeared on February 10 evening. I heard a weak, but stable 89.3 hr3 from Frankfurt am Main, which is a relatively good beacon for tropo. This was the first distant DX over 800km and it lasted continuously during almost entire tropospheric ducting opening. Other locations from Germany were also audible – some frequent ones like Torfhaus, Kreuzberg, Brocken, but also rare Ederkopf (100.7 WDR4).
Well, there was much more going on the 2m band, including POL-IRL QSO on CW (1714km):
In the morning (11th Feb), tropo expanded its area to western Germany and brought several SWR locations including Donnersberg, Koblenz and Heidelberg. However this was not the most important part of the tropo. Around 7:25 UTC I heard a French programme on 99.5, so I took a quick look at the transmitters’ map, but I have not found any suitable station from France… but wait, here it is! – Belgium, my first reception ever from this country, with RTBF Musiq3 station from Liège/Bol dAir [1005km]. According to the FMLIST database, this location has a mixed antenna system for both horizontal and vertical polarisation, but I heard it only with Körner 19.3 – H. Each attempt to catch any other station from Belgium has failed. I tried both polarisations, but other frequencies were occupied or empty… Anyway, nice to hear at least one station from such rare country here in Poland via tropo! The following video presents three snippets of my reception, at 0725z, 0729z (peak, classical music) and 0753z when I heard it last time. I successfully compared the audio with webstream each time.
I was very upset, as the interferences from nearby high voltage lines were distorting the signal almost all the time, additionally causing the RDS data to decode at much higher threshold than usually. Due to the high noise floor I even haven’t connected a preamp between tuner and antenna this time. A sample showing this problem could be heard on a SWR1 recording from Donnersberg [890km]. At such signal level (23dBf), the sound should be virtually noise-free, but there is lot of an audible impulse noise.
Besides SWR stations I also heard Saarland, 88.0 SR1. The signal level was poor, only O=2, and no jingle or any ID – however I identified it with a webstream. I think one closer location from Germany is also worth mentioning. Chemnitz was strong all the day, with level up to 40dBf. It is not a record or anything, but I also heard it in car near Płock! Meanwhile Teutoburger Wald reached stereo & RDS level and maintained such quality until night.
In the afternoon, there was no sign of Belgium, but closer (700…800km) German locations have strengthened up and I got more RDS-level logs. Hoher Meißner peaked to 38dBf @ 101.7 hr4. However the lower frequency was, the lower signal I received. For example 90.6 WDR 5 was typically 10dB+ weaker than 1LIVE 105.5! Looks like this time ducting favored higher frequency bands more.
In the evening I decided to rotate Körner 19.3 at north-west. I heard weak Göteborg and strong Malmö… however I got stuck on 93.7. It wasn’t Poland or Sweden! After checking the webstream everything became clear. Norway! NRK P2 from Hovdefjell together with 87.8 NRK P1. I did a quick look at nearby transmitters map, Denmark on 100.7 in vertical seemed to be a likely one. However, instead of Radio24syv I heard something different… Q-music from Netherlands!! The modulation level was massive, so I set a wider filter (108kHz) in XDR-F1HD instead of adaptive bandwidth, for better intelligibility. Together with 100.7 I also received 96.8 3FM and much weaker 98.4 Radio1. I have never received this country before. We thought that Smilde would be the easiest location to receive in Poland. However, duct went more deeply into Netherlands with IJsselstein.
