Three Useful Sites for Digital TV DXing

Here are three websites that I've found to be very useful for TV DXing:

• RabbitEars: A very useful site for looking up details about digital TV stations broadcasting in your area. This is where I go to find out the actual RF channel that stations broadcast on.
• FCC TV Query: The FCC's official site for looking up TV station information. You can get the RF channel numbers here too, but they don't list the displayed digital channel numbers so it is slightly less useful. But they do list the station's transmitter power, which the RabbitEars site doesn't.
• This techFAQ article shows the RF frequencies for each TV channel. If you want to know what the actual frequency a TV station is on, you can find out here.

Digital TV Loggings

I've occasionally dabbled in TV DXing over the years and now that over-the-air television is transitioning to digital, I decided to give digital TV DXing a try. That was one reason I bought that Tivax converter last month. Another, of course, was just that I wanted to see what was available to watch on digital TV. On the latter count, the results greatly exceeded my expectations.

I'm not sure how much DXing is going to be possible on digital TV. A month isn't enough time to get a good feel for it, especially as there hasn't been much good propagation lately. What I have seen so far is that, using my home-made TV antenna from my 12th floor apartment balcony, I get all the Toronto and Hamilton stations without fail; the Buffalo stations are present most of the time, and stations from Rochester NY are often present (maybe a third of the time). Beyond that, the only DX I've got is WSYR TV from Syracuse, NY, which has put in an appearance a couple of times. I also saw, once, poorly, a station from Jamestown, NY, but that was before I started logging digital TV, so it isn't in the log yet.

Here's what I've logged. Dates and times in UTC (subtract 4 hours to get local Toronto time). Each subchannel of a station is logged separately. There are two channels listed: RFC (RF Channel; the actual TV channel the station broadcasts on), and DC (Display Channel; the channel number that the station is displayed as). This list is basically a list of the digital TV stations you can expect to see here in Toronto.

1. WGRZ-RTV, RFC: 33, DC: 02-3, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-06, 01:50-02:16, RTV.
2. WGRZ-US, RFC: 33, DC: 02-2, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-06, 02:16-02:17, US Network.
3. WGRZ-HD, RFC: 33, DC: 02-1, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-06, 02:17-02:25, NBC.
4. WROC-DT, RFC: 45, DC: 08, Rochester NY, 2009-07-06, 02:24-02:26, CBS.
5. WXXI-HD, RFC: 16, DC: 21-1, Rochester NY, 2009-07-06, 02:27-02:30, PBS.
6. WXXI-W, RFC: 16, DC: 21-2, Rochester NY, 2009-07-06, 02:31-02:34, PBS.
7. WXXI-C, RFC: 16, DC: 21-3, Rochester NY, 2009-07-06, 02:34-02:36, PBS.
8. WUHF-DT, RFC: 28, DC: 31, Rochester NY, 2009-07-06, 02:39-02:41, Fox.
9. CBLT-DT, RFC: 20, DC: 05, Toronto ON, 2009-07-09, 03:40-03:44, CBC.
10. WKBW-HD, RFC: 38, DC: 07, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-09, 03:44-03:47, ABC.
11. CFTO-HD, RFC: 40, DC: 09, Toronto ON, 2009-07-09, 03:48-03:51, CTV.
12. CHCH-DT, RFC: 18, DC: 11, Hamilton ON, 2009-07-09, 03:52-03:55, CH.
13. WIVB-HD, RFC: 39, DC: 04-1, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-09, 04:12-04:18, CBS.
14. WHAM-HD, RFC: 13, DC: 13-1, Rochester NY, 2009-07-09, 12:06-12:06.
    
15. WHAM-CW, RFC: 13, DC: 13-2, Rochester NY, 2009-07-09, 23:35-23:39, CW.
16. WSYR-DT, RFC: 17, DC: 09-1, Syracuse NY, 2009-07-09, 23:43-23:45, Tropo.
17. WHEC-HD, RFC: 10, DC: 10-1, Rochester NY, 2009-07-10, 03:30-03:36, NBC.
18. WHEC-DT, RFC: 10, DC: 10-2, Rochester NY, 2009-07-10, 03:36-03:38, Weather.
19. WNED-HD, RFC: 43, DC: 17-1, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-19, 15:35-15:38, PBS.
20. WNED-SD, RFC: 43, DC: 17-2, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-19, 15:38-15:39, PBS.
21. WNED-TH, RFC: 43, DC: 17-3, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-19, 15:39-15:42, PBS–TH.
22. WNLO-HD, RFC: 32, DC: 23-1, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-19, 15:43-15:45, CW23.
23. CBLFT-D, RFC: 24, DC: 25-1, Toronto ON, 2009-07-19, 15:45-15:47, Radio-Canada French.
    
