Since DX listening is such a diverse hobby, everyone’s version of what they listen to and listen for varies greatly.
I only log stations that I have a positive ID from call letters, advertisers, logo or similar such as “ESPN1530.com”. There are too many stations with the same programming on the same frequency to guess who I’m hearing. It is difficult for me to ID non-English speaking stations except when they give the legal ID at the top of the hour.
I’ve been a casual MW listener and DXer for decades. Recently, I moved out into the swampland and am now commuting about 25 miles each way to work through the rural countryside. I’ve started logging all of the AM stations heard during my commute and what I hear during the day from the parking lot during lunch-time at work. All of this is within what they call a micropolitan area en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_City_micropolitan_area. For the most part, I can get the same stations from time to time from my home to my work during the day and during sunrise/sunset. Of course, the propagation varies from day to day but there are only a couple of stations that I can get at home that I cannot get at work and vice versa if I listen long enough. So for my personal use, anything I log between the two sites goes into my log.
If I travel outside of the area, then I do not log those stations although I still tune around the dial to find out what is there.
I occasionally also log FM stations, usually when the AM band is too noisy to get anything. On FM, most of the full power stations are heard at both locations but some of the low power and translators are not.
Here are a couple of comments. I checked with the ARRL and CQ Magazine websites for their rules concerning Amateur Radio awards for two way communication with other stations. The ARRL Worked All States award (WAS) has a rule that says all contacts should normally be made from within an area of no more than 50 miles.
Popular Communications (Pop’ Com) Magazine recently resurrected the old Popular Electronics Monitoring Station Program popcommmonitors.blogspot.com/. If you sign up with them, you get a "call sign" and a certificate you can hang on the wall. On page 4 of the January 2013 issue, they requested readers to send them ideas for their new monitoring awards program that they are starting in 2013. If you have some ideas about DXing awards or rules for DXing, I’m sure Pop ‘Com would like to hear from you.
Best Listening in 2013
73,
Bill
I only log stations that I have a positive ID from call letters, advertisers, logo or similar such as “ESPN1530.com”. There are too many stations with the same programming on the same frequency to guess who I’m hearing. It is difficult for me to ID non-English speaking stations except when they give the legal ID at the top of the hour.
I’ve been a casual MW listener and DXer for decades. Recently, I moved out into the swampland and am now commuting about 25 miles each way to work through the rural countryside. I’ve started logging all of the AM stations heard during my commute and what I hear during the day from the parking lot during lunch-time at work. All of this is within what they call a micropolitan area en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_City_micropolitan_area. For the most part, I can get the same stations from time to time from my home to my work during the day and during sunrise/sunset. Of course, the propagation varies from day to day but there are only a couple of stations that I can get at home that I cannot get at work and vice versa if I listen long enough. So for my personal use, anything I log between the two sites goes into my log.
If I travel outside of the area, then I do not log those stations although I still tune around the dial to find out what is there.
I occasionally also log FM stations, usually when the AM band is too noisy to get anything. On FM, most of the full power stations are heard at both locations but some of the low power and translators are not.
Here are a couple of comments. I checked with the ARRL and CQ Magazine websites for their rules concerning Amateur Radio awards for two way communication with other stations. The ARRL Worked All States award (WAS) has a rule that says all contacts should normally be made from within an area of no more than 50 miles.
Popular Communications (Pop’ Com) Magazine recently resurrected the old Popular Electronics Monitoring Station Program popcommmonitors.blogspot.com/. If you sign up with them, you get a "call sign" and a certificate you can hang on the wall. On page 4 of the January 2013 issue, they requested readers to send them ideas for their new monitoring awards program that they are starting in 2013. If you have some ideas about DXing awards or rules for DXing, I’m sure Pop ‘Com would like to hear from you.
Best Listening in 2013
73,
Bill