Best DXing you have ever had??

[David67]

I've received Radio Vision Christina in the Turks and Caicos Islands on 530 AM and Caught the old Transworld Radio broadcasts from Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles. I also caught KFI in Los Angeles when I was growing up.

 

[MotoMuzak]

Flying Dutchman~
"The biggest TV DX wow I've ever heard of was KLEE TV from Texas back in the 1900's.
The signal was being picked up in England. The program received was broadcast 3 years
Earlier. The signal had travelled into space and bounced off something a light year and a half away
and come back to Earth. Very Strange!!!"

Well, you know, what goes around comes around............

Actually even though it reportedly is bogus, I don't see how that kind of reception would be impossible. Since the signals used by TV stations are line-of-sight, they would go out of the atmosphere and out into space where, given the proper conditions, they would just continue on indefinately until, say, the people of Planet Ultron are watching episodes of "My Hero" transmitted by the BBC some ten years prior! So theoretically, given the proper conditions and the correct celestial/planetary/lunar etc. alignment as well as weather and other conditions here at the time of transmission and later reception, the signal could reflect off some distant celestial body and make its way back to Earth. Although its quality would likely be significantly degraded when you take into account attenuation and absorbtion by objects in space as well as radiation, solar flares and other anomalies. But really, in a way you could almost think of this as a really extreme form of satellite TV. ;o)

;D In any case I just hope I have my VCR set up with a blank tape at the ready "when the time comes......." ;D

(Saying of which I just *finally* installed and set up my antenna I purchased last August at my Folks' place last weekend, as we have been experiencing a bit of decent sunny weather lately for a change--that's kind of unusual here in the NW. I haven't had any big DX hits yet on the Samsung or Panosonic but then again, the aerial has only been up since Saturday........)

 

[arnoldevns]

When I was a kid in the early 80s I used a little 10 inch TV set to do a lot of DXing from my home in Dallas. It drove my mother nuts, but my dad would often sit down and see if he could identify the channels too.

I was impressed when I got KDKA Channel 2 from Pittsburgh. I was very impressed when I got a channel 2 out of Montana. Then I hit a few channel 2s out of Canada. But the best of all was when I started to get a bunch of things from the south. I got XEW in Mexico City.. then.. one day.. I swear my dad saw it too.. I got a channel 2 out of Brazil. I think it was a TV Globo station or something like that. It didn't last long and ultimately faded out when Mexico City came back in.

The thing is, I never really thought to do a whole lot of logging of my catches at the time. It was just fun for me. I knew what I had seen and remembered the logos and whatnot.

While I'm okay with the switch to DTV, I realize that it will mostly mean the end of DXing as I knew it. Sure, you can do it with DTV, but it's just not the same.

 

[Rob]

I've issued some loggings (The site is down)
but lately, been hearing more USA on the MW band

530 is an easy catch. unless there's another 530 elsewhere.

570 is annoying because of the ticks of RR.

DXTuners.com is your friend!

-Rob

 

[w9wi]

Actually even though it reportedly is bogus, I don't see how that kind of reception would be impossible. Since the signals used by TV stations are line-of-sight, they would go out of the atmosphere and out into space where, given the proper conditions, they would just continue on indefinately until, say, the people of Planet Ultron are watching episodes of "My Hero" transmitted by the BBC some ten years prior! So theoretically, given the proper conditions and the correct celestial/planetary/lunar etc. alignment as well as weather and other conditions here at the time of transmission and later reception, the signal could reflect off some distant celestial body and make its way back to Earth. Although its quality would likely be significantly degraded when you take into account attenuation and absorbtion by objects in space as well as radiation, solar flares and other anomalies. But really, in a way you could almost think of this as a really extreme form of satellite TV. ;o)

Known theories of propagation would suggest the amount of attenuation involved in something like that would be way too great to provide a viewable signal.

But radio hams have experienced "long-delayed echoes", where shortwave signals are delayed for periods measured in *minutes* and returned at strengths way too loud to be explained by extraterrestrial reflection. Best guess is that the signals have been "trapped" in the ionosphere & finally found their way out.

