AM and FM DX (2015-2025)

Nice!

How many metres above the ground do you have it? And do you plan to get a rotator for it? Or just manually rotate it?

Also, how many dB gain would you say it has over your previous antenna?

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It’s 4 meters AGL, I plan to get it professionally mounted at some point on the roof, but for now it’s mounted where the old one was on the side of the shed.

A rotor would be nice but they are very expensive (more than the antenna + shipping!) So I will just hand rotate it for now. The omni antenna will still be on the server for monitoring for dx to then turn the main antenna.

Not sure how much gain my old one had since it was a cheap ali express one, but this antenna has 8 - 9.4db of gain.

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It’ll be interesting to see how much further gain you get in your reception once you get it onto the roof. Do you have line of sight to the horizon currently / on the roof? I put my yagis on a 5m pole top of my two-storey house, but unfortunately I’m in a bit of a valley and still can’t see the horizon even with my mast. How do you plan to rotate it once it’s on the roof?

I mean, how much real-life additional gain are you seeing on the TEF? E.g. If a station was getting 50dBf, is it now like 55dBf?

How many degrees +/- from the transmitter until you start seeing loss in signal strength?

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Not sure since i’ve never really checked, I have a one storey house and live on a slightly lower part of my street so it could very well be blocked.

I will buy or build some sort of rotor, don’t know the details yet. I’m sure building one would be much cheaper than buying a premade one.

Here is an example with Edge FM comparing the new antenna to my dipole, my Dipole is only about 2 dbuv worse than my old yagi.

Not sure of the exact degrees, but you lose maybe 4-5 dbuv on Bendigo stations when aiming at Ballarat and vice versa, when aiming directly north they are pretty much gone.

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Thanks for all those details. Interesting to know.

If price were no issue, I’d like to replace my 3-element aerials with 9- or 10-element ones too, but I imagine the price to get 5x of them shipped in + mounting them on the roof would be pretty eye-watering. But if price really were no issue, I’d like to get a house on the top of a hill so I could get unobstructed LoS to the horizon in all directions for optimal DXingšŸ˜….

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Big tropo on my current drive down to the Snow, Sydney fm in and out right into Canberra. With Smooth fm finally loosing reception near Williamsdale.
94.9 Power fm received right through Canberra and almost all the way to Cooma.

Orange booming in at times with 105.1 Triple M orange received north of Cooma.

Ducts coming in from the Coast with 2EC and Power fm Bega enhanced near Bredbo.

Been a great trip for dxing.

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Update Lost power fm and the Illawarra national fm’s at Cooma Airport, but ithey did appear again briefly at Avonside, Eagle fm was also present there too.

Probably the best Tropo on a Snow trip.

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Tropo and snow don’t mix unfortunately; thankfully the snow cover up high is still holding as there’s even some visible on the Brindabellas. It may be an early finish to the season again with high pressure dominating and easterlies. Good for tropo though.

August is no longer winter, more like ā€˜sprinter’. The wildlife here is getting ready for spring with lots of roos about.

Skiing at Thredbo was not bad, base is rock hard and quite icy. You would not venture off piste or out of the Snow making areas.

BTW in conversations with @ozbark, terrible intermodulation coming out of the Thredbo transmitter.
An image of Snow fm was completely overloading Sky Racing on 106.9. Also no RDS on 92.1 XLFM and the rebroadcast is very hissy, either a weak off air signal or bad intermodulation.

Frequencies of intermodulation
91.3 mixing of XLFM and Snow fm
93.7 mixing of XLFM and Snow fm

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Up at the lockout above Jindy airport and some tropo starting to fire up.

Orange nationals received at similar strength to Canberra which is a weak permanent signal.
Triple M and Hit Orange just above the noise floor.

Illawarra nationals at moderate levels and weak Power fm.

Gold 101.7 just popping up above the noise floor.

94.5 2EC and 102.5 Power fm weak.

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If @dxnerd is right, you must just be getting snoppo.

I was down at Nimmitabel/Bibbenluke yesterday and could hear TAB 106.9 from Thredbo OK, so I think the fault is intermittent. It’s been there for a long time.

No sign of Star 92.1 poking through XL Thredbo at Nimmitabel, despite weak Edge 102.1 at times.

I’ve never been to that lookout near Jindy Airport; I’ll have to try it next time I’m down that way.

