October 2015: extreme tropo from UK in Poland

This year, the weather at the beginning of October was extraordinary. A massive high pressure system has established itself over the greater part of Europe. It was very warm and the sky was totally clear. I was pretty sure that something special will happen… now or never! All propagation forecasts were very promising at first. However, the ducting area was reduced after each update, at least for Poland. Nevertheless, tropo results were excellent – BBC reception lasted for three days!!

  

Interesting conditions on the 87.5-108 MHz band started on September 30 and October 1 night. When I was about to sleep, I found strong 95.9 DR P4 signal and 93.1 SR P2 at O=3. In the morning I heard SR P4 from Boräs on 102.9 which eventually peaked to a RDS level. In the afternoon I noticed logs between Lithuania and Holme Moss at distance 1566km. I quickly logged into my tuner, but scanning on the band revealed just a stable, but noisy 89.0 RTL. In fact it was not so weak, but due to strong local interference, a theoretically noise-free signal became a weak one. As the time was passing I also received other German stations, but that was nothing special at all.

Few minutes past 15 UTC it seemed to me that I can barely hear some English talk on 93.7 mixing with NDR 1. I ignored that marginal signal at first, but I was still checking both 89.3 and 93.7 frequencies every moment. Finally, at 15:18 UTC the sound on 89.3 fully matched a webstream of BBC Radio 2, with a noticeable latency. Hell yeah!! – despite poor forecasts, my QTH was in range of the tropospheric ducting!

Well, I have already received two BBC stations from Holme Moss in 2010. The date is very specific, as propagation occurred exactly on 10.10.10. However, that was a very patchy and weak ducting, which didn’t come too deeply into Poland. Generally such propagation occurs quite rarely between Poland and the UK. The most known tropospheric propagation in our community took place in late 2007. Maciek from Góra Kalwaria near Warsaw has set a 1706km FMDX tropo record. He logged BBC Radio Scotland on 93.7 from Keelylang Hill transmitter and the reception lasted for a three following days as an extreme tropo ducting was built over Baltic and Northern Sea.

In the evening Holme Moss signals reached 20dBf+ levels. On the other hand, the local interference from power lines was still on the air and I was quite disappointed. UK uses both polarizations at TX sites, so I was able to overcome some closer stations and grab another 1440+km DX – Classic FM 101.1 in vertical with a powerful 30dBf signal at 17:18. The RDS reception was unfortunately impossible due to local on 101.2.

I also quickly discovered Meldrum on 100.5 and 90.9 which (temporary) became my new ODX @ 1503km. At first I though this is a low-power Belmont, but I carefully checked the azimuth. My 2×9-el antenna stack has quite narrow main-lobe and I found the strongest signal at Bydgoszcz and Toruń direction, which also points to Meldrum. Around 18:40 the Pontop Pike joined tropo opening with 92.9 BBC R4 and 90.7 BBC R3. 88.5 BBC R2 came in later as this frequency was busy.

Of course, UK was not the only guest this evening. I heard many stations from Denmark including some less frequent locations in vertical like 98.3 radio100 with RDS. The same frequency hosted also BBC Radio 1, but in a horizontal polarization instead. Tropo was even more widespread. Around 20:30 UTC my friend Łukasz from Tomaszów Mazowiecki noticed a fair signal from Norway – Lyngdal and Greipstad. Few minutes past 21:00 NRK Petre 95.0 peaked to stereo & RDS (30dBf) here near Płock, Poland. 

Local interference has already started to fade down at night, however the direction to UK still had somewhat increased impulse noise level. Because of high signal I was trying to receive at least a PI code on BBC R4, and I got C204 around 21:40. Few minutes later I saw full BBC_R4__ PS on a screen! Unbelievable! I haven’t ever expected to receive any UK station with RDS via tropospheric propagation…

Luckily I have recorded a video that includes a weather report. The daily temperature amplitude reached 24°C in Scotland. I guess this is the first reception of British station with RDS in Poland. The distance is also amazing – 1443km. Due to interference from other signals on 93.7 and around, the RDS demodulation was impossible on Körner 19.3 in H-pol, so again my vertical 2×9-el antenna stack was priceless!

