The Official Publication of the Worldwide TV-FM DX Association OCTOBER 2004 The Magazine for TV and FM DXers IBOC Those four dreaded letters KTOO Tim McVey talks about it and shows us Juneau, Alaska graphs on page 57 A CLOSER LOOK AT Channel 3 IBOC IN THIS ISSUE WEATHER DX WIDENS ITS SCOPE MADISON GTG PHOTOS PART ONE OF BOB COOPER’S COLOR TV HISTORY 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, DAVE JANOWIAK AND MIKE BUGAJ. Editor and publisher: Mike Bugaj Treasurer: Dave Janowiak Webmaster: Tim McVey Editorial Staff:, Victor Frank, George W. Jensen, Jeff Kruszka Keith McGinnis, Fred Nordquist, Matt Sittel, Doug Smith, Adam Rivers and John Zondlo, Our website: www.anarc.org/wtfda ANARC Rep: Jim Thomas, Back Issues: Dave Nieman, OCTOBER 2004 _______________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS Page Two 2 Mailbox 3 Finally! For those of you online with an email TV News…Doug Smith 4 address, we now offer a quick, convenient FM News…Adam Rivers 10 and secure way to join or renew your Photo News…Jeff Kruszka 14 membership in the WTFDA from our page at: Western TV DX…Victor Frank 18 http://fmdx.usclargo.com/join.html Southern FM DX…John Zondlo 20 Northern FM DX…Keith McGinnis 26 Dues are $25 if paid to our Paypal account. Weather and Utility DX 43 But of course you can always renew by check Madison GTG – Bill Dvorak 46 or money order for the usual price of just $24. Translator News…Bruce Elving 48 Either way, it’s still a bargain! Color TV History…Bob Cooper 53 A Closer Look at IBOC…Tim McVey 57 Editors/Submissions 59 VUDS ON A CD! We have another big issue for you this month. Bill Dvorak has given us post-GTG info on the Every VUD from Jan annual Madison-Milwaukee gathering where 1980 to December 1989 many WTFDA members were in attendance. is on this disk. You’ll Weather DX has been revamped to include need Adobe Reader to more than just weather radio loggings. Bob read them. Why have a Cooper begins a series on the history of color box of old VUDs taking up space when you television and Tim McVey digs into FM IBOC to can have this. It’s yours for just $8.00 per show us what’s going on inside those carriers. disk. Send your check or money order for $8.00 to WTFDA, P.O. 501, Somersville, CT We hope you find this issue interesting! -Mike 06072. Make it payable to Dave Janowiak. LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT YOU’RE A PROUD WTFDA MEMBER! This removable plastic cling sticks to glass but can be easily removed. It features the WTFDA emblem and our WTFDA website address. Get one for just $2 each! Send cash, check or money order payable to Dave Janowiak. Send your order to WTFDA, P.O. Box 501, Somersville, CT 06072. Specify red or yellow. Great for your car! PERMANENT DECALS ALSO AVAILABLE UPON Just $2.00 Each REQUEST. 2 P.O. Box 501, Somersville, CT USA 06072 MIKE BUGAJ [email protected] OCTOBER 2004 of people working in the radio and television industry and it’s great to have one more, Time marches on, here we are and it’s especially from Chicagoland. fall again. This issue is being prepared earlier Our next new member has probably only than I would usually like. You can blame my one WTFDA member living at a more employer for that. I’ve had to set an earlier northerly location than he does. Michael than usual deadline because of schooling Stonebridge lives in St. Isidore, AB. St. requirements at the end of September. We Isidore is located just a few miles east of should be back to the usual deadlines in Peace River. Mike first asked for a sample October. VUD, then tried and decided on the eVUD Now that DX is beginning to slow down a instead, which is much faster than surface little we will be able to find space for some mail and won’t get lost. neat articles. Bob Cooper has supplied me I did an Industry Canada search on St. with some interesting stuff and we’ll dig into it Isidore and came up with this: 162 total over the winter months. population, 64 dwellings, Slave Lake is the As far as DX goes, E skip is definitely principal Community out of the picture for October in most places If you get the time, why not shoot an but somebody should be seeing or hearing email to Mike at [email protected] some tropo this month and possibly some and say hi. He could use all the dx support decent meteor scatter around the 20th of the from us he can get. Maybe someone in the month. club is familiar with e-skip and aurora dx at northern latitudes (Bill H?) MEMBERS AND MORE Renewals came in this month from James Paige(MI), Melvin Dishong(GA), We have two new members this month. Steve Sprachman(NY), Bob Smolarek(NJ), The first is Kyle Walker of Crest Hill, IL. I Charles Tumosa(MD), Kermit Reid(GA), asked Kyle how he found us and this is what William Hein(VT, by Paypal), George he said: “I’ve been to your site several times. Greene (OH), Joe Fela(NJ) and myself. No After cleaning up, galvanizing then installing a freebies here, folks. 