Enjoy the Skip Season!
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The Official Publication of the Worldwide TV-FM DX Association JULY 2008 The Magazine for TV and FM DXers Photos by Mike Bugaj WBRZ Ch2 PHOTO BY ROBERT GRANT WKRN Ch2 It’s Summer! SEVEN ENJOY THE MONTHS REMAINING UNTIL ANALOG TV SHUTOFF SKIP SEASON! TV and FM DXing was never so interesting! 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, BRUCE HALL, 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: Dave Williams, 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 JULY 2008 _______________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS Page Two 2 Mailbox 3 Finally! For those of you online with an email TV News…Doug Smith 5 address, we now offer a quick, convenient and FM News…Bill Hale 12 secure way to join or renew your membership WTFDA Contest Update 21 in the WTFDA from our page at: Photo News…Jeff Kruszka 22 http://fmdx.usclargo.com/join.html Eastern TV DX…Nick Langan 24 Western TV DX…Dave Williams 27 Dues are $25 if paid to our Paypal account. But Northern FM DX…Keith McGinnis 29 of course you can always renew by check or Southern FM DX…John Zondlo 45 money order for the usual price of just $24. 6 meters…Peter Baskind 47 Either way, it’s still a bargain! 2007 Madison-Milwaukee GTG Final 49 eVUD members please send $10 for membership or renewal to [email protected]. FIND US FAST! WTFDA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Mike Bugaj, use the WTFDA Mailing address listed below [email protected] Doug Smith, 1385 Old Clarksville Pike, Pleasant View, TN 37146-8098 [email protected] Greg Coniglio, 11825 Genesee St., Alden, NY 14004 [email protected] Bruce Hall, 5 Stirton Ave., Brantford, ON N3T 1E2 [email protected] Keith McGinnis, 18 Newbridge St., Hingham, MA 02043 [email protected] ******************************************************************************************************* THE MAILBOX and all general club correspondence: Mike Bugaj at WTFDA, PO Box 501, Somersville, CT 06072 [email protected] TV NEWS Doug Smith, 1389 Old Clarksville Pike, Pleasant View, TN 37146-8098 [email protected] FM NEWS Bill Hale, 6124 Roaring Springs Drive, N. Richland Hills, TX 76180 [email protected] PHOTO NEWS Jeff Kruszka, 1909 Lost Lake Pl., Pearland, TX 77581 [email protected] EASTERN TV DX Nick Langan, 1040 Riverview Dr., Florence, NJ 08516 [email protected] WESTERN TV DX Dave Williams, 3525 SW Timber Ave., Redmond, OR 97756 [email protected] SOUTHERN FM John Zondlo, 4009 Driftwood Cir., Yukon, OK 73099 [email protected] NORTHERN FM Keith McGinnis, 18 Newbridge St., Hingham, MA 02043 [email protected] TV and FM STATISTICS Fred Nordquist, 147 Travis Hill Road, Moncks Corner, SC [email protected] 6 METER/2 METER Peter Baskind, 3225 Forest Hill-Irene Rd, Germantown, TN 38138 [email protected] WEBSITE Tim McVey Webmaster http://www.wtfda.org [email protected] 2 P.O. Box 501, Somersville, CT USA 06072 MIKE BUGAJ [email protected] SKIP SEASON 2008? and I met at the Red Robin in Enfield after work and enjoyed their burgers and steak fries. E skip started off with a bang this year with It was nice to meet Russ for the first time and digital TV stations being logged on channels since he will be up this way again, with enough two through five and some highband TV and advance notice, I hope we can convince a few Weather radio DX also logged. But then, other WTFDA members to wander by and join beginning in mid-June, skip took a nosedive. us. The openings were spotty with the MUF shooting up into FM for a few minutes and then MORE ABOUT THE SONY XDR-F1HD dropping and dying out completely. We all know about the mid-June drop-off in E skip Jim Pizzi posted this on the tvfmdx list because it happens every year. Knowing about recently: “I got my Sony XDR-F1HD it doesn’t make the experience any easier for replacement today and spent a little time most DXers since the season is short to begin checking it out against HDT-1X. Sony is better with, but most of us understand that Es returns with adjacent rejection (minor slop on 99.5 for the second half of the season eventually. from 99.3 with HDT-1X and perfectly clean on Let’s hope for a great second half of the the Sony--same with 97.3 into 97.1) . Using a season. quality Maspro splitter to give equal signal to both units. HD lock equal on strong signals but MEMBERS AND MORE! HDT-1X