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Post by MonkeyMan on Dec 6, 2016 9:45:52 GMT -5
Recently I came across a website dedicated to TV and FM dxing and it piqued my interest on the FM side. I'm in a bad spot reception-wise and have always had trouble receiving a couple of my favorite radio stations, so I decided to apply some new newfound info to see what I could come up with. I learned a bit about the sensitivity and selectivity of receivers and discovered that I had a pretty good one stashed in the basement. It's a Yamaha CT-800 that I picked up at Cash Converter years ago for $9.99, and it's still wearing the price tag. The dial lights are all out and AM doesn't work at all, but neither are an issue. I plopped it on top of my early 90's Philips 900 series "stack" and fired her up. I had been using nothing but a wound up hunk of speaker wire as an antenna, which worked fairly well for what it was, but I needed to hear more stations. The internet lead me to the "quad"/"cubical"/"cubical quad"/ whatever you want to call it loop. I fashioned a length of aluminum ground wire into a roughly 30" square, hung a 300 to 75 ohm off the bottom and WOW, what a difference. The antenna is indoors, but it can receive both 95.1 WZZO from Allentown and 88.5 WXPN from Philly with strong signals and in stereo, pretty amazing considering how much I struggled with reception in the past. I also found a couple lower powered stations that I enjoy, 89.7 WDVR in Jersey and 92.9 WZML, this one is a 5 watt LPFM station broadcasting from on top of Valley Forge mountain. Very tricky to get, but if I position the antenna correctly it comes in fairly well. Aside from the much improved local reception, the most distant station I have received is 91.5 WBJC in Baltimore @ 83 miles, and according to radio-locator.com I'm well outside their fringe. Not nearly as far, but also outside their fringe, is the 6800 watt 91.3 WVUD from Newark, Delaware. I created a log and have been keeping track of what I'm hearing and I'm reading up on the different types of DX conditions. This also gives me something to do if the 11 meter band is quiet.   |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Dec 6, 2016 13:26:59 GMT -5
Recently I came across a website dedicated to TV and FM dxing and it piqued my interest on the FM side. I'm in a bad spot reception-wise and have always had trouble receiving a couple of my favorite radio stations, so I decided to apply some new newfound info to see what I could come up with. I learned a bit about the sensitivity and selectivity of receivers and discovered that I had a pretty good one stashed in the basement. It's a Yamaha CT-800 that I picked up at Cash Converter years ago for $9.99, and it's still wearing the price tag. The dial lights are all out and AM doesn't work at all, but neither are an issue. I plopped it on top of my early 90's Philips 900 series "stack" and fired her up. I had been using nothing but a wound up hunk of speaker wire as an antenna, which worked fairly well for what it was, but I needed to hear more stations. The internet lead me to the "quad"/"cubical"/"cubical quad"/ whatever you want to call it loop. I fashioned a length of aluminum ground wire into a roughly 30" square, hung a 300 to 75 ohm off the bottom and WOW, what a difference. The antenna is indoors, but it can receive both 95.1 WZZO from Allentown and 88.5 WXPN from Philly with strong signals and in stereo, pretty amazing considering how much I struggled with reception in the past. I also found a couple lower powered stations that I enjoy, 89.7 WDVR in Jersey and 92.9 WZML, this one is a 5 watt LPFM station broadcasting from on top of Valley Forge mountain. Very tricky to get, but if I position the antenna correctly it comes in fairly well. Aside from the much improved local reception, the most distant station I have received is 91.5 WBJC in Baltimore @ 83 miles, and according to radio-locator.com I'm well outside their fringe. Not nearly as far, but also outside their fringe, is the 6800 watt 91.3 WVUD from Newark, Delaware. I created a log and have been keeping track of what I'm hearing and I'm reading up on the different types of DX conditions. This also gives me something to do if the 11 meter band is quiet. Bet you can't pick up WCRZY......  I'm kind of lucky being somewhat up on a hill. I was able to pick up 97.5 WKRZ in Wilkes Barre/Scranton with just a hunk of wire. But there are other stations on that frequency that compete. Same holds true for a number of interesting FM stations (Like WRDV). For me, it's not a matter of what I can hear, but how to reject the ones I don't want to hear. Obviously, the answer is a beam antenna, but honestly, I don't do enough FM "DX'ing" to make it worth the trouble. Especially now when I can usually pick up the station's feed streaming on the internet. Yea, I know, it's cheating, but if I get the urge to hear the local jingles and spots from the Pocono area, I can just dial up Rold Gold Radio and grab a stream. |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Dec 6, 2016 14:07:29 GMT -5
