Reception on cruise ships

[ksradiogeek]

For the first time, I’m going on a cruise later this year, starting in New England, then going through the Maritimes and eastern Quebec. I’m anticipating to do some scans.

Has anyone had any good experiences with reception on cruise ships, whether it’s local, tropo or E-skip?

 

[ksradiogeek]

To add, I’ll be in Boston for at least a day before departing. I believe Scott has mentioned about shadowing in downtown, making reception of the FM-128 sticks a bit challenging (though I can’t find the thread). What’s reception like in the core, outside of the Pru stations?

 

[gar hi]

If I were on a cruise, AM reception would be my main interest.

The one cruise I went on was when I was only 5 years old which departed New York, stopped in Bermuda for a couple days, and then went up past Nova Scotia before returning to New York.

My older brother was a teenager at the time and while I don't remember hearing anything on his radio inside the ship, he was able to get WABC on the beach in Bermuda in the daytime and it was the middle of summer on a large portable radio he had.

Today's cruise ships have a lot more outdoor areas than they did back in the 60's, so I imagine it would be fantastic to be able to listen to AM, especially during the daytime.

And I always wondered how far out at sea you could hear a station like KFI in the daytime on a cruise departing from Los Angeles and going across the Pacific.

 

[crainbebo]

I've heard that you can't DX inside your cabin. It attenuates everything. Outside the cabin, get away from as much electronic interference as possible. FM could be interesting as tropo is semi-common from New England to the Maritimes.

 

[alok]

If you have a room with a balcony, you'll do great, otherwise you will have to go outside on an open deck and DX.

All this "cruise" DXing was done once in the early 80's (Caribbean), then the rest from 2009 - 2014.

I DXed in the past on trips to The Carribean, Panama Canel, Alaska, Europe leaving from Florida and the South Pacific leaving from LA.

I brought a good radio and had a ball.

In the Caribbean I easily heard NYC at night, Chicago, etc. We had an inside room on this cruise, so I'd go to the top deck and DX at night.
A guy was walking at night with his lady friend and saw me "playing with the radio on top deck". He "kind of pushed" his lady friend aside and came over to me and said - what are you doing? I asked him, where you from, he said Chicago . . . I quickly tuned in 890 WLS he couldn't believe it . . . we talked abit, he Thanked me, and he went back to his lady friend!!!

Rest of our cruises we had rooms with a balcony.

Panama Canel was great with lots of Mexico, Central America, Northern South America, etc. to Florida stuff.

When in Fairbanks, Alaska (on a land tour, from ship) in a hotel at night it was still light outside, I asked the front desk if it ever "starts" to get dark . . . they said yes, around 1AM-1:30AM. I set my alarm for 1:30AM (my wife did her best to ignore me) brought radio outside and set it to 810 KGO and sure enough as it got "alittle dark" they started to come in but by 1:30AM they were gone.

Heard when WWKB 1520 disappeared heading east over Atlantic Ocean one night, noted where I finally started to hear (good),1521 in Saudi Arabia on the Atlantic Ocean.

Heading to South Pacific I heard 1350 KSRO (5kw Santa Rosa, CA. ) during the day far out, it had to be 200 miles off Los Angeles . . . this surprised me. They were loud????

In South Pacific Islands area, I heard Australia, New Zealand at night. Plus U.S., Mexico, South America and Japan.

I forget others I heard but it was fun!!!

One day (on South Pacific cruise) I had a SW radio too, that was tuned to 20 meters and USB (Upper Sideband) I heard a LOUD SIGNAL !!!!!!!!!! going all over the dial, I had to get off balcony and move into our room and get radio (under the bedsprings !!!!) to get signal level down . . . got a call letter . . .
l looked ham call up on my computer . . . then called ships front desk. I had the guys first and last name . . . I asked if there was somebody on the ship with that name . . . yes there was, got their room phone number and they transferred me to the room.
The guy was operating near the front of the ship (same side I was on) and he said "look up the side from your balcony" I have a 20meter wipe off the side railing. Sure, enough I saw it!!!
He had to get permission to operate from cruise line weeks before cruise departed and operate with no more than 25 watts, ship rules.
I met him & his wife later, along with my wife we talked face to face for hours as well as other days as the cruise went on.

HAVE FUN ON YOUR CRUISE, AND TRY TO BRING A GOOD AM / FM RADIO. SPARE BATTERIES TOO, IF THEY ARE NOT A COMMOM TYPE.

 

[kevtronics]

 

[gar hi]

I remember seeing that video a while back and at first it seems like WCBS can be heard like that all day because it's over the ocean but the time it was recorded was mid winter at 5 pm.

There were some days in Tampa in winter where there was an early skywave that brought in WCBS quite well around that time when it was still light out.

 

[sasha23]

“My older brother was a teenager at the time and while I don't remember hearing anything on his radio inside the ship, he was able to get WABC on the beach in Bermuda in the daytime and it was the middle of summer on a large portable radio he had.”

WABC around 800 miles…really good!

 

[davideduardo]

WABC around 800 miles…really good!

About 40 years ago I sailed between Ft Lauderdale and Puerto Rico on a 31' craft I had purchased. Much of the time (26 days to San Juan sailing 24/7) we were on sail power only and so there was no noise. Best reception going SSE from Nassau was WBZ, listenable all day and night. The NYC stations were not there in daytime, but some came in at night if there were not Dominicans or Venezuelans on the channels. By the time we got off the north coast of the Dominican Republic, nothing from the mainland US was listenable daytime... all Dominicans, Haitians and a couple from eastern Cuba. There were just two of us alternating sleeping and sailing, so could not spend long hours DXing. Mostly looked for stuff to pass the time in the overnight hours.

