Tropolicious Tuesday Epilogue

August 25, 2009---one for the books for FM DX

The skip season ended and tropo taking over for the late summer and into the fall, its apperant that yesterday was a look into the future of TV/FM DX. DXers in the midwest (including extreme SW Ontario Canada cleaned up in one of the largest tropo duct openings in years. But in Arkansas it was a mixed bag. Southeast Arkansas didn't see the monster tropo that IA, MO, ID, PA, NY, parts of Northern New England and a sliver of ON saw.

This was the first major opening (other than the one I mostly missed on Sunday due to work) that analog TV was not a factor. Since analogs are limited to LPTV's in the US and border stations (Canada, Mexico, and Cuba) my old standby of monitoring analog tv for "beacons" no longer work. DTV requires a certain threshold for decoding, and when conditions are marginal you will see those stations "on the meter" and will suspect 99% that that is certainly that transmitter until it locks and or PSIP displays, then its not a log. I did log one new station in the opening, that of KPBI-DT Eureka Springs AR. Speaking of Eureka Springs, one DTV viewer in that area happened to log a St Louis station on rabbit ears, and later on an outdoor antenna WCFL-DT Chicago.

FM DXing has become a renewed passion of mine again. Not so much as the old analog tv was and DTV is to some degree but its a good indication of propagation. It helps to have a sensitive and selective tuner to work with. The stock Sangean HDT-1 fills the bill even with using an old ragged Rat Shack TV antenna. I still dislike what has happened to radio since I dabbled with DXing in the 1980's---the mass ownership, blanding of playlists, the absence of music on morning shows, the rise of "non-commerical" religious satellators (K-Love/Air One, American Family Radio)--- I could go and on.

Last Night's FM Logs

• 9:10pm KJYO 102.7 Oklahoma City ("KJ103") Top 40/CHR format
• 9:20pm KWXD 103.5 Asbury MO ("103.5 The X) Classic Rock.
  
• 1039pm KYIS 98.9 Oklahoma City ("Kiss FM") top 40

Reports are coming in that conditions are dropping out. The bands this morning are not like they were. Even here the semi-locals are reappearing. Instead of Springfield MO on 98.7, its El Dorado. Instead of KUAF 91.3 Fayetteville AR, its a AFR translator in Warren. KSPR-DT, the borderblaster/DTV pest of the Ozarks isn't decoding. KTXR is very weak.

The party is over, but fun while it lasted.