Grade The First Half of the 2008 Es Season

[Mike-CT]

Same selections as last year. What's your opinion?

[Russ-PA]

This could be interesting. I'd just looked back at last year's mid-term poll a few days ago and see that I gave last year a C-. At that point I had fewer new Es loggings than I do this year, so I guess I'll need to upgrade this time.
So far I've been able to get more out of unattended recordings while I'm at work this year, and I think that's the difference. So I'll give this year a C, mostly on account of the 6/23 opening.

Last season we benefitted by some late openings in July and early August - perhaps this year will be the same.

[K3PHL]

I'm a brand new member this year since I picked up my Sony receiver two weeks ago on closeout at Best Buy. That coupled with Nick's suggestion with Total Recorder unattended logging got me hooked far beyond a "run out to the car and see what I can get when it's open" kind of logger.

I've only been recording/logging for two weeks now. My first day of unattended recording with a dipole strung out my window netted KCMO in KC at 1037 miles and KCKS in Kansas at 1196 miles. That was enough for me to get hooked.

I haven't been active long enough to rate the half season so I won't vote just yet.

These Sony's are great. The SDRS3HD table-top unit seems to be just as good as what the XDRF1-HD claims to be. I have an XDRF1-HD on order as well. Maybe that receiver is even quieter without the amp in it.

I'm impressed with any radio that doesn't get swamped by the Philly antenna farm out my window.

Steve
K3PHL
Philadelphia
http://home.comcast.net/~k3phl

[mhawkins]

Since last August 11, I have received a grand total of 17 stations via Es, of which 8 are new. There is virtually nothing going on in Northern California so far.

[dlp85x]

I chose 'fair'. Based on the DX calendar (http://home.comcast.net/~dlp85x/calendar.htm) on my site, this year seems to be as good as '07 based on the number of Es openings alone, however I've only had 2 spectacular openings this year (5/29, 6/4), with one fairly good opening (6/27). All of the other openings, even the ones with fairly high MUFs, were weak, short-lived, lacked many signals, and/or were full of relogs. Even with all of that said, this year brought me my first translator via Es, my first opening into the Bahamas, and a fairly rare opening into the Canadian Maritimes, so those are points worth mentioning even with my 'fair' rating.

An interesting trend (not a good one) I've noticed this year is that most of the openings that many DXers are enjoying FM reception from (especially the all-day to midnight opening of 6/13 or close to it where DXers from MA, SC, FL and the midwest had Es up to 107.9 FM) only brought in TV 2 and 3, with a signal on 89.1 for a minute at my location. I've also noticed many times that there wasn't even a trace of Es at all in TV or FM locally, as DXers in NJ (~130mi away) and even MD (~80mi away) were reporting FM Es up to 107.9. It seems like any weak opening brings in FM Es to the northeast (and Randy in FL! haha) but nothing here, even if my local FM signals are going to FL or elsewhere via Es. In past years, I at least noted lower FM band Es if MA, SC or NJ had better FM Es conditions. What gives? It's like the VA state line is an 'Es Iron Curtain!' This year is definitely the most selective year in regards to affected Es area I've noticed in the past 9 years, by far.

I'll consider this season 'Good' if I get another spectacular opening like I had on 5/29 or 6/4 of this year. I'll rate it a 'Great' if I get more than one very good opening, or if I get an HD Radio signal over a local analog-only station, I'm not asking for much! Given we have a whole month left in the season, these 'demands' shouldn't be unreasonable, but based on this season so far, I'd probably be lucky if I get one more fairly good to average FM opening by 8/1.

[Jim in Western Vermont]

This is tough for me...I work a 12 hour day & miss a lot of it but that does
not mean it's been a bad season. On the other hand if we are talking about
what I have managed to hear then I would say B-. Every year I hit a hi-light somewhere...last year it was a double-hop to Colorado...year before that Bermuda...
but this year just 4 good but short openings. I'll say B- & pending !

73's !

[John-DE]

I had given it a C-/D+ before the July 1 Es. I'll now give it a C+, or "fair". I've noted Es on May 29, June 4 (the best day, with lots of Kansas stations)), 16, 23, 27 (monster sigs from North Dakota) and July 1 (my first Texan!). All except the June 4 opening were short-lived and not that strong.

[KW4RZ]

I rate the season up to July 1 about a B-. Maybe a little better than average.
Highlights were 3 strong openings that included 144 MHz Es, some extra short FM skip (439 miles) 1 great Caribbean opening with a new country logged -(San Andres Island, Colombia) and plenty of new stations heard.