September 23 2024 – Qt-DAB-6.X update

In the September 18 Qt-DAB update unidentified TII codes were shown, but not logged.
Today Jan Van Katwijk updated Qt-DAB and codes not matching with the database entries are now saved in the tii-files.txt log which can be found in the
C:\Users\XXX\Qt-DAB-files folder.
(Linux: the file is in the tmp directory in the subdirectory Qt_DAB-files.)
Data in this file are NOT deleted after a session.
The tii-files.txt file will get bigger and bigger and the user will have to manually delete it if it becomes too large.
Mind you TII codes are only logged in the DX mode.

You can download the update Qt-DAB on Jan’s Github releases page.
Jan Van Katwijk appreciates your comments and feedback on his Qt-DAB Github issues page.

Qt-DAB unid TII codes

September 22 2024 – AbracaDABra 2.5.92 (RC)

A few days ago Petr Kopecký released AbracaDABra 2.5.92 (RC) with some new features.
I’ve been using AbracaDABra for quite a while mainly for casual listening while doing other stuff on my computer.
AbracaDABra is easy to use and in my view not really a DAB DX tool like QIRX or Qt-DAB.
But this has changed with version 2.5.90 and up!
You can download AbracaDABra from Petr’s Github release page.
AbracaDABra is great with a RTL SDR stick. You can also use Airspy, Soapy SDR or RTL_tcp.

What’s new in 2.5.92?
° Audio can be (un)muted via the tray icon.
° Ensemble info can be exported in a .csv file.

Starting with 2.5.90 (beta) great features like a map and TII decoding have been added.

  • Via the settings (1) (3 dots) and the TII tab you can add your location (3) and import data from the fmlist. Do check the ‘Show spectrum plot’. Activate the map and spectrum plot (2) via the three dots and TII decoder.
  • At the top left of the map (4) all TII info can be seen and sorted. Clicking a line will highlight this code on the map (6) and vice versa! Highlighting a TII at the top left or on the map will activate an info box (7) at the bottom right of the map. Unknown TII codes are shown too.
  • An info box at the top right (5) of the map shows Ensemble, ECC, EID and the channel.

MIND YOU: the TII and map features only work in expert mode (Settings–>Others).

AbracaDABra 2.5.92 (RC)

September 21 2024 – DAB preamp

With great Indian summer weather and some time to spend on the hobby today some modifications were made.

My Körner 15.11 performs excellently, especially after the maintenance I did last June.
A few weeks ago I had a look at some old mails from Peter Körner in which he pointed out the 15.11 coax balun shouldn’t touch the boom directly as this could influence performance negatively.
So I made sure this was fixed, but admittedly I couldn’t find much difference in the 15.11 performance.
Then again I guess this fix won’t hurt performance anyway.

Balun free from boom

Next step was installing a new preamp for the stacked FUBA DAT 307 DAB antennas.
I’ve been using the RTLSDR Wideband LNA for quite some time and with good results.
Then again I was pointed at the TGN-Technology ULNA3018 DAB MK V DAB preamplifier which doesn’t use BIAS-T but an external power inserter.

ULNA3018 MK V preamplifier
ULNA3018 MK V with case

When doing these small upgrades the antenna mast was lowered to almost ground level.
I did some comparing of DAB signal strengths on very local strong muxes with very stable signal levels.
The new ULNA3018 MK V did slightly better than the good old RTLSDR LNA, but only slightly.
So I was rather pleasantly surprised by the performance of this cheap RTLSDR Wideband LNA.
With the mast up again the brand new ULNA3018 MKV does well with strong overall signal levels.

Körner 15.11 and FUBA DAB antennas with new preamp.

September 19 2024

MHz UTC ITU Program + Location Details Remarks km
88.10 0658 DNK DR P1/DR P2, Århus/Søsterhøj/Ny Moesgårdsvej 61 (mjy) 673km
97.20 0701 DNK DR P3, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk) PI logged: 9203 547km
103.00 0701 DNK Radio 4, Århus/Søsterhøj/Ny Moesgårdsvej 61 (mjy) 673km
99.60 0702 DNK DR P3, Næstved/Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) 669km
101.60 0703 DNK Radio 4, Næstved/Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) 669km
103.90 0706 DNK Nova, Næstved/Øverup/Køgevej 291 (sjl) very weak 669km
100.50 0712 DNK Radio 4, Sønder Højrup/Sdr. Højrupvejen 21 (sdk) 612km
93.40 0716 D Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Emden (nds) very weak 314km
94.90 0727 G BBC Radio 4, Forfar (SC-ANG) very weak 792km
102.10 0744 DNK Radio 4, Rangstrup/Gammel Tøndervej 28 (sdk) 547km
100.30 0745 DNK Radio 4, Holstebro/Mejrup/Kalsgårdvej 11 (mjy) 653km
90.90 0752 D NDR 1 Niedersachsen, Hannover/Hemmingen (nds) 377km