Tropo was slowly moving east and I also received Kongsberg and Skien a moment later. The ducting paths on DXMaps FM reminded me a Sporadic-E opening. Finland got Germany, and Poland got Norway. This resulted in a something like a “tropo cloud” over the Bornholm/Sweden area:
Before I went sleep Steinkimmen peaked to RDS level. In the morning Radio Norge 105.2 was still audible, but quickly faded away. I also heard Yle1 89.8 from Turku, however the signal level was very weak, just above the noise floor on a narrow filter (//web). Although the tropo forecast maps were still predicting strong ducting, the VHF-FM band has already wiped out of all distant signals…
| UTC | MHz | Program | Location | Details |
| 0708 | 99.1 | SWR1 Rheinland-Pfalz | Donnersberg | //web |
| 0710 | 103.7 | Hit Radio FFH | Habichtswald | ffh ID |
| 0711 | 91.6 | SWR3 | Koblenz | //web coldplay |
| 0712 | 89.3 | hr3 | Großer Feldberg | //web |
| 0714 | 92.8 | MDR 1 Radio Sachsen | Chemnitz/Geyer | D5C1 |
| 0715 | 94.0 | SWR2 | Koblenz | //web |
| 0716 | 97.7 | YOU FM | Rimberg | //web |
| 0717 | 91.3 | Deutschlandfunk (DLF) | Rimberg | |
| 0717 | 107.7 | Hit Radio FFH | Hohes Lohr | //web |
| 0718 | 87.6 | hr3 | Sackpfeife | // 89.3 |
| 0722 | 101.5 | RPR 1. | Koblenz/Kühkopf | |
| 0723 | 100.5 | WDR 4 | Teutoburger Wald | //web |
| 0724 | 99.5 | RTBF Musiq’3 | Liège/Bol d’Air | //web |
| 0732 | 100.7 | WDR 4 | Ederkopf | wdr4 ID |
| 0736 | 104.0 | big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz) | Koblenz/Kühkopf | //web |
| 0737 | 106.1 | Deutschlandradio Kultur | Olsberg | // 89.6 |
| 0741 | 90.6 | WDR 5 | Teutoburger Wald | //web |
| 0746 | 101.6 | hr4 | Hardberg | //web |
| 0750 | 105.5 | WDR Eins Live | Teutoburger Wald | 22dBf einslive jingle |
| 0751 | 103.1 | CRo Sever | Chomutov/Jedlová | |
| 0804 | 101.7 | hr4 | Hoher Meißner | D364 __hr4___ 32dBf |
| 0811 | 105.6 | SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz | Donnersberg | // web |
| 0816 | 92.8 | MDR 1 Radio Sachsen | Chemnitz/Geyer | D5C1 MDR_SACH 28dBf |
| 0818 | 89.8 | MDR JUMP | Chemnitz/Geyer | D3C2 MDR_JUMP |
| 0826 | 104.9 | big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz) | Ahrweiler | 20dBf |
| 0844 | 92.7 | hr3 | Hardberg | // 89.3 |
| 0853 | 105.9 | Hit Radio FFH | Großer Feldberg | // web, ads |
| 0856 | 89.1 | CRo Radiozurnál | Plzen/Krasov | 232F R-ZURNAL |
| 0856 | 101.7 | CRo Dvojka | Plzen/Krasov | 232E R-DVOJKA 40dBf |
| 0856 | 104.1 | Frekvence 1 | Plzen/Krasov | 2205 F1_104.1 |
| 0857 | 91.4 | Radio Impuls | Plzen/Krasov | 2203 _IMPULS_ |
| 0858 | 92.0 | SWR2 | Donnersberg | // web |
| 0859 | 105.7 | B5 aktuell | Wendelstein | B5 jingle |
| 0902 | 100.6 | Antenne Bayern | Dillberg | Antenne Bayern jingle |
| 0903 | 105.4 | Hitradio RTL Sachsen | Chemnitz/Geyer | D3C9 Hitr.RTL |
| 0908 | 97.8 | SWR1 Baden-Württemberg | Heidelberg | // web |
| 0909 | 99.9 | SWR3 | Heidelberg | // web |
| 0918 | 91.0 | hr1 | Sackpfeife | // web, under RMF FM @ 36kHz BW |
| 0920 | 107.0 | WDR Eins Live | Olsberg | // 105.5 |
| 0921 | 107.2 | WDR Eins Live | Ederkopf | // 107.0 105.5 |
| 0924 | 96.3 | CRo Vltava | Chomutov/Jedlová | |
| 0924 | 96.9 | MDR JUMP | Sonneberg/Bleßberg | // 89.8 |
| 0925 | 92.0 | Radio PSR | Auerbach/Schöneck | Radio PSR vocal ID |
| 0928 | 88.0 | SR 1 Europawelle | Göttelborner Höhe | // web! boosted with MS |
| 1001 | 105.5 | WDR Eins Live | Teutoburger Wald | D391 _1LIVE__ 29dBf |
| 1006 | 100.5 | WDR 4 | Teutoburger Wald | D394 WDR_4___ 29dBf |
| 1022 | 107.7 | Hit Radio FFH | Hohes Lohr | |
| 1023 | 103.7 | Hit Radio FFH | Habichtswald | |
