Wed 29.6.2011 - Weak Crete, Romania etc

Wednesday morning gave weak signals from south: Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Crete (Iraklion). Very weak and short-skips.

Some Loggings Wed 29.6.2011
87.800 -09.54- HRV: Radio Dalmacija.
87.800 -09.45- ROU: Radio Brasov "RADIO BV"-rds.
87.900 -09.40- GRC: Erotokritos FM, Iraklion. From Crete! Highlight of the day!!
88.300 -09.43- HNG: Clear id with frq-announcement but not found this station!

Tue 28.6.2011 - Jordania, Lebanon etc - New RSL!

Tuesday afternoon and evening was very extraordinary. Middle-East is very rare to receive here in SW Finland (more common in East Finland!) but on this day I heard Jordania Main Programme with RDS on 95.8 MHz !! Also Lebanese stations were strong on several frequencies! Great!
After arabs conds moved over Europe giving occasional signals from Romania, Bulgaria, Czech, Moldova and Austria - not big signals, short-timed and scattered.

Finally the clouds moved to UK-position, not high MUF but for some moments around 97 MHz.
The highlight was RSL-station Pride Radio from Newcastle on 87.9 MHz !! This is 30 days station for Gay Pride Festivals! So, the power of this station is around 10-20 Watts only!
Also many London pirates were audible: Impact FM 87.5 MHz (from South Coast of England) and tentatively 87.9 MHz (Shine), 89.6 MHz (Klick?) and 90.8 MHz (Lightning?). These were audible for the longest time. Tapes not cheked yet.
Also several Benelux-frequencies were open but unfortunately no pirates from Holland!!

Some Loggings Tue 28.6.2011
87.500 - 1038- G: Impact FM 87,5 Mhz, Southern Counties. From Southern England (Surrey, Sussex, South Coast).
87.900 -1051- + G: Pride Radio, Newcastle. Gay Pride Festival Radio. On air 20.6 - 17.7. These kind of RSL's have usually only 10-20 W power!
88.300 -1707- BUL: Radio Stara Zagora, Stara Zagora.
90.200 -1708- BUL: Radio Bella, Petrich.
91.900 -0630- LBN: Radio Al-Nour, Beirut. Later also on 91.7 with stronger signal. Lebanese also on 88.3 and 88.7 MHz.
92.900 -1713- GRC: Kiss FM, Athens.
94.600 -1730- GRC: Akroama FM, Serres.
95.800 -0630- JOR: Jordan Radio Main Programme, Amman. With RDS!
+ dozens of stations not listed now

Mon 27.6.2011 - Rome and Bordeaux !!

Monday afternoon and evening finally gave some distant signals.
The conditions started from Rome, Italy - not high MUF. After that conds moved to Bordeaux, France - for the first time ever (dep 33)!! And then back to South Italy.
After Italy-opening several arab talking-frequencies opened for 20 minutes, but only talk, no luck with id's.
The frequencies were 87.8 / 87.9/ 89.6 / 92.2 MHz. I think they were from Algeria or Tunisia
as they are on the line for multi-hop over South Italy.

Some loggings Mon 27.6.2011
88.000 -1730- F: Radio Esperance. Limoges-tx (87).
88.000 -1906- I: R.V.E. FM Top Radio, Jesi (AN). Ex-Vallesina.
88.100 -1748- + F: Radio Campus, Bordeaux (33). The 2nd Campus for me this summer (Orleans 88.3).
89.300 -1740- + F: Radio Melodi FM, Libourne (33). Same name as the station were I work.
90.600 -1441- I: RDS - Dimensione Suono Roma. Possible loval programme for Rome, which is different than nationel feed.
90.800 -1435- I: Radio Verde, Viterbo (VT).
91.700 -1452- + I: Tele R Orte, Orte (VT). Unlisted frequency.
92.800 - 1852- I: Radio Salentina, Martano (LE).

