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Central Illinois- What to Look for?
- Thread starter AKDXer
- Start date
I can pretty much only speak for AM, but in central Illinois daytime, you'll catch signals from Chicago, St. Louis and beyond. Ground conductivity is very good (as opposed to "outstanding"). Just about every spot on the dial will be full. Try 600 for WMT in Cedar Rapids for Iowa. WTMJ on 620 for Wisconsin, and maybe 840 for WHAS and Kentucky.
At night, with a little luck, you might be able to hear both coasts. East Coast should be easy, West coast will be difficult, and may take a while, but at some point, it can probably be done. KFI and KNX, both from Los Angeles, would be your best bets, but both more likely than not will eventually break through. OTOH, Mexico and Canada should be relatively easy. Try 730 and/or 1050 for Mexico. 740, 800, 860, and/or 990 for Canada, At least one of them should be present....if not all four.
Hope this helps. Happy hunting!
At night, with a little luck, you might be able to hear both coasts. East Coast should be easy, West coast will be difficult, and may take a while, but at some point, it can probably be done. KFI and KNX, both from Los Angeles, would be your best bets, but both more likely than not will eventually break through. OTOH, Mexico and Canada should be relatively easy. Try 730 and/or 1050 for Mexico. 740, 800, 860, and/or 990 for Canada, At least one of them should be present....if not all four.
Hope this helps. Happy hunting!
I can remember getting XEW-900 pretty regularly in Ohio years ago. XERF-1570 can still make it but much weaker than during its border blaster heyday.
I've DXed from Lafayette, IN, east of you and Quincy, IL, west of you, but never right in Peoria (though there is a remote web-based SDR there I've played with). You should have plenty of DX opportunities. In Lafayette, Springfield Illinois is a regular catch.
In the mid-70s I worked for WHBF Radio and TV in Rock Island, IL....about 135 miles west-southwest of Chicago. We had a wall in the newsroom lined with about a half dozen police scanners. During late May and June, those things would pick up more police traffic from Louisiana, Texas, and vacinity than we were getting locally! ....And we were in a metro area that took in two states, five cities, and six counties!
At least for me, Mexico is not as common as it used to be. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's rare, but the days of several channels from Mexico being consistently reliable are pretty much long gone. XERF is a perfect example, You could count on XERF for Wolfman Jack every night. Now you can basically count on XERF being absent...,or at least lost in the slop.
I missed the Wolfman era on XERF, but there were plenty of screaming preachers.
Same here. Besides XERF and Wolfman several Mexico City stations were pretty regular in the midwest. Not as much anymore.
Don't forget those live baby chicks. Wolf had a piece of the action on those....not to mention a piece of XERF!
Did you read his book? He talked alot about that.
The big Mexico City stations are now at lower power levels. Supposedly 730 is at 30 kw, 900 is at 100 kw and 940 is at 40 kw.
Thanks for pointers! For Canada, how about the blowtorch 730 Vancouver traffic station? (Forget the call letters). That boomed in in southeast Alaska at night.
I will say that even under "normal" conditions, FM is a gold mine- practically something on every frequency! I'm between Springfield, Pekin, Peoria, Lincoln, and Havana so I get all their stations, plus a couple from Macomb for sure. And even lots of unidentified others underneath them- lots of cross-talk.
I will say that even under "normal" conditions, FM is a gold mine- practically something on every frequency! I'm between Springfield, Pekin, Peoria, Lincoln, and Havana so I get all their stations, plus a couple from Macomb for sure. And even lots of unidentified others underneath them- lots of cross-talk.
I've only read excerpts. But I heard the baby chicks sales pitches firsthand.
In the continental U.S. I've never heard the Vancouver 730 outside of the Pacific northwest. It does, however, turn up on Kaneohe, Hawaii, SDR on occasion. Your best bet for Vancouver is probably CKWX pn 1130. I've heard it a handful of times at my location in Northern Illinois. Not an easy catch, but other midwest DXers have reported hearing CKWX at one time or another.
That could be a good suggestion. One early morning few weeks back, I was hearing something under WHO that I couldn't identify, but it didn't sound like Spanish. Cerainly might have been CKST. Every time I've heard CKWX. it's been just before sunrise or, on one occasion, right at dawn.
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