I'm kind of lucky being somewhat up on a hill. I was able to pick up 97.5 WKRZ in Wilkes Barre/Scranton with just a hunk of wire. But there are other stations on that frequency that compete. Same holds true for a number of interesting FM stations (Like WRDV). For me, it's not a matter of what I can hear, but how to reject the ones I don't want to hear. Obviously, the answer is a beam antenna, but honestly, I don't do enough FM "DX'ing" to make it worth the trouble. Especially now when I can usually pick up the station's feed streaming on the internet. Yea, I know, it's cheating, but if I get the urge to hear the local jingles and spots from the Pocono area, I can just dial up Rold Gold Radio and grab a stream. I don't usually stream music, but my Onkyo A/V receiver in the living room has streaming capability and it comes in very hand since I don't have an antenna hooked up to it. I also found streaming useful in identifying distant stations. Based in the frequency received I search it on radio-locator.com, then click through to the station I think I'm receiving and compare it to their stream if they have one. If you have a moment see if you can pick up 92.9 WZML. You're out of their range but you have altitude on your side. I was receiving it clearly in the car last night waiting for the boy to come out of scouts, just a few blocks from home and at a bit more altitude. |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Dec 6, 2016 14:08:34 GMT -5
Bet you can't pick up WCRZY...... : No. Thank goodness. |
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
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Post by Sandbagger on Dec 6, 2016 14:46:56 GMT -5
I'm kind of lucky being somewhat up on a hill. I was able to pick up 97.5 WKRZ in Wilkes Barre/Scranton with just a hunk of wire. But there are other stations on that frequency that compete. Same holds true for a number of interesting FM stations (Like WRDV). For me, it's not a matter of what I can hear, but how to reject the ones I don't want to hear. Obviously, the answer is a beam antenna, but honestly, I don't do enough FM "DX'ing" to make it worth the trouble. Especially now when I can usually pick up the station's feed streaming on the internet. Yea, I know, it's cheating, but if I get the urge to hear the local jingles and spots from the Pocono area, I can just dial up Rold Gold Radio and grab a stream. I don't usually stream music, but my Onkyo A/V receiver in the living room has streaming capability and it comes in very hand since I don't have an antenna hooked up to it. I also found streaming useful in identifying distant stations. Based in the frequency received I search it on radio-locator.com, then click through to the station I think I'm receiving and compare it to their stream if they have one. If you have a moment see if you can pick up 92.9 WZML. You're out of their range but you have altitude on your side. I was receiving it clearly in the car last night waiting for the boy to come out of scouts, just a few blocks from home and at a bit more altitude. I'll see what I can pick up on the way home...... |
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Sandbagger
Administrator/The Boss
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Post by Sandbagger on Dec 8, 2016 18:15:11 GMT -5
I don't usually stream music, but my Onkyo A/V receiver in the living room has streaming capability and it comes in very hand since I don't have an antenna hooked up to it. I also found streaming useful in identifying distant stations. Based in the frequency received I search it on radio-locator.com, then click through to the station I think I'm receiving and compare it to their stream if they have one. If you have a moment see if you can pick up 92.9 WZML. You're out of their range but you have altitude on your side. I was receiving it clearly in the car last night waiting for the boy to come out of scouts, just a few blocks from home and at a bit more altitude. I'll see what I can pick up on the way home...... I finally got around to see what I could hear on 92.9. I tried it the other night at home with my 31" hunk of wire on the back of the stereo. I did pick up something, but I suspect it was more likely WMGS in Wilkes-Barre. Tonight I tried from the car on the way home, and I did pick up WZML. I have to admit, I was impressed by the coverage for a station that claims an ERP of 5 watts. Ol Zero-Five would have loved to have