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SINPO vs SIO As soon as reception reports started flowing into (short- and mediumwave) radio stations in the 1920s and 1930s, some kind of internationally recognized codes were introduced. These were needed not only to standardize report writing, but to be able to compare one report with another. The first, and most popular was the SINPO code, in which each letter stands for a specific item; Signal strength, Interference, Noise, Propagation's conditions and Overall merit. Each is rated from 1 to 5. (1 = Extreme, Severe, Moderate, Slight, Excellent or Nil) Whilst the above may look impressive as well as concise, it will soon become evident that the SINPO code is very subjective. Somebody may rate a signal as 33232 whilst someone else might rate it as 44333. Likewise, although the original SINPO code did lay down technical specifications for each number (i.e. a number 3 in the P column meant a fixed number of fades per minute) these are hardly ever adhered to by reporters. Nor is it advisable to use the so called 'Signal Strength' meter to judge signal strength. No 'S' meter on a communications receiver under EUR 1000 in price is anything more than a tuning indicator. The 'S' meter reading is usually dependent on the setting of the RF gain control, so use your ears, not the needle, to judge signal strength. You may also find references to the "SINFO" code in some literature. In this case the 'F' stands for Fading, instead of 'P' for Propagation, but the two codes are essentially the same. It is also clear that many listeners cannot distinguish between the 'I' which stands for man-made interference, the 'N' which stands for natural atmospheric noise, and the rating for 'Propagation' is not often understood. There are some books and periodicals that maintain the SINPO code as being the only one for DX reporters. However, from a station's point of view I suggest the following, simpler, code which is used by most professional monitoring stations around the world; SIO. Signal strength, Interference of any type and finally the Overall merit. The O of SIO is expressing the overall merit of a received signal. (1 = Unusable, 2 = Poor, 3 = Fair, 4 = Good, 5 = Excellent) Received Written Reception Reports In the past few years I received many letters, phone calls and e-mails from listeners who picked up Free Radio Nova. Written reception reports however are becoming less and less common since e-mail made its appearance. Beneath an overview of received written reception reports (e-mails and phone calls not included) to give you an impression that you don't need a Rohde & Schwarz... 30 watts is sufficient enough! Germany
Nidda/Ober-Lais - O3 Finland
Turku - O3 Sweden
Bjarred - O4 Spain Fraga - O2 Lithuania Klaipeda - O4 France
Nantes - O3 Czech Republic Jablonec Nad Nisou - O3 Holland
Leiden - O3 Belgium Veurne - O4 United Kingdom
Nottingham - O3 Poland
Gliwice - O3
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