The Official Publication of the Worldwide TV-FM DX Association MAY 2013 The Magazine for TV and FM DXers Photos by Ivan Dias Spring! Finally! Can Es Be Far Behind? Visit Us At www.wtfda.org THE WORLDWIDE TV-FM DX ASSOCIATION Serving the UHF-VHF Enthusiast THE VHF-UHF DIGEST IS THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WORLDWIDE TV-FM DX ASSOCIATION DEDICATED TO THE OBSERVATION AND STUDY OF THE PROPAGATION OF LONG DISTANCE TELEVISION AND FM BROADCASTING SIGNALS AT VHF AND UHF. WTFDA IS GOVERNED BY A BOARD OF DIRECTORS: DOUG SMITH, GREG CONIGLIO, KEITH McGINNIS AND MIKE BUGAJ. Editor and publisher: Mike Bugaj Treasurer: Keith McGinnis wtfda.org Webmaster: Tim McVey wtfda.info Site Administrator: Chris Cervantez Editorial Staff: Jeff Kruszka, Keith McGinnis, Fred Nordquist, Nick Langan, Doug Smith, Peter Baskind, Bill Hale and John Zondlo, Our website: www.wtfda.org; Our forums: www.wtfda.info _______________________________________________________________________________________ MAY 2013 Finally! The sun feels warm and the howling THE 99¢ FM RADIO winds have subsided. The grass is almost ready for mowing. The sky is hazy and the Back in March I ran a photo of the World’s leaves are beginning to appear on the trees. Tiniest FM Radio in the Mailbox. I was asked Dang, it was a rough winter and we’re just for more information on that item. itching for some Es and tropo, but we haven’t Unfortunately, that ad for the 99¢ radio came seen any skip yet. May is the month when we from a flyer from Building 19, a discount store really begin to expect some Es. It may happen in the Boston area that bills itself as selling and it may not. Let’s hope for the best. “good junk cheap.” What that boils down to is Our condolences to those of you who may that you cannot order these online or through still have snow on their lawns. There is a spring and it will be arriving soon. the mail. You need to go to a store and buy one if they haven’t already sold out. I do MEMBERS AND MORE wonder if these radios actually work. This month we welcome back to the club A NEW PREAMP Danny Buntin from Stillwater, OK. Danny was a long time member and Southern FM DX Gary Hickerson recently reported on a new column editor. Welcome back, Danny! product: “A friend of mine, was trying to get the During the period from 3/19 through 4/13 #7777 with the 2 inputs (old style), but couldn't we received renewals from Allan Dunn(MA), find one. I think he was talking to Solid Signal. I Tim Katlic (CA), Pat Dyer (TX), David Cox believe it was them, that suggested another (AL), Bill Dvorak (WI), Pete Taylor (WA), preamp. It was the NEW Antennacraft 10G222. Chris Dunne (FL), Joe Perge (OH), Ray Dees It has 2 inputs one VHF other UHF. It has 29 (GA), Sid Emmons (NY), Ivan Silva (BRA), db gain for VHF & 29db gain for UHF. He Adam Ebel (VA), Bill Hepburn (ON), John ordered it and he said it was HOT. It sells for Lentz (WI), William Thompson (MD), Roger $62.99 at Radio Shack but he got his for Gravelle (ON) and Tim Clampit (MI). Thank $33.95 off of Amazon. The other model is the you all for supporting the WTFDA. 10G221, Everything the same as 222 except it Danny Buntin wrote: “I’m an old hand in is 16 db gain VHF & 22 db gain UHF. It sells the FV-FM Dxing hobby who retired from it since around 2001 and now looking to possibly for $57.99 at RS. They have "surface mount" renew or reengage my interest in the hobby. tech. Who knew ! ! ! Since retiring from the postal service, having more time to DX at the best times is now FM TRAPS possible for me. I had been the Southern FM DX editor for Karl Zuk posted this on the tvfmdx list 19 years from April 1978 to April 1997. It’s nice recently: “Viewing over-the-air digital television to see a few old names in the hobby still trying can be a challenge. Ever since the digital cut to be active, such as John Zondlo and you.” over in June of 2009, WPIX-DT 11 and WNET- Currently Danny uses a Onkyo T9090 MKII DT 13 have been hard to get. I had presumed tuner and a Sony HD radio. that this was caused by these stations 2 switching back to their original high VHF ODD SUB-CHANNELS? analog operating frequencies. Most New York City stations broadcast digital TV on UHF An email from Cal Glover asked me a question frequencies. After the digital cut-over, WABC, I can’t answer. Maybe you can. Cal wrote “Did WPIX and WNET