Sat 25.6.2011 - Short Turkey, Ukraina - 15 W RSL-reply!

This season has been very poor so far. Only one good opening (and I missed it)!! Also not good conditions in Utö-pedition.
Today there were tiny opening to Samsun-city in North Turkey. Unfortunately only lower-band signals. No MUF above 94 MHz. Also some Ukrainan stations shortly.

LOG Sat 25.6.2011
88.000 -0819- UKR: R Dacha. Simferopol-tx.
88.400 -0806- TUR: Fistik FM, Samsun. Very long commercial-break!!
88.800 -0805- TUR: Metro FM, Istanbul. Samsun-tx. Rolling RDS: "METRO FM" "SAMSUN".
89.500 -0821- UKR: R Sharmanka. Gave tel for advertisers.
93.900 -0805- TUR: TRT. "Reklamar"-jingle revealed this to be TRT.

New Low-power-record - 15 Watts
In Utö I received British low-power RSL-station (on the air only for one month!) and I got a reply!
Ultra Radio from Morpeth (NE England, near Newcastle) on 87.7 MHz verified my mp3-clip.
They told their brodcasting power is only 15 Watts !! That is my new record! (Previous record was 25 Watts, Ruthland Radio 97.4 MHz).
-
.

In Utö-island - 10-19.6.2010

I am listening in Utö-island with 7 other listeners till 19.6.2011.
The daily results are here www.uto-fmdx.blogspot.com

Wed 8.6.2011 - Nice Turkey-opening

On Wednesday-afternoon we had nice 50 minutes long opening to Istanbul and around. Luckily there were also stations up from Adapazari, Kocaeli and Gebze-cities, which made this more interesting. (Red= First time in Finland)
Conds started from Adapazari and moved slightly to Istanbul.
87.800 -1155- TUR: Radyo 34, Istanbul. Adapazari-tx. Later on 88.0 MHz.
88.200 -1158- TUR: Lalegül FM, Istanbul. Unlisted frequency. RDS. Also heard on 88.4 when area moved to Istanbul.
90.300 -1221- TUR: Kocaeli Radyo Sahin, Kocaeli (Mam). Jingle an ads.
91.600 -1231- TUR: 91.6 Türkiyenin Haber, Istanbul. Station gives id: "91.6 - Haber". Ex-Radyo 24.
91.700 -1237- + TUR: Radyo Gül, Gebze (Koc). RDS-id and adverts. Bulgarian went over just in a dramatic moment to have also audio-id.
94.000 1203- + TUR: R Aktif, Adapazari (Sak). My 3rd different Aktif from Turkey, but this is not a network.
94.500 -1157- + TUR: R Sakarya, Adapazari (Sak). Simple jingle between music.
95.400 -1136- + TUR: Gebze FM, Gebze (Koc). I got e-mail and sms-message from this station for my message of their signal in Finland!

Also IDed Viva, PAL FM, Kral Pop, Kral Türk etc.

Utö9 starts this Friday 10.6.2011

I will join to the traditional Utö-FM-pedition for the 5th time this summer (previous 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010).
This will be named as Utö9. The camp is on from 10.6 - 19.6.2011. We arrive late Friday evening by m/s Eivor.
http://uto-fmdx.blogspot.com

There will be 8 listeners this year; last year crew + Juha Ylönen from Central Finland.
This year we have extra challenge with antennas. Finnish army now forbid us to connect our masts to the barrier close to the houses. We had to arrange holes to our antenna-masts. New antenna-masts will be drilled on the rocks:

Heteka-antennas from the 70's

I started my FM-DXing in the 70's. Till the end of the 70's decade we used Finnish traditional Heteka-beds as antennas.
Here is one historical photo of my old 1-element Heteka-antenna - my grandmother's old bed as antenna!

