Although I've listened to SW dx off and on for four decades, I've never thought much about FM dx. But yesterday (Fri 21/6/13), in my car in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland (which is adjacent to St John's, to the south and with somewhat higher elevation), I listened to a strong signal on 88.1 MHz of an unknown station from the Toronto area. Toronto is about 2000 km west (and a little south) of here.
It was between 3:00 and 4:00 my time (thus 1:30 - 2:30 pm Toronto time). I didn't hear it the whole time (I was in and out of the car) and I heard no ID. I heard eight or ten ads that clearly indicated the Toronto area and, near the end, as it started to break up, I heard what sounded like a station motto: "Four-one-six is on the Edge!" That is the area code of Toronto, 416. "The Edge" seems to be the informal name of a large number of stations around North America, including one in Toronto (though not on 88.1).
The peculiar thing is that there is apparently no one broadcasting on 88.1 right now in Toronto. A station is preparing to take the frequency over and I emailed with the manager of the station late yesterday afternoon; she confirmed they are not yet on air. She also suggested the ads I listed could not have been aired on the closest 88.1 station, in Erin, ON.
So this is my question to FM dx-veterans: is it possible that I heard a spurious flake off a different frequency? I know that with sw stations spurs can be produced; is this likely with VHF stations?
If that's so, is there a likely distance (like, say, an IF fq of 10.5 MHz) that might indicate the home frequency of the dx station? The "Edge" in Toronto is on 102.1 which is 13 MHz away from 88.1: is there a significance to that distance (13 MHz) that would make it likely that that's what I was listening to? I emailed the station last night but have only received an auto-reply from them yet.
It was between 3:00 and 4:00 my time (thus 1:30 - 2:30 pm Toronto time). I didn't hear it the whole time (I was in and out of the car) and I heard no ID. I heard eight or ten ads that clearly indicated the Toronto area and, near the end, as it started to break up, I heard what sounded like a station motto: "Four-one-six is on the Edge!" That is the area code of Toronto, 416. "The Edge" seems to be the informal name of a large number of stations around North America, including one in Toronto (though not on 88.1).
The peculiar thing is that there is apparently no one broadcasting on 88.1 right now in Toronto. A station is preparing to take the frequency over and I emailed with the manager of the station late yesterday afternoon; she confirmed they are not yet on air. She also suggested the ads I listed could not have been aired on the closest 88.1 station, in Erin, ON.
So this is my question to FM dx-veterans: is it possible that I heard a spurious flake off a different frequency? I know that with sw stations spurs can be produced; is this likely with VHF stations?
If that's so, is there a likely distance (like, say, an IF fq of 10.5 MHz) that might indicate the home frequency of the dx station? The "Edge" in Toronto is on 102.1 which is 13 MHz away from 88.1: is there a significance to that distance (13 MHz) that would make it likely that that's what I was listening to? I emailed the station last night but have only received an auto-reply from them yet.