that coverage. I started picking up the station spotty in Horsham, and it got stronger as I headed toward home. The first thing I noticed was that it was playing 80's stuff, and a lot of it without a single commercial. Then they threw in a Chicago tune from the 70's and later I heard a 50's song, so I guess anything goes. As I was heading home, and I was driving along the high ground, I started getting co-channel interference from WMGS (they put out 5300 watts ERP), but once I headed down the hill toward Trooper/Audubon, the interference faded and ZML started coming in really well. I heard them identify twice during my trip, and they claimed Bryn-Mawr as the home of the station. But I see now, after I looked it up, that the transmitter is actually in Valley Forge (ironically, Bryn Mawr is at the edge of their coverage) , which explains why it was coming in so well, as I got on 422 in Oaks. But by the time I hit Pottstown, it was banging heads with MGS again, and MGS took over for the rest of my trip home. |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Dec 9, 2016 8:10:18 GMT -5
I'll see what I can pick up on the way home...... I finally got around to see what I could hear on 92.9. I tried it the other night at home with my 31" hunk of wire on the back of the stereo. I did pick up something, but I suspect it was more likely WMGS in Wilkes-Barre. Tonight I tried from the car on the way home, and I did pick up WZML. I have to admit, I was impressed by the coverage for a station that claims an ERP of 5 watts. Ol Zero-Five would have loved to have that coverage. I started picking up the station spotty in Horsham, and it got stronger as I headed toward home. The first thing I noticed was that it was playing 80's stuff, and a lot of it without a single commercial. Then they threw in a Chicago tune from the 70's and later I heard a 50's song, so I guess anything goes. As I was heading home, and I was driving along the high ground, I started getting co-channel interference from WMGS (they put out 5300 watts ERP), but once I headed down the hill toward Trooper/Audubon, the interference faded and ZML started coming in really well. I heard them identify twice during my trip, and they claimed Bryn-Mawr as the home of the station. But I see now, after I looked it up, that the transmitter is actually in Valley Forge (ironically, Bryn Mawr is at the edge of their coverage) , which explains why it was coming in so well, as I got on 422 in Oaks. But by the time I hit Pottstown, it was banging heads with MGS again, and MGS took over for the rest of my trip home. Yeah, for 5 watts they get out well, I guess being on the top of a mountain helps quite a bit. Interesting factoid. The transmitter is located just East of a where the radar system portion of a NIKE missile installation once stood, on the property of the current Horseshoe Point Drive development. The missiles were located in the valley due South at the corner of Swedesford and LeBoutillier roads, at what is now Eaves Spring Drive. This is directly across Swedesford from... wait for it... Chubby Checker's house.  |
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Post by BBB on Dec 9, 2016 10:41:40 GMT -5
The Yaesu FT897D has a great Wide band FM mono receiver. My best FM stereo receiver is my trusty old NAD separate unit. I'm in the process of restoring an old Yamaha CR640 receiver similar to your unit MM. They have top notch FM stereo receivers in them. Very "natural sounding" Yours looks really clean.  |
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Post by BBB on Dec 9, 2016 10:58:39 GMT -5
Yeah, for 5 watts they get out well, I guess being on the top of a mountain helps quite a bit. Interesting factoid. The transmitter is located just East of a where the radar system portion of a NIKE missile installation once stood, on the property of the current Horseshoe Point Drive development. The missiles were located in the valley due South at the corner of Swedesford and LeBoutillier roads, at what is now Eaves Spring Drive. This is directly across Swedesford from... wait for it... Chubby Checker's house. There must have been multiple NIKE installations around Philly back in the day. I still sit at NIKE park in Worcester off of RT 363 one and a while...not far from the old WiFi 92 transmitter. I grew up close enough to that FM transmitter to hear the station through my silver teeth fillings From the interweb: "Nike Missile Philadelphia Defense Area In the early 195Os, a dozen gun batteries positioned 6 to 7 miles from the center of the city protected the "City of Brotherly Love." In the mid-1950s the Philadelphia District of the Corps of Engineers supervised the construction of a circle of 12 Nike Ajax sites averaging 25 miles from center city. Sites