Final Grade--2007 E Skip Season Marks

[Mike-CT]

Was it fantastic or did it just plain suck?
What's your grade.

I'll say a B. I thought it was good. Good lots of Es and enough new loggings to keep me happy.

[Jim Gill]

I'd give it a C in SW Fla.

[mhawkins]

Season lasted three months, and included a grand total of 12 days with skip. Total stations logged = 120.....New stations logged = 75. Not bad for the left coast, and that works for me!

[w9wi]

I give this year a C for quantity - about an average *amount* of skip.

I give it an B+ for quality. Openings to interesting places. (like the Cayman Islands & Cuba)

[Dave-OR]

Instead of lots of shorter FM openings (and TV most days) during the past 3 summers, this year I had far fewer days of Es, but when they happened, they were intense and long-lasting. I had at least 8 top-of-the-dial days and was able to clean up in several markets (Phoenix, Tucson, Nogales, Mexicali, and San Diego/Tijuana, plus Central MN and all of Arizona and NM) at the top end.

Short skip to Idaho was a treat with KLCE at just over 400 miles; I've had them by Au and Ms and now just need them by Tr to complete the cycle.

Low-powered Canadian FM's were prevalent earlier in the year including the unlicensed aboriginal radio station from Manitoba on 98.1, Traveler Info Radio CITT Saskatoon on 91.7, and a cleanup of Northeastern BC stations (Dawson Creek/Ft St John) to the top of the dial.

I also added to my loggings of <100w Es stations with several translators from Arizona and Colorado.

A new double-hop to Illinois didn't match hearing IL, IN, OH, MI, ON, and DC last year, but I'll never say any 2xEs is a bad thing!

So, quality made up for the lack of quantity. I really wanted to focus on TV this summer but the fact is, when skip was around the MUF was generally so high I was right on into FM.

I've been lame about reporting to the e-mail lists and haven't submitted anything to the VUD this year. I was away half the summer for work or play, so the fact that I was able to log anything in about half the time I DX'ed last year makes me thankful.

Dave Williams
Redmond, OR

[KW4RZ]

Like Doug, I'm rating this season a C for the amount of Es and a B for variety. I'll be generous and rate a B overall for the poll. The July 29th Es was the "final Exam" which was an "A" with the number of new loggings and all the short skip and high MUF to boost the season above average. Bonus points from this season is a new long distance Es record of 1507 miles and new state/country May 31 to Puerto Rico, new short Es distance of 383 miles July 29. New low power FM Es record with the 20 watt translator in Pennsylvania May 9. Not many openings to the south this year which was disapointing.
I hit this season hard by not entirely missing a single opening with the two tuners and recorders going every day. 317 new FM's via Es this season and I broke 2000 total this month.
As far as intensity, this season was lacking other than 7/29 and a couple other good strong openings. I'd sure like to see some action as in 1994! 9 different good 144 MHz Es openings caught that year and probably some missed. Some may remember 6/21/94. 2005-2007 summers have only produced 1 opening each year on two meters. 7/31/05, 6/18/06, 7/29/07.

[Russ-PA]

I'm going to go with an overall of B. I'd said C- in mid-June, but ended up with about 85 new Es logs, and added four new firm countries in Cuba ( previously only tentative ), Jamaica, Dominican Republic & Puerto Rico and also added a nice recording from Power 95 in Bermuda, previously heard but not recorded. I hadn't expected to be able to maintain the quantity of new logs as many of my best remaining DX frequencies are about tapped out for Es, but the quality made up for that.

Total FM Logs here since 1989 ( although everything was done on car radios prior to 2003 ) number 1196 - was hoping for 1200, but since there's been little but garden variety 150-mile tropo S & SE, that might have to wait 'til next year.

[NickNJ]

2007 ended up being a very satisfying season here. In all, I had 378 new FM logs via Es, helped by the fact I luckily did not miss any significant openings, plus had a second tuner to record frequencies for a good chunk of the season. Comparatively in 2006 I had 250 new logs in a season I thought was excellent, though I missed several good openings.

