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Is E Skip season finished already?

gar hi

gar hi

As someone who checks the real time maps many times a day, I've noticed if there's anything at all it's now the much lower frequencies the past couple days and there have been times like now where I've checked it and the map is completely blank.


:-\

I was really hoping to get an Es catch from the northeast this year but it looks like that's not going to happen.


It's getting to that time of year that's not good for DXing because E Skip will be done and then there's a long time until we get into the AM nighttime DXing season.

At least since I got my Grundig G8, I've noticed that the upper band shortwave daytime signals seem better than they were during the winter but still, there doesn't to be that many stations to listen to.
 
gar fla said:
As someone who checks the real time maps many times a day, I've noticed if there's anything at all it's now the much lower frequencies the past couple days and there have been times like now where I've checked it and the map is completely blank.


:-\

I was really hoping to get an Es catch from the northeast this year but it looks like that's not going to happen.


It's getting to that time of year that's not good for DXing because E Skip will be done and then there's a long time until we get into the AM nighttime DXing season.

At least since I got my Grundig G8, I've noticed that the upper band shortwave daytime signals seem better than they were during the winter but still, there doesn't to be that many stations to listen to.
Click to expand...

Yes, the e-skip has been absent here in the midwest & we've had our share of thunderstorms this week.
You're right that it will be quite awhile before we approach the meat of the AM DX season, but don't be too down. Once we get into September some very good early morning DXing possibilities open up on AM. In fact where I am in the Chicago area my best reception of KNX has occurred in late Sept & Oct mornings just as the sun rises here.
There's always another opportunity right around the corner.
 
Just yesterday (Thu) I was getting good signals from Central America on ch 2, but it barely reached FM; I only bagged 2 stations, including the store-controlled Radio Selectos (El Salvador) on 72.9, if you count that as FM.

Nada today....it could well be over, but I know that I caught WTVF DT 5 on E-skip on August 4 last year....so I'm not giving up yet.

Anyway, the F2 cycle could be big. I was told that in maybe Sept/Oct, the Chilean "muzak" on 47.9 might be catchable again. I will be checking (with my scanner) any TV audio on < 54 MHz ....

See http://www.fmlist.org/tvlist.php .....I'm aiming for Portugal, New Zealand, and the few Aussies left < 54. Many have shut off already.

cd
 
cd637299 said:
Just yesterday (Thu) I was getting good signals from Central America on ch 2, but it barely reached FM; I only bagged 2 stations, including the store-controlled Radio Selectos (El Salvador) on 72.9, if you count that as FM.

Nada today....it could well be over, but I know that I caught WTVF DT 5 on E-skip on August 4 last year....so I'm not giving up yet.

Anyway, the F2 cycle could be big. I was told that in maybe Sept/Oct, the Chilean "muzak" on 47.9 might be catchable again. I will be checking (with my scanner) any TV audio on < 54 MHz ....

See http://www.fmlist.org/tvlist.php .....I'm aiming for Portugal, New Zealand, and the few Aussies left < 54. Many have shut off already.

cd
Click to expand...

Does a good sunspot cycle help e-skip conditions during other parts of the year?
 
^ Sorry but I'm not an expert on that. All I can say is to keep checking DX Sherlock...Was told that if the SFI is > 120-130, get ready.

cd
 
Don't forget the second but lesser peak for E-skip here around the winter solstice, when the sun is lowest in the sky (but of course it's highest over the Southern hemisphere).
 
jd said:
Don't forget the second but lesser peak for E-skip here around the winter solstice, when the sun is lowest in the sky (but of course it's highest over the Southern hemisphere).
Click to expand...

Interesting as I picked up some good e-skip in January once.
 
Seems like there's usually an opening or two in August- I wouldn't give up hope yet. Plus there's always plenty of tropo in August or September if you're into that.
 
There may be a couple openings for the old analog TV channels but anything affecting FM seems unlikely, as I haven't seen anything on the map in that range for days now.

Our tropo season around the Gulf is in the spring and any tropo we have this time of year is nothing to write home about compared to the 500 to 1000 mile openings that can happen in spring.
 
Typically I don't see e-skip after early July. May and June are the e-skip months around here. August is usually the best tropo month. Even today, when the high is expected to be 108 degrees with lower humidity than usual, we had good tropo averaging in the 200-300 mile range.
 
This is the 5th day in a row with nothing on ch 2-6 or FM here. I got Es on Aug 4 last year, but I think this is it, down here at least.

Now, to work on the house.

cd
 
Well now.

Looks like there's more to go in the Es season.

Late yesterday afternoon, the map started looking like it does in the peak of the Es season with the higher MUF levels cluttered in the northeast. Even late at night, the northeast was getting FM openings according to the map.

At only 9 in the morning, it looks like good FM Es going on right now in the northeast!

Hope that moves south.
 
The Es in the northeast has been crazy today according to the DX Sherlock site.

The map looks more busy than it does at the peak of the season.

Still going strong and it's getting to be near 8 pm.

Come on. Spread south already!

Share some with the rest of the country.
 
I am luckily up here on the Rhode Island coast, and the E action is out of control! I have picked up stations from St. Louis to Chicago (including 97.1 The Drive). My best frequency for pick-ups has been 94.7. Most of the stations now coming in are from Kentucky and Illinois. This time of year is usually tropo. I am thankful for this opening!
 
And...*I* got some last-gasp Es on ch 2, which must be CHBX Sault Ste Marie ON, 1400+ miles out!

Whenever I see CTV on ch 2, I just assume it is the one in Georgian Bay. Pays to keep an eye on announcements & such! There was a pic onscreen of Sault Community Career Centre.

cd
 
ScottBurns said:
I am luckily up here on the Rhode Island coast, and the E action is out of control! I have picked up stations from St. Louis to Chicago (including 97.1 The Drive). My best frequency for pick-ups has been 94.7. Most of the stations now coming in are from Kentucky and Illinois. This time of year is usually tropo. I am thankful for this opening!
Click to expand...

Did you hear WLS-FM on 94.7?
 
The only Chicago FM that I picked up was on 97.1, The Drive. I also picked up St. Louis's FM talker on 97.1. The openings were very short in duration. Keeping the radio on, it sounded like a person was tuning stations in and out. The strongest station of the entire opening was 94.7, "the Double Q," a Classic Rocker from the Peducah, KY area.
 
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