DX Cheating

[nd2023]

During an e-skip last summer, I only heard part of an ad and a phone number. I called the phone number and asked where they are located, and if they had advertised on the radio station [frequency]. Then I asked what the call letters were, and told them that I am in New Jersey and I just heard that phone number and wanted to know what station I was picking up. They either were really impressed or thought I was weird for calling them. But I'd do that to identify an e-skip catch.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

So where did they turn out to be?

 

[trusty]

I guess I should have put a smiley face or something next to the word "cheating" (I needed a catchy title to the thread.) because my point was about tuning slightly off frequency to get rid of weaker stations. I mean, how was DXing done before digital radios, but tuning in to get the best signal no matter what?

However...

The internet confirmation thing raises another issue that could be classified as cheating, and that is:

Is a bona-fide "catch" where you can actually ID the calls OR where you need something else (like the internet) to confirm the station you heard?

For instance, just a few minutes ago, I heard MOYL-type music on 720 under WGN that I knew I would never be able to identify. I looked up radio-locator and found a 250w in Florida with a nostalgia format (WRZN). That HAD to be it, but I couldn't hear any talk between records, but it was there, and I would have IDed the station if WGN was off the air. Soooo....

Do I log WRZN as an actual catch?
Or would that be cheating?

 

[Tom Wells]

I'd log that as a "probable but not confirmed" catch, and look for a repeat occurance.
Any other means of confirming via modern conveniences may allow you make that a definite catch, but it isn't really the same kind of
feeling you get when you confirm by the signal itself.
I wouldn't call it cheating, but it's not the old hard way, either.
I assume you had a loop aimed toward Florida....

 

[nd2023]

You can log a catch if the RDS or HD decodes and you get the call letters.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

There is nothing cheating about using the net to confirm the plalist,, In fact if yo heard music but no ID and the net helped you positively ID your station, thats just a reference point, and tuing off frequency is something I can do very well with my GE superadio,, I can just nudge the dial abit and sometimes ID stations on semi local frequencies.. The only cheating is listening to the net stream on the net and saying you received the station, and DX tuners and global tuners is a bit cheating as well, cause you werent hearing them at your location, and their is no proof of exactly where those receivers are.

 

[trusty]

I assume you had a loop aimed toward Florida....

Nope, just off my radio, and I couldn't null out WGN because my location (N.Ga.) is right between the two. The fla station was coming in VERY faint - way under WGN. So, I'm far enough away from Chicago that WGN's signal doesn't completely wipe out the fla station.