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Disappointing DX trips

R

Raider57

When I went to Isle of Palms, SC a few years back, during the winter, I had a Grundig S350 at the time. I was doing FM dxing from the hotel I was staying at and at first there was a lot of overload from the local stations, all over the dial. Then as days progressed, I was able to pick up Savannah, Jacksonville, and Orlando stations and I was really impressed! Later that year, I had bought an Insignia HD radio and I was impressed with the radio at home in New Jersey, picking up 94.5 WPST with 94.7 WFME at the time only 6 miles away! and 96.5 WRDW daily, with the Empire State building in view, 10 miles away, with 96.3. The Grundig could not pick up those stations at all, except in tropo events. Never had overload from my location and thought the radio was advanced and would not cause overload, with local stations.

Then I went to South Carolina again, only in Mount Pleasant, excited to see what I would pick up. It was a disaster, all the Charleston locals were only a half mile away and even local 95.9 was getting trashed by 94.3 and 95.1! It was however cool to see the ID of the local stations on different frequencies but other than that, it was a very disappointing DX trip. What are some of your disappointing DX stories?
 
Heading out to Yakima, and being in a motel so close to the locals that I was hearing 1020 KDYK on 1710 and 1650. Horrible area.

-crainbebo
 
At a motel in Marion, NC, I was very close to WBRM 1250's tower on a mountain. But what was the only local station in the area. When I travel, I try to avoid strong signal areas when I check in a motel.
 
The only one I can remember was decades ago - I went on a ski trip to Red River NM, and wanted to get a tape of KNBR for a friend who grew up in San Francisco but had been relocated with her father to Tehran. The motel had so much interference you could not get a single radio station. Too much neon.
 
Raider57 said:
When I went to Isle of Palms, SC a few years back, during the winter, I had a Grundig S350 at the time. I was doing FM dxing from the hotel I was staying at and at first there was a lot of overload from the local stations, all over the dial. Then as days progressed, I was able to pick up Savannah, Jacksonville, and Orlando stations and I was really impressed! Later that year, I had bought an Insignia HD radio and I was impressed with the radio at home in New Jersey, picking up 94.5 WPST with 94.7 WFME at the time only 6 miles away! and 96.5 WRDW daily, with the Empire State building in view, 10 miles away, with 96.3. The Grundig could not pick up those stations at all, except in tropo events. Never had overload from my location and thought the radio was advanced and would not cause overload, with local stations.

Then I went to South Carolina again, only in Mount Pleasant, excited to see what I would pick up. It was a disaster, all the Charleston locals were only a half mile away and even local 95.9 was getting trashed by 94.3 and 95.1! It was however cool to see the ID of the local stations on different frequencies but other than that, it was a very disappointing DX trip. What are some of your disappointing DX stories?
Click to expand...

The most disappointing DX areas are where I live in Akron and I would also say downtown Chicago when I was staying next to the John Hancock Building. There’s not much that can be done to fix overloading on FM. At my home, I have the best radio for handling overload… the Yamaha T-85 and an Antennacraft FM6. It still doesn’t matter. The FM dial is completely trashed by nearby towers. I have to point my antenna in only 1 direction in order to null those signals as much as possible. But it’s still crappy. Anywhere else far away from these towers, my setup would pull in double what I can currently receive.
 
I can't help but think that for the last ten years or so, ANY hotel/motel is miserable for radio (or TV) listening or DXing, not only have wooden motels been razed and replaced with concrete and/or steel, but they're full of RFI-producing devices (multiple CFL bulbs in every room, some of which you can't turn off, charging stations, other appliances with switching power supplies) that wipe out everything.

As for as a disappointing vacation for DX, Key West, FL came to mind. Not that it was that bad for DX, but I kind of expected that I would get a ton of Cubans (AM and FM) and a chance of Mexican daytime AM as well. Truth was, I heard almost nothing I couldn't hear from Cedar Key or Panacea, and the interference from South Florida AMs was worse.

Another one was Manistique, MI for E-skip. I used to have a ball catching so much Es TV DX in Honor, MI (NW lower peninsula), but just that little difference (<100 miles further north) kept a lot of the skip beyond the horizon. What Manistique lacked in skip, it made up in tropo, with Chicago and Milwaukee stations extremely common over the lake (in Honor, UHF reception was weak and rare).
 
1L6E6VHF said:
As for as a disappointing vacation for DX, Key West, FL came to mind. Not that it was that bad for DX, but I kind of expected that I would get a ton of Cubans (AM and FM) and a chance of Mexican daytime AM as well. Truth was, I heard almost nothing I couldn't hear from Cedar Key or Panacea, and the interference from South Florida AMs was worse.
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I had what I considered to be some decent catches in Key West in late 2011. Picked up Radio Rebelde in my rental car on 96.7 near the southernmost point. Very weak, fleeting signal, and I only got it once, but confirmed it was playing the same song as the AMs. I see 101.7 Pirate Radio has a 96.7 repeater now, so that wouldn't be possible anymore. I was able to get Fort Myers and Miami FMs in New Town (near the Publix) pretty consistently in the car, including the RDS data. Most surprising catch was a classical 89.1 from Sarasota, with a local religious translator on 89.3 right on the island (received on the southern shore along Atlantic Blvd).

Neon interference is the worst. Back in 2004, I was on the first floor of a hotel in Bowling Green, OH and was able to listen to 97.1 from Detroit clear as a bell on my Grundig Yacht Boy, rejecting a local 97.3 whose volume levels were well past legal and obliterated 97.1 on car radios. I was very excited to get this impossible signal from 80 miles away on the first floor of the hotel. Then the hotel turned on their neon sign and there went the signal.
 
Santa Cruz, California a couple years ago.

