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Avainsana: Utö17

Utö17: Close Range Conditions

Another day, another log. A promising Balkan opening in the morning targeted the western shores of the Black Sea. But instead of moving west to the Greek honeypots, Es decided to move north and eventually came too close.

In the evening we had a patchy Russian OIRT opening, also then most of the stuff came too close for comfort. With interference from the Icelandic football team 😉

Highlights of the day:

87.800 14.6. 1409- NOR: NRK Sørlandet. Hovdefjell-tx. 734 km tropo with regional px. MB/Utö17
89.000 14.6. 0924- TUR: Joy Türk, Istanbul (mam-ist). JJS/Utö17
89.400 14.6. 0855- TUR: R Denge Kurdi, Istanbul (mam-ist). JJS/Utö17
90.700 14.6. 0942- MDA: Aquarelle FM, Chisinau. JTK/Utö17
91.700 14.6. 0905- TUR: Tentative: R Gül, Gebze (mam-koc). 6 minutes of ads to Gebze. JJS/Utö17
92.200 14.6. 0902- TUR: R Gözde, Yalova (Yal). JJS/Utö17
92.200 14.6. 0937- UKR: R Pyatnytsya, Izmayl (OD). Local ads. JJS/Utö17
92.700 14.6. 0913- TUR: Romantik Ses, Adapazari (mam-sak). JJS/Utö17
93.300 14.6. 0943- MDA: R Zum, Chisinau. JTK/Utö17
93.500 14.6. 0942- MDA: Hit FM, Chisinau. Cimişlia-tx. Just network ads, blah JTK/Utö17
93.500 14.6. 0904- TUR: R Mehtap, Istanbul (mam-ist). JJS/Utö17
94.400 14.6. 0906- TUR: R Nikomedya, Izmit (mam-koc). JJS/Utö17
95.400 14.6. 0911- TUR: R Gebze, Gebze (mam-koc). JJS/Utö17
95.500 14.6. 0935- TUR: Bayram FM, Istanbul (mam-ist). JJS/Utö17
96.900 14.6. 0918- TUR: Kemençe FM, Sakarya (mam-sak). JJS/Utö17
97.600 14.6. 0914- TUR: R Müzik, Istanbul (mam-ist). JJS/Utö17
98.600 14.6. 0910- UKR: Grad FM, Odesa. Izmail-tx. Has replaced the Moye103.8 (Odesa) network. JTK/Utö17
99.800 14.6. 0916- TUR: Power Türk, Istanbul (mam-ist). JJS/Utö17

If Madeira will be confirmed (it may be tricky since there was no local content in the Radio Renascenca show; however it’s the only known Renascenca transmitter on the frequency and the bearing was just right), it will be FM radio country #71 heard in Finland. The new ones heard in the 2010s are:

#68 LBY 26.05.2010 JY
#69 IND 01.08.2013 MSO
#70 CHN 04.07.2014 MSO
#71 MDR 12.06.2016 OSY/Utö17 (pending confirmation)

(The other 2010s highlights – ARM, CYT, MLT and GEO – were already part of the old count.)

 

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Utö17: Ireland 0 Sweden 4

Yesterday Lady E made an appearance during the Republic of Ireland – Sweden match @Euro2016. It was a draw in Saint-Denis, but in Utö the Irish only had a brief upper hand as the regular Swedish tropo stations dominated the band.

Later in the evening there was another Es cloud, this time above Finland, that brought in OIRT stations from the Kola peninsula and Murmansk. But the highest frequency we got was only the TV sound on 83.74 (and most of the crew couldn’t take their eyes off Belgium vs Italy). A pity as there would be a lot to discover there.

Here are the best players of the Irish team:

95.500 13.6. 1639- IRL: LMFM, Drogheda.
96.600 13.6. 1640- IRL: R Kerry. Killarney (KY) tx 100w.
97.300 13.6. 1639- IRL: KFM Kildare.
98.100 13.6. 1640- IRL: 98FM, Dublin. Three Rock Mountain tx.

