HFU HF Underground
Loggings => FM DX Loggings => Topic started by: Chanter on July 05, 2013, 0643 UTC
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SW and MW DX was pretty marginal tonight, so I tried FM on a whim. Am I ever glad I did! What did I discover on 95.7? WSEY out of Oregon, Illinois, which is the *Saint Louis* market! Rockford is a breeze to snag, Chicagoland can happen, but this? Is new. You'd better believe they'll be getting an e-mail from me! :) What's more, reception was good - not quite at local levels, but perfectly readable all the same, so long as I kept the antenna swiveled the right way. Cardinals-Angels baseball call; I caught the last inning and a half or so. The Angels came from behind to win in the 9th, if you're interested. Got a Kool FM ID, if not a proper station ID, shortly after the hour (isn't that the law in the States? What the?) That, the Cardinals game and the Saint Louis area adverts were enough to confirm what I was hearing, I looked it up, and boom.
I haven't had FM DX like that in a few years!
Edited to add: Holy tropo! I've had Chicagoland stations popping up all along the FM dial all night. Try this, all heard between 9 and 11Z:
92.5, Dance Factory Radio, Chicago, weak fair (I like this one!)
94.7 WLS, Chicago, oldies, fair to good, splatter/distortion from a local
95.1, WIIL Will Rock, Kenosha, WI, hard rock, good
95.3, WRTB Bob FM, Winnebago, IL, fair
95.5, WNUA El Patron, Chicago, Spanish-language, fair
96.5 ? weak but present beside a local
96.9, WDDV the Drive, Zion, IL, rock, clear as a local
103.5, WKSC Kiss FM, Chicago, top 40, fair at best
104.7 Spanish-language, fair, Milwaukee?
106.7 WPPN Pasion, Chicago, Spanish-language, fair, mixing with a local
I'm surprised I didn't get any Chicago Public Radio stations in there. Maybe I just wasn't tuned to the right frequency at the right time. I did have a couple classical-ish stations on 98.7 and 98.9, but I never got any talk, let alone IDs from them, so I can't be sure they weren't just VCY America affiliates out of Milwaukee and elsewhere.
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What are you using for an antenna?
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At that point, I was just using the external whip antenna built into the DX-398. I didn't have the loop with me when I was out and about with the radio, and didn't bother when I got all the later tropo reception. Said whip has some wobbly connection issues; I think a screw fell out. Must fix that.