You know it's springtime... RE: FM DX.

["PETER GEORGE, N1GGP" <PGEORGE@WELLESLEY.EDU>]

     VHF-FM skip is not so much "rare", per say but VERY SPORADIC.  It
is called "E-skip" and is very prevalent during the months of May through
early August.  There have been MANY theories about FM and low band VHF-TV
E-skip.  The 11 year solar cycle may play SOME role in "E-skip" occurances,
but the main culprit of "E-skip" lies in the more occurance of thunderstorm
activity happening in the summer months.  Most E-skip openings provide long
distance reception of low-VHF TV (Channels 2-6) and FM (88-108) in the order
of 700-1500 miles from the transmitter to you.  I have been an avid all-
band DX'er now for about 30 years.  I still get a jolt in getting that
elusive FM station from Sioux City, Tulsa, Louisville and so on.  In July
1993 I got full-quieting stereo reception from WFPL-FM (89.3) in Louisville,
Kentucky for two to three hours.  Two weeks later and 1100 miles later, I
was in the Floyd Knobs, IN (Louisville area) for a wedding and was looking
at the WFPL transmitter site right in front of me.  That felt weird.
     During the E-skip months, the MUF (maximum usuable frequency) that
a signal can bounce off of the "E" layer of the ionosphere creeps up
usually first through the 30-50 MHz public service bands.  This is your
first indication that the MUF is going to "open-up".  Try the pager
frequencies around 33 MHz and see if you have some voice pagers start
to come in.  Pay close attention to the "accents" on the voices of
the pages.  Try around 42.14 now and repeat the search.  Then go to
Channels 2 or 3 on your TV set (non-cabled, of course) and see of you
start to see some little lines fading in and out and see some other
pictures from other Channel 2 or 3 TV stations try to come in OVER
your local Channel 2 or 3 station.  Chances are if you see the above
thing happen...the MUF will go up to the FM band.  This is the fun
part.  If you are "blessed" with at least one fairly empty FM channel
that frequency will begin to "come alive".  It might be a good idea
to record the reception for your files.  One time, I was listening
to the now late WSSH/99.5 in Lowell, MA and started to hear really
loud Rock and Roll taking over the frequency.  I aimed the antenna to the
southwest and got the famous WRNO-FM from New Orleans, LA clear as a 
bell for over 20 minutes !!! That's over 1500 miles away !!!
     Another neat trick is to check the Weather Channel for the national
radar summary during the time of your skip reception.  More times than
NOT you will find a band of severe weather with T-storms and Tornado 
Watches HALFWAY between your location and the transmitter site of the
station your are listening to.  The violent electric activity and
the subsequent updrafts provide the means to initiate E-skip activity.
One other skip occurance can happen when you are in the immediate
area of Severe Weather.  Naturally you do this at your own risk !!!
In 1990, a very dangerous band of storms came through my area.  A
small tornado touched down some 3 miles from where I was located in
a car. (Smart, huh ?)  During this time, some very rare close-in
skip from Akron and Cinncinati, Ohio (some 500-600 miles away) came
in like a local, namely WKDD/96.5 in Akron and WBVE (Beaver 96.5)
from Hamilton (Cinncinati area) and were fighting it out for nearly
25 minutes.  When the storm subsided, the skip shifted to WMT-FM
from Cedar Rapids, Iowa for about 15 minutes (I got the QSL for
that one).  Then the activity faded away for another day.  BTW:
if you are getting skip from other parts of the country, the effect
works both ways.  If I got Cedar Rapids here, some DX'er in Cedar
Rapids would probably be getting Boston stations there, too.
     So, in a nutshell...this is what happens during FM/TV skip
openings.  That magic time is coming up VERY soon !! Have yourself 
ready !!! 73 de N1GGP.

- -Pete-

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Peter Q. George, N1GGP                  *  "Scanning the bands since 1967 !" 
P.O. Box 1183                           *                  +
Randolph, Massachusetts 02368-1183      *                  |
USA                                     *      73         +|+    de N1GGP
PGEORGE@wellesley.edu                   *                +\|/+
XERB@bigfoot.com                        *               + \|/ +
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