October 1, 2015 – logs:

UTC	Freq	Station	Location	ERP	QRB	Remarks
1521	89.3	BBC Radio 2	Holme Moss	250.0	1443	//web
1637	95.9	DR P4	Århus/Søsterhøj	60.3	731	9E02 DRP4OSTJ
1712	93.7	BBC Radio 4	Holme Moss	250.0	1443	26dBf
1713	91.5	BBC Radio 3	Holme Moss	250.0	1443	//web [1st]
1719	101.1	Classic FM	Holme Moss	250.0	1443	//web, pol. V, up to 30dBf!! [1st]
1729	99.7	Radio M	Ikast/Højris Alle 81	5.0	789	vocal ID [1st]
1731	100.5	Classic FM	Meldrum	150.0	1503	Classic FM ID [1st]
1733	90.9	BBC Radio 3	Meldrum	150.0	1503	//web [1st]
1737	98.3	BBC Radio 1	Meldrum	150.0	1503	BBC Radio 1 vocal ID [1st]
1758	91.7	DR P3	Århus/Søsterhøj	60.3	731	9203 DR_P3___
1759	103.0	Radio 24syv	Århus/Søsterhøj	60.3	731	40dBf 9204 24syv___
1801	98.3	Radio 100	Århus/Skanderborg	2.0	738	973F
1804	93.7	The Voice	Århus/Langenæs Allé 21	0.5	735	//web [1st]
1845	90.7	BBC Radio 3	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433	[1st]
1845	92.9	BBC Radio 4	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433	[1st]
1949	88.5	BBC Radio 2	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433	18dBf [1st]
2046	92.5	NRK P2	Greipstad/Eidsåvegen	57.0	976	mixing with PR Koszalin [1st]
2102	99.9	DR P4	Rangstrup	60.0	748	9C02 DRP4_SYD
2108	95.0	NRK Petre	Lyngdal/Kalåskniben	(50?)	1020	F203 _NRK_P3_
2119	104.9	Antenne NDS	Aurich	25.0	825	22dBf
2123	104.9	P4 Hele Norge	Greipstad/Eidsåvegen	29.9	976	//web [1st]
2143	93.7	BBC Radio 4	Holme Moss	250.0	1443	C204 BBC_R4__ 30dBf!!
2155	95.0	City FM	Århus/Søften	2.0	743	26dBf [1st]
2209	93.7	NRK P2	Hovdefjell	24.9	970	F202 _NRK_P2_ 27dBf
2242	100.7	Radio 24syv	Tolne/Jerupvej 610	10.0	812	// 102.3
2256	105.2	Radio Norge	Skien/Vealøs	78.7	967	23dBf
2259	102.5	Radio Norge	Kongsberg/Jonsknuten	59.7	1009	// 105.2 [1st]
2301	102.9	SR P4	Borås/Dalsjöfors	17.0	712	E224 SR_P4___ 34dBf
2302	94.6	SR P2	Borås/Dalsjöfors	10.0	712	E402 SR_P2___ 29dBf
2312	101.5	NRK Petre	Halden/Høyåsmasten	72.5	897	[1st]
2312	106.1	P4 Hele Norge	Halden/Høyåsmasten	35.9	897	[1st]
2316	89.1	NRK P2	Halden/Høyåsmasten	22.1	897	[1st]
2324	90.2	DR P2	Holstebro – Mejrup	60.3	831	9201 DR_P2___
2326	92.9	DR P3	Holstebro – Mejrup	60.3	831	9203 DR_P3___
2329	102.5	Radio 24syv	Varde/Nordenskov	10.0	798
2336	97.9	SR P3	Borås/Dalsjöfors	10.0	712	E203 SR_P3___
2342	98.5	DR P4	Holstebro – Mejrup	60.3	831	9502 DRP4_M&V
2343	100.3	Radio 24syv	Holstebro – Mejrup	60.3	831	9204 24syv___

Tropo was still extending and strengthening over an entire night. I received many low & medium power stations from Denmark, Sweden and some big ones from Norway. 98.1 DR P4 Aalborg reached 47dBf and this was a fully sufficient signal level to beat my semi-local PR2 @ 33km on the same frequency. The difference in azimuth is around 35°. 

