Tropo report 1/17/2010

[kb8u]

There's a nice winter tropo opening goinig on this weekend. Hopefully it will continue into this evening but conditions are starting to taper off.

My automated TV logging program http://kb8u.ham-radio-op.net/TV2 detected 76 callsigns since Friday and 26 were all-new. There were also 5 that don't send there call in any PSIP. Only one of those was DX, KPXR Cedar Rapids, IA at about 370 miles. Had some great contacts on the UHF ham bands, too.

Best DX was on Friday, KBIN on RF channel 33, Council Bluffs, IA at 590 miles. Closer in, the most consistent was WMBD Peoria at 280 miles which was in strong and in every scan cycle for over 3 hours straight on Sunday morning. Otherwise most stations were in only briefly.

The antenna has been pointed west the whole time. It's a short UHF-only yagi but it's at about 1410 feet ASL. I'm near the border of Ohio and Indiana in Michigan.

Attached is a screen shot (sorry if it doesn't fit in your browser window, I've never tried this before).

2010 is off to a good start for DX. Best regards, Russ KB8U

[NN2E]

Good tropo from IN, MI and OH.
Lots of re-logs and some new ones...

Jan. 17...
#424 WPTA 24 (21) Fort Wayne, IN. 340 mi.
#425 WAQP 48 (49) Saginaw, MI. 495 mi.
#426 WLAJ 51 (53) Lansing, MI. 455 mi.
#427 WNDY 32 (23) Marion, IN. 265 mi. Over local WPSD !!!
#428 WSYM 38 (47) Lansing, MI.
#429 WTOL 11 Toledo, OH. 425 mi.
#430 WINM 12 Angola, IN. 370 mi.
#431 WBDT 26 Springfield, OH. 325 mi.
#432 WKEF 51 (22) Dayton, OH. 300 mi.
#433 WKOI 39 (43) Richmond, IN. 275 mi.
Jan. 18...
#434 WNWO 49 (24) Toledo, OH
#435 WKYC 17 (3) Cleveland, OH. 475 mi.

73, Ed NN2E
Owner / Operator - Murphy's Law Test Site & Thunderstorm Proving Grounds

Modified Finco P-7 UHF at 45 ft.
Antennacraft CS-1100 VHF at 40 ft.
Alliance HD-73 rotor
Channel Master 7777 pre-amp
3/4 inch cable TV hardline
Zenith DTT-901 DTV box
9 inch B&W monitor

[Robert Grant]

For once, a good opening I got in on, too.

I had been mostly confined to the "winter antenna", a small RCA combo in the attic. The CM3020 on the chimney is on a 10-year-old rotator that stops turning when it's colder than 50°F outside, so it's stuck South these days.
I discovered on Saturday (1/16) night that WEWS was in - the first sign of any beyond-line-of-sight TV in nearly three months. Then I saw that CBET was absolutely getting clobbered by CFTO (CBET was wiped from its cable channel as well!), and CBLFT was as strong as I've ever seen it, too (the CN tower is 248 miles from here).
Later into the night, it switched North. Several Canadian stations came up (got nostalgic to see TV with snow and interference!). Furthest analog was CKVR 3 in Barrie at 264 miles. Since this was Sunday morning, WTOL 11 was off. I got WBKB digital 11 for the first time, a modest 202 miles - but that's my best DX on VHF DTV.
Sunday afternoon, it came back, and strong to the North, with newie WCMV 17 (one of few DTVs common to Manistique and Temperance) and got 47 (now WPBN) for the first time since WFQX was using this transmitter (same antenna as WCMV and WGTU use, 219 miles).
But is was the early hours of Monday morning that would bring the best DX. Even with the attic antenna, I had a near clean sweep of Dayton and Cincy, and got newie WBKI-19 (don't know the distance, but >475km). Better yet, with the DX to the South, I was able to switch to the Chimney antenna and plugged it into the Zinwell. Briefly, I got another new DTV state, WBXX 20 Crossville, TN (>475km, but, if they are on the same tower as analog 20 had, 393 miles, best DTV tropo from here). They were only in for a few seconds (but, long enough for PSIP). It was a good thing I switched to the CM3020/Zinwell when I did, for I never saw them again. Another nice DX that was in for several minutes a few times was WTVQ, 40, at 262 miles. Strangely, I saw no trace of anything else from Lexington. Note the weather information on the subchannel screen cap - 100% humidity and 0 wind velocity, I often see this when tropo is in.

