Most Distant TV Station(s) Received Via Antenna

In the days of analog TV, there had been times when I have been able to pick up stations from markets outside of my hometown market (Cleveland/Akron). On most days, I would be able to pick up WFMJ and WKBN from Youngstown, but occasionally, I had been able to receive stations from other areas, such as Toledo, Detroit, Steubenville/Wheeling, Erie, Pittsburgh, etc. A few times, I was surprised to have been able to pick up a Canadian station, specifically CFPL from London, Ontario, in the days when it was affiliated with the now-defunct Baton Broadcast System (BBS) and also when it was branded as "The New PL." Even more surprising was one time when my antenna picked up WFOR from Miami, Florida!

Now that TV has gone completely digital, it seems like it's become harder for antennas to pick up more distant stations, although I know it is possible and it's been done before. A high school friend of mine, for example, recently posted on Facebook that his digital antenna was able to pick up KDKA from Pittsburgh.

Has anyone else had any luck in pulling in out-of-market TV stations with their digital antennas? How far away from your hometown were the farthest stations you were able to receive?

Scott2013 said:

In the days of analog TV, there had been times when I have been able to pick up stations from markets outside of my hometown market (Cleveland/Akron). On most days, I would be able to pick up WFMJ and WKBN from Youngstown, but occasionally, I had been able to receive stations from other areas, such as Toledo, Detroit, Steubenville/Wheeling, Erie, Pittsburgh, etc. A few times, I was surprised to have been able to pick up a Canadian station, specifically CFPL from London, Ontario, in the days when it was affiliated with the now-defunct Baton Broadcast System (BBS) and also when it was branded as "The New PL." Even more surprising was one time when my antenna picked up WFOR from Miami, Florida!

Now that TV has gone completely digital, it seems like it's become harder for antennas to pick up more distant stations, although I know it is possible and it's been done before. A high school friend of mine, for example, recently posted on Facebook that his digital antenna was able to pick up KDKA from Pittsburgh.

Has anyone else had any luck in pulling in out-of-market TV stations with their digital antennas? How far away from your hometown were the farthest stations you were able to receive?

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We were setting up one of those converter boxes so an analog TV would work. We didn't get our local ABC channel, but we got an out of market station about 80 miles away instead.

So far no luck with DX-ing anything digital outside of my area.

Back in the analog days I once pulled in KBTX, Bryan-College Station, Texas,
on the outskirts of Flint, Michigan.

Scott2013 said:

In the days of analog TV, there had been times when I have been able to pick up stations from markets outside of my hometown market (Cleveland/Akron). On most days, I would be able to pick up WFMJ and WKBN from Youngstown, but occasionally, I had been able to receive stations from other areas, such as Toledo, Detroit, Steubenville/Wheeling, Erie, Pittsburgh, etc. A few times, I was surprised to have been able to pick up a Canadian station, specifically CFPL from London, Ontario, in the days when it was affiliated with the now-defunct Baton Broadcast System (BBS) and also when it was branded as "The New PL." Even more surprising was one time when my antenna picked up WFOR from Miami, Florida!

Now that TV has gone completely digital, it seems like it's become harder for antennas to pick up more distant stations, although I know it is possible and it's been done before. A high school friend of mine, for example, recently posted on Facebook that his digital antenna was able to pick up KDKA from Pittsburgh.

Has anyone else had any luck in pulling in out-of-market TV stations with their digital antennas? How far away from your hometown were the farthest stations you were able to receive?

Click to expand...

An antenna is an antenna, not digital or analog....RF does not care about the mode....RF is RF....so are antennas...no such thing as "digital antennas"....

Now, I HAVE DXed DTV signals with my modest setup..best has been Brownsville or Dallas and Shreveport from SE TX...Have also seen New Orleans and some SW Miss stations.....
Its a bit harder with 8VSB vs analog but it can be done....with ASTCV3 coming, DXing will again be easier...due to the OFDM carrier being much more resistant to interference than 8VSB, especially on lowband

FreddyE1977 said:

So far no luck with DX-ing anything digital outside of my area.

Back in the analog days I once pulled in KBTX, Bryan-College Station, Texas,
on the outskirts of Flint, Michigan.

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That reminds me, I was once able to pull in (faintly) KPRC in Houston, believe it or not. I remember seeing it one afternoon at 1PM Eastern time and could identify it as KPRC because of the Channel 2 logo with the star in it. This happened when the station was broadcasting its noon news. At first, I was confused as to why it was showing local news instead of Days of Our Lives, but then I remembered it was in the Central time zone. Not surprisingly, though, the audio wasn't great, very staticky, but pretty cool nonetheless!

