Re: Interesting Tropospheric Ducting This Morning

["Kaimbridge M. GoldChild" <kaimbridge@my-deja.com>]

John Bolduc wrote,

JB> While I was doing my scanner bit, my wife, was excited DX'ing Ch36
JB> out of Providence, Chan 31 Hartford VT, and a channel 29 from ??.
                                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 Undoubtably WTXF, Philadelphia (a Fox station).

Dan Billings wrote,

DB> 103.3 WODS has been fighting it out with 103.3 WMCM Riceland in the
DB> Bath-Brunswick area of Maine this week.  Usually you can't hear
DB> WODS at all north of Biddeford.

 I logged them for the first time Fri afternoon, when it only seemed to
be a mid-south ME and Cape Cod event.

Rob Landry replied,

RL> A WODS employee told me today that they're getting a lot of
RL> complaints about intereference from a pirate calling itself
RL> "REAL FM" and claiming to be in New York.

 I don't know about the NY part, but WMCM seems to have a less than
"top-40/hit" type, traditional country format, using a "real country"
slogan--though *NOT* Westwood One's (Unistar or ABC?--I can't keep track
of who runs what!) "Real Country" network.

Bill Dillane wrote,

BD> Last Saturday night I was listening to 102.9 while driving on I-95
BD> in southeastern CT, and I head WMGK in Phili interfering with
BD> WDRC-FM in Hartford.

 Some NYC-Philly (and CT) TV was making it up here in Beverly (strong
Cape Cod--and some ME?-- kept any FM from poking through), around
6:30-8:00am Sun Morning, though nothing to write home (or this group P=)
about!

Larry Weil wrote,

LW> Last night (Fri PM, Sat AM) several stations from the Canadian
LW> Maritimes where comming in like locals around midnight to 1 AM.
LW> Of note where 100.5, St. John, NB, and 91.3, Fredricton, NB, which
LW> was overriding WUNH if they were on.

 Again, SE'n New England and coastal ME pretty much had the FM band
monopolized [and, getting ready for work, I didn't have time to really
nitpick the bands P=( ], but NB was coming in on Ch.3, with "venetian
blinds" (i.e., co-channel interference) on all of the other VHF TV Ch.s
(couldn't tell how much of it was ME-NYC, E-skip bubbling up from 27
MHz, or NB/NS).

Paul Anderson wrote,

PA> I used to DX lots of TV in my younger days, usually on warm summer
PA> nights.  This is the first time I've experienced this on a clear
PA> morning, though!

 No, usually there is at least one major ME (occasionally--like this
time--making it up to the NB, NS Canadian maritimes) opening sometime in
May-June, induced by a eastern ME centered "HIGH" enhanced seabreeze
and/or coastal fogbank.
Likewise, not counting hurricane related activity, usually the first
week or so in August sees a major tropo opening from NYC-Philly down to
the DelMarVa Peninsula, with a big, fat "HIGH" over NJ-LI.  Then,
sometimes in September/October, ts/hurricane activity will create one or
two major openings to the south (DelMarVa and sometimes even well into
NC), die out as the storm approaches, then pick up again after it
passes, with a major opening to ME and NB/NS Maritimes.

As for this past event, this morning is foggy and murky, with TWC
showing fog all along the New England coast--so what happened to the
tropo?
My guess is the "HIGH" moved far enough offshore, with other dynamics of
the fog bank (density, height, horizontal continuity, etc.) becoming
less than desirable for tropo--plus, rain has moved in over NYC-LI, thus
closing down any activity to the south.

     ~Kaimbridge~

------------------------------