BANDSCAN THREAD

DavidJC · 16-06-2021 7:26pm

marno21 wrote: »

Seems to be back now but Spanish stations this time.

Edit: strong German signal on 90.2. Must be across Europe.

Sun moving west during the day so I guess it energises the atmosphere more intensely as it is over head. Stations might come in from Italy and Germany etc earlier in the day, Spain and Portugal in the later part of afternoon.
We are close to the summer solstice now. June 21st. Max solar energy in Northern hemisphere.

DavidJC · 16-06-2021 8:47pm

On the AM front 882khz seems to be both a closedown loop for BBC RWales and another transmitter overlapping with the live feed still running.
I guess before there were always more than one transmitter on the frequency with synchronised audio that I couldn't tell.

Also 1053 and 1089 Talksport is such a shambles with every transmitter out of synch. BBC never let it go like that when it was Radio 1. Completely unlistenable from Ireland. Talksport on 1107 is weaker but clear as it sounds like a single transmitter. Absolute on 1215 synchronised but the transmitter distances mean the signal reaches us with millisecond difference so a very slight echo.

galtee boy · 16-06-2021 9:27pm

Picked up stations on FM with RDS today in West Cork from Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Germany, later they went and a bunch of Spanish ones powered in. Strangely, the UK stations were very weak.

Antenna · 16-06-2021 9:59pm

galtee boy wrote: »

Picked up stations on FM with RDS today in West Cork from Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Germany, later they went and a bunch of Spanish ones powered in. Strangely, the UK stations were very weak.

Its due to Sporadic-E.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sporadic_E_propagation

The UK is too near for FM stations to be brought in by Sporadic-E. The reflection is around 100+ km above the earth (as the above link indicates) and 'skips' a long distance.
You do not need to be high up or near the coast to experience Sporadic E, just some empty space on the band helps.
It can happen a bit more often at the low end of the FM band

marno21 · 16-06-2021 10:27pm

https://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo_nwe.html

UK stations coming in is reasonably predictable using the maps above, the conditions were very good last night hence almost every station with LOS to the Severn Estuary absolutely romping in in Cork Harbour.

Conditions are much weaker today.

TheBMG · 19-06-2021 9:38pm

Spanish on 87.5 and 108.0 floating in and out this evening. Strong Italian on 102.5 (normally it’s Radio Pembrokeshire I get here on good days). Location is Fethard, Wexford.

Oscarziggy · 20-06-2021 6:58pm

1395 khz way down on what it was last week end .

atlantic15 · 21-06-2021 2:33pm

Portuguese station from Azores on 99.4 very strong in Clare. RDS is telling me "RCACORES".

Antenna · 21-06-2021 2:44pm

Oscarziggy wrote: »

1395 khz way down on what it was last week end .

Energy on 1395 seemed to be coming in well late last night (Sunday) at over 200km away. Still on around midnight before closing for the weekend.
No noticeable effect from the co-channel Dutch station(s) (maybe 'Seabreeze AM' had dropped in power or not currently on at all?)

On FM yesterday (Sunday) afternoon at about 14:30, more skip stations from Italy. One I managed to hear with RDS on car radio was Radio Bruno on 87.5 coming in strongly but quickly faded away (they are a network in the north of Italy).

RDS station name:
'R.BRUNO

DavidJC · 22-06-2021 4:15pm

Oscarziggy wrote: »

1395 khz way down on what it was last week end .

I tried to tune into 1395kgz driving from Kinsale to Dublin on Sunday but received nothing (around Cork).
Actually I was quite surprised how empty the whole medium wave band was down there. 1053/1089 were weak but less echoey.. I guess receiving less transmitters from southern England rather than the mush we receive in Dublin.
1341 (R Ulster loop) and 1368 (Manx) non existent.. I always thought these signals went further.

Declan A Walsh · 22-06-2021 4:35pm

DavidJC wrote: »

I tried to tune into 1395kgz driving from Kinsale to Dublin on Sunday but received nothing (around Cork).
Actually I was quite surprised how empty the whole medium wave band was down there. 1053/1089 were weak but less echoey.. I guess receiving less transmitters from southern England rather than the mush we receive in Dublin.
1341 (R Ulster loop) and 1368 (Manx) non existent.. I always thought these signals went further.

All I can say is that Energy Power AM was coming in clearly last Sunday on 1395Kh in Bray, Co. Wicklow (next door to south Dublin) and along the south-east side of Dublin. Incidentally, I picked up a station briefly near Bray seafront on 99.5 FM. This might be the Wicklow pirate you referred to in a previous post- it was commercial dance music. As I came towards the SuperValu Shopping Centre, going towards the Dublin side of Bray, the relay of Energy Power was coming in on top of it. Then, as I passed through the Dublin end of Bray, it was just noise - both cancelling each other out! As I went through south Dublin, Energy Power was clearly on 99.5 FM again.

