Episode XV: Recapping the 2023 E-Skip Season

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to DXers everywhere! By far the most innovation in our hobby right now is coming from the FMDX.org open source project, which includes the fantastic firmware improvements for the TEF6686 portable and the FM DX Webserver. There's now 157 active servers worldwide, including hotspots in Europe, Australia, and emerging regions like India and Chile. The effort is pulling in a noticeably youthful community of VHF DX'ers. In the latest episode of the VHF DX Podcast, Bryce and Nick spoke to one of the driving forces behind it all, Marek Farkaš, aka Noobish! From his home in the Czech Republic, Noobish gave us some amazing insights into himself, the FMDX project, and what's to come. We've included links to relevant portions of the project and also at the end of the description that we encourage all DX'ers to check out. Among some of the highlights of our conversation with Noobish: Growing up in Slovakia The origin of his nickname! How his girlfriend, Ester Vlčková, enlightened Noobish on what this zany hobby actually is. Ester is also is an avid DX'er and part of the FMDX.org community. Noobish's own amazing FM DX setup, including the antennas on the cover photo of this episode. What led to joining in with Sjef Verhoeven, PE5PVB, with TEF6686 firmware updates and the community Forming the OpenRadio Discord How the FM DX Webserver project became more popular than he ever expected How to buy the right TEF receiver and the Headless TEF project How the TEF6687 chip is more sensitive for RDS decodes Future projects, including the DAB+ Webserver, using the TEF6689 chip for possible IQ output Noobish also details some of the outstanding FM tropo he and other European DX'ers received in November. If any of these innovations intrigue you, we'd suggest supporting the FMDX.org community, as Noobish explained any donations go directly toward development efforts! We'd also recommend checking out our conversation with Sjef in March about the TEF firmware and the project.

The less we speak of the 2024 Sporadic-E season, the better. But, Nick and Bryce first address the proverbial elephant in the room. Where did this dormant campaign stack up historically? It was, as UK DX'er Tim Bucknall so eloquently put it to us, an exercise in ionospheric constipation. Onto brighter things! Tropo season is upon us, and already the North American midwest has seen some action. A new DXer in Nebraska has been having great results on TV and FM this season and we give him his due. Plus, we highlight the cool things the OpenRadio DX community continues to be up to! What's better than a cruise to Bermuda? How about an all-you-can-eat buffet of long-haul tropo? Allan Nosoff, an Emmy-nominated on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Networks in New York City, is also a devoted FM DXer. He gives us some wonderful storytelling about his Bermuda cruise in June where he heard tropo from all across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic throughout his journey. Connecticut, New York City and Long Island from the shores of Bermuda? You bet, and we feature some of Allan's audio clips from the cruise to prove it! He also shares some tips for anyone set to sail in the future on a cruise to maximize your FM DX potential!

In the 2024 DX season kickoff episode of the VHF DX Podcast, Nick and Bryce host the show from Bryce's home on Cape Cod, enjoying a rare outdoor recording session on a pleasant afternoon. The highlight of the episode is a discussion about the rare Aurora opening on May 10th, which provided an exceptional opportunity for DXing. This event was particularly notable because it allowed for receptions as far south as Key Largo, FL, and other southern locations, which is highly unusual for aurora propagation. Nick and Bryce reflect on their experiences during the opening, the stations they logged, and the overall rarity of such an event. The episode also features an interview with Bill Hepburn, a valued member of the VHF DX community who already starred in a previous episode regarding his Tropospheric Forecast Predictions. Bill explains the different types of solar storms and their impacts on DXing, with a focus on geomagnetic storms that produce auroras. He provides insights into the KP and BZ indices, which are used to monitor geomagnetic activity and predict aurora conditions. The discussion covers the technical aspects of aurora-induced DXing and tips for enthusiasts on how to maximize their chances of successful reception during such events. We also speculate with Bill on the potential for similar events in the near future, considering the current solar activity. Bryce and Nick also return with a tech corner discussion, including new SDR offerings from Airspy and SDRPlay, the new Sky Blue 9 element FM antenna, new RabbitEars.Info FM autologger and OpenRadio FM DX Webserver setups. 73s and Good DX to everyone!

