DXing in N. Wilmington today on 95.3

[bds34]

Since 95.3 is a mostly blank frequency in northern Delaware it's usually the station that I have my Ipod transmitter set to, but I was getting quite a bit of fuzz today... I turned it off and had all kinds of stations just pouring in on 95.3 on I-95 south of Exit 3 and then down Naamans Road to Foulk Road. I heard at least five and was able to identify two, and pinpoint probabilities on a third:

KXMO, Owensville, Missouri
WZNF, Gulfport/ Biloxi, Ms
One carrying KC Royals baseball, could have been KIFG-FM Iowa Falls, IA... KDKD-AM/FM, Clinton MO... or KINZ-FM Chanute, KS

The stations were all over the place and were even changing when I was stopped at a light... but were blasting in like I was in their actual coverage area.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

I had a similar experience that same night, except at 91.9 I picked up WSIU (NPR) from Southern Illionis Univ, Carbondale, Ill.

I'm guessing that there was some strange atmospheric thing going on that allowed such skip for FM signals. My understanding is FM generally operates in a straight line of sight of about 60 miles, no skipping off the stratisphere like AM. Makes DXing FM not as exciting as AM, but the other night was one of those rare exceptions.

I know we've got folks who post here who have the knowledge of what the correct reasons why we both picked up FM signals from the middle of the country, when generally we can't get signals from York, PA or Frederick, MD much less Illionis, Iowa, or Kansas. Hopefully one of them will chime in and give us the straight scoop.

 

[DX]

Normally, when you receive FM signals beyond their normal coverage areas (for example, picking up Hampton Roads, Virginia stations in the Wilmington area in the early morning), you're getting tropospheric skip.
A temperature "duct" in the troposphere - about seven to ten miles above the earth's surface - can propagate FM signals several hundred miles. Sunrise reception of this type is common.

But, what you're reporting is the much rarer ionospheric e-layer skip. This phenomenon doesn't happen often But when it does, you can get almost local-quality signals (sometimes even on top of semi-local signals) from 700, 800, 900, even one thousand, or more, miles away.

Typically in Delaware, we'll get e-layer skip from the southeastern U.S., particularly Florida and the Gulf Coast, or the Great Plains... much rarer from the Upper Midwest. For example, despite all those FM transmitting antennas on top of the Sears Tower in Chicago, I've yet to pick up a Chicago FM station from Delaware (One possible factor other than geography: The FCC authorizes lower transmitting-power outputs from Sears Tower to compensate for the vast height advantage of those stations!)

My record FM catches on a standard car radio from Delaware: FM stations from western Kansas and Nebraska.

One other point: Perhaps not just coincidentally, sunspots have just appeared on the solar surface after many months of dormancy. (In fact, we just had the longest period of sunspot inactivity since 1913, I believe!) The sunspot cycle greatly influences the ionosphere's reflective properties.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

DX, thanks for all the info. Your comment about Chicago's Sears Tower and radio signals got me thinking. Sort of cuts out the advantage of being on the Sears Tower or the Empire State Building if the FCC is going to cut your power back to compensate meaning you don't get out any better than if you had a transmitter tower somewhere. I guess only clear channel AM's (WOR and WLS) where there wouldn't be issues of infringing on another stations "turf" the added height would work in their advantage as I'd assume the FCC would not cut back their power.

Another question for you DX. If you look at the Radio Locator web site and look up WDEL, you'll find they now have a construction permit to boost their daytime power from 5Kw to 10Kw. Yet the map they present on that web site doesn't really show much improvement in the area of coverage for WDEL. It seems they'll gain in better coverage in PA in a small way, and not really better in Lower Delaware. Why is that? I would have thought that doubling their power would have made a major difference in their coverage area.

 

[DX]

To your questions, Mike...

First, you still - in theory - get more SATURATION coverage in your primary coverage area with the higher tower, even if at reduced power.

