For a number of years in the early 2000s. I had to spend a week attending a November trade show in Stuttgart Germany. The BBC on 648 came in quite well there.
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AM Frequency of the Week 650
- Thread starter cyberdad
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When I visited my in-laws near Eindhoven (the Netherlands), it was a steady presence, with some noise but still listenable, and the only English-language service I could get in the daytime in Brabant-North, almost to Limburg. Shutting that station down was one of the dumbest decisions David Cameron's government ever made, and there's plenty of competition for that distinction.
Here in Oakland (Calif.) - KSTE from Sacramento, day and night.
I visited Philips in Eindhoven in the late 60's and it seemed that everyone there either worked for Philips or worked in a store or service that depended on Philips employees!
My father-in-law was a retired Philips R&D executive. (He passed away three years ago; I still miss him a lot.) During a visit in 2018, he took me to a small museum on the outskirts of Eindhoven, run by Philips retirees. It had almost every product Philips made...radios, TV cameras, shavers, medical equipment, lamps, CD equipment, toasters, coffee grinders, coffee-makers, and other kitchen appliances. There was even a shortwave transmitter that was big enough to walk around in. There's a website, in Dutch: Philips Historische Producten - there are some photos at Collectie – Philips Historische Producten
There was an amazing sense of pride among the retirees at the museum in what Philips did, something that you just don't see any more.
Eindhoven was known as "The Light Bulb City" because of the Philips presence...Philips got its start making light bulbs.
I got to have lunch in the executive dining area on the top floor of one of the taller buildings on the campus. While I did not meet him, the CEO was there a couple of tables over. I was invited due to my involvement in popularizing FM and stereo audio in Ecuador with my stations. I got a marvelous tour of factory floors making radios and making transmitters. And, of course, the factory area that gave Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken its name... light bulbs.
Of course, the fabulous Dutch rail service from Amsterdam to Eindhoven was a big part of the thrilling day.
Rocklin, CA
Day & Night KSTE Sacramento
Vallejo, CA
Daytime: KSTE Sacramento
Nighttime: KSTE Sacramento with a fringe signal
Day & Night KSTE Sacramento
Vallejo, CA
Daytime: KSTE Sacramento
Nighttime: KSTE Sacramento with a fringe signal
In suburban Columbus, Ohio, nothing by day and a solid to strong WSM at night. One of the more dependable skywave signals, especially given that it's on the lower end of the dial.
My experiences from the years I lived in suburban Houston are the same as others down there have described. I don't think WSM's skywave is as strong there as it is here, but it was usually present as I remember.
My experiences from the years I lived in suburban Houston are the same as others down there have described. I don't think WSM's skywave is as strong there as it is here, but it was usually present as I remember.
From NW San Antonio
Day: A weak KIKK from Pasadena. It’s readable on my sensitive radios away from RFI.
Sunset: WSM is heard weakly at first and then takes over KIKK before it signs off. On rare occasions I’ve heard a very weak KGAB in Orchid Valley, WY.
Night: WSM is fairly steady. It can be nulled pretty well by aiming NW. I’ve heard a weak CKOM a few times in the null during winter.
Sunrise: KGAB comes up with a pretty good signal when it goes to day power/pattern. XEPX in Puerto Ángel is sometimes heard briefly after the switch to day power. (There is some splatter from 660 XEFZ.) KIKK returns at sign-on.
DX/Retro: I’ve heard XEVG “Radio Fórmula” in Mérida once at night. Before they were retired, XETNT “Radio 65” in Los Mochis was common at night and XEEJ “La Patrona” in Puerto Vallarta was an occasional sunrise visitor.
Day: A weak KIKK from Pasadena. It’s readable on my sensitive radios away from RFI.
Sunset: WSM is heard weakly at first and then takes over KIKK before it signs off. On rare occasions I’ve heard a very weak KGAB in Orchid Valley, WY.
Night: WSM is fairly steady. It can be nulled pretty well by aiming NW. I’ve heard a weak CKOM a few times in the null during winter.
Sunrise: KGAB comes up with a pretty good signal when it goes to day power/pattern. XEPX in Puerto Ángel is sometimes heard briefly after the switch to day power. (There is some splatter from 660 XEFZ.) KIKK returns at sign-on.
DX/Retro: I’ve heard XEVG “Radio Fórmula” in Mérida once at night. Before they were retired, XETNT “Radio 65” in Los Mochis was common at night and XEEJ “La Patrona” in Puerto Vallarta was an occasional sunrise visitor.
WSM at night in both Hartland, VT, and Meriden, CT. I used to hear WSRO Ashland, MA, fairly well during the day in Meriden before it went digital and then silent.
I never got to Eindhoven. Even though it had been on my bucket list. i did hang out with some of the execs from Philips in our hospitality suite at a trade show we attended every year in Anaheim. So I did snag an invitation. But the closest I got was Luven, Belgium. The company I called on there was across the road from the Stella Artois brewery. Which I mistook for a warehouse! So aside from getting a nice order...I had to settle for that as my big thrill from being in that part of the world.
(Apologies for the veer).
Nowadays, all you get on AM during the daytime in Belgium, northern France or NL are AM signals from the UK, as all three countries have no remaining MW (AM) signals. OTOH - many signals easily cross the channel (and North Sea) from the UK and you can actually hear a number of national networks quite clearly. As evening comes in (which is quite late this time of year), MW signals from Poland, eastern Europe, Turkey/the Balkans and north Africa start showing up.
For the OP: from the SE corner of WI.....WSM all night long and nothing clear during daylight.
For the OP: from the SE corner of WI.....WSM all night long and nothing clear during daylight.
There are low-power (100 watt) AM stations in the Netherlands - the so-called LPAM service - and they can have commercials but I don't think anyone much is buying. I have posted elsewhere about Radio Brainport on 747, based in a former Philips facility on the west side of Eindhoven. The signal reached the southern suburbs of Eindhoven, but with a weak signal.
In the Randstad, yes, UK stations are more readily available, thanks to a saltwater path over the North Sea, and you even get skywave-"ground"wave cancellation for some of them.
Nothing in France on medium wave.
The only UK signal that reliably reached the Eindhoven vicinity, day or night, was the BBC World Service on 648, now gone.
I did not find the LPAM service. But yes, it was interesting how many strong UK MW signals boomed in. Mainly from places like Norwich and Cambridge. When in France (Mt. Ste-Michel), almost all UK MWs (more from London and Southampton) until evening when Poland, Spain, Africa and the Balkans came pounding in. Poland was first.
More fascinating to me was playing with the Roberts DAB+ portable that I'd bought on Amazon just before our trip The DAB systems in the UK and Europe were really great (except for Germany, which had very poor selection). But this is a different rabbit hole.
650 here in my neck of the Seattle-Tacoma megalopolis is a weak CISL, Vancouver BC during most days. Nights it's a mix. KSTE Sacramento makes it up here most nights, mixing with CISL. Decades past I heard WSM once or twice. There's a station out of Utah, KMTI, I've heard maybe twice. And when I first started DXing with a 80 ft. wire when I was a kid I heard KORL.
When I was coming to Seattle 2-3 times a year on biz tris during the 200s, I stayed near the airport in the Renton areaa. CISL was weak, but still listenable day and night,
Nice catch with KORL I never heard KORL or its successors, But that wasn't for lack of trying. The fact is that I never was able to snag KORL on any of my west coast visits. Although I knew many other west coast DXers have done it,
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