Lyngdal was getting stronger and stronger… and finally peaked at 3:30 UTC to an extreme signal 40dBf @ 1020km! From time to time I checked Pontop Pike and Holme Moss frequencies. Stations from UK were still here almost all night long, however I was focusing mainly on Scandinavian signals.

In the morning at 5 UTC I received another notable DX – 89.5 Mix Megapol from Kungshamn, Sweden. This is my new record for a low power reception with RDS. Only 0.3kW ERP @ 836km with signal up to 22dBf.

Few minutes later I also noticed that Pontop Pike @ 1433km peaked to 28dBf with PI code on 90.7 BBC Radio 3 – C203! XDR-F1HD decoded it multiple times, but unfortunately the signal was too noisy for full PS. I received every southern location from Norway: Bjerkreim, Lyngdal (RDS), Greipstad (RDS), Skien (RDS), Hovdefjell (RDS), Gausta, Kongsberg, Halden (RDS) and Oslo.  

I also got an unknown Swedish station on 103.7 in vertical. I asked Peter Körner and he identified it as SR P4. I haven’t expected that as there are two P4 locations, both in a horizontal polarization. After a short investigation we have identified this as SR P4 Väst (thx Maciek). At that time P4 was broadcasting local programme – Väst and Malmö had different playlists. Well, that’s a very interesting DX – 3kW ERP @ 788km in… an opposite polarization! After the morning peak, I decided to go sleep at 9 UTC. 

October 2, 2015 (night & morning) – logs:

