Welcome home, Tincap. It's great to hear from you again. I was actually thinking of you last night and wondering how things were going.
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2014 in Review
- Thread starter cyberdad
- Start date
Welcome home, Tincap. It's great to hear from you again. I was actually thinking of you last night and wondering how things were going.
Although I wasn't able to DX very frequently from my home base, we did take a couple of major trips last year.
Brought my Tecsun PL-380 with me to Australia and New Zealand where we toured for a month. However, most of our accommodations were AM unfriendly, and the tour group was kept busy most days well into the evening. While in Australia, I only heard Australian stations. In New Zealand, only New Zealand and a couple of Australians. Still, hearing long distance stations on uncluttered frequencies was a real treat. Loved the accents, or was it me who had the accent? Yes. Yes it was.
On our trip to Italy, the electrical interference hampered reception in Rome, plus we were out every night walking, eating and drinking until late. I did get one night in a mountain top village about 50 miles from Naples, though I had to go outside the bed and breakfast in order to get interference free reception. The only time I had available for listening was at sunset, so I heard no longwave broadcasters, but many medium wave stations, many from Spain, a couple from Italy, and the other usual suspects.
We're going back to Italy this year, and are planning an extended driving trip to N/S Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, a bit of Idaho and Utah. I'll be DX'ing the whole way, wife permitting. She must be obeyed or bad things happen.
Brought my Tecsun PL-380 with me to Australia and New Zealand where we toured for a month. However, most of our accommodations were AM unfriendly, and the tour group was kept busy most days well into the evening. While in Australia, I only heard Australian stations. In New Zealand, only New Zealand and a couple of Australians. Still, hearing long distance stations on uncluttered frequencies was a real treat. Loved the accents, or was it me who had the accent? Yes. Yes it was.
On our trip to Italy, the electrical interference hampered reception in Rome, plus we were out every night walking, eating and drinking until late. I did get one night in a mountain top village about 50 miles from Naples, though I had to go outside the bed and breakfast in order to get interference free reception. The only time I had available for listening was at sunset, so I heard no longwave broadcasters, but many medium wave stations, many from Spain, a couple from Italy, and the other usual suspects.
We're going back to Italy this year, and are planning an extended driving trip to N/S Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, a bit of Idaho and Utah. I'll be DX'ing the whole way, wife permitting. She must be obeyed or bad things happen.
Adding to cyberdad and radioman148, Florida stations I've heard in Cincinnati...
570 WTBN Pinellas Park
710 WAQI Miami
820 WWBA Largo
850 WFTL Ft. Laurderdale
880 WZAB Sweetwater
1180 VOA Marathon
1200 WINK (now WJUA) Pine Island Center
1330 WEBY Milton
1460 WQOP Jacksonville
1620 WNRP Gulf Breeze
Some night time, some sunset, one or two sunrise.
570 WTBN Pinellas Park
710 WAQI Miami
820 WWBA Largo
850 WFTL Ft. Laurderdale
880 WZAB Sweetwater
1180 VOA Marathon
1200 WINK (now WJUA) Pine Island Center
1330 WEBY Milton
1460 WQOP Jacksonville
1620 WNRP Gulf Breeze
Some night time, some sunset, one or two sunrise.
None here, the closest I've had is the Cubans. 9 of them so far. Plus that WBCN-1660 Charlotte, NC log in November. Would WNRP be a good choice to try for Florida, or should I stick to trying for WFLF 540 in the Regina null? I know I'm 2,500 miles + away.
Patrick Martin in Seaside, OR (the one who has picked up 650s in AK and HI during the daytime on his beverage and longwires) picked up Florida in 1971, on a Monday morning. It was an IRCA frequency check/DX Test for WNUE Fort Walton Beach, FL on *1400*! NO ONE was on Monday mornings in 1971 except for WMAN in OH, and WOND in NJ. By 1972, the Henderson, NV station (now KSHP) was on Monday mornings. But WNUE, he said, was in the clear, with morse code and IDs. Unless if someone builds a time machine that can go back to the early 1970s, you can't get FL on a graveyard channel in Oregon anymore. Matter of fact, it's once in a lifetime you'll probably ever hear FL in Oregon on ANY AM channel.
