A
Beginners look at Starting Band 2 DX'ing
The beginners part of the title
refers to myself! This is how I started DX'ing on the FM Band.
Part
One - Introduction and Clubs
I started Band 2 DX'ing part way through the year 2000, July
in fact, right in the middle of the Sporadic E season. Why I did not start
earlier I am not quite sure but I think it was pure laziness. I have been Band
One DX'ing since May 1982 but it never occurred to me to tune Band 2, I was
totally absorbed in DXTV. It was in April 2000 that I realised I needed another part
of the hobby to continue to enjoy Sporadic E as in a few years Band One
Countries would start to diminish so I started to investigate Band 2
and obtain the kit.From the onset I knew I needed a tuner, no problem, my old
Pioneer F737 would suffice. Then on investigating I realised that RDS and PI
Codes was the way. I knew what RDS was but not PI codes. So after reading up on
the subject I discovered that any station transmitting RDS also has a PI code
and it was this PI code that would help enormously in ID'ing the station.
So, how to convert the Pioneer? Again by investigation from
people and clubs, (Skywaves), I discovered the
Conrad. Good for displaying the PS name but not very fast and it needed a good
signal. The next breakthrough was the PC. By connecting the Conrad to the PC and
using software all was revealed in the RDS DataStream. The big big plus was that
the software logged the station as well as displaying the PS & PI codes. The
final breakthrough came when a gentleman from the Czech Republic produced a
modification kit for the Conrad to convert it into a super fast PI display, with
backward compatibility to display the PS also.
I was now well on the way to Band 2 DX'ing and come July
2000, I had an aerial on the roof, kit all connected and was raring to go. The 11th
saw my very first logging with a PI Code of 43B3 and a PS Name
of _DRS_3__, this was Switzerland. Then I asked my self why the underscores in
peoples logs when
the PS display showed none. Etiquette was the answer I discovered. To display a space
is quite difficult so using the underscore character solved the problem, except
for Greece who actually use the underscore in their PS display. Well there's
always an exception to everything.
So in a nutshell that is how I started but as you will
appreciate things change with time. The Conrad became obsolete, RDS tuners
became one a penny till now, (the year 2008), when good "DX" Band 2 tuners with extra's
like IF Bandwidth switching are becoming quite hard to purchase. As I said times
change, eBay now exists with an opportunity to purchase good tuners at good
prices as people switch to digital equipment.
For some one wanting to take the hobby up now here are
some tips I have learnt from my experiences.
Firstly join a club. In the U.K. and Europe that means there
are several available via e-groups with free membership. The advantage of e-groups is that info can be swapped within minutes and many operate live DX chat
rooms.
The e-groups I am
a member of with links to their web pages and e-group information
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| The British FM & TV Circle, Skywaves began in 1995 as
part of the British FM & TV Circle. There were only a small handful of members
then. Membership has grown and there are now in excess of 600 members spread
across the groups! Skywaves members come from all corners of the
world. Membership is free to the e-Group.. |
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British FM & TV Circle |
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| Another superb source for information is The
FM List. This Site contains all the Country Databases and a whole lot
more |
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