UTC	Freq	Station	Location	ERP	QRB	Remarks
0001	94.5	SR P2	Sunne/Blåbärskullen	60.0	911	// 92.4
0002	92.7	SR P1	Bäckefors (Mellerud)	60.0	838	E201
0013	103.4	Nova	Holstebro – Mejrup	60.3	831	9205 __NOVA__
0038	102.0	VLR	Østbirk/Yding skovhøj	0.8	748	//web [1st]
0049	87.8	Nova	Varde/Nordenskov	10.0	798	//103.9 [1st]
0052	104.7	VLR	Randbøl	0.16	768	[1st]
0111	90.9	SR P1	Sunne/Blåbärskullen	60.0	911	E201 SR_P1___ 28dBf
0116	102.7	Radio 24syv	Aalborg-Frejlev	40.0	803	9204 24syv___ 36dBf
0123	98.2	SR P3	Motala/Ervasteby	30.0	728	98.230 E203 SR_P3___
0127	96.5	SR P3	Karlstad/Sörmon	15.0	854	E203 SR_P3___
0133	105.7	Radio ABC	Langå – Jebjerg	4.0	757	32dBf //web [1st]
0134	105.4	Radio ABC	Assentoft/Elmevej	1.5	753	// 105.7 [1st]
0141	107.4	Radio ABC	Assentoft/Elmevej	1.5	753	//web [1st]
0144	106.8	Radio Køge	Skovbo – Borup	0.5	602	984C, ST pilot fading in/out [1st]
0146	104.9	The Voice	Brøndby	2.0	588	//web
0147	100.7	Radio 24syv	Tolne/Jerupvej 610	10.0	812	9204 24syv___
0149	99.0	DR P4	Varde/Nordenskov	20.0	798	//95.9
0151	90.7	DR P3	Vejle/Gl. Højen	10.0	750	[1st]
0152	94.0	DR P4	Vejle/Gl. Højen	13.0	750	//95.9 [1st]
0154	107.7	Radio ABC	Allingåbro – Rygårde	0.5	738	//105.4 ABC [1st]
0203	106.0	Nova	Aalborg-Frejlev	5.6	803	9205 __NOVA__
0208	95.0	NRK Petre	Lyngdal/Kalåskniben	3.9	1020	F203 _NRK_P3_ 37dBf
0209	97.0	NRK Petre	Greipstad/Eidsåvegen	57.0	976	[1st]
0212	88.3	NRK P2	Lyngdal/Kalåskniben	30.6	1020	F202 _NRK_P2_ 37dBf [1st]
0216	102.0	Radio Norge	Lyngdal/Kalåskniben	9.7	1020	[1st]
0218	89.7	DR P3	Aalborg-Frejlev	60.0	803	9203 DR_P3___ 43dBf
0219	98.1	DR P4	Aalborg-Frejlev	50.0	803	9F02 DRP4_NR_ 47dBf
0229	89.6	NDR 1 Welle Nord	Flensburg-Engelsby	25.0	718	D3E1 NDR_1_SH
0232	91.8	NRK Petre	Bjerkreim/Urdalsnipa	36.8	1094	// 95.0
0238	102.8	SR P4	Örebro/Lockhyttan	60.0	815	E224 SR_P4___
0250	105.0	Radio ABC	Ebeltoft – Handrup	0.16	715	jingle ID [1st]
0251	104.6	Radio ABC	Grenå – Enslev	0.5	718	// 105.0 [1st]
0254	106.4	Radio ABC	Ebeltoft – Handrup	0.16	715	// 105.7 104.6 105.4 105.7 [1st]
0256	106.7	RIX FM	Malmö/Limhamn	1.0	556	E241
0301	99.7	Guldkanalen	Skurup/Stjärnholm	1.0	524	6699
0304	98.2	Skala FM	Holsted/Toften 8	2.0	777	//web [1st]
0306	98.0	The Voice	Sønder Højrup	1.0	678	//web [1st]
0308	96.6	DR P3	Tolne/Jerupvej 610	10.0	812	9203
0312	95.0	FM95	Århus/Søften	2.0	743	9E4C __FM95__ 38dBf
0317	101.1	Radio 24syv	Skamlebæk	5.0	651	//102,3 [1st]
0327	90.7	BBC Radio 3	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433	again!
0328	92.9	BBC Radio 4	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433
0336	95.0	NRK Petre	Lyngdal/Kalåskniben	(50?)	1020	F203 _NRK_P3_ 40dBf
0339	92.5	NRK P2	Greipstad/Eidsåvegen	57.0	976	F202 _NRK_P2_ 35dBf
0342	98.3	Radio 100	Århus/Skanderborg	2.0	738	973F radio100 28dBf
0343	98.6	Nova	Grenå/Kattegatvej 3	0.4	711	9205 [1st]
0347	94.5	N-JOY	Kronshagen (Kiel)	15.0	670	D385
0406	97.9	Radio Alfa	Ebeltoft – Handrup	0.2	715	//web [1st]
0407	97.6	Radio Alfa	Ørsted/Rougsøvej	0.2	746	//97.9 [1st]
0416	93.5	Solo FM	Langå – Jebjerg	4.0	757	Solo FM jingle [1st]
0421	93.1	The Voice	Århus/Søsterhøj	3.0	731	//web [1st]
0425	92.3	NRK P2	Skien/Vealøs	48.5	967	// 93.7 [1st]
0441	107.1	RIX FM	Borås/Dalsjöfors	3.0	712	E241 _RIX_FM_
0443	92.9	BBC Radio 4	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433	25dBf
0453	89.5	Mix Megapol	Kungshamn	0.3	834	E243 MEGAPOL_ 22dBf [1st]
0457	90.0	Skala FM	Tommerup	0.5	692	//web [1st]
0457	90.6	myROCK	Odense/Telehøjen 1	1.0	682	myROCK id [1st]
0458	91.1	Skala FM	Odense/Fisketorvet 8-10	0.5	687	//90.0 [1st]
0501	90.7	BBC Radio 3	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433	PI: C203 24dBf
0506	105.1	The Voice	Søndersø/Toftekær 4	0.5	699	//web [1st]
0520	94.7	Limfjord plus	Erslev – Sundby	20.0	855	Limfjord plus ID 24dBf
0529	101.7	Radio Alfa	Rønde – Grenåvej 13	0.16	727	[1st]
0534	94.6	Go FM	Århus/Søsterhøj	1.0	731	20dBf [1st]
0536	105.9	The Voice	Vejle C/Ellevang 24	1.0	750	//web [1st]
0549	96.4	NRK P2	Gausta/Gaustatoppen	54.5	1057	//web [1st]
0555	103.7	SR P4 Väst	Trollhättan	3.0	788	rx in an opposite pol. (V) [1st]
0601	89.4	SR P1	Borlänge	60.0	912	E201
0614	100.7	SLR	Ringsted	0.5	610	SLR id
0617	98.4	VLR	Vissenbjerg	2.0	701	//web [1st]
0623	93.6	The Voice	Køge – Vallø	0.5	589	//web [1st]
0636	105.7	Bandit Rock	Nyköping	4.0	708	E2A7 [1st]
0641	99.1	SR P3	Bäckefors (Mellerud)	60.0	838	E203 SR_P3___
0652	88.2	NRK P1	Skien/Vealøs	48.5	967	[1st]
0703	106.1	P4 Hele Norge	Halden/Høyåsmasten	35.9	897	F214 P4_NORGE 38dBf
0706	100.0	NRK P2	Oslo/Tryvann	54.5	994	// 89.1 [1st]
0711	89.1	NRK P2	Halden/Høyåsmasten	22.1	897	F202 _NRK_P2_
0716	88.7	NRK P1	Oslo/Tryvann	54.5	994	[1st]
0718	101.5	NRK Petre	Halden/Høyåsmasten	72.5	897	F203 _NRK_P3_ 38dBf
0737	94.9	RIX FM	Nässjö	0.5	649	[1st]
0758	105.5	RIX FM	Stockholm/Nacka TM	1.0	753	E241 _RIX_FM_