Is spring in the air at your QTH? It won't be long until E-Skip and rumors of Sporadic-E begin floating around the interwebs. Until then, Bryce and Nick bring you another off-season episode of the VHF DX Podcast. After recapping conditions, including a very notable February TEP log from CE3SX (formerly CE3SAD) of 92.7 WEOW from Central Chile, the duo was thrilled to be able to talk with Sjef Verhoeven from the Netherlands! Sjef talked with us about: How he became interested in radio receivers and FM broadcast DX What the TEF chip was originally designed for and how it became part of a portable receiver How Sjef joined the TEF ecosystem and began working on developing its firmware Evaluating the right TEF receiver for purchase Version 2.0 firmware features, including how RDS PI decodes are managed Sjef also discussed additional ongoing OpenRadio projects, including: The Sony XDR-GTK The FM-DX-Webserver plugin and the ability to share your TEF with the world Maps on FMDX.pl We highly encourage DXers to join the OpenRadio Discord for the best way to stay on top of firmware updates to the TEF plus engage with an active DX community! Links from the show: The super helpful TEF buying guide from Noobish! OpenRadio Community Discord server All of Sjef's projects Sjef's GitHub page FM-DX Webserver FM-DX Maps The helpful YouTube video on running TEF firmware updates we referenced We thank Sjef gain very much for his time and would strongly encourage buying him a coffee if you enjoy the TEF firmware as much as we do!

Bryce and Nick were delighted to be joined by DXer Chris Kadlec, resident of Fremont, MI, for the second in a two part series. Chris lived in South Korea for several years during the 2010s. Chris shares with Bryce and Nick his observations, not limited to: The signal environments he DX'ed from in South Korea What brought him there Tropo and E-Skip appearances Jammers on North Korea FM frequencies and any DX he was able to amass originating from North Korea Hearing China and Japan Please visit Chris' website at:  ⁠https://www.chriskadlec.com/⁠ He has all sorts of observations from his experience in Korea that are absolutely worth your time to check out!

Bryce and Nick reconvened for the first time in 2024 for a fun-filled episode of the VHF DX Podcast! First, we recapped the recent flurry of January E-Skip reported in the western-half of North America, including some very impressive short skip receptions from the DX ace in the desert, Randy KW4RZ in Goldfield, NV. Then, we were delighted to be joined by DXer Chris Kadlec, resident of Fremont, MI, for the first in a two part series. Chris has over 25 years of experience as a mobile DX'er, artfully using the curvature of the US Great Lakes and the terrain alongside them to observe some truly remarkable propagation phenomena. Chris shares with Bryce and Nick his observations, not limited to: His DX backstory What kind of experiments he's conducted along Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and beyond, in what Chris deems as "Marine DX" Differences between right along the shoreline versus inland for tropospheric enhancement Land/water connections & duct linkages How the lakes may influence sporadic-E, as well If you've ever done any sort of DXing near a coastline, or want to learn more about what kind of subtleties are possible, you won't want to miss this talk with Chris, who has done spectacular work for our DX community with his research. Please visit Chris' website at: https://www.chriskadlec.com/ Stay tuned for part two of our conversation with Chris, as he describes his time FM DXing from South Korea!

The Fall 2023 Tropospheric Ducting season in Eastern North America has been drawing rave reviews, and Bryce and Nick reconvened in Troptober, if you will, to talk about it, and then, play many different audio highlights from the activity. The duo discussed another historic event that occurred on Labor Day Weekend, with some truly astounding overland paths across the Appalachians, including from Steve Walko, Chris Kadlec, Michael Temme-Soifer, and Greg Conigilo, with paths like Eastern PA to Des Moines, IA, and Western NY to Waycross, GA! Excellent tropo returned at the beginning of October, including on October 4-5, with Tim Land in TN hearing 94.7 WXBK from Newark, NJ! We also highlighted a few international receptions, including from Leigh VK2KRR in Australia, spanning across the continent at over 2600 km via tropo! We also previewed a giveaway the WTFDA will be conducting during the month of November, for an Airspy HF+ Discovery SDR, and a TEF6686 portable. Keep an eye on wtfda.org for more details. Finally, in our extended audio spotlight, here are the individuals whose receptions on FM we featured: Tim Land, Kingsport, TN Matt Sittel, Manhattan, KS Jim Thomas, Springfield, MO Chris Kadlec, Fremont, MI John Hanna (W9HC), Brookfield, IL Steve Walko (K3PHL), Quakertown, PA Saul Chernos, Burnt River, ON Plus, Nick and Bryce's audio highlights!

