DX-ing in Lubbock this morning

[EggsOverEasy87]

was freaking amazing!

Stations I heard at around 10 to 11:
First, the stations that almost always make it to lubbock:Kiss FM Midland, Jack-FM Amarillo, etc. nothing out of the ordinary

Some far away stations: KXXQ Milan, NM (364 miels) (Near the Arizona state line)

105.5-not sure about this one...I heard Kidd Kraddick off of this station...so perhaps I was hearing WREZ 105.5 The Cat out of Paducah, Kentucky (785 miles)? I don't know what else it could be

two stations on 104.5: I tuned in and I heard country. "Real Country 104.5". Perhaps that might of been from Glenwood Arkansas (481 miles). Eventually, Real Country 104.5 started fighting with a classic rock station. So soon I started hearing Rock 105 out of JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA (1206 miles)!!! Pretty clear signal too!!! My best catch in the LBK yet!

105.9-Mike FM Altus, OK-164 miles

Need some help on this one: I heard something on 96.7 and I know i wasn't hearing KXOX or KTYS The Twister. The song I heard playing was "Low Rider." I was thinking maybe its Kiss FM in Austin? Someone help me out with this one!

Did anyone else catch any good stations this morning?

 

[Garrett]

Jacksonville FL? GEEZ, what kind of radio are you using???????
Not your typical Walkman, huh?

 

[EggsOverEasy87]

I was just using my JVC (the one w/ the built-in HD Tuner). It was in pretty clear too but fighting with Real Country 104.5 out of Glenwood, Arkansas. IT was a very strange morning...because I think I heard KEntucky too off of 105.5 becuase I was hearing Kidd Kraddick in the Morning and if you go to kiddlive.com they only have one affiliate on 105.5. So a very very strange morning. What I find even weirder is that I didn't hear ONE Dallas station that morning. When I know about strong DX-ing in Lubbock, I always anticipate hearing a bunch of Dallas stations. K104 seems to be my easiest Dallas station to pick up, but instead I heard Rock 105 Jacksonville, Florida fighting with Real Country 104.5 out of Glenwood, Arkansas. I heard several other stations too but couldn't ID them.

 

[w9wi]

...So a very very strange morning. What I find even weirder is that I didn't hear ONE Dallas station that morning. When I know about strong DX-ing in Lubbock, I always anticipate hearing a bunch of Dallas stations.

There are, fundamentally, two different types of DX:

- Tropospheric propagation ("Tropo", or "Tr")
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_propagation#Tropospheric_modes

This happens at a lower atmospheric layer. Any station closer than a maximum distance can be received. [0] If you're in Lubbock and receiving Dallas, you'll also get Fort Worth, Abilene, and Wichita Falls. High-band TV channels 7-13 and UHF TV are often (usually) affected as well.

- Sporadic-E.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_propagation#Sporadic-E_propagation

This happens at a higher atmospheric layer. Like tropo there is a maximum distance, though it's usually much greater. (900-1,200 miles, occasionally more) Unlike tropo, there is also a minimum distance. If you're in Lubbock and receiving Atlanta via sporadic-E, you will not be receiving Dallas, Abilene, or Wichita Falls. (unless there's tropo at the same time...) It is extremely rare for TV channels 7-13 to be affected (some lifelong DXers have never seen it happen) and sporadic-E has never been observed at UHF.

Anyway, I'd say your Florida reception was sporadic-E. Probably Kentucky and Arkansas too. I had a bunch of El Paso/Juarez reception about that time here in the Nashville area.

[0] However, tropospheric openings are often very elevation-sensitive. For example, on some openings between Houston and Nashville, only the stations whose antennas were at 1,800' or higher could be received; lower stations - even on the same towers - were missing.

 

[gbranch]

An easy way to tell tropo from sporadic-E is this:

If you hear lots of stations on every frequency, some frequencies with multiple stations fighting each other, and the event last for several hours, this is most likely tropo. There is also a maximum frequency for a tropo event, depending on the conditions. Some events occur only at FM frequencies and lower. Other events move up in frequency to VHF-high and all the way up to channel 69 UHF. The maximum frequency can also vary during an event.

Sporadic E will give you very strong signals, usually only one signal on a frequency, from a relatively small area that may only last for a few minutes at a time. Sporadic E is caused by a patch of high ionization in the E layer of the atmosphere. This patch acts as a mirror to lower frequency RF signals. What is really cool about Sporadic E is that the path usually works both ways. If you are in Lubbock hearing Florida, Florida is hearing Lubbock. The patch also moves, so during an event you can often "see" it move as stations from one area fade out and stations from an adjacent area fade in.

About 25 years ago, in Longview, TX, I caught a Sporadic E event that started with stations in Phoenix and Flagstaff. Then, as the patch moved north, I got Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, then finally Pocatello, Idaho before the it dissipated. Another event I caught started out in Chicago, then moved east to Detroit, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, then finally Toronto. I heard sevaral of French language stations from Canada that day.