Analog TV DXing Recommendations?

[novice1234]

I'd like to get into analog TV DXing. Would anyone have thoughts about what type or brand of pre-digital TV might have high sensitivity?

Would it be an older color TV? I have plenty 80's and newer ones in my basement, but most are too large and I'd prefer one that is small enough to sit on a desktop.

Would a black and white TV be better with sensitivity to distant stations via skip? How about the tube models?

Should it be one with a sliding channel changer in case foreign channels might not share our channel frequencies exactly?

I would use a good antenna and pre-amp, too.

Any good forums for TV DXing?

Thanks.

 

[KevinC]

I moved this to its own thread and a more appropriate forum.

 

[novice1234]

TV DXing.

Thanks. Could you tell me what forum that would be?

 

[ka3jjz]

The place to go for all things TV DXing (analog and digital) is the Worldwide TV FM DX Associaton (WTFDA). No doubt they have their own forums and such. They've been around a very long time and are a well established club

Here's the URL, and I understand they have a forum on Google Groups and Facebook

Worldwide TV-FM DX Association

Mike

 

[spacellamaman]

bout a month back i picked up the Ellen DeGeneres (however its spelled) Show in the 60mhz range while searching with a BR330T for milcom. heard spanish programming before but this was the first english i have heard, and identifiable no less.

odd thing was only could hear the audio with FM and not WFM. who needs a TV? Just use the scanner

 

[spacellamaman]

sorry

 

[novice1234]

Analog TV DXing.

Thanks for the reply. Do you think the 60 mhz signal you received might be the audio for channel 2? Or perhaps a channel frequency difference for a foreign country?

 

[spongella]

Great post, wish I could help but there are no more analog TV channels at this location. I have done digital TV Dxing, mostly during the warmer months. Here, TV DX rolls in usually during the morning rush hours, especially when there is ground fog in our valley.

The modern TV sets have the advantage of scanning so I turn the rotatable antenna in a few different directions when conditions are present. The TV's software will also scan for any analog channels. Most of the DX at this location comes from the South or West. Digital stations from VA, MD, NC, and as far West as Central PA have been logged.

Note also that Radio Shack and a number of other companies have manufactured portable radios that pick up TV audio so that might be an option.

Hope you find the set you are looking for, have fun TV DX'ing.

 

[ka3jjz]

Thanks for the reply. Do you think the 60 mhz signal you received might be the audio for channel 2? Or perhaps a channel frequency difference for a foreign country?

Frequencies this high don't propagate very often from other countries - we would need a heckuva lot more solar activity for this to happen - so it's more likely he heard the audio carrier (59.75 Mhz) from an analog channel 2 from somewhere. It is possible with the right conditions that it came from another state, but more likely it's somewhere local.

Mike

 

[novice1234]

TV DXing.

Thanks. Interesting information. Still looking for recommendations for a 1970's or earlier small (9"-13") with good sensitivity. The brand name or type,

The reason is that I heard from a friend who is an audio/visual tech that in the late 70's the FCC required manufacturers to reduce sensitivity (or something like that) on TVs. He also said that a black and white TV is more likely to pick up weak analog signals. Is this true? I'd love to use a more modern TV that scans, except for the possible truth of what my tech friend said. I would simply not use a digital converter on it, in order to shoot for esoteric stations, such as in Mexico, etc., that are still analog and without the interference of digital stations. When the band is active, of course.

Comments appreciated. Thanks to all.

 

[ka3jjz]

Frankly, it's not very likely you're going to find what you're looking for here. Your best bet is the WTFDA forums that I alluded to in my message in this thread. As they are specifically dedicated to TV (and FM) DXing, they are going to be the most likely ones to give you a recommendation

The WTFDA has forums on Google Groups and a page on Facebook, according to their club page. Why don't you start there?

Mike