Do You Know Jack?
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The Official Publication of the Worldwide TV-FM DX Association JULY 2005 The Magazine for TV and FM DXers THE CHANGING FACE OF FM RADIO DO YOU KNOW JACK? Good bye WCBS-FM New York and WJMK Chicago JACK TAKES OVER, BUT FOR HOW LONG? THIS MONTH! LOTS OF TV AND FM LOGGINGS… PLUS TV AND FM CHANGES! It’s all here in 64 dx-packed pages! TV and FM DXing was never so much fun! 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 Webmaster: Tim McVey Editorial Staff: Dave Williams, George W. Jensen, Jeff Kruszka Keith McGinnis, Fred Nordquist, Matt Sittel, Doug Smith, Adam Rivers, Peter Baskind and John Zondlo, Our website: www.anarc.org/wtfda JULY 2005 _______________________________________________________________________________________ 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…Adam Rivers 12 secure way to join or renew your membership Photo News…Jeff Kruszka 19 in the WTFDA from our page at: Western TVDX…Dave Williams 23 http://fmdx.usclargo.com/join.html Eastern TVDX…Matt Sittel 21 Northern FMDX…Keith McGinnis 23 Dues are $25 if paid to our Paypal account. But Southern FMDX…John Zondlo 56 of course you can always renew by check or 6 meters…Peter Baskind 58 money order for the usual price of just $24. Road Rage? A New Form of DX? 62 Either way, it’s still a bargain! Editors/Submissions 63 For the first time in recent memory, we’ve VUDS ON A CD! had to hold a column over until next month. Bob Cooper’s article on color TV will appear next month unless we are faced with a similar Every VUD from Jan situation of lots of DX and not enough space. 1980 to December 1989 We also haven’t had a 64 page VUD since is on this disk. You’ll September 2004, so a big thank you to all the need Adobe Reader to editors and to all the people who submitted read them. Why have a reports and information for this VUD. box of old VUDs taking up space when you can have this. It’s yours for just $8.00 per disk. Send your check or money order for $8.00 to WTFDA, P.O. 501, Somersville, CT 06072. Make it payable to WTFDA. WTFDA Convention 2005 ***DALLAS, TEXAS*** JULY 22, 23, 24 Hosted by John Callarman At the Clarion DFW Airport South 4440 W. Airport Freeway, Irving, TX 75062 Registration: $45/single $70/couple (Includes banquet) Rooms: $69/nite per room single or double 1-972-399-1010 www.choicehotels.com/hotel/tx890 This Irving hotel is minutes from popular attractions like Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, American Airlines Center, Reunion Arena and the Texas Motor Speedway. (See this month’s Mailbox for more info.) 2 P.O. Box 501, Somersville, CT USA 06072 MIKE BUGAJ [email protected] SKIP SEASON Anybody out there familiar with blogs? Blogs are little animals that are digging holes In the beginning, this year’s Es season in my backyard. Well no, they aren’t. Blog is seemed confined to the Midwest and west shorthand for weblog, and a blog is what we coasts. DXers in those areas of North would call a journal, or a diary in pre- America were blessed with some very good computer days. You’ll find many blogs on the skip openings, with some MUFs even heading internet. Some are excellent (Powerline up to the 144mhz range. Then on June 17th comes to mind) and some just plain stink. My the Es FINALLY arrived on the east coast reason for mentioning blogs is that our own bringing a few hours of FM Es for several Harry Helms has created one of the finest DXers. So finally everybody has had a taste radio-related blogs on the internet. He’s got of summer Es. It will be interesting to see how his finger on the pulse of DTV, IBOC, WI-FI, this season turns out. We’ll soon find out. and a bunch of other cutting-edge inventions I still can’t figure out. If you want to keep up MEMBERS AND MORE with technology, check out The Future of Radio at http://futureofradio.typepad.com/. Here we go for the period of May 13th to Ken Onyschuk sent in an article from his June 15th. We’ve got some new WTFDAers local paper about his old high school and its and a big bunch of renewals. radio station, WHFH 88.5. WHFH, started as First we say welcome