Wolves

The Wolves of Uhtua, JUS and JJK, keep themselves busy sweeping the cliffs between Es openings. The weather has improved steadily, all day sunshine and up to +18 C in the shade.

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Utö17: French Football Fever Continues

Madame E seems to be really fond of the Euro Finals, as we had a great 3-hour French opening yesterday evening, right in the middle of the evening game, again.

The beginning and the end were the best. In the middle the band was a mush with too many stations, including Belgians and Germans. At times topping 75 dBf on the XDR scale (noise level is around 10 dBf with our system).

Some Spanish stations in the mix, and highly likely the first ever log of Madeira in Finland. Though there was no local content for a 100% match.

As all things come in threes, we’ll be expecting the next ”le foot” feast soon 😉

Highlights off the top of the heap below:

87.500 12.6. 1559- D: Kick!fm, Gelsenkirchen (NrW). Tx Essen (NrW). JJS/Utö17
88.000 12.6. 1816- + MDR: Tentative: R Renascença. Pico do Silva -tx. ID. The only Renascença on the fq… and the bearing matches exactly. 4111 km. OSY/Utö17
88.400 12.6. 1819- I: Antenna R Esse, Monteriggioni (SI). Tx Monte Argentario (GR). JJS/Utö17
88.700 12.6. 1901- E: Cadena 100, Madrid (MAD-M). 93.6 COPE (RDS), 100.0, 90.2 SER (RDS), and 89.5 (”gooooooooooooooooooool de Alemania!!!!!) In Galicia, Lugo province most likely. JJS/Utö17
89.200 12.6. 1900- F: Fréquence 10, Dinan (22). JJS&JTK/Utö17
89.400 12.6. 1810- F: Plus FM, Blois (41). JJS/Utö17
90.100 12.6. 1800- BEL: DH Radio. Perwez (wal-bra). JJS/Utö17
91.700 12.6. 1827- I: Radio Orte. JJK/Utö17
92.300 12.6. 1657- F: RJFM. Montluçon (03). JJS&JTK/Utö17
93.400 12.6. 1752- F: Latina FM, Paris (75). Troyes (10)-tx. JJS/Utö17
94.900 12.6. 1630- + F: R Graf’hit, Compiègne (60). JTK/Utö17
95.800 12.6. 1753- F: Latitude FM Troyes (10). JJS/Utö17
96.200 12.6. 1613- BEL: 7 FM, Wemperhardt. Tx Gouvy/Beho in Luxembourg. JJS/Utö17
98.400 12.6. 1649- F: Sensations, Guyancourt (78). JJS/Utö17
98.800 12.6. 1646- F: R Espace, Lyon (69). JJS/Utö17
99.000 12.6. 1624- F: Nevers FM, Coulanges les Nevers (58). JTK/Utö17
100.000 12.6. 1833-1841 E: RPA Radio del Principado de Asturias, Gijón (AST). Local football. RDS ID only. Utö17
100.100 12.6. 1835- F: RCA, Saint-Nazaire (44). JJS/Utö17
100.300 12.6. 1840- F: Océane FM, Questembert (56). ”Océane a Pontchâteau sur 94 5.” Faux local announcement. JJS/Utö17
101.000 12.6. 1641- F: RFL 100, Tours (37). ”Notre radio en Touraine, ce RFL 100”. JJS/Utö17
101.700 12.6. 1646- + F: Maradio Cristal, Mantes-la-Jolie (78). JJS/Utö17
103.500 12.6. 1643- + F: Virgin R, Paris (75). ”Virgin Radio a Paris 103 5, 103 5.” Real local ID. JJS/Utö17
104.200 12.6. 1609- BEL: Warm FM, Seraing. Liège-tx. ”Your daily prescription of electronic music”. Yum. JTK/Utö17
104.500 12.6. 1629- BEL: Must FM, Habay-La-Neuve (wal-lux). Tx Rouvroy / Montquintin. JJS/Utö17
106.500 12.6. 1626- BEL: Metropole Radio, Gaum. JJS/Utö17
107.300 12.6. 1620- F: R Alpa, Le Mans (73). JTK/Utö17
107.900 12.6. 1554- F: N’Radio. JJK/Utö17

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Utö17: Blue Sky DXing

Beautiful morning, but no sign of DX (save a little UK opening before 0500 UTC). Time to delve into yesterday’s loot…

Antenna_field

The antennas reaching out to the Baltic Sea

Lighthouse

The lighthouse and the pilot station. Both pictures taken from the balcony of cabin ”A” – can’t complain about the view!

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Utö17: Football fever

Great 3+ hour opening started today before 1000 UTC with MUF @108 to Russia (KD) and Ukraine, shifted later then to Turkey and the Balkans, and died out slowly. At one point, Istanbul stations covered the whole band with their very narrow 200 kHz spacing.

In the afternoon, we got a new start to the UK and Ireland, but MUF barely reached 98 MHz. And, of course, to celebrate Euro 2016, we got a brief stint to the west coast of France during their opening match in the evening.

Here’s what we have found so far (+ means First in Finland):

87.900 10.6. 1110- UKR: R ERA FM, Odesa. Local ads.
88.200 10.6. 1252- ROU: Stil FM – R ZU, Călăraşi (CL). Tx Olteniţa.
88.800 10.6. 1915- SUI: R BEO, Bern.
89.900 10.6. 1320- BUL: R Focus, Plovdid. Local ads
91.000 10.6. 1110- UKR: R ES – The Voice of European Union. Tx Odesa, ex-Gala R.
93.200 10.6. 1215- + ROU: Smile FM, Vaslui.
94.200 10.6. 1303- GRC: Status R, Alexandroupolis (33).
94.500 10.6. 1026- TUR: R.Müzik, Sanyer (Istanbul).
95.800 10.6. 1138- TUR: Bayram FM, Istanbul.
96.300 10.6. 1346- G: Heart Bristol.
96.400 10.6. 1355- G: The Wave 96.4, Swansea.
96.900 10.6. 1148- + TUR: Kemençe FM, Sakarya.
97.100 10.6. 1354- G: R Carmarthenshire, Llanelli.
97.600 10.6. 1050- LTU: Radiostotis M-1 Plius, Vilnius. Kaunas tx. Tropo.
98.100 10.6. 1206- TUR: Raks FM.
99.600 10.6. 1020- + RUS: R Hit FM, Krymsk (KD).
100.000 10.6. 1025- TUR: Power FM, Istanbul.
100.300 10.6. 1023- UKR: Radio More, Simferopol.
101.100 10.6. 1232- ROU: Sky FM, Constanta.
101.100 10.6. 1005- + RUS: Avtoradio, Sochi (KD). Local weather by local sponsor (Охрана Плюс).
101.200 10.6. 0958- RUS: Retro FM, Krasnodar. Local ads
101.300 10.6. 1158- MDA: Radio Sport, Chisinau. 101 i 3 FM Radio Sport.
102.100 10.6. 1155- MDA: GRT FM, Comrat.
102.300 10.6. 1029- UKR: R Sputnik Krimu, Simferopol (KR).
103.500 10.6. 1030- TUR: Haber Radyi Samsun.
104.700 10.6. 1010- RUS: Nashe R, Krasnodar (KD). Local ads
105.000 10.6. 1029- TUR: Tutku FM, Samsun.
106.900 10.6. 1015- + RUS: Dorozhnoye R, Sochi (KD). Local number for advertisers
107.500 10.6. 1009- + UKR: R Pyatnytsya, Berdyans´k (ZP).
107.800 10.6. 1022- TUR: Radyo Hevi Istanbul.

 

Somerset

BBC Somerset promised something better from the UK, but not much more materialized. Well, maybe later…

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Utö17 DXpedition: Antennas Are Up

After some wind-related erectile dysfunctions, we’re finally all set!

Below is a scene from the shoreline, with a vertical 15 element Körner closest and another horizontal one further down, both equipped with a Research Comms 1301 masthead amplifier (28 dB). Both antennas are then split to each listener. The ”power budget” seems to sustain the losses from the cables and all the splits just fine, without any loss to the S/N ratio. Some even split their end once more to serve multiple receivers without noticeable degradation.

The two cabins are in the background, some 80 meters away from where the picture was taken.

In addition, there is one common Band I/OIRT yagi and one horizontal 8 element Triax with the same pre-amp per each cabin to cater for the insatiable needs of our tens of receivers 😉

Masts

From left to right: MB, JJS, JY & OSY

Da_Hood

And that’s me (JTK) behind the camera. JJK was shutter shy, and we’re still waiting for JUS to join us Friday evening.

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Good old in and out tricks

Easy lazy day with occasional short French openings. In the morning to NW edge of l’Hexagone, then Paris region, and finally Marseille and thereabouts. Here’s the quick roundup of today’s crème de la crème (+ denotes a First in Finland, and local opt-outs count).

87.800 9.6. 1252- + F: Radio Star, Orange (84). Local ID
88.600 9.6. 1025- + F: Graffiti Urban Radio, La Roche-sur-Yon (85).
88.700 9.6. 1016- F: Nostalgie Charente Maritime, La Rochelle (17).
88.900 9.6. 1250- F: Delta FM Terre de Camargue, Le Grau-du-Roi (30).
89.000 9.6. 0523- F: RCF Finistère, Brest (29).
89.100 9.6. 1003- F: RTL2 Nord. Local ID.
89.400 9.6. 0658- D: NE-WS 89.4, Düsseldorf. MS! 1 kW only
90.400 9.6. 1016- F: Radio D4B, Melle (79).
90.600 9.6. 0957- F: R Bouton, Boutancourt (08).
91.100 9.6. 1004- F: Radio Intensité, Chateaudun (28).
91.300 9.6. 0843- F: Cherie FM, Paris. Local ID.
91.600 9.6. 0843- F: Cherie FM, Tours. Local ID.
93.600 9.6. 0844- F: R Béton, Tours. RDS ID with talks
95.500 9.6. 1005- F: RCF Charente-Maritime, La Rochelle.
96.300 9.6. 1005- F: Radio RPS FM.

 

Delta_FM

Delta FM from Southern France was one of the highlights of the day.

Wishful

The map of Europe on our wall with some wishful thinking as an appendix beyond the NW corner. Always be prepared!

JY with his arsenal. Big screens and tiny SDRs.

 

I might as well… Jump! An example of the plentiful meteors that crash in every minute. Radio NE-WS, Düsseldorf was a real knockout, as I was just fine-tuning my cables. (Sorry, there’s a bug in WP that seems to prevent me from turning this particular picture 90 deg).

À suivre (j’espère)…

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Utö17 DXpedition starting slowly but surely

Thermometer

All systems go, or at least some of them. Heavy winds have prevented us from lifting up the Körners, so we’ll have to make do with standard 8-element Triaxes. That’s one element per each Centigrade. It has never been so cold while we’re in Utö as it is today. Last week it would have been totally different.

We got none of yesterday evening’s big news, i.e. Xinjiang PBS (logged by our still missing team member JUS still at home in Joensuu – nice timing). Just some regular OIRT stuff.

But we’ve been getting some quick openings to NW France to keep us fully alert (and not venturing to any further antenna projects).

Grounded

Poor 16-element Körners are still grounded.

Beton

Some of the better French stations of this morning. The University station Radio Béton from Tours. Quickly in and out with RDS codes and talk about the entrance exams. More of this soupe, please!

To be continued… 😉

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