DX and Reception/BORING

[tanner]

This thread used to be interesting, now it is not even worth spending the time to check.

 

[radioman148]

I think a few people may disagree.

 

[quadraphonic]

Do something interesting then.

 

[mimo]

I totally disagree. Radioman148's thread about dxing from Hawaii has been a great read. So has What's on 530. It's up to each one of us to not just read but contribute.

 

[ddsparxx]

I also disagree. The Dxing in Hawaii thread, what Elchupacabras in Mexico is hearing, and many other DX-and-Reception threads are interesting.

 

[Lawppy]

The second half of February into the first half of March has always been my dead DX season. In Southern Michigan, the sun angle is high enough to prevent any freak daytime skywave on AM and tropo conditions are still kaput on FM. Having said that, it's a rough time of the year for DX'ing so there probably won't be much going on here for a while. Late March is when I can usually look for FM conditions to pick up.

I will say it's interesting to read about AM DX of bygone days. I'm just a young buck and started DX'ing as a teenager in the 90's. My old radio didn't have the x-band frequencies on it, so I missed out on that. But I would give just about anything to be able to go back to the 1960's and DX all 48 continental states at night.

FM DX is unfortunately going the way of AM. Too many translators signing on the air and wiping out previously open frequencies. It's not too bad in my area, yet. But I know some areas where it's getting out of control.

 

[radioman148]

AM DXing during the 60s was the best. You could easily pick up stations coast to coast & conditions were pretty dependable. I was fortunate to start my DXing in the early 60s. I first picked up KFI in the Chicago area in 62. That was very exciting for me at the time.

 

[trusty]

This thread used to be interesting, now it is not even worth spending the time to check.

...But it IS worth the time to post in it, huh ;D?


(BTW, You started this thread.)

 

[rbrucecarter5]

For me - it was ALWAYS about music and choice, formats not available in my redneck home town. Had satellite and streaming been available, I never would have DX'd. But the attitude of the local stations was "we have a captive audience and can play whatever cr@p we want and people will listen." Now about the only station owners with that attitude are Christian station owners.

With the glut of nonsensical allotments jamming the dial, and illegal border blasters from inside of Mexico spouting Spanish language stuff over our border, IBOC, and other interference sources, AM DX is all but dead in the US. FM is about to be re-made in AM's image with nonsensical "translators" rebroadcasting AM stations - which are the victims of the above in many cases, IBOC power increases, IBOC in the first place, and too many stations getting licenses for translators and LPFM, FM DX is systematically becoming impossible as well.

Even with all the new stations, there is still no real choice on the dial. Only niches, minorities, and special interest groups - along with more of the same boring stuff we already have.

Satellite is DX from 22300 miles. Streaming is a form of DX, especially when you do it to get local flavor from stations across the country or world. It is still about the music to me. I can make a list of those stations I actually enjoy, hear just them, and forget the local cr@p. Which somebody else across the country may actually like. Freedom of the marketplace, survival of the fittest formats, no more cative audience. The only frontier left is streaming in the car reliably , even on remote highways. Then local radio and satellite are done for. Good riddance.

 

[radioman148]

AM DXing from Hawaii is still kind of like the old days. You get a real potpourri of stations to listen to from great distances in all directions depending on what time during the hours of darkness you listen.
There are probably a few unique locations like this you can still have great fun DXing from. I don't think listening from the caribbean would give you a real good shot at US DX since there is so much noise from latin America, but I imagine you'd have a good shot at South America.
I hear that Bermuda is a good place to DX from. I'm sure you can hear some good European DX there.

 

[cyberdad]

I find soccer, Lifetime Movie Network, ad agency account execs, and The French Laundry in Yountville all boring. I'm not knocking any of them. Takes all kinds of people to make a world.

