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There's no sure way to predict anything, of course, but it's been my experience over the years that when the weather gets steaming hot - they're predicting record breaking temperatures in the mid-30s with humidex values in the 40s - it sometimes turns the FM dial in Toronto into a real kaleidoscope as far as out of town stations are concerned.
I haven't seen the tropo forecast yet, but in the past, hot and humid often means weird reception from all over the U.S. and Canada. I remember a week like this when I was in high school, coming home to hearing FM stations from Kentucky, Alabama and Florida, among others. I've never seen (or rather heard) an afternoon like that one to this day.
So while there are no guarantees, if you're into this hobby, keep your eyes on the skies and your ears on your radio starting Monday. With nearly an entire week of it ahead, you may not believe what you hear.
(And maybe, just maybe, even Channel 67's MeTV will come in on my antenna!)
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Thanks for the tip. I'll be listening for it.
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No guarantees, but worth taking a shot, just in case. Just don't let your radio melt in the sun! (Or yourself, for that matter.)
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RadioActive wrote:
No guarantees, but worth taking a shot, just in case. Just don't let your radio melt in the sun! (Or yourself, for that matter.)
I'll be under the patio umbrella with a cold beer.
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turkeytop wrote:
RadioActive wrote:
No guarantees, but worth taking a shot, just in case. Just don't let your radio melt in the sun! (Or yourself, for that matter.)
I'll be under the patio umbrella with a cold beer.
Now that is a perfect way to DX.
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RadioActive wrote:
There's no sure way to predict anything, of course, but it's been my experience over the years that when the weather gets steaming hot - they're predicting record breaking temperatures in the mid-30s with humidex values in the 40s - it sometimes turns the FM dial in Toronto into a real kaleidoscope as far as out of town stations are concerned.
I haven't seen the tropo forecast yet, but in the past, hot and humid often means weird reception from all over the U.S. and Canada. I remember a week like this when I was in high school, coming home to hearing FM stations from Kentucky, Alabama and Florida, among others. I've never seen (or rather heard) an afternoon like that one to this day.
So while there are no guarantees, if you're into this hobby, keep your eyes on the skies and your ears on your radio starting Monday. With nearly an entire week of it ahead, you may not believe what you hear.
(And maybe, just maybe, even Channel 67's MeTV will come in on my antenna!)
It will be challenging now because the FM dial today has much fewer empty spots for skip to squeeze in.
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HD radio signals interfere with upper and lower adjacent channels so if your in GTA not much open spectrum to DX.
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My sense from Bill Hepburn's tropo forecast maps is for good regional enhancement out to, maybe 200 miles or so, and no signs of potential ducting to significant distances. So I'd expect places like Detroit, Ottawa, Erie, from Toronto. Separately, it's been a lacklustre e-skip season thus far but maybe things will pick up.
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Saul wrote:
My sense from Bill Hepburn's tropo forecast maps is for good regional enhancement out to, maybe 200 miles or so, and no signs of potential ducting to significant distances. So I'd expect places like Detroit, Ottawa, Erie, from Toronto. Separately, it's been a lacklustre e-skip season thus far but maybe things will pick up.
I used to have a link to Hepburn's site, but somehow I've lost it. Could you please post it here?
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I'm looking forward to getting both TV and FM DX from Ohio. Cleveland does not reach Sarnia under normal conditions unless you are on AM. I would also like to know what DX is like in places like Orangeville, Dundalk, Shelburne and Singhampton during tropospheric enhancement. They are 500+ meters above Sea Level. Lake Ontario is about 75 m and Lake Huron is close to 175 m.
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A number of years ago (20 or so) I drove up Blue Mountain in Collingwood on a hot day and went left to right on AM and FM. On FM, I picked up Sudbury, Rochester and various other cities as tropo was good. It’s just so cool DX’ing. Wish I had a good tv antenna to try that as well.
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Marc1178 wrote:
I'm looking forward to getting both TV and FM DX from Ohio. Cleveland does not reach Sarnia under normal conditions unless you are on AM. I would also like to know what DX is like in places like Orangeville, Dundalk, Shelburne and Singhampton during tropospheric enhancement. They are 500+ meters above Sea Level. Lake Ontario is about 75 m and Lake Huron is close to 175 m.
Thank you for posting the site ... I should have.
I sometimes DX mobile from Hwy 9 / Dufferin St area which is kind of southeast of Orangeville. Have found places in the hills where Toronto etc are blocked. Have heard *tropo* from as far away as Hope Arkansas and York Nebraska (both happened to be 104.9, which is now occupied by a country station in Shelburne). The trick is not just to be high but to 'work' the terrain so you block out the semilocals and even locals as much as possible. I have had 500+ miles over-top Toronto channels.
