Florence, New Jersey DX Log:  Records and the stories behind them

E-Skip

Farthest

1. 92.9 KRWN Farmington, NM (6/10/06) 1813 miles

A major e-skip opening began the morning of June 10 (and it actually followed a big opening the evening of June 9th that included a nearly 2300 mile double-hop reception of Durango Mexico in Massachusetts).  At 11:30 AM while receiving signals in Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas, I for some reason stopped on 92.9, a frequency that I often sit on to listen for impending E-Skip but often don't stay on during openings because I already have many logs on the frequency.  Moments later, an ad for a car dealer came in and what caught my attention was a mention of "the Four Corners", before fading.  Since the opening continued on for three more straight hours, I did not research the clip until the downtime, when I posted the audio onto the WTFDA forums.  It was there several members determined the ad to be for Ziem's Ford Corners in Farmington, NM, and thus airing on 92.9 KRWN Farmington.  I later confirmed the reception with their PD via e-mail.  Audio can be heard here.

2. 92.9 CFQC Saskatoon, SK (6/10/06) 1706 miles

On that same day of June 10, e-skip once again fired up big time in the afternoon, this time to a rarer area here, western Ontario and the upper peninsula of Michigan, the latter being on the short side from here.  At around 5:50 PM, I saw two reports from nearby DXers on the WTFDA list of 92.9 Saskatoon, SK logged.  So after tuning to 92.9, it didn't take long to find CFQC in, and the most shocking thing about the reception was how strong the signal of CFQC was.  I was leaving for work shortly thereafter, and I found CFQC in with a liner from my driveway in my car!  Two audio clips of CFQC an be heard, one that got covered up but with the actual calletters, and another one with a strong signal featuring their "Hot 93" slogan (the station has since re-imaged).  Needless to say June 10, 2006 was a day of e-skip that probably won't be ever duplicated here.

3.  94.9 KZWY Sheridan, WY (8/3/08) 1667 miles

An E-Skip opening began around 7:50 PM the evening of August 3rd.  At the same time I had noted signals from Iowa and Minnesota, DXers on the west coast were receiving the same areas.  At 7:55 PM, I recorded the tail end of an ad with mentions of Sheridan and Gillette, followed by a "Z-94" liner that barely came in before completely dropping out.  This turned out to be 94.9 KZWY Sheridan, WY, and I confirmed the reception the next day with their OM via e-mail.  The rest of the opening was quite weak as I only managed one other new log, but it will still obviously be memorable.  Audio of KZWY can be heard here.

4.  CHMX 92.1 Regina, SK (6/8/08) 1599 miles

On the evening of June 8 an e-skip opening set up to North Dakota and Manitoba.  The opening seemed to be stretching out farther than usual, as stations were in from the Minot, ND area, along with western portions of Manitoba.  At about 8:15 PM, I had an AC station on 92.1, mixing with WMIS from Blackduck, MN and CITI from Winnipeg, MB.  For the heck of it I took a look at 92.1 CHMX's website to see what was playing, and the song I heard matched.  However, I just could not log CHMX definitively being just about 1600 miles from here without some type of ID, plus they were airing the John Tesh radio show at the time.  The song I heard faded, and I did not hear anything I suspected was CHMX for the duration of the opening.  My disappointment turned to excitement though a few days later going through recordings of the opening, as I heard perhaps the luckiest fade-up for an ID I've ever had.  At 8:20 PM, a quick burst of CHMX's web-address "www.lite92fm.com" came through on my recording, which I must have missed while DXing live since I have two tuners always going.  I couldn't have asked for a better ID, or for luckier timing.  A recording can be heard here.

Top 10 Farthest E-Skip

Shortest

Tropo

1. 106.5 KCQQ Davenport, IA (10/2/05) 823 mi.

On the early morning of October 2, I had noticed Randy Zerr had sent a message to the WTFDA list stating that N0PB in Missouri had just worked nearby K2SMN in NJ with 5X9 signals on 144 mhz tropo.  Also, Jeff Kadet in Illinois reported tentatively logging WPPX TV 61, also from my area.  Earlier that night there was a tropo path on the APRS map from Maryland to Alabama.  These reports obviously caught my attention, so just before 3 AM I scanned around the dial.  The first thing that occupied my attention was a weak signal on 107.3 that turned out to be WNWV/Elyria-Cleveland, OH, which was a very exciting log for me since I grew up in the Cleveland area and "The Wave" was the station I grew up listening to, plus realizing how difficult westward trop through the Appalachians is here in NJ.  At about 3:05 AM I also noted a weak signal on 106.5 with a "Q-106.5" ID.  My first guess on this was that it was Kalamazoo, MI being that I heard WNWV just before it, but the format did not match Kalamazoo's.  After posting the clip on the WTFDA forums and contacting KCQQ 106.5's PD, it was determined to be KCQQ 106.5, to my absolute amazement.  My biggest regret is not getting more logs out of that opening, unfortunately I was still too much of an inexperienced DXer back then and since I was so satisfied with logging WNWV, I didn't go to great lengths to dig out anything else.  I'll certainly take KCQQ though, a log that would not even be possible now since 106.5 WBBO signed on from Bass River Twp., a signal that might as well be a local here.  The crazy trop the morning of October 2, 2005 kicked off a 3-day period of the best trop I've experienced here, including more Cleveland and signals from Ontario that evening, and a boatload of signals deep into Maine and the Canadian Maritimes the next two days after.  Click here to hear the audio of KCQQ.

Best trop logs by direction

Farthest Tropo log:  KCQQ 106.5 Davenport, IA 823 mi. - 10/2/05
Farthest Tropo log NE:  CBH-2 103.1 Mulgrave, NS 774 mi. - 10/5/05
Farthest Tropo log NW:  WUGN 99.7 Midland, MI 554 mi. - 9/22/08
Farthest Tropo log W:  KCQQ 106.5 Davenport, IA 823 mi. - 10/2/05
Farthest Tropo log SW:  WTCB 106.7 Orangeburg, SC 553 mi. - 9/21/08

Meteor Scatter

Farthest MS log:  KQZZ 96.7 Devils Lake, ND 1313 mi. - 8/7/08
Shortest MS log:  CHYM 96.7 Kitchener, ON 377 mi. - 8/9/08