 

[davideduardo]

AM DXing from Hawaii is still kind of like the old days. You get a real potpourri of stations to listen to from great distances in all directions depending on what time during the hours of darkness you listen.
There are probably a few unique locations like this you can still have great fun DXing from. I don't think listening from the caribbean would give you a real good shot at US DX since there is so much noise from latin America, but I imagine you'd have a good shot at South America.

The San Juan area of Puerto Rico, particularly the more inland suburbs like Guaynabo, have blockage at almost all useful angles for reception from South America, and E/W paths in the tropics are notoriously bad. So what you get, if you can find a good DX location with little noise, is mostly Europe, N. Africa and US / Canada..

I had to go to Guánica on the south coast to DX Latin America. From home, I heard fewer, and will much poorer signals. Even in my car radio, I'd usually get a het on 1250 if I looked... Algeria... every afternoon around 3 PM. Audio came out about half the time.

Also car DXed 690 from El Paso, TX just after San Juan sunset one evening.... KHEY, before pattern change in TX.

 

[radioman148]

AM DXing from Hawaii is still kind of like the old days. You get a real potpourri of stations to listen to from great distances in all directions depending on what time during the hours of darkness you listen.
There are probably a few unique locations like this you can still have great fun DXing from. I don't think listening from the caribbean would give you a real good shot at US DX since there is so much noise from latin America, but I imagine you'd have a good shot at South America.

The San Juan area of Puerto Rico, particularly the more inland suburbs like Guaynabo, have blockage at almost all useful angles for reception from South America, and E/W paths in the tropics are notoriously bad. So what you get, if you can find a good DX location with little noise, is mostly Europe, N. Africa and US / Canada..

I had to go to Guánica on the south coast to DX Latin America. From home, I heard fewer, and will much poorer signals. Even in my car radio, I'd usually get a het on 1250 if I looked... Algeria... every afternoon around 3 PM. Audio came out about half the time.

Also car DXed 690 from El Paso, TX just after San Juan sunset one evening.... KHEY, before pattern change in TX.

I was in San Juan about 5 years ago and the DX for me was terrible. I was located near the airport which may not have helped. I couldn't get anything stateside, but in all honesty I didn't have a real good radio with me. Didn't have a chance to DX from a car.
I would imagine another great DX spot would probably be Newfoundland although I've never been there.

 

[mimo]

I've heard the same thing about Newfoundland, I haven't been there either but I've read about DXpeditions where people go out there with their equipment and see what they can get. Europe is very common from what I read, and I wonder if the average radio could get Europe there, without any special antennas ho0ked up. St. John's (the Capital) is not a large city and has quite a few AM's on the air. Much more than some of the cities 10 times it's size in Canada.

 

[radioman148]

I've heard the same thing about Newfoundland, I haven't been there either but I've read about DXpeditions where people go out there with their equipment and see what they can get. Europe is very common from what I read, and I wonder if the average radio could get Europe there, without any special antennas ho0ked up. St. John's (the Capital) is not a large city and has quite a few AM's on the air. Much more than some of the cities 10 times it's size in Canada.

I would love to hear from someone in Newfoundland to hear what kind of AM DX can be captured. I'll bet you're right that Europe is pretty common. If I remember correctly there is someone on this board who is up there. If memory serves me correctly I think he posted about a month or so ago that he was going to give AM DXing a try.

 

[cyberdad]

St. John's (the Capital) is not a large city and has quite a few AM's on the air. Much more than some of the cities 10 times it's size in Canada.

That's a little surprising. The Newfies I've met strike me as having 10 times the capacity for partying than other people. Case in point was my daughter's roommate from her semester at Laval a few years back. We all met up one night right there in Ottawa starting at Minglewood's.

Suffice to say the old man quickly realized he had met his match! ;D

 

[quadraphonic]

I missed something.
What does being a small Newfoundland city with more AM stations than a larger city have to do with the citizens' partying capacity?

 

[radioman148]

Maybe they party hard because they can't DX as much. ;D

 

[BRNout]

I was in San Juan about 5 years ago and the DX for me was terrible. I was located near the airport which may not have helped. I couldn't get anything stateside, but in all honesty I didn't have a real good radio with me. Didn't have a chance to DX from a car.

