Several posts about tilting antennas have been moved to this thread covering the topic better:

Tilting Antenna for Better Reception? (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=106196)

cheers

Holy crap...:eek:

Tropo activity has been unusually strong for the last few weeks.. especially between 9pm-9am. Early today for a time it was strong from the SW.... for Indiana

Got these tropo ch's between 12am and 1am:
(overwrote ch's I had in psip from last 4 tropo nights)

WFFT-DT FOX 55-1 on RF36 from Ft. Wayne, IN (overwrote WLNS-DT Lansing)
WISE-DT NBC 33-1,2,3 on RF19 from Ft. Wayne, IN (overwrote CKXT-DT SUNTV)
WANE-DT CBS 15-1,2 on RF31 from Ft. Wayne, IN (overwrote WPXD-DT ION)
all 150mi/241km

WLIO-DT NBC/FOX Lima 8-1(NBC-HD 720p),8-2(FOX-HD 720p) on RF8 from Lima, OH
WLQP-LP CH18 ABC LP analog affiliate @ just 7.7kW ERP! From Lima, OH (was showing local Lima OH newscast at the time..)

from 122mi/196km

All pics as always are **HERE** (http://s730.photobucket.com/albums/ww305/dxandmore/TV_DXing/) (newer first)

didn't get a pic.. but I also got a grainy but viewable picture from W38DH-LP ch 38 analog HSN Home shopping channel at 8.2kW ERP from a 127m/416' tower in central Toledo ~55mi away

Tropo is fun but I think we need a break for a while.. sure wish I could watch local channels again..they keep disappearing with tropo activity.

i'd thought i'd take advantage of the approaching weather system as whenever there is an easterly wind like we had yesterday here in Oshawa,the reception results usually improve drastically.i did a scan at 930pm last night and here are my results,all with an indoor antenna and my apt.faces north. WGRZ,WIVB,CBLT,WKBW,WROC,WNED,WXXI,WNLO,WUHF,WNYO,ION51,OMNI 1,2,WHAM.the temp at the time was 22c,and the winds were from the east at 15km/hr.

bigcam406, many of our members have William Hepburn's Tropospheric Skip Forecasts site bookmarked and check it regularly to be prepared:

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html

He's known to be very accurate. :)

thx for the headsup.ive found since i have started ota'ing that the weather plays a huge part in what the signals will do.i have also applied this as well when im using my police scanner at home.

I've been busy with work lately so I haven't been able to stay up late in the evening to do some Dxing however this morning I was up early so I did some channel surfing and I seen that on channel 11-1 WPXI-HD from Pittsburgh was trying to come in (program not available). I did a rescan and I did get KDKA 2. channel 2-1 CBS and 53-1 WPGH-TV FOX from Pittsburgh, Pa. This was my first view from 53-1 WPGH-TV however I was surprised to see that there transmitter was not as far as I had originally thought it was. It measures around 187 miles and I thought for sure it would have been over 200 miles. Oh well.
No record but still a new PISP to my Panasonic.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/picture.php?albumid=120&pictureid=1075

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/picture.php?albumid=120&pictureid=1076

@Phil81
I tend to agree with your statement that you wish the Tropo's would lighten up so your local's will be more stable however what fun would it be if you always had the same thing all the time. Oh wait, I'm married that's the same thing isn't it? lol
Happy Dxing
Mark

i find that when WXXI comes in strong,it cancels out CBLT.anyone else experience this?

i find that when WXXI comes in strong,it cancels out CBLT.anyone else experience this?

I've never had that, since CBLT is a strong close signal. You must be getting adjacent channel interference from WXXI analog (21) to CBLT digital (20). You shouldn't have that problem much longer though, as WXXI 21 analog is only running nightlight till the end of the month, and then shutting down.

Edit: They're running nightlight till July 10.

This morning things are booming in. Got WGRZ 2 for the first time (and at 65 to boot), but still can't get OMNI 1. Odd.

