Do Ponds & Lakes Create better Dxing conditions?

[radioman148]

Great scan! Somedays, signals just don't come in. I feel like you have okay ground conductivity out there where you can get the big boys in there. Confused why wCKY isn't in there(as you said) According to Radio Locator, you should be in the fringe range of receiving.

I thought I'd hear at least a trace of WCKY. Maybe on the car radio I would've, but my wife doesn't have the patience for my Dxing. LOL

 

[davideduardo]

That's awesome! too bad PR is a mess right now or i'd check it out

During the 70's and 80's I had a DX location in the San Juan metro area and also had a regular destination at Guánica on the SW coast where I was right on the beach in a wood house with no metal roof and no rebar... great for reception of deep South America.

Most of the Island is near "normal" now, with the remaining problems in very remote parts of the interior. A number of the hotels were so badly hit that they are not open, but most visitor services are up to pre-storm standards.

 

[cyberdad]

Surprising results for WKZO & WJR. I wouldn't not have expected that.

Me too. To put it mildly! Short of each station being on STA, the only thing I can think of is for each of those it was 100% land path to where I am, about the last 20-30 miles of which consisting of sand dunes covered by an inch or so of topsoil (if that much). That also helps to explain why WIMS and WHFB, each with 5kw less than 20 miles from me, are fair at best.

As for WCKY in Indy....I used to go there at least once a year on my biz trips. It was perfectly listenable in the car, but invisible inside the Indy Marriott North, where I usually stayed. (I-465 and Keystone, about 6 miles north of downtown).

 

[cyberdad]

Most of the Island is near "normal" now, with the remaining problems in very remote parts of the interior. A number of the hotels were so badly hit that they are not open, but most visitor services are up to pre-storm standards.

First of all, I'm glad to hear this. Trivializes the usual stuff we talk about here.

Your wood frame location on the beach with no rebar sounds ideal. I was excited to pull into the driveway of our current vacay house and find that, even with that type of bulding, there seems to be no escape from electrical noise. Fortunately, I've been able to find ways to mitigate perhaps 60% of that. It's still annoying, however.

I'm curious about the ground conductivity in Puerto Rico. Is it uniform throughout the island? Good or bad? And was your beach location the "classic" poor ground conductivity adjacent to the salt water?

 

[radioman148]

As for WCKY in Indy....I used to go there at least once a year on my biz trips. It was perfectly listenable in the car, but invisible inside the Indy Marriott North, where I usually stayed. (I-465 and Keystone, about 6 miles north of downtown).

That's where I stayed. For the little DX I was able to do from the car I didn't try for "CKY" however I did hear WYLL & WMVP in the car, but neither in the hotel right up at the window.

I still can't figure out why WBBM was significantly weaker than WGN and the other 50KW ND's. If they haven't moved to WSCR's tower I wonder if they're running lower power?

 

[schmave]

Good question. I was told by multiple people in a separate thread last week that WBBM has indeed not moved.
Otherwise, your Indianapolis band scan perfectly echoes my experiences there. I've never tried for WCKY in that location, but I am generally listening to Chicago stations when I'm out that way as I'm usually driving to or from the Windy City.
Cyberdad: I remember when I was attending college in Toledo in the late 90s, the Chicago 50Ks were tough to receive in town. They could be received, but were very weak as opposed to how they sounded 25-30 miles south of town (and an equal distance from Chicago). At night, they were every bit as good as anywhere else in the Midwest.
I always figured it was typical city interference, but as I've learned more about ground conductivity I now tend to think that sandy soil in southwest Michigan is the culprit as the paths from the towers to Toledo do cross that land. That is not the case further to the south.

 

[davideduardo]

I'm curious about the ground conductivity in Puerto Rico. Is it uniform throughout the island? Good or bad? And was your beach location the "classic" poor ground conductivity adjacent to the salt water?

The conductivity maps for PR are inaccurate. While it is stated that the coastal area is 8 and the interior is around a 4, there are many more variances as the terrain is so rugged and irregular.

I did conductivity measurements decades ago for the rebuild of WQII-1140, and we found areas ranging from 3 up to around 15 in flat inland coastal areas (not the beach itself).

The geological origins of PR mean that the island has no areas that are ocean-caused sandbars like Long Island. Most coastal areas were formed by the gradual erosion of the hills and mountains, meaning rich agricultural land in some areas and with good conductivity.

