Real odd FM reception

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simple_gifts

simple_gifts

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I have a Sony HD radio with HD capable tunable rabbit ears; I'm a big radio listener, exclusively non commercial.

Regular reception is Hartford/New Haven/Eastern LI. Occasionally I pull in some further away stations; I can usually get 90.3 out of Albany NY which is over 100 miles.

Tonight, some really odd stuff. The Christian station in Middletown CT @ 104.9 (< 20 miles away) has been drowned out by SOJO in Atlantic City NJ (170 miles) I'm pulling in Poughkeepsie NY and WPLR in New Haven (< 30 miles) has been replaced with something out of Boston or Providence. It is like the regular stations have all been replaced with stations 100 miles away (cue Twilight Zone theme) I'm also picking up Stoney Brook University.

This should make and interesting night playing with the dial.

I always thought AM prone to this, but not FM
 
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Could be the atmosphere. You might getting a little bouncing/skipping so the signal travels further.

I can't tell you all the weird stuff we picked up on Submarines when the atmosphere did different stuff.

I was a submarine radioman.
 
I know that would happen in the 26-27mhz range, in CB lingo we called it skip. Never heard of that occurring with FM.
 
Yeah Ive gotten some great AM reception over very long distances, but never much luck on FM. Not sure if the HD radio has changed things, as I guess it has changed the way that signals are sent and how much bandwidth they require (as I understand, that may be wrong).

The only oddity Ive encountered on FM is that sometimes 101.5 is completely obliterated by 106.9, so I assume there is some overlapping harmonic or whatnot and if 106.9 is closer/more powerful, it just comes in on that frequency. But it is very annoying to tune to one station and get another!
 
I was listening to 101.5 home of the same songs replays and some air traffic control tower over took the station and i started hearing flight chatter for a couple mins then it went away.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Yeah Ive gotten some great AM reception over very long distances, but never much luck on FM.

Same here. I've gotten lucky the odd time on FM, but AM is much better, especially at this time I've years. I've picked up stations as far away as Chicago up here, and some have reported picking up Texas stations, for some who did that as a hobby years back.
 
http://www.spaceweather.com/

Not too much going on.

I blame "tropospheric ducting", a terrestrial phenomenon. You get it in, drumroll, October, when cold dense air fights warm leftover summer air. Makes distinct layers in the atmosphere. IDK if it's the disturbing of these layers that open RF "wormholes" but it happens a lot in the fall.
 
Could be what eljefino mentions, or e-skip.

It's not common, but can impact band II VHF which is the FM radio region of the spectrum.
 
Tropospheric ducting as above noted.

It's relatively common this time of year, but can happen at any time.
 
Funny, I've noticed the same phenomenon over the past few days, but less so at night. My usual Mass and RI FM stations are being stepped on by some from NH and NY. Also, my car radio is switching between HD and normal more frequently.

I've experienced this w/ aircraft radios, but not as much with FM.

Maybe I should fire up the old Halicrafters tonight and see if I can pick up anything new.
 
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