In the afternoon, when I woke up, Pontop Pike and Holme Moss were still audible. Additionally I heard lots of German stations from the northern coast. Bornholm was getting stronger very quickly. I logged 56dBf signal at 16 UTC on 99.3 DR P4. This was a good sign to check other low power stations. 104.6 Nova (0.02kW ERP @ 411km!) reached almost noise-free signal, after nulling my local 104.3, which produces very strong noise interference 200-300kHz from its carrier.

I received two low power stations from Bornholm on 98.6 and 93.1, however it was not Bornholms Kristne NR this time. Both transmitters carried a wideband noise and some music in the background. Bornholms Kristne NR is a small network on the island that uses 5 low power frequencies, including 104.4.

After a while I heard the BB Radio identification and everything became clear. In Pritzwalk, Germany, there is a very high power BB Radio transmitter on 104.3. Strong tropospheric ducting wiped out the local signal on 104.4, that other locations used for FM rebroadcast. Not bad! The following video includes BB Radio jingle at 00:05.

This is not the only issue I have heard. Maciek from Góra Kalwaria, near Warsaw, notified me about 101.8 from Helpterberg which randomly switched its NDR Info programme to a different German station. Luckly, we heard a jingle which revealed the second station. It was delta radio. Maciek recorded the identification:

I got much stronger signal and I noticed that delta radio sound was interfered, but I didn’t record a jingle. This strange behavior can be also heard on my video at 0:00, 0:50, 0:54, 0:59, 1:10, 1:32, 2:10 and 2:13. The signal quality of delta radio was getting more and more noisy. How was that possible? The only thing that comes to my mind is the RDS AF function that attempts to find another frequency. But does such 100kW transmitter use FM tuner for the audio feed?

Around 17 UTC I noticed other British stations on 95.9 and 100.7. The first one was BBC Radio Humberside from High Hunsley @ 1356km and the second Heart from Bilsdale West Moor @ 1392km. Both around 10kW ERP. Finally, something other than nationwide BBC channels!

The tropospheric ducting increased its power on a half way to the UK. I received 93.6 Radio Syddanmark with RDS at 753km and only 0.08kW ERP. I think I should make some hall of fame for low power tropo DX. This one is actually a very low power one, less than 100W.

I was regularly checking 99.5 frequency for the BBC Radio 1 presence, but only N-JOY was here with a nice signal up to a RDS level. Around 18 UTC I heard some massive modulation on this frequency. That was definitely not N-JOY anymore. After a short while I heard English speaker and… the jingle “This is Annie Mac – BBC RADIO ONE”! Awesome, Black Hill here in central Poland via tropo! Am I dreaming…?

