DXing from 32 feet!

[Lawppy]

With the exception of some minor landscaping work around the tower site, my extensive antenna project is complete! It looks great and I had NO idea how high 32 feet really was. The tower is very well supported and is not going anywhere!

My ultimate goal for this project was obviously to have a taller tower and have an increased line of sight. I knew having these two things in place would improve my reception, especially in fringe areas. My reception has surpassed even MY expectations. Here's a starter list of stations that can be heard on a regular basis with my new antenna set-up here in Coldwater, MI.

NORTH:
88.7- WIAA- Interlochen, MI- weak/poor- 100kw 315m- 164.5 mi.
91.1- WOLW- Cadillac, MI- weak/poor- 50kw 213m- 164.5 mi.
92.3- W222BB- Battle Creek, MI- weak/poor- .08kw ??m- 27.0 mi.
92.7- WDZZ- Flint, MI- weak- 3kw 78m- 99.2 mi.
93.9- WAVC- Mio, MI- weak/poor- 50kw 132m- 194.3 mi.
93.9- WDOR- Sturgeon Bay, WI- weak/poor- 77kw 198m- 236.4 mi.
95.5- WJZJ- Glen Arbor, MI- weak/poor- 21kw 225m- 204.4 mi.
96.3- W242BH- Marshall, MI- fair/good- .12kw ??m- 22.8 mi.
97.3- WDEE- Reed City, MI- weak- 2.85kw 146m- 130.2 mi.
99.9- WHAK- Rogers City, MI- weak- 50kw 145m- 243.9 mi.
102.7- W274BQ- Battle Creek, MI- poor/fair- .03kw ??m- 25.6 mi.
103.1- WGDN- Gladwin, MI- weak- 11.5kw 148m- 140.1 mi.
107.1- WTLZ- Saginaw, MI- weak- 4.9kw 110m- 111.3 mi.
107.1- WCKC- Cadillac, MI- weak- 2.75kw 147m- 154.2 mi.
107.5- WCCW- Traverse City, MI- weak/poor- 50kw 150m- 197.5 mi

And a few others..

SW:
94.5- WLRW- Champaign, IL- weak/poor- 210 mi.
103.7- WFIU- Bloomington, IN- weak/poor- 210 mi.
107.1- WEDJ- Danville, IN- weak

This is just a starter list. I will definitely keep up with more stations I can hear on a regular basis.

 

[radioman148]

Wow--good job. Have you tried any Chicago FMs yet?

 

[stormy01]

Lawppy, great catches! What kind of antenna(s) and receiver(s) are you using, and do you use a preamplifier?
It looks like 98.5, according to radio-locator, is the only really powerful local - anything else nearby is low power - so you are lucky
in that regard.

It's time I started looking into an antenna a bit higher myself...(more for better regional reception as well as occasional DXing)

 

[Lawppy]

Lawppy, great catches! What kind of antenna(s) and receiver(s) are you using, and do you use a preamplifier?

I have a Radio Shack FM-6 antenna. At only $25, this is bar none the BEST antenna you can get for the price. My primary receiver is an Insignia HD tuner, but i'm still hanging on to the 70's vintage Realistic STA-530, which does a great job at the lower end of the dial, but loses it's sensitivity at the top. It's always done this and I don't know why. I'm also using an amp from Radio Shack.

It looks like 98.5, according to radio-locator, is the only really powerful local - anything else nearby is low power - so you are lucky in that regard.

WNWN is the only 50kw local from 7 miles away. Even at this distance, stations on 98.3 and 98.7 are no problem for the Insignia. The next closest 50kw station is 21 miles away, and the rest of the locals are class A's from just under 20 miles and local translators which can ALL be wiped out during strong enough tropo or Es.

Wow--good job. Have you tried any Chicago FMs yet?

I have. And i've found that the usual visitors are no stronger or weaker than before, but now i'm hearing some of the suburban stations in the mix. 92.7 from Arlington Heights can now be made out of the static. I used to only be able to hear that station during tropo. WCPT 99.9 from Park Forest fights with WHFB in Benton Harbor and WIIL 95.1 has an easier job making it in than it did before.

With the antenna pointed to Chicago yesterday morning, I swear I heard a very faint KUUL (101.3) East Moline, IL. Over the weekend, I heard WSHH (99.7) Pittsburgh, PA with the antenna pointed east. This is a ridiculous set-up!

 

[gr8oldies]

Sounds great! Keep me abreast of Ohio catches, particularly central and southern.

There was a powerful non comm in east Moline that was pretty regular in Lafayette, IN

 

[radioman148]

>>I have. And i've found that the usual visitors are no stronger or weaker than before, but now i'm hearing some of the suburban stations in the mix. 92.7 from Arlington Heights can now be made out of the static.>>

WOW--92.7 from Arlington Heights is a real good catch over there.

 

[stormy01]

Wow--good job. Have you tried any Chicago FMs yet?

