Looks like I brought the wrong radio to NZ...

In my last minute semi-planning, I decided not to bring any shortwave radio to New Zealand - any means either of the Sony 7600gr with wonky telescopic antenna, and the much smaller Degen DE1105 -- with no telescopic antenna at all.

All I brought then was the Pure PoketDAB 2000. There is a DAB trial here. But my how the signal is weak. It's not useable downtown -- so far the only place I've been able to enjoy it is in Ponsonby, up high. I don't know the details of the intended coverage are, but where I've been -- from Parnell to Ponsonby -- it's not a goer.

So I'm mostly using the FM part of the PocketDAB. It doesn't have RDS, which can slow things down a bit. Some stations it receives well, and some it really doesn't! The most frustrating examble is Radio New Zealand National. 101.4, pretty much everywhere in downtown, the quay, Parnell and Ponsonby at least, sounds like a leaky cable radio singal. If I had brought the beat-up Degen, at least I could use AM...

Ah well!

Out and about

I've been a busy boy of late. And I've hardly had the chance to listen to the radio. But I've noticed a couple of things, such as:

Around Alexandra Park road, a portable DAB radio'll get a good singal wouthout any aerial at all.
The pure pocketDAB 2000 uses the headphone cable as it's antenna, and without plugging anything in, the signal metre shows a good strong signal, on the residential roads around the Ally Pally TX site. I'd like to see if it works out to Wood Green.

And yes, I understand the pointlessness in seeing if you can get a signal without being able to hear it!


You can see the Crystal Palace mast from the Putney Bridge tube bridge. A nice clear view of it.

The 1296kHz antenna for BBC World Service DRM in Orfordness is like a pair of 3 element beams, stuck into the ground with the boom running along the ground.

No not a good description, but those masts suddenly make sense to an amateur like me once I can visualise that :-)