Signal Skips?

While in Downtown Evanston yesterday listening on a little http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103050 I was able to get all the chicago station plus WXLC/102.3, Waukegan, WIIL (95.1 Kenosha, Wi) (100.7, V-100, Sounded like up near the Wi Border) (95.9 The River) and 99.1 WMYX..(Hales Corners/Milwaukee).

How random are these stations coming in?

Those signals aren't all that far away. 95.1 WIIL can be heard in my car in Evanston. I haven't really tried listening to the other stations though, so they too may be listenable in my car. I'll give it a try next time I'm in the area.

BTW...when the FM Skip is happening... stations from across the Lake, in Michigan can be heard in Chicago.

sox fan matt said:

While in Downtown Evanston yesterday listening on a little http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103050 I was able to get all the chicago station plus WXLC/102.3, Waukegan, WIIL (95.1 Kenosha, Wi) (100.7, V-100, Sounded like up near the Wi Border) (95.9 The River) and 99.1 WMYX..(Hales Corners/Milwaukee).

How random are these stations coming in?

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Could be tropospheric enhancement, see, for example: http://www.dxinfocentre.com/propagation/tr-modes.htm
Or, search with terms like "FM tropospheric enhancement" You're likely to hear these more distant stations on a smaller portable radio when there is TE.

sox fan matt said:

While in Downtown Evanston yesterday listening on a little http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103050 I was able to get all the chicago station plus WXLC/102.3, Waukegan, WIIL (95.1 Kenosha, Wi) (100.7, V-100, Sounded like up near the Wi Border) (95.9 The River) and 99.1 WMYX..(Hales Corners/Milwaukee).

How random are these stations coming in?

Click to expand...

I usually have no problem picking up any of those stations. I can pick up WMYX and WIIL on the Kennedy expressway.

I can often pick up a 1kw daytimer, 1560, WRIN, Rensselaer, IN
around Harlem and Addison in Chicago.

I can pick up 550, KTRS, St. Louis, and 920 WRIT, Milwaukee at the same location.

radioman148 said:

sox fan matt said:

While in Downtown Evanston yesterday listening on a little http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103050 I was able to get all the chicago station plus WXLC/102.3, Waukegan, WIIL (95.1 Kenosha, Wi) (100.7, V-100, Sounded like up near the Wi Border) (95.9 The River) and 99.1 WMYX..(Hales Corners/Milwaukee).

How random are these stations coming in?

Click to expand...

I usually have no problem picking up any of those stations. I can pick up WMYX and WIIL on the Kennedy expressway.

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sox fan matt has a $20 FM Stereo Headphone from Radio Shack...I would venture to say most car radios, including factory installed vehicle radios, have better sensitivity and selectivity than that headphone radio does...when there is tropo enhancement, even radios with so-so sensitivity and selectivity can receive the stations that are further away since the stronger signal due to tropo enhancement makes it easier for a cheaper radio to pick up these stations.
It's entirely possible that for $20, sox fan matt has an awesome headphone radio, but my guess is that reception conditions made it possible to hear these more distant stations easier than usual, especially the Milwaukee stations.

stormy01 said:

radioman148 said:

sox fan matt said:

While in Downtown Evanston yesterday listening on a little http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103050 I was able to get all the chicago station plus WXLC/102.3, Waukegan, WIIL (95.1 Kenosha, Wi) (100.7, V-100, Sounded like up near the Wi Border) (95.9 The River) and 99.1 WMYX..(Hales Corners/Milwaukee).

How random are these stations coming in?

Click to expand...

I usually have no problem picking up any of those stations. I can pick up WMYX and WIIL on the Kennedy expressway.

Click to expand...

sox fan matt has a $20 FM Stereo Headphone from Radio Shack...I would venture to say most car radios, including factory installed vehicle radios, have better sensitivity and selectivity than that headphone radio does...when there is tropo enhancement, even radios with so-so sensitivity and selectivity can receive the stations that are further away since the stronger signal due to tropo enhancement makes it easier for a cheaper radio to pick up these stations.
It's entirely possible that for $20, sox fan matt has an awesome headphone radio, but my guess is that reception conditions made it possible to hear these more distant stations easier than usual, especially the Milwaukee stations.

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I would agree that there must have been some tropo going on.

Conditions on the FM band yesterday (Sunday) were definitely enhanced, although I agree with the other posters that all of those stations are normally receivable in that general area.

