Your best FM DX

[RadioGuy1951]

What is your best FM DX...???

One of my best "catches" was many years ago in Novato, CA on a warm August day...I caught Floroda Highway Patrol TWO WAY DX on CHP Silver Base (42.08mhz) ...

The florida dispatcher asked her units to 10-9 because they were covered by California traffic (CHP)...I listened long enough to get a call sign, which verified via the FCC as the FHP...

This was roughly 30 years ago...I wish I had thought to send a QSL request...

FM skip is also knows as "ducting"...

What is your most amazing FM DX...???

 

[nd5y]

FM skip is also knows as "ducting"...

It is only called ducting if it is a result of tropospheric ducting propagation. F2 layer and sporadic E skip isn't ducting.

E skip happens all the time on the FM broadcast and VHF low bands. F2 skip at those frequencies usually only happens during sunspot cycle peaks.

Back about 20 or 30 years ago there was some Spanish speaking country that had a lot of repeaters on about 15 or so frequencies around 47 and 48 MHz with one of the higher PL tones. I used to hear them every summer here in Texas.

I never figured out where it was coming from. I never spent much time DXing the FM BC band because I never had a good outdoor antenna and never lived in a place that had a lot of vacant local channels.

 

[ka3jjz]

Several years ago, I was using an old Regency handheld with a 6 meter mag mount, and had several days where I could hear CHP on 39 Mhz while on the road in College Park Maryland. The dead giveaway was the time checks which were 3 hours off.

It also happened to correspond with a local Md. State Police barracks working channel, so they shifted up about 100 khz, as it was constantly annoying the dispatcher who kept on asking to repeat the traffic.

This was likely F2 skip. Another interesting tidbit is that there seems to be an as-yet unknown relationship between Es and F2 - when one exists, the other generally doesn't within a season. It's thought that the ionization from sunspots somehow blocks the formation of the ionized clouds that produces Es, but this is, at least so far, speculative.

Mike

 

[k9rzz]

Oh ... by FM DX you mean FM 'mode' on the VHF low band. Not FM band dx. Very confusing. Typically one says AM DX meaning AM broadcast band and FM DX meaning FM broadcast band rather than the modes AM and FM.

On VHF low I've heard the usual single E skip single hop distances of 600 to 1000 miles which puts it out about Colorado or Florida from here in Wisconsin. Never heard any double hop out to the west coast, although I hear them regularly on 10 meters and have worked the west coast on 6 meters (SSB, CW, and FM *mode*)

When I had my 5 element 6 meter beam up, I did hear some European TV carriers in the 40mhz range. Television channel frequencies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia No audio or video, just the carriers. in the 40mhz range.

For *FM DX* on the FM broadcast band, again I've heard single hop E skip out to Colorado, Florida, and Nova Scotia. I've heard Toronto via tropo ducting (not E skip) which is about 600 miles from here I think. I had that on YouTube, but YouTube dumped the video because of a song that was playing through the radio when I was recording. Ridiculous. Tip: you can convert any cheap FM broadcast band tuner into a DX machine by changing the ceramic IF filters inside. Very simple to do. Contact me if you want more info.

It used to be SO COOL listening to meteor scatter pings from Channel 2 and 3 TV carriers on 54mhz until the FCC ruined all the fun by switching everything to digital. BOOOOO! (don't get me going on how technology 'improvements' are ruining this hobby)

 

[KB1UAM]

On my car radio one day last summer I was getting Y100 out of Miami Florida. And keep in mind I'm near cape cod mass!!! I was getting that station loud and clear for about 3 hours before it faded out. I was surprised.

 

[nd5y]

It used to be SO COOL listening to meteor scatter pings from Channel 2 and 3 TV carriers on 54mhz until the FCC ruined all the fun by switching everything to digital. BOOOOO! (don't get me going on how technology 'improvements' are ruining this hobby)

You can probably still do that. The ATSC DTV signal has a pilot carrier at approximately .31 MHz above the lower band edge. The actual frequency used by each station can vary. For channel 2 you could search from 54.25-54.35 and see if you hear any carriers.