-crainbebo
Patrick Martin in Seaside, OR (the one who has picked up 650s in AK and HI during the daytime on his beverage and longwires) picked up Florida in 1971, on a Monday morning. It was an IRCA frequency check/DX Test for WNUE Fort Walton Beach, FL on *1400*! NO ONE was on Monday mornings in 1971 except for WMAN in OH, and WOND in NJ. By 1972, the Henderson, NV station (now KSHP) was on Monday mornings. But WNUE, he said, was in the clear, with morse code and IDs. Unless if someone builds a time machine that can go back to the early 1970s, you can't get FL on a graveyard channel in Oregon anymore. Matter of fact, it's once in a lifetime you'll probably ever hear FL in Oregon on ANY AM channel.
-crainbebo
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As far back as the early 60's, 1400 was quite congested on Monday mornings. While many stations did sign off at night back then, and a few more signed off on Monday morning, there were still ten or so 1400's on the air... and by 1970, there were even more.
The reason fewer Class IV stations signed off is that the transmitters at that power level needed less maintenance and it was not as common for them go go off on Sunday Night / Monday mornings.
Still, on DX tests and frequency checks it was possible to hear graveyarders across the country. I had KTIP in Porterville, CA on a Monday morning in around 1961 with perhaps 20 other Class IV stations on the air. I also had various graveyarders from AZ, CO, MT, NM and western Texas... keeping in mind that there were far more stations on the graveyards in the East than in the west.
Yes, the channels were less congested than today... but all the graveyards had plenty of stations on them even back in the early 60's, let alone the early 70's.
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@gr8oldies: I've never heard of RHC using a mediumwave frequency at any time, either, though, briefly, in about 1980 or 1981, they were running "The Voice of Cuba" in EE in the "madrugada" hours (I think about 0000-0600 EST). The actual programs on The Voice of Cuba were the same programs broadcast from the English service of RHC (at the time, the mailbag program was named after RHC's post office box - and went out over VoC, even though the latter's PO box had a different number).
Before then, they had been running "La Voz de Cuba" (in SS, of course) on 600 and several others on the low part of the AM band (550, 640, 670, and others). La Voz continued in SS on those other freqs. after 600 alone carried "The Voice".
Though I've had a few interesting catches on AM this year, most due to stations running daytime operation all night, with a few others on 540 and 1310 being made possible by locals going silent, my best catches of 2014 have been on TV.
I had not identified any TV stations by meteor scatter in about 15 years, mainly because we don't have local stations going off late at night anymore and distant stations don't air test patterns with their call letters in bold type anymore. At midnight on May 26->27, I had a great stroke of luck, as a meteor burst right at ID time brought in a gigantic logo unmistakably that of MásVision, which is XEWO-TV in Guadalajara, Jalisco (1,865 miles).
On the sporadic-E front, I got my most difficult DTV catch - the low power (DRT) retransmitter of WTSP-DT on channel 4 at Hernando, FL (891 miles). This transmitter has a maximum ERP of 300w, but is directional, with about 25 watts ERP in my direction. Analog TV Es brought two more from the Dominican Republic and one new country, Honduras, when HRJS "VicaTV" came in from San Pedro Sula on channel 2.
The fish that got away was on Mothers' Day. I had only my handie-talkie and 3' whip available and could only hear a video buzz on 55.26 Mhz (analog channel 2+), but it was a 50Hz video buzz, and thus almost certainly from Paraguay, Uruguay or Argentina!
Before then, they had been running "La Voz de Cuba" (in SS, of course) on 600 and several others on the low part of the AM band (550, 640, 670, and others). La Voz continued in SS on those other freqs. after 600 alone carried "The Voice".
Though I've had a few interesting catches on AM this year, most due to stations running daytime operation all night, with a few others on 540 and 1310 being made possible by locals going silent, my best catches of 2014 have been on TV.
I had not identified any TV stations by meteor scatter in about 15 years, mainly because we don't have local stations going off late at night anymore and distant stations don't air test patterns with their call letters in bold type anymore. At midnight on May 26->27, I had a great stroke of luck, as a meteor burst right at ID time brought in a gigantic logo unmistakably that of MásVision, which is XEWO-TV in Guadalajara, Jalisco (1,865 miles).