Most of the time, the times when I could pull in the more distant stations were shortly after thunderstorms had occurred in our area. Sometimes it seemed like it would usually be the other way around, in which more distant stations could be received in better weather, but I can remember storms occurring one night and my antenna being able to pick up stations from Pittsburgh, Detroit, Erie, etc. the next morning.

More recently -- 1995 or so -- I had bought a Radio Shack-job for maybe $49. I don't watch TV anyway; haven't for more than 20 years. I was only able to get the aerial on a pole higher than the back porch. From that direction,
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's channels 16, 22 and 28 were feeble, but solid and viewable.

One day around 1PM -- remember: the aerial wasn't even clearing the house roof for south reception -- I'm getting some opera on Channel 2. I missed by a few seconds of getting a shot of channel 2 WFTL (@) Fort Lauderdale.

The next TV aerial purchase was on closeout sale for $50. It was an even better one -- one of those 100-mile jobs. This one I had on a homebrew rotating pole that cleared the roof in all directions. I got terrific reception of the three Philly VHFs (3, 6 and 10) and an improved WB/Scranton. But, as I said, I don't watch much TV.

Somehow, I serendipitously managed to pull in a Fox Channel 43 ballgame one idle night. Cardinals versus Cubs. Turns out I to be the game Mark McGwire his home run #62 (off Steve Trachsel)!

The new, bigger, higher Radio Shack antenna worked pretty well. One night there was some trope and everything from Baltimore and DC was coming in, sometimes fitfully, sometimes clearly. David Letterman on channel 13 made me do a double-huh? But it was the littler one that got me Fort Lauderdale, hi.

Channel 43 from York, PA, WPMT. When we still had analog, even with little rabbit ears, I had some good reception.

I could get a good signal from our 6 local channels (2, 4, 5, 7, 24, 36), plus weaker signals from a couple of LPs and sometimes Channel 16, a ETV station from Beaufort, about 60 miles away. When tropo was going though, you knew it.

Channels 3 and 11 from Savannah were very frequent visitors. So was WIS from Columbia (channel 10) and the UHFs from Columbia. FL stations were also there a lot. I got most of Jacksonville's stations just with rabbit ears, and as far as Orlando, with New Bern, NC's Channel 12 my farthest to the north (that was on the night before all the analogs were turned off in 2009).

With my Walkman with TV audio, during e-skip I got signals from as far as Oklahoma, Iowa, and Texas.

For Analog E Skip and Tropo, check out CHBX-TV Sault Ste. Marie, ON while it continues to broadcast in analog. I've seen the VHF analogs still on in Canada 300-400 miles on Tropo since the transition. Some have signed off since.

When I was growing up in the 70's, I had my own antenna in the attic and then on the roof aimed at New York to get their TV stations 80 miles away.

Depending on the conditions, they could sometimes come in as clear as the local Philly channels but they were 'snowy' most of the time but still very watchable.

Sometimes, the conditions were such that the Baltimore and Washington stations would interfere or completely take over.

Then there were many early summer days when the New York channels 2, 4, and 5 were completely gone and taken over by stations from Florida to the mid west to parts of Canada.

But I've never had any luck DXing with digital TV, not even in Florida. And even there, the locals would break up or go out with high winds or heavy rain.

Now, I'm only 12 miles from Hilo and I can't get all of their channels. But interestingly, none of the stations I get ever have any interference from all the heavy rains and winds.

I see digital TV reception generally as not quite as good as the old analog UHF stations because it's pretty much an all or nothing picture that you can get.

I've never tried to DX digital TV, so I'll throw in my two cents for analog. Two cents and two words "channel 3".

Toss of the dice far northwest suburbs of Chicago whether it'd be WISC-TV from Madison, or WKZO-TV from Kalamazoo. Usually WISC, which was about 80 miles away. WKZO was at least 20 miles farther, but sometimes that's what showed up. At one point, I was renting a house with good antenna and a rotor and both were reliable. Just the thing for switching between the Packers game and the Lions game on NFL Sundays!

Channel 3 also produced my farthest DX catch. WEDU-TV from Tampa one early summer day back in the mid-60s.

My great-grandma had a TV with a rotor antenna fix-aimed east (in order to get then-weak WGKI Fox 33, about 40 miles from her house). Despite that eastern aim, she could occasionally get WGBA, WACY, and WPNE from Green Bay, and sometimes would even get WGBA's channel 22 translator in Sturgeon Bay. However, the Green Bay VHFs and WZZM were rarely received. I remember once getting WDIV Detroit and I also remember watching part of the Indy 500 on either KATC or KTBS (both ABC affiliates on channel 3).