24. WUTV-HD, RFC: 14, DC: 29-1, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-19, 15:47-15:51, Fox 29.
25. WUTV-SD, RFC: 14, DC: 29-2, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-19, 15:51-15:52, Fox 29.
26. CITS-HD, RFC: 35, DC: 36-1, Hamilton ON, 2009-07-19, 23:06-23:09, CTS Religious.
27. CIII-DT-41, RFC: 65, DC: 41-1, Toronto ON, 2009-07-19, 23:09-23:13, GlobalTV.
28. CJMT-TV, RFC: 44, DC: 44-1, Toronto ON, 2009-07-19, 23:14-23:15, Omni 2.
29. WNYO-HD, RFC: 49, DC: 49-1, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-19, 23:15-23:17, MyTV.
30. WNYO-SD, RFC: 49, DC: 49-2, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-19, 23:17-23:19, MyTV.
31. CITY-HD, RFC: 53, DC: 57-1, Toronto ON, 2009-07-19, 23:23-23:26, CityTV.
32. CFMT-TV, RFC: 64, DC: 64-1, Toronto ON, 2009-07-19, 23:26-23:28, Omni 1.
33. CKXT-DT, RFC: 66, DC: 66-1, Toronto ON, 2009-07-19, 23:29-23:30, Sun TV.
34. WPXJ-ION, RFC: 23, DC: 51-1, Batavia NY, 2009-07-20, 03:16-03:20, ION.
35. WPXJ-Qubo, RFC: 23, DC: 51-2, Batavia NY, 2009-07-20, 03:20-03:22, Qubo.
36. WPXJ-ION Life, RFC: 23, DC: 51-3, Batavia NY, 2009-07-20, 03:22-03:23, ION Life.
37. WPXJ-Worship, RFC: 23, DC: 51-4, Batavia NY, 2009-07-20, 03:23-03:25, Worship.
38. WSYR-2, RFC: 17, DC: 09-2, Syracuse NY, 2009-07-21, 05:05-05:09, Doppler 9 Weather and News Ticker.

Three More FM Stations Plus One More

Saturday I added three more stations to the Toronto FM log. These were received on the Honda radio in my car.

76. CKDO-1, 107.7, Oshawa ON, 2009-07-18, 18:25-18:33, Oldies - parallel to 1580 AM.
    
77. CBCO, 91.5, Orillia ON, 2009-07-18, 18:37-18:40, CBC Radio One.
    
78. CKBT, 91.5, Kitchener-Waterloo, ON, 2009-07-18, 18:37-18:40, "91.5 The Beat".

In addition to these three, there's one more to mention: CBC Radio Two on 90.7. It's not going into the log yet because I don't know where it's from. There are two repeaters of CBC Radio Two from Toronto on this frequency: CBL-2 in Paris, ON, and CBL-3 in Orillia, ON. I'm midway between both of them and both are approximately the same strength (4 and 4.8 kW), so it could have been either. I lean towards it being the one in Paris because there was very mild tropo that morning towards that direction, but I don't really know.

Build Your Own TV Antenna

A few posts back I mentioned that I got a converter to enable me to watch over-the-air digital TV. The other piece of gear one needs for watching over-the-air television is a TV antenna, and the one I already had is not very good. It's one of those "UFO" style omnidirectional VHF and UHF jobs and it worked but not quite as well as I'd like.

Coincidentally I happened to find a video on Make TV about how to make your own TV antenna out of scrap wood and cut-up clothes hangers. It's a DB4 "bowtie" antenna with four "bowties" that's cut for UHF.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/maker_workshop_dtv_antenna_steadyca.html

I built this and it really does work. I bolted it to a pole and set it out on my 12th floor apartment balcony, and it is providing noticeably better reception than the antenna I had out there already. Including on VHF, which is a surprise.