| 1030 | 95.0 | hr-info | Rimberg | // 99.6 |
| 1036 | 105.7 | Antenne Niedersachsen | Steinkimmen | vocal ID, 9dBf |
| 1040 | 103.0 | BFBS Radio | Bielefeld/Hünenburg | 13dBf |
| 1055 | 90.6 | WDR 5 | Teutoburger Wald | D395 WDR_5___ |
| 1113 | 91.6 | SWR3 | Koblenz | |
| 1358 | 101.7 | hr4 | Hoher Meißner | D364 __hr4___ 38dBf :O |
| 1401 | 101.5 | RPR 1. | Koblenz/Kühkopf | 22dBf, RPR1 jingle |
| 1401 | 104.0 | big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz) | Koblenz/Kühkopf | 22dBf |
| 1402 | 104.9 | big fm (Rheinland-Pfalz) | Ahrweiler | // 104.0 |
| 1406 | 94.0 | SWR2 | Koblenz | 20dBf |
| 1415 | 105.6 | MDR JUMP | Remda (Saalfeld) | D3C2 MDR_JUMP |
| 1416 | 105.5 | WDR Eins Live | Teutoburger Wald | |
| 1443 | 107.4 | SWR4 Rheinland-Pfalz | Koblenz | under VOX FM @ 42kHz BW |
| 1449 | 97.7 | YOU FM (hr) | Rimberg | D366 25dBf |
| 1450 | 96.8 | Landeswelle Thüringen | Kulpenberg | landeswelle id |
| 1457 | 106.0 | Hitradio RTL Sachsen | Auerbach/Schöneck | D3C9 30dBf |
| 1508 | 103.7 | Hit Radio FFH | Habichtswald | D368 _F_F_H__ 35dBf |
| 1517 | 97.0 | WDR 3 | Teutoburger Wald | D393, over Zet DLF, 37dBf |
| 1521 | 100.3 | Planet Radio | Eisenberg | //web, ads, over PiK |
| 1545 | 103.0 | BFBS Radio | Bielefeld/Hünenburg | D390 _BFBS_1_ 32dBf |
| 1549 | 97.0 | WDR 3 | Teutoburger Wald | D393 WDR_3___ |
| 1550 | 105.5 | WDR Eins Live | Teutoburger Wald | _1LIVE__ 40dBf |
| 1559 | 94.1 | WDR 2 | Münster/Baumberge | // 93.2 |
| 1611 | 91.7 | MDR 1 Radio Thüringen | Sonneberg/Bleßberg | D6F1 MDR_THUE |
| 1649 | 89.3 | hr3 | Großer Feldberg | still here, since yesterday evening! |
| 1700 | 91.3 | Deutschlandfunk (DLF) | Rimberg | D210 __DLF___ 30dBf |
| 1704 | 95.0 | hr-info | Rimberg | D367 hr-iNFO_ |
| 1818 | 93.7 | NRK P2 | Hovdefjell | // web!! |
| 1820 | 87.8 | NRK P1 | Hovdefjell | //web |
| 1846 | 100.7 | Q-music | IJsselstein | //web |
| 1847 | 96.8 | NPO 3FM | IJsselstein | |
| 1857 | 98.4 | NPO Radio 1 | Markelo/Alticom Toren | |
| 1905 | 94.1 | WDR 2 | Münster/Baumberge | vocal ID |
| 1944 | 96.8 | Landeswelle Thüringen | Kulpenberg | 21dBf |
| 1949 | 104.7 | Antenne Thüringen | Kulpenberg | |
| 2009 | 98.5 | MDR 1 Radio Thüringen | Keula | |
| 2120 | 93.7 | NRK P2 | Hovdefjell | 16dBf stereo |
| 2123 | 89.5 | SR P4 | Hörby/Sallerup TM | E224 SR_P4___ |
| 2130 | 89.3 | SR P1 | Göteborg | 11dBf |
| 2131 | 91.3 | NRK P1 | Kongsberg/Jonsknuten | // 87.8 :-) |
| 2134 | 95.5 | NRK P2 | Kongsberg/Jonsknuten | // 93.7 |
| 2135 | 97.8 | NRK Petre | Kongsberg/Jonsknuten | |
| 2137 | 105.2 | Radio Norge | Skien 1/Vealøs | |
| 2212 | 105.7 | Antenne Niedersachsen | Steinkimmen | 22dBf |
| 2214 | 93.0 | BFBS Radio | Braunschweig | 28dBf |
| 2217 | 90.1 | MDR JUMP | Dresden-Wachwitz | over Eska Lodz, almost RDS level |
| 2225 | 102.2 | Antenne Thüringen | Inselsberg | D3F8 ANT.THUE |
| 2231 | 94.9 | Landeswelle Thüringen | Ronneburg (Gera) | //106.7 |
| 2233 | 97.7 | YOU FM (hr) | Rimberg | D366 _YOU_FM_ |
| 2245 | 96.8 | Landeswelle Thüringen | Kulpenberg | 24dBf |
| 2300 | 89.4 | SR P1 | Borlänge | 8dBf |
| 2329 | 105.5 | WDR Eins Live | Teutoburger Wald | D391 _1LIVE__ 37dBf |
| 2332 | 103.0 | BFBS Radio | Bielefeld/Hünenburg | D390 _BFBS_1_ 31dBf |
| 2336 | 102.6 | NDR 2 | Stadthagen | D382 _NDR_2__ |
| 2337 | 100.8 | NDR 1 Niedersachsen | Stadthagen | D381 NDR1_NDS 33dBf |
| 2339 | 103.8 | Antenne Niedersachsen | Barsinghausen | over PR3, 34dBf //105.7 |
| 2341 | 106.1 | Deutschlandfunk (DLF) | Stadthagen | // 97.7 |
| 2342 | 104.4 | NDR Kultur | Stadthagen | @ 9kHz BW, //98.7 |
| 2345 | 103.9 | Antenne Thüringen | Dingelstädt | // 102.2 |
| 2350 | 104.5 | Landeswelle Thüringen | Keula | // 96.8 |
