MW DXing in Alaska

[DXerPaulAK]

My location: McGrath, Alaska using a C.Crane Skywave, 5” DeBock FSL antenna, Zoom H1 digital recorder and Sony MDR7506 headphones. All were confirmed either by a match to a web stream or known to me with 100 percent certainty that’s what I was hearing. This isn't all, but is most of what I’ve logged, some stuff is left out such as weaker stuff I’ve reported already. I try to keep my logs to stuff that’s interesting for one reason or another, a new log, exceptionally strong signal given the circumstances.. something like that!

864kHz Trans World Radio via 1,000,000 Watt Gavar, Armenia transmitter site on Wed Oct 27 at 1708UTC with some singing by a man and woman followed by a brief Interval Signal interlude then the start of another program. Signal is VERY good at times, but does fade out a bit. 5209 mile transpolar path. Audio: http://bit.ly/Armenia864Oct27_1708utc

936kHz IRIB Radio Azarbyajan Gharbi via 300KW transmitter in Fesanduz, Iran on Wed Oct 27 at 1640UTC with music followed by a man talking, maybe over the phone. The signal was good enough and clear enough that Soundhound and Shazam were able to correctly ID the song. It was getting beat up by splatter from other stations but overall, a good signal otherwise. 5460 mile transpolar path. Audio: IRIB Radio Azarbayjan Gharbi 936kHz Fesanduz, Iran Sat Oct 16, 2021 1521UTC.mp3

1053kHz Radio Iași via 400KW transmitter in Iași, Romania on Wed Oct 27 at 1628UTC with some real good Romanian music, good audio quality and good signal but my local NDB beacon in the background. You see, VTR is running a blistering 1KW on 350kHz and 1050 is square on it’s 3rd harmonic. 4827 mile transpolar path. Audio: http://bit.lyRomania1053Oct27_1628utc

NEW! 1179kHz IRIB Radio Iran via 50KW transmitter in Chah Bahar on Wed Oct 27 at 1557utc. This was initially an unknown as MWlist says its on 558kHz but WRTH still has it on 1179khz. Someone also ID’d the language as Farsi and said its much more likely to be Iran then the other 1179 in the Middle east, KuwaitStarts with a woman talking, a music interlude then a man talking. Near the end of the recording, you can hear it give way to a Chinese language station. Poor to fair at times, but other times, a good signal. 5484 mile transpolar path. Audio: http://bit.ly/Iran1179Oct27_1557utc

NEW! 1188kHz IRIB Radio Payam via 300KW transmitter in Tehran, Iran on Wed Oct 27 at 1559UTC with music and some talking interspersed. A few seconds past 1600UTC top of hour, there’s a brief time tone, “Radio Payam” station id and a few more tones. So rare for me to get a station ID from a non English speaking station that I can so easily understand. 5460 mile transpolar path. Audio: http://bit.ly/Iran1188Oct27_1559utc

NEW! 1260kHz SBA Radio Riyadh via 500KW transmitter in Damman, Saudi Arabia on Oct 27 at 1602UTC with a woman reading what sounds like a news report and playing some sound bites followed by some music later on. Not too bad of a signal for over 6 minutes! 6102 mile transpolar path. Audio: Radio Riyadh 1260kHz Dammam, Saudi Arabia Wed Oct 27, 2021 1602UTC.mp3

NEW! 1278kHz IRIB Radio Kermanshah via 200KW transmitter in Kermanshah, Iran on Wed Oct 27 at 1624UTC with a musical interlude then a female talking. Weak/noisy signal. 5600 mile transpolar path. Audio: Radio Kermanshah 1278kHz Kermanshah, Iran Wed Oct 27, 2021 1624UTC.mp3

NEW! 1368kHz IRIB Radio Golestan via 150KW transmitter in Gonbad-e Qabus, Iran on Wed Oct 27 at 1623UTC with some talking, a brief musical interlude and more talking. Noisy and poor signal. 5308 mile transpolar path. Audio: http://bit.ly/Iran1368Oct27_1623utc

1395kHz Public Radio of Armenia via 400kw transmitter in Gavar, Armenia on Wed Oct 27 at 1617UTC with man talking. The signal fades out a bit and comes back with music for a bit, before yet another fade down and rise up. On peaks, pretty good signal. 5209 mile transpolar path. Audio: 1395khz Wed Oct 27, 2021 1617UTC.mp3

1449kHz IRIB World Service via 400kw transmitter in Bandar-e Torkman, Iran on Sat Oct 23 at 1637UTC with female in turkmen language, with what sounded like a news report. Slight het from 250 Watt KLAM 1450 but pretty good signal for nearly 3 minutes. 5835 mile transpolar path. Audio: IRIB World Service 1449kHz Iran SAt Oct 23, 2021 1637UTC.mp3