Switching to 95,8 revealed BBC R4 from the same location. Distance from my QTH to Black Hill is exactly 1570km and this is my new distance record. A bit later I also logged BBC R3 on 92.1 using a narrow 32kHz digital IF filter.

Meanwhile, I found few stations from the Netherlands on my vertical antenna: 88.0 NPO 2, 94.8 NPO 4 from Smilde and Radio Noord 97.5 from Groningen.

I checked other frequencies from Bilsdale West Moor and I matched 91.2 signal with BBC Radio 3 on 90.7. Classical music easily fits in narrow filters, so I set bandwidth to 36kHz. BBC Radio 4 on 93.4 was much more difficult to hear. At that time, R4 was broadcasting a radio play. I switched between 93.4 and 92.9 several times to make sure this is definitely Radio 4. The signal level was very weak so I used a 15kHz filter. Audio matched with 92.9 R4 each time! The recording of this reception (and other) can be heard on my tropo log, with short snippets of Pontop Pike as reference.

This evening was the last time I heard Holme Moss.

October 2, 2015 – afternoon & evening logs:

UTC	Freq	Station	Location	ERP	QRB	Remarks
1429	90.7	BBC Radio 3	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433
1432	93.7	BBC Radio 4	Holme Moss	250.0	1443
1437	93.1	NDR Info	Cuxhaven/Holter Höhe	10.0	752	//102.8 [1st]
1503	99.5	N-JOY	Schwerin	2.0	565	30dBf D385 _N-JOY__
1506	102.6	Radio ffn	Cuxhaven Otterndorf	20.0	737	D388
1514	89.3	BBC Radio 2	Holme Moss	250.0	1443
1514	92.9	BBC Radio 4	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433	18dBf
1519	100.4	NDR Info	Röbel	4.0	497	D384 NDR_Info
1531	87.8	Nova	Varde/Nordenskov	10.0	798	//103.9
1600	99.3	DR P4	Årsballe/Aarsballe	30.0	428	56dBf
1600	106.2	Nova	Åkirkeby/Birgersvej 6	0.03	421	0,03kW ~19dBf [1st]
1602	104.6	Nova	Nexø/Ibskervej 30A	0.02	411	9205 __NOVA__ 33dBf
1604	98.6	Bornholms Kristne NR	Nexø/Ibskervej 30A	0.2	411	noise & German px relay
1613	92.2	DR P4	Nakskov/Karlebyvej 7	30.0	617	40dBf over local PR1
1622	87.8	Radio Sydhavsøerne	Nykøbing Falster	1.0	573	//web
1633	93.1	Bornholms Kristne NR	Åkirkeby/Birgersvej 6	0.2	421	29dBf, noise & BB Radio
1638	104.9	Radio Globus	Vojens-Styding	0.5	743	//web [1st]
1652	95.9	BBC Radio Humberside	High Hunsley	9.8	1356	vocal id [1st]
1700	100.7	Heart	Bilsdale West Moor	10.0	1392	This is Heart [1st]
1710	94.9	N-JOY	Heide/Welmbüttel	0.8	719	//95.5 99.5 [1st]
1718	103.2	N-JOY	Helpterberg	1.3	424	[1st]
1719	103.0	N-JOY	Anklam	1.3	427	//99.5 103.2 95.5 [1st]
1729	93.6	Radio Syddanmark	Bevtoft/Tirslundvej 17	0.08	754	9C59 __SYD-__ [1st]
1739	103.4	N-JOY	Grevesmühlen Hamberge	5.0	585	[1st]
1749	87.9	NDR Info	Heide/Welmbüttel	15.0	719	D384 NDR_Info [1st]
1800	94.1	Radio NORA	Garding	0.5	751	Radio Nora full hour ID [1st]
1804	99.5	BBC Radio 1	Black Hill	250.0	1570	Radio 1 vocal ID 20dBf [1st]
1805	95.8	BBC Radio 4	Black Hill	200.0	1570	//web [1st]
1820	97.5	Radio Noord	Groningen/Gideonweg	20.0	883	//web [1st]
1825	88.0	NPO Radio 2	Smilde/Alticom Toren	90.0	899	[1st]
1827	94.8	NPO Radio 4	Smilde/Alticom Toren	90.0	899	//web [1st]
1851	92.9	BBC Radio 4	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433	19dBf
1858	92.1	BBC Radio 3	Black Hill	250.0	1570	// 90.7 [1st]
1923	106.4	NDR 1 Welle Nord	Neumünster Armstedt	20.0	676	// 97.8 [1st]
2023	91.2	BBC Radio 3	Bilsdale West Moor	5.0	1392	// 90.7, 15khz filter [1st]
2040	93.4	BBC Radio 4	Bilsdale West Moor	5.0	1392	// 92.9 [1st]
2241	93.7	SR P2	Jönköping	5.0	674	[1st]
2248	94.4	DR P4	Tolne/Jerupvej 610	10.0	812	// 95.9 [1st]
2252	100.7	Radio 24syv	Tolne/Jerupvej 610	10.0	812	9204 24syv___ 27dBf
2317	96.6	DR P3	Tolne/Jerupvej 610	10.0	812	9203 DR_P3___ 29dBf
2319	91.0	DR P2	Tolne/Jerupvej 610	10.0	812	9kHz filter //89.0 [1st]
2338	89.0	Radio Aura	Tolne/Jerupvej 610	5.0	812	vocal ID R.Aura, 23dBf [1st]

