Grabow's Ramblings From 2022

Mount Dora Delivers! POSTED APR 7, 2022
Florida is a flat state with a lot of people, so there are plenty of local TV and FM signals that just go on and on... not great for a DXer like me. Fortunately, the terrain does get interesting around the Lake Wales Ridge. When I moved to Orlando a few years ago I identified Gilbert Park in Mount Dora as a spot that has potential for Gulf Tropo. The land rises rapidly east of the park, in the direction of Orlando's transmitters, attenuating the signals. To the west is Lake Dora. The park i...

At Last, My Second Novel POSTED JUN 6, 2022
After a full decade of work (including the lengthy interruptions) my second novel is complete. This Falling Eden isn't getting published yet, but it now reads like a complete book. Having split the Rough Draft into a trilogy, I completed the first book of it just a few months before my 40th birthday... and weeks before the 10th anniversary of me starting it! The Second Draft is now available for test readers on Critique Circle, under the novel's old working title, "The Day The Rain C...

Old Fart But Young At Heart POSTED JUL 9, 2022
Well, I finally lost the "young" in "young adult." I'm 40 today. Feels a lot like 39 did. ha ha I think God for bringing me this far. I still have my health and I'm happy with the progress I've made in my life thus far. This was the decade I bought my first condo - then moved to a new city and had to buy another . This was the decade I started going to conventions and joining book clubs. I went on my first cruise at 32 and started a jogging routine at 35. I stopped DX...

The Excitement of TV DXing POSTED AUG 4, 2022
Today marks ten years since I began DXing digital TV . This was a few years after the analog-to-digital transition, which I originally took as an opportunity to retire from the hobby. There just isn't anything like DXing, though, and I came back in August 2012. My digital DXing career will soon be longer than my analog DXing career , so let's see how it's gone these last ten years. My fears with regard to e-skip were absolutely founded. All I have to show for a decade of monitoring is one s...

Interstate Bandscans Come To An End POSTED DEC 31, 2022
My YouTube channel has really taken off since 2014. The "local bandscan" videos, where I drive to a distant city and record the local stations there , featured prominently in the rise of my channel. A trip to the 2015 WTFDA convention in Indiana was, appropriately enough, the first interstate road trip where I started recording everything at my hotel stops. I even captured AM and FM radio in addition to TV. Occasionally I could even feature analog TV stations, since a handful of low...

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