on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River included: (PH-07) Richboro (PH-82) Valley Forge/Paoli (PH-15) Newportville/Crowden (PH-91) Worchester/Center Square (PH-67) Chester/Media (PH-75) Edgemont/Delaware City (PH-99) Warrington/Eureka. Headquarters facilities were located at Swarthmore. Sites PH-75 and PH-99 were upgraded to launch Nike Hercules missiles. Following this modernization, the remaining Nike Ajax sites were deactivated from 1961 to 1963. Site PH-75 was deactivated in 1968; PH-99 stayed on duty until 1971. These batteries were manned by both Regular Army and Pennsylvania Army National Guard units. Command and control functions were hosted by a "Missile Master" facility based at Pedricktown, New Jersey. The contributions of Philadelphia's defenders were recognized on April 24, 1963, as Mayor H.J. Tate presided over a ceremony declaring that spring day in Philadelphia as "ARADCOM Day." |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Dec 9, 2016 15:04:09 GMT -5
I finally got around to see what I could hear on 92.9. I tried it the other night at home with my 31" hunk of wire on the back of the stereo. I did pick up something, but I suspect it was more likely WMGS in Wilkes-Barre. Tonight I tried from the car on the way home, and I did pick up WZML. I have to admit, I was impressed by the coverage for a station that claims an ERP of 5 watts. Ol Zero-Five would have loved to have that coverage. I started picking up the station spotty in Horsham, and it got stronger as I headed toward home. The first thing I noticed was that it was playing 80's stuff, and a lot of it without a single commercial. Then they threw in a Chicago tune from the 70's and later I heard a 50's song, so I guess anything goes. As I was heading home, and I was driving along the high ground, I started getting co-channel interference from WMGS (they put out 5300 watts ERP), but once I headed down the hill toward Trooper/Audubon, the interference faded and ZML started coming in really well. I heard them identify twice during my trip, and they claimed Bryn-Mawr as the home of the station. But I see now, after I looked it up, that the transmitter is actually in Valley Forge (ironically, Bryn Mawr is at the edge of their coverage) , which explains why it was coming in so well, as I got on 422 in Oaks. But by the time I hit Pottstown, it was banging heads with MGS again, and MGS took over for the rest of my trip home. Yeah, for 5 watts they get out well, I guess being on the top of a mountain helps quite a bit. Interesting factoid. The transmitter is located just East of a where the radar system portion of a NIKE missile installation once stood, on the property of the current Horseshoe Point Drive development. The missiles were located in the valley due South at the corner of Swedesford and LeBoutillier roads, at what is now Eaves Spring Drive. This is directly across Swedesford from... wait for it... Chubby Checker's house. Some additional factoids...... The transmitter tower and facility had been used for commercial relays and repeaters, and shows up on the aerial photos since 1950. Now it looks like cell phone nodes have taken over most of it. At 650' of height, it's a nice spot for a transmitter, which accounts for WZML covering as well as it does with 5 watts, while Gene's pirate station had a third of that range with 25 watts of power. Back in 1976, a couple of CB friends and I were exploring in the area. We were looking to find the 146 16/76 2 meter repeater, and originally thought that this installation was that repeater (wrong!). We then continued down the road (which was not maintained and full of pot holes) and discovered the old radar site. At the time I didn't know what it was, but there were several large dish antennas there, and the buildings looked "military", but it was obvious that it was no longer being used. The horseshoe trail also wound its way around up there, and that's how we got up to the antenna site. There were also a couple of CB'ers who lived in the area (Big Bear, Tex, Sweet Surrender), so I got to know it rather well back then. They've really built it up since then, and I hardly recognize it now.... |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Dec 9, 2016 15:34:05 GMT -5
The Yaesu FT897D has a great Wide band FM mono receiver. My best FM stereo receiver is my trusty old NAD separate unit. I'm in the process of restoring an old Yamaha CR640 receiver similar to your unit MM. They have top notch FM stereo receivers in them. Very "natural sounding" Yours looks really clean. View AttachmentClose up, with good light mine is fair at best, but it does a good job. I decided that I was going to tackle the dial lights and see if I can figure out whats up with the AM mode. When I get a round to it... |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Dec 9, 2016 15:43:05 GMT -5
