Episode XIV: A mid-summer night's season check-in

The VHF DX Podcast

It’s the middle of summer and the middle of E-Skip season, and Bryce and Nick returned for a special episode of the VHF DX Podcast, as they podcasted live from Bryce’s QTH in Mashpee, MA on Cape Cod. While the promised Trans-Atlantic E-Skip did not ensue during Nick’s visit, Bryce and Nick collaborated for a spirited episode. The two discussed notable recent DX loggings, including the Azores to the Northern US E-Skip event on June 24 that Bryce and at least 5 other DX’ers, from Ontario to Massachusetts, experienced.

Larry Horlick, VO1FOG, in Newfoundland, continues to also have much success with Trans-Atlantic FM E-Skip. He had a banner month of June, notching new countries in England, France, and the Canary Islands, and had a tremendous opening on June 23, that began with tremendous signals from Portugal and Spain, many exceeding 3500 km, that you can see and hear in this Twitter clip: https://twitter.com/vo1fog/status/1672416588362919945?s=61&t=CZ8HFZ50rmkANuZ1dvNcsQ

They remembered a DX legend in Bob Cooper, recounting some of his notable logging and achievements in the hobby, and then saluted several DXers with new autologgers and/or setups, ranging from Alberta to Greenland!

Many folks have been left wanting more in the 2023 E-Skip season so far, but there’s some reason to believe that July will deliver. The duo looked at trends and analyzed some data. They also talked about a phenomenon that seemingly has been common when receiving Texas this year of E-Skip that is extended by tropospheric enhancement.

They introduced a dedicated mailbag segment that will air each episode and that we continue to encourage you to send in your questions for at vhfdxpodcast at gmail dot com! This time around, we covered questions from possibly fictious listeners concerning aiming a Yagi at E-Skip through local FM signals, and whether the duo’s takes on domestic E-Skip come in a little too hot. We also highly encourage you to check out Bryce's SDR Console tutorial videos on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dxbryce/videos

They engaged in the latest tech discussion, with Bryce summarizing the Kraken SDR, and an update on the Perseus 22.

Finally, in our audio spotlight, they saluted Tim Land’s double-hop E-Skip catch of 99.5 KFXX Klamath Falls, OR, from Kingsport, TN. We also heard more magic from Randy Zerr in Goldfield, NV, which his reception of a 92.9 Statesville, NC translator at over 2,000 mi (3,200 km), 92.3 WKRR Asheboro, NC, and 95.7 WXRC Hickory, NC, all on May 31 of this year. They also went back and listened to some of his best from 2022, including three stations from Miami, right around 2300 miles. They also heard from Chris Lucas in Poughkeepsie, NY with some of his best tropo from his time FM DX’ing, including 104.5 WJJK Noblesville, IN and 100.5 WSSL Grey Court SC, and E-Skip, with 104.5 KIMX Centennial, WY, and 105.1 KKXL Denver, CO.