 

[charlestondxman]

When I was last on a US cruise in 2011 that was exactly what happened with reception. Both FM and AM was attenuated with the water. I was pretty much hearing any big FM station from SC or Georgia east of I-20 well south of Jacksonville.

The powerful Charleston AMs (730, 1250, 1390) carry the entire way from Charleston to the Bahamas during normal conditions. At least 730 did when it was full 5kw, now it's down to 1,100 watts. Even in Savannah during normal conditions 730 was very listenable.

WOKV and WBMQ (when on the air) also made it the whole way. I was in Freeport with my Walkman and that was most of the AM dial. The two big Bahamas AMs (810 and 1540) can be heard here (Charleston), but you have to have a special antenna and be close to the ocean. 810 also has a semi-local on there plus the signal from Orlando area.

All around the Bahamas the Miami AMs were also very audible. Most of the big stations. Even the Miami FMs due to the summer tropo. Nassau has a ton of FM stations, but on the open frequencies you'd hear Miami or West Palm Beach. In Freeport you'd hear basically the entire FL peninsula.

 

[wildthangjim]

When I was last on a US cruise in 2011 that was exactly what happened with reception. Both FM and AM was attenuated with the water. I was pretty much hearing any big FM station from SC or Georgia east of I-20 well south of Jacksonville.

The powerful Charleston AMs (730, 1250, 1390) carry the entire way from Charleston to the Bahamas during normal conditions. At least 730 did when it was full 5kw, now it's down to 1,100 watts. Even in Savannah during normal conditions 730 was very listenable.

WOKV and WBMQ (when on the air) also made it the whole way. I was in Freeport with my Walkman and that was most of the AM dial. The two big Bahamas AMs (810 and 1540) can be heard here (Charleston), but you have to have a special antenna and be close to the ocean. 810 also has a semi-local on there plus the signal from Orlando area.

All around the Bahamas the Miami AMs were also very audible. Most of the big stations. Even the Miami FMs due to the summer tropo. Nassau has a ton of FM stations, but on the open frequencies you'd hear Miami or West Palm Beach. In Freeport you'd hear basically the entire FL peninsula.

Not a cruise, but we were in a house on Eleuthera Bahamas the summer before last. In the mornings, the FM dial was full of stations from South Florida and the occasional Cuban, both 250+ miles away. On AM, all the big Florida stations were there, plus the little 500w WKWF from Key West. I didn't have a chance to do any DXing after dark though.

 

[CentralFL]

I remember seeing that video a while back and at first it seems like WCBS can be heard like that all day because it's over the ocean but the time it was recorded was mid winter at 5 pm.

There were some days in Tampa in winter where there was an early skywave that brought in WCBS quite well around that time when it was still light out.

Great to hear miserable weather from NYC while in the Bahamas. I've heard WCBS in Puerto Rico. That salt-water path plus the sky-wave.....

 

[CentralFL]

When I was last on a US cruise in 2011 that was exactly what happened with reception. Both FM and AM was attenuated with the water. I was pretty much hearing any big FM station from SC or Georgia east of I-20 well south of Jacksonville.

The powerful Charleston AMs (730, 1250, 1390) carry the entire way from Charleston to the Bahamas during normal conditions. At least 730 did when it was full 5kw, now it's down to 1,100 watts. Even in Savannah during normal conditions 730 was very listenable.

WOKV and WBMQ (when on the air) also made it the whole way. I was in Freeport with my Walkman and that was most of the AM dial. The two big Bahamas AMs (810 and 1540) can be heard here (Charleston), but you have to have a special antenna and be close to the ocean. 810 also has a semi-local on there plus the signal from Orlando area.

All around the Bahamas the Miami AMs were also very audible. Most of the big stations. Even the Miami FMs due to the summer tropo. Nassau has a ton of FM stations, but on the open frequencies you'd hear Miami or West Palm Beach. In Freeport you'd hear basically the entire FL peninsula.

Back in the 1980s, a resort on Paradise Island ran a Miami CHR by the poolside bar (can't remember the frequency or call letters, but it was FM). I'm not sure how they picked it up whether a large antenna higher up or just on a good radio. At the time, the only station in Nassau was the national broadcaster of the Bahamas.

 

[CentralFL]

And I always wondered how far out at sea you could hear a station like KFI in the daytime on a cruise departing from Los Angeles and going across the Pacific.

Took a cruise from Los Angeles south along the Pacific Coast about 10 years ago. KNX lasted about two full days don't know how many miles that is. Don't forget, there is a lot of electrical interference on cruise ships, even outside on the decks.

 

[charlestondxman]

WCBS 880 I’ve heard as far as Punta Cana in the winter. I heard them in January 2021 at night. It came in actually pretty decently for being so far away.

When I was in Nassau in 2011 there was one station that played ESPN Radio on the FM dial and picked it up off of an online feed of some sort. It was Bahamas Independence Day and they broke away to run a cricket match.

When I was there 610 WIOD and 940 WINZ were definitely audible.

 

[Bongwater]

My personal daydream is to DX AM off the coast of Japan. Aboard something like this.

It will just be like radio hippy hiking. Living off processed food and the radio. Besides, I heard it said by two separate sources you can actually hear KNWN 1000 Seattle off the eastern Japanese coast. KIRO and even KXTG are also regular radio visitors. I picked up a barely audible, but present JOQR 1134 off the WA coast and on the Deer Harbor KiwiSDR (nulling out CKWX 1130 Vancouver and any noise from 1140 in both areas) in the wee hours. I'm curious to personally hear how it sounds the other way around.

It's just a daydream (or maybe a dementia warning sign.) But this actually sounds like fun to me....