quicker with weaker stations, same with RDS. Sony does better cutting through HD From the period of May 18th through June side channel noise-hissy with the Sangean but 13th we had renewals from John Griffiths nice and clean with the Sony with a moderate (ON), Andrew MacKenzie (NY), Dan Oetting signal. Sangean sensitivity just a bit better (MD), Steve Naetzker (CA), David Sinclair (could be signal to noise ratio better)--very (BC), Mike Lapinski (NY), Rob Ross (ON), weak signals cleaner, more understandable. Dave Williams (OR), Dan Oglethorpe (LA), Signal meter a plus with the Sony. Sheryl Paskiewicz (WI), Randy Zerr (FL). Remote works well and large too compared Jeff Kruszka (TX), Bill Eckberg (IL), Rod to Sangean. Programmed Sony's 20 presets O’Connor (ME), Fred Laun (MD), George across the band so getting around fast during a Mileon (MA), William Lindsay (WA), Steven big opening shouldn't be a problem. Display Ponder (TX), Al Tobia (CA) and Joseph read out OK, icons a tad smaller on Sony but a Esser (NJ). lot of info to display on the slightly smaller Rod O’Connor wrote that this year marks screen. Over all I'm very impressed.” his 31st year in the WTFDA. He writes “Dying to read up on that Sony F1 HD AM/FM tuner. NRC CONVENTION 2008 Perfect candidate for my upcoming economic stimulus check…after gas, heating oil and Could you please print in your next bulletin hiking boots.” Well, I can thoroughly that the National Radio Club is having its 75 understand about the gas and heating oil. We’ll anniversary/convention in Pittsburgh on August have a little more about that Sony HD tuner 29 - 31 at the Greentree Holiday Inn, 401 shortly. Holiday Drive, Pittsburgh 15220. Phone: 1-412- One Friday evening a few weeks ago, Jeff 922-8100. Mention NRC RATE OF $75 + TAX Rostron and I met up with WTFDAer Mark up to 3 in a room. Registration fee is $45, Casey at the NEWS meeting at the old Harley check to National Radio Cllub. Mail to JOHN Hotel in Enfield and had a pretty good time MALICKY, 995 Shadycrest Rd, Pittsburgh, PA talking about DX and listening to an engineer 15216-3046 BY 8/15. Sunday PM WILL be a from Vermont Public Radio tell us about the baseball game… the Pirates against the IBOC that he put on their FM stations. I really Milwaukee Brewers at 1:35. Tickets are $14. don’t think he had much sympathy for us FM Seats behind home plate. Let John know if Dxers. For him it’s just a fact of life. They tell you want to go. Airport transfer to hotel is him to install it and he installs it. free. Train station is 4 miles away. By the way, I dropped around 20 VUDs on Taxi is $25. ERNIE J. WESOLOWSKI the table there and all of them were taken. On June 19, Bill Nollman, Russ Edmunds 3 MADISON MILWAUKEE GTG 2008 Radio World has reported this was a major Tim Noonan sends along word of the topic during the spring NAB convention and th midwest’s 15 annual DX event: “The 15th that a request was likely; proponents say more annual Madison-Milwaukee Radio Get- such requests are expected and they hope the Together will take place on Saturday, August commission will put the proposal out for public 16, beginning at 1 p.m., in Oak Creek WI. The event is open to all radio hobbyists, and is an comment in a rulemaking process. informal gathering where radio fans and DXers can exchange ideas and make and renew Equipment manufacturers on the filing to the friendships. This year's location is the home FCC include Harris, BE, Nautel and of Tim and Jill Noonan and their sons, 801 E Continental. Park Blvd in Oak Creek, and you can obtain directions and more information from Tim at Broadcasters making the request include [email protected] or 414 762-2702. American Public Media, Backyard Broadcasting, Beasley, Black Crow Media Group; Bonneville, CBS, Clear Channel, Commonwealth Broadcasting, Commonwealth Public Broadcasting, Cox, Emmis, Entercom, Greater Media, Journal, Lincoln Financial Media, NRG Media, Radio One and WNYC. Ibiquity and CBS submitted studies to back up the request which they say demonstrate that the requested power increase will help improve radio’s digital FM performance “with minimal risk of harmful interference to existing analog service.” LAST BUT NOT LEAST Here’s the latest graph with membership as of June 1, 2008. Over at our website (http://www.wtfda.org) you will now find a complete set of 1980s VUDs and a complete set of 1990 VUDs.