What are the best places you have discovered for AM DXing - without electrical noise or other kinds of interference? In Vermilion, OH, I have found that Mill Hollow Park is great for AM DXing and is the only place I have heard WHAS 840/Louisville at mid-day albeit with some slop from local WKNR 850. Also logged WSSP 1250/Milwaukee, WFNI 1070/Indianapolis, 530 CIAO/Toronto and 1190 WOWO/Fort Wayne, IN. Unfortunately the park closes at sunset and so I haven't been able to do any nighttime AM DXing from there.
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Best Places for AM DXing?
- Thread starter Buckeyes2001
- Start date
Buckeyes2001 said:
You logged WSSP all the way to Ohio during the day? I'm impressed!
Here in Northern Illinois I've found a pretty good spot right near the beach at Lake Michigan.
In fact there are a few spots that I like.
A moving DX point is utilizing a good car radio moving north on US 41 north of I-64 and Evansville, Indiana. Highlights include Chicago, St Louis, Louisville, Indianapolis, Lexington, Nashville and Cincinnati.
But this has to be the ultimate DX place: http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/easter_island_2007.dx
But this has to be the ultimate DX place: http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/easter_island_2007.dx
Yeah, like any county or state park.
There's a park about 10 miles away from me just northeast of Tampa where I can hear AM stations during the daytime that are below the noise floor where I live, especially being that I'm only a couple miles away from the transmitters of two local stations which can be heard to some extent across the entire AM band during the day.
You're not kidding.
Out at the Gulf here, the AM band is loaded with stations that make a daytime band scan sound like a typical nighttime band scan, where stations from the Florida panhandle to and including Texas can be heard.
C
cd637299
Guest
I've tried to do daytime AM DXn, and my favorite places have been:
(1) Bermuda (West Whale Bay, to be exact)
(2) Cape Hatteras, NC
(3) Port Fourchon, LA
(4) Flamingo, FL (southern end of Everglades Park)
(5) Levy (County) Park, FL
cd
(1) Bermuda (West Whale Bay, to be exact)
(2) Cape Hatteras, NC
(3) Port Fourchon, LA
(4) Flamingo, FL (southern end of Everglades Park)
(5) Levy (County) Park, FL
cd
C
cd637299
Guest
kilokat7 said:
No way!! (Don't say "way")
(Was there Nov 1997, and caught a few Maritime Canadians, two that aren't on anymore, nighttime only---CJCH 920 w/ the Grey Cup & CHTN 720. Heard a "Het" on 585 I think)cd
I've been to Vermillion and liked the Lake Erie shoreline at Vermillion-On-the-Lake.
Other places: Caesar Creek State Park between Dayton and Cincinnati. Virginia Beach. Lido Key in Sarasota but that was a long time ago, I'm sure just more noisy now. I've never been, but I've heard stories of Cape Cod DXers getting Trans-Atlantic DX in the winter on car radios.
Other places: Caesar Creek State Park between Dayton and Cincinnati. Virginia Beach. Lido Key in Sarasota but that was a long time ago, I'm sure just more noisy now. I've never been, but I've heard stories of Cape Cod DXers getting Trans-Atlantic DX in the winter on car radios.
I have to agree about Cape Hatteras. You can get WBZ at high noon and all the NYC 50KW stations sound like locals on a good car radio. WOKV-690 from Jacksonville was also quite clear. Many lower power stations from Long Island (WHLI for instance) and New Jersey are also listenable from there.
I was just in Bermuda and there were only two AM stations (other than the 3 Bermuda locals on 1160, 1280 and 1450) I could positively identify at high noon time...from the West End of the island. They were WOR-710 and 1540 from the Bahamas. I later found out that the 850 I was hearing there with comedy programming was from Virginia Beach and weak audio was also heard on 660 and 880, most likely WFAN (it will always be WNBC to me) and WCBS.
The receiver I used in Bermuda was a tiny (but HOT) AM/FM/LW/SW receiver made by Tecsun, Model PL-606. That was a $50 find I made on Amazon.com that is only slightly larger than a large pack of cigs and fits nicely in my pocket! I am so impressed with that radio, it has became my radio of choice when I travel and am away from all my other radios in my hamshack.
