During the 3rd week of June 2010, I had an opportunity of experiencing sporadic e condition in FM band. Earlier, Noticing various distant FM logs, I tried several times from my hometown Kolkata with available receivers. But strong local FM channels & their image frequencies all over the FM band, prevented me to log any distant FM channels. Then dismantling newly home brewed Quad Loop antenna, shifted to another 100 km north of Kolkata, a place called Taherpur (Coordinates 23.18°N 88.58°E) under Nadia district of West Bengal state. Erected a 20 mtr. longwire targeting southeast & northwest. The very first day Quad miserably failed & later on detected that there was no continuity. Then the magic started with the longwire which later on found performing excellent. I used a tiny Tecsun PL 757A portable receiver. Many of the distant FM stations coming like our local FM channels, specially from Pakistan. As if, I am sitting in a city of Pakistan. Most of the pvt. FM channels of Bangladesh like Radio Foorti, Dhaka, Radio Amar, Radio Today Dhaka, were coming very clear. Most surprisingly received BBC Bengali programme via FM at Comilla, Bangladesh. Many of the stations carrying programme in CIS language, could not be identified. Indeed, it is not so easy to perfectly identify a distant FM channel just crosschecking their frequency in the available gadgets. Because various programme run in the same channel in various city of the same country. Although Indian pvt FM channels could not disturb the band much but some channels from central to northwestern India were available. Many of the Thai & Vietnamese channels remained unidentified.
Below you can listen to some of the audio files recorded with my mobile phone recorder.
Unidentified Chinese 92.4 MHz @ 0519 21.6.2010
102.6 MHz 0741UTC 21.6.10 AIR DELHI
FM 93 Pakisatn 93.0 MHz 0417 UTC 21.6.10
FM Sunrise Sahiwal Pakistan 96.0 MHz 0701 UTC 21.6.2010
Local pirate in Bengali
Local Pirate 95.6 MHz 1605 UTC 20.6.10
Local Pirate 96.4 MHz 1558 UTC 20.6.10
Mast FM Lahore Pakistan 103.0 MHz 0352 UTC 21.6.10
Power FM Islamabad 99.0 MHz 0728 UTC 21.6.2010
Punjab University FM Lahore 0.1 kW 104.6 MHz 0824 UTC 21.6.10
Pyinsawadi FM Burma 88.0 MHz 0501 UTC
R News Network Pakistan 99.0 MHz 0300 UTC 21.6.10
Radio Today Bangladesh 89.6 MHz 0537 UTC 21.6.2010
Sichuan R China 91.3 MHz 0400 UTC 21.6.10
Unidentified 90.1 MHz
Unidentified stn 97.8 MHz 0430 UTC 21.6.2010
Unidentified 101.3 MHz Presumably Tibetan
Unidentified Bengali 100 MHz 0323UTC 21.6.10
Unidentified Chinese stn 21.6.2010
Unidentified Chinese stn 92.4 MHz @ 0519 21.6.2010
Unidentified Chinese stn 96.0 MHz 0539 UTC
Unidentified Indian station
Unidentified Kazakh or Uighur language 92.2 MHz 0800 21.6.10
Unidentified Turkish language on 93.2 MHz 0418 UTC 20.6.2010
Unidentified Uighur language programme
But coming back in Kolkata tried several times but nothing fruitful so far. Quad Loop antenna was also erected perfectly. Definitely this was the first experience of sporadic e. Next one will must be a planned FM dxpedition.
(Swopan Chakroborty)
