AM DX logs here!

[kilokat7]

680 KNBR San Francisco with nice clear TOH ID this morning during sunrise enhancement (1100utc). Lots of weak hets on the split frequencies on the lower end of the band from down-under land. Also good reception from KGNC Amarillo, TX. on 710. All signs that the MW DX season is getting closer!

 

[eriepascannist]

I have been reading this thread over the past few days from the beginning, and must say I am fascinated! I have been contemplating getting the AM radio out and giving this a shot, but never have. I think I've been inspired... I plan to give it a try tonight around local sunset (the right time, right?)

I don't really expect to hear much on my first try but I think with the first log I'll be an addict to MW DX!

 

[BDM123]

Careful. This may cause you to spend even more money and start stringing up wires and loops all over your yard

 

[eriepascannist]

Careful. This may cause you to spend even more money and start stringing up wires and loops all over your yard

Thanks, I'll try not to fall into the enticing trap of DX! Not sure it'll work though... I feel like I'm already hooked and I didn't even turn on the radio yet!

 

[kilokat7]

Thanks, I'll try not to fall into the enticing trap of DX! Not sure it'll work though... I feel like I'm already hooked and I didn't even turn on the radio yet!

Welcome aboard! Now dig that radio out and lets see some logs

 

[eriepascannist]

My First Ever Night of MW DX!

Well, thanks guys, I'm officially hooked on this! My first night ever of AM DX was not impressive compared to what's been posted here, but for a first try it was great for me. I only skimmed the band once, took about an hour. I'd have spent more time if I didn't have to be up early tomorrow. All these were made using a standard dollar-store AM/FM clock radio with a little wiry thingy sticking out of the top for an antenna, if you can believe that. I wanted to try the worst equipment I had for the job... that way if I heard stuff there I knew I could really go places on the dial. Man, though, those freqs above about 1250 KHZ really get frustrating... sometimes it seemed like 6 or 8 stations all making it in at one time, each fading in and out so you couldn't get an ID.

So, here's my first log, and definitely not my last.

0100Z. 770 KHZ. WABC. New York. 50 KW. Very good signal, news, commercials, clear ID at top of the hour.
0104Z. 810 KHZ. WGY. Schenectady. 50 KW. Very good. Weather forecast, clearly stating "WGY" call letters.
0116Z. 1000 KHZ. WMVP. Chicago. 50 KW. Fair. Quite a bit of background, but commercials heard along with clear "1,000 AM ESPN Chicago" branding.
0129Z. 1030 KHZ. WBZ. Boston. 50 KW. Fair to good. Commercial, clear ID for cbsboston.com and WBZ. Some fade. Talk radio.
0142Z. 1140 KHZ. WRVA. Richmond, VA. 50 KW. Fair. Quite a bit of fade, strong signal at times and almost inaudible at others. Michael Savage talkradio program.
0200Z. 1220 KHZ. WHKW. Cleveland. 50 KW. Weak. Sandwiched between strong sports broadcasts, lots of fade. News at top of hour, station slogan "1220 The Word" heard and matched to call.

Also lots of MLB live games. Lots out of Southern Ontario, typical. Lots on 1300 and above, but too much overlap for ID. Several "Radio Disney" transmitters, unable to hear ID.

Thanks to all of you who have been posting in this thread with your logs for getting me hooked!

 

[BDM123]

Hey use what you bring. No extra points handed out for the best receiver. I've DXed using many types of radios in the past including simply cheap portables. Which by the way can at times depending on model be quite amazing (ultralights). Some folks even try their hand at crystal radio DX contest. It's a hobby and enjoy it any way you can in what ever manner suits you.

Lots of very knowledgeable and helpful folks here that will be more than happy to bring you into the hobby. Grab a cup of java, sit down, and read through the archives. Ask questions either in the forum or PMs. BTW, wait until the winter months set in when ambient noise levels are generally down and long nights become the norm. That's when LW/MW band DXing really gets fun ;-)

 

[eriepascannist]

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Thanks BDM123. I love RR for all the helpful people, as they got me interested in scanning overall many years before I was a member; then rail monitoring; then milair.... The list goes on. I just wished I'd had more time tonight, one of these nights I'll sit up for as long as I can. I have always been impressed with that clock radio--on FM as well, it often does better than our stereo/radio with a roof antenna.

I was impressed with WRVA. I believe that was the farthest away I got tonight. What might take me 9 hours in the car took 9 seconds on the AM dial!

 

[ridgescan]

Nice to see passion for MWDX in my world it is strictly against the rules to tune local stations except in emergencies. In the morning it's KMJ Fresno at 165 miles-at night it's KFMB San Diego at 465 miles, KOMO Seattle at 682 miles etc. for my radio digest..all this off my 100' wire on the roof. I haven't settled back to a local station here for a long time. Since I was little, distant AM radio has been an "escape" for me-you coined it nicely when you said about the 9-hour car trip.
I do need to set time up and try some true DX weeding through the pileups. Come winter-we oughta do MW in here when the days are shorter
There's another thread in here about "ultralight DX" where guys purposely use the smallest, cheapest radio possible to make the DX that much more challenging-what you did there, these guys made a hobby of! Cool stuff IMO.
Good seing you enjoy this hobby-I know I love it as part of my every day and evening here-never get sick of it.