DavidJC · 22-06-2021 4:49pm

Yes that's right Declan.. Energy (Oldies) in south Dublin.. Power FM (Dance) in north Wicklow.. And a bit of BBC Radio 1 underneath for good measure..

marno21 · 22-06-2021 4:56pm

DavidJC wrote: »

I tried to tune into 1395kgz driving from Kinsale to Dublin on Sunday but received nothing (around Cork).
Actually I was quite surprised how empty the whole medium wave band was down there. 1053/1089 were weak but less echoey.. I guess receiving less transmitters from southern England rather than the mush we receive in Dublin.
1341 (R Ulster loop) and 1368 (Manx) non existent.. I always thought these signals went further.

Plenty of strong signals down here from the UK. Aside from 693/909, 1053/1089 and 1215 you have Radio 4 (756) Radio Devon (801) and Radio Wales (882) among others. Radio Cornwall was a good daytime signal on 630/657 until last year too. Probably a few more I’m forgetting but it’s Cornwall/Wales signals strong here rather than NI

Antenna · 22-06-2021 8:56pm

Kinsale by the sea (daytime) would have had easy reception of BBC MW frequencies 909/693/882, (Talksport significantly weaker) also for example low strength Spanish on 639 / 558.
801 has deteriorated a lot with poor modulation.

There would be zero sign of Energy 1395 during daytime, but it would sometimes be quite audible at night when it is on (weekends) on a car radio parked in open ground.

Brian CivilEng · 24-06-2021 9:23am

Had a scan of FM this morning as the Sporadic-E forecast looked good. No continental stations received, but the UK stations were coming in very strong. Received Radios 1 - 4 on multiple frequencies with RDS, plus the usual Radio Ulster and Radio Cymru clear but no RDS. Also Radio Scotland came in clear for a few minutes, was surprised at that one.

For the first time too I also could see the FreeDAB stations, although they seem to be silent.

I'm in Dublin 5.

Dipole Keith · 27-06-2021 7:59pm

Is there only one station on the Freedab in Dublin, A station from Ballina is all that stopped on a scan on the Long Mile Road.

Charles Slane · 27-06-2021 10:42pm

Dipole Keith wrote: »

Is there only one station on the Freedab in Dublin, A station from Ballina is all that stopped on a scan on the Long Mile Road.

No, 10 stations coming in loud and clear in Dublin 9.

Ronan Raver77 · 02-07-2021 1:37pm

Anything to report in Dublin recently on the bandscan?

TheBMG · 02-07-2021 4:30pm

Ronan Raver77 wrote: »

Anything to report in Dublin recently on the bandscan?

Ice Radio on 99.3 (site move in recent times I suspect)
90s Network on 98.4
Hot FM on 91.0

All logged just now in D14

Ronan Raver77 · 02-07-2021 5:17pm

Cheers theBMG had HOT on alright but was checking if anything better available pirate wise :pac::pac:

TheBMG · 03-07-2021 12:29pm

Huge amount of European skip earlier on the lower portion of the FM band. France, Italy, Germany all battling it out together with one unidentifiable language (Radio Metro 89.7)?

This was all audible around Clonskeagh in South Dublin on a car radio.

Oscarziggy · 04-07-2021 5:46pm

Not sure if this is the place for Short Wave but there were 2 very big signals earlier on 6930 and 6955khz.
One being Shortwave Radio Nova - although I'm sure I heard it as Radio Nova International .
The one on 6950khz was playing a recording giving a FM and MW frequency which I thought was Radio Nova .?
You know what it's like when scanning the band -- you only get half the info !!

DavidJC · 05-07-2021 11:46am

An interesting one the past few nights on the Carlow1 Kiwi SWR I've identified a station from Saudi Arabia on 1440 khz around midnight.
The transmitter is 1600kw. Strangely it is not hugely stronger in southern europe and even Kuwait.

It might be to do with the distance required for atmospheric hops (would it be a double or tripple hop to make it to Ireland?). That is some distance for medium wave I thought?
I compared the received audio to their live stream to confirm.

On the pirate FM side, Hot FM seems to be one of the few stations operating during weekdays on 91.0. Pretty bad interference in south Dublin from 2FM (Maghera, 160kw).

Docbrown · 05-07-2021 8:08pm

Any pirate activity the weekend around the country lads??

Declan A Walsh · 15-07-2021 2:06pm

Retro FM was on 92.0 FM around Dublin on Tuesday night with live broadcasts from Mike Doyle. He gave out a phone number for requests. Will that be a regular thing now for Retro FM or was it a random weeknight broadcast? They are usually only on Sundays, especially their live broadcasts. Occasionally, they crop up on a Saturday, and very occasionally on a weeknight, with automated music, but never live.