I just set up a small DTV antenna (set-top) in my apartment in Ypsilanti and some of the Detroit stations aren't making it in. Then again, it was a very cheap antenna I got while in college at Meijer. I tried it in my dorm room at the time and I was only able to get three stations (two of the three were within a mile of my dorm, while the third was about 25 miles away)

From my San Diego CA location, many years back. KIII 3, Corpus Christie, TX
KJAC 4, Beaumont/Port Arthur TX
KBTX 3, Bryan, TX
KMID, 2, Midland, TX
KALB, 5, Alexandria, LA
XEFB, 3, Monterrey, MX
KBAK, 29, Bakersfield CA
KTWO, 2, Casper, WY
Using a common 36' mast w/rotor, and an RCA 7 element yagi, and RCA 17" B & W TV. Numerous times after, I received a channel 2 from Seattle. Except for Seattle,
and KERO, Bakersfield 10, the station ID's were captured/archived using a Polaroid camera.

I believe that KTWO 2 Casper, WY is also one of my most distant TV stations also, from SE Michigan. I may have a QSL Card or letter from them. At least I have a memory of the "K2" Logo in Red, White, And Blue, on the envelope or letterhead. Only found a monochrome polaroid shot of that particular logo online, but one square was red and the other blue, with the K and 2, forming a 2 X 1 rectangle.

That happened sometimes- i'd get WBTV out of Charlotte. One Sunday, i could get it clearly, and at first i was confused as to why it was showing the Eagles-Raiders game instea d of Falcons-Dolphins. it seemd to be clear to me. It happened a lot shortly after thunderstorms had occurred in our area.

cyberdad said:

I've never tried to DX digital TV, so I'll throw in my two cents for analog. Two cents and two words "channel 3".

Toss of the dice far northwest suburbs of Chicago whether it'd be WISC-TV from Madison, or WKZO-TV from Kalamazoo. Usually WISC, which was about 80 miles away. WKZO was at least 20 miles farther, but sometimes that's what showed up. At one point, I was renting a house with good antenna and a rotor and both were reliable. Just the thing for switching between the Packers game and the Lions game on NFL Sundays!

Channel 3 also produced my farthest DX catch. WEDU-TV from Tampa one early summer day back in the mid-60s.

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I too pretty much gave up on TV DXing when digital TV took over. Just like you mention, channel 3 produced some great catches. Channel 4 as well. When I lived in NW part of Chicago I had rotor and an antenna on the roof of a six flat, which produced some good results. The three most common stations on ch.3 were WWMT Kalamazoo, MI, WISC Madison, WI and WCIA Champaign, IL. Another station that was a sure catch during e-skip every summer was KENW Portales, NM. Others that I caught were WFCB Hartford, CT, KIII Corpus Cristi, TX, KATC Lafayete, LA, WEDU Tampa, FL and KACB San Angelo, TX

As for channel 4 the most common stations were WTMJ, WI and WHFB Rock Island, IL. Other catches WTVY (Dotham, AL), KDUH (Scottbluff NE), KCWC (Lander, WY), KOB (Albaquarque, NM), KMOL (San Antonio, TX), KAMR (Amarillo, TX) and KDFW (Dallas, TX)

Best catches on ch. 6 were KTVC (Dodge City, KS) and KRMA (Denver, CO)

On UHF the best catches for me are KAVT Austin, MN (ch. 15), WKEF Dayton, OH (ch. 22), CKCO Sarnia, ON (ch. 42)

Overall I have received around 160 analog TV stations in Chicago, most of them in 1980's and early 1990's.

Furthest one for me was when I lived up in Northern MN and picked up Chicago stations, some of which squashed my "semi-locals"

edit: doing a "as the crow flies" app I guess my furthest was the WXMI Kalamazoo translator at almost 500 miles (and that only runs at 15,000 watts)

Back in the analog days, I would pick up Dayton and Cincinnati stations after big storms rolled through. Some of them would come in quite clearly. This was from the first (only) floor of my house on the east side of Columbus, roughly 75 miles from the Dayton TV towers and 100-105 from the Cincinnati stations.
When I lived on the 15th floor of my dorm at the University of Toledo in 1996, most Detroit stations were a cinch from the window of my north-facing room. WJBK (2) and WKBD (50) came in the best. WDIV (4) never came in that I remember. Wasn't even a great antenna but it worked for my purposes.
From a south-facing window in the same building, I could pick up WLIO (35) from Lima, some 70 miles south, on a fairly regular basis.

Well, I received KRMA-6 on their nightlight service 7/1/09 (from Bothell), along with CBWT-6 MB and XETV-6 in Tijuana the following year. I have also gotten XHAQ-5 and (I think) XHBC-3 from Mexicali, before they went off as well. I never really got into TV DX because I was young. Too bad I never got to DX in the '80s.