Anyone listen to "distant" AM stations at night?

[NowhereMan66]

I enjoy AM DXing, I work in Pittsburgh, from that area but live in Eastern Ohio. I like to AM DX in the way home from work. BTW, during the eclipse, there is a chance for AM DX as well.

 

[majoco]

it needs tubes any info on how to find some would help

Join "Antique Radio Forum" - they have ads for tubes down the side of the web page - you could also ask about your Zenith model number.

 

[a29zuk]

I wasn't complaining. It was kind of a surprise! Heck, I did a lot of broadcast band DX back in the 70's(when clear channels were really CLEAR channels). After 43 states and over 1100 stations logged my interest turned to shortwave.
Waking up early before school and listening to KFI 640(clear channel) Los Angeles was always fun from here in Michigan.
Once in a while KNBR 680 San Francisco would come in,too!

Happy DXing
Jim

P.S. Radio Reference should eliminate the spellcheck fault for the word DXing

 

[mmckenna]

Once in a while KNBR 680 San Francisco would come in,too!

I grew up about 60 miles south of San Francisco. Back in the 1970's, KNBR was one of THE big stations that we listened to. Back then it was talk, music, etc. In fact, I remember one year turning 7 or 8, on my birthday. Back then the morning DJ's (Mike Cleary and Frank Dill) would announce birthdays. My mom let me sit out in the car outside the school waiting for my name to be said on the radio, then go into school a few minutes late. I still remember that today.

Of course KGO 810KHz was, is and always has been the big power house clear channel station here. 50,000 watts with an excellent antenna location on the mud flats on the bay. Antenna pattern pointed north/south, so could be heard up into Canada/Alaska and down into Mexico. When I was in my 20's, I was in the Coast Guard and stationed on a ship based out of Kodiak Alaska. While on in-port watch, I'd often sit up on the bridge at nights using the RDF receiver to listen in on KGO. The needle would point the way "home". Late at night, aurora borealis streaming overhead, bridge to myself, listening to news, traffic and commercials from home, all familiar voices.

Another long time favorite that comes in here at night is 660AM, KTNN, "Voice of the Navajo Nation" out of Window Rock Arizona. That's sort of my test to let me know when the AM DX is good. I've spent a lot of time listening to 660. Sometimes it's all done in the Navajo language, but mostly in English.

1000KHz, KOMO out of Seattle is the other strong DX station. Spent some time in Seattle and it's always good to hear the weather reports from up there. I still miss my time in Seattle, so it's a good feeling to listen to KOMO.

 

[mmckenna]

1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake took down KGO for a couple of hours/days due to power outages and damaged antennas. I remember taking that opportunity to see what else I could pick up on 810KHz. I don't recall anything specific, but it was making the best of an awful situation. After a bit, they got the generators running and switched around the damaged antenna and were back on the air. From that time on for a few days, KGO was all we listened to as they had the most reliable news about damage, aftershocks, and worse. While the station ownership has changed and they unceremoniously dumped most of the good on air personality, it's still a useful source.

 

[weathermedic]

When I was a kid in sleep away camp in the Poconos, I used to listen to my portable AM radio at night before going to sleep. I remember listenint to baseball games from Atlanta, Cleveland, Boston and several other cities that I can't recall.

 

[reedeb]

K remember as a kid in the 60's and 70's listening to DX many times during bad snowstorms I wold listen as far as West Virginia [Southern Maine at the time] with thier school cancellations as well. Working 3rd shift I would listen to WRKO 680 out of Boston [BTW WRKO is a Clear Radio Station part of the country's EMA radio system] Back in 2001 I moved to South Carolina and using a small portable radio I would listen to old WRKO at times. This thread has me thinking of digging out the old AM/FM radio to do some late night DXing again.

 

[colinpeddle]

Did some MW dxing a couple weekends back. I'm on the very easy coast of Canada, in the North Atlantic Ocean lol

Conditions were great (this was a few days before the big solar flares, fwiw) and I was getting the regulars, such as WFAN660, WCBS880 out of New York in Great quality, as good as local AM. No exaggerations. No weakness, no jitter or breakup in the least. Even got bass definition on the low end, really impressive stuff. Enough to wow the non-nerds around me at the lake.

I grabbed a couple stations out of Quebec: CKAC 730, 690 TSN, both from Montreal. They were new to me. I've heard 690 before but it's usually quite weak and inconsistent and I've never quite been certain it was what I was hearing. This night it was solid as local am.

Surprising as completely due west DXing for me tends to skew down the coast instead of into the mainland. I've only hit a couple stations out of Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec before and again, usually very weak.

With that in mind, I hit 700 WLW out of Cincinnati Ohio, and 760 WJR from Michigan. Both are 50,000 watt clear channel stations, but they're a half-a-continent away from me. My furthest ever pulls coming from the West. And in superb quality no less. Not as good as WFAN NYC was coming in, but still more than listenable.

My deepest hit was 790 WPRV from Rhode Island, a 5,000 non-clear channel station. Which beats out a 5,000watt station in Maine as my furthest non-50,000/clear channel DX yet. WPRV was very staticy but solid enough to get the callsign at the top of the hour.

All of this on a Tecsun PL660 with a loop antenna sat "behind" it.

All in all, a fun 30 minute MW DXing session.

 

[spongella]

Nothing as magical as listening to a far away fading radio station. Here in NJ at night can pick up WSM from Nashville pretty much every night. Canadian station on 740 with continuous music also heard, Radio Reloj (Radio Clock) from Cuba once in a while, also WLS &WBBM, from Windy City, KDKA Pittsburgh, WBZ Boston, WTOP (Federal News Radio) Washington DC, WBT Atlanta to name a few. Farthest was KMOX from St. Louis, MO. All gotten with a Panasonic DR-22. Lotsa' fun. Am a dyed-in-the-wool AM radio fan.

 

[f2shooter]

I'm one of those people who listens to AM through the night, often Coast to Coast and most of the time I get on 1200 out of San Antonio, not bad for being in the southeast. Conditions have a lot to do with reception of course but rare is the night I can't get them pretty well, usually through about 6 am this time of year.

Rick H.

 

[jwt873]

I got 'into it' back in the 60's as a young teen.

We had two pop rock stations at either end of the dial. I was given an old tube radio with continuous tuning. One night when tuning from one local station to the other, I heard some good tunes in the middle of the band.

Turns out I was hearing places like Little Rock, Salt Lake City, Detroit & Chicago. I was amazed. This led to Shortwave and then to amateur radio.

I still listen from time to time. I have a Wellbrook Loop connected to an IC-7600) andI still log the odd new one.

The problem with listening today is that many stations get their content from the same sources. Unlike the 'old days' when most stations had a personality, today you usually hear the same syndicated sports or talk programs across the band.

 

[mmckenna]

The problem with listening today is that many stations get their content from the same sources. Unlike the 'old days' when most stations had a personality, today you usually hear the same syndicated sports or talk programs across the band.

^ this.

When I'm traveling/driving alone long distances, I like to start late in the morning and drive till late at night. A few months back I did a trip from California to Texas and back. I like to listen to the local AM stations to get a feel for the local flavor of the places I pass through. Usually works pretty well, especially during the daytime. At night, no so much. While out towards New Mexico and Texas, the AM DX was really good. Got to hear a lot of stations I can't get from the Left Coast. But like you said, only so much syndicated programming to go around, and having to listen to some of that drivel for 15 to 30 minutes just to hear a station break is pretty painful.