Hadn't been to California in a few years and I was hoping to maybe get some nighttime AM catches now that I had my Sangean PR-D5 with me.

The hotel where I was staying had so many fluorescent lights, I could hardly hear much at all with all the buzzing and crackling sounds. :(

That town has an obsession with being way too 'eco conscious'. ::)
 
1L6E6VHF said:
As for as a disappointing vacation for DX, Key West, FL came to mind. Not that it was that bad for DX, but I kind of expected that I would get a ton of Cubans (AM and FM) and a chance of Mexican daytime AM as well. Truth was, I heard almost nothing I couldn't hear from Cedar Key or Panacea, and the interference from South Florida AMs was worse.
Click to expand...

I'll second Key West. I was excited about going there a year and a half ago. I loved Key West, and we had a great time, but the DX-ing there was terrible. We stayed on a 98-foo yacht (my sister's husband being the captain). Unfortunately, the electronics from the boat blew out all incoming signals. Our quarters being below the main deck didn't help matters. I did manage to spend some time poolside at the marina (Conch Harbor), but conditions weren't very good there, either.
 
cyberdad said:
1L6E6VHF said:
As for as a disappointing vacation for DX, Key West, FL came to mind. Not that it was that bad for DX, but I kind of expected that I would get a ton of Cubans (AM and FM) and a chance of Mexican daytime AM as well. Truth was, I heard almost nothing I couldn't hear from Cedar Key or Panacea, and the interference from South Florida AMs was worse.
Click to expand...

I'll second Key West. I was excited about going there a year and a half ago. I loved Key West, and we had a great time, but the DX-ing there was terrible. We stayed on a 98-foo yacht (my sister's husband being the captain). Unfortunately, the electronics from the boat blew out all incoming signals. Our quarters being below the main deck didn't help matters. I did manage to spend some time poolside at the marina (Conch Harbor), but conditions weren't very good there, either.
Click to expand...
Are there many FM stations in Cuba?
 
Oh, and by the way, I live in Ohio, and I can listen to the Cuban broadcast stations like Radio Reloj, Radio Enciclopedia, Rebelde, Progreso, Habana Cuba, Habana Radio, and CBMF all available off of free satellite from Hispasat at 30 degrees west. And all the TV stations from Cuba are available too. It's interesting watching the propoganda.
 
Andrew K said:
Oh, and by the way, I live in Ohio, and I can listen to the Cuban broadcast stations like Radio Reloj, Radio Enciclopedia, Rebelde, Progreso, Habana Cuba, Habana Radio, and CBMF all available off of free satellite from Hispasat at 30 degrees west. And all the TV stations from Cuba are available too. It's interesting watching the propoganda.
Click to expand...

What are you using to receive this satellite?
 
radioman148 said:
Andrew K said:
Oh, and by the way, I live in Ohio, and I can listen to the Cuban broadcast stations like Radio Reloj, Radio Enciclopedia, Rebelde, Progreso, Habana Cuba, Habana Radio, and CBMF all available off of free satellite from Hispasat at 30 degrees west. And all the TV stations from Cuba are available too. It's interesting watching the propoganda.
Click to expand...

What are you using to receive this satellite?
Click to expand...

31 inch Ku dish with Geosat Pro HD receiver... It's FTA satellite... Free To Air (unencrypted).
 
Andrew K said:
radioman148 said:
Andrew K said:
Oh, and by the way, I live in Ohio, and I can listen to the Cuban broadcast stations like Radio Reloj, Radio Enciclopedia, Rebelde, Progreso, Habana Cuba, Habana Radio, and CBMF all available off of free satellite from Hispasat at 30 degrees west. And all the TV stations from Cuba are available too. It's interesting watching the propoganda.
Click to expand...

What are you using to receive this satellite?
Click to expand...

31 inch Ku dish with Geosat Pro HD receiver... It's FTA satellite... Free To Air (unencrypted).
Click to expand...

Nice. Do you get any European stuff?
 
radioman148 said:
Andrew K said:
radioman148 said:
Andrew K said:
Oh, and by the way, I live in Ohio, and I can listen to the Cuban broadcast stations like Radio Reloj, Radio Enciclopedia, Rebelde, Progreso, Habana Cuba, Habana Radio, and CBMF all available off of free satellite from Hispasat at 30 degrees west. And all the TV stations from Cuba are available too. It's interesting watching the propoganda.
Click to expand...

What are you using to receive this satellite?
Click to expand...

There aren't many European channels aimed toward this continent, but there's a few... like Canal Vasco and TV Galicia from Spain that are both on the same satellite as the Cuban channels. And I'm sure there's a bunch on Galaxy 19, but I can't recall which ones are on it.
31 inch Ku dish with Geosat Pro HD receiver... It's FTA satellite... Free To Air (unencrypted).
Click to expand...

Nice. Do you get any European stuff?
Click to expand...
 
As an FM DXer, I figured that Cape Hatteras, NC would be an ideal location for DXing. That was not even remotely the case. I visited in May 2008. The FM dial was overloaded with bleed from the powerful local stations. I picked up nothing out of the ordinary.
 
I guess I've been fortunate, any time I've taken a radio with me -- whether boombox or Superadio -- I've been able to DX from other locations. Most of them have been trips to Eastern Washington.

Last year I went to Chelan, Washington on a work related trip, and stayed at a motel on the lake, and had very little QRM from the motel itself. I was able to DX in most directions with the boombox. I think I may have gotten some local QRM from one direction.

I have more QRM issues trying to DX the shortwaves than MW.
 
If I'm right, tomorrow I have to go back to Yakima (about 120 miles from here) to do some business-related stuff. If so I'll take some scans from the car while driving on I-90 and 82. That area is fantastic for DX on FM.

-crainbebo
 
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