BANDSCAN THREAD

Mr. MooYagi · 25-09-2021 12:49pm

What's happening today out there fellas?

behanator · 25-09-2021 1:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117937098#Comment_117937098

Station calling itself EIGHTIES strong in Dublin city centre last night and today on 94.3. RetroNow moved frequency apparently.

WHL · 26-09-2021 12:44am

Did a bandscan for UK stations today in West Cork. Used a Sony HDR-S10HDIP with a 5 element yagi that was about 8 feet off the ground and facing NE.

88.1 BBC R2 Strong with RDS (North Hessary Tor)

89.1 BBC R2 Fair (Wrotham)

89.3 BBC R2 Strong (Haverfordwest)

89.4 French Unknown Weak

89.7 BBC R2 OK (Redruth)

89.9 BBC R2 Strong (Wenvoe)

90.3 BBC R3 Strong with RDS (North Hessary Tor)

90.8 BBC R3 Weak (Ridge Hill)

91.3 BBC R3 Good (Wrotham)

91.5 BBC R3 Strong (Haverfordwest)

91.7 BBC R3 Weak ?

91.9 BBC R3 Strong (Redruth)

92.1 BBC R3 Warbly with co-channel (Wenvoe )

92.5 BBC R4 Strong with RDS (North Hessary Tor)

92.8 BBC R4 Weak (Isle of Man)

93.0 BBC R4 Very weak (Ridge Hill)

93.5 BBC R4 Good (Wrotham)

93.7 BBC Cymru Strong with RDS (Haverfordwest)

94.1 BBC R4 Strong (Redruth)

94.3 BBC R4 Warbly with co-channel (Wenvoe)

95.2 BBC Cornwall Weak (Caradon Hill)

95.9 BBC Wales Co-channel (Haverfordwest)

96.8 BBC Cymru Strong with RDS (Wenvoe)

97.7 BBC R1 Strong with RDS (North Hessary Tor)

98.9 BBC R1 Strong with RDS (Haverfordwest)

99.3 BBC R1 Good (Redruth)

99.5 BBC R1 Warbly with co-channel (Wenvoe)

100 Classic FM Strong with RDS (North Hessary Tor)

100.3 Classic FM Warbly (Rowridge?)

100.5 Classic FM Good (Preseli)

100.9 Classic FM Good (Wrotham)

101.3 Classic FM Very weak ?

101.5 Classic FM OK (Redruth)

101.7 Classic FM Good (Wenvoe)

102.2 Pirate FM Weak (Caradon Hill)

102.5 BBC Pembrokeshire Strong with RDS (Haverfordwest)

102.8 Pirate FM OK (Redruth)

103.9 BBC Cornwall Good (Redruth)

104.0 BBC R4 Good (Blaenplwyf)

104.9 BBC R4 Strong with RDS (Haverfordwest)

107 Heart Weak readable (Redruth)

marno21 · 26-09-2021 10:15am

Impressive list. 89.4 the French station is France Musique from Brest (170kW). 91.7 & 101.3 are from Kilvey Hill near Swansea. Your BBC R4 on 92.8 is more than likely from Carmel which usually comes in strong in Cork (the strongest is usually Radio Carmarthenshire on 97.1, it's an oddity in Wales that R4 is inband on 92.8). The Wenvoe signals there would be much clearer without cochannel from Mullaghanish)

WHL · 26-09-2021 1:57pm

Thanks marno21. It’s a cracking radio for selectivity. Only fault is that it is 110v and you lose the memories if you unplugged it. If I had more time I could have swung the antenna towards Cornwall and tried again

One More Toy · 27-09-2021 8:17pm

I'd like to get back into SW listening again, did it all through my teens. I've a bit more money now than I had then though. My old Roberts radio is at home, I remember attaching the antenna to a long wire and I was able to receive the unlicenseds. Not sure why this worked so well, use to read all the magazines I could get my hands on on trips to easons up north

tinytobe · 27-09-2021 11:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940137#Comment_117940137

How were you able to buy a Sony HDR-S10HDIP ? Aren't these radios only on sale in the US and even there very hard to get?

