YES IT'S ME AND I'M STILL HERE...AND MAYBE YOU NOTICED...THE FRAMES ARE GONE!
Is there anything more
fun than listening to E Skip? Or staying up all night logging long haul
tropo
or
going to bed at 4am and getting up for work at 8?
YES! And
sleeping is one of them!
HAPPY 2012!
THE RAY DEES RDS DECODER
This is the newest and greatest
RDS decoder to come down the pike.
Use it with your computer or as
a standalone unit. [READ HERE]
Now use it with a USB cable and throw the serial cable away!
SEE PI CODES WITH YOUR SONY XDR-F1HD
The Sony XDR-F1HD is one great FM Tuner for DXing but it lacks one thing,
and that thing is the ability to view PI codes on the radio's display. Well now a DXer in France
has come up with a way to see them and I have a review of his mod in these pages. [READ HERE]
TECHNICAL RESOURCES FOR TV AND FM DXERS
And if you're an audiophile, radio listener or hobbyist, you probably will find something of interest here.
DXING THE FM AND TV BANDS FROM CONNECTICUT SINCE 1974 WITH 2,647 FM STATIONS LOGGED.
Welcome to my Website!
Site MeterI've been DXing the FM and TV bands since the late 1960s and the WTFDA has also been my club of choice since then. Back in the late 90s I began doing the the club's mail and the membership. Later on I became one of the board of directors and then, in 2001, publisher of the VHF-UHF Digest. I continue with that position today (2011). My current goal is to publish the VHF-UHF Digest as an e-zine, with a minimum of paper issues printed monthly. So far the process seems to be going well.2008 Highlights
Probably what stands out for me are the two DTV stations I saw via E-skip this summer and Radio Enclyclopedia 94.9 from Havana I also heard via E skip. This year I bought a Sony XDR-F1HD HD radio for FM Dxing. It has very impressive selectivity for analog reception (who cares about HD radio anyway). I also bought and modified a Harmon-Kardon TU-920 tuner and changed two of the four filters with 110khz filters. It sounds great and it's new selectivity borders (but does not quite equal) that of the Sony tuner.2009 Highlights
For the first time in my DXing career, my most memorable moments occurred while TV DXing and my 2Es reception of XHBC ch3 in Mexicali, BCN was the winner. I've always dreamed of seeing 2Es from Los Angeles (KNXT was what I was looking for), but I will settle for XHBC. I also saw analog television from Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Nicaragua, Cuba and the Dominican Republic in summer 2009. I can't wait for summer 2010 to see what else shows up on my analog TV screen. See my YouTube page for a couple of video clips of my 2Es receptions.2010 Highlight
Well as I write this it's late June and there has been lots of unidentified 2-hop television from Mexico. I've managed to get a couple of IDs and have posted the video on YouTube (see below). One Saturday morning (6/19) brought the Dominican Republic on ch2 in and out for an hour or so with the Tele Antilles logo during a movie. And on FM I've heard XHCAO 89.1 in Cd. Camargo, TAM (1828 mi)with a ""La Lupe" ID. Too bad I didn't have time to record it.2011 Highlights
There weren't any on FM. Most E skip this summer came from Florida with the same stations over and over. TV did have one bright moment and that moment was the day I logged XEWO ch2 in Guadalajara. The video of that reception is below. Dominican Republic ch2 (Tele Antillas) was seen once with an ID. Now it's gone. Es season is much too short.
On FM I now have 20 area stations broadcasting HD radio. See my new updated listing (03/10). This development has knocked the wind out of my FM Dxing after 37 years of FM Dxing from this location. That's 40 additional adjacent channels that are not DXable except for the strongest tropo and spE. I'll continue to DX when possible, but I know my best DXing days are gone forever. Luckily my problem with pirates has almost completely disappeared. The only pirate I can hear now is the station in Hartford on 103.3 (Caribbean type music). The rest have been shut down.
****NEW for (2011) 2,316 Mile Double Hop E Skip to XEWO Ch2, Guadalajara, Mexico on July 12, 2011 @ 10am ET.
(TV Masvision is the station slogan)
****NEW (2010)! CHECK OUT MY VIDEO CLIPS ON YOUTUBE. CLICK THE LOGO.****
See 2,400 mile double hop analog E skip (SpE) from XHBC ch3 Mexicali, BCN! And more!