I was just in Bermuda and there were only two AM stations (other than the 3 Bermuda locals on 1160, 1280 and 1450) I could positively identify at high noon time...from the West End of the island. They were WOR-710 and 1540 from the Bahamas. I later found out that the 850 I was hearing there with comedy programming was from Virginia Beach and weak audio was also heard on 660 and 880, most likely WFAN (it will always be WNBC to me) and WCBS.
The receiver I used in Bermuda was a tiny (but HOT) AM/FM/LW/SW receiver made by Tecsun, Model PL-606. That was a $50 find I made on Amazon.com that is only slightly larger than a large pack of cigs and fits nicely in my pocket! I am so impressed with that radio, it has became my radio of choice when I travel and am away from all my other radios in my hamshack.
C
cd637299
Guest
^ I sure didn't get 1540 Bahamas like you did! That high up the dial as well....wow.
cd
cd
Overall, I've found a relatively modest locale as 'pretty do-able', at least for AM DX. I haven't been there at night yet, either.
Pine Hill, PA is about a mile NW of Minersville PA, in Schuylkill County. Minersville never will be mistaken for Clearwater Beach or Scarsdale NY. In fact, if you ran an elevated train down the main street you'd think you were driving along Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn in the 50's.
Pine Hill is a cluster of single homes in a pretty valley section in the middle of nowhere, without a business or a stoplight. I landed some work there last year and was asked back to do so again a few weeks ago by the owner. The job is reflooring the 'finished' portion of the basement and re-painting the L-shaped floor of the concrete remainder of that level. Plus, the room floods every so often and the white cinderblock walls are left with a waterline smudge. The last time the waterline was about four feet up off the floor in a square ring.
The best things are that the owner doesn't live there, and the nearest neighbor is a good hundred feet away. There are no televisions on, no computer, and never any kitchen appliance noise. Only the oil burner and the sole flourescent light in the finished basement cubicle make noise. I can't remember ever tuning dial in a quieter place.
I haven't brought along a loop antenna yet. I'm tempted, but there's also work to do. Thing is, to the south, out the back cellar door and past the back fence, is a thatch of woods that goes for maybe 2000 feet before it ends at a firehouse and a ballfield. Great place for a longwire for certain, and maybe a beveridge antenna. I may ask to swap a bi-weekly pay period in return for the privilege of DXing there for a one day/one night stand.
There are two loud locals -- WPAM 1450 and WPPA 1360. But at present, WPAM sounds as though they're running 50 watts, and at night WPPA pulls it all in toward Cincinnati plus powers down to 500 watts.
Around this time last year I did get WVBF 1530 there, licensed to a place near Cape Cod, in broad daylight via the great mid-winter anomaly. That's a 290-mile jump on 2200 listed watts. And from the opposite direction, just a few weeks back, about 1:45 PM, WDJO 1480 was coming in from the aforementioned/protected Cincinnati, from 450 miles off.
There are only a couple of hets around sunset although the GE Superadio II isn't the rig for TA DX ..... and I sort of feel sorry for that crow they send out to determine distance, but I'd love to give this 'den' a real good reception workout one day.
Pine Hill, PA is about a mile NW of Minersville PA, in Schuylkill County. Minersville never will be mistaken for Clearwater Beach or Scarsdale NY. In fact, if you ran an elevated train down the main street you'd think you were driving along Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn in the 50's.
Pine Hill is a cluster of single homes in a pretty valley section in the middle of nowhere, without a business or a stoplight. I landed some work there last year and was asked back to do so again a few weeks ago by the owner. The job is reflooring the 'finished' portion of the basement and re-painting the L-shaped floor of the concrete remainder of that level. Plus, the room floods every so often and the white cinderblock walls are left with a waterline smudge. The last time the waterline was about four feet up off the floor in a square ring.