WHL · 28-09-2021 9:34am

Used to travel to the US every few months with work. I bought it on eBay and got it delivered to the hotel. I brought over an over-sized suitcase and lots of bubble-wrap :). I had fun over there listening to the HD radio before I left. My first transformer was annoying as it had a loud buzz so I upgraded that earlier this year. Excellent radio. You can hear stations just 100 kHz up or down from strong stations. Just looking back. It cost me $106 plus postage. Worth every cent!

tinytobe · 29-09-2021 6:16am

There is a guy by the name of Amos Schmidt in Austria who also seems to have imported a Sony HDR-S10HDIP.

http://dxpg.at/?page_id=12

http://dxpg.at/?page_id=83

This radio seems rare and unavailable in Europe.

WHL · 29-09-2021 7:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117952606#Comment_117952606

I hadn’t considered that I “might” have the only one in the country. The only problem with it is that it doesn’t have a memory capacitor so if you unplug it you lose the memories. I also have a Sony ST-SB920 which also has great selectivity. That has a memory capacitor (which I had to replace) but it needs to be used with an amplifier. You can’t have it all! I kept a look out for a Sony XDR-F1HD which is supposed to be the best of all but never got one

galtee boy · 29-09-2021 8:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940137#Comment_117940137

Can I be nosey and ask where in West Cork you are ? Near the coast I'm presuming? Was there a high pressure lift that day ? I'm in North Co.Cork and often get the BBC nationals from North Hessary Tor on the car radio in high pressure weather. I often wondered would I get anything a bit more frequently with a good aerial pointing south eastwards and a good fm receiver with an aerial input.

tinytobe · 29-09-2021 9:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117955876#Comment_117955876

The important thing is that the radio has narrow filters, around 100 kHz or so. Many radios are around 250 kHz with their filters. What still surprises me is that this radio from the US market has these narrow filters. Maybe it's because they were built for HD Radio?

As far as I know only Romania uses HD Radio in Europe?

WHL · 30-09-2021 9:10am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117956030#Comment_117956030

I was between Skibbereen and Baltimore and was about 2km from the sea. I had a clear view to the south-east but had the yagi pointing NE and actually have a hill rising about 300ft higher than me and about 400m away. I was only there for a few hours. It was a nice morning but looking online the pressure wasn’t particularly high (1014 mb or so). I am there regularly enough and the stronger BBC transmitters would be regular enough. I would expect reception to be much less frequent in the winter and was surprised that it was so strong in late September. As mentioned the antenna is only about 8 feet off the ground. I will probably be there again this weekend and will try again. I got the antenna from Germany. 1.76m long so hard to keep it up permanently https://www.antennenland.net/3H-FM-5

galtee boy · 30-09-2021 2:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117957741#Comment_117957741

Thanks for the info, keep us posted.

Antenna · 30-09-2021 6:36pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117940137#Comment_117940137

good DX, some difficult catches there

Receiving Wrotham (which is a main site located on the south-east outskirts of London) is good going.

I'm assuming you had the Yagi horizontally polarised? This would also have deceased the strength of nearer Irish signals (usually Vertical polarized only) whilst these UK transmitters are mixed (both H and V) so helping UK reception

Would also be interesting to hear what distant Irish local stations you could pull in whilst so far south? (use vertical if you can)

You could also try aiming at Spain (with vertical polarisation) , one frequency to try is 106.6 from a transmitter site over 1000m high in north west Spain with clearish frequency 106.6 (RDS= RNE 5-LU) which sometimes makes it across to the south coast with long distance ducting (as distinct to Sporadic E) - that site visible on the link below

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4600812,-7.5929193,3a,90y,173.63h,111.12t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOCwA6-BtOt_WhuuAYXSIkzdNg44TOjrr8ggvA3!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOCwA6-BtOt_WhuuAYXSIkzdNg44TOjrr8ggvA3%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya320.6072-ro-0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096

castle2012 · 30-09-2021 8:09pm

Club FM Dublin's website down and their live stream stopped 2 days ago. I wonder have they ceased permanently?

