James

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[James @6_stringtheory]

@Dave_Gasque Indeed, I was watching this unfold with real interest. To be fair to those who’ve had frustrating recent years it must have been genuinely exciting. It’s a unique feeling that I find very hard to explain to non-hobbyists!!

[James @6_stringtheory]

I've been following the last few days' E-skip exploits around the world and I'm only now beginning to appreciate how much data I've managed to collect.

There's no let-up today in the UK... FIN and RUS romping in all morning!! Time to dig out another 5TB HDD.

#FMDX #ESkip

1/2

[James @6_stringtheory]

@DXCentral 2/2 … manipulated, queried, summed it in various different ways. Genuinely, if you want to bounce anything off me re this amazing data please do!!

[James @6_stringtheory]

@DXCentral That would be a massive undertaking indeed. Whenever there’s a decent opening this side of the pond the amount of data is overwhelming!

I have dropped by fmdxdata and find the concept fascinating. As a database administrator by trade I have gathered my own data and… 1/2

[James @6_stringtheory]

Also, I know there have been "complaints" from our friends in the U.S. over the last couple of years but it looks like they are having just as much fun as we are right now!!

@DXCentral @FMDXIreland

[James @6_stringtheory]

I've been waiting with bated breath for the proper start of the Es season here in the UK.

Good news: it's really kicked off today!

Bad news: for some reason I wasn't ready and I have SSDs flying all over the place here 😂

#FMDX #FMList #ESkip

[James @6_stringtheory]

Also a quick shoutout to my TEF6686 (the brilliant Deepelec DP-666) & the folks who have created the FMDX Webserver software/site... it's been trundling away, constantly scanning & logging RDS on the FM band & has kept up very well with the ELAD FDM-S3!

#FMDX #TEF6686 #FMDXorg

[James @6_stringtheory]

This afternoon's reception of VRT Radio 2 from Egem - thumping great stereo signal from across the channel!!

#FMDX #SDRConsole

2/2

[James @6_stringtheory]

I've been keeping an eye on the tropo forecast for this part of the world and F5LEN suggested that there might be a decent opening to the low countries, as far as Germany and Denmark. Sure enough the last 24 hours have seen all but my most persistent locals swamped...

#FMDX

1/2

[James @6_stringtheory]

When you check your emails, this appears and you realise your best Band II SDR is safely tucked away in a cupboard for winter 🙃

#FMDX

[James @6_stringtheory]

@ei2ip Just a simple horizontal halo-type dipole, AI tells me it’s ideal for Es reception so, as I live in a managed property, I’m not going to push for change 😊

[James @6_stringtheory]

So it's approaching mid-December and I've heard rumours of Es activity around this time but never had any lu...... oh wait, is that Belarus romping through right now?!?! 😲 #FMDX #FMList

[James @6_stringtheory]

@FMDXIreland Sweden, Finland and Poland are good from here too, often get 10-20 minutes of solid signals, much more so than from Iberia or the Mediterranean. Something to do with latitudes of the E clouds maybe? 🤔

[James @6_stringtheory]

@FMDXIreland Crikey! 523 and counting... Not much down this way on the 18th but I've still got 14TB of IQ files to wade through on those cold winter band-2-is-flat-as-a-pancake nights so I'll probably hit about 10% of your total 😂

[James @6_stringtheory]

So right now I'm getting Spain and Bulgaria.... 😲 it's pretty indicative of this season's #ESkip here in the east of the UK - seems to have been clouds forming in different areas at the same time! As a result I already have 14TB of IQ recordings to process!!

HELP...

#FMDX

[James @6_stringtheory]

@FMDXIreland Norway???? That’ll be some low power catches there for sure!! I’d better have a close look at FMList as I’ve been offline for a few days

[James @6_stringtheory]

I've also captured the moment for posterity <sound on> #FMDX #ESkip

[James @6_stringtheory]

I'm scanning IQ recordings of Es from Saturday & usually wait until I've collated all RDS catches to log 'em BUT... wait for it... GIB romped in to East Anglia for a few moments - an ITU I hadn't even considered! Don't feel so bad about missing out on LIE now tbh 😁

#FMDX #ESkip

[James @6_stringtheory]

It looks like I'm the only UK contributor to #FMList (so far) to get GIB that day, but there's a lot of other catches from the area so listen out for English language on 100.5 and audio ID "This is Radio Gibraltar" around 1118z if you want to confirm GIB for yourself 🙂 #FMDX

[James @6_stringtheory]

So, thanks to #FMList I was alerted to a potential OIRT Es opening into the UK around Saturday lunchtime. My #SDRPlay #RSP1A has enough bandwidth to cover OIRT, so I tuned in and Belarus appeared... 😯 #FMDX ... nearly as busy as my local Band II