The Official Publication of the Worldwide TV-FM DX Association AUGUST 2006 The Magazine for TV and FM DXers PERFECT INSTALLATION FOR A DX-PEDITION Bill Nollman’s DX antenna In Edenton NC this summer. 68 More Pages! THIS MONTH Es Continues with More Double Hop FM Reception DON’T FORGET THE CONVENTION!! 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 wtfda.info Site Administrator: Chris Cervantez Editorial Staff: Dave Williams, George W. Jensen, Jeff Kruszka Keith McGinnis, Fred Nordquist, Matt Sittel, Doug Smith, Chris Kadlec, Peter Baskind and John Zondlo, Our website: www.anarc.org/wtfda Our forums: www.wtfda.info AUGUST 2006 _______________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS Page Two 2 Mailbox 3 TV News…Doug Smith 5 Finally! For those of you online with an email FM News…Chris Kadlec 14 address, we now offer a quick, convenient and Western TVDX…Dave Williams 22 secure way to join or renew your membership Southern FM DX…John Zondlo 30 in the WTFDA from our page at: Northern FM DX…Keith McGinnis 34 6 meters…Peter Baskind 60 http://fmdx.usclargo.com/join.html Photo News…Jeff Kruszka 63 Editors and Submissions 67 Dues are $25 if paid to our Paypal account. But (Yes, it’s another 68 page VUD this month!) of course you can always renew by check or money order for the usual price of just $24. Either way, it’s still a bargain! And now… eVUDS ON CD! All eVUDs from 09/01 VUDS ON A CD! through 12/05 are on this disc (except 8/02 which Every VUD from Jan was not published). 1980 to December 1989 Follow the changes from is on this disk. You’ll day one to the present need Adobe Reader to form. You can have it read them. Why have a for just $6.00 ($5.00 box of old VUDs taking up space when you can plus a dollar shipping). Use the same address have this. It’s yours for just $8.00 per disk. as for VUDs on CD shown on the opposite Send your check or money order for $8.00 to column. Have a great month! WTFDA, P.O. 501, Somersville, CT 06072. Make it payable to WTFDA. WTFDA CONVENTION 2006 AUGUST 11,12,13 Join us for WTFDA Convention 2006! This years convention hotel is the Ledgewood Days Inn Lake Hopatcong 1691 Rt - 46 West, Ledgewood, NJ 07852, US. The hotel is conveniently located just off I-80 on New Jersey Route 46 West. We've reserved 8 rooms The room rate is $99/night. AAA members should check for a AAA discount. The registration fee is $50 payable to Rick Shaftan. IMPORTANT! For more information on what is planned for this year's convention (Banquet, station tours, etc) please contact our host-Rick Shaftan If you plan on attending, please at the following email address shaftan at earthlink.net or at the email Keith McGinnis at following phone # 973-726-8114. I'm sure Rick can give you all [email protected] so we can the information you will need and may be able assist in other get a head count and reserve more accommodations if the Holiday Inn doesn't work for you. -Keith rooms if necessary. McGinnis, Treasurer 2 P.O. Box 501, Somersville, CT USA 06072 MIKE BUGAJ [email protected] HAPPY SKIP SEASON! John Griffiths (ON), Dave Bright (FL), Steve Chudoff (PA), Roger Gravelle (ON), Do some of you get the feeling that it’s Tim McVey (VA), Jim Alexander (NJ), Dave Christmas in July? I do. Sometimes I get Williams (OR), Mike Lazaro (NY), Guy paranoid about the Es season. Maybe it’s Falsetti (NY), Tim Cronin (IL), Steve Rich because up here in the Great Northeast the (IN), Mike Hawk (AZ), Joseph Esser (NJ), season is just too short. This year we went Alan Michalek (MA), John Johnson (MT), some days in early July without anything, Benjamin Greenlaw (ME), Nick Lombardi which made me walk around pouting about (GA), Randy Miltier (OR), Rod O’Connor the season that had ended much too soon. (ME), Robert Williams (ID), Al Tobia (CA), Then on July 11th, skip again hit like a ton Stephen Naetzker (CA), Garrett Wollman of bricks and with openings that went into FM (MA), Ron Purdue (MN), William Lindsay almost every day through the 18th (and (WA), William McGuire (MD) and Paul possibly longer). Swearingen (KS). Mike Hawk has moved I can’t speak for everyone, but Es has from Omaha to Arizona and switched to the been good to us this season. This season is eVUD. Thank all of you for staying with us for just like some of the bang-up seasons we’ve another year. I’ve already started another