(The ironic downside: Once in a while, very rarely, Chicago FM signals transmitted from so high can get caught in a tropospheric duct - a temperature inversion - and can "skip" over part of their primary coverage area... not good!)

The inverse may also illustrate my point about power vs. tower height: A classic example is the 10,000 watt high school station in Kent County, Maryland, which still has coverage problems - despite the power output - because the tower is so low!

As for the benefits of increasing power, you DON'T double your coverage area if you double your power. You'd have to go from 5 kilowatts to 25 or 50 kilowatts to have a dramatic effect. But, in this day of so much electrically-generated interference on the AM band, you'll do whatever you can to slice through that interference in your PRIMARY coverage area. And, in the case of WDEL, which is directional south--southeast, even a small improvement in reception for far northwestern New Castle County, plus Kennett Square, would be very helpful.

While we're talking about coverage areas and intensity of signal, it's worth noting ground conductivity and position on the dial can produce more dramatic differences than a mere power increase.

I'd rather be 5,000 watts on the LOW end of the dial (below 1,000 kiloHertz) than 50,000 watts on the upper end of the dial. However, the LOW end of the dial also transmits more electrical-storm generated static at greater distances, so it's a trade-off! A happy medium seems to be between 700---900 kiloHertz.

Similarly, a 1,000 watt station on great Midwestern soil might rival even a 50,000-watt station in a desert! If that 1,000-watter is on the low end of the dial, and the 50,000-watter is on the high end, even a greater disparity!

Of course, if you want to follow this kind of stuff in greater detail, you can always go to the DX page on this Radio-Info board, where long-distance hobbyists share their experiences.

 

[DaveWilliams]

There is a wealth of info on the site of The Worldwide FM TV DXers Association, www.WFTDA.org. Two memoriable FM openings I recall, in the mid 80's there was an opening that started about 10AM with 3 FM's from Jamiaca coming in on EVEN frequencies, then moving into Florida, across the Gulf states, into Texas by 1PM then having just about all of the central mid west coming in, with the opening ending up in central Canada with such items as Winnipeg coming in at 10PM. Someone I knew was then working at WWSH 106.1 in Philadelphia said that they couldn't hear the off air signal at the studio. And in the late 80's, with the advance of a hurricane, there was apparently a large moisture shield that brought in stations in the 150-300 mile range, such as the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and Central Pennsylvania into New Castle, where I lived at the time. And then there was the time I put WZNS 92.9 Dillion, SC (west of Myrtle Beach) back on the air then heard it in Delaware a week or so later (heard as far north as CT that morning also),sat and thought "what did I do now?" It was also interesting to hear 94.7 Dover in Scranton under DEAD conditions and WCEI 96.7 while driving across I 84 in the middle of the winter, two others I was involved with their upgrades in the 80's.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

So if I understand what you said, Chester's WVCH 740 is a 5kw station, just as Wilmington's WDEL meaning that assuming their towers are the same height and using a similar pattern (apples to apples as much as possible) WVCH should get out better than WDEL except during a thunderstorm.

I remember from my days at WILM that we didn't have to power down at night, as 1150 WDEL, 1260 WNRK, and 1380 WAMS did. The explanation was the frequency 1450 seemed to not get out as well at night so it wasn't needed to be powered back. This did prove out as during the daytime hours I could pick up WILM in my car, clearly, as far south as Smyrna before the Atlantic City 1450 would start to interfere. At night you lose WILM by time you get to Red Lion United Methodist Church on Rt 71. I remember when I was doing a Saturday night talk show at WILM, numerous friends could only hear my show on www.wilm.com.

DX, your point about electrical interference is very true. I work near New Castle and can get 1290 WWTX, 1380 DELDOT, and 1450 WILM far better than 1150 WDEL (610 WIP, 740 WVCH are totally unlistenable and 950 WPEN, and 1210 WPHT are marginal at best). Do you know when WDEL will start broadcasting at 10K? It will be interesting to see if that does make a difference for me at work as WDEL just doesn't come in all that well there at my work place. By the way thanks for all the info in your previous post.

