New Forum Member in Eastern MASS

[Flash33]

Hello to everyone.

I am interested in the information available in this forum. I have been DXing TV since the late-50's when I lived on the Maine Coast and our closet stations we're 70 miles south. Living in Florida in the early 70's, and with limited local signals (no cable) 12 midnight to 6 am yielded almost daily skip up the east coast, and south to Puerto Rico. These days I'm looking to capture Es from DTV signals. I am only 20 miles west of Boston, but I am at 390' above sea level with a chimney mounted 15 year old Channel master Quantum and a rotor, about 35' above ground level. Because there are about 10 towers just east of me and another half-dozen close (under 20 miles) UHF signals, the aiming-off those powerful signals is important. My to-date distant signals are from Plattsburgh, NY, (194 mi.) and 6 of the NY City channels (175 mi.). It is interesting to note that without skip I routinely receive 22 off-air signals which (incl. digital multiplex) amount to 36 channels. I do not have a mast-mounted pre-amplifier, but I do have a distribution amplifier (signal going to 5 rooms). I am anxious to begin FM DXing this spring as I recently added the Sony HD Tuner to my equipment.

[Mike-CT]

Welcome to the WTFDA Forums!
Lowband DTV Es does happen in the summer. Check out my DTV screen captures at http://fmdx.usclargo.com. You can expect much of the same, being ~60 miles east of me here in CT.
Also be aware that there was a good amount of 2 hop Es in this area last summer from Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela and Colombia. This, IMO, is worth looking for. Also there are some analog LPTVs left on ch2-6 and a few of these have been IDed during Es openings.

As for FM Dxing, the IBOC in the Boston area (and Providence and Hartford and NYC, etc), is going to be a MAJOR nuisance (PITA) to you, as it is to me and the other FM DXers in the Boston area. At least you are west of the transmitters (although not much but it's better to have them behind you and not in front of you). Your biggest problem probably will be with FM tropo to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and NL because you'll be aiming right into the IBOC trash. The Sony XDR, although good, can't help you with that much.

[Flash33]

Welcome to the WTFDA Forums!
Lowband DTV Es does happen in the summer. Check out my DTV screen captures at http://fmdx.usclargo.com. You can expect much of the same, being ~60 miles east of me here in CT.
Also be aware that there was a good amount of 2 hop Es in this area last summer from Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela and Colombia. This, IMO, is worth looking for. Also there are some analog LPTVs left on ch2-6 and a few of these have been IDed during Es openings.

As for FM Dxing, the IBOC in the Boston area (and Providence and Hartford and NYC, etc), is going to be a MAJOR nuisance (PITA) to you, as it is to me and the other FM DXers in the Boston area. At least you are west of the transmitters (although not much but it's better to have them behind you and not in front of you). Your biggest problem probably will be with FM tropo to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and NL because you'll be aiming right into the IBOC trash. The Sony XDR, although good, can't help you with that much.

Last summer, I had pretty good luck getting enhanced signals from the northeast, right through the trash you referred to. In June WMTW (Portland-Mt. Washington) switched from Ch 46 to Ch 8, and I was able to receive it most early mornings, as well as WGME which uses UHF frequency 38 and WCSH which uses UHF 44. I have yet to catch anything further north as most of the signals of the Northern ME and Canadian Maritimes channels are broadcasting on on of the local's frequencies. I would think that I could catch some of the remaining Canadian Analog Signals 2-6 as there are several broadcasting on these channels today (until their cutoff). Thanks for the advice.