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About to leave Jindy for Sydney so last DX from the lookout above Jindy Aerodrome.1080m

Band scan some inland tropo again

87.6 Faith fm local
88.9 2BAT Thredbo fair
89.7 2PNN Bega / Cooma Strong
90.3 Snow Fm, Mt Selwyn weak
90.5 2ABCRN Thredbo fair
90.7 2JJJ just above noise floor
90.9 2PNN Illawarra fair
91.1 1CMS weak
91.5 2PNN SW Slopes weak
91.7 2SKI Bombala fair
91.9 1WAY Canberra Fair
92.1 2XXL Thredbo Weak
92.5 2XXL Bombala Fair
92.7 1ART Weak
92.9 2SKI Thredbo Weak
93.1 2WZD Wagga
93.3 2MNO Good
93.7 2BAR Bega fair
93.9 2MNO Jindy Local
94.1 2BAT Bombala fair
94.5 2EEC Bega weak
94.7 2SKI Jindy local
94.9 2WSK Nowra Weak
95.3 2ABCRN Cooma Fair
95.5 2CP Jindy Local
95.7 2ABC Illawarra Fair
96.1 2XXL Cooma strong
96.9 2KKY Cooma strong
97.1 ABCRN Jindy local
97.3 2ILL Illawarra Fair
97.7 2SKI Cooma strong
98.3 2XFM Canberra just above noise floor
98.7 2XXL Perisher fair
98.9 2JJJ Illawarra weak to fair
99.3 2ABC Bega / Cooma Strong
100.1 2JJJ Bega / Cooma Strong
100.9 2ABCRN Bega / Cooma Strong
101.5 2JJJ Canberra Weak
101.7 2UUS Sydney just above noise floor
101.9 2JJJ CT Weak to fair
102.3 2ABC Canberra Weak
102.5 2EEE Bega / 2 MBS Sydney Just above noise floor
102.7 2KKY Jindy local
103.5 2BAT Batemans Bay Weak
103.7 2MNO??? Very weak
103.9 2PNN Canberra fair
104.1 2DAY fm Sydney just above noise floor
104.3 2ABCRN CT fair to weak
104.5 2KKY ??? Fair to good
104.7 2ROK Canberra Weak
104.9 2MMM Sydney just above noise floor
105.1 2OAG Orange / 2ABCRN Batemans Bay just above Noise floor
105.5 2SBS Canberra fair
105.7 2JJJ Sydney just above noise floor
106.3 2CBR Weak
106.5 2WFM Sydney just above noise floor
106.7 2KKY Orange just above noise floor / 2ST Ulladulla fair
106.9 2KKY Thredbo weak
107.3 2XXL Local

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Is this where you go?

It would be better to get on top of that hill where that tower is. Perhaps there’s a weak spot in that fence :wink:

I don’t think there is access but I am pretty happy with that spot.

BTW inland tropo is still going with 92.9 ABC received through Canberra on the car radio and Sydney fm quite strong into Lake George.

BTW did get some intermodulation between Bunyan and Bredbo of XLFM / SKY Racing and Snow fn on 94.5 and 102.5mhz.

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I park here on the left side of the road on the dirt, it is the sweet spot. Very popular spot for plane spotters and people admiring the view.

Some further updates on my trip back to Sydney.
Sydney fm was very consistent from Lake George and quite strong from Goulburn northwards, probably the strongest I have experienced. I was even receiving 2SER on the northern side of Mt Gray.

The intermodulation from Mt Gray has got a lot worse.
It is now on 92.7, 95.1,95.9 and 96.1 as it swamped XLFM. I also had to contend with a Strong CADA from Goulburn. When CADA faded down XLFM was there, last reception at Paddy’s River near Wingello.

GNFM for some reason have turned off their stereo pilot and were broadcasting in mono only. The inland Tropo had Triple M CC staring to cause CCI from the service station at Sutton Forest instead of Woodlands South of Welby where it dies in the ass.

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Yes i can confirm it is an intermittent fault as TAB 106.9 Thredbo was fine when I finished skiing later that afternoon.

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@ninkeon58 I’ve just tried your Mildura server but had to log off after a few seconds because there’s a horrible high-pitched screeching on the audio. Hopefully it’s nothing major.

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I have been having problems with the TEF (failed Wifi module in the ESP32) and it needs replacing, it still functions as a band scanner however, but yes not ideal with the squeal it has.

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Most likely 1638 2ME Radio Arabic.

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