I was on my way back from Michigan, and I stated noticing that WAUS (90.7) was getting "hammered" by co-channel interference just a few miles west of South Bend. Normally they would be solid for another 30-40 miles further west. I stayed with them, and as I drove further west the signal actually got better. I was still listening to them while driving around Hinsdale in the SW suburbs of Chicago, which is well beyond the point where they would normally be drowned out by Wisconsin Public Radio.

sox fan matt said:

While in Downtown Evanston yesterday listening on a little http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103050 I was able to get all the chicago station plus WXLC/102.3, Waukegan, WIIL (95.1 Kenosha, Wi) (100.7, V-100, Sounded like up near the Wi Border) (95.9 The River) and 99.1 WMYX..(Hales Corners/Milwaukee).

How random are these stations coming in?

Click to expand...

With all of those frequencies being open in parts of the Chicago market, it's possible to get some of those stations. In the northern suburbs, WXLC is in some areas, secondary coverage, which makes it easy to get. Since I live in Gary Indiana, I rarely get WXLC. I instead get WYCA Crete. I however have on occasion been able to null out WYCA, since Gary has secondary coverage for WYCA.

As for WIIL, that's a local in the northern suburbs, since it's licensed to Kenosha Wisconsin, & is a 50kw station. V-100 Jams (WKKV) is also a local in most of the northern suburbs, due to how close the station is (though not as close as WIIL). I used to get V-100 in with no trouble when I worked in Wheeling in 2002 & 2003. Even WMYX sounded like a local up there. I can occasionally get all 3 Wisconsin stations in Gary Indiana when e-skip is just right. If I get annything on 100.7 & 95.1, it's WRXQ Coal City/Joliet, & WVLI Kankakee. I don't always get anything on 99.1, due to how far 99.1 is from Wisconsin & from a 99.1 from Savoy Illinois (between Danville & Champaign), and one from Michigan, near South Bend Indiana.

Speaking of tropo has anyone checked the FM band today?
I would imagine there must be some with this weather in the area.

On the train out northwest, I can get 95.1 usually on that same headset around Edison Park/Park Ridge. 102.3 around the same area. 100.7 Im not sure about. 99.1 was getting absolutely hammered under 99.5 (I forgot 99.9 came in as well). I'll have to take another trip up there soon to see what I can get.

On occasion, when I lived there ..I could Hear Northwestern's WNUR sitting in Palatine off of Route 12 and Dundee. I wonder why WTM AM and WISN AM wouldnt come in up there...

V-100.7 used to come in better in the northern suburbs before that waste of electricity translator of WHLP came on from Chicago! Now, here in the BG area, I can certainly get V100 - but I also get WHLP's junk. Basically, I have to arrange the antenna in a certain way to pick up V100. All of the other aforementioned stations are pretty much locals here; even 99.1 from Racine comes in well.

Sunday, in particular, featured some nice tropospheric enhancement. All of the Milwaukee area FMs were coming in better than usual here, including some that are difficult due to adjacent Chicago area locals.

BRNout said:

V-100.7 used to come in better in the northern suburbs before that waste of electricity translator of WHLP came on from Chicago! Now, here in the BG area, I can certainly get V100 - but I also get WHLP's junk. Basically, I have to arrange the antenna in a certain way to pick up V100. All of the other aforementioned stations are pretty much locals here; even 99.1 from Racine comes in well.

Sunday, in particular, featured some nice tropospheric enhancement. All of the Milwaukee area FMs were coming in better than usual here, including some that are difficult due to adjacent Chicago area locals.

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Yes--WMYX always comes in here, but on Sunday I got some of the adjacent Milwaukee FMs that I usually don't hear.

sox fan matt said:

On occasion, when I lived there ..I could Hear Northwestern's WNUR sitting in Palatine off of Route 12 and Dundee. I wonder why WTM AM and WISN AM wouldnt come in up there...

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WNUR probably comes in better in the north end of Palatine due to the topography - WNUR has 7.2kW ERP with its 100' antenna and about a 25 mile radius. Palatine is just on the edge of WNUR's fringe coverage. When I lived near the Dundee/Rand area (Rtes. 68 & 12) in the 80's I was receiving the Loyola station WLUW from the north side of Chicago well at 88.7 with its mighty 100 watts. The Rtes. 68 & 12 area is about 750 feet above sea level whereas WNUR's antenna is only about 700 about sea level, so there is a height advantage for receiving WNUR there...

WTMJ and WISN should be receivable in the daytime near Rtes. 68 & 12, but WISN at night would be lost in a jumble of stations including Detroit, New York, Shreveport and Minneapolis. It depends on your receiver and antenna... Some radios can bring a signal better out of the electrical interference than others, and the Dundee/Rand area has an extensive commercial area that is sure to create a considerable amount of RF interference.

radioman148 said:

BRNout said:

V-100.7 used to come in better in the northern suburbs before that waste of electricity translator of WHLP came on from Chicago! Now, here in the BG area, I can certainly get V100 - but I also get WHLP's junk. Basically, I have to arrange the antenna in a certain way to pick up V100. All of the other aforementioned stations are pretty much locals here; even 99.1 from Racine comes in well.

