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Aurora FM-DX 20.12.2015

by kkonrad21-12-201512-01-20160

Another auroral propagation appeared on December 20. I don’t really remember, but it was probably third or even fourth big show of such nature this year. Aurora happens usually during the months around the equinoxes, so nice to observe it in late December. In the afternoon I noticed some distorted stations fading in and out. Stronger signals flooded entire CCIR band around 16 UTC. I quickly identified SR P1 on 89,4 with their “bell” jingle and many other frequencies of P1. Norway was also here with 88.7 NRK P1 (//web). The signal levels have increased even more, so I decided to grab a camera and try to take a photo.

Autumn 2015: Extreme tropo duct 5 GHz Wi-Fi 300+ km

by kkonrad29-10-201526-05-20181

Ten artykuł jest także dostępny w języku polskim. / This article is also available in Polish language.

An extremely strong propagation occurred on October 27 and 28, which made possible detection of 5 GHz Wi-Fi network signals near Płock, Poland at distances of over 300 km, including… Czech Republic.

In last days, thanks to a high pressure system over the central Europe, very interesting propagation conditions occurred on the radio bands. The weather settled down on October 26 and 27 and brought a windless night. The morning, in line with my predictions and tropo forecasts, brought a very strong propagation from southern Poland on the VHF-FM band. The enhanced conditions were still remaining throughout the day, however significantly weaker than in the morning.

Russian Sporadic-E (8.07.2015)

by kkonrad09-07-201529-01-20190

On 8th July I observed a fair Sporadic-E opening from Russia. Both OIRT and CCIR band was full of strong signals. I got almost all stations from the capital of Russia – Moscow. The MUF reached over 108MHz.

I took my RTL-SDR dongle to check the OIRT spectrum and I recorded some I/Q samples of top hour IDs at 2.4 MHz bandwidth. Interesting view – look at the latency and deviation. Each Radio Rossii TX has different settings.

Sporadic-E: Finland, Norway, Sweden

by kkonrad26-06-201515-07-20150

Sporadic-E signal levels

by kkonrad21-06-201523-10-20161

The Sporadic-E is the strongest available propagation mode. An ionized “cloud” acts like a metal reflector, that allows signal to skip over a huge distance. It is possible to receive many stations with just a small portable radio and a telescopic antenna. With better equipment, when the frequency is clear, it is also possible to receive stations that transmit at extremely low power, like 50W, with full RDS and stereo! So, the signal level must be really strong, but how strong?

Winter Tropo 2015 (D, BEL, NOR, HOL)

by kkonrad01-03-201525-12-20150

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).

Geminids 2014

by kkonrad21-02-201514-12-20191

Geminids are one of the most known meteor showers with very high theoretical ZHR rate of around 120. Its maximum was calculated to be between 13th and 14th December. This time I rotated my Körner 19.3 antenna at north-eastern direction for an overnight recording. The results in evening were really encouraging with pings and bursts every few seconds! I added a preamp between XDR-F1HD and antenna and set the squelch few dBs over the noise floor. Tropospheric conditions were rather poor due to a cold front, so the VHF band was quiet and ready for MS reception.