GET THAT TROPO! Plenty Available in October for Parts of the Midwest, East and South
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The Official Publication of the Worldwide TV-FM DX Association OCTOBER 2008 The Magazine for TV and FM DXers FOUR MONTHS REMAINING UNTIL ANALOG TV SHUTOFF Photo by Steve Rich - Indianapolis GET THAT TROPO! Plenty available in October for parts of the midwest, east and south. 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 OCTOBER 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 19 secure way to join or renew your membership Photo News…Jeff Kruszka 35 in the WTFDA from our page at: Eastern TV DX…Nick Langan 37 http://fmdx.usclargo.com/join.html 6 meters…Peter Baskind 40 You can now renew either paper VUD Northern FM DX…Keith McGinnis 42 membership or your online eVUD membership Western TV DX…Dave Williams 60 at one convenient stop. Use the link above to Southern FM DX…John Zondlo 72 either join the WTFDA or renew your membership in North America’s only TV and (Once again we’ve hit 72 pages with no space to print all that DX organization. we’ve been given. WTFDA Contest statistics will appear next month as will the remainder of Northern FM DX. Thanks for your understanding). 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] TROPO SEASON one-time 1/2-hour local special, but it wasn't very good in my opinion. For one thing, they E-skip may be gone for the year but there did it in English and translation into Spanish, has been a good amount of tropo out there to which was good for Spanish viewers without take its place, especially in the mid-west and SAP but which cut down on available time for the east coast from New England down to questions and answers. And then, their Florida. As I type this on the 26th, dxers are illustration showed a box being connected only wrapping up another major tropo opening that to a monitor-type analog TV with both the RCA began in the midwest and drifted east. Quite a video and audio wires and the RF coax to ch. few dxers ended up with some nice catches. 3-4 with no further explanation. Quite The only ones who didn’t are FM DXers who misleading. live in IBOC land. I reported on the following initially in the Perhaps, if we’re lucky, we’ll have one or August 2008 VUD. Here is an update on two more of these events before the weather continuing comparisons of my (1) Radio Shack turns colder. Accurian DTV box (manufactured Oct 2004) We’re beginning to see a few analog TV and (2) LG 20LS7D HD 20" flat-screen TV stations shutting down for good now. We’re (DTV & analog) receiver (Feb 2008), in also beginning to see the FCC starting to addition to a (3) Zenith[/LG] DTT901 DTV become a bit nervous about the analog shut- converter box (May 2008). The LG and Zenith down and there is a little bit of talk about are about equal in signal sensitivity. The allowing some stations to stay on for a while Accurian has less sensitivity, to the extent that after shut-down. We will see what happens. it is not dramatically less, but rather is somewhat less in that it seems a bit `sluggish' MEMBERS AND MORE STUFF compared to the other two. To illustrate, the LG and Zenith will show full picture/sound on a This month we have two new members: marginal-strength DT station while the Chris Hanley in IL and Mark Colombo in VA. Accurian may show data only; and on a yet Chris gets the eVUD and Mark gets paper. weaker DT signal, the Accurian will show Nobody gets plastic. Glad to have both of you nothing whereas the LG and Zenith will give at with us! least data and possibly a series of still/frozen Renewals received from the period 8/20 images. The LG has performed reasonably through 9/10 came in from Wolfgang nicely on DT and analog tropo DX in California Schneiter (CA), Jim Paige (MI), Roosevelt with nothing more than indoor rabbit ears and Crawford (KS), Jeff Lehmann (MA), Russel bowtie in Santa Barbara and with the same Lay, Bob Smolarek (NJ), Lee Freshwater antennas on trips to Oakland and the Santa (FL), Kevin Redding (TN), Chris Kadlec (MI), Cruz Mountains, and with modest outdoor William Hein (TN), Scott Fybush (NY), Larry antennas in Wasco (I didn't take Accurian or Weil (NH), Bob Seaman (PA), Bill Smith Zenith along) (see Western TV-DX reports in (MA), William Mitchell (OH), F.J. Issard (ON), recent months through this VUD issue). I hope Daniel Gillet (MB), George Greene (OH) and this further clarifies my general observations Melvin Dishong (GA). Thank you all for your previously noted in the August VUD.” support of WTFDA! Dennis Smith writes: “I read in the BEDFORD BROWN September VUD Mailbox the note about North Carolina Public TV doing a series of programs If there’s a Hall of Fame for TV DXers on digital television. somewhere, Bedford probably should be there. Here in California, my cousin in San This came from Morrie Goldman through the Francisco told me that PBS KQED-9 recently wtfda.org website: BROWN Bedford P. Brown, did a one-time 1/2-hour local show about DTV Jr., 69, retired meteorologist for the New that he said was very good, explaining hook-up Orleans Weather Bureau, died June 6 in a and use of a DT converter box for those with Slidell hospital. A world traveling bird watcher, antennas, and time for many answers to Brown grew up in Hot Springs, AR where he questions. graduated as Validictorian of Hot Springs High Just a few days ago, our nearby PBS School. He then earned a degree in station, KCET-28 Los Angeles, did a similar meteorology from the University of Texas. He 3 worked for the U.S. Weather Service in We’ve got some bulletins from the mid 1950s Chicago and Puerto Rico before moving to but the quality of the print is really poor and Slidell. He is survived by five first cousins, those may never get scanned. 1962 and 1963 Harley Bledsoe of Benton, AR; Tom Bledsoe are the newest bulletins we have in this box (Terry) of Asheville, NC; Jim Bledsoe, Carolyn sent in by Matt Sittel. If we can salvage Hebert (Byron) and Penny Smothers (Brad) all anything else, we will sure try. of Hot Springs. He is also survived by a number of cousins across the U.S. and numerous friends around the world. He was GOING UP? preceded in death by both parents Bedford Philmore Brown, Sr. and Hazel Lois Bledsoe Brown. Services were private. Donations in his honor may be made to the American Diabetes Association. Bob Cooper recalls “Morrie Goldman's forward of the obit for Bedford Brown brings back memories. Bedford was THE top TV DXer in the late 50s. A high school lad, his family had a pioneering (Dumont) receiver and a five element cut to channel (4) yagi on a hilltop just outside Hot Springs (Arkansas), with Alliance rotor. Their 'local' signals consisted of Oklahoma City, Memphis, Dallas - all in the 200+ range - this was pre-1953 when the new station freeze ended allowing new stations on the air.