The best things are that the owner doesn't live there, and the nearest neighbor is a good hundred feet away. There are no televisions on, no computer, and never any kitchen appliance noise. Only the oil burner and the sole flourescent light in the finished basement cubicle make noise. I can't remember ever tuning dial in a quieter place.
I haven't brought along a loop antenna yet. I'm tempted, but there's also work to do. Thing is, to the south, out the back cellar door and past the back fence, is a thatch of woods that goes for maybe 2000 feet before it ends at a firehouse and a ballfield. Great place for a longwire for certain, and maybe a beveridge antenna. I may ask to swap a bi-weekly pay period in return for the privilege of DXing there for a one day/one night stand.
There are two loud locals -- WPAM 1450 and WPPA 1360. But at present, WPAM sounds as though they're running 50 watts, and at night WPPA pulls it all in toward Cincinnati plus powers down to 500 watts.
Around this time last year I did get WVBF 1530 there, licensed to a place near Cape Cod, in broad daylight via the great mid-winter anomaly. That's a 290-mile jump on 2200 listed watts. And from the opposite direction, just a few weeks back, about 1:45 PM, WDJO 1480 was coming in from the aforementioned/protected Cincinnati, from 450 miles off.
There are only a couple of hets around sunset although the GE Superadio II isn't the rig for TA DX ..... and I sort of feel sorry for that crow they send out to determine distance, but I'd love to give this 'den' a real good reception workout one day.
N
nocomradio
Guest
I'd agree with the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but Virginia Beach is a little noisy, particularly near the resort area with all the lights, and other electrical jumble.
North of there on Assateague Island is a great spot. No development, and you're out in the ocean a little ways too. The nearest towns are all a good distance away.
North of there on Assateague Island is a great spot. No development, and you're out in the ocean a little ways too. The nearest towns are all a good distance away.
In our area, the best places are anywhere near marsh, on the beaches, especially during the winter. 820 Tampa is almost always there daytime, along with 570 from Cuba. Most AMs from Jacksonville are good on the beaches.
Edisto Beach, SC is probably one of the best spots around here if you have a good radio. You are far enough from Charleston and Savannah that you don't get all the co-channel noise on those frequencies, all you have locally is the 1490 from Beaufort and 1130 Hilton Head, and it is closer to the GA and FL areas that you want to listen to,
I've heard 620 WDAE there daytime at noon in the summer, when in Charleston it is overridden by WBMQ and 620 out of Columbia surprisingly. Inland is also good, especially with a good radio like in our Pontiac. East of Kingstree, SC, almost 60 miles away from Charleston, I picked up the graveyarders at 1340 and 1450 there. 1450 was mixed in with Myrtle Beach.
Edisto Beach, SC is probably one of the best spots around here if you have a good radio. You are far enough from Charleston and Savannah that you don't get all the co-channel noise on those frequencies, all you have locally is the 1490 from Beaufort and 1130 Hilton Head, and it is closer to the GA and FL areas that you want to listen to,
I've heard 620 WDAE there daytime at noon in the summer, when in Charleston it is overridden by WBMQ and 620 out of Columbia surprisingly. Inland is also good, especially with a good radio like in our Pontiac. East of Kingstree, SC, almost 60 miles away from Charleston, I picked up the graveyarders at 1340 and 1450 there. 1450 was mixed in with Myrtle Beach.
I think a good place IMO would be the Yakima, WA area. Get out of the main path of KYAK/KBBO/KDYK/KIT/KJOX/KUTI and you might get some GREAT stuff, since you're on the other side of the Cascades. I've gotten WWL, WBBM, WGN, KVNS (with a good signal), and several other good stations out there.
-crainbebo
-crainbebo
The best domestic place I have ever DXed from has to be Omena, MI. Omena is about 20 miles NNE of Traverse City, surrounded by water, albeit fresh water. The closest AMs when I DXed from there were Traverse City (a Class IV and a daytimer) and then Petoskey, with a daytimer and a Class IV that was barely audible.