Hope not

WHL · 30-09-2021 8:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960252#Comment_117960252

Thanks Antenna

Yes. The yagi was horizontally polarised. I hope to get down tomorrow and I can try it vertically. There is a hill running from NW to NE about half a mile behind me which might block. I presumed that I was getting Wrotham as it was 250 kW and reception is generally good. It seems to match the frequencies though. As far as I can see Classic FM on 100.9 is only from Wrotham or Selkirk

marno21 · 30-09-2021 8:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960567#Comment_117960567

I’ve gotten Wrotham on 98.8 and 100.9 in Co. Cork before during a heavy lift, so it likely is Wrotham alright. Also Greatest Hits Radio on 105.8 which is 4kW from Crystal Palace.

dxhound2005 · 30-09-2021 11:03pm

@WHL

Thanks for the link to the German antenna maker. I intend to get something like that, but there seems to be very few 88 - 108 MHz antennas on the market compared to TV antennas. Anyone else here with an external FM antenna?

WHL · 01-10-2021 12:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117961253#Comment_117961253

No problem dxhound 2005. Looking back at my emails, the price of the antenna was €29.50 and the delivered price was €54. From looking at the Skywaves DX forum and others I think that the Peter Korner 9 element antenna is the bees knees. They say that they will make that to order and the base price is €109. Might go after that some day. You can also translate the site to English

end of the road · 01-10-2021 12:48am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960563#Comment_117960563

trax dublin also down now, both website and stream.

StreetLight · 01-10-2021 5:27am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960563#Comment_117960563

They have disappeared from FreeDAB too.

tinytobe · 01-10-2021 8:42am

Regarding East Coast FM, just wondering why are there two frequencies, 96,2 and 99,9, at the same transmitter location at Saggart Hill?

marno21 · 01-10-2021 9:14am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117961812#Comment_117961812

96.2 is from Bray Head and 99.9 is from Saggart Hill

tinytobe · 01-10-2021 9:44am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117961883#Comment_117961883

Thanks I didn't know that.

Losty Dublin · 01-10-2021 11:54am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117961883#Comment_117961883

Wasn't there a 96.2 from Saggart on 96.2 at some stage?

castle2012 · 02-10-2021 4:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117961594#Comment_117961594

Yes a new online station called Passion Radio Dublin has now appeared on tune in app.

I do hope the guys in Club and Trax come back on air.

end of the road · 02-10-2021 7:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117967972#Comment_117967972

passion has been around since earlier this year and has been on tunein for a while as well, but has no other internet presence, unless that has changed recently.

they started off with a format of new dance music, mainly commercial house, but moved to their new format around about 3 months ago i think.

Declan A Walsh · 03-10-2021 6:50pm

Update from south/south-east Dublin for this weekend:

92.0: Retro FM - oldies - today

94.3: Station with RDS Eighties - '80s music - yesterday and today.

96.0: ABC 80s (no RDS picked up, presume same name) - '80s music - on all weekend. Barely could pick it up and not helped by overlapping with BBC Radio 4.

105.7 : The Beach - chilled dance - today.

107.1 : RetroNow - dance - over the weekend - Co. Meath-based dance pirate beaming in towards Dublin. Barely could pick it up, but heard ID at one stage.

1395 kh MW: Energy Power AM - oldies - on all weekend, was relaying the aforementioned station on 94.3 FM today.

Declan A Walsh · 04-10-2021 9:37am

Has Hot FM on 91.0FM and Chill FM on 87.6 FM called it a day? The latter was a station that I could hardly ever pick up around my neck of the woods.

Are all those low-powered stations around west Dublin gone, e.g. station relaying Coast FM on 105.7FM?

Is The Network 90s on 98.4FM still on the go? It's another of those stations that does not quite reach my area normally. I know that someone associated with it is involved with another radio venture at the moment, so The Network 90s could be on a break.

Is Phever FM still on Friday evenings on 91.6FM?

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