Highlights:

- 6 new countries logged via Es: Dominican Republic (on 6/16, also heard on 8/11), Mexico (Yucatan) (on 6/19), Jamaica (on 7/29), Puerto Rico (on 8/11), Haiti (on 8/11, though I would still like to pin down exactly which 94.9 it was), and Bermuda (on 8/11). All of the above except Bermuda were over 1400 miles, with the farthest being 89.7 WRTU San Juan, PR at 1595 mi.

- A very good May (highlighted by 5/11 opening) and a very good July (several very strong openings to FL), plus opening to Maritimes of Canada on 6/16. The 5/11 opening was the most productive day here, with 6/26 being second. The 8/11 opening to the Carribbean and Bermuda was definitely a major highlight. Cuba was also heard in several openings this year.

The first half of June was a very quiet period, but other than that large gap there were definitely frequent enough openings to stay satisfied. I had a decent degree of success logging HD FMs via Es with the HDT-1, as well as dealing with the multitude of IBOC around the dial here. I'd definitely give the 2007 season an A.

[Michael-NJ]

I have to go with an A here as well. E-Skip was plentiful from the NW right on down to the Islands. Translators, LPs, and stations that pushed 1500 miles were all heard. For a few weeks it seemed like getting Cuban stations was the new norm.

[Danny]

The Es season started early here, with some good skip in April. May was the best month, while June was mediocre.

Five new TV stations (including KOTA-DT-2) and two new countries were logged. Oddly, the new stations were logged by mid-May, and they were all on channel 2.

It didn't occur to me until this week that my 100th channel 2 was received this summer.

Log totals May 1994-August 2007
Total DTVs via Es: 3
Total ATVs via Es: 273
Total channel 2 ATVs via Es: 95
Total channel 2 ATVs via tropo only: 6
Total channel 2 ATVs: 101

Danny
Shreveport, LA

[Craig-CO]

Only my second season with FM DXing, I can only compare it to last summer and I give it a B, I thought about a C though.
Not nearly as good as last summer.
This year the openings seemed shorter in duration then last year and it also seemed there werent any or many openings in the evenings like last year. Last year it seemed to me there was Es every evening in June.

Several memorable days this season though in late June. June 25 it was open here for 10 hours and on June 26th it was open for 12 hours.

For 2007,

115 New FM loggings
May = 7
June = 85
July = 23
August = 0

The Es just stopped after a very brief opening on August 9th.
And then I didnt hear any more Es at all. So August was about nil here for Es.

Craig
Denver, CO

[Doug Speheger]

After a slow start, late June and July were pretty good, so I'll give the season a B.

I had 309 id's of 262 different stations, and 179 of them new this year. I got a new Canadian province (Alberta), three new U.S. states (WA, ND, SD), and two new Mexican states (Coahuila, Nuevo Leon), and a new country (Cuba).

Highlights include:


June 2: Received a couple of stations from Lethbridge Alberta Canada for my first Alberta stations.
June 25 - June 30: 6 straight days of FM Es.
June 26: Open into rare (for me) territory of the upper Midwest. 28 stations (27 new), and received my first stations from North Dakota and South Dakota.
June 27: My highest estimated Es critical frequency (28.25 MHz) based on receiving 3 stations from Nuevo Laredo Tamaulipas Mexico (~548 miles) up to 107.3 MHz! Also added Coahuila and Nuevo Leon as new Mexican states received.
July 29: The big opening to both the northwest (and my first Washington state station), but also mainly to the southeast (adding my first two confirmed Cuban stations). Jim Thomas' "Emisoras de FM" book arrived just in time to help id the Cuban stations! (Thanks, Jim!) 72 stations identified, 44 of them new.


My log for the year is at: http://www.spegweb.com/radiotv/2007es.php .

Doug

[fmdxer1]

I'm glad for July 29th. I nearly "gave up" a few days before, then..wham! I get the best opening to the Caribbean and far down in Mexico. The farthest was a station in Veracruz.. lasted all day and wound up in TX. before fading. I had one day in Aug. of some Es.. it was to Quebec.

Tim

[John Wilke K9RZZ]

I did catch a few E's openings that were pretty good, but they were few and far between. Numerous times when folks were logging my locals and stations all around me, I had nothing here. I never really believed in one way skip, but now I do. Frustrating. :confused:

Grade = C