When history is made, we have to pod about it! And Bryce and Nick returned to recap the Tropocalypse of 2023, one of the largest tropo events ever recorded in North America, from August 19-24. We highlighted several outstanding reports, including from Chris Lucas, Rob Ross, Andrew Knafel, Greg Coniglio, Dave Nieman, Chris Kadlec, Bill Hepburn, Tim Land, and the magical Marble, NC autologger. Then, we spoke at length with Matt Sittel of Manhattan, KS, who had some of the most impressive logs of the event, as far east as London, ON, Grove City, PA, and Roanoke, VA. Hear Matt give outstanding insight into his receptions, how he slept right through the Roanoke tropo, and how 87.7 MeTV FM Chicago became his work from home soundtrack. Matt is a degreed meteorologist and works as the Assistant State Climatologist at Kansas State University. He gave us some great meteorological background for the event, including how watching the dew points climb made a difference, particularly for particularly noteworthy logs he had into Colorado and Wyoming! This was a great episode, giving a probably once in a lifetime DX event the attention it deserves! Some key links from the episode: Tim Land (Kingsport, TN) tropo logs on map: https://wtfda.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Aug-Tropo-Map.jpg Tim Land's RDS screen captures: https://wtfda.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RDS-screen-caps.jpg Matt Sittel's DX and Weather Radio webpage: http://matthewsittel.com/ Matt Sittel's K-State climate blog: http://climate.k-state.edu/

How is it the second half of August already? Bryce and Nick reconvene virtually to put a proverbial bow on the 2023 Sporadic-E proceedings, that left many DX'ers wanting more. Inside this discussion-packed episode, the duo covered: Grades for the 2023 E-Skip season. Did July 30 save the season in the Eastern US? A particularly paltry July for E-Skip in Europe. Highlights including Bryce's July 20 Venezuela special, and 2x Es from Washington to Southeast Texas. Recapping the Perseids Meteor Shower, with Nick's autologger setup, and good results from Andrew K. in Ohio and mobile in Utah. What's troubling DX'ers? We cover sources of pain, including RF Noise, IBOC power increases, and the upcoming new LPFM window. Possibly fictitious listener questions The SDRConnect preview software release A look ahead to #TropoSZN A few relevant links discussed on this episode, including: Andrew's Moab, UT FM Meteor Shower Capture Nick's WTFDA website Autologger/Ms setup SDRConnect Preview Release Always reach out to us at vhfdxpodcast at gmail dot com, and we'll talk to you in the Fall!

It’s the middle of summer and the middle of E-Skip season, and Bryce and Nick returned for a special episode of the VHF DX Podcast, as they podcasted live from Bryce’s QTH in Mashpee, MA on Cape Cod.  While the promised Trans-Atlantic E-Skip did not ensue during Nick’s visit,  Bryce and Nick collaborated for a spirited episode.  The two discussed notable recent DX loggings, including the Azores to the Northern US E-Skip event on June 24 that Bryce and at least 5 other DX’ers, from Ontario to Massachusetts, experienced.    Larry Horlick, VO1FOG, in Newfoundland, continues to also have much success with Trans-Atlantic FM E-Skip.  He had a banner month of June, notching new countries in England, France, and the Canary Islands, and had a tremendous opening on June 23, that began with tremendous signals from Portugal and Spain, many exceeding 3500 km, that you can see and hear in this Twitter clip:  https://twitter.com/vo1fog/status/1672416588362919945?s=61&t=CZ8HFZ50rmkANuZ1dvNcsQ They remembered a DX legend in Bob Cooper, recounting some of his notable logging and achievements in the hobby, and then saluted several DXers with new autologgers and/or setups, ranging from Alberta to Greenland!   Many folks have been left wanting more in the 2023 E-Skip season so far, but there’s some reason to believe that July will deliver.  The duo looked at trends and analyzed some data.  They also talked about a phenomenon that seemingly has been common when receiving Texas this year of E-Skip that is extended by tropospheric enhancement.   They introduced a dedicated mailbag segment that will air each episode and that we continue to encourage you to send in your questions for at vhfdxpodcast at gmail dot com!  This time around, we covered questions from possibly fictious listeners concerning aiming a Yagi at E-Skip through local FM signals, and whether the duo’s takes on domestic E-Skip come in a little too hot. We also highly encourage you to check out Bryce's SDR Console tutorial videos on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dxbryce/videos They engaged in the latest tech discussion, with Bryce summarizing the Kraken SDR, and an update on the Perseus 22.   Finally, in our audio spotlight, they saluted Tim Land’s double-hop E-Skip catch of 99.5 KFXX Klamath Falls, OR, from Kingsport, TN.  We also heard more magic from Randy Zerr in Goldfield, NV, which his reception of a 92.9 Statesville, NC translator at over 2,000 mi (3,200 km), 92.3 WKRR Asheboro, NC, and 95.7 WXRC Hickory, NC, all on May 31 of this year.  They also went back and listened to some of his best from 2022, including three stations from Miami, right around 2300 miles.  They also heard from Chris Lucas in Poughkeepsie, NY with some of his best tropo from his time FM DX’ing, including 104.5 WJJK Noblesville, IN and 100.5 WSSL Grey Court SC, and E-Skip, with 104.5 KIMX Centennial, WY, and 105.1 KKXL Denver, CO.