Ron

you should have no problems with CFMT-TV or CFMT-DT, since they broadcast from the CN Tower, and you're within range of the stations' signals there. That is a bit odd... perhaps WGRZ-DT is causing co-channel or adjacent-channel interference to CFMT's analog or digital signals?

Has anyone been able to pull in the ION channels on 51.x fairly consistently in the past 10 days ?

No, this past week ION has been a wash.

But, today it is back at 60% on my Sony.

WOWSA!

I stayed up really late / early last night chasing all kinds of signals. Rochester was coming in, but I noticed flickering on Erie, PA and Cleveland, Ohio. But while chasing Erie / Cleveland, I stumbled onto Syracuse & Utica flickers. I kept checking and positioned the antenna and I watched as Utica's WKTV came in at my house for about and hour!!! :) It's a personal DTV record, as WKTV is 222 miles from my house, and I'd only received it previously at my friend's apartment in downtown Toronto!

Then - as HDTV101 mentioned upthread - WSYR was coming in on RF17 since WNED's analog vacated it. (That's another station I'd only gotten from downtown Toronto in a 27th floor apt.) It's a more difficult catch, as Syracuse stations only seem to come in when my CM4221HD is in the living room of my house aimed near the front window (can't get it on the roof, though I wish I could!) I also saw CBLFT on RF24 get smashed by WSTM. WSTM wouldn't decode or come through, but just their presence cancelled out CBLFT's normally strong signal.

The day before (June 22) I also picked up Erie's WICU on RF12 for the first time! Actually surprised it overtook Peterborough's CHEX. VHF digitals are odd, since I've had to start reusing a pair of rabbit ears my Dad helped me build when I was a kid.....I connect them to my CM pre-amp, and have successfully gotten Rochester's RF10 and RF13 (WHEC, and WHAM) though they are now more at risk of interference - especially WHAM getting clobbered by analog CKCO, and WHEC getting knocked by strong adjacent interference from CFTO.

As of now Syracuse is still trying to come in (flickering strong, but not locking) and WSTM still knocking out CBLFT.

Current weather from Weather Network (Markham's Buttonville Airport):

30°C, A few clouds, Wind: N 17km/h, Relative Humidity: 52%, Pressure: 101.21 kPa, Visibility: 24.0 km, Ceiling: unlimited

Early this morning was great. Picked up Elmira, NY, near the Pennsylvania border, at about 175 miles from here. Also had a couple of Utica's in, very strong.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/PrinceLH22/img_0413.jpg

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q299/PrinceLH22/img_0414.jpg

With my CM4221, Rochester is booming in right now. Buffalo is weak, so I think my attenna must be pointing more out that way.


Anyone know what is on RF 29 now? Getting a signal on my Zeinth 900 set top box, but no lock. Having some fun with this

Getting a solid 100% signal on WROC as well as a somewhat pixelated WUHF. pixelation might be from the fact that 27-2 OMNI ottawa is so strong as an adjacent to wuhf on 28

Here in Kingston, great signal from Buffalo tonight.
2.1,2.2,2.3 WGRZ
4.1 WIVB
7.1 WKBW (which is really good, it overcomes local TVO on 38)
17.1,17.2,17.3 WNED
26.1,26.2 WYNB
29.1,29.2 WUTV
49.1,49.2 WNYO
51.1,51.2,51.3,51.4 WPXJ
Rochestor was coming good too. I picked up the VHF signals for the first time.
8.1 - WROC
10.1,10.2 WHEC
13.1,13.2 WHAM
31.1 WUHF
(didn't pick up WXXI)

I also got a couple of odd channels

54.1,54.2,54.3 WQLN (I think this is Erie)
50.4 - No idea, was great signal, but no picture or sound.

Not a bad night for my cheap indoor antenna.

Wow, WQLN Erie in Kingston with an indoor antenna! :D How many miles/kms is that?

