#fm dx

[msxdotgay]

so I lost power, but I lost it right when some Atmospheric Fuckery blessed me

managed to get CKDX-FM Newmarket, ON (near Toronto) in my bedroom from over 800 miles away

went outside and pulled in CJFM Montreal from 1,130 miles away

[sdrdxhound]

RTL-SDR - DOA

My RTL-SDR from a small Chinese electronics market was dead-on-arrival, so I'm back to square one with VHF listening on Kali Linux.  I've been experimenting with VLF reception with a soundcard and GQRX, and it is pretty slick indeed.

The microphone input is not especially sensitive, and the system needs a real "front end" but it works.  Without a preamp and matching transformer, I can still pick up some VLF signals in the submarine communications band.  There's what seems to be MSK on a few frequencies.  Power line noise is absolutely rampant, so the listening possibilities are limited in the city.  Indeed, if I installed a preamp and improved the antenna there would only be more noise and the same MSK intermingled with it.

VHF is where the action is!  I can't wait to get an RTLSDR dongle onto the FM broadcast band and work on some code for maximizing DX hidden between the local stations.