On October 3 night, stations from Tolne, Denmark (810km) reached my QTH with a good signal. 24syv on 100.7 peaked to 34dBf. DR P4 appeared on 94.4 when a nearby Eska Bydgoszcz faded down for a minute. I also got __Aura__ RDS PS on 89.0, some classical music on 91.0 and a nice DR P3 jingle on 96.6. It was clear that tropo distances were getting shorter. 

However, at one point Pontop Pike @ 1433km peaked up once again, with a signal quality that was enough to produce full RDS PS: BBC_R3__ on 90.7! Oh yeah!

In the morning, after about 4 hours of sleep, Pontop Pike was still here around 7 UTC. I also found Mogilev on OIRT band with weak levels from east. The UK ducting path shortened around 8 UTC and this was definitely end of BBC reception… hopefully not for another 5 years! Three following days with Pontop Pike via tropo in Poland. What a propagation! In total, I received 17 stations from the United Kingdom:

Freq	Station	Location	ERP	QRB	Pol.	Date	Remarks
89.3	BBC Radio 2	Holme Moss	250.0	1443	H only	1-2.10.2015
91.5	BBC Radio 3	Holme Moss	250.0	1443	H/V	1.10.2015
93.7	BBC Radio 4	Holme Moss	250.0	1443	H/V	1-2.10.2015	C204 BBC_R4__ up to 30dBf
101.1	Classic FM	Holme Moss	250.0	1443	V only	1.10.2015	up to 30dBf
88.5	BBC Radio 2	Pontop Pike	140.0	1433	H only	1.10.2015
90.7	BBC Radio 3	Pontop Pike	140.0	1433	H/V	1-3.10.2015	C203 BBC_R3__ up to 26dBf
92.9	BBC Radio 4	Pontop Pike	140.0	1433	H/V	1-3.10.2015	up to 26dBf
90.9	BBC Radio 3	Meldrum	150.0	1503	V only	1.10.2015	~11dBf
98.3	BBC Radio 1	Meldrum	150.0	1503	H only	1.10.2015	~12dBf
100.5	Classic FM	Meldrum	150.0	1503	V only	1.10.2015	~11dBf
95.9	BBC Humberside	High Hunsley	9.8	1356	H only	2.10.2015	up to 18dBf
91.2	BBC Radio 3	Bilsdale West Moor	5.0	1392	V only	2.10.2015	32kHz BW
93.4	BBC Radio 4	Bilsdale West Moor	5.0	1392	V only	2.10.2015	15kHz BW
100.7	Heart	Bilsdale West Moor	10.0	1392	H only	2.10.2015	up to ~16dBf
92.1	BBC Radio 3	Black Hill	250.0	1570	H only	2.10.2015	ODX 32kHz BW
95.8	BBC Radio 4	Black Hill	200.0	1570	H only	2.10.2015	ODX
99.5	BBC Radio 1	Black Hill	250.0	1570	H only	2.10.2015	ODX up to 21dBf

As the ducting path has shortened, I received lots of interesting Danish stations including Varde and Ølgod with RDS.