30 year old parabolic UHF given to me last Here’s an update from Bill Dvorak on weekend, I thought I’d join! Uscountryradio. his recent antenna problems. “I see by the com was an internet radio station I had for Sept issue you gave me some press about about four years. After my agreement with an my antenna problem. We took the antenna internet provider ended a few months back, I down about 4 weeks ago and found the shut it down not wanting to pay hundreds per problem was not the balun. It turned out to be month for streaming. I’m the chief engineer a cruddy connection (.5meg of resistance for Weigel Broadcasting in Chicago. Weigel is across the center pin and the shield) where a small, family owned group. Our main station we went from RG59 to RG11 near the top. is WCIU-26 in Chicago. We also have a LPTV Water got into the connector and it looked like WFBT-23 in Chicago both broadcasting on the bottom of a tea kettle that boiled water the Sears tower, stations in South Bend, IN about 10,000 times. Somehow, water got by (25, 57, 69) and Milwaukee, WI (41,58,63). the coax seal. We replaced the antenna with I’ve loved TV since I was a child and a CM4248 yagi at 45 feet. The CM1160 will DXing and big antennas has been a new be going back up, but at a lower height.” hobby of mine since moving to my first home Yep, water will do it. Let this be a lesson that I could get away installing a tower. I have to all of us! a 42’ Rohn 25 with 8’ of pipe on top hosting And that does it for this the new (to me) 4’ parabolic UHF and a month. Let’s hope that Winegard VHF antenna. I don’t know a lot some decent tropo shows about the ins and outs of DX yet, hope to up somewhere! understand more with your monthly See you all next newsletter.” month! -Mike Thanks Kyle! We do have a good share 3 Douglas E. Smith TV 1389 Old Clarksville Pike Pleasant View, TN 37146-8098 News [email protected] http://www.w9wi.com October 2004 Abbreviations: AF Applied For (a new station) PC Power (and/or tower height) change on the air Aux Auxiliary (backup) transmitter PG Power change granted CC Callsign change PR Power change requested CL City-of-license change QC Channel (?frequency??) change on the air DE License/permit deleted QG Channel change granted FC Programming (?format??) change QR Channel change requested FTP Failure to Prosecute RE Reinstated (previously-dismissed app.) GA Granted amendment (to table of channel ROA Request of Applicant allotments) LC License to Cover SI Off the air (?silent??) MX Mutually Exclusive STA Special Temporary Authority NS Permit granted for new station XC Transmitter site changed NW New station on the air XG Transmitter site change granted PA Proposed Amendment XR Transmitter site change requested 33-20-03/ News: 112-03-46 (aux); (full-power analog stations in bold face; LPTV and AF 2473kw/502m translators in regular type; full-power digital stations in bold dismissed (aux) italics) Safford 15, K15GC, FC; sold to 21 K21GC Telefutura Arkansas: Bentonville 14 KHMF-CA CC from K14IT Canada: Eureka Springs 34 KWBS-TV PR<1600kw/220, British Columbia: 36-24-48/ Sechelt 18 CBUT-35 QR from ch. 19 93-57-17; FC, drops Pax Fort Smith 24 KFTA-TV CC from KPOM Puerto Rico: Fort Smith 27 KFTA-DT PR>1000kw Mayaguez 16 WOST CC for NS Fort Smith 32 K32GH QC from K68ET, 150kw, 35-47-49/ 94-10-04 Fort Smith 34 K34EN PR>150kw U.S. Virgin Islands: Fort Smith 43 KXUN-LP PR>150kw Charlotte 44 WTJX-DT NW 50kw/458m Hindsville 59 KRBF-CA CC from K59ES Amalie Pine Bluff 45 KWBK-LP PC>150kw, Alabama: 34-29-12/ Birmingham 27 WBUN-CA FC; sold to Daystar 92-09-28 Dothan 21 WDHN-DT PR>1000kw/223; Rogers 50 KNWA-DT PR>1000kw/267, PG 36-24-48/ Huntsville 32 WAAY-DT PG>538m 93-57-17; PG Tuscaloosa 5 WCFT-DT NW 9.5kw/625m Rogers 51 KNWA-TV CC from KFAA Tuskegee 22 WBMM FC, drops Pax Siloam Sprs.