We had excellent results even with 1-element. In the end I had 3-elements (laminated, 1977). The negative point was that it usually gave extra creaking sound to the recordings (during heavy wind). Click the photo for better view.
............................Late and bad April Fool joke

Fri 3.6.2011 - Italy, weak France

We are waiting fro the BIG BANG-opening - not seen yet this summer!! Moderate cond-days continued on Tuesday. Strong signals to Italy in the morning, very weak to France in the evening.

Log Fri 3.6.2011
88.000 -1744- F: RCF Vendée, La-Roche-sur -Yon (85). "Vous écoutez sur RCF Vendée dans émission Grande de Sambles...". Local-id just during that minute when it was up. Weak signals from Bretagne for 45 minutes. Short peaks.
88.200 - 1723- F: Radio Caroline, Pontivy-tx (56). Chérie FM 90.8 and FUN 94.1 from this same city.
88.300 - 1723- F: MFM. Also on 88.8.
89.300 -0620- HRV: Novi Radio, Zadar. 3rd time this summer!
91.100 -0711- I: R Cinque, UNID-QTH. "Radio Cinque, radio a cinque stelle". What is this station. NEW?91.900 - 0705- I: Radio Parsifal, Pescara (also 99.5 tent.)
95.600 -0655- I: R Marte, Napoli (NA). The only new for today.
97.300 -0652- I: Antenna Adriatica, Termoli (BA). RDS-id and spots.

Tue 31.5.2011 - Romania, Balkan, Italy

This May has been one of the most interesting May in my 35 years FM-DX-history (Yes, I heard my first E-skip in 1976, Bayerischer Rundfunk and Radio Novi Sad). This May I have not heard so many new stations, but from quite many countries, and so often. Most of the openings have been weak with short lasting skips. 31st May gave the strongest signals.

Log Tue 31.5.2011
88.300 -1643- + I: R Ritmo 80, Barletta (BA). First time in Finland.
88.400 - 1613- BIH: Slobomir FM, Biljeljina. 3rd time this month!
89.200 -1755- I: Tentative: R Ottanta, Belluno (BL). BL is rare to hear here although Radio Company Belluno 88.4 is very common.
90.700 -1635- SRB: R.Republike Srpske. I think no compression in audio on this station.
90.800 -1622- ROU: Radio Iasi.
91.100 - 1644- I: Radio Centrale Puglia with RDS-music-only.
91.900 - 1315- ROU: Itsy Bitsy. Station for kids. The only one in Europe?
92.100 -1619- HNG: Klasszik Rádió, Budapest.
92.200 -1634- BIH: R Tesanj. Pronouncing stationname like not expected.
92.200 -17.25- I: Radio Jukebox, Lamezia Terme (CZ). Comes here often.
92.200 - 1630- ROU: Rock FM (Ex-One FM?)
94.000 - 1630- BIH: Radio Tuzla. Blind-recording.
94.000 -1319- ROU: Tentative Radio Unu, Satu Mare. Spot to Satu Mare.
95.600 - 1330- ROU: R Cluj.
96.500 -1336- POL: Radio Maryja. Poland is quite rare here because short skip is needed.
96.900 -1332- ROU: R Impact, Baia Mare.
97.500 - 16.47- I: Radio One, Bitonto (BA).
99.100 -1630- HRV: Gradski Radio, Osijek.
99.100 -1651- I: Radio Laser, Pisticci (MT).
99.600 -1626- BIH: Radio Avaz, Celic. RDS. I think announced also another frq.

Sat 28.5.2011 - Weak Balkan, France

Weak May conditions continued on 28.5.2011. Nothing special. I heard only one new station for me.

Log Sat 28.5.2011
88.1 - 1742- SRB: Station from Valjevo. Must be pirate, strong 50Hz hum in audio.
88.2 - 1702- ROU: Europa FM.
88.3 - 1705- ROU: Radio OK, Ploiesti. Only RDS with music.
89.1 - 1735- SRB: Star FM, Cacak. Only new station today.
90.o - 1738- UNID: Radio Marija. From Albania or Serbia. RDS only.
91.0 - 1710- BUL: Darik Radio.
95.6 - 1927- F: Contact FM. The only id'ed French station from short peak

Thu 26.5.2011 - Mainly strong Italy (Emilia Romagna)

Once again very different day with skips around Europe, but mostly strong Italian Reggio Emilia-stations. This area is the most common Es-skip area in SW Finland. Now I have heard all FM-stations from Modena (from free frequencies) !!