NEW! 1467kHz IRIB Radio Qom via 100KW Transmitter in Qom, Iran on Oct 27 at 1650UTC with music. Signal was brief but very good! 5460 mile transpolar path. Audio: http://bit.ly/Iran1467Oct27_1650utc

1512kHz IRIB Radio Ardabill via 50KW transmitter in Ardabill, Iran on Wed Oct 27 at 1611UTC with a man talking, sounds like he’s on the phone. There’s a musical interlude, and more talking. The signal is exceptionally clear and strong at times especially considering the power level! I’ve yet to log the 1 megawatt Saudi on 1512! 5320 mile transpolar path. Audio: http://bit.ly/1512IranOct27_1611utc

 

[DXerPaulAK]

I had North Korea the other day on 3 frequencies, 657khz, 819khz and 873khz. This is my best of all three that day:

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This is HLAZ 1566 from South Korea. It's 250KW/6 tower directional can be very strong here. Take a listen: HLAZ 1566kHz Jeju, South Korea Tue Nov 2, 2021 1646UTC.mp3

JOUB 774 Japan is also a paint peeler sometimes. AUdio: JOUB 774kHz Akita, Japan Tue Nov 2m, 2021 1530UTC.mp3

 

[Boombox]

JOUB is the only Japanese MW I've clearly heard, and that was many years ago, on an FRG-7 with an outdoor wire.

 

[k7ng]

A couple days (early mornings, actually) last week were exceptional for MW DX at my location. JOUB was coming in stronger than some US / CA stations on nearby channels. I am using my ham radio (IC-7610) and the waterfall display showed carriers on nearly every 9 KHz channel not obscured by adjacent domestic stations' modulation.

I discovered how easy MW DX is by simply going to SSB reception. By choosing whichever sideband puts the passband farthest from an adjacent US/CA station, it's remarkable what can be heard sometimes, and often without the annoying high pitched carrier heterodynes.

A loop or ferrite bar to provide directionality is an enormous help both in reducing the level of domestic stations (sometimes) and in pulling weak DX out from under strong DX.

MW DX is a nice break from HF.

 

[DXerPaulAK]

A couple days (early mornings, actually) last week were exceptional for MW DX at my location. JOUB was coming in stronger than some US / CA stations on nearby channels. I am using my ham radio (IC-7610) and the waterfall display showed carriers on nearly every 9 KHz channel not obscured by adjacent domestic stations' modulation.

I discovered how easy MW DX is by simply going to SSB reception. By choosing whichever sideband puts the passband farthest from an adjacent US/CA station, it's remarkable what can be heard sometimes, and often without the annoying high pitched carrier heterodynes.

A loop or ferrite bar to provide directionality is an enormous help both in reducing the level of domestic stations (sometimes) and in pulling weak DX out from under strong DX.

MW DX is a nice break from HF.

I don't need to use SSB, LSB/SSB here .... regular AM mode and sometimes i can widen audio to 2 or 3 khz if the signal is strong and clear with no adjacent channel splatter.

I haven't forgotten about you guys or this thread, just hasnt been much going on in MW DXing in the last few weeks.. i do have a piece or two of audio to post soon though.

 

[DXerPaulAK]

Thu Nov 18: 1386 Radio Baltic Waves International and 1485 NRK P1 Longyearbyean, Svalbard, Norway made a good showing.

On Fri Nov 19th, 864 and 1413 Moldova showed up, so did 1026 Iran and 1485 Norway

 

[DXerPaulAK]

1485 SValbard pounded in for a few minutes today. Had a brief showing of 1152 Romania.... 1197 Iran was briefly in.. 1026 IRan was quite strong for a brief few moments. 1413 Moldova was good. (Wed Nov 24th)

 

[DXerPaulAK]

This morning I had Romania on 1179 and 1053 l, Iran on 936, 1026, 1449, Lithuania on 1386, Moldova on 1413 and Norway on 1485

And im, somewhat certain I had 4QD Emerald, QLD, Aus giveway to Radio Sawa 1548 Kuwait

 

[DXerPaulAK]

Well, today was INTERESTING!

Had a weak but readable NRK P1 Svalbard on 1485, Iran was pretty strong and clear in short spurts on 1449 when escaping the 1khz het from KLAM 1450 thats 350 miles away! both occurred between 1640 and 1730.

Then shortly after 1740utc, the door flew open to more.. Talk Sport 1089 and Absolute on 1215 were in fairly to pretty good in decent spurts.

I also had Moldova on 1413 decently enough but not great. Radio Sawa, Kuwait on 1548khz showed up fairly well.

