Daytime Skywave on Winnipeg SDR

[cyberdad]

....Or at least critical hours. 3pmCST/2100UTC

WBBM right there in the sunshine with a good signal. WGN also in but not strong as WBBM. ( Calling it fair would be a stretch). WCCO, WNAX, and WEBC also in, as might be more in line with expectations.

There are now two SDRs in the immdediate Winnipeg area. This one is closer in to the city itself, and I believe the newer of the two. The other one is less friendly to MW DXers, although electrical noise can be an issue on some channels.

It's going to be interesting to check this receiver out in more detail, given that I'm familiar with both the day and night Winnipeg radio dial from my annual visits there. None of the stations I mentioned abolve are normally audible in the daytime in Winnipeg. Even in mid winter. So this radio could be fun!

 

[radioman148]

....Or at least critical hours. 3pmCST/2100UTC

WBBM right there in the sunshine with a good signal. WGN also in but not strong as WBBM. ( Calling it fair would be a stretch). WCCO, WNAX, and WEBC also in, as might be more in line with expectations.

There are now two SDRs in the immdediate Winnipeg area. This one is closer in to the city itself, and I believe the newer of the two. The other one is less friendly to MW DXers, although electrical noise can be an issue on some channels.

It's going to be interesting to check this receiver out in more detail, given that I'm familiar with both the day and night Winnipeg radio dial from my annual visits there. None of the stations I mentioned abolve are normally audible in the daytime in Winnipeg. Even in mid winter. So this radio could be fun!

Thanks for the "heads up" cyberdad. Right now during night hours WYLL is coming in strong. I'll be interested to check this out during the day.

 

[cyberdad]

I spent the better part of an hour on this SDR this evening, commencing just before 9pm CST/0300UTC. Nighttime Winnipeg dial was pretty much what I'm used to, but with a few items of note....

560: WEBC still on top. I'm pretty sure I had WIND underneath, but couldm't ID it. Also country music in and out. Perhaps KMON, which is common around sunrise.
580: Former home of 50kw blowtorch, this evening had KIDO (Boise) on top
670: None of my radios has ever been able to pull out WSCR from underneath CJOB splatter. The Kiwi unit did so with ease. Signal was good.
920: CFRY City-grade sounding signal from a rimshot 40 miles away.
1160: WTLL on yop of KSL. Usually it's either the other way around. OR null one, hear the other.
1180: R. Rebelde "chorus" underneath WHAM
1250: CHSN another impressive signal from 40 or so miles out.
1390: WGRB (Chicago), all alone. Definitely didn't expect this.
1530: Interesting to hear WCKY fighting with co-owned KFBK. WCKY getting the better of it.
1610: Expecting CHHA. Turned out to be an Alberta station that wasn't listed in Radio-Locator I'll have to unravel that mystery.

 

[radioman148]

I spent the better part of an hour on this SDR this evening, commencing just before 9pm CST/0300UTC. Nighttime Winnipeg dial was pretty much what I'm used to, but with a few items of note....

560: WEBC still on top. I'm pretty sure I had WIND underneath, but couldm't ID it. Also country music in and out. Perhaps KMON, which is common around sunrise.
580: Former home of 50kw blowtorch, this evening had KIDO (Boise) on top
670: None of my radios has ever been able to pull out WSCR from underneath CJOB splatter. The Kiwi unit did so with ease. Signal was good.
920: CFRY City-grade sounding signal from a rimshot 40 miles away.
1160: WTLL on yop of KSL. Usually it's either the other way around. OR null one, hear the other.
1180: R. Rebelde "chorus" underneath WHAM
1250: CHSN another impressive signal from 40 or so miles out.
1390: WGRB (Chicago), all alone. Definitely didn't expect this.
1530: Interesting to hear WCKY fighting with co-owned KFBK. WCKY getting the better of it.
1610: Expecting CHHA. Turned out to be an Alberta station that wasn't listed in Radio-Locator I'll have to unravel that mystery.

I also heard WEBC with NFL football. Couldn't tell what was underneath. WCKY was strong on 1530. Thanks for filling us in on the Winnipeg dial. Very helpful since I've never been there.

 

[radioman148]

Checked out Winnipeg Rcvr around 2:00PM CST nothing from the Chicago area, but did hear KSTP, KXEL, & WDSM fading in and out. Heard CKRM Regina on 620.

 

[cyberdad]

I also heard WEBC with NFL football. Couldn't tell what was underneath. WCKY was strong on 1530. Thanks for filling us in on the Winnipeg dial. Very helpful since I've never been there.