The results? I've gotten every local Toronto digital TV station, of course. I've also received every digital station from Buffalo, NY. And most of the Rochester, NY stations. Analog channels are also coming in much better. It works much better than I expected it would. And it's made out of clothes hangers. Cool!

Here's another site with plans for the same antenna:

http://www.tvantennaplans.com/

I also added some splitters and hooked this antenna up to the FM receiver on my stereo, which has improved reception on that thing considerably. And the antenna isn't even cut for the FM band. (This is temporary - I'm going to buy, or make, an FM antenna soon).

Latest Loggings on FM

A few more stations for the Toronto FM log. All of these were logged using my new Grundig G8 Traveler II, a little ultralight-style radio that I bought last week at The Source because of the reviews on the web that praise it for amazing DX performance on FM. The fact that I've logged six new FM stations using it shows that it is DX-worthy, although I haven't had enough experience with it yet to say just how good it actually is.

The new Toronto loggings (dates and times in UTC):

70. CKJN, 92.9, Caledonia ON, 2009-07-12, 23:15-23:40, "The Moose"
71. CFMU, 93.3, Hamilton ON, 2009-07-12, 23:43-23:48, McMaster University campus station.
72. CKHC, 96.9, Toronto ON, 2009-07-12, 23:50-00:05, Humber College campus station.
73. CKEY, 101.1, Ft. Erie - Niagara ON, 2009-07-13, 03:50-04:10, Z101 - hits.
74. WHTT, 104.1, Buffalo NY, 2009-07-13, 12:02-12:07, Mix 104 - light rock.
75. WGMC, 90.1, Greece NY, 2009-07-15, 11:30-11:42, Jazz 90.1 - tropo.

I also have one other new FM logging for the overall log, a station I heard while in Milton, ON on the weekend:

• WUBJ, 88.1, Jamestown NY, 2009-07-11, 15:27-15:32, NPR //WBFO 88.7

Another FM E-Skip Logging

This one is from last Thursday evening, July 9.

69. WUWF, 88.1, Pensacola - Fort Walton Beach FL, 2009-07-09, 23:18-23:22, 100 kW, NPR.
    

Dates and time in UTC. Radio: Grundig Satellit 800.

88.1 has been available for DXing lately because CKLN, the Ryerson campus station, has been operating on very reduced power - so much so that they were barely audible here. But today they've returned to full strength. Too bad for the DXing possibilities, but I don't mind that much because I actually listen to CKLN a lot - they have great Jazz programming in the morning.

Digital TV - Tivax STB-T8 Converter

Over-the-air television broadcasting is in the process of switching from analog to digital. In the United States the official switchover occurred in June; in Canada the switch will take place in 2011. However, many TV stations in Canada are already broadcasting in the new digital format as well as in the traditional analog one.

I was curious to see what digital TV is like, so in June I bought a digital-to-analog converter to connect to my purely analog Toshiba television. The converter is a Tivax STB-T8, which I bought at Durham Radio in Whitby, ON. I hooked it up to the TV and to an old TV antenna I had on my balcony. The results were much better than I had expected.

First, not only are most of Toronto's TV stations already broadcasting in DTV, I also get most of Buffalo's TV stations regularly, and irregularly I've been seeing Rochester, NY's stations. This was a surprise because I'd heard that DTV signals didn't travel long distances well, and so I expected only to see Toronto's stations.

Second, the picture quality is excellent. As good as cable TV. It's astounding to me to be watching a station like WXXI, the PBS station in Rochester, with a cable-quality picture over the air. (Actually, the picture quality would probably be better than cable if I owned an HDTV).

Third, I get a lot more stations than I expected. It depends on propagation conditions, but I've gotten close to 40 channels. I'm counting the subchannels of a station as separate channels - e.g., there are three channels from WGRZ-TV in Buffalo.

It's really cool and I've been having fun playing with it.

Some Real FM DX

On Mon. July 6, I got some real DX on FM. There was an E-skip opening underway when I got home from work and I managed to get IDs on three stations. (Sporadic E-skip is a propagation mode on VHF where distant signals get refracted back to Earth by highly ionized patches in the E-layer of the Earth's ionosphere).

