FM DXers: Here is your chance to share your story of the first e skip (sporadic e) event you ever experienced.
Mine happened to be just 2 days ago (May 25, 2014). Had stations from TX, AR, LA, OK, & NM coming in just like locals here in west central MN. Heard stations on every frequency, from 88.1 to 107.9. The skip lasted about 2 hrs before disappearing completely from the FM band.
So, what was your first experience with e skip like? Feel free to share.
My first experience with skipping/ducting happened in the early 1980s during my second year as a broadcast pro at WMAS AM/FM in Springfield Mass., and was actually a TV experience.
Hard, fast and loud came a line of powerful thunderstorms in Western Massachusetts one day back then. I was watching a weather bulletin on WFSB-TV (Channel 3) out of Hartford, Conn., when it vanished under a pile of snow and interference bars. Another image began to emerge, but needed fine-tuning (back when TVs had knobs allowing you to do that). What came in strong for several minutes was WESH-TV channel 2.
Thinking I had seen a Boston or Albany signal, I hit the Broadcasting Yearbook at the library next day, to see where they were. I was stunned and confused to discover the station was in Orlando, Fla., about 1,100 miles to my south. That's when the engineer at WMAS explained "ducting" to me. Wow...
Throughout my pro years, lots of things have fascinated me but only two things have ever truly amazed me: experiencing this first skip/duct, and seeing an aurora borealis out the back door of my first station as I checked the tower lights. But that's a whole 'nuther topic.
-AP