Checked out the daytime dial today for about 45 minutes commencing at about 1:30pm CST (1930UTC). More in line with what I was used to from my previous IRL visits. No apparent daytime skywave, with the exception of KSTP, which was in with a good, steady signal. 660 also got my attention with a moderately loud het accompanying KEYZ, A 5KW station with a weak signal from Williston, ND. Not sure what the source of the het could have been other than perhaps some sort of spillover from CJOB (680).

Winnipeg has been a good DX spot for me. Large City with not much surrounding it except fabulous unobstructed ground conductivity. But if you go an hour east, you get into the awful ground conductivityof the Canadian Shield/Northwoods. How fabulous is the ground conductivity in every direction but east? An example is KTRF on 1230 from Thief River Falls, MN. About 125 miles south. Fair signal and all alone. Which is "business as usual" for KTRF. Another couple of example from the south would be KFGO and WDAY from Fargo. 5kw on 790 and 970 respectively. 200+ miles and still sounding good.

 

[icybluelake]

Winnipeg has been a good DX spot for me. Large City with not much surrounding it except fabulous unobstructed ground conductivity. But if you go an hour east, you get into the awful ground conductivityof the Canadian Shield/Northwoods. How fabulous is the ground conductivity in every direction but east? An example is KTRF on 1230 from Thief River Falls, MN. About 125 miles south. Fair signal and all alone. Which is "business as usual" for KTRF. Another couple of example from the south would be KFGO and WDAY from Fargo. 5kw on 790 and 970 respectively. 200+ miles and still sounding good.

By the same token, I think, I've had a lot of luck with daytime skywave from Manitoba and Saskatchewan from my home in eastern Iowa -- or maybe other parts of Iowa when I've been out traveling during the day, most likely wintertime. Definitely have heard in broad daylight CJOB on 680, CKDM on 730 and CBKF-1 from Gravelbourg, SK on 690, and a number of others. I think the relative openness of this part of North America, without a whole lot else on the dial, probably enabled a lot of my daytime catches from up north. Unfortunately, I haven't had the same luck with catching the bigger North Dakota stations on daytime skywave.

I might mention that last night I finally heard KTNN 660 blasting in over WFAN. A first for me, for which I've waited a long time!

 

[MichaelTheZ]

I spent the better part of an hour on this SDR this evening, commencing just before 9pm CST/0300UTC. Nighttime Winnipeg dial was pretty much what I'm used to, but with a few items of note....

560: WEBC still on top. I'm pretty sure I had WIND underneath, but couldm't ID it. Also country music in and out. Perhaps KMON, which is common around sunrise.
580: Former home of 50kw blowtorch, this evening had KIDO (Boise) on top
670: None of my radios has ever been able to pull out WSCR from underneath CJOB splatter. The Kiwi unit did so with ease. Signal was good.
920: CFRY City-grade sounding signal from a rimshot 40 miles away.
1160: WTLL on yop of KSL. Usually it's either the other way around. OR null one, hear the other.
1180: R. Rebelde "chorus" underneath WHAM
1250: CHSN another impressive signal from 40 or so miles out.
1390: WGRB (Chicago), all alone. Definitely didn't expect this.
1530: Interesting to hear WCKY fighting with co-owned KFBK. WCKY getting the better of it.
1610: Expecting CHHA. Turned out to be an Alberta station that wasn't listed in Radio-Locator I'll have to unravel that mystery.

I thought it might be worth mentioning... around the same time, I was listening from Chicago and I was getting unusually good reception from that direction, so it seems to go both ways. I was able to ID CJVR 750 in Malfort, Saskatchewan and believe it or not CKRM 620 in Regina was coming in quite strongly, more strongly than I'd normally hear WTMJ in Milwaukee despite the fact they are both 10KW and one is far closer to me. I had never ID'ed either before. I believe I also was getting CBK 540 but I didn't wait long enough for an ID (I have logged that one before.)

Ended out with 4 new stations within an hour or two. It's been quite a while since that has happened.

 

[cyberdad]

I thought it might be worth mentioning... around the same time, I was listening from Chicago and I was getting unusually good reception from that direction, so it seems to go both ways. I was able to ID CJVR 750 in Malfort, Saskatchewan and believe it or not CKRM 620 in Regina was coming in quite strongly, more strongly than I'd normally hear WTMJ in Milwaukee despite the fact they are both 10KW and one is far closer to me. I had never ID'ed either before. I believe I also was getting CBK 540 but I didn't wait long enough for an ID (I have logged that one before.)

Ended out with 4 new stations within an hour or two. It's been quite a while since that has happened.

Definitely a two-way path, and it happens several times in a typical year. CBW (990) splatter can sometimes be a significant nighttime pest for WMVP at my location. I can also null WTMJ on some nights and get a very listenable CKRM. In fact I did that quite often when the calls were CKCK and the format was oldies, Perfectly listenable. CJVR is an occasional pest for WSB. Both of those and CBK are listenable 24/7 in Winnipeg. CBK trips the scan button in most car radios.