Here are the three stations I identified. Dates and times in UTC:

66. WMFE-FM, 90.7, Orlando FL, 2009-07-06, 22:47-22:53, 100 kW, NPR.
    
67. WKGC-FM, 90.7, Panama City FL, 2009-07-06, 22:53-22:55, 100 kW.
68. WVAS, 90.7, Montgomery AL, 2009-07-06, 22:55-23:15, 80 kW, Jazz & ID on hour with location.
    

Total Toronto FM log count is now 68.

E-skip is one of those phenomena that makes radio propagation so fascinating. Normally FM signals are purely local or regional, but under certain conditions, conditions that occur sporadically and unpredictably, they can travel thousands of miles and sound almost local when they arrive. That sort of thing is fascinating.

Blog: South Carolina DXing

Here's another radio blog similar to mine: South Carolina DXing. Stumbled across it today while googling for information about the new Grundig G8 Traveller II.

Three FM Stations on 90.7

90.7 is one of the few fully open frequencies in the lower end of the FM band here in Toronto. So I tend to check it a lot for possible DX. Between June 29 and July 4 I heard three noteworthy stations here, although I was only able to get a firm ID from one of them.

The one I was able to identify has been added to my Toronto FM log:

65. CFU758, 90.7, Vaughan ON, 2009-07-04, 19:14-19:19, "RAV FM, The Voice of Vaughan"

CFU758, RAV-FM, is a low powered campus station. It's one of the very few campus stations in Canada operated by a high school - Vaughan Secondary School. It also calls itself the Voice of Vaughan. I logged this on the Honda radio in my '95 Civic while stopped in a parking lot near Wilson and Dufferin in North York.

At the same time as I was hearing RAV-FM, I was also hearing an outlet of CBC Radio Two on the same frequency at about equal strength. Most likely this was CBL-2 in Paris, Ontario, but I suppose it could also have been CBL-3 in Orillia. Not enough to identify which, so for now it doesn't go in the log.

The third station I heard on 90.7 I don't know what it was. On June 29 at 0235 UTC I heard, at home on the Satellit 800, a slightly-staticky but steady station. It was broadcasting music - good quality blues. Then without any announcement it transitioned into a documentary that ran to 0330, on the life and work of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Later I googled about this documentary and found that it was actually the soundtrack of a BBC-TV documentary about Nietzsche called Human, All Too Human. After the documentary it went into some type of ambient/electronica music to 0340, at which time it abruptly went off the air. Two days later I heard the station again. It was playing an eclectic but high quality mix of music, then went into a political show called Democracy Now, which sounded like it was coming off the Internet, and more music. I eventually turned it off when that Nietzsche documentary returned for an encore performance. This time there were a couple of brief IDs, but I missed them.

What was this? I don't think it was a licenced broadcaster. To me it sounded like it was either a pirate, or maybe someone with a legal low-powered FM transmitter doing a bit of broadcasting. In the latter case it would have to be one of my neighbours. I'm keeping an ear out for it on 90.7 just in case it puts in another appearance.

FM Logbook

These are all the FM stations I've logged from Toronto between June 1 and June 24, 2009. I have logged a few more since the 24th but haven't updated my log files yet to include them. Equipment used for all of these: Grundig Satellit 800 and built-in whip antenna. Dates and times in UTC.

1. CIXL, 91.7, Welland ON, 2009-06-02, 02:15-02:25, "Giant FM" Rock
2. WXXI, 91.5, Rochester NY, 2009-06-03, 12:22-12:30, NPR Classical
3. CHIN-1, 91.9, Toronto ON, 2009-06-04, 11:15-11:22, Italian
   
4. CJRT, 91.1, Toronto ON, 2009-06-04, 11:27-11:31, Jazz
5. WBER, 90.5, Rochester NY, 2009-06-05, 12:05-12:16, Campus station
   
6. CJBC-FM, 90.3, Toronto ON, 2009-06-05, 12:17-12:20, CBC R. Canada French
   
7. CJKX-1, 89.9, Sunderland ON, 2009-06-06, 03:54-03:57, KX96 Country
8. CIUT, 89.5, Toronto ON, 2009-06-06, 12:50-13:05, Campus - University of Toronto
9. CIRV, 88.9, Toronto ON, 2009-06-06, 13:30-13:35, Multicultural
   