had in past years. stack of renewals for next month. Remember If I had to pick the winning DXer this to get your renewals in on time so you don’t season for FM Es, I think I’d pick Dave miss one issue of the VUD! Williams, based on his spectacular double hop catches on 7/15 to CKPC 92.1 in MADISON-MILWAUKEE GTG Brantford ON and WKYS 93.9 in Washington DC, 2024 and 2285 miles respectively. This You can tell it’s that time of the year again… the kind of Es we dream about but never The 13th annual Madison-Milwaukee Get- receive, until now. Together for DXers and Radio Enthusiasts On the other end of the spectrum, coming will take place Saturday, August 19, in up way short in the Es department we find Grafton, Wisconsin (located just north of Kevin Redding, Neil Kazaross and Saul Milwaukee). This year’s venue is the home of Chernos (AZ, IL and ON), but I think Phoenix Neil Kazaross, and it promises to be another gets the dubious award for almost no skip this great day of informal visiting with your fellow year. radio hobbyists. Tim Noonan is organizing the Things tend to go in cycles, though. Dave event, and you may contact him at has his “up” years now, but the northwest had <[email protected]> or 414 762-2702 for several “down” years when almost nothing more information and a detailed invitation. was reported. Skip will return to Phoenix sooner or later and we hope it’s sooner. SATELLITE EXPO HONORS SAT Those of you who would like to hear some PIONEERS neat double hop skip should turn on your computers and go to http://www.wtfda.info Back in 1979, a group of more than 500 where you’ll be able to listen to Dave’s trans- gathered in Oklahoma City to be exposed to continental FM skip. And speaking of the the latest technology in satellite reception Forums, they just celebrated their first systems. Prior to this first-ever "Satellite birthday as part of the WTFDA DX empire. Private Terminal Seminar," only cable TV and broadcasters were utilizing the early Westar MEMBERS AND MORE and RCA satellites for transmission of television and radio programming in a field We want to welcome Robert Klinger into that launched with the telecast of a the WTFDA. Bob is an AM Dxer but caught professional boxing match from the the TV/FM bug and we want to make sure he Philippines in September 1976. never recovers. Bob is in Harrisburg, PA What made this gathering unique was its' Here’s the list of renewals received from focus on much smaller (C-band) satellite 6/16 to 7/15: Ron Wing (KS), David Sinclair dishes which enterprising home workshop (BC), Stan Weisbeck (WA), John Marx (WI), inventors were creating throughout North 3 America. This was the start of "home dishes" hours in order to reduce interference from - as small as 4 feet in diameter at a time when other AM stations located on the same cable and broadcast users mistakenly frequency. believed a dish must be at least 14 feet in Granting the petition "would be consistent diameter to produce quality reception. with FCC precedent in favor of improving AM Dozens, soon hundreds of small American radio service," the association said. and Canadian businesses formed to "We also demonstrated that NAB's petition participate in this brand new industrial is more reasonable and justified by current revolution and between 1979 and 1985, 'C- competitive circumstances than similar earlier band TVRO' became a major new business requests that the FCC rejected or did not act activity attracting as many as 10,000 to thrice- upon. Finally, the petition describes the public annual trade shows while the sale and service provided by local AM broadcasters installation of home dishes peaked at around and illustrates how granting NAB's petition 75,000 per month in 1984. would allow AM stations to continue, if not Satellite Expo 2007 will honor these nearly expand, their service to the public." (Thanks, I forgotten "C-band Pioneers" April 19-21 as a think, to Bob Cooper for this info.) special tribute woven into America's largest annual independent satellite trade show. The SLIGHT CORRECTION gathering will attract hundreds of "old-timers" including many of the technology creators Back on the cover of the June VUD we who developed the hardware and reception gave Girard Westerberg credit for being the systems, which laid the foundation for today's first to log HD Radio Es.