 

[k9rzz]

Last week, I was out of range of my local pest on 1290 and heard several new stations ... WHIO somewhere in Ohio I take it, and another from Peoria, IL. Nice treat since this 'pest' is like a Billion db over S9 at home. (5kw, 5 miles away, beamed right at me).

Then a few nights ago, around 9pm I popped the car radio on a random channel, 1180 in this case, and clearly heard Radio Rebelde, Havana, Cuba above all the rest for a few minutes. Not the first time I've heard them there, but the first time from the car. Even over the local traffic information station for the Milwaukee County Stadium. Fun! You never know what you might hear.

 

[eriepascannist]

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Thanks Ridgescan. I agree that the distant stations can provide some nice change in programming. Our local AM stations get stale after a while, so the shows I heard on the various talkradio stations last night were fun. A great newscaster at the top of the hour, an interesting political analyst, etc. I'm starting to think that the programs you here are just as interesting as the distance you cover.

 

[eriepascannist]

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Ridgescan or someone else... I don't see the Ultralight thread on here that was mentioned in Ridgescan's post. Could someone point me in that direction, I'm really curious about that part of the hobby.

 

[BDM123]

Try these

An Introduction to Ultralight Radio DXing

ultralightdx : Ultralight DX

 

[eriepascannist]

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Thanks!

 

[ridgescan]

Try these

An Introduction to Ultralight Radio DXing

ultralightdx : Ultralight DX

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Thanks!

BDM123 I think you were the one who posted here somewhere those links-they are the very ones I read. Having another ridgescan senior moment-I cannot find it either. Thanks BDM for putting them here-they are interesting reading

 

[BDM123]

Check the last post in this thread. I belonged to that Ultralight Yahoo Group and that is the place to ask the questions about Ultralights. Great group!

http://forums.radioreference.com/pi...etup/246266-portable-ultralight-dx-setup.html

 

[eriepascannist]

Thanks guys for all the info! I think ULR might just be for me!

My 2nd night of DX again had to be very short, but it was also fun once again! I tell you, I will be in Heaven the night I get to do this for more than an hour! This night I had my same clock radio out back on the deck and heard these stations:

0110Z. 650 KHZ. WSM. Nashville. 50 KW. Very faint. Just heard the W and S in the ID, matched call and freq to WSM. Good mix of current and classic country. Very deep in static, lots of fade.
0116Z. 690 KHZ. WELD. Fisher, WV. 3,000 watts. Very weak. Can't be sure of the ID, called sounded like "W E L D" and format matches. Some sort of classic rock countdown show, extremely weak. Gone just moments after ID. First DX not on a "clear channel!"
0123Z. 750 KHZ. WSB. Atlanta. Very faint. 50 KW. Next to a strong local station, lots of fade. Heard calls several times before I nailed them. Lots of commercials, talk radio, news at the bottom of the hour.
0132Z. 760 KHZ. Wjr. Detroit. 50 KW. Faint. Lots of signal fade, but caught ID several times. Interesting political election analysis show.
0135Z. 770 KHZ. WABC. New York. 50 KW. Fair to faint. Lots of fade, but the trusty "77 WABC" is still there tonight.
0141Z. 850 KHZ. WHAS. Louisville, KY. 50 KW. Very good. Occasional fade, but very good copy on calls at beginning and end of commercial break. Spent about 20 mins here, truly shall I say "interesting" political speaker.
0158Z. 990 KHZ. CKGM. Montreal. "The Team 990" a TSN radio affiliate. 50 KW. Loud and clear, easy copy on call at the top of the hour.
0202Z. 1030 KHZ. WBZ. Boston. 50 KW. Very good. Used database from last night, also very clear callsign ID.

Several faint stations with too much fade to copy call. Also some MLB games although not as many as last night. Was not able to cover the whole band, had to stop at 1030 KHZ.



 

[kilokat7]

750 - KHWG "K Hog" Fallon, NV. heard this morning at sunrise just prior to WNDZ signing on the air at 1100 UTC. If anyone in the Midwest is trying for Nevada, this may be your best bet. They play classic country and were likely on their day facilities (10kw). I don't think they ever power down. They were heard frequently last season "forgetting" to power down at night - usually best around sunrise. KBNN Lebanon, MO. was also heard signing on for the day when I heard KHWG's ID at 1100 UTC.

760 - KKZN Thornton, CO. "Colorado's Progressive Talk" also heard at 1100 UTC thanks to the SDR recording, new log, must have caught them on their 50kw day rig with nice strong signal over phased WJR.

 

[eriepascannist]

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A quick question for the more experienced DX'ers: what time do AM stations typically switch from daytime power to nighttime power, for those that do so?

I asked because I received two Washington, D.D. stations last night that apparently broadcast 50 Kw during the day, but only 5,000 watts at night. They were WMAL on 630 khz and WTEM on 980 khz. I heard both after 21:10 local, quite a ways after local sunset. I scanned back through the dial later and heard WMAL again about 22:00 local, although WTEM was absent by that time.

As a side note, I also logged WHIO on 1290 doing 5,000 watts, and the clear channels WCBS on 880, WLS on 890, KWW on 1060, WBBM on 780, and KMOX on 1120.

 

[ridgescan]

go in here and hit up their "AM Query" to see your area's power parameters
http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/why...change-operations-or-cease-broadcasting-night
my own experience here in Frisco, is they all generally power down around here at about 8pm pst (0300utc)