Although I was only there in the Summer, DX was often as good as in the Winter in NE Ohio in Cleveland. No long haul stuff, like AK or HI or the Austrialians or Europeans, but CA and the West Coast was fairly easy, and the Maritimes to FL good too. Because I was well to the north, a loop could cherry pick things over a 180 degree arc in the US. A few nights had too much static to hear even Chicago, but overall terrific.
Outside the US, the best was NE of Quito, Ecuador. Nearly no stations (except my own were on after midnight) so Class IV's from Montana and 100 watt Brazilian local channel stations were often heard. Of course, up to 11 PM or Midnight, there were nearly 40 local Quito AMs, so DX in the evening was impossible.
Although I was only there in the Summer, DX was often as good as in the Winter in NE Ohio in Cleveland. No long haul stuff, like AK or HI or the Austrialians or Europeans, but CA and the West Coast was fairly easy, and the Maritimes to FL good too. Because I was well to the north, a loop could cherry pick things over a 180 degree arc in the US. A few nights had too much static to hear even Chicago, but overall terrific.
Outside the US, the best was NE of Quito, Ecuador. Nearly no stations (except my own were on after midnight) so Class IV's from Montana and 100 watt Brazilian local channel stations were often heard. Of course, up to 11 PM or Midnight, there were nearly 40 local Quito AMs, so DX in the evening was impossible.
C
cd637299
Guest
Just wondering if anyone has ever tried AM DXing from Antarctica in June (their winter)......Certainly no "locals" in the way.....
cd
cd
In 1989 I spent some time in Mexico City and San Juan Del Rio Mexico, both times I had a
variable-regen gain IF handbuilt tube radio, AND the not-yet-integrated supuerhet stage which I was in the process of
hand winding coils for....The 1A7 osc/mixer still sat on the '36 Zenith chassis with the 2 gang 500 pf I was going to harvest.
The output on 455 was tunable to the long BC coil for the regen rcvr. HOT as in Ouch!
I heard far more dx in San Juan Del Rio than in Mexico City, but it was a local/distant tossup.
Another great dx was the 10th floor of the Crowne Plaza in Jeddah Saudi Arabia in 1991.
I had (still have somewhere) a 12 transistor AM/MW/SW Japanese 1964 ish radio that I made airchex from.
Looks a lot like "the radio" as seen in Gilligan's Island.
Each room had a balcony, and I pulled my matress out to the balcony and slept there while dxing.
It was 80+ fahr outside on the balcony at night, ao I was quite pleased about all of it.
I remember well the United Arab Erimirate's broadcast of "The Five Rightly Guided Caliphs".
Another great place was the side of road in remotest New South Wales somewhere between Canberra and Allbury, in a
canyon side road. I had just the night before built a 1 tube regen Unidyne from the Ballarat Radio Museum, I pulled out a 200 foot long wire, put the "cans" on, and found something to listen to every 9 kc.
variable-regen gain IF handbuilt tube radio, AND the not-yet-integrated supuerhet stage which I was in the process of
hand winding coils for....The 1A7 osc/mixer still sat on the '36 Zenith chassis with the 2 gang 500 pf I was going to harvest.
The output on 455 was tunable to the long BC coil for the regen rcvr. HOT as in Ouch!
I heard far more dx in San Juan Del Rio than in Mexico City, but it was a local/distant tossup.
Another great dx was the 10th floor of the Crowne Plaza in Jeddah Saudi Arabia in 1991.
I had (still have somewhere) a 12 transistor AM/MW/SW Japanese 1964 ish radio that I made airchex from.
Looks a lot like "the radio" as seen in Gilligan's Island.
Each room had a balcony, and I pulled my matress out to the balcony and slept there while dxing.
It was 80+ fahr outside on the balcony at night, ao I was quite pleased about all of it.
I remember well the United Arab Erimirate's broadcast of "The Five Rightly Guided Caliphs".
Another great place was the side of road in remotest New South Wales somewhere between Canberra and Allbury, in a
canyon side road. I had just the night before built a 1 tube regen Unidyne from the Ballarat Radio Museum, I pulled out a 200 foot long wire, put the "cans" on, and found something to listen to every 9 kc.
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