The Home of The Worldwide TV-FM DX Association
Serving TV & FM DXers since 1968
Some people say it's a strange hobby.
What Counts and What Doesn't.
The WTFDA FM Station Database is a complete listing of FM radio stations in the
United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and sections of the Caribbean. It is user
searchable and sortable. Keep it open on your computer or smartphone during skip events to quickly and easily log
your catches by callsigns,slogan or format or even by RDS PI codes. This site is
a must
for every FM Dxer in North America.
This is a collection of VHF-UHF Digest issues from 1968 through the present.
All are pdfs. Many issues from 1968-1975 have been added and those prior to
May 1972 are the old memeographed issues. We still have a few missing issues.
If you have them, let us know.
Additional scanned items can also be found in the 60s & 1970s section.
WTFDA presents a randomly selected group of articles for your reading pleasure. These may change from time to time so if you find something you enjoy, be sure to grab it.
Posted by Admin | December 21,2020
You've been hearing quite a bit about ATSC 3.0, otherwise known as next generation television.
Manufacturers are gearing up for the upgrade and some stations are beginning to broadcast in 3.0.
On the equipment side, SiliconDust was the first to offer a converter box for sale. The HDHR5 is
now available and in the hands of several TV DXers. We can't tell you much about its performance
on ATSC 3.0 channels because no one has logged one yet. But we can tell you that there are
reports that the 1.0 performance is not quite up to par with earlier HDHR tuners. As time goes
on we will know more. Read more about this tuner HERE
The newest ATSC 3.0 converter box has arrived on the scene. It's the Zapperbox M1 and it will retail for $249.00.
The manufacturer is taking orders for the box with availability around February 2021.
Go HERE
For a current list of ATSC 3.0 stations, go HERE
In Market #92, WFXQ-CD Springfield, MA is broadcasting 3.0.
When you think about it, the way that TV DXers
check the TV bands for DX hasn't changed much since the 50s. Today we still put an antenna on the
roof, hook that up to a television and tune VHF and UHF looking for distant signals.
What that means is that many times when we're not there to DX , we miss some DX.
What some TV Dxers are doing now is automating their DXing. They
replace their TV or set top box with HDHomeRun tuners. Then,
by using an internet connection, they use software that continuously
scans the TV bands and sends the results to the rabbitears.info
website, where the information is displayed on a map for anyone to see at their
own locations. Oftentimes the system will log stations that
the DXer didn't even know were there!
Here is one of the maps from the rabbitears website showing new and
recent TV DX logged by TV DXer Roy Barstow in Massachusetts.
For more information on how to set up a DXing system like this, please visit the WTFDA Forum website in the DX Equipment forum. Also see rabbitears.info for more information.
The best DTV or Set Top Box is one that tunes channels manually, like we all did back in the
analog days. Unfortunately there are just a few of them. Most LG DTVs have a manual tuning
feature that you can access through the menus. But as far as boxes, the best are the oldest.
There are two; the Zenith DTT901 and the Insignia NS-DXA1, which in reality are one and the
same box, but with different labels. LG made the tuners for these. These are even more
preferable to LG televisions because their tuners let you see traces of stations too weak
to decode. LG televisions won't show these.
Most DTVs on the market today will only allow you to do channel scans. Channel scans take
too much time, especially when there's an Es or Tropo opening going on. DX stations may show
on one scan, but not on the next. A station that shows on the beginning of one scan may not
even be there at the end of that same scan. Chances are very good that you'll miss some very
good DX by wasting time performing channel scans while looking for DX.
The Zenith/Insignia DTV boxes and LG TVs are a favorite with DTV DXers.
WTFDA is the only Radio hobby club in North America that caters to the TV and FM DXer,
as well as those who DX 30-50mhz utilities and Weather Radio. The term
"DX" means "distant reception", and those who "DX" look for weak,
distant radio and television signals, with an eye to logging as many of
these distant signals as possible or obtaining the most distant
reception of a given station. TV and FM signals normally only travel 50
to 100 miles out from their transmitters. DXers love to push the
reception boundaries of stations by hundreds or thousands of miles by
using their skills, better antennas and equipment, and knowing when
conditions are ripe for it.
© 2020 Worldwide TV-FM DX Association
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