October 3, 2015 – logs:

UTC	MHz	Station	Location	ERP	QRB	Remarks
0002	93.6	Radio Active	Tomelilla/Brösarp	0.5	507	PI 8844 28dBf
0008	105.4	Radio Aura	Storvorde – Sejlflod	4.0	788	//web [1st]
0029	94.2	Mix Megapol	Sjöbo/Orebacken Skidbacke	0.2	518	//web
0030	89.0	Radio Aura	Tolne/Jerupvej 610	5.0	812	9CFF __Aura__
0048	98.3	NDR 2	Kronshagen (Kiel)	15.0	670	D382 _NDR_2__ 43dBf
0051	99.7	NDR Info	Kronshagen (Kiel)	1.0	670	//101.8 [1st]
0108	90.7	BBC Radio 3	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433	PI:C203 24dBf
0118	90.7	BBC Radio 3	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433	C203 BBC_R3__ 26dBf
0135	105.4	Antenne MV	Heringsdorf (Usedom)	2.5	403	D378 _ANT_MV_ 37dBf
0146	97.7	Skala FM	Tønder-N/Hydrovej 1D	0.5	762	//web [1st]
0153	91.6	Radio Als	Rinkenæs/Buskmosevej 27	2.0	719	Radio Als ID [1st]
0221	102.4	R.SH	Kiel/Fernsehturm	15.0	666	D3E8 __R.SH__ 38dBf
0642	90.7	BBC Radio 3	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433	10dBf
0653	92.9	BBC Radio 4	Pontop Pike	135.0	1433	18dBf
0741	72.74	BR 1	Mahilyow/RTPS	5.8	719	weak
0742	71.18	BR Stalitsa	Mahilyow/RTPS	5.8	719	// 72.47
0742	71.96	BR Kultura	Mahilyow/RTPS	5.8	719	// 71.69
0743	70.10	BR Mahilyow	Mahilyow/RTPS	5.8	719	[1st]
0806	104.9	Radio Globus	Vojens-Styding	0.5	743	PI:9C48
0817	91.3	Radio Globus	Kolding/Vejlevej 134	0.5	745	//104.9 and web [1st]
0832	105.2	Skala FM	Kolding/Vejlevej 134	0.5	745	//web [1st]
0835	101.5	Skala FM	Grindsted – Filskov	0.3	783	//105.2 [1st]
0842	105.4	Radio Diablo	Gudme/Kirkegade 14	1.0	658	//web [1st]
0857	106.8	Skala FM	Esbjerg/Gjesinglund Alle 8	0.5	805	//web [1st]
0901	102.9	Mix Megapol	Hässleholm/Tormestorp	0.5	550	[1st]
0903	92.4	Nova	Tønder-N/Hydrovej 1D	0.3	762	//web [1st]
0906	90.0	Skala FM	Tommerup	0.5	692	//web
0909	100.7	VLR	Oksbøl/Industrivej 6	0.4	819	//web [1st]
0940	87.8	Nova	Varde/Nordenskov	10.0	798	9205 __NOVA__ 26dBf
0949	99.0	DR P4	Varde/Nordenskov	20.0	798	9A02 DRP4_ESB 28dBf [1st]
0951	97.7	DR P4	Ølgod/Baunshøjvej 7	10.0	810	9502 DRP4_M V 30dBf [1st]
1021	104.7	Radio 2000	Ringe/Holmehøjvej 7	0.5	676	//web [1st]
1024	106.7	Radio Diablo	Nørre Broby	0.5	690	// 105.4 [1st]

 … and this was the end of this massive tropospheric propagation, the greatest one since 2007. 

In total, I logged 101 stations for the first time ever (marked as [1st] in logs). More recordings of each received station are attached to my tropo log. You can view it sorted by the date of 1st log by clicking on a column header.

There are all propagation forecasts that I have collected – W. Hepburn & F5LEN and the pressure map: