Recent tropospheric activity

[Adam792]

and which kind of aerial/antenna are you using?

Just an FM dipole, in my loft.

It's not optimised for those low frequencies but a couple of stations do come in every now and again via sporadic E.

 

[rodscha]

and is it only the old Comecon nations that use these frequecies?

 

[Terryl]

Here is a good site to look for FM DX...(radio skip)

https://www.dxmaps.com/spots/mapg.php?Lan=E&Frec=50&ML=&Map=NA&HF=&DXC=ING2&GL=

And here is the latest for Europe....Real active today.

 

[Adam792]

and is it only the old Comecon nations that use these frequecies?

Yes that's right! For broadcast purposes anyway.

Also, Moldova still transmits analogue television in Band I (using channels R2 and R3) which some DXers are also able to receive (similar frequencies to OIRT FM).

 

[rodscha]

thank you,and maybe Malta or Crete too have analogue tv still?

 

[Channel Hopper]

thank you,and maybe Malta or Crete too have analogue tv still.

Only amateur use. Analogue broadcasts came to an end in Greece in 2014, Malta some three years earlier.

 

[rodscha]

maybe north africa..egypt?

 

[Channel Hopper]

M-Net I think was the last to be broadcast in Africa, but that was years ago.

An AM radio is probably your only chance of receiving analogue transmissons, unless you experiment yourself .

 

[Adam792]

Morocco and Algeria I think turned off analogue TV very recently, but they used VHF Band III rather than Band I, so much less common to receive via E skip. I've heard of it being received via tropospheric propagation in Corsica.

 

[Adam792]

RTÉ radio networks and Beat 102-103 booming in here in Gloucestershire tonight even on a portable, from the Mount Leinster transmitter in the South East of Ireland. Earlier Mullaghanish was coming in too.

 

[Adam792]

Irish FM radio blaring in again here in Gloucestershire this afternoon.

 

[Lazarus]

Irish FM radio blaring in again here in Gloucestershire this afternoon.

What, no Border checks?

 

[Adam792]

Some E skip this morning, Chaine 3 Algeria on 87.6. The satellite version on 13°E is a bit laggy in comparison!

 

[rodscha]

because it travels up and down(2x 36.000kms) to you...longer than the overland distance!

 

[7mdish]

Not sure that someone is interesting in it, but I would like to post my experience coming from many many years ago.
I'm near Milan. It was the summer of 1983. I was playing with a portable, 5-inches screen TV set having a vertical telescopic antenna in it. No external aerials.
I wanted to get normal RAI broadcasting in VHF Band III in a different room of my house.
Rotating the tuning knob suddenly I found a "strange" signal coming from an unknown channel. Fading was high, but when the signal was strong enough I clearly identified TVE 1 (Spain). Just in a half an hour the signal was gone.
I often got many european stations through sporadic E during those years, but always in Band I (50-60 MHz), never at almost 200 MHz!
It was a unique experience, never repeated. Thanks.

 

[Adam792]

It’s now developed into a huge sporadic E opening this afternoon with the FM band in central England full of Spanish and Italian stations, with some France, Portugal, Morocco and even Swiss stations thrown into the mix.

 

[SimonE]

It’s now developed into a huge sporadic E opening this afternoon with the FM band in central England full of Spanish and Italian stations, with some France, Portugal, Morocco and even Swiss stations thrown into the mix.

Indeed quite spectacular. On 144mhz I have had two Italian contacts [Rome and Capri]

 

[Channel Hopper]

It may improve even further as the week progresses.

Europe Sporadic-E time-lapse video | webcam.io

NOTE: Due to restrictions on the number of images on this free account I'm only running the timelapse between 03h and 23h UT. A new frame is added every 5 minutes. The maps are generated by ...

webcam.io

 

[Terryl]

The FM band is quite active over there today..

 

[Channel Hopper]

Three spots just coming into view.

https://services.swpc.noaa.gov/images/animations/sdo-hmii/latest.jpg