Es tonight, very short! 8/2/12

[crainbebo]

I'm sorry to say that I think MarioMania and Travis missed some Es tonight...

I got some skip from the San Francisco/Monterrey area tonight. Here's the logs.

7:55PM: While listening to classical on KVTI/90.9, someone else was mixing with it at times.
8:00PM: 91.7 KALW San Francisco, CA w/ TOH ID "This is KALW San Francisco". 679 miles, NEW LOG #197, SHORTEST SKIP EVER, beating KHOP 95.1 Modesto logged 5/22/11.
8:02PM: 90.1 UNID Christian station, likely Stockton, CA
8:02PM: 89.9 UNID Christian station
8:05PM: 98.5 KUFX San Jose, CA, ID "K FOX". 717 miles, NEW LOG #198.
8:06PM: 87.7 KBKF-LP San Jose, CA with christian music [K LOVE] that is the only one that fits. 717 miles, NEW LOG #199.
8:08PM: 96.9 UNID with Delilah [Hi, welcome to the Delilah Show...] likely KWAV Monterrey, CA but no ID.

-crainbebo

 

[crainbebo]

I apologize, KALW was actually new log 198, KUFX 199, and KBKF-LP *200*!! Another milestone has been reached!

-crainbebo

 

[MarioMania]

Did you look for 997 now??

 

[crainbebo]

I did not look for KMVQ, but tried to // 98.5 on 102.1 since KFOX is simulcasted on 102.1 for the Bay Area. No dice. It was a short 10 min opening, but still got three new logs out of it.

Anyway, 99.9 has too much IBOC in these parts. Other stations I was trying for, but got nowhere: 92.1 KKDV, 94.5 KBAY, 95.3 KRTY, 95.3 KUIC, and a quick check on 99.1 for KSQL.

-crainbebo

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

A question here for the folks with the earphones and the FM dial :

Does eSkip behave the way it does/did on TV? Does it start low on the dial ..... 88.1 ..... and move up?

Although it is always unavoidably great fun when the conditions are there, I never really dabbled that much on the FM dial. For example, there isn't too much of an FM log list here.
As a result of all this non-experience I know very little about it, unlike my layman's equivelant of a Bachelor's in AM reception.

One reason I ask about the eSkip reaching 107.9 is that a few summers ago, I was both stunned and thrilled to be driving around hearing WSRZ Sarasota playing Oldies. I got back home and they had dissipated, leaving a fluttering, elusive Spanish station on 107.9.
I didn't ID it ; I just looked at the atlas and the path and the Radio-Locator and saw a Spanish station in Key West as a probable.

Thing is, just two days I'm walking around with the new Grundig G-8 and was evidently walking smack into another eSkip session. Saturday the 4th, around 4:30 pm. There were maybe three separate signals on 107.9, all fluttering and defying antenna bearing. I'd get one locked in, and five seconds later it would be gone.
Thing is : There was a Spanish station present, too.

My casual reading of this forum suggest that this is an unusual season, no? Or does eSkip automatically affect the whole FM dial at generally the same time?

Perhaps I should start a thread about the FM DX basics. I may not need a mere brushup/update but a whole course in FM DX 101.1. Perhaps some others here could be assisted as well.

 

[Buckeyes2001]

A question here for the folks with the earphones and the FM dial :

Does eSkip behave the way it does/did on TV? Does it start low on the dial ..... 88.1 ..... and move up?

Although it is always unavoidably great fun when the conditions are there, I never really dabbled that much on the FM dial. For example, there isn't too much of an FM log list here.
As a result of all this non-experience I know very little about it, unlike my layman's equivelant of a Bachelor's in AM reception.

One reason I ask about the eSkip reaching 107.9 is that a few summers ago, I was both stunned and thrilled to be driving around hearing WSRZ Sarasota playing Oldies. I got back home and they had dissipated, leaving a fluttering, elusive Spanish station on 107.9.
I didn't ID it ; I just looked at the atlas and the path and the Radio-Locator and saw a Spanish station in Key West as a probable.

Thing is, just two days I'm walking around with the new Grundig G-8 and was evidently walking smack into another eSkip session. Saturday the 4th, around 4:30 pm. There were maybe three separate signals on 107.9, all fluttering and defying antenna bearing. I'd get one locked in, and five seconds later it would be gone.
Thing is : There was a Spanish station present, too.

My casual reading of this forum suggest that this is an unusual season, no? Or does eSkip automatically affect the whole FM dial at generally the same time?

Perhaps I should start a thread about the FM DX basics. I may not need a mere brushup/update but a whole course in FM DX 101.1. Perhaps some others here could be assisted as well.

When there is E-skip activity, it starts around the 6-meter ham band (50-54 MHz roughly) then rises into TV channels 2 thru 6 (54-88 Mhz) and then the FM Band then the aircraft band, 2-meter ham band, public safety, NOAA Weather band channels, TV channels 7-13, etc. The MUF (Maximum Usable Frequency) defines the highest frequency of signals that are 'skipping' or bouncing back to Earth via the ionosphere or F2 layer of the atmosphere. If the MUF is say 95 MHz, you might get FM stations via E-skip as high as 94.9 but on 95.1 and up conditions may seem normal. The distance from which stations are received are usually around 500 to 1,400 miles but when there is a very high MUF like above 160 MHz, FM stations can be received at shorter distance as low as 350 miles or even less. The following article gives more info:

http://www.mhawkins.org/radio/skip/Es_intro.htm

 

[crainbebo]

Reason why my Es signals were short was because a usual 1000 mi midpoint would end up in dolphins, sharks and seals. NOW...if I moved about 30 mi E, then I may have had a shot at some stns in the Santa Maria area.

-crainbebo