I have. And i've found that the usual visitors are no stronger or weaker than before, but now i'm hearing some of the suburban stations in the mix. 92.7 from Arlington Heights can now be made out of the static. I used to only be able to hear that station during tropo. WCPT 99.9 from Park Forest fights with WHFB in Benton Harbor and WIIL 95.1 has an easier job making it in than it did before.

With the antenna pointed to Chicago yesterday morning, I swear I heard a very faint KUUL (101.3) East Moline, IL. Over the weekend, I heard WSHH (99.7) Pittsburgh, PA with the antenna pointed east. This is a ridiculous set-up!

Along with 101.3 you might want to try for WDLM on 89.3** (also from East Moline) and KATF 92.5 from Dubuque, IA...I would check on 89.3 for a band opening to catch the other two more easily...

**There was a powerful non comm in east Moline that was pretty regular in Lafayette, IN

"This is a ridiculous set-up!" <---Yes! A Good Kind of Ridiculous!!!

 

[Lawppy]

Along with 101.3 you might want to try for WDLM on 89.3** (also from East Moline) and KATF 92.5 from Dubuque, IA...I would check on 89.3 for a band opening to catch the other two more easily...

I've heard WDLM here on a couple occasions. 89.3 is no longer a prime freq. for me because of a semi-local that signed on a couple of years ago. I'm sure if WJKN wasn't on the air, WDLM might be a more frequent catch with my new set-up. I've also heard KATF 92.9 during some freak tropo a couple of years ago. WNDV-South Bend is right in the direction as Dubuque, so regular (but weak) reception of KATF is next to impossible here.

Sounds great! Keep me abreast of Ohio catches, particularly central and southern.

Here are some central/southern Ohio stations i've heard with the new set-up. The most common ones on top and the rest below.

93.9- WLWD- Columbus Grove, OH
93.1- WFGF- Lima, OH
97.7- WTGN- Lima, OH
97.9- WNCI- Columbus, OH
95.7- WHIO- Piqua, OH
89.9- WDPG- Greenville, OH
95.5- WHOK- Lancaster, OH
93.3- WLZT- Ashville, OH
102.9- WDHT- Springfield, OH
99.7- WRXZ- Columbus, OH
105.9- WPFB- Middletown, OH
99.9- WLQT- Kettering, OH
92.9- WGTZ- Eaton, OH
104.3- WODB- Richwood, OH (class A!)

And the ones i'm sure were tropo-enhanced from Sunday evening. Have yet to hear these ones again.

91.1- WOSB- Marion, OH
100.7- WEEC- Springfield, OH
103.5- WJZA- Pickerington, OH
105.3- WYHT- Mansfield, OH
107.9- WVMX- Delaware, OH

 

[gr8oldies]

Very cool. Now I know why I've got to get a house! (So I can put up a tower). Can you imagine that setup before all the 80-90s, LPFMs and translators? I did have the experience of being able to DX from a 200 foot cable tower in the late 70s.

 

[radioman148]

Very cool. Now I know why I've got to get a house! (So I can put up a tower). Can you imagine that setup before all the 80-90s, LPFMs and translators? I did have the experience of being able to DX from a 200 foot cable tower in the late 70s.

That had to be fun.

 

[stormy01]

Very cool. Now I know why I've got to get a house! (So I can put up a tower). Can you imagine that setup before all the 80-90s, LPFMs and translators? I did have the experience of being able to DX from a 200 foot cable tower in the late 70s.

That had to be fun.

What did you hear using an antenna 200 feet up?

 

[BobOnTheJob]

Along with 101.3 you might want to try for WDLM on 89.3** (also from East Moline) and KATF 92.5 from Dubuque, IA...I would check on 89.3 for a band opening to catch the other two more easily...

I've heard WDLM here on a couple occasions. 89.3 is no longer a prime freq. for me because of a semi-local that signed on a couple of years ago. I'm sure if WJKN wasn't on the air, WDLM might be a more frequent catch with my new set-up. I've also heard KATF 92.9 during some freak tropo a couple of years ago. WNDV-South Bend is right in the direction as Dubuque, so regular (but weak) reception of KATF is next to impossible here.

Sounds great! Keep me abreast of Ohio catches, particularly central and southern.

Here are some central/southern Ohio stations i've heard with the new set-up. The most common ones on top and the rest below.

93.9- WLWD- Columbus Grove, OH
93.1- WFGF- Lima, OH
97.7- WTGN- Lima, OH
97.9- WNCI- Columbus, OH
95.7- WHIO- Piqua, OH
89.9- WDPG- Greenville, OH
95.5- WHOK- Lancaster, OH
93.3- WLZT- Ashville, OH
102.9- WDHT- Springfield, OH
99.7- WRXZ- Columbus, OH
105.9- WPFB- Middletown, OH
99.9- WLQT- Kettering, OH
92.9- WGTZ- Eaton, OH
104.3- WODB- Richwood, OH (class A!)