[Danny]

Congratulations to everybody on the interesting tropo. Nice picture, Robert.

[Garth J]

Hey everybody!

My report's a bit late, but I'm still flabbergasted over the AMAZING tropo opening last weekend. (This was my most intense experience with DTV tropo yet!) This was hotter than anything I saw even from last Summer! Here's my recap:

Friday Jan 15th....I didn't think anything was unusual at first. But a little after 12am, I turned the antenna, and I noticed a flicker on RF29. Then I noticed a flicker on RF51. Last time that happened, it was Chicago, so I quickly threw on my hat, dragged the antenna outside and put it on a ladder parked on top of the shed. In that position, Chicago's WMAQ rolled in off and on through the night (caught it only briefly last Summer.) I also caught two new stations - Chicago's WPWR on RF51, and WBUI on RF22, which I'd never heard of. Looked it up on Wikipedia and it's the CW of Central Illinois. But what really bowled me over is that it's a mind blowing 542 miles away from me!!! (At this point it was a new record for me!) Also picked up some of my more familiar catches with Cleveland, OH's WEWS on RF15, and Detroit, MI's WMYD on RF21.

Saturday Jan 16th.....Cleveland was still coming in during the early afternoon with WEWS (RF15), WKYC (RF17), and WBNX (RF30) but then I caught something new on RF22 - South Bend, IN's WSBT! The picture didn't fully decode and I had to leave for work by 2:30pm. But by the time I came home at 11pm, Indiana was fully booming in (my first time receiving that state) along with Michigan and Ohio! I caught full decode of South Bend, IN's WSBT, as well as WNDU (RF42), and WHME (RF48). I was also blown away by catching Lansing, MI's WLNS on RF36 because channel 36 is my semi-local analog station CITS from Hamilton, Ontario (I also caught South Bend's WNIT on RF35 which stomped over CITS' digital signal!) My camera was going into overdrive! Two stations from Detroit, MI also came in over semi-local Buffalo, NY stations! I got WTVS on RF43 over Buffalo's WNED, and WKBD on RF14 over Buffalo's WUTV! I also topped Fri's DX record with a few seconds here and there of WMBD (RF30) from Peoria, Illinois! It is approx 571 miles from me, and my current DTV record! There were also catches of many Ohio PBS stations including Akron's WEAO on RF50, Bowling Green's WBGU on RF27 and Toledo's WGTE on RF29!

Sunday Jan 17 - Monday Jan 18th....On Sunday, there were some leftover flashes of Indiana, and Michigan, but things appeared to be winding down in the early evening. However, around 10pm signals started lighting up again. Detroit came back with WMYD on RF21. Then Lansing, MI came again with WLNS *again* overriding the analog CITS on RF36! I also got one crazy result that was so short-lived I only got PSIP in my Panasonic TV. RF29 was erratically blinking on my Zenith DTT901, so I switched to my Panasonic tuner to see if it would decode. It stored as Kokomo, IN's WTTK (451 miles from me.) Not a full decode, but the calls did get stored in the TV. Later in the night between 1-3am approx, I was shocked to get two Dayton, OH stations! WRGT came in on RF30 when I was on the phone with friends (one friend had just returned from a cruise and knows about my DX obsession, so when I said "WGRT what the heck is this?" He replied "Just take pictures and I'll look it up." He then expressed surprise that I was getting Dayton, Ohio in the "dead of Winter." Heh...) I also caught Dayton's WDTN on RF50. By 4:30-6am Dayton faded into Cleveland again and I was getting good results with WEWS on RF15, WKYC on RF17 and WQHS on RF34. I finally got to see sizable chunks of the newscasts on WEWS and WKYC! By 6:30 I was exhausted and wrapped things up. I left my digital box on RF12 and Erie, PA's WICU came in sometime after I went to bed (saw it stored on the box after I woke up.)