Back in 1976, a couple of CB friends and I were exploring in the area. We were looking to find the 146 16/76 2 meter repeater, and originally thought that this installation was that repeater (wrong!). We then continued down the road (which was not maintained and full of pot holes) and discovered the old radar site. At the time I didn't know what it was, but there were several large dish antennas there, and the buildings looked "military", but it was obvious that it was no longer being used. The horseshoe trail also wound its way around up there, and that's how we got up to the antenna site. There were also a couple of CB'ers who lived in the area (Big Bear, Tex, Sweet Surrender), so I got to know it rather well back then. They've really built it up since then, and I hardly recognize it now.... I remember going by that building for the first time with my buddies and wondering what the heck it was. We figured government, but didn't know exactly what. There's a water tower a little East of the property. It wasn't fenced in in the late 80's/early 90's and one night back then I high-tailed it up the ladder for a look-see. I could see the tops of the tall buildings in Philly, and to the West the big star that used to sit on top of Fancy Hill in Boyertown, right back of JR's place. They used to light it every year during the holidays and could be seen for miles. Sadly, that's gone too. |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Dec 9, 2016 22:21:36 GMT -5
Back in 1976, a couple of CB friends and I were exploring in the area. We were looking to find the 146 16/76 2 meter repeater, and originally thought that this installation was that repeater (wrong!). We then continued down the road (which was not maintained and full of pot holes) and discovered the old radar site. At the time I didn't know what it was, but there were several large dish antennas there, and the buildings looked "military", but it was obvious that it was no longer being used. The horseshoe trail also wound its way around up there, and that's how we got up to the antenna site. There were also a couple of CB'ers who lived in the area (Big Bear, Tex, Sweet Surrender), so I got to know it rather well back then. They've really built it up since then, and I hardly recognize it now.... I remember going by that building for the first time with my buddies and wondering what the heck it was. We figured government, but didn't know exactly what. There's a water tower a little East of the property. It wasn't fenced in in the late 80's/early 90's and one night back then I high-tailed it up the ladder for a look-see. I could see the tops of the tall buildings in Philly, and to the West the big star that used to sit on top of Fancy Hill in Boyertown, right back of JR's place. They used to light it every year during the holidays and could be seen for miles. Sadly, that's gone too. If that would have been me back in the day, I'd have climbed up to the top of that tower with a walkie-talkie and tried a little distance talking. From up there, I'd be getting at least 10 miles I'm sure with my little 1 watt Midland from up there..  |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Dec 9, 2016 22:59:15 GMT -5
Well, my girlfriend (now wife) was waiting for me in the car so I had other things on my mind.  |
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Post by BBB on Dec 10, 2016 10:19:19 GMT -5
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FM Dxing
Jan 9, 2017 22:58:30 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by MonkeyMan on Jan 9, 2017 22:58:30 GMT -5
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FM Dxing
Jan 9, 2017 23:20:17 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by MonkeyMan on Jan 9, 2017 23:20:17 GMT -5
Bought a set of incandescent lamps today, mine are 12v 60mA. Approx. $14, $4 more than I paid for the tuner. |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Jan 10, 2017 7:07:17 GMT -5
Bought a set of incandescent lamps today, mine are 12v 60mA. Approx. $14, $4 more than I paid for the tuner. Am I missing something here? Why are those wheat bulbs so expensive? I used to buy similar at Radio Shack for a buck and a half a pair. |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Mar 12, 2017 9:30:36 GMT -5
In my quest to find a decent FM DX machine at a decent price I came across the Tecsun PL-390. It's a well regarded, cheap, Chinese radio, and at $60 shipped, I couldn't resist, so I spent some of my recent eBay profits and received it yesterday. I have to concur with the reviews, it is nothing short of amazing.... First-impressions-Tecsun-PL-390 |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Mar 17, 2017 7:18:21 GMT -5