I also had what i'm nearly 100 percent positive is from Romania, but unsure yet if its Radio romania Actualitati or Radio Constanta. It was definately "slavic" in nature and I even heard the word Romania, but couldnt make out much else while live listening

Paul Walker
McGrath, Alaska
CC skywave & 5" DeBock FSL antenna

 

[DXerPaulAK]

It's been somewhat meager transpolar openings but what I've had, has been good. All recorded in McGrath, Alaska 250 miles NW of Anchorage with a CC Skywave (non SSB model), 5" DeBock tunable FSL antenna and Zoom H1 handheld digital recorder connected directly to the output of the radio. Sorry, no URLK shorteners this time for my audio links.. was taking topo much time to create them and always came up with a few errors each time.


1026kHz Radio Tabriz, Azarshahr, Iran at 1819UTC on Sat Nov 27th with 2 men talking. Not the best signal I've ever had from them, but far form the worst and certainly understandable by a native farsi speaker. 200KW via 5377 mile transpolar path. Audio: Radio Tabriz 1026kHz Azarshahr, Iran Sat Nov 27, 2021 1819UTC.mp3

1053kHz Radio lasi. Lasi Romania at 1738UTC on Sun Nov 28th with woman talking in romanian. No idea what kind of show this is. You can clearly hear my local airport beacon, VTR 350kHz beeping away in the background. 1050khz is its 3rd harmonic and it runs a blistering 1KW from barely 2 miles away! 400kw via 4827 mile transpolar path. Audio: Radio Lasi 1053kHz Romania Sun Nov 28, 2021 1739UTC.mp3

1062kHz TRT Radyo 1, Diyarbakir Turkey at 1657UTC on Sat Nov 27th with a man loudly and excitedly talking then what sounds like possibly a program promo. Signal wasn't that great and didnt last long. I've had them much better for much longer later in the winter, last year. 300kw via 5392 mile transpolar path. Audio: TRT Radyo 1 Turkey 1062kHz Sat Nov 27, 2021 1657UTC.mp3

1089kHz Talk Sport UK at 1742UTC on Sun. Nov 28th with man talking on the phone with british accent. First time heard this season and not nearly as strong as I've heard it before. 500kw via 4417 mile transpolar path. Audio: Talk Sport 1089kHz UK Sun Nov 28, 2021 1742UTC.mp3
(assuming 500kw Droitwich transmitter, no echo heard)

1215kHz Absolute Radio UK on Sun. Nov 28th at 1745UTC with "Mysterious Ways" by U2 4417 or so mile transpolar path depending on which of the two higher powered 1215 transmitters I heard. This one is rare here, 1089 Talk Sport is my most common UK signal. 1215 audio: Talk Sport 1089kHz UK Sun Nov 28, 2021 1742UTC.mp3

1386kHz Radio Baltic Waves International, Viesintos Lithuania at 1725UTC on Sat Nov 27th with an absolutely glorious signal during some instrumental music during a Radio Poland program. 75KW via 4240 mile transpolar path
Audio: Radio Baltic Waves International 1386kHzx Lithuania Sat Nov 27, 2021 1725UTC.mp3

1413kHz Vesti FM, Grigoriopol Moldova, at 1728UTC on Mon Nov 22 with man talking in Russian by phone. Later in the recording is a female doing a news report. Nolt a bad signal this time, but not the best I've ever heard them because the signal can be very clear at times, almost like a semi local. 400kw via 4820 mile transpolar path. Audio: Vesti FM 1413kHz Moldova Mon Nov 22, 2021 1728UTC.mp3

1485kHz NRK P1 Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway at 1645UTC on Wed Nov 24th. The station playing pop music held out fairly well on and off for over 5 minutes, about the clearest I've ever heard it and the longest too. Most times they aren't as good and only last 10-20-30 seconds. 1KW via 2675 mile transpolar path. Audio: NRK Radio P1 1485kHz Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway Wed Nov 24, 2021 1645UTC.mp3

1530kHz Radio Romania Actualitati, Radauti Romania on Sun Nov 28th at 1803UTC. Starts off with woman talking, sounds like some kind of news report of some kind, but just a guess based upon the inflection of the voice and the time. Man starts talking at 29 seconds and at 39 seconds, you hear him say the name of the station, "Radio Romania Actualitati". Two 1530kHz transmitters exist in Romania but this is the only one on the Actualitati network, the other runs programming from their Constanta network. 15KW non directional via 5017 miel transpolar path. Audio: Vesti FM 1413kHz Moldova Mon Nov 22, 2021 1728UTC.mp3

1548kHz Radio Sawa, Al-Kuwayt, Kuwait at 1723UTC on Mon Nov 22nd. Signal isn't the best, but at times good enough a native speaker would easily understand what's being said during this talk or interview show. 600kw via 5928 mile transpolar path. Audio: Radio Sawa 1548kHz Kuwait Mon Nov 22, 2021 1723UTC.mp3

 

[mass-man]

nice catches!!! Glad ur back...