 

[DX]

Yes, Mike, in theory, the 740 kHz. signal would get out better than 1150 kHz. at the same power, same pattern, and same transmitting site. But, of course, the two stations are NOT at the same transmitting site and have different coverage patterns.

That's where a station's ground system, ground conductivity, and the FCC-imposed coverage pattern come into play.

By the way, WDEL does NOT power down at night; it just shifts directional patterns to farther southeast. That's why it SEEMS to listeners in Newark, Hockessin, etc., that WDEL powered down. In fact, by the time you get to Elkton, Maryland - certainly Northeast, Maryland - you'll often pick up Hamilton, Ontario's 50,000-watter on 1150 kHz. at night. Conversely, I picked up WDEL several years ago booming in along North Carolina's Outer Banks. 'DEL and 1210 WPHT seemed to be the dominant signals!

1290 The Ticket does power-down... dramatically so.

As far as the boost to 10 kilowatts on 1150, you'd have to ask WDEL management. God knows many stations have delayed technical upgrades during these tough economic times. And it's not limited to radio of course.

The News-Journal just pink-slipped a lot of people!

By the way, I encountered some FM skip driving home last night.... Picked-up a religious station - 94.3 KCVW - from west of Wichita, Kansas, at about 8 p.m.

 

[DaveWilliams]

Mike, WVCH is still 1000 watts daytime, 10 watts at night from a single (and short) tower in Brookhaven. They had a CP for years for 50000 watts daytime from a site near Phoenixville in the 80's but was met with a lot of problems from a couple of drug companies in that area (the RF would cause problems with their manufacturing equipment, so they said). WPEN also had a CP for a new site in the same area but that went away too. Remember, WDEL will have THREE YEARS from the date the CP was issued to get up on 10K, otherwise it goes away. This just happened with the CP for 870 in Reading, it went 'poof' around July 10th.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

WVCH then is doing quite well with only 1K as I've picked them up clearly below Dover, DE on US 113 heading back from the beach numerous times. Of course at night, 740 Canada, used to be CBT Toronto, I don't remember the new calls (they've got great music) covers over WVCH in Delaware.

 

[evolve991]

Has anyone by chance listened to Radio1045 lately and heard a religious format that sounds as if it were run by cylons cutting over the frequency? I usually listen to either 104.5 or Baltimore's 104.3 and it also fuzzes 104.3 up somewhat. Wierd background noise like it's a pirate with issues or something.

 

[radio19720]

I think there are a couple LPFM's on 104.5. During a recent trip to Baltimore, I recall hearing it pretty good going over a bridge from Delaware to Maryland.

 

[evolve991]

Last week I heard another station overriding RFF,it sounded like Modern/Indie Rock but was singing in Spanish.

 

[Slinky]

I think there are a couple LPFM's on 104.5. During a recent trip to Baltimore, I recall hearing it pretty good going over a bridge from Delaware to Maryland.

A bridge from Delaware to Maryland? Umm...

 

[nd2023]

I think there are a couple LPFM's on 104.5. During a recent trip to Baltimore, I recall hearing it pretty good going over a bridge from Delaware to Maryland.

A bridge from Delaware to Maryland? Umm...

The Bay Bridge? Or the Susquehenna River bridge on 95?
Both of those are within Maryland.

 

[evolve991]

LOL I consider Maryland to start WEST of the Susquehanna at Havre de Grace and that area between there and Delaware is some sort of warped reality where West Virginia,Kentucky,Alabama and the Bizzarro planet all meet ...oh and it's all in a time frame mashup of 1903,1975 and the early 1800s....it's NOT funny...I LIVE THERE :'(

 

[MikefromDelaware]

