On April 3 and 4 and today, April 16 WDR is running tests on 9A emanating from Aachen-Stolberg.
The tests will continue on April 17. Source: RadioWoche.
Received today at 08.18 UTC in central Belgium.
April 16 2024 -WDR testing on 9A
FM – DAB+: my logblog!
World of DXing
April 12 2024
MHz Block UTC ITU Ensemble + Location Details Remarks km
176.64 5B 0522 BEL NAM-LUX 1, La Roche-en-Ardenne DAB 108km
195.94 8A 0524 BEL Ostbelgien 8A, Amel/Meyerode (wal-lge) 128km
190.64 7B 0529 D hr Radio, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) 267km
190.64 7B 0534 D hr Radio, Hohe Wurzel (hes) 261km
185.36 6C 0551 BEL NAM-LUX 2, La Roche-en-Ardenne DAB 108km
202.93 9A 0558 D DR Saarland, Felsberg-Berus (saa) 237km
190.64 7B 0614 D hr Radio, Rimberg (hes) 333km
199.36 8C 0626 F Métropolitain 2, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage/Lefaux (62) 221km
176.64 5B 0644 BEL NAM-LUX 1, Arlon/Route de Bastogne (wal-lux) 165km
176.64 5B 0644 BEL NAM-LUX 1, Bouillon/Route du Moulin (wal-lux) 138km
197.65 8B 0712 F Métropolitain 2, Metz/Fort Diou (57) 232km
197.65 8B 0712 F Métropolitain 2, Thionville/Oetringer Seite (57) 203km
204.64 9B 0713 D Antenne DE, Saarbrücken/Schoksberg (saa) 246km
218.64 11B 0750 D OAS BW, Heidelberg/Königstuhl, SWR (bwü) 336km
204.64 9B 1755 D Antenne DE, Bornberg (rlp) 257km
April 11 2024 Qt-DAB-6.X update
Jan Van Katwijk has updated Qt-DAB-6.X today.
Download Qt-DAB-6.X here. Download the latest manual here.
The update seems minor but is of importance for DXing and scanning.
All logged TIIs (transmitter location, distance, azimuth and HASL) are now not only visible in the new dx display but are also logged and retained in the scan file and on the map.
April 5 2024 – Qt-DAB-6.X released
Jan Van Katwijk has released Qt-DAB-6.X. As always there are different version of this software.
Download Qt-DAB here.
What’s new in Qt-DAB-6.X?
First of all there’s the dx display widget showing all received TTI’s and transmitter info.
The size and position are retained for the next Qt session. The strongest received location is at the top with a *** marker.
How to activate the dx display widget?
1. Activate the Configuration and control widget and
2. check DX.
3. The dx display widget pops up showing all received TII locations, distances, azimuth and transmitter heights
4. with the strongest location (***) at the top.
If the user chooses NOT to use the dx display widget Qt-DAB then only shows the strongest received transmitter/location in the main widget.
Also new is the option to select the ncp in the spectrumscope widget (5). The constellation diagram of the decoded carriers is shown.
What else?
A selection between portaudio and Xmultimedia as “output driver”. Check the configuration widget.
When there’s no station slideshow a slideshow with computer images from Jan’s youth.
If you have a decent antenna splitter and two devices you can of course hook up e.g. QIRX to one device and Qt to another. So you can show TTI info from the same mux at the same time from two different sources.
March 22 2024
MHz Block UTC ITU Ensemble + Location Details Remarks km
188.93 7A 0656 F Valenciennes, Cambrai/Martin-Martine (59) 138km
197.65 8B 0656 F Métropolitain 1, Combles/A1 rue de Sailly (80) 170km
199.36 8C 0657 F Métropolitain 2, Saint-Omer/route D210E2 (62) 176km
197.65 8B 0702 F Métropolitain 1, Calais/Résidence des Pélicans (62) 198km
197.65 8B 0709 D NI OSNABRCK K8B, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) 275km
204.64 9B 0711 D Antenne DE, Siegen Süd (nrw) 233km
208.06 9D 0712 D Mein NRW DAB+, Ebbegebirge Herscheid (nrw) 214km
March 13 2024
MHz Block UTC ITU Ensemble + Location Details Remarks km
197.65 8B 1412 F Métropolitain 1, Abbeville-Mareuil 2 (80) 229km
197.65 8B 1414 F Métropolitain 1, Boulogne-sur-Mer/Mont Lambert (62) 217km
199.36 8C 1415 F Métropolitain 2, Saint-Omer/route D210E2 (62) 176km
199.36 8C 1417 F Métropolitain 2, Pont-Audemer/le Bel Air (27) 352km TII collision with Abbeville?
197.65 8B 1444 F Métropolitain 1, Calais/Résidence des Pélicans (62) 198km
197.65 8B 1444 F Métropolitain 1, Combles/A1 rue de Sailly (80) 170km
197.65 8B 1445 F Métropolitain 1, Abbeville-Mareuil 2 (80) 229km
197.65 8B 1632 F Métropolitain 1, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage/Lefaux (62) 221km TTI collision with Douai?
19.36 8C 1643 F Métropolitain 2, Creil/Mont Pagnotte (60) 241km
March 5 2024 – splitter
When comparing different DAB (or FM a.o.) receiving devices it’s helpful to connect them all to the same antenna at the same time making it easy to switch between devices.
It did so when testing different SDR devices on DAB.
I had a few splitters lying about and after some comparing the Keliiyo 4-way coaxial splitter produced the best results, i.e. had the least loss numbers.
So I decided to compare the CNR numbers with the antennas hooked up directly to my RSPdx and hooked up via the splitter. Measurements were done on very strong local muxes to avoid too much fluctuations.
The results were rather surprising showing a lot less loss than expected when using this splitter.
Make sure you have a power pass splitter when using a LNA (with BIAS-T).
What to do when there’s great tropo? Using a splitter will be ok, but then again I’d like to squeeze every drop of DX out of a lift … so I will then hook up my antennas to the device in use without a splitter.
March 1 2024
MHz Block UTC ITU Ensemble + Location Details Remarks km
199.36 8C 0659 F Métropolitain 2, Saint-Omer/route D210E2 (62) 176km
197.65 8B 0700 F Métropolitain 1, Béthune/Fresnicourt-le-Dolmen (62) 161km
197.65 8B 0700 F Métropolitain 1, Combles/A1 rue de Sailly (80) 170km
208.06 9D 0711 D Mein NRW DAB+, Ebbegebirge Herscheid (nrw) 214km
February 28 2024
MHz Block UTC ITU Ensemble + Location Details Remarks km
204.64 9B 0810 D Antenne DE, Habichtswald (hes) 325km
190.64 7B 0840 D hr Radio, Großer Feldberg (Taunus)/hr (hes) 277km
190.64 7B 0840 D hr Radio, Sackpfeife (Biedenkopf) (hes) 267km
February 27 2024 – Qt_DAB-6.5 final
Jan Van Katwijk has released Qt_DAB-6.5, no more Beta now. Also version 6.4 is no longer maintained.
As in previous editions there’s a 32 and 64 bit Windows version. The 64 bit version supports RTL-SDRV4 only and has issues with some types of slides.
Download Qt-DAB here.