It seems to depend on the day and time of year. In other words, it's hit and miss. I've had the opportunity to dx down there a number of times and some nights my E5 was picking up WFAN and WCBS from New York, other nights it was WBBM and WLS from Chicago, and on still others it was WSB from Atlanta. One night I got WMVP from Chicago and no other stations from the US. And, I've picked up some Florida stations from time to time too. But, none are dependable. You may pick up New York one night and not have a peep on the next. Or, New York stations yet nothing from signals farther south (like Philly). A real crapshoot.

On the other hand, I could also get Caracas, Maracaibo, Bogota and a number of other stations from Venezuela and Columbia. While not strong, those were dependable. But could not confirm anything from Central America and got little from any other Caribbean Islands. ZBVI from the British Virgin Islands comes in better during the day than it does at night.

And, I have no sexy stories of picking up stations from Africa or Spain. Never got anything from across the ocean - not even when I stayed along the east coast. But, I usually stay in Isla Verda or Condado on the north side of San Juan. DXing AM from Puerto Rico is challenging anyhow as there is a lot of RF in the air from local signals. You need a good enough radio to be able to DX between the locals. Not sure that your rental car radio would do any more for you than a decent portable.

I'd love to try my luck in Newfoundland (with dx and with the locals!), but I have a feeling that trans-Atlantic dx would still be a challenge from there. My bet is that you would have to be right on the east coast and away from St. Johns, with at least a decent receiver to have a chance. Newfoundland is still a long way from Europe (~2,500 miles from London). But I would still love to give it a try. And to see if that LW band would come alive for once.

 

[radioman148]

I was in San Juan about 5 years ago and the DX for me was terrible. I was located near the airport which may not have helped. I couldn't get anything stateside, but in all honesty I didn't have a real good radio with me. Didn't have a chance to DX from a car.

It seems to depend on the day and time of year. In other words, it's hit and miss. I've had the opportunity to dx down there a number of times and some nights my E5 was picking up WFAN and WCBS from New York, other nights it was WBBM and WLS from Chicago, and on still others it was WSB from Atlanta. One night I got WMVP from Chicago and no other stations from the US. And, I've picked up some Florida stations from time to time too. But, none are dependable. You may pick up New York one night and not have a peep on the next. Or, New York stations yet nothing from signals farther south (like Philly). A real crapshoot.

On the other hand, I could also get Caracas, Maracaibo, Bogota and a number of other stations from Venezuela and Columbia. While not strong, those were dependable. But could not confirm anything from Central America and got little from any other Caribbean Islands. ZBVI from the British Virgin Islands comes in better during the day than it does at night.

And, I have no sexy stories of picking up stations from Africa or Spain. Never got anything from across the ocean - not even when I stayed along the east coast. But, I usually stay in Isla Verda or Condado on the north side of San Juan. DXing AM from Puerto Rico is challenging anyhow as there is a lot of RF in the air from local signals. You need a good enough radio to be able to DX between the locals. Not sure that your rental car radio would do any more for you than a decent portable.

I'd love to try my luck in Newfoundland (with dx and with the locals!), but I have a feeling that trans-Atlantic dx would still be a challenge from there. My bet is that you would have to be right on the east coast and away from St. Johns, with at least a decent receiver to have a chance. Newfoundland is still a long way from Europe (~2,500 miles from London). But I would still love to give it a try. And to see if that LW band would come alive for once.

When was the last time you picked up WLS & WBBM in Puerto Rico?
I know it was alot easier to hear those stations in the caribbean in the 60s & 70s when there was a whole lot less interference. I had no luck in 2004, but that was my most recent try.
I've heard some great stories from people who have DXed Europe from Cape Cod and Newfoundland. I guess if you have the right location and the right radio you can really hear some good stuff.