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!!

f5len_01_21UTC nwe_01_21UTC d_20151001_h21_euro_en

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!

holmemoss

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.

classicfm

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.

petreOf 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!

bbcr4

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 3C203! 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), GaustaKongsbergHalden (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.

bkn

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 Moor1392km. Both around 10kW ERP. Finally, something other than nationwide BBC channels!

uk_bbc_heart

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:

3 thoughts on “October 2015: extreme tropo from UK in Poland

  1. Hi Konrad.

    Congratulations on your superb catches from the UK. This early October tropo opening was indeed amazing. I live in central southern England, about 40 miles north of the south coast and about 60 miles WSW of London. At this location I had signals from northern Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Poland. Norway reached RDS levels at one stage (Lyngdal on 95.0).

    I use a Körner 9.2 aerial with a Yaesu rotator (installed in October 2014). Norway and Poland were firsts for me via tropo. In fact, the Polish reception was much better for DXers further north, who had solid signals with RDS from Koszalin and Gdańsk for hours on end. As far as I know, my location was the furthest south with DX from Poland.

    Here are a couple of recordings from October 2nd:

    https://app.box.com/s/x1qdjacy4ql93s29bps1f5ya8cr22c59 – 105.0 Radio ZET Gdańsk 1371 km

    https://app.box.com/s/fe3zhbks6hxepro5f9fmr7b1khu5pm8n – 98.4 RMF FM Gdańsk 1371 km (best signal from Poland)

    https://app.box.com/s/dg1xeyv33lnmrgq0etrzocpi8ywcrgzn – 107.9 PR 1 Koszalin 1255 km

    https://app.box.com/s/fds68kp8f9m4mdpt2kvmnu7y5blf9whf – 97.4 PR 3 Koszalin 1255 km

    The recordings from this tropo can be found here: https://app.box.com/s/gjrwvguroyd1xbzdba1qlgjnax6wngtq

    I hope we don’t have to wait several years for another Poland-UK tropo!

    Regards,
    Nick Gilly, Whitchurch, Hampshire, UK

    1. Thanks Nick!

      Nice to hear your recordings, congratulations! Your RMF FM reception sounds great, that’s (almost?) a RDS-level. Unfortunately I didn’t receive anything from southern England this time.

      This was the biggest opening in my 7-year experience. Overall this year, the tropospheric ducting propagations were really exceptional. I logged hundreds of new stations during more than 10 notable tropo openings.

      Due to lack of time, I haven’t been able to write all articles about my receptions yet, but I think I will finish them in a week or two. Let’s hope for more such extreme tropo openings in the next year. :-)

      Konrad

  2. Thanks Konrad.

    Yes RMF FM on 98.4 was very close to reaching RDS level but as you can hear from the recording it slowly got weaker.

    The 2015 tropo season must be one of the best ever. I myself heard 11 countries via tropo in October alone: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France and Spain! November and the beginning of December also produced several superb openings into France, Spain and central Europe.

    We can only hope there are more DX goodies to come in 2016!

    Happy New Year,
    Nick

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