Sunday, in particular, featured some nice tropospheric enhancement. All of the Milwaukee area FMs were coming in better than usual here, including some that are difficult due to adjacent Chicago area locals.

Click to expand...

Yes--WMYX always comes in here, but on Sunday I got some of the adjacent Milwaukee FMs that I usually don't hear.

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Agreed WHLP is a nuisance...translators in big cities, how stupid....The FCC must be getting bought off by lobbyists...
WMYX is second-adjacent to Chicago frequencies as is WZOK 97.5 in Rockford... The crummiest of radios should be able to separate FM stations 400 kHz apart.
Again, when there is tropo enhancement using an average FM radio's selectivity, the average radio can separate stations on first-adjacent frequencies because the first adjacent station may only be 20 or 30dB less in signal strength than the local. Normally, the first adjacent station might come in at 50 to 60dB less than the local station and FM radios with less selectivity may not be able to separate the signals well...

Right now I'm in the western suburbs getting a nice signal on 1180 out of Sycamore. Pretty good format on that station. I don't normally hear it very well in the northern suburbs. Also I can hear WHO on 1040 being farther away from WNVR.

From my location, I can usually get 1180 well during the day - WHO not so much. Interestingly, there's a signal on 1180 up in Kenosha that's being used as a TIS by the local Chamber of Commerce. Comes in up to Racine, though not that well. You can still hear the music on the Sycamore signal underneath - even outside of Kenosha!

You should be able to pick up WISN fine during the day in Palatine and WTMJ should actually be fairly strong. I've listened to each in my car along 53/290 and both come in through that stretch and well southward/southwestward. Even a mediocre radio should pick these up in Palatine during the day (as Stormy indicated).

Actually, I was able to listen to WISN 2/3 of the way to Davenport, IA. It died out somewhere just east of Dixon, though I probably could have milked out a few more miles out of it if I cared to. WTMJ came in through these same areas. My big fun AM catch just west of the Quad Cities was WNAX 570 Yankton, SD!

Prais said:

I can often pick up a 1kw daytimer, 1560, WRIN, Rensselaer, IN
around Harlem and Addison in Chicago.

I can pick up 550, KTRS, St. Louis, and 920 WRIT, Milwaukee at the same location.

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That must be a magical spot, I've never been able to get WRIN at home, about 2.5 miles from Harlem and Addison.
Are you using a tuned loop, or what? WRIN is usually gone by Hammond.

On the other hand, WGTO Cassopolis Michigan , 1 kw ND is listenable at home, but on Lake Shore Drive, it is quite clear.
In the area where LSD runs right past the tallest buildings near downtown ( and near Irving Park Road ), the buildings seem to create a
reflector for the 910 AM signal, and it seems boosted by 6 db or so.

I just got back from Evanton again and about the same..WTMJ and WISN werent that audible..Maybe its cause Im a tad tired and wasnt trying to hone them in. TMJ and ISN are pretty much standard from a Schaumburg North area, that's right. I had forgotten that. I couldnt hear them in Evanston though.

WNUR was getting hammered with that same headset around my apt (19 & Lake Shore). Could it be 88.7 interference? Its south of there but less then 4 miles. Normally they hang in till about Lawrence on the Red Line going south..(I realize i'm in a moving object) but once I get off south of there they fade something terrible..

sox fan matt said:

I just got back from Evanton again and about the same..WTMJ and WISN werent that audible..Maybe its cause Im a tad tired and wasnt trying to hone them in. TMJ and ISN are pretty much standard from a Schaumburg North area, that's right. I had forgotten that. I couldnt hear them in Evanston though.

WNUR was getting hammered with that same headset around my apt (19 & Lake Shore). Could it be 88.7 interference? Its south of there but less then 4 miles. Normally they hang in till about Lawrence on the Red Line going south..(I realize i'm in a moving object) but once I get off south of there they fade something terrible..

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There are more structures in the Evanston area, so AM signals coming in over land may be attenuated by the buildings. If you were to get on the lakefront, I would guess that WISN and WTMJ would come in better. As for WLUW, they are atop the tallest building on Loyola's campus, Centennial Forum, it's about a 20-story building (I tried finding out exactly - good luck!) So WLUW is about 1 1/2 miles from where you live, and its proximity could cause the stronger signal to interfere somewhat with WNUR 600 kHz away in frequency.