[IRCA] MWDX in Firenze

["Michael Yule" <michaeldyule@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone - I thought you might be interested in a couple of the 
catches that I made last night from our apartment in the centre of 
Florence. These were made inside the apartment, which looks over a 
courtyard but is surrounded on all 4 sides with other buildings, all 
about 4 stories high, in the Florentine style. I have found that DXing 
early in the morning from this location is quite possible, RFI is there 
but manageable with my combination of Sangean PRD-15 and the great Gary 
DeBock 3.5 inch Baby FSL, which I am learning to get the best 
performance from (thanks again Gary!). I have placed them both on a 
wooden 12 inch diameter 'Lazy Susan' that is big enough to allow space 
to adjust the distance between the radio and the antenna while also 
allowing an easy 360 degree rotation. This assists in not only reducing 
RFI by nulling but also in helping to determine the direction the signal 
is coming from, potentially aiding in obtaining an ID. The Sangean is a 
good DX radio, I'm happy with the sensitivity and the bandwidth has been 
chosen well so the audio is good. It tunes in either 9 or 10 kHz steps 
that are selectable from the menu, but you can also tune in 1 kHz steps 
by pushing in the tuning knob and waiting a second or 2 for the beep. 
This has been helpful in clarifying the audio by shifting the passband 
away from a source of RFI that is directly on the 9 kHz step. One thing 
I would wish for on this radio would be the ability to switch more 
quickly between the 9 and 10 kHz steps without going into the menu, but 
this is a minor point. I would also wish for a menu item to make the 
readout default to frequency rather than time, however there IS a front 
panel button that will show frequency when pushed, so again not a big 
deal.

The baby FSL is VERY helpful on weak signals, often bringing a station 
up from nothing to readable. I find that this is where it most useful, 
which is exactly the situation I would hope for when DX'ing. As Gary and 
others have noted, tuning is very sharp, but the ratio on the tuning 
vernier is well chosen and easy to use. There appears to be a 
relationship between frequency and optimal distance between the radio 
and the antenna, but I'm pretty sure it isn't linear, and also the 
difference in optimal distance doesn't seem to vary much in any event.

I have found a location in the apartment kitchen that has the lowest RFI 
, and fortunately it is right where the table is, so it's comfortable!

On  couple of occasions I have walked to a park (Garden of the Villa 
Strozzi) about 15 minutes from here, it is a hundred or so meters above 
the level of the river, and away from most noise sources. DX'ing there 
is brilliant, but it being winter here I haven't spent a lot of time 
there yet. I've decided that I prefer to be warm. There is another 
location I want to try near Fiesole, about 45 minutes away by bus (we 
don't have/need/want a car, but in this particular case it would make an 
early morning or evening jaunt to the location quite a bit easier!). It 
is WAY away from RFI sources, and on a hillside so should be a good 
location.

I've had to re-learn DX'ing without an SDR! It is a different 
experience, more engaging in some ways because what you are hearing is 
what you are logging, and there are no second chances to catch that ID 
or decide based on non-ID indicators that you should move to a different 
frequency because you already know what the station on this frequency 
is. That being said, I AM going to figure out a way to record my 
sessions. And I haven't given up on SDRs yet either! I am going to put 
together a DX'ing 'kit' with the ELAD and an antenna that I can easily 
take to Fiesole or other places.

So anyway, a couple of catches from last night:

1530 kHz, VOA San Tome e Principe, 600 kW, 4856 km, 0435 UTC, Discussion 
of political topics with a US Senator, and VOA ID, clear armchair copy. 
I think there was one or more TA's in the background, there was a fair 
amount of polar flutter noted and some snatches of audio, language not 
legible.
1557 kHz, Smooth Radio, 760 or 500 watts, approx 1300 km, 0500 UTC, ID, 
engagement announcement, pop music, fair to good.
1566 kHz, Vahon Hindustani Radio, 1 kW, 1058 km, 0510 UTC, South Asian 
music, no ID heard but only likely candidate, fair to good with deep 
fades.

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