How many States have you logged on AM Broadcast Band DX?

[merlin]

Back in the beginning ('62 ish) my first radio was a modified Cadillac car radio with about 200 foot wire out to the barn.
I know I picked up dozens of states. Never missed the wolfman Jack show. At night, XERB was like next door.
6th grade, I was gifted a Halicrafters HQ-180. A couple ham friends helped me erect a T3FD in place of the wire.
That launced my SWLing and copied all the states (save for 1 or 2) and over a dozen countries.
about 1966(7) moved to So Cal, and upgraded to an R390A, and logged over 1000 stations from 500 KHz to 30 MHz.(not including amateur.
My hearing is actually poor for all the listening I have done.
I still do a little, but the bands have changed a lot over the decades. What I have left are a couple HF rigs with general coverage receive.

 

[Omega-TI]

It's so much easier to log stuff these days with a SDR. Using IQ recording one can record the entire band and go back and pick out station ID's later. No longer do you have to plant yourself on one frequency and cross your fingers. Of course a pre-tuned amplified directional antenna is helpful as well. I still have my old amplified Palomar loop antenna from the early 80's.

 

[spongella]

What a great question. Great comments too.

After 60+ years of AM radio listening I'd say only around a dozen and a half DX stations. Not much for that amount of time but still listening and geting excited at new ones. Latest was WGHQ from Kingston, NY, heard here in Western NJ.

I also like to listen to low power community/emergency alert stations in the 1600 - 1710 kHz range. They're generally low power and have callsigns for you to ID them.

 

[Omega-TI]

If you love a challenge, try the graveyard frequencies of 1230 kHz, 1240 kHz, 1340 kHz, 1400 kHz, 1450 kHz, and 1490 kHz. Now if you take pleasure out of torturing yourself, try "Ultralight DXing" those frequencies.

 

[a727469]

Yes but take your radio out away from your house and any other electronics..so much interference these days. We are in a rural area and once I get 50 feet away from our house it is totally different. Have tried everything to lower interference over many years but not worth it..I just take a walk! I just got a

Qodosen DX-286​

in the house, so, so outside, the best AM portable I have ever owned

 

[trentbob]

Yes very good thread, I've done quite a bit of AM radio dxing also, mostly as a kid in the early sixties using a 200 ft wire also.

When many stations would come off the air at sundown or at midnight, only the high watt superstations were left.
I logged quite a few stations.

Used to enjoy Art Bell and Coast to Coast AM in the 90s before the George Snory era that ruined the show. You could track Art Bell across the dial.🙂

 

[DS506]

35 states and provinces in roughly 50 years. Most distant include stations in Cuba, Colorado, Texas (multiple), Manitoba, Oklahoma, Louisiana (multiple). For me unique programming made it interesting. Today, there is so much syndication, you scroll through the spectrum (or as we use to say spin the dial) and get the same program on a quite a few stations.

 

[OHDXER]

From Springfield, OH I've logged 32 states, 4 provinces, and Cuba. Started October 2023. I have a Ccrane portable and an Airspy HF+ SDR with a simple $45 loop antenna. Just got my farthest log last week - CFAC, Calgary, Alberta, 1630 miles. Currently at 310 stations. Just getting back into it with the cold settling back in.