Log Thu 26.5.2011
87.600-1641- HRV: R Trsat, Rijeka. Nonstop classic rock for over 10 minutes.
88.400 -1757- ALG: RTA, Nador. On 94.7 MHz possibly R local Tlemcen. News in Arabic!
88.400 -1925- F: Mixx, Cognac (16). RDS and audio-id.
88.400 -1400- I: R Sportiva, RE-tx. This is one of the most common tx to receive here from Europe!
88.700 -1646- SVN: R Center, Ljubljana. Gave net-address.
88.800 -1517- I: R Alfa (MN). Many times with RDS this season.
88.800 -1837- SUI: R Basilisk, Basel. 7 min. Luckily till jingle.
89.100 -1657- I: R Fantasy, Cervignano del Friuli (UD).
89.3 -1049- HRV: Novi R, Zadar. Many times this season with RDS.
89.600 -1836- F: La Radio Plus, Thonon Les Bains (74). Blind recording. I expected to have a Swiss station from this frq because hey were up, but surprisingly it was French near Switzerland. This station at the same time on 93.0 MHz.
90.100 -1919- F: RMJ - La Radio des Meilleurs Jours, Magnac Laval (87).
90.100 -1656- HRV: R Zona, Buzet. RDS. 90.600 -1700- I: R SorRriso, Castelfranco Veneto (TV). Three R-letters, one big. "SorRriso Notizie". .
91.000 -1523- I: R City solo musica italiana (AL).
91.900 -1520- I: R Parsifal, Pescara (PE). Blind recording series from this frq 60 minutes: Multiradio (MC) > Radio Nostalgia (BI-tx) > Radio Parsifal (PE).
93.000 -1659- + I: R Gente Umbra, Foligno (PG). Station id as "R.G.U".
93.200 -1527- I: R Pico Classic, Mirandola Modena (MO). The last station from Modena to id.
95.000 -1453- I: R Erre, Reggio Emilia (RE).95.100 -1539- SVN: R Celje. Also Radio Koper from unlisted 94.7.
95.200 -1840- SUI: Yes FM, Geneve. I heard before on 95.6 MHz , which tx is on the French side.
96.200 -1529- + I: Canzoni e Sorrisi, Modena (MO). Accordeon-station with rare id's. Finally I was lucky the get audio-id. I tried twice last summer!
107.200 -1432- I: R Tirol. Bozen (BZ). German language station in N-Italy

Also I identified the following stations whichI have tuned here many times: Linea R (87.9) / Ciao R (90.1, BO) / Studio Delta (96.5) / R Stella (Modena, 96.8), R Bruno on many NEW frequencies / Studio Piú (107.9 and 108.0) / Onda Libera (PG, 89.6 and 105.9) / Isoradio RAI 103.2 / Multiradio (91.9( / R Nostalgai (91.9) / R Reggio 101.6 / R Azzurra (107.6) / Subasio (106.5) / Stella FM (VI, 104.2) / TRM 88.0 / TRC Int 2 (99.5) / R Delta Uno (CH, 96.1) / Play Capital (104.8) / R Ketchup 106.1 / R Center Music (99.1) / R Company (BL, 88.4) / R Camaldoli Stereo (88.6) / Skyline R (89.2) / R Fantasy (89.1) / R SorRriso (90.6) / New Radio Star (97.8) / Rete 96 (95.9) not listed in FMLIST?? / Ravegnana R (87.9) / Primaradio (88.9) / R Sond Piacenza (94.6) / Amica R (88.4) + national comm. networks all around.