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A Very Weird HD DX from SC...

R

Radio-X

Guest
I use a Sony XDR-F1HD with the supplied wire dipole and an antenna amp inside a house near Hilton Head, SC. I also live about 1 mile from a C2 FM on 106.1. So you better believe when I found an HD signal on first adjacent 105.9 that there was going to be a huge catch.

Logged HD Stations:
WJGL 96.9 Jacksonville
WYLD 95.5 Ft. Pierce
WRUM 100.3 Orlando
WJRR 101.1 Cocoa Beach/Orlando
WBHQ 92.7 Flagler Beach
WXTB 97.9 Clearwater
WOCL 105.9 Deland/Orlando
WMIB 103.5 Ft. Lauderdale
WHTQ 96.5 Orlando
WJCT 89.9 Jacksonville


Now one of the weirder aspects of this event was that some of the HD stations (like WJRR, WLDI, WHTQ, and WJCT) are all on the same frequency as a local FM from Savannah, GA or here. I could not get them at all in analog...instead getting WLVH, WIXV, WJCL-FM, and WJWJ-FM, respectively as loud as I normally do. As soon as the HD kicked in I started pulling in these stations from afar!

So, my burning question is: Why did I pick these stations up ONLY in HD? I have pulled in a DX'ed station over a local several times, nothing new...but to have either the RDS or the HD from a different station is just something I have never heard of before. Is this something unique to the Sony or is it normally possible to pick up the HD from a DX'ed station and the analog from a local on a HD radio? I would assume if the HD is picking up there would be terrible analog interference between the local station which has at least 55-70 dBu and the DX-ed station which has to be at least 45-50 dBu for HD to kick in!

Thanks!

Radio-X
 
I have no idea. I have the same Sony tuner that you have and almost never experience this. I once heard WAFY 103.1 out of Frederick, MD in analog and getting the call letters WJMA 103.1 from Culpeper, VA. WJMA broadcasts in HD; WAFY doesn't; and I am closer to WAFY than WJMA. This was after I turned the dipole antenna toward the Culpeper signal. I was not having tropo at that time.
 
Here's a scenario. A local non-HD FM and a semi-distant co-channel HD station. Tropo or skip happens.
It is completly possible to get a HD lock on that distant HD station even when the "local" is full quieting.
Think about it. The HD sidebands are in the clear!
 
The answer is simple. Because the HD is isn't really on the same frequency as the local in question.

The HD signal is above and below the analog carrier. So, the HD signal may actually be in the clear. I see this happen quite a bit with a local Class A here; there is a big Class C with HD a couple of hundred miles off. I'll get the local Class A analog and the distant HD.

I have seen this happen also on sporadic-E. I had a couple of Floridians fighting it out on 106.7. Both had HD. The stations often swapped back and forth. It was kinda confusing.

DE
 
I am not totally sure of the question, but I can tell you that on good days of Tropo to the FL west coast, WIRK 107.9 is hampered by WSRZ 107.9....the Sony readout shows WSRZ-FM and a 1>, which means if the signal is good enough, I can go to its HD2 & get a clear signal. I think it's kinda neat. I also seem to have the same issue on 88.9 with WDNA/WQCS. Yesterday or 2 days ago I got the RDS of WBTP Clearwater 95.7 despite having a decent local WXDJ.

cd
 
boiseengineer said:
What DeadElvis said !
Click to expand...

I was imagining this is the case, as I have received RDS from another station on a non-RDS station before. I just figured that if you get the digital, you'd definintely get the analog! It's just so...well...weird to be listening to soft rock on a local channel and then 8 seconds later the HD kicks in from Florida and you've got System of A Down on your AC station!

Last night, the band was still plunked somewhere in central Florida as I picked up tons of stations from Tampa, Ft. Meyers, Vero Beach, and even a complete takeover of a local as I was picking up WJCT-FM in analog and digital over local NPR WJWJ-FM.

The one thing I did notice was many of these stations were coming in like locals, but the HD was a difficult grab!

Furthest catch was last night, though. I got a lot of RDS random symbols for a few minutes on 94.1 (another local w/o HD or RDS). Then as I flipped past it several times I got "Radio Enciclopedia 94.1" which I would assume is RDS from Cuba's Radio Enciclopedia...unless there's one here in the Southeast US as well.

I didn't see about DXing for any Carribean stations, although given the last couple of days, I may have a good chance of getting the Bahamas or Cuba on FM.

Radio-X
 
Wow. Tropo from Cuba. That's a good one.

I have been seeing listings for some amazing stuff the past few days. Tampa, et. al, was heard as far north as Massachusetts about 2am today. That's no big deal on sporadic-E (what happens in the Summer), but that's mighty impressive through the troposphere.

There may be another day or two of this. Enjoy.

DE
 
Tropo to Cuba WITH RDS from SC? Hot dog! R Enciclopedia 94.1 is in La Habana (Havana). I have caught RDS only from Cuban stations in Havana. Super catch! About 3 kW....BTW if you can hear AM 530 from Cuba, it's the same program.

cd
 
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