London Calling.

Post by **Andy Richards** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 21:06 pm

Conditions really seem to be getting better.
Don't get me wrong,they are still crap.............just not as crap as a few weeks ago!

I guess we would call it "Short Skip" again this weekend.
But I think that term is misleading.Sure,most of us could hear "Local" stations that we would normally not hear or with better signals than normal.But it is not just short skip.
There is another skip too.But how is it different from a "Normal Skip"?

UK stations were coming in well on the continent last week as well as in the UK,I bet it was the same today.

The big question is what was reception like in Scandinavia and North America?

Having said all that,most of the stations I heard this weekend were broadcasting from The British Isles.

LHH were pretty solid all weekend.Radio 48 were audible most of the time(Thanks for the Sabbath!)
Telstar South were quite strong at times.
But the best of British this weekend was Radio Merlin!Firstly,a really good signal for 80 watts.Stronger in the morning,but still OK this afternoon.
Jackie Frost was like a blast of fresh air on the Pirate bands!Superb idea to put her on,playing really old but superb tunes early on a Sunday morning.It was like a blast of nostalgia,really good on a warm Sunday
morning.I bet the Merlin guys got a really good reaction from her programme.
That's another thing.There are not enough women in Pirate Radio.
Merlin carried on after Jackie's show with some really good 60's and 70's music and later an hour of big band music!!Brilliant!!

As for the Continental stations,Mystery/Playback were poor reception here.

Radio Scotland was the weakest I have ever heard him,but at least I did hear him!!

Plenty of weak signals,mostly I couldn't ID,but I got Altrex and Reimus.

The best Continental stations with me were Orion Radio.Chugging along,same signal with me as the last few weeks.Well done John!And VOTN tonight on 3905 playing Celine Dion...............

Later Pink Floyd,Metallica.

Saturday 20/06/09

4025Khz - 0755-0800 - Laser Hot Hits - 34423 - The Hollies.Deep and rapid fading.
4025Khz - 2135-2140 - Laser Hot Hits - 44434 - Soft Rock.Later The Moody Blues.
5810Khz - 2100-2105 - Telstar South - 33443 - The Golden Boys playing Dusty Springfield and Badfinger.
6210Khz - 0800-0805 - Radio 48 - 25332 - The Clash - "London Calling".
6210Khz - 2105-2110 - Radio 48 - 34433 - Playing Black Sabbath for Andy Richards and Frans in Belgium.
6220Khz - 2153-2158 - Mystery/Playback - 44434 - The Beatles - "Hey Jude".Italian.Same prog as 6870.
6240Khz - 2158-2203 - Radio Altrex - 33332 - Just copied the ID.
6425Khz - 2340-2345 - Radio Reimus - 33333 - C&W and Dutch Music.
6870Khz - 2110-2115 - Mystery/Playback - 33333 - JJ?Playing Jean Michel Jarre - "Oxygene".

Sunday 21/06/09

3895Khz - 1902-1907 - Bluestar Radio - 34333 - Dutch Music.
3905Khz - 1907-1912 - VOTN - 45334 - Opera,Power Ballads,"The Power of Love".Later Floyd and Metallica.
3920Khz - 2050-2055 - Antonio Radio - 35433 - "Test station from NL".Dutch Music.
4025Khz - 0738-0743 - Laser Hot Hits - 45433 - Playing Mike Oldfield.
4025Khz - 1730-1735 - Laser Hot Hits - 34333 - Pop/Rock.
4025Khz - 1915-1920 - Laser Hot Hits - 54334 - The Eagles,Boz Scaggs.
4025Khz - 2130-2135 - Britain Radio Int(Via LHH) - 54334 - Roger Davies.
5810Khz - 0953-0958 - Telstar South - 35433 - Talking over "Born Free" then Dusty Springfield.
5815Khz - 0732-0737 - Orion Radio - 35433 - Yes - "Owner of a Lonely Heart".Closed at 0901.
5825Khz - 1107-1112 - Radio Rapido - 25332 - Chic - "Le Freak".
6140Khz - 0902-0907 - EMR - 55444 - Mike Taylor playing U2 - "Beautiful Day".Closed at 0930.
6200Khz - 0753-0757 - Radio Scotland Int - 25432 - Dutch Music.Closed at 0757.
6210Khz - 0743-0748 - Radio 48 - 25332 - Just copied the ID.
6220Khz - 0853-0858 - UNID - 24332.
6220Khz - 1735-1740 - Mystery/Playback - 33333 - Pop/Rock.
6280Khz - 0748-0753 - Radio Merlin Int - 45434 - Jackie Frost playing pre-Pop music from the 40's and 50's.
6375Khz - 0935-0940 - Radio Hamamelis(From UK DXer) - 25332.