Generally, the coastal "band" is only a few miles wide, with mountains covering much of the rest. The mountains have pretty poor conductivity, but there are pockets of good and pockets of bad.

 

[ftballfan]

Okay, here's the mini AM bandscan (daytime).......

540: WAUK, very weak
560: WIND, good, All of the Chicago big signals are good here 24/7. That goes for 670, 720, 780, 890, and 1000. Even 820, and to a lesser extent 1160
580: WILL, very weak. In suburban Chicago, the signal ranges from fair to good. But at this location the signal hits the sandy soil and doesn't benefit from the lake path.
590: WKZO, very weak. This was a shocker, despite the sandy soil path. It's stronger at my home. Wondering if they're not running full power or if I'm in a dead spot.
600: WMT, barely audible, but I was able to positively ID it. Benefits from the lake.
620: WTMJ, good
640: WMFN good. "The new kid in town" or more correctly "the kid who moved away from town" does better here than I had been expecting
760: WJR, missing. missing on three different radios, including the Supe-2
850: WCPT, weak. No trace of WMUS from Muskegon
860: WNOV, weak but listenable. 250 watts from Milwaukee
920: WOKY, weak, but a little stronger than WNOV
950/960: I talked about this earlier. The 1kw signal from Chicago on 950 does better here than the less distant 5kw 960 from South Bend. (I earlier reported WSBT as non-directional during the day. It is not. But I think the conductivity has more to do with the signal than the pattern)
1030: WNVR, weak
1050: WLIP: weak
1060: WHFB: weak Not really any stronger than 250-watt WLIP despite being 5kw from about 22 miles away
1110: WMBI: fair-good. 4200 watts from a stick about 20 miles west-northwest of downtown Chicago.
1130: WISN: fair Despite pattern designed to protect WDFN
1180: WSQR: barely audible, but positively IDed. Mild surprise. 900 watts from about 55 miles west-northwest of Chicago
1200: WRTO: another good Chicago signal
1220: WKRS: fair. 1kw pattern pretty much straight north. But here I am to the southeast
1230: WJOB: fair at best
1240: WSBC: fair. farther away than WJOB, but a better signal
1300: WRDZ: weak. I'm in the null that protects WOOD. WOOD is closer and runs more power (20kw), but I didn't hear any trace of it.
1330: WKTA: good. As discussed yesterday.
1370: WLTH: weak, half the distance from here as WKTA
1390: WGRB: very weak. pattern sends most of the juice north along the other side of the lake.
1400: WSJM from 20 miles away or WRJN from 60 miles away depending on how you turn uyour radio. WSJM is stronger, but not by all that much
1420: WIMS fair at best from ten miles away. 5kw, no less. Nice little station, however.
1450: WRLL Chicago graveyarder with a fair-weak signal. 1490 WPNA is similar, but slightly weaker.
1690: WVON fair-good

Not all that much to add from the FM side. I've been listening for tropo, but haven't heard any. The downtown Chicago stations are all good, except WRME, which is a Franken FM on 87.7. It's audible and reliable, but weak and too much his for comfortable listening. If tropo (or e-skip) sets up, I'll report.

I don't do much on the AM side, but WTMJ is the strongest AM 24/7 in Manistee, MI (there is only one AM station within 40 miles, and it is a graveyarder [1450 WKLA] that barely makes it in). The big ones from Chicago (670, 720, 780, 890, 1000, 1160) are there almost all the time. Also a lot of eastern WI stations are in most of the time.

 

[cyberdad]

I don't do much on the AM side, but WTMJ is the strongest AM 24/7 in Manistee, MI (there is only one AM station within 40 miles, and it is a graveyarder [1450 WKLA] that barely makes it in). The big ones from Chicago (670, 720, 780, 890, 1000, 1160) are there almost all the time. Also a lot of eastern WI stations are in most of the time.

WTMJ makes it all the way to Sault Ste. Marie daytime (including on the Canadian side). As for the Manistee area, last time I went through there, about a year and a half ago, in addition to the big Chicago signals that you mentioned, I also was getting a very listenable daytime signal on the car radio from WIND (560).

.....and @ David Eduardo, thanks for answering my question about Puerto Rico's ground conductivity.