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E-skip DX from analog CITO-3 Timmins ONT in Columbia SC

I

IM42A

Finally, e-skip DX on low-VHF, and not just that, but analog DX. From Canada. 998 miles from my QTH.

2:30 pm EDT Monday 6 July, the program The Social on CITO analog channel 3, lasted 10-15 minutes, cutting in and out. I verified on TVTV.ca that CITO was running this show at that time.

Here's a picture (sadly, no videotape):

IMG_8811.jpeg

(The clock on the Koqit below is about three minutes slow.)
 
Last edited:
IM42A said:
Finally, e-skip DX on low-VHF, and not just that, but analog DX. From Canada. 998 miles from my QTH.

2:30 pm EDT Monday 6 July, the program The Social on CITO analog channel 3, lasted 10-15 minutes, cutting in and out. I verified on TVTV.ca that CITO was running this show at that time.

Here's a picture (sadly, no videotape):

View attachment 12319

(The clock on the Koqit below is about three minutes slow.)
Click to expand...
Just curious, what made you think to check Analog Channel 3 at that time?
 
powergate92 said:
Just curious, what made you think to check Analog Channel 3 at that time?
Click to expand...

Just because. I have my receiver (Panasonic dual analog/digital plasma set, circa 2006) set up so that it will land on any unused RF channel, I thought to go over and see what was going on at the far end of the band, and there it was. At first I thought it might be the set malfunctioning --- it's pretty much on its last legs --- and one of the locals might somehow be making its way onto channel 3 (I hadn't thought it through yet that digital wouldn't have snow). I had the antenna (Televes DATBOSS with low-high-VHF/UHF capability) turned to 150 degrees (optimum position for Charleston, which is what I was seeking), rotated the antenna until it started coming in around 290 degrees as well as 150. The 150 was where it was picking up CITO off the back of the antenna, 290 was pointed straight towards Canada.
 
There are a handful left in Ontario, as well as New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia on analog. Tune in analog 2 on your next vacation to the UP and Mackinac City, and you'll find CHBX still on the air with CTV! The ones in BC are in the northern part of the province, except for CFJC-4 in Kamloops which is still on w/ CityTV.
 
Analog was so much fun!

Digital is quite boring by comparison. You either have a picture or you don't.

Nothing can quite beat the feelings of wonder and anticipation I used to get when a signal would start to fade in from behind the static.

crainbebo said:
There are a handful left in Ontario, as well as New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia on analog.
Click to expand...
I thought those were all supposed to have shut down and switched to digital by now?

c
 
cc333 said:
Analog was so much fun!

Digital is quite boring by comparison. You either have a picture or you don't.

Nothing can quite beat the feelings of wonder and anticipation I used to get when a signal would start to fade in from behind the static.


I thought those were all supposed to have shut down and switched to digital by now?

c
Click to expand...

My understanding is that they have "grandfathered in" a handful of analog stations in sparsely populated areas, I'm assuming due to the large areas they have to cover in most cases, and the fact that analog can furnish a somewhat viewable signal whereas digital has more problems at such distances.

There is a table of 17 remaining analog stations on Wikipedia, and I thought to share that here, but as I got to going over it, at least one station has indeed made the transition to digital (CIPA Prince Albert SK), and there may be others. I intend to go through the list today and cull out the ones that shouldn't be on it. I would like to make the necessary corrections on Wikipedia, but they don't always like my editing, one time I provided a fully documented history of channel 30 in Portsmouth OH (now WQCW which acts as a sidecar to WSAZ Huntington), and they deleted it.
 
They are in smaller, rural communities. The major markets went digital in 2011 (like Vancouver and Toronto). I could still listen to 87.7 CHEK-6 audio until August of 2011 from many parts of western Washington and the Olympic Peninsula. CBC shut off all remaining transmitters in 2012 due to budget cuts and lack of viewership.
 


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