New stations I caught from this legendary weekend:

RF14 WKBD (CW) Detroit, MI [226 miles] (over top of semi-local WUTV Buffalo!!!)
RF22 WBUI (CW) Decatur, IL [562.18 miles - one of my best catches!]
RF22 WSBT (CBS) South Bend, IN [386 miles]
RF23 WVPX (ION) Akron, OH [228 miles]
RF27 WBGU (PBS) Bowling Green, OH [304 miles]
RF29 WGTE (PBS) Toledo, OH [262 miles]
RF29 WTTK (CW) Kokomo, IN [451 miles]
RF30 WMBD (CBS) Peoria-Bloomington, IL [571 miles - my NEW record!]
RF30 WRGT (FOX) Dayton, OH [386 miles]
RF35 WNIT (PBS) South Bend, IN [385.18 miles] (over top of Digital CITS from Hamilton!!!)
RF36 WLNS (CBS) Lansing, MI [271 miles] (over top of Analog CITS from Hamilton!!!)
RF42 WNDU (NBC) South Bend, IN [386.52 miles]
RF43 WTVS (PBS) Detroit, MI [221.19 miles] (over top of semi-local WNED Buffalo!!!)
RF48 WHME (LeSEA) South Bend, IN [384.43 miles]
RF50 WEAO (PBS) Akron, OH [228.42 miles]
RF50 WDTN (NBC) Dayton, OH [386 miles]
RF51 WPWR (MyTV) Chicago, IL [446.25 miles]

Returning visitors:
RF7 WJBK (FOX) Detroit, MI [222.62 miles]
RF12 WICU (NBC) Erie, PA [131 miles]
RF15 WEWS (ABC) Cleveland, OH [214 miles]
RF16 WSMH (FOX) Flint, MI [246 miles]
RF16 WXXI (PBS) Rochester, NY [99 miles]
RF17 WKYC (NBC) Cleveland, OH [212 miles]
RF21 WMYD (MyTV) Detroit, MI [221.18 miles]
RF29 WMAQ (NBC) Chicago, IL [446.25 miles]
RF30 WBNX (CW) Cleveland, OH [213 miles]
RF34 WQHS (UNI) Cleveland, OH [213 miles]
RF45 WDIV (NBC) Detroit, MI [221.53 miles]
RF45 WLLA (FamilyNet) Kalamazoo, MI [326 miles]

I was also amazed at the overlap of signals in various areas - I noticed many Southwestern Ontario DXers were picking up the same stations as I was. Plus even here I see NN2E was picking up Cleveland's WKYC approximately the same time I was!

What an amazing event! (I'll try to post some pics soon!)

[Jim Thomas]

I live in Colorado but was in Missouri (just west of St. Louis about 60 miles) for a funeral during this tropo event. Staying at the in-laws, I kept rescanning one of their *transition analog-digital sets* that doesn't allow for direct entry of the RF channels. I had noticed that the St. Louis dtv's were periodically having trouble decoding, which typically never happens. I realized later (they had intense fog) that there must be some heavy duty tropo in progress and the St. Louis dtv's had other stations trying to override them.

It was later that it occurred to me that the in-laws had a Zenith converter box in one of their bedrooms which I could have used, but by then I was on my way back home.

***Additional information. KTVI, the St. Louis Fox affiliate was the most problematic with signal dropouts. Comparing notes of stations that scanned in which are not considered the locals, I'm guessing WBBJ Jackson TN was interfering with KTVI. I had stations from south central Illinois, including WUSI, a PBS affiliate from Olney, also WSIU Carbondale, another PBS affiliate, and a Fox affiliate which I can't find listed in Illinois. I'm not sure where they were from.

[couparangus]

Howdy folks, my first post here. I see GarthJ beat me to the S.Ontario loggings of January 16th. :) Here's what I picked up, all firsts for me:

WLNS
WHME
WMBD <- best at 550 miles
WMYD
WBGU
WEWS <- pretty sure I've got this one in the past
WEAO <- pretty sure I've got this one in the past
WSMH
WSBT
WCMU
WPSU
WJAC
WLAJ

I noticed the last four you didn't log, Garth so I must be doing alright for a newbie. :) I'm wondering if you tried swinging your antenna more south? I spun mine all around in hopes of picking up Ottawa, Montreal & E.NY but there was zilch.