And the ones i'm sure were tropo-enhanced from Sunday evening. Have yet to hear these ones again.

91.1- WOSB- Marion, OH
100.7- WEEC- Springfield, OH
103.5- WJZA- Pickerington, OH
105.3- WYHT- Mansfield, OH
107.9- WVMX- Delaware, OH

Haven't seen those WTGN calls in a long time...they were a regular in Cincinnati at night back in the days when Oxford signed off at 11PM (1970'ish). The other calls that were on the same channel then include WPFB, WEEC, WHOK & WNCI.

I'm glad you're seeing such a great increase in reception at just 32'. I have two FM yagis...an APS-13 at 55' & an APS-9 at 110'. In most cases, the performance is almost identical, with the added height making up for the lower gain of the smaller antenna.

 

[ddsparxx]

I did had a similar antenna setup on top of a house years ago near Warrenton, VA with an APs-9 antenna and I heard full power Fm from Norfolk area (about 150 miles) with signals ranging from very week to good depending on the DX conditions and a weak but listenable full power FM station from north central West Virginia (WBRB 101.3 Buckhannon, WV) most of the time. The trees were surrounding the property and the antenna was below those trees. I took the antenna when I had to move in early 2007 :-[. The FM tuner was the Onkyo T-9090 II at that time, and this was before and during the IBOC noises. I can imagine what if I had the Sony XDR-F1HD at that time.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

I did had a similar antenna setup on top of a house years ago near Warrenton, VA with an APs-9 antenna and I heard full power Fm from Norfolk area (about 150 miles) with signals ranging from very week to good depending on the DX conditions and a weak but listenable full power FM station from north central West Virginia (WBRB 101.3 Buckhannon, WV) most of the time. The trees were surrounding the property and the antenna was below those trees. I took the antenna when I had to move in early 2007 :-[. The FM tuner was the Onkyo T-9090 II at that time, and this was before and during the IBOC noises. I can imagine what if I had the Sony XDR-F1HD at that time.

More back in the day ramblings...was there an educational band station in Buckhannon that got out well? I remember hearing something in the ed band pretty often in Cincy in that early 70's era. Also, did you ever hear Grundy,VA on 97.7? I didn't hear that one regularly, but caught it several times...oh how clear the frequencies were back then...I miss those days! That was all with a Stereo Probe 9 on the roof of my folks 2 story home...25' up? 30' tops...I used the AJ-15 Heath tuner that I still have, but don't use any longer.

 

[ddsparxx]

No, I didn't pay attention to the educational band at that time and I didn't pick up the Grundy station. I did once heard the 97.7 station in Myrtle Beach, SC one time. There was a BBN's 97.7 translator in Fredericksburg at that time... I think it just recently moved to 98.3.

 

[TheDingo]

I used to have my antenna up at 32 ft and used to be able to hear stations from Memphis to Atlanta from central north AL regularly, but it ended up falling down when I was trying to put it back up after some maintenance and I shortened it back down to 25 ft. Recently tried to raise it back up again, but my telescoping pole is stuck and has to be laid down to extend out any more, and I can't lay it down anymore because my pool is in the way.

 

[radioman148]

I used to have my antenna up at 32 ft and used to be able to hear stations from Memphis to Atlanta from central north AL regularly, but it ended up falling down when I was trying to put it back up after some maintenance and I shortened it back down to 25 ft. Recently tried to raise it back up again, but my telescoping pole is stuck and has to be laid down to extend out any more, and I can't lay it down anymore because my pool is in the way.

You need to make room for that antenna. What's more important radio or your pool? ;D

 

[stormy01]

You need to make room for that antenna. What's more important radio or your pool? ;D

He may be outnumbered by his wife and kids. I don't think he wants his eyes poked out with a telescoping antenna.

 

[gr8oldies]

What did you hear using an antenna 200 feet up?
[/quote]

This was in Kenton, OH, kinda between Marion and Lima. Depending on conditions, I could hear a lot of Detroit and Cleveland, I heard Cadillac, MI once on 92.9, Lexington (also on 92.9), some very small Ohio and Pennsylvania stations (Meadville was one, a 3kWer). I could get CKLW-FM from Windsor, a CBC affiliate from somewhere and more (it was 1979..memory is a little foggy).

 

[radioman148]

What did you hear using an antenna 200 feet up?

This was in Kenton, OH, kinda between Marion and Lima. Depending on conditions, I could hear a lot of Detroit and Cleveland, I heard Cadillac, MI once on 92.9, Lexington (also on 92.9), some very small Ohio and Pennsylvania stations (Meadville was one, a 3kWer). I could get CKLW-FM from Windsor, a CBC affiliate from somewhere and more (it was 1979..memory is a little foggy).
[/quote]

That had to be fun DXing from that height.