10. WBFO, 88.7, Buffalo NY, 2009-06-06, 13:35-13:40, NPR
11. CKDX, 88.5, Newmarket ON, 2009-06-06, 13:40-14:00, "Light Hits The Jewel"
12. CKLN, 88.1, Toronto ON, 2009-06-06, 14:07-14:26, Ryerson University campus station
    
13. CKPC-FM, 92.1, Brantford ON, 2009-06-07, 14:35-14:40, Oldies
14. CKRZ, 100.3, Ohsweken ON, 2009-06-07, 14:42-14:50, First Nations
15. CJAQ, 92.5, Toronto ON, 2009-06-07, 14:56-15:10, Rock
16. WBUF, 92.9, Buffalo NY, 2009-06-07, 15:11-15:20, Rock
17. CHAY, 93.1, Barrie ON, 2009-06-09, 02:44-02:48, Rock
18. CFXJ, 93.5, Toronto ON, 2009-06-09, 02:48-02:51, Urban music
19. WBLK, 93.7, Buffalo NY, 2009-06-09, 02:51-02:53
    
20. CBL, 94.1, Toronto ON, 2009-06-11, 01:05-01:10, CBC Radio Two
21. WNED-FM, 94.5, Buffalo NY, 2009-06-11, 01:10-01:42, NPR
22. CIWV, 94.7, Hamilton ON, 2009-06-11, 01:43-01:48, Smooth Jazz
23. CKGE, 94.9, Oshawa ON, 2009-06-11, 01:48-01:55, Rock
24. CING, 95.3, Hamilton ON, 2009-06-12, 12:00-12:05, Country
25. CFJB, 95.7, Barrie ON, 2009-06-12, 12:05-12:08, Rock
26. CJKX, 95.9, Ajax ON, 2009-06-12, 12:08-12:11, Country
27. CFMZ, 96.3, Toronto ON, 2009-06-13, 03:10-03:15, Classical
28. WJYE, 96.1, Buffalo NY, 2009-06-13, 03:11-03:19
    
29. CHYM, 96.7, Kitchener ON, 2009-06-13, 03:21-03:25, Light Rock
30. WGRF, 96.9, Buffalo NY, 2009-06-13, 03:25-03:30, Rock
31. CJEZ, 97.3, Toronto ON, 2009-06-13, 13:35-13:37, Light Rock
32. CHTZ, 97.7, St. Catharines ON, 2009-06-13, 13:37-13;50, Rock
33. CHFI, 98.1, Toronto ON, 2009-06-14, 00:35-00:43, Rock oldies
34. WKSE, 98.5, Niagara Falls NY, 2009-06-14, 00:43-00:46, Rock
35. CBCP, 98.7, Peterborough ON, 2009-06-14, 13:50-14:06, CBC Radio One
36. CBLA, 99.1, Toronto ON, 2009-06-15, 11:14-11:17, CBC Radio One
37. WDCX, 99.5, Buffalo NY, 2009-06-16, 11:25-11:35, Religious
38. CKFM, 99.9, Toronto ON, 2009-06-16, 11:37-11:45, Rock
39. CJLF, 100.3, Barrie ON, 2009-06-16, 11:50-11:54, Religious
40. CHIN-FM, 100.7, Toronto ON, 2009-06-17, 03:28-03:31, Multicultural
    