@ icybluelake....NICE catch with KTNN and the others. I'd call that a grand slam...four new ones in one hour!

I don't recall ever hearing KTNN east of the Rockies. As for CKDM, that one's also audible 24/7 in Winnipeg. Fair-weak daytime, good at night. It occasionally breaks through WGN splatter here at my home location.

 

[CADXER]

KTNN has been reported widely the last few days by DXers. Unfortunately it's quite tough to log in Chicago due to WSCR splash. Last time I heard them was in 2006.

 

[icybluelake]

Yup, I’m hearing KTNN again tonight! Just over the recognizable voice of Steve Somers on WFAN, which has oddly enough been stronger than usual recently. It’s a 50/50 mix with KTNN tonight though.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba stations are fairly regular nighttime visitors for me in eastern Iowa. CKDM is usually there, and CBW 990 is actually a station I listen to fairly often. I’ve even had it as a preset on my car radio at times. CKCK 620 Regina often shows up, as does CFRY on 920. A half a dozen others show up occasionally. Some Calgary stations too. CBK 540 has been a regular in the past but not in the last few years, however it’s there tonight!

 

[radioman148]

Yup, I’m hearing KTNN again tonight! Just over the recognizable voice of Steve Somers on WFAN, which has oddly enough been stronger than usual recently. It’s a 50/50 mix with KTNN tonight though.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba stations are fairly regular nighttime visitors for me in eastern Iowa. CKDM is usually there, and CBW 990 is actually a station I listen to fairly often. I’ve even had it as a preset on my car radio at times. CKCK 620 Regina often shows up, as does CFRY on 920. A half a dozen others show up occasionally. Some Calgary stations too. CBK 540 has been a regular in the past but not in the last few years, however it’s there tonight!

Too much splatter from WSCR for me to get a shot at it. CBW can be quite strong here and as cyberdad mentioned sometimes can bother WMVP in the northern Chicago suburbs.

 

[DXBob]

KTNN is a regular CH visitor here when they are on daytime pattern. CBW is often highly listenable despite local KMBZ on adjacent frequency 980 kHz. In fact, the signal at night can completely overcome any splatter from KMBZ. I have never heard CBK here but I keep trying.

Bob

 

[MichaelTheZ]

I have to say that here in Chicago there's a big difference between receiving Manitoba stations and receiving Saskatchewan stations. CBW and CJOB are easily heard on a daily basis here with decent signals, and sometimes CKDM is listenable as well. But the Saskatchewans are much harder. I even have trouble hearing CBK most of the time, and Thursday was the first time I got either CKRM or CJVR.

But given that CKRM and CJVR came in so well on Thursday I'm wondering if I ever have a chance with the Alberta 50KW stations. There do seem to be a lot of them... would they be gettable in the Chicago area under situations like Thursday's reception?

 

[gr8oldies]

I took a little bit of a spin around the Winnipeg SDR last night (where else can you hear CBW "like a local"?) and settled on 1600, where I got Cedar Rapids and Ripon, WI. I'll check them out again soon.

 

[cyberdad]

KTNN has been reported widely the last few days by DXers. Unfortunately it's quite tough to log in Chicago due to WSCR splash. Last time I heard them was in 2006.

Okay, I'm now determined to try for KTNN. But WSCR splash is definitely a problem at my locztion, as well. CJOB is sometimes strong enough to break through on 680 but KTNN on day patterb just after sunset locally is not. I can't help but wonder if CJOB is operating within the rules at night. They used to be a rather tough catch (although not impossible).

CJOB does have an impressive daytime signal. You can hear them throughout North Dakota, and in probably at least the northwestern half of Minnesota as well as parts of Montana and South Dakota.

 

[radioman148]

When I used to go up to Bemidji, Mn to visit my daughter at summer camp CJOB was an easy catch during the day. Also the old CKY-AM was a fun listen on 580. Great oldies back then, late 80s/early 90s.

 

[gr8oldies]

Anyone know what "WSPR Autorun" with a number decoded in the user field means?

 

[cyberdad]

. Also the old CKY-AM was a fun listen on 580. Great oldies back then, late 80s/early 90s.

.....Especially when Burton Cummings was doing afternoon drive. Living encyclopedia of pop and rock music. He'd bring in records from his own considerable collection, told great stories, and would have music biz guests call in. He also was no slouch at reading commercials, weather forecasts, etc. All accompanied by a dry sense of humor. He came off as truly enjoying himself. Very entertaining.

 

[gr8oldies]

WGVU. Kentwood MI in with oldies now.