First Es at KA3JAW

WSMR RDS on KA3JAW's Sony HD XDR-S3HD Receiver Display

Mike Schaffer, KA3JAW, reported his first 2019 'in-season' FM-DX reception via Es.

On Friday, May 10, from 10:55 AM to 12:14 PM EDT, Mike heard and saw (RDS text) classical station WSMR on 89.1 FM in Sarasota, Florida, from 1,023 miles distance to Easton, Pennsylvania, via Sporadic-E.

Prior to the reception of WSMR, at 9:35 AM EDT, the MUF was 77 MHz over Maidenhead grid square FM07 (Lynchburg, Virginia) when he was hearing Alabama, Florida and Georgia on the Citizen Band Radio Service (27 MHz/11 meters).

At 11:30 AM EDT, 88.3 WPOZ in Orlando, Florida, also with RDS was received via Sporadic-E.

At 11:59 AM EDT, the MUF rose to 95 MHz above FM06 (Roxboro, North Carolina).

KA3JAW's antenna is an outdoor Antennacraft Y526 designed for VHF-low band TV that is only 114 inches (9.5 feet) off the ground, just 4 inches past the peak of his backyard shed roof, aimed south-southwest. This proves you do not need a high antenna on a tower to receive FM-DX via Es as the signal path is coming in on a low radiation angle.

Mike has posted a couple of videos on YouTube documenting Friday's DX, here and here.