We've never heard of LDEs measured in *years* though.

Probably the bigger problem with this reception would be that the technical standards were (are) different. The frequency on which KLEE-TV/KPRC-TV broadcast was not a TV channel in the UK - no British TVs would have been tuned to that channel. And the synchronizing standard was also different. British TVs at the time used a 50Hz field rate and a 10250Hz line rate. KLEE broadcast with the same standard used by American analog sets today: 60Hz field and 15750Hz line. The field rate was probably close enough, but the line rate probably not.

Besides, nobody in Britain (beyond a handful of DXers) would have had any reason to change channels. BBC-TV was the only station in the country, and stations on the Continent used different technical standards.

So even if somehow the KLEE-TV signal *had* made its way to Britain long after it was transmitted, no receiver would have been able to receive it.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

A friend and I used to try TV DXing in the late 1950's when I would be at his house late Saturday nights. A great deal of that was done on a small portable television with a rabbit ears that we would take to the upstairs hoping some additional height would help.

It's important to remember that back then, there were few, if any, all-night stations. As a station would sign off, it opened up that channel so one from farther away might be received. Even before that would take place, stations in Indianapolis could be picked up on channels four and six (WTTV and WFBM, respectively). The area where my friend lived was in a suburb about ten miles northeast of downtown Cincinnati and there was a clear shot from his house in the direction toward Indiana and the northwest. My friend used to also receive WKZO in Kalamazoo, Michigan on a regular basis. I think that was on Channel 3. What made the long-distance attempts somewhat more interesting was that the channel numbers on the dial of that TV had been just about rubbed off from continuous use. As you changed channels, you weren't sure what number you were on so we had to go by ID slides shown or what an announcer said. I remember one night the TV was picking up the sound, but no picture and we heard studio wrestling coming from who-knows-where. (I didn't recognize the wrestlers' names and guessed it may have been a Chicago station).

I point out -again - that this reception was done using a rabbit ears. One night we did connect the TV to a long aluminum pole and held it up and out of an upstairs window. Of course, with just one pole, we had to choose between connecting it to the picture or sound side. We chose picture and noticed a slight improvement over the rabbit ears. I wish we had the opportunity back then to connect to a deep-fringe antenna with a rotor. Who knows what we would have picked up?

 

[BRNout]

Known theories of propagation would suggest the amount of attenuation involved in something like that would be way too great to provide a viewable signal.

That is exactly true and it may be one reason why the SETI guys have yet to come up with an extra-terrestrial signal. Think of a TV or radio signal as ripples in a pond. As the ripple moves outward, it weakens and dissipates. A radio/TV signal would do something similar, with signal strength being inversely proportional to the area served. At one point, probably not all that far beyond our solar system, most signals would be noting more than a faint, undetectable trace.

Also never mentioned is the little problem of the Earth's rotation. Even if you could propagate a signal into outer space, the continuing movement of the Earth would render the experiment akin to trying to listen to FM from a jet traveling 600 miles per hour. You wouldn't hold a signal for more than a couple of minutes. And, that's IF the signal were strong enough to lock in on.

Remember that signals sent to satellites and spacecraft are beamed with a directional signal. Standard broadcasts are not transmitted that way. So, a one watt beam directed skyward with a narrow aim can do more than a 100 kw non-directional signal that transmits to the horizon in all directions.

Interesting topic and I'd welcome comment from an actual tx/electrical engineer about this. I'd love to know if I'm on the right track...

 

[crainbebo]

Actually, if KLEE-TV was around, it would be an F2 skip reception or a trans-atlantic reception.

 

[radiorob2.0]

Actually, if KLEE-TV was around, it would be an F2 skip reception or a trans-atlantic reception.

That was later revealed pranksters were responsible.

 

[Len14043]

My best DXing occurred in the late 70s and early 80s when clear channel stations were really clear. In Upstate NY, reception of KOA, KSL were fairly reliable catches with an occasionally appearance of KFI. In Central Nevada, the Chicago clears were dependable. WHAM, WCAU, WHAS and WLW were usually receivable. My best all-time catch was receiving WKBW in Nevada despite their deep null to the west.