all reverted away from a rescan with my Magnavox DTV converter this temporary UHF assignments back to their old (Saturday), and it added some very odd DTV analog channels. Field strength analysis web sub-channels: 3.11; 10.11; 13.11; and 15.11. sites, like dtv.gov, suggested all three of these On these channels are programs that are also stations sent considerable signals my way. showing on the regular HamptonRoads/ Why could I not bring them in? Norfolk channels, but the signals on the .11 Since about the year 2000, I have been suffix are a bit stronger. using a Channel Master CM4228A 8-bay bow- On some of the .11 channels, the color is tie antenna for digital television reception. This not 100% stable, and the sound is a little antenna was originally purchased in 1985 and “boomy.” I am wondering if these odd channels is now on its second house! Its simple design are from a repeater somewhere that is mapping some of the Nofolk area channels. and low wind resistance make it very hard to And possibly a satellite is feeding the repeater? kill. Using the CM4228A, Channels 11 and 13 Or this might be some sort of test, because the often drop out and die at the worst moments, signal comes and goes? I’m getting a 16-20 so I began experimenting for a solution percent signal strength right now. towards better reliability. There are quite a few dormant TV Poking around my attic, I discovered an old transmitters down here on the Outer Banks. friend that I had nearly forgotten. Back in the I’m wondering if one of the enterprising good old days of analog TV, I had mounted a channel owners has set up some sort of small TV antenna in my attic for use during repeating deal with some of the channels up power blackouts. My primary CM4228A used a Norfolk—which are just a bit beyond the reach phantom-powered antenna mounted pre- of reliable reception, thanks to the “cliff effect.” amplifier, so without power I could see nothing! I’m also wondering if you have heard of Quickly switching to my backup antenna was a such a repeater service operating elsewhere in Godsend when watching battery-operated TVs the country. The .11 suffix leads me to think sitting in the dark! It is a compact Finco that Manteo’s channel 11 might be back on the VHF/UHF combo antenna designed for air. But then again, the .11 suffix might be suburban use where strong signals reign. reserved for repeaters and translators? To give you an idea just how old this If this is the case, this would be most antenna is, I bought it while employed by Arrow welcome. At the moment, there are no Electronics back in 1975. Not bad for only 38 alternatives to cable or satellite down here. years old! Since it had never been mounted Have you heard of any similar situations?” outside, the antenna is in great condition and still works well. Would it provide enough signal LIGHTNING SCATTER to resolve DTV all the way out at my QTH 45 miles from the transmitter? Amazingly, it did! It sounds like Ed Phelps is having a great time One thing piqued my curiosity: I use an pointing his antenna into squall lines. Ed asks: indoor distribution amplifier to boost the “Bored? No E-skip? No tropo? Need something antenna to several TV sets in my house. When to do? Why not try Lightning Scatter? the FM trap switch was off, channel 11 and 13 What you'll need... A good UHF antenna disappeared. When the FM trap was switched with a rotator, a receiver capable of tuning the in, reception reappeared like magic. But why? upper UHF channels (frequencies) in SSB or My little inexpensive pre-amp is certainly quite CW mode, another receiver to monitor for capable of creating good spurious images. My lightning events. (an analog TV, tuned to channel 2, or a broadcast band radio, tuned to two strongest nearby FM stations are WHUD an open frequency, will work), a cluster of Peekskill 100.7 and WFME 106.3 Mt. Kisco. thunderstorms about 150 to 200 miles from Multiply these frequencies by two and the you, fairly high powered, upper UHF channel, results tell the story: 201.4 (right in the middle DTV (or, if you're lucky, analog) station, 300 to of TV channel 11 198-204 MHz) and 212.6 500 miles from you, in the same direction as MHz (within TV channel 13 210-216 MHz.) the thunderstorms. Removing these FM signals before Here's what I've been doing... As I type, I amplification make all the difference.