A good weekend of radio!

Andy Richards.

ukdxer · Post by **ukdxer** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 22:15 pm

"5825Khz - 1107-1112 - UNID - 25332 - Chic - "Le Freak"".... probably Radio Rapido, also used 5800 this evening

"6375Khz - 0935-0940 - UNID - 25332." Radio Hamamelis

(IDs came through Iann's chatroom)

Merlin was easily the strongest station on 48m this morning. After so many months of not being able to hear UK stations on 48m due to poor propagation, it is good to hear several on 48 & 52m ... also Radio 48 on 6210, Radio Underground on 6266, Rapido on 5825/5800 and Telstar South on 5810 (another strong signal this evening).

BRI on 4025 is currently S9+20dB. Good to hear Roger Davis' programmes with a good signal as he puts a lot of effort into producing interesting shows.

Conditions poor during the day but evenings more than make up for it.

73s

Post by **JoJo** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 10:49 am

Hello Andy, thanks for the report and comments. Talking about skip; I know only the short and long skip. Merlin was strong again, and i copied some Dutchies too

Also got radio Rapido on 5825kc the sunday morning. He told me he will be again at the summermeeting so i guess we have some nice things to talk about.

Post by **Andy Richards** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 21:26 pm

Hi Guys,

As you say,UK DXer,it is good to be able to hear the UK stations so well when usually they are weak or inaudible.I'm sure it is a similar experience in NL too.

John,you say you only know long and short skip.Fair enough.
But that does not explain why Merlin has been so strong in the UK and in NL.
Or that your signal has been good in the UK and NL too.
I think it is more complicated than that.
Maybe down to the aerials used.
I think maybe in these conditions dipoles and inverted L's will be different.
And perhaps verticals will be poor.
My feelings only.Any experts wish to comment?

Do different aerials perform better than others in these conditions?

Andy Richards.

Johnno · Post by **Johnno** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 22:45 pm

I guess in short skip (200-600 kM) condx, the horizontal dipole / centre fed inv V and maybe a sloper will be be better.
An end fed inv L and verticals will be better for the long skip.

Foton · Post by **Foton** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 23:25 pm

From my point of view - i used to say also about "medium" skip. Of course it is not proffesional term - just used for my own purposes. This is simply result of my more distant location. The closest station I've everd heard was R.Saxonia [tent. 400km away from me]. Apart it, all stations are more distant. Dutch stations are located around 1000km from me and stations from UK 1200...1500 or even more. And New York = 7000km. So from this point of view, except Saxonia short skip is useless for me. The best (=1000-1500) is named by me as "medium", and "long" I reserve for let's say more than 2000km eg. N.America.
This is just my, very unprofessional, point of view.
I agree, probably this weekend short skip mostly existed. I herd low number of station whereas many listeners from UK,F,D triangle was happy because signals were good.
Of course it is not so simple to say "short"/"long" or even "short" "medium" "long". Airwaves do not behave like in simply pictures - like line mirroring between Earth's surface and Ionosphere... So we will be probably constantly surprised by conditions - which is maybe not comfortable but beautiful.
And antennas - it's another, not in 100% predictable area. Too many factors influence on final results. Even typical dipole can behave in different way if it is hung low or high.
When we add all factors together we probably would say [or only me] that we still know only a little about airwaves behavior...
I wonder about communication between vertical and horizontal antennas. From theoretical point of view it is impossible. But because airwaves are reflected from ionosphere [often many times] its lose polarization features so can be received by all kind of antennas. Maybe during short skip condition airwaves travel through simple path and retain more polarization than in different conditions?? Only guessing, I am not expert. But I'm sure experts can write many pages about antennas and propagation. And by the way - I tested this weekend antenna made of 9m fishing rode. And results are interesting. There was some stations which was better audible on this strange antenna. It really could be interesting solution for people who can not erect full length dipole. And verticals tends to be better as DX antenna so should work better during long skip.
And about loooooong skip to N.America. Previous weekend I heard three [all confirmed] us station. Last weekend two station [MAC and UNID - tent. Dead Cat Radio]. So DX conditions exist but I suffer a lot due to high level of thunderstorm noises...

Post by **Andy Richards** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 21:21 pm

Interesting stuff.

For a simple straightforward answer I would agree with Johnno.
In general I would say this is true.

But Foton's reply says it all.There are too many variables.
That is part of the "Horror" and "Beauty" of shortwave.
It will always break the "Rules" and surprise you..............

Andy Richards.