... The internet lead me to the "quad"/"cubical"/"cubical quad"/ whatever you want to call it loop. I fashioned a length of aluminum ground wire into a roughly 30" square, hung a 300 to 75 ohm off the bottom and WOW, what a difference. The antenna is indoors, but it can receive both 95.1 WZZO from Allentown and 88.5 WXPN from Philly with strong signals and in stereo, pretty amazing considering how much I struggled with reception in the past. I also found a couple lower powered stations that I enjoy, 89.7 WDVR in Jersey and 92.9 WZML, this one is a 5 watt LPFM station broadcasting from on top of Valley Forge mountain. Very tricky to get, but if I position the antenna correctly it comes in fairly well... With less than $12 worth of PVC pipe and fittings I encapsulated this antenna so that it could take a little abuse and go portable without being crushed. It's not finished as shown. I still have to cut the center pipe and install a cross. I'm looking forward to taking it to both the beach and mountains this summer along with the Tecsun PL-390's to see what it can do. Hoping for some nice DX along the Delaware coastline.  (It looks a little wonky because the center pipe is too short. That will be addressed when I install the cross and the rest of the piping) |
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Post by doctor on Mar 17, 2017 18:27:18 GMT -5
I use to be into AM dxing, and one would be surprised on what you hear, I heard California a few times at night, and over 300 stations, using a TESCUN 660 or my ALINCO DX70, never could get the CARIBBEAN stations though, but a lot of fun, even heard some PIRATE stations above 1600. Also off/on listen for pirate stations on 6 MHz, a lot of fun and most qsl via e-mail.
DOCTOR/795
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 25, 2017 14:01:02 GMT -5
Finally, conditions! Just picked up 94.9 WMMQ from Lansing Michigan, 490 miles. Only for a brief time, but I was lucky enough to catch the station ID. |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 26, 2017 13:37:12 GMT -5
Finally, conditions! Just picked up 94.9 WMMQ from Lansing Michigan, 490 miles. Only for a brief time, but I was lucky enough to catch the station ID. Any rule(s) of thumb to determine if these conditions were tropo ducting or sporadic e? TV channels 2 and 6 were also affected at the time so I was assuming sporadic e. |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Jun 27, 2017 11:26:11 GMT -5
Finally, conditions! Just picked up 94.9 WMMQ from Lansing Michigan, 490 miles. Only for a brief time, but I was lucky enough to catch the station ID. Any rule(s) of thumb to determine if these conditions were tropo ducting or sporadic e? TV channels 2 and 6 were also affected at the time so I was assuming sporadic e. The higher you go in frequency, the tougher it is to get ionospheric "skip". VHF typically does not "skip" very often, and usually relies on ducting or refraction to "go long". But considering the distance involved, I'd have to assume that it was sporatic-E as well. A rare one for sure. 6 meters likes the summer "E" skip, but for 2 meters and above it's much less likely, though certainly far from impossible. The FM broadcast band is right at that cusp at the transition to VHF. |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 27, 2017 12:14:21 GMT -5
Any rule(s) of thumb to determine if these conditions were tropo ducting or sporadic e? TV channels 2 and 6 were also affected at the time so I was assuming sporadic e. The higher you go in frequency, the tougher it is to get ionospheric "skip". VHF typically does not "skip" very often, and usually relies on ducting or refraction to "go long". But considering the distance involved, I'd have to assume that it was sporatic-E as well. A rare one for sure. 6 meters likes the summer "E" skip, but for 2 meters and above it's much less likely, though certainly far from impossible. The FM broadcast band is right at that cusp at the transition to VHF. I suppose it doesn't matter which condition was causing it as long as I'm getting some DX, I was just curious if there was some discerning characteristic(s) to one or the other that would help determine which it was. I did however find a Facebook group discussing the great "e conditions" on Sunday, so that's what I'm running with. I also found a tropo ducting forecast site which showed weak ducting conditions over PA on Sunday, but if I understand correctly ducting is directional, so for me to pick up Michigan there would also have to be some connection between PA and MI, which there wasn't. Again, if I'm understanding this all correctly. The same site is predicting fairly decent conditions Friday and through the weekend, so I'll have to keep my ears peeled. Also on Sunday, 101.7, the religious station a mile away from me which comes in full scale, needle pegged was completely overridden by some "hot AC" station from parts unknown. I waited and listened, but never got the station ID. |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Jun 27, 2017 15:29:44 GMT -5