to Fritz Prentice, a radio club, now reaches as many as 2.5 Jr. Fritz lives in Star City, AR and has been million people and just marked its 40th busy on the WTFDA list along with another anniversary! The station is managed by new member, Randy Zerr from Ft. Walton students and supervised by teachers and Beach, FL. Fritz is trying his hand at DTV many decisions are made by students, a true DXing while Randy owns an Onkyo T450 with hands-on learning experience. The station’s RDS plus a Denon tuner with RDS, so he’s website is http://www.whfh.org/, and if you loaded for bear. ever hear this station via tropo or Es, just Also Les Prus is responsible for Steve think of Ken. Sawyer’s membership in the WTFDA. Steve Ken also sent a letter regarding the is a radio guy and works in Memphis, and if I changes at WCBS 101.1 NY and WJMK don’t have him confused with someone else, 104.3 Chicago. Little did Ken know that I had he’s also a New England native (MA) and been toying with doing a cover about the when he’s not DXing or on the radio, he’s a same thing. While not strictly DX, there were moderator on the Boston board of Radio-Info. plenty of us DXers who aimed our fringe Glad to have all three of you here. The antennas at both stations and listened to the more the merrier! oldies because we grew up with the music Now, here we go with the renewals. Dues and the DJs. The flip to “Jack” just shows us are received from Dave Williams (OR), how much older (and irrelevant) many of us Robert Ross (ON), Ken Onyschuk (IL), have become. Harry Helms (TX), Matt Sittel (NE), Pete Giacopelli (NY), Garret Wollman (MA), MADISON GET-TOGETHER 2005 Kermit Reid (GA), Randall Trapp (MN), John Griffiths (ON), Bill Grant (MA), Gray The 12th annual Madison-Milwaukee Get- Fulk (NC), Kevin Redding (AZ), David together for DXers and Radio Enthusiasts Austin (SC), Mike Hawk (NE), Stephen returns to Madison this year, after a highly Ponder (TX), Edward Ritchie (WI), Tim successful gathering in Milwaukee last year. McVey (VA), David Sinclair (BC), Joe This year's event will be held on Saturday Veldhuis (MI), Jason Koralja (NJ), Rick August 20, beginning at 1 PM CDT. The Lucas (NY), Fred Laun (MD), Stan location will be Burrows Park, 25 Burrows Weisbeck (WA), Frank Aden (ID), Jeff Road, Madison WI, on the edge of beautiful Kruszka (LA) and James Paige (MI). Any Lake Mendota. This year's hosts are the dues received after 6/15 will be in next WTFDA's Bill and Nina Dvorak, 501 months VUD. I think I counted 28 members Algoma Street Madison WI 53704-4812, renewing for another year. Thank you all! telephone 608-244-5497. This all-band event 3 has for the past several years been a popular radio-related tours I've seen. This will be at destination for Upper Midwest WTFDA 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon, and WTFDA'ers members (see last October's VUD for a will see some outstanding production facilities picture-and-text summary of last year's and electronic gadgetry that makes Dallas the event). For more information, e-mail Bill at < nation's jingle headquarters. [email protected] > (please include "Madison Since I haven't had little specific input from DX GTG" in the subject line) or reach me at anyone on tour ideas, I'm working on another the above address or phone number. Hope that is sort of out of left field, but will be to see you in Madison! surprisingly impressive. When Scot Fybush was here two years ago to take pictures and GOOD STUFF CHEAP do interviews for his four-part tour of DFW stations, we visited a surprisingly neat FM This is a reminder that John Lentz still has outfit, operated by Mesquite High School. It's a good amount of DX related equipment a 61 kw. oldies station ... playing music of the given to us by the estate of Dave Janowiak '70s (for parents of the high school kids!!) with and he’s dying to get rid of it. This is what’s lots of production, top equipment, etc. KEOM left. may not sound like a romantic tour, but this 2 - "Beyond Shortwave" phamplets. old broadcaster was extremely impressed ... VUDs from 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, and and when I talk with Dr.