On the sporadic-E front, I got my most difficult DTV catch - the low power (DRT) retransmitter of WTSP-DT on channel 4 at Hernando, FL (891 miles). This transmitter has a maximum ERP of 300w, but is directional, with about 25 watts ERP in my direction. Analog TV Es brought two more from the Dominican Republic and one new country, Honduras, when HRJS "VicaTV" came in from San Pedro Sula on channel 2.
The fish that got away was on Mothers' Day. I had only my handie-talkie and 3' whip available and could only hear a video buzz on 55.26 Mhz (analog channel 2+), but it was a 50Hz video buzz, and thus almost certainly from Paraguay, Uruguay or Argentina!
I vaguely remember The Voice of Cuba, wonder if it followed the Radio Moscow English service. There was "Radio Taino" in English in the mid 90s on 890, which was the voice of Cuban tourism.
A couple of more Floridians with auroral conditions late this afternoon and evening, including a positive ID on WAQI, WNZF 1550 and Atlantic Beach oldies WZNZ on 1600.
A couple of more Floridians with auroral conditions late this afternoon and evening, including a positive ID on WAQI, WNZF 1550 and Atlantic Beach oldies WZNZ on 1600.
Hi Tincap. Welcome back. Congrats on your new place on the lovely St. Lawrence. I'll look forward to your seeing your posts here once again. I would think that with the relatively wide open spaces around you on both the U.S. and Canada sides of the river, you'd be in a great spot for DX. "Happy Hunting" and best for the new year!
I'd go with WNRP.
WFLF is the 800-pound gorilla, but as you probably know, they have a very tight east-west pattern. Which is actually mostly all east at night. They don't get out very well to the north day or night. I don't think I've ever heard it here or anywhere else in the Midwest. As for WNUE, I remember them as a top 40 station in the '70s with a surprisingly good signal for a graveyard channel in an area with horrible ground conductivity. So if they could make the hop to the pacific northwest, WNRP should be able to do it too. I heard them in St. Pete Beach (under Cuba) daytime when I was down there last January. (I'll be back there again for three weeks beginning this Saturday and will report anything new or unusual that I come across).
You could always try for WMOB as a "consolation prize". Assuming there's still "something funny" going on with them. Their tower site is less than 40 miles from the Florida state line.
U
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I hear mostly AM stations in this post. Does FM stations count?
Yes, FM does count, especially if you had a great tropo or sporadic-E opening (or two, or three) this year.
It was one of my best years, as already said, with over 100 new stations via sporadic-E to the overall log and a record 1469 mile log of XHECS-97.3 Chihuahua, CHI Mexico on 5/25/14.
-crainbebo
It was one of my best years, as already said, with over 100 new stations via sporadic-E to the overall log and a record 1469 mile log of XHECS-97.3 Chihuahua, CHI Mexico on 5/25/14.
-crainbebo
While in East Wakefield NH, on the Maine border, this past summer, I was surprised to get several late night catches, the furthest being 1160 KSL Salt Lake City, quite clearly. And 1700 KBGG Des Moines. I didn't hear an I.D. but I assume it was KBGG since nobody else does Sports Talk at 1700. I also heard very faint Talk programming on 1120 so I assume that was KMOX St. Louis. And a very faint ticking at 950 so I assume that was Radio Reloj in Cuba, under WKDM Philadelphia.
In addition, I was surprised to hear 13 Toronto-area stations more than 400 miles away: 530, 560 (Kitchener), 590, 640, 740, 860, 900 (Hamilton), 1010 (competing with NYC), 1050 (competing with NYC), 1540 (competing with Albany), 1580 (Oshawa), 1610 and 1650. I was surprised that some of these Ontario stations overpowered closer stations to me, such as 560 (Portland ME has a 560 about 25 miles away) and 590 (Boston has a 590 at 100 miles away). 930 Buffalo also overpowered WPKX Rochester NH, a 5000 watt station only 15 miles away.
In addition, I was surprised to hear 13 Toronto-area stations more than 400 miles away: 530, 560 (Kitchener), 590, 640, 740, 860, 900 (Hamilton), 1010 (competing with NYC), 1050 (competing with NYC), 1540 (competing with Albany), 1580 (Oshawa), 1610 and 1650. I was surprised that some of these Ontario stations overpowered closer stations to me, such as 560 (Portland ME has a 560 about 25 miles away) and 590 (Boston has a 590 at 100 miles away). 930 Buffalo also overpowered WPKX Rochester NH, a 5000 watt station only 15 miles away.
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