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FM Tropo Report from Brick, NJ 5-20-2022

J

johndavid237

I just wanted to share with you all a tropo event that occured this morning in Ocean County, New Jersey on a few FM frequencies, despite a crowded radio dial from full-power New York City and Philadelphia stations (such as WCBS-FM, WQHT-FM, and WOGL-FM).

93.5 FM: Normally, this frequency is a very weak WVIP-FM from the New York City area, but this morning when I moved the antenna to certain spots, I got an unidentified station playing pop/CHR music from no more than 10 years ago.
99.9 FM: This is a normally empty frequency, but this morning it managed to be a two-way interference battle between WEZN-FM in Bridgeport, CT and WWFG-FM in Salisbury, MD.
100.7 FM: This signal is normally the FM translator of WHTG 1410 AM (an oldies station), but this morning it was a three-way interference battle between WHUD from Peekskill, NY, the WHTG FM translator, and WZXL from Wildwood, NJ (although WZXL came in very weak even when the WHTG signal was cancelled out).
And lastly 101.3 FM: This is another empty frequency in my area, but this morning when I moved the radio antenna a little bit, I got WKCI-FM from New Haven/Hamden, CT. And I honestly don't know what format they are, only the call letters.
 
johndavid237 said:
I just wanted to share with you all a tropo event that occured this morning in Ocean County, New Jersey on a few FM frequencies, despite a crowded radio dial from full-power New York City and Philadelphia stations (such as WCBS-FM, WQHT-FM, and WOGL-FM).
Click to expand...
First of all. welcome to the board. You're always among friends here, so don't be shy about posting!

As the regulars here know, I'm mostly interested in AM DX. But I also don't exactly ignore FM either. Where I live in the northwestern fringe of the Chicago metro area, I'm faced with a similar situation to what you described. Lots of big signals from Chicago and Milwaukee. And a few more from Madison, WI and Rockford, IL. Even so. every year around this time, the FM band manages to open up with E-skip and/or tropo signals. Sometimes strong enough to trash or even overpower the locals. I'll report any of those I may encounter.
 
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Like you, Cyberdad, I'm largely -- mostly -- an AM DXer who occasionally likes to spin FM dial in the car in trying to find any suitable music.

Perhaps a note here for someone just starting out the tryout of the FM dial -- especially during the tropo season :

WDSD Delaware is the 'pilot' station for me. I've heard them loud out on Long Island and out here in Schuylkill County PA. Trope has always followed, hi, even though I don't keep a res[ectable FM log. The middle car button is set to 94.7.
WDSD covers all of Delaware (a bit of a chore that's hard for some to realize because of the state's small size) but when they're coming in as the second loudest station in Pottsville, my priorities get compromised and I start taking notes.

73s !
 
Sorry I didn't notice this thread sooner.

When I was growing up in New Jersey, Long Beach Island was always our shore destination in the summer as 'shoobies' and then my parents owned a rental home in Beach Haven during the late 70's and early 80's where we would often stay on weekends in between renters.

Aside from the thrill of hearing the New York AM stations such as WNBC, WOR, WABC, and WCBS like locals because of the saltwater, FM was also interesting.

Tropo was common in the summer and even in the middle of the day, FM stations from as far as North Carolina would pop up.

For example, 93.3 from Washington, North Carolina would sometimes be mixing with WMMR from Philadelphia and even take over at times.

I think the ocean and the bays along the coast enhance the tropo conditions just as the Gulf of Mexico does.

When I lived in Florida, tropo from places such as New Orleans and Houston would happen in the spring and early summer.


One time, I even got KTEX from Brownsville in Tampa at 936 miles!


 
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