Map

MHz Block UTC ITU Ensemble + Location Details Remarks km
232.50 13B 0658 DNK DAB2 N, Aalborg/Nibe/Tostrupbrovej (njy) 742km
232.50 13B 0658 DNK DAB2 N, Hadsten/Brundtvej 11 (mjy) 684km
232.50 13B 0747 DNK DAB2 N, Thisted/Hanstholmvej 46 (njy) 713km
232.50 13B 0747 DNK DAB2 N, Mariager/Øster Doense/Rostrupvej 12A/Tinghøj (njy) 719km
232.50 13B 0747 DNK DAB2 N, Århus/Søsterhøj/Ny Moesgårdsvej 61 (mjy) 673km
232.50 13B 0752 DNK DAB2 N, Ebeltoft/Elsegårdevej 26 (mjy) 698km
232.50 13B 0757 DNK DAB2 N, Brønderslev/Stadevej 33 (njy) 777km
229.07 12D 0802 HOL Flevoland, Lelystad/Cellnex toren (fle) 177km
232.50 13B 0808 DNK DAB2 N, Viborg/Sparkær/Fusagervej (mjy) 676km
239.20 13F 0824 NOR NRK Reg3 SørRog, Søgne (va) 813km
239.20 13F 0824 NOR NRK Reg3 SørRog, Greipstad/Eidsåvegen (va) 828km
197.65 8B 0831 DNK DAB2 S, Varde/Nordenskov/Kærgårdsvej 41B (sdk) 581km
204.64 9B 0902 D Antenne DE, Fulda/Hummelskopf (hes) 351km

Logs September 19 2024

Map

September 18 2024

MHz Block UTC ITU Ensemble + Location Details Remarks km
197.65 8B 0019 HOL 8B N-H / Flevo, Wieringerwerf/NOVEC mast (nho) 214km
197.65 8B 0019 HOL 8B N-H / Flevo, Amsterdam/Cellnex toren (nho) 149km
229.07 12D 0019 HOL Flevoland, Lelystad/Cellnex toren (fle) 177km
232.50 13B 0019 DNK DAB2 N, Viborg/Sparkær/Fusagervej (mjy) 676km – Tent. location – no TII
197.65 8B 0858 DNK DAB2 S, Varde/Nordenskov/Kærgårdsvej 41B (sdk) 581km

DNK

Map

Super tropo from Estonia tonight!

Super tropo from Estonia

MHz UTC ITU Program + Location Details Remarks km
89.30 2019 G BBC Radio 2, Holme Moss (EN-WYK) 529km
88.50 2020 G BBC Radio 2, Pontop Pike (EN-DUR) 611km
91.50 2024 G BBC Radio 3, Holme Moss (EN-WYK) 529km
95.30 2027 G BBC Radio 4, Meldrum (SC-ABS) 847km
93.10 2029 G BBC Radio Scotland, Meldrum (SC-ABS) 847km
100.30 2032 G Classic FM, Pontop Pike (EN-DUR) 611km
100.50 2034 G Classic FM, Meldrum (SC-ABS) PI logged: C2A1 847km
94.50 2038 G BBC Radio 4, Peterborough (EN-CAM) 387km
95.10 2038 G BBC Radio Norfolk, Stoke Holy Cross (EN-NFK) 292km
100.10 2041 G Classic FM, Sutton Coldfield (EN-WMD) 484km
88.60 2046 G BBC Radio 2, Bow Brickhill (EN-BKS) or Hereford / Ridge H? 389km
88.70 2047 G BBC Radio 2, Meldrum (SC-ABS) 847km
89.40 2048 G BBC Radio 2, Durris (SC-ABS) 812km
90.10 2051 G BBC Radio 2, Peterborough (EN-CAM) 387km
90.70 2051 G BBC Radio 3, Pontop Pike (EN-DUR) 611km
90.90 2052 G BBC Radio 3, Meldrum (SC-ABS) 847km
91.10 2057 G BBC Radio Wales, Llangollen (WA-DBG) ID R Wales 586km
94.90 2105 G BBC Radio Lincolnshire, Belmont (EN-LIN) 423km
95.40 2106 G BBC Newcastle, Pontop Pike (EN-DUR) 611km
96.00 2107 G BBC Radio Shropshire, The Wrekin (EN-SHP) 533km
97.20 2118 DNK DR P3, Rangstrup/Gammel T ndervej 28 (sdk) PI logged: 9203 547km
99.90 2120 DNK DR P4, Rangstrup/Gammel T ndervej 28 (sdk) 547km
88.10 2124 G BBC Radio 2, Sandale (EN-CUM) 672km
93.30 2136 G BBC Radio 4, Llangollen (WA-DBG) 586km

Map

September 18 2024 – Qt-DAB-6.X update

Today Jan Van Katwijk released an update of Qt-DAB-6.X.
You can download this version for Windows and Linux on his Github release page.
Do check out the manual too.

What’s new in today’s version?

° Unid TII codes (which were not in the database that can be downloaded into Qt-DAB from the fmlist) were not shown at all. They are now.
° Reed Salomon error repair added to the TPEG services processing.
° Minor corrections.

Qt-DAB-6.X updated with unid TII codes shown.


September 17 2024

MHz Block UTC ITU Ensemble + Location Details Remarks km
178.35 5C 0537 D DR Deutschland, Schöppingen (nrw) 215km
197.65 8B 0537 D NI OSNABRCK K8B, Osnabrück/Schleptruper Egge (nds) 275km
208.06 9D 0543 D Mein NRW DAB+, Eggegebirge/Lichtenauer Kreuz (nrw) 306km
178.35 5C 0601 D DR Deutschland, Bielefeld/Hünenburg (nrw) 284km
190.64 7B 0815 HOL All40 EDE-ARNHEM, Wageningen/Flat Belmonte (gel) 128km
199.36 8C 0912 F Métropolitain 2, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage/Lefaux (62) 221km
197.65 8B 0930 F Métropolitain 1, Abbeville-Mareuil 2 (80) 229km
197.65 8B 2102 HOL 8B N-H / Flevo, Haarlem/Cellnex toren (nho) 155km

Map