 

[radioman148]

Best all time DX catches for me are as follows:

In November 78 in Hawaii (Oahu) I picked up WLS 890, WBBM 780, & WWL 870 all between 9:30--10PM Hawaiian time.
In Sept 77 in London England I picked up WCBS 880 just before UK sunrise.

 

[Flying-Dutchman]

I heard ZBN from Hamilton Bermuda twice in Indiana on 89.1 FM. Location, Indianapolis early 1980s.

WOWO Fort Wayne Indiana, Location, Braintree, Essex, England winter 1979.

I read in an English DX publication that audio from WTTV Channel 4 Indiana was received in England in 1979.

 

[AndTheLambGoesBAA]

I heard ZBN from Hamilton Bermuda twice in Indiana on 89.1 FM. Location, Indianapolis early 1980s.

I remember that day. Even have tape. Isn't it a shame that people decided that the FM dial had to be full of so many worthless LPFMs, repeaters, and translators to the point that FM DX'ing has virtually become a thing of the past? Plus IBuzz. Haven't had a really good day of DX'ing here in New Whiteland in years.

 

[tomservo]

Isn't it a shame that people decided that the FM dial had to be full of so many worthless LPFMs, repeaters, and translators to the point that FM DX'ing has virtually become a thing of the past?

It's not so bad, just more challenging.

Many mornings I wake up and get DX thanks to a local translator that unintentionally relays a station over 200 miles away. Yesterday I got several Little Rock stations, 160 miles away. It might not seem like much at first, but it was good considering it was on a portable radio, with the whip antenna fully retracted in the case.

A good example of why I enjoy the more challening nature of FM DX with all these low power stations: during that Little Rock Hop, a station there on 95.7 came through in one specific tiny spot in my living room; anywhere else and it was the local religious class A broadcaster, 18 miles NNW, the exact same direction as Little Rock.

Gotta love goofy stuff like that.

 

[BIGSTICK]

I received WSB Atlanta in Rio in January 1999. Very clear, also WWL, WSM, WBAP.

 

[Timewarp]

I can null out all the translators and low power FMs with a directional antenna at my location.
Hearing stations 300 miles away here is very common. What ruined much of my DX was the Class As
put on the B FM channels 20 years ago. And, the noise floor is higher today.

 

[radioman148]

Brent,

I find it amazing that you were able to pick up those stations in Rio. I know from my experiences in the caribbean that it's very difficult to get them there with all the interference & clutter from central and south american stations. I can't imagine what the noise factor must be in Brazil.
What kind of radio and antenna were you using and do you remember about what time of the night you were able to do this? Were you in the city or outskirts?

Thanks.

 

[BIGSTICK]

Brent,

I find it amazing that you were able to pick up those stations in Rio. I know from my experiences in the caribbean that it's very difficult to get them there with all the interference & clutter from central and south american stations. I can't imagine what the noise factor must be in Brazil.
What kind of radio and antenna were you using and do you remember about what time of the night you were able to do this? Were you in the city or outskirts?

Thanks.

I was an old Grundig 650, I was amazed as well. Went back last year, and their was no sign of any of the above. Must have been an anomoly.

 

[TheDingo]

I haven't been DXing very long, but some time in 2005, there was a big opening here that lasted over a week, and I logged stations from AL, TN, KY, NC, SC, GA, FL, AR, LA and MS (from central north AL). I was even able to listen to a few of the distant stations with almost no static for the 25 mile drive to work.
Since then, I've had 3 instances of E-Skip, once where I picked up 105.3 from Dallas, then 107.1 from Dallas was interfering with my XM transmitter a few weeks later. Then I got my best catch ever, while listening to Rock 99-5 (WZRR Birmingham, 100 miles away) it suddenly faded out on me, and I picked up KQMT, 99.5 The Mountain, from Denver CO for 5 minutes (the catch was confirmed on here) a distance of 1,060 miles.

 

[tanner]

In the early 80's I logged WHAS 840 on Whidbey Island in Washington state.