41. CJSA-FM, 101.3, Toronto ON, 2009-06-17, 03:40-04:10, Tamil - multicultural
    
42. CIOI, 101.5, Hamilton ON, 2009-06-17, 04:12-04:21
    
43. CFNY, 102.1, Toronto ON, 2009-06-17, 11:45-11:55, The Edge
44. WLOF, 101.7, Attica-Kenmore NY, 2009-06-17, 11:55-12:00, Religious
45. WTSS, 102.5, Buffalo NY, 2009-06-18, 11:37-12:03, Rock
46. CKLH, 102.9, Hamilton ON, 2009-06-18, 12:03-12:05, Light Rock
47. CFMX, 103.1, Cobourg ON, 2009-06-19, 11:12-11:23, Classical
48. WEDG, 103.3, Buffalo NY, 2009-06-19, 11:23-11:27, Rock
49. CIDC, 103.5, Orangeville ON, 2009-06-20, 11:25-11:32, C103.5
50. CIRR, 103.9, Toronto ON, 2009-06-20, 11:32-11:45, Proud FM
51. CHUM-FM, 104.5, Toronto ON, 2009-06-20, 11:45-11:50, Light Rock
52. WCOU, 88.3, Warsaw NY, 2009-06-20, 12:00-12:02, Religious
53. CHOQ, 105.1, Toronto ON, 2009-06-20, 12:03-12:06, French
54. CFCA, 105.3, Kitchener-Waterloo ON, 2009-06-20, 12:06-12:09, Rock
55. CHRY, 105.5, Toronto ON, 2009-06-20, 12:09-12:11, York University campus station
    
56. CHRE, 105.7, St. Catharines ON, 2009-06-20, 12:11-12:16, Light Rock
57. CIMJ, 106.1, Guelph ON, 2009-06-20, 12:21-12:23, Magic FM
58. CKAV, 106.5, Toronto ON, 2009-06-22, 01:50-02:20, Aboriginal - AVN
    
59. CILQ, 107.1, Toronto ON, 2009-06-22, 02:24-02:35, Q-107
60. CKMB, 107.5, Barrie ON, 2009-06-22, 02:35-02:45, Kool FM
61. WLKK, 107.7, Wetherfield-Buffalo NY, 2009-06-22, 02:45-02:51, The Lake
62. CJXY, 107.9, Burlington ON, 2009-06-22, 02:51-03:03, Y108
63. WFRW, 88.1, Webster NY, 2009-06-24, 11:45-12:15, Family Radio
64. WBSU, 89.1, Brockport NY, 2009-06-24, 12:16-12:21, The Point

Total station count in Toronto log: 64.

FM Band Map

Here's that map of the FM band in Toronto that I put together in June. It's what I hear from my home in midtown Toronto on my Grundig Satellit 800, using its whip antenna. If you're located elsewhere in the city or have different equipment than I do, then what you hear might be slightly different.

Freq Station
87.9 ----
88.1 CKLN – Ryerson U.
88.3 WCOU – Family Life
88.5 CKDX – The Jewel
88.7 WBFO – NPR
88.9 CIRV
89.1 WBSU – The Point
89.3 ----
89.5 CIUT – U. Toronto
89.7 ----
89.9 CJKX-1 – KX 96
90.1 ----
90.3 CJBC-FM – R. Canada
90.5 WBER
90.7 ----
90.9 ----
91.1 CJRT – Jazz FM
91.3 ----
91.5 WXXI – NPR
91.7 CIXL – Giant FM
91.9 CHIN-1
92.1 CKPC
92.3 ----
92.5 CJAQ – Kiss 92.5
92.7 ----
92.9 WBUF – Jack FM
93.1 CHAY
93.3 ----
93.5 CFXJ – The New Flow
93.7 WBLK
93.9 ----
94.1 CBL – CBC Radio Two
94.3 ----
94.5 WNED – NPR
94.7 CIWV – The Wave
94.9 CKGE – The Rock
95.1 ----
95.3 CING – New Country
95.5 ----
95.7 CFJB – Rock 95
95.9 CJKX – KX 96
96.1 WJYE
96.3 CFMZ – Classical 96
96.5 ----
96.7 CHYM-FM
96.9 WGRF – 97 Rock
97.1 ----
97.3 CJEZ – EZ Rock
97.5 ----
97.7 CHTZ – Hits FM
97.9 ----
98.1 CHFI
98.3 ----
98.5 WKSE – Kiss 98.5
98.7 CBCP - CBC Radio One
98.9 ----
99.1 CBLA – CBC Radio One
99.3 ----
99.5 WDCX
99.7 ----
99.9 CKFM – Virgin Radio
100.1 ----
100.3 CKRZ, CJLF
100.5 ----
100.7 CHIN
100.9 ----
101.1 ----
101.3 CJSA – CMR
101.5 CIOI – C-101.5
101.7 WLOF – Station of the Cross
101.9 ----
102.1 CFNY – The Edge
102.3 ----
102.5 WTSS – Star 102.5
102.7 ----
102.9 CKLH – K-Lite
103.1 CFMX – Classical 96
103.3 WEDG – The Edge
103.5 CIDC – C103.5
103.7 ----
103.9 CIRR – Proud FM
104.1 ----
104.3 ----
104.5 CHUM-FM
104.7 ----
104.9 ----
105.1 CHOQ
105.3 CFCA – Kool FM
105.5 CHRY – York U
105.7 CHRE – Easy Rock
105.9 ----
106.1 CIMJ – Magic FM
106.3 ----
106.5 CKAV – AVN
106.7 ----
106.9 ----
107.1 CILQ – Q107
107.3 ----
107.5 CKMB – Kool FM
107.7 WLKK – The Lake
107.9 CJXY – Y108