Here's a picture of the paths. (http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/donnyjaguar/Maps/januaryHDTVDX.jpg)

Rig here is Wade-Delhi yagi, Winegard 18dB & HDHomerun, semi-rigid cables. (my rhombic got destroyed in move last summer).

[mp11]

Nice catches coup.

[spunker88]

Howdy folks, my first post here. I see GarthJ beat me to the S.Ontario loggings of January 16th. :) Here's what I picked up, all firsts for me:

WLNS
WHME
WMBD <- best at 550 miles
WMYD
WBGU
WEWS <- pretty sure I've got this one in the past
WEAO <- pretty sure I've got this one in the past
WSMH
WSBT
WCMU
WPSU
WJAC
WLAJ

I noticed the last four you didn't log, Garth so I must be doing alright for a newbie. :) I'm wondering if you tried swinging your antenna more south? I spun mine all around in hopes of picking up Ottawa, Montreal & E.NY but there was zilch.

Here's a picture of the paths. (http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u159/donnyjaguar/Maps/januaryHDTVDX.jpg)

Rig here is Wade-Delhi yagi, Winegard 18dB & HDHomerun, semi-rigid cables. (my rhombic got destroyed in move last summer).

Thats some nice tropo. Im from upstate NY, only about 100mi from Ottawa so i get them on tropo all the time, in fact its become almost a pest to me since the same stations are always around. If you want Ottawa, heres some stations to try next time theres tropo, I get these all the time and they interfere with locals sometimes:
CKKL 93.9
CIMF 94.9 (Runs French programming)
CKBY 101.1
CISS 105.3
CHEZ 106.1
CKQB 106.9

Some powerful locals for me that you can try:

For Kingston, ON try:
CFLY 98.3
CBCK 107.5

For Watertown, NY try:
WFRY 97.5

For Syracuse/Utica, NY try:
WNTQ 93.1
WYYY 94.5
WFRG 104.3

From Rochester I have received via tropo:
WCMF 96.5
WDVI 100.5

I have also received Toronto during the summer, its a direct path across Lake Ontario to me so I have good results. If I can get Toronto, you should be able to get some of these stations if youre lucky.

[couparangus]

Thanks for the feedback on the FM stations. I was thinking of picking up a high-performance FM tuner. The best one I'm aware of is the Carver TX-11. Its pretty old but gather it still outperforms newcomers. I'm planning on building another co-phased (4x) rhombic for UHF-TV, but not sure how well it'll work on FM broadcast.

I would like to write a programme for my computer that would automate my TV channel scanning and log/alert me of new finds. I'm wondering if someone has already done this though?

[Garth J]

Howdy folks, my first post here. I see GarthJ beat me to the S.Ontario loggings of January 16th. :)

I noticed the last four [WCMU / WPSU / WJAC / WLAJ] you didn't log, Garth so I must be doing alright for a newbie. :) I'm wondering if you tried swinging your antenna more south? I spun mine all around in hopes of picking up Ottawa, Montreal & E.NY but there was zilch.

Hey there Couparangus and welcome! Nice to see another S. Ontario DXer here! :) You're doing great for a "newbie"....heh....believe me, it's only been about a year of full on DTV DXing for me. Since March 2009 it's been a giant learning curve to figure out where to aim, as I can't mount my antenna outdoors. (I have a CM4221HD mounted to a makeshift tower that sits on a table aiming out of my sunroom. I also use a CM7777 pre-amp with it.) I more or less learned where to aim by last August, but still try new things occasionally. For example, there's a small shed just outside my sunroom that I sometimes set the antenna on top of when there's tropo from Michigan or Ohio, and that's where I left it most of the Super Tropo Weekend. Since there was such an enormous amount of Illinois / Michigan / Ohio / Indiana tropo, I kept it there. I have gotten WPSU before on RF15, but sometimes have trouble since there's analog WBNF-CA from Buffalo that can interfere. I also find RF51 trouble as, if there's a Michigan / Ohio path, I get analog interference from CHCH London. But I am impressed at so much overlap in our catches - especially WMBD which made a lot of DXers lists that weekend! Congrats on the Fab Four that you snagged that weren't on my list :)

I did a report of the Mid-January Tropo explosion (with lots of pics) on my TV blog here:

http://tvgarth.blogspot.com/2010/01/reception-reports-jan-15-18-2010-magic.html