FM: WRVO and WFRY

Today, May 30, 2011, I added two stations to the Toronto FM log and one to the overall log. There was some tropospheric propagation bringing in stations from the eastern end of Lake Ontario.

• WRVO 89.9 MHz, Oswego NY. 11:35-11:42 UTC. Good signal. NPR. WRVO ID. Logged before - this is a semi-local station in Kingston, ON. First logging of it from Toronto. 50kW.

• WFRY 97.5 MHz, Watertown-Carthage, NY. 11:50-12:00 UTC. Good signal. "Froggy 97", news items, country music. ID on hour. New to overall and Toronto logs. 97 kW.

This brings the overall FM log count to 329, and the Toronto log count to 112.

Logged these on the Sony XDR-F1HD using the new outdoor FM antenna I bought recently. The antenna is omnidirectional with a single element curved around into a circle. I doubt it is very efficient but it has the virtue of being small, small enough to fit unobtrusively on my balcony. And even an inefficient omnidirectional antenna that's outdoors is a big improvement over an indoor antenna.

CQ World Wide WPX CW Contest

I was on the air today making some contacts in the CQ World Wide WPX CW contest. Also kept a log of the stations I heard. Time: 15:00-21:10 UTC. Bands: 15 and 10 metres (21 and 28 MHz). Some good DX heard, plus the usual assortment of stations from the U.S. and Canada.

• 15 metres: Stations from Colombia (HK1R), Chile (XQ1KZ), Aruba (P49Y), Puerto Rico (NP2/OL5Y), Martinique (FM5CD), Honduras (HQ9R), Senegal (6W/RK4FF), Brazil (PW7T), Azores (CR2X), Portugal (CS2C), and Italy (II9T).
• 10 metres: Stations from Bonaire (PJ4A), Colombia (HK1NA), and Brazil (PW2D and PS2T).

More WSPR Receptions

Another WSPR session. Highlights included receiving 5 watt stations from Venezuela and Spain. Details here.

WSPR Receptions

Listening for stations in WSPR today. Highlights included receiving a 1 watt station from the U.K. (G4BJO) and a 2 watt one from Switzerland (HB9TPL). Details here.