WWW.MIKESDX.COM

On the web Since 1999

For FM antenna specs, tuner mod info, phasing, filter info, look under LINKS above.

I changed SDRs in March, after the urging of two of my friends. I'm now the owner of an RSPDuo from SDRPlay. This radio has been out for two years now but I just got around to buying one. The thing that makes this SDR different is that it has two tuners, and you can phase one against the other to null (phase) out your local and semi-local stations. It just works great in nuking HD sidebands and it's also easier to create a null than a Bolin Phase Box or anything else. I've already used it during skip openings to hear skip through my local HD sidebands. It works very well. I've already gone through an RSP-1, an RSP-2 and an Elad FDM-S2. I keep the RSP-2 for a spare and use the Elad strictly for medium wave (AM) DXing in the winter. I no longer have the RSP-1. How many SDRs do you need, anyway?

Also I have two screengrabs of new lowband DTV stations. Both were seen recently on ch2 during skip openings in late May and June. With luck I hope to see more. So far I've seen thirteen. See the link above.

FM skip has been running slightly better than last year, so far. The best skip event up to this point has been on May 20th from 6pm to 8pm. Very minor events were seen on 6/3, 6/9 and 6/15. A slightly stronger event was noticed on June 15th from 9:30 to 12:45pm off and on. I caught 7 new stations during that opening. The last Es opening noticed here was on June 26 to Florida on FM around 2pm for 30 minutes. There were no Es openings noticed in July 2020. I'd rate this skip season a D-, after giving it an F last year.

I've just renewed this domain for another year. I'll be around for another twelve months.

THE STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE. The TV antenna you see at the top of this page is an Archer VU-190. It was originally sold by Radio Shack as a VHF-UHF combo. This antenna is brand new and has been sitting in the basement for the past 5-6 years until just recently when I decided to put it together and do something with it. I decided to try it as a phase antenna along with my APS-13 and Bolin phase box. The UHF elements were removed. The result is an antenna that works really well on FM and works fine as a phase antenna. It has enough gain that it does not need a pre-amp between it and the input to the combiner. The antenna was bought at a yard sale for just a few dollars, sold by a person who either didn't know what it was, or just didn't care.

HELLO!

Hello! My name is Mike and I'm an old fart. I'm also a DXer. I began with AM radio back in the 1960s when I was in high school. In my Junior or Senior year I received a Zenith FM table radio for Christmas and discovered FM DXing. Around that same time I noticed skip on TV in the summer. Unfortunately, that hooked me for the rest of my life. I'm trying to find a cure for this horrible hobby and I'm having some success, thanks in part to the FCC and the TV repack and the placement of hundreds of LPFMs and translators in every open spot on the FM dial. Oh, and the IBOC. The HD sidebands are a big part of the cure. I feel that sometime I will be cured of the damned hobby of DXing and I'll finally begin to find the mind that I lost due to this cursed affliction.

FM BANDSCAN FROM NORTHERN CONNECTICUT IN THREE PARTS

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you found something worthwhile here. Come back again because who knows what I'll be rambling on about next time!


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