Tropo in Rockford Last Night (7/29)

[rhead]

Since I moved to Rockford back in 2005, I haven't really gotten anything worth mentioning as far as DX reception goes. I can pretty much pull in the Madison UHFs with the rabbit ears all the time, and on occasion, Chicago and Milwaukee, when the atmospheric conditions are right. However, around 11:00 (central time) last night I got some stations I've never seen before, until now.

22 WSBT (CBS, South Bend, IN) Briefly got fuzzy but viewable picture, in color.
24 unidentified PBS - was running Antiques Roadshow during the 11PM CDT hour - briefly came in in color, but was too fuzzy to make out the bug in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. Faded out before program ended / ID shown.
28 WSJV (Fox, South Bend, IN) Fuzzy but viewable picture with color.
46 unidentified Christian station - had 918 number on screen, possibly WHME South Bend?
62 unidentified - was running an informercial for Oreck vacuum cleaners during 11PM CDT hour; faded before ID shown.
69 unidentified - barely perceptible - was running Tyra during 11PM CDT hour; quickly faded away.

There was a hint of co-channel interference on channel 57 as well, but WBUW (CW Madison) remained the dominant station.

Also, most of the Chicago UHFs were coming in better than usual, although only for brief periods at a time. No sign of Milwaukee this time around.

 

[rhead]

Re: Tropo in Rockford Last Night (7/29-7/30)

Well, tried it again last night.

Got the South Bend stations again. This time confimed channel 69 as WMYS-LP, the MyNetworkTV affiliate from South Bend; saw an intelligible image of the "My Michiana" logo. This would be the first time ever that I've DX'ed a low power station!

That's not the only low-power station I recieved last night either. I also picked up WMEU-CA ("Me Too" channel 48) out of Chicago, with a fuzzy but viewable picture, and in color. I did see a slight hint of co-channel interference over local WIFR (CBS, channel 23) which I would assume was WMEU-CA's sister station, WWME-CA.

If I were to guess, I would assume the co-channel interference on channel 57 was caused by another South Bend low-power station, WBND-LP (the ABC affiliate there), but I can't really confirm that, as WBUW was still the dominant station.

Some of the Chicago UHFs were coming in like locals. WCPX (Ion, channel 38) and WSNS (Telemundo, channel 44) were perfectly clear! WFLD (Fox, channel 32) was pretty clear as well, although slightly fuzzier than 38 and 44. WCIU (channel 26) was coming in pretty well, although much fuzzier than 32, 38 and 44; same was true of WXFT (Telefutura, channel 60) and WGBO (Univision, channel 66.) WPWR (My50) was visible, but much fuzzier, and WYCC (PBS, channel 20) briefly appeared in color, but was the weakest of all the Chicago UHFs (WYCC is probably blocked by WHA-DT Madison, which is also on channel 20, but since I only have analog, a DT signal only appears as brighter than usual snow on my TV.)

On the other hand, the Madison stations were significantly weaker than usual. WMSN (Fox, channel 47) was almost completely obliterated by what I assume was a digital station on channel 47 from somewhere else. WBUW (CW, channel 57) was about like normal, although it was hit with interference from what I assume was WBND-LP, as noted above. WHA (PBS, channel 21) and WKOW (ABC, channel 27) were much weaker than normal, not even in color at some points; I usually get a fuzzy but viewable picture from both of these. Not sure if this was DTV interference from elsewhere, or just a shift in direction from where TV signals were coming from.

WMTV (NBC, channel 15), which is usually the weakest of the Madison UHFs as far as reception goes, was about the same as always.

If that weren't strange enough, local WCFC-CA (channel 51) here in Rockford was far weaker than usual last night. I usually get a perfectly clear signal from WCFC, but last night it was very fuzzy, even losing color at some points. Do some stations reduce power during periods of skip or tropo, or was this also DTV interference from elsewhere?

 

[rhead]

24 unidentified PBS - was running Antiques Roadshow during the 11PM CDT hour - briefly came in in color, but was too fuzzy to make out the bug in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. Faded out before program ended / ID shown.

Got it again tonight- it's WQPT Moline.

 

[w9wi]

Re: Tropo in Rockford Last Night (7/29-7/30)

On the other hand, the Madison stations were significantly weaker than usual. WMSN (Fox, channel 47) was almost completely obliterated by what I assume was a digital station on channel 47 from somewhere else. WBUW (CW, channel 57) was about like normal, although it was hit with interference from what I assume was WBND-LP, as noted above. WHA (PBS, channel 21) and WKOW (ABC, channel 27) were much weaker than normal, not even in color at some points; I usually get a fuzzy but viewable picture from both of these. Not sure if this was DTV interference from elsewhere, or just a shift in direction from where TV signals were coming from.

WMTV (NBC, channel 15), which is usually the weakest of the Madison UHFs as far as reception goes, was about the same as always.

If that weren't strange enough, local WCFC-CA (channel 51) here in Rockford was far weaker than usual last night. I usually get a perfectly clear signal from WCFC, but last night it was very fuzzy, even losing color at some points. Do some stations reduce power during periods of skip or tropo, or was this also DTV interference from elsewhere?

No, stations don't reduce power during band openings. (many wish they could *increase* power(grin)!)

Working off the top of my head, I think you can explain all the weak signals by DTV interference:
WMSN-47: WTTW-DT, Chicago
WBUW-57: no DTV on 57 in the area
WHA-21: WYCC-DT, Chicago
WKOW-27: WCIU-DT, Chicago
WMTV-15: no DTV on 15 in the area
WCFC-51: WPWR-DT, Gary, Ind. (transmitter in Chicago)