Added in 2010, video from XHRIO ch2 (Fox) 1800+ miles and XEPM ch2 Juarez (1990 miles)
****THE MOST POPULAR PAGES ON THIS SITE SINCE IT BEGAN!****
My DTV Photos from DX seen in Northern CT. UPDATED TO NOVEMBER 2011.
Yes, lowband DTV signals do skip well over 1000 miles in the summer. Plus tropo photos.FM Antennas, Up Close and Personal with Photos. Comparing the Finco FM5 and the CM Probe 9. Channel Master 3025 specifications. This is the famous CM Probe-9 model 4408. Specs on the old ten element Finco FM-5. Narrow Ceramic filters for Better FM Selectivity. This is the original article! Andy Bolin's original article on antenna phasing and his 360 degree phaser. My original page featuring pictures of analog high-band ch7 and ch9 E-skip seen on July 7, 2004 at 7:30pm. This is rare, and even rarer since analog TV is now history. It will never be repeated. Mike's DX Audio MP3s are samples of the amazing FM DX I've heard here since 1974. For 2011 I have converted all my old Realaudio files to .mp3 files. Hopefully you will not find any .ra or .rm files on this site again! Check them out!
Although this site mostly pertains to TV and FM Dxing, I do AM (Medium Wave) Dxing in the fall, winter and spring when the VHF bands are dead. I have a collection of AM DX files I recorded in the late 60s and early 70s from the Naval Communications Stations in Morocco and Iceland when I was in the Navy. This was before satellites and during the Vietnam war and we sailors were starved for any news from home, and this is how I got it. Actually, hearing the US from Europe or North Africa is not hard in the winter (or most of the year, really). In the days when all we had for television there was the local AFRTS station that got all it's news via film sent over on a plane, DXing really helped us keep our sanity. So, here is my HearditonAM site.
OTHER DX RELATED LINKS
TUNERS I'VE USED FOR DXING
I've used all of these over the years. All but the XDR F1-HD had to be modified with narrow filters. The tuners I own now, in 2011, are the Sony XDR-F1HD, the Onkyo T450-RDS (my 2nd) and the NAD 4155. All have great sound but the Onkyo tops the list for audio quality. The Sony is used mainly for tropo Dxing, the NAD is used with the Ray Dees unit for computer display of RDS codes. The Onkyo is just a pleasure to use and listen to. By the way, ceramic filters are becoming hard to find these days, having been replaced with SMDs (Surface mounted thingies that are almost impossible to solder without ruining them) or DSP, so good luck finding them!
Best sounding tuners of the lot are the Onkyo, the Harmon-Kardon and the two NADs. I do miss the H-K tuner.
The T450-RDS has shown up three times on eBay (since Jan 1st, 2011). This spring I paid $14 for mine. Recently (Aug/Sept) the tuner has showed up twice offered by the same seller asking $50. That's a fair price to me, but of course, $14 is easier on the wallet.
ONKYO T450 RDS with modified filters. Click to download users manual.
CARVER TX-11 WITH narrow filters
Sangean HDT-1 HD Radio Tuner. Good for DXing?
The Denon TU1500 RD tuner (WITH RDS). Check out my review comparing the modded Denon with the Onkyo T450!
The SONY XDR-F1HD HD Radio tuner.
Harmon-Kardon TU-920 AM/FM Tuner.
The NAD 4300 AM/FM Tuner with 150khz filters
The NAD 4155 AM/FM Tuner with 150khz filters.
CHECK THE MAPS FOR MY BEST TROPO AND E-SKIP LOGGINGS!
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Updated January 23, 2012
PROUD MEMBER OF
Worldwide TV-FM DX Association
P.O. Box 501 Somersville, CT USA
06072
EMAIL ME! I do answer email. Comments welcome!
Weird, but I Like Him. Are we having fun yet?
©Bill Griffith
NOTE: Any unauthorized use of any of my equipment reviews on eBAY or any other publication will be swiftly dealt with. You MUST have my permission to reprint any of my original articles. My work is copyrighted. Unauthorized use is illegal. Besides, those articles are too damned old anyway.©2000-2012 M. Bugaj
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Kompozer