:cool: Another good tropo night. I could already see things turning around 10pm (weak/loss of local channels)

From Erie:

WJET-DT ABC 24-1 (http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww305/dxandmore/TV_DXing/WJET-DT_RF24_ABC_ERIE_PA_132mi_1.jpg) RF24 Booming at 70% for over 1 hr ~133 miles east

From Buffalo:

WKBW-DT ABC 7-1 (http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww305/dxandmore/TV_DXing/WKBW-DT_RF38_ABC_BUFFALO_NY_207mi-3.jpg) RF38 Moderate signal for a time 207mi/333km exact from my house to their tower.

WNYO-DT Mytv 49-1 (http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww305/dxandmore/TV_DXing/WNYO-DT_RF49_MYNET_BUFFALO_NY_21-1.jpg) Weak signal w/ light intermittent pixelation @ new DX record from my house to WNYO tower 217mi/349km no DHC record though.

and WGRZ was "full strength" in bars on my tv aswell and was my last DX digital record at 210mi

Good thing I had WGRZ strong... All other possible NBC affiliates were wiped out when I was trying to tune into Conan tonight. This is always the first Buf channel to ride on in on tropo and is the strongest of the ones I get.

other odd surprise a little later on once WJET died off on RF24....

WPTA-DT 21-1 (http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww305/dxandmore/TV_DXing/WPTA-DT_ABC_RF24_Ft_Wayne_150mi--1.jpg),2 CW (http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww305/dxandmore/TV_DXing/WPTA-DT2_CW_RF24_Ft_Wayne_150mi-241.jpg),3 WX (http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww305/dxandmore/TV_DXing/WPTA-DT3_WX_RF24_Ft_Wayne_150mi-241.jpg) on RF24! from Ft. Wayne also a first timer in my PSIP.

Also on early Wed morning (24hrs ago) with my antenna facing *WEST* WFMJ-DT 21-1 RF20 (http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww305/dxandmore/TV_DXing/WFMJ-DT_NBC_Youngstown_OH_124mi--1.jpg) from Youngstown OH (SE) appeared briefly around 5am for the first time ever. WOTV in west Michigan usually takes this frequency 99% of the time.

FOR Other ADDITIONAL pictures..etc (http://s730.photobucket.com/albums/ww305/dxandmore/TV_DXing/)

FYI folks, the dx forecast looks hot over the next few days around southern Ontario! This might get interesting!

I agree with Phil81! It's been an AWESOME night for Tropo! First around 11:20pm, I noticed Utica's WKTV floating back in and I got it again for about a half hour! (And weirdly, no blinks at all from Syracuse - I always thought signals were like shooting ducks and if you get one city, you'll get the next and so on.)

Then not too long after WKTV faded out, I picked up RF12 WICU from Erie and it peaked at 71% signal strength - and this happened using rabbit ears connected to a CM7777 pre-amp in my sunroom!!! WQLN was also coming in (that one seems easiest to get from Erie.) Frustratingly, though, WFXP on RF22 blinked high on the signal meter, but still wouldn't lock. I think I still have too much interference from Oshawa's CHEX on analog 22. And while the rest of Erie was strong, WJET couldn't even dent CBLFT on RF24 (while Syracuse's WSTM crushed it early this morning.)

Then my biggest surprise came at about 3:30am....I saw signal flickers on RF15, which would normally be Cleveland's WEWS or even Clearfield, PA's WPSU. But this time it was a whole NEW station! WDCQ from Bad Axe, Michigan - making it my first ever digital DX from that state! It also means I've been able to get three completely different digital stations on RF15, and that's even with interference from Buffalo's low powered TCT repeater WBNF.

WDCQ isn't quite a record for me, but it's close. It comes in at 221 miles from me, which is just shy of WKTV's 222 miles from Utica.

And kudos to PanaMark for recommending the HDTV Magazine site to measure distance.....I find myself using it a lot to measure my distances to station's towers!

Great results everybody! Keep up the great DXing! :)