The higher you go in frequency, the tougher it is to get ionospheric "skip". VHF typically does not "skip" very often, and usually relies on ducting or refraction to "go long". But considering the distance involved, I'd have to assume that it was sporatic-E as well. A rare one for sure. 6 meters likes the summer "E" skip, but for 2 meters and above it's much less likely, though certainly far from impossible. The FM broadcast band is right at that cusp at the transition to VHF. I suppose it doesn't matter which condition was causing it as long as I'm getting some DX, I was just curious if there was some discerning characteristic(s) to one or the other that would help determine which it was. I did however find a Facebook group discussing the great "e conditions" on Sunday, so that's what I'm running with. I also found a tropo ducting forecast site which showed weak ducting conditions over PA on Sunday, but if I understand correctly ducting is directional, so for me to pick up Michigan there would also have to be some connection between PA and MI, which there wasn't. Again, if I'm understanding this all correctly. The same site is predicting fairly decent conditions Friday and through the weekend, so I'll have to keep my ears peeled. Also on Sunday, 101.7, the religious station a mile away from me which comes in full scale, needle pegged was completely overridden by some "hot AC" station from parts unknown. I waited and listened, but never got the station ID. I would agree that what you're seeing is sporadic E. We should be at the peak of the summer "E" cycle. I can remember a year or 2 ago, driving around and having just about all of the local Phila stations heterodyning with other Class A FM stations from who knows where. It's neat when it happens. It just doesn't happen a lot. That's what makes it fun. That's also the time to fire up 6 meters. Working Florida with 1 watt, like shooting fish in a barrel. |
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FM Dxing
Jun 27, 2017 16:07:26 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 27, 2017 16:07:26 GMT -5
I remember about 12 or so years ago I drove over to my buddy's house and on the way I noticed almost all the local FM stations were gone and replaced with others I had never heard before. He was at his pool with the radio on and we pondered what the heck was going on as it lasted quite some time. If I recall correctly it was late August or very early September and a very clear, cool low humidity day. I knew it was "conditions", but I never heard anything like it before, or since for that matter.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Mar 29, 2018 7:05:01 GMT -5
Talking to a buddy of mine yesterday who knows I geek out over this stuff and he directed me to a new low power FM station out of Phoenixville. This morning they're playing an eclectic mix, which kinda reminds me of 70's AM radio... wxpmlp.org/ |
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Sandbagger
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Post by Sandbagger on Mar 29, 2018 16:22:19 GMT -5
Talking to a buddy of mine yesterday who knows I geek out over this stuff and he directed me to a new low power FM station out of Phoenixville. This morning they're playing an eclectic mix, which kinda reminds me of 70's AM radio... wxpmlp.org/With all-too predictable cookie cutter formats coming out of the commercial radio segment, sniffing out these local low budget eclectic LPFM stations is going to be interesting. Brings back the days of "underground" radio (WMMR) in the early 70's. |
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 22, 2018 10:44:51 GMT -5
I was on vacation this past week, but thanks to the internet I was alerted to a massive opening on the FM band. This was Wednesday evening, June 20th. All occurred between approx. 7:30 to 8:00 pm. My location was roughly 15 miles south of Wilkes Barre, Pa. next to a small (160 acre) lake. There were multiple stations fighting it out on frequencies up and down the dial, so I scrambled to find a pen and paper to make notes. I heard so many more, but was only able to confirm these...
- 92.7 KGFX Pierre SD, “River 92” @ 1,256 miles
- 93.3 KSJZ Bedford ND, “Mix 93” @ 1,196 miles
- 94.1 KNEB Scottsbluff NE, “The Brand” @ 1,433 miles
- 93.1 KQID Alexandria LA, “Q93” @ 1,112 miles
- 95.5 CKGY Red Deer, AB, Canada, “95.5 Real Country” @ 1,933 miles
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