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Any idea where you plan to be during the week's heatwave? Or are you not going to try this time because of other commitments?
It's potential opportunities like this that sometimes makes me wish TV was still on analogue. The stuff you could get on channels 2, 3 and 4 on rare days was simply astonishing.
In addition to all the usual suspects like Pennsylvania, New York State and Ohio, my old list included Denver, New York City, Texas, Florida, Louisiana and even Regina. What an incredible year that was!
Here are a few QSL cards/letters I got back from them:
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I'll be trying for FM DX, either from My patio or maybe in a nearby park. (London ON.)
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I often receive CHRY (vibe105) Toronto from my area of central Hamilton mountain, almost always on good weather days.
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I remember last summer I picked up stations from Toledo OH and Saginaw MI north of London. I wonder what different US stations might come in.
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Right now, Wednesday 11:15 AM, I'm getting WMNF 88.5 FM from Tampa on a Sangean portable out on my patio.
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turkeytop wrote:
Right now, Wednesday 11:15 AM, I'm getting WMNF 88.5 FM from Tampa on a Sangean portable out on my patio.
Where in ON are you? There's been massive TROPO reported from MA to GA-SC-NC-VA but no apparent e-skip (Es). I highly doubt you'd get Tampa via Tr on a portable from ON. I therefore suspect some weak Es may be building. I'm at my site kind of half paying attention as I assemble a new antenna (and find I need a connector I don't have to connect it to an amp I also acquired online). The tropo I'm seeing 100 miles n.e. of Toronto in the northern Kawarthas is all within 250 miles or so ... and I want that to go away to clear the band for Es or long-haul tropo.
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I'm in London ON. WMNF seems to be about the only unusual catch so far. Their call letters are displayed on their RDS. I recognized it right off because I sometimes listen to the station when we're in Florida.
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No Es noted here in Kawarthas, just gave a full lower-band check. Maybe something will fire up today ...
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Cool to see the RDS. Looks like a Sangean, maybe a later version of the 909 than the one I have? Most likely Es, but meteor scatter bursts can last a minute or even more in exceptional circumstances, and produce RDS. I highly doubt Tr even though an Akron OH DXer is reporting Tr this evening from Roanoke VA, Kingsport TN (98.5 which SOWNYites have reported before), and even WESC 92.5 in SC. Tampa would be a stretch even with those coming in. A check just now in North Kawarthas yields nothing of interest, and no ON DXers are reporting anything as of yet.
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Sangean ATS 909 X
This opening lasted almost an hour. I had to leave to go somewhere and I was getting it on the car radio too, but not as well. In the car it wasn't strong enough for RDS.
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Great troop this morning to the Pennsylvania border. Low power NOAA weather station coming in loud and clear from Little Valley NY. Probably TV troop as well.
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tvguy wrote:
Great troop this morning to the Pennsylvania border. Low power NOAA weather station coming in loud and clear from Little Valley NY. Probably TV troop as well.
Where are you DXing from? In north Kawartha, I just heard a Life 100.3 on 90.1, which is Owen Sound ... and supposedly 75 watts. It's heard here so infrequently I thought it was a new catch.
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The radio signals were comming in clear north of London from Cleveland and Erie last night. Not sure what I picked up on 95.3 it was not from Hamilton. Don’t know it’s from Ohio or Michigan but it was a surprise to pick up 95.3 from stateside and not the one we all know from Hamilton. Now I since my 2012 Mazda 2 does not have the RDS text display I could not identify what US city it came from but still it was a pretty cool DX kind of night.
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It wouldn't have helped much if you were in your car, but Radio Locator sometimes helps solve these mysteries.
You can search their site by frequency (i.e. 95.3) and check the list for the area you suspect it might be. Then you go to that website and click "listen online." If they're playing the same thing you heard (with a slight delay) you've likely found your station.
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haydenmatthews14 wrote:
The radio signals were comming in clear north of London from Cleveland and Erie last night. Not sure what I picked up on 95.3 it was not from Hamilton. Don’t know it’s from Ohio or Michigan but it was a surprise to pick up 95.3 from stateside and not the one we all know from Hamilton. Now I since my 2012 Mazda 2 does not have the RDS text display I could not identify what US city it came from but still it was a pretty cool DX kind of night.
If you mean Wednesday evening, you could have had e-skip as well. The band was reportedly hopping with it. From your area, anywhere from Texas-Oklahoma to Dakotas to Colorado. Glad I left my radios recording as I had stuff to do in Toronto. We'll see in due time, when I get around to reviewing, what I had, but my guess is much the same as others in Ontario and environs reported.