Bold: Strong dominant.
Normal: Semi-dominant.
Italic: Weak; semi-regular.
---: Open.

FM DXing

After spending nine months focused on DXing the AM radio band, I decided it was time to turn my attention to the other local broadcasting band, FM. I've never been an avid FM DXer, but I have dabbled in it off and on over the years and find it interesting. I've only logged 270 FM stations in total, mostly ones logged locally or while traveling. But there have been some good DX catches in that time.

I decided to start a new FM logbook beginning June 1, 2009, that will include only stations logged from within the city of Toronto. I began by logging all the local and semi-local stations to produce a map of the band. This effort yielded some interesting results:

• There are about 50 stations here that are strong locals or semi-dominant regional ones. These frequencies are pretty much blocked for DXing.
• There are about another 10 frequencies with weak but semi-regular stations. DXing may be possible on these frequencies under the right conditions.
• There are 100 channels on the FM band, and between the ones that are blocked, the slop from these on adjacent channels, and the weak semi-regulars, there's not a lot of DX-able frequencies left.

So DXing FM from Toronto has its challenges. But I'll see what I can accomplish here.

Some Shortwave Loggings

In late May and June I did some listening on the 31 metre band and logged the following stations:

• 9690 China - China Radio International via Nobeljas, Spain, at 0302 in English with news show. (Good June 13)
• 9700 Bulgaria - Radio Bulgaria, Plovdiv, at 0215 in English to North America with news magazine show. (Good June 3)
• 9735 Russia - Voice of Russia via Montsinery, French Guiana relay at 0225 in Spanish with news magazine "Chronica" (Good June 3)
• 9825 Germany - Deutsche Welle via Sines, Portugal relay at 0325 in German with talk show and news about Opel at half hour. (Fair May 29)
• 9825 United States - WHRI World Harvest Radio, Cypress Creek, SC, at 0454 with religious programming. (Good May 30)
• 9870 Czech Republic - Radio Prague, at 0302 in English. News, weather conditions in Prague. Feature item on unveiling of a statue having something to do with the anniversary of the assassination of Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich in 1942. (Fair May 28)
• 9880 Russia - Voice of Russia, Krasnodar, at 0240 in Spanish with news magazine show. (Poor June 3)
• 9885 United States - Voice of America, at 0455 in English to Africa with news program "Press Conference USA". Sign off at 0500. (Good June 6)
• 9890 Russia - Voice of Russia, at 0147 in English with music program "Kalaidoscope". ID with email and URL. IS and news at 0200. (Very Good May 26)
• 9895 Madagascar - Voice of the People, at 0400. Zimbabwean opposition station carried on R. Nederland's Madagascar relay. Programming in English, Shona, and a third Zimbabwean language. Talk with snippets of African music. Sign on was preceded by at least 15 minutes of silent carrier. To Zimbabwe. (Fair June 6)
• 9925 Croatia - Croatian Radio, at 0203 via German relay with news in English. IDs as Voice of Croatia and as Croatian Radio. (Fair May 26)
• 9955 United States - WRMI (Radio Miami International), at 0259 with Radio Prague IDs in Czech and R. Prague IDs. Then at 0300 WRMI ID and into WRMI programming in Spanish. (Poor June 5)
• 10051 Canada - Gander Radio, Gander NL at 0220 in SSB with aviation weather for Canadian cities - covering Ontario at time of listening (Fair May 29)

Frequencies in kiloHertz. Dates and times in UTC. Radio: JRC NRD-525 attached to random length wire antenna.