As I recall, a former governor of Maryland (don't remember his name) also felt that the part of Maryland that counted did start on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. As you might imagine all those folks on the Eastern Shore, and the upper parts like Kent and Cecil Counties were not very happy with that statement. I remember talk going around of the Eastern Shore of Maryland suceeding and joining Delaware, which would have been a great deal for Delaware. The Eastern Shore joining Delaware would practically double Delaware's size and if that had happened then Delaware would finally have it's own commercial TV stations( channels 16 WBOC and 47 (WMDT ?) as then Salisbury would be Salisbury, Delaware. Also with Salisbury being a part of the First State, Delaware would also again, have some sort of commerical air service servicing the state, as there currently are no commerical airlines serving Delaware either at Dover or New Castle's airport. So market # 150 (Salisbury) would bring Delaware into the TV world and the airline world where as market #75 (Wilmington) isn't able to do that. Also Delaware would pick up all those Maryland radio station including the two NPR stations (WSCL 89.5 Salisbury, and 90.7 at Ocean City) giving Delaware it's only NPR stations as well. With the added population, Delaware would qualify for the first time in it's history, and it is the First State, to finally get a second representative in the House in Washington. All good stuff for Delaware.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Maryland government realized that the Eastern Shore is a great part of Maryland that is far more beautiful than Baltimore with far less crime and problems than Baltimore, plus those folks on the Eastern Shore require little from the state government meaning their Maryland Taxes help support the Western Shore. Meaning that their tax dollars probably are getting spent more on the Western shore than the Eastern Shore. I don't believe that governor ever took back the slight he made against the Eastern Shore. However, I don't believe he won the next election. You all could still join Delaware.

 

[evolve991]

That would be William Donald Schaeffer and his "sh*thouse side of the state" comment. LOL. I don't know about Kent and further south,I imagine they're just rural but Cecil....it's a whole different story....it's not just rural,though it used to be, it's a twilight zone of contradictory and illogical county at best. Its also the only county that identified as Red in the elections. Its red alright. Alot of necks around here are so red as to be maroon...and I'm not talking about the farmers. Redneck is plastered on the majority of Ford trucks which are the majority of vehicles here. I can't imagine why WXCY wasn't located in Elkton rather than Havre de Grace. I'd love to HEAR that station flip to Modern/Alternative and WATCH Cecil county flip its ten gallon hats.

 

[Slinky]

I remember talk going around of the Eastern Shore of Maryland suceeding and joining Delaware, which would have been a great deal for Delaware.

Problem with that is that even within Delaware, there's a lot of division between regions. There's New Castle County, and then there's "Slower Lower". Even within New Castle County, there's a considerable difference between above and below the canal. If there were some new state of Delmarva (gotta include VA because VA's Eastern Shore portion is even more ignored than MD's), you'd have an economy dominated by chicken farming and tourism. That's in marked contrast with the Wilmington finance-based economy. Wilmington would probably be unwelcome in a "Delmarva" state.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

Good point, the rest of Delmarva (below the canal) would probably suggest that the Wilmington Metro Area be given back to Pennsylvania so we could become an offical Philly suburb.

Remember the Lower Three Counties (as they were referred to by the colony of Pennsylvania) broke away from PA in 1775 (I believe that was the year. They felt ignored by the PA government, etc,). The lower three counties formed the colony of Delaware where the original capital was the town of New Castle (Ben Franklin visited New Castle numerous times via boat from Philly) later moved to Dover as it was further inland (not so easily targeted by pirates or hostle navies) and more centered so the lower part of the state had equal access to the capital, etc (even then those pesky folks from "lower Delaware" had an attitude). This is agreement with PA is the reason why Delaware has a rounded border as there was to be a 12 mile radius from the legislative building/court house to the PA border). So Delaware has the only un-natural border of all the states.

There's probably someone here who knows even more detail, but that's my understanding of it. But Slinky's point is well taken.

Making this a radio topic, it's interesting that the two lower counties of Delaware that has about 200,000 people have many more AM/FM stations than New Castle County that has over 600,000. Doesn't seem fair, but that's the way it worked out, thanks to Philly being so close to Wilmington.