 

[DXerPaulAK]

I sent an email to ABC Capricornia an hour ago about my "bombing in like a ton of bricks" reception from 4QD 1548kHz and in 8 minutes!! I had a reply from their bureau chief of staff wanting to do a radio interview with me. We've already recorded it. I'll post details on it's expected airing when I find out.

This marks the 4th ABC outlet I've appeared on.. the others being ABC Hobart Tasmania, ABC Newcastle NSW and ABC national News breakfast TV

Paul

 

[DXerPaulAK]

I sent an email to ABC Capricornia an hour ago about my "bombing in like a ton of bricks" reception from 4QD 1548kHz and in 8 minutes!! I had a reply from their bureau chief of staff wanting to do a radio interview with me. We've already recorded it. I'll post details on it's expected airing when I find out.

This marks the 4th ABC outlet I've appeared on.. the others being ABC Hobart Tasmania, ABC Newcastle NSW and ABC national News breakfast TV

Paul

One of the best ever receptions of 1548kHz on my end was Monday October 25th from 1600 to 1700UTC, which I believe is 2 to 3am on Tuesday the 26th in Emerald, QLD

Here are two clips, the first one recorded at 1602UTC: 4QD 1548kHz Emerald, QLD, Aus Mon Oct 25, 2021 1602UTC.mp3

Here is clip 2, recorded at 1641UTC: 4QD 1548kHz Emerald, QLD, Aus Mon Oct 25, 2021 1641UTC.mp3

 

[DXerPaulAK]

This audio clip is KRLD 1080 Dallas, 3260 miles away at 12:04AM Ak Sunday January 2nd time with local traffic information and several KRLD mentions

Here's my audio:

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[DXerPaulAK]

Don't mind the title, this is KIHH 1400 Eureka, CA from Friday night at 918pm AK Time, just BOMBING in for about 2 minutes from 1700 miles away with only 790 watts

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[DXerPaulAK]

XEPRS 1090 Tijuana slamming into McGrath, Alaska about 3500 miles away on Friday night. They can be listenable most nights, but with chatter form KFNQ Seattle behind them. Not this time... XEPRS in the clear and banging away.

Audio:

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[DXerPaulAK]

January 6th.
Glorious audio and signal from Radio lasi 1053 romania despite the 3rd harmonic of my 1kw airport beacon, VTR 350
also 1179 romania.
1188 hungary
1413 moldova, 1485 norway
864 moldova, 1026 iran...

 

[DXerPaulAK]

Night DX Thu Jan 14, 2022

CJRB 1220 Bossievan, MB with classical music

KTGE 1570 Salinas, CA with Spanish music

KGA 1510 Spokane, WA with some kind of call in talk show

“W1440” CJKR Wetaskawin, AB pounding in with oldies and classic hits

KSJX 1500 with Vietnamese talk and a song that sounded a lot like a Vietnamese re-sing of “love potion #9” by the searchers

KTWO 1030 Casper, WY with C2CAM and station liner

KBRO 1490 Bremerton, WA presumed with Spanish talk that appeared to have matched the La estacion stream

KCVr 1570 Lodi, CA tentative with Punjab/ Hindi talk.


And not really Dx, but the 1600 from Blaine WA is slamming in like it’s 20 miles down the road not 1200 <----- That is NORMAL behavior .. for many many minutes at a time, almost nightly. This is my "Bellweather" station.... this being weak as snot is a damn good indicator the rest of the band will be useless and nearly 100 percent true every time i find 1600 KVRI weak, the rest of the band is GARBAGE.

 

[DXerPaulAK]

KVRI 1600 is licensed to Blaine, WA right and its towers are right on the border with WA state/Canada. This station targets the punjab community in the Vancouver area and not exactly a surprise, but it is incredibly strong here in McGrath, Alaska!! It's 10KW/6 tower night pattern is right along the waterfront and beams right up the coast. If I draw a line from it's tower array and main lobe, its pointed almost dead center at my general area.

Not unexpected but still amazing considering KVRI is 1500 miles away! They are my most consistent station... the strongest, most regular. I hear the 50kw'ers from Vancouver 1320,, 1470, 1130, 730, etc.... but this one tops them all by noticeable amounts.

Here's some audio of the station with the audio filter widened to 6khz on my CC CRane Skywave with my FSL loop tuned up:

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Paul Walker

 

[DXerPaulAK]

I tuned the dials late at night last week and ran across the fairly common KSJX 1500 San Jose, about 2000 miles away. What caught my ear was what they were airing.

It was a Vietnamese song and while I didn't understand one iota of what they were saying, I recognized the melody immediately.... they were singing a vietnamese language version of the 1959 hit "Love Potion #9" by The Searchers... and I happened to be recording!

Here's the audio:

KSJX-AM 1500 San Jose, CA Thu Jan 13, 2022 1156pm AK Time.mp3