DX-pedition: Colorado

[clorenzo17]

Hey Guys -- first day posting here, glad to be participating!

I recently took a trip out to the Western US to indulge in some fun hiking and outdoors activities. Naturally, driving at night I had to investigate what AM signals I could get!

From I-25 between Pueblo and Colorado Springs:

WLS-AM 890 Chicago, IL
WBBM-AM 780 Chicago, IL
WBAP-AM 820 Fort Worth, TX
XEFV(?)-AM 1000 Ciudad Juarez, MX
WCCO-AM 830 Minneapolis, MN
WHO-AM 1040 Des Moines, IA

Disappointed that I could not hear WTAM out of Cleveland. Anyone along the Front Range pick it up?

 

[radioman148]

Hey Guys -- first day posting here, glad to be participating!

I recently took a trip out to the Western US to indulge in some fun hiking and outdoors activities. Naturally, driving at night I had to investigate what AM signals I could get!

From I-25 between Pueblo and Colorado Springs:

WLS-AM 890 Chicago, IL
WBBM-AM 780 Chicago, IL
WBAP-AM 820 Fort Worth, TX
XEFV(?)-AM 1000 Ciudad Juarez, MX
WCCO-AM 830 Minneapolis, MN
WHO-AM 1040 Des Moines, IA

Disappointed that I could not hear WTAM out of Cleveland. Anyone along the Front Range pick it up?

I did not hear WTAM out that way, but I was only out there once. As a Chicagoan I'm glad you heard WLS & WBBM.
Welcome to the board.

 

[asugeorge1]

Nice catches! In general, Colorado is a pretty good spot to DX from. It's a good location because you're east of the Rockies so the Midwest stations come in fairly well, but you're still close enough to the West Coast to snag most of the big signals from California. I was out in Denver last year and was surprised how strong the Chicago clears came in (WLS, WBBM and WGN) along with KNX from L.A. and KNBR from San Francisco.

I wonder if you can pick-up some of the New York stations or other East Coast clears in Colorado? I know WCBS is out of the question thanks to KRVN, but what about WFAN, WABC or WBZ?

 

[BRNout]

I wonder if you can pick-up some of the New York stations or other East Coast clears in Colorado? I know WCBS is out of the question thanks to KRVN, but what about WFAN, WABC or WBZ?

Back in the early 90s, I lived in Colorado Springs for a while (beautiful place, BTW) and did quite a bit of dxing on the MW band. I'd imagine that things haven't changed THAT much since then, though there is the IBOC menace lurking on the dial. Anyhow, theoretically, it should be possible to get some of the New York stations there - but I never did. WABC is tough because of KOB's very strong presence on 770. WBZ is blotted out (theoretically) by KTWO - which is strong there as well. I seem to recall 660 as more of a mish-mosh with KTNN on top (this despite being directional away from Colorado).

Yes, the Chicago 'clears' all came in well - with 1000 excepted (which wasn't really a "clear" anyway). Good signals abounded from California to Chicago and I used to get WLW and WHAS too. Back then, KOMA 1520 was a first class oldies station and they had a local-grade signal there every single night - so I listened to them a lot. Many, many signals from Texas were common there as well. Today, I'd imagine that IBOC hash has all but eliminated some of those catches. But yes, the Front Range of CO was/is an awesome place to dx the AM band.

One more bit of irony: I used to do some exploring on the SW band there too. For example, Australia came in great - every morning. And, WWVH frequently overpowered WWV - despite WWV being a mere 100 miles up the road in Ft. Collins! The propagation patterns would usually bounce WWV right over my head, sending little or no signal down to our area. Always found that interesting.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

Speaking of awesome DX places...

Are there still any places in the USA where it's routine to have signals from the west AND east coasts (close enough to the coasts so their 10 mV/m groundwave contour reaches the beach) be, on average, at least 20 dB on top of their respective channels at night, and strong enough at least 50% of the night to trip the scan function on a pocket radio using only its built-in ferrite?

Also is there any place in the contiguous 48 states where, if you're using a large antenna, it's possible at the right time of the day / year to hear audio from a Trans-Pacific AND a Trans-Atlantic simultaneously duking it out co-channel, maybe even with a Trans-Equatorial or two thrown in?

And if you're in a quiet enough location with a sensitive enough setup, is there any place (I'm guessing somewhere in the midwest) where you can hear a Canadian AND a Mexican fighting for the same frequency within an hour of local solar noon and within about 6 weeks of the summer solstice, for example on groundwave, even if they're very faint and there's another signal in the mix? (I'm wondering if XEROK and CKLW might be potential candidates?)

 

[spunker88]

One more bit of irony: I used to do some exploring on the SW band there too. For example, Australia came in great - every morning. And, WWVH frequently overpowered WWV - despite WWV being a mere 100 miles up the road in Ft. Collins! The propagation patterns would usually bounce WWV right over my head, sending little or no signal down to our area. Always found that interesting.

Is that why Ottawa's CHU is sometimes weak or non-existent for me. I am about 100 miles from them, but I get WWV better most of the time. I thought it had to do with power levels, but never knew you could be too close to a shortwave signal.

 

[BRNout]

One more bit of irony: I used to do some exploring on the SW band there too. For example, Australia came in great - every morning. And, WWVH frequently overpowered WWV - despite WWV being a mere 100 miles up the road in Ft. Collins! The propagation patterns would usually bounce WWV right over my head, sending little or no signal down to our area. Always found that interesting.

Is that why Ottawa's CHU is sometimes weak or non-existent for me. I am about 100 miles from them, but I get WWV better most of the time. I thought it had to do with power levels, but never knew you could be too close to a shortwave signal.

Yes, apparently you can be too close to a shortwave signal. SW is all skywave, so under certain conditions, it can bounce right over your head as it propagates farther afield. I've gotten CHU pretty well as far off as Central America, yet I could hardly pick it up when I was in Pembroke, ON. And that didn't surprise me because of my experience in Colorado.

It all depends on the frequency, time of day, time of year and the atmospheric/electromagnetic conditions at the time.

 

[boiseengineer]

In Trinidad on a Buick radio back quite a few years. Summertime mid day.
Found my notes but can't figure out the date.
Notable DX:
570 WNAX audible
670 KBOI audible with something under it.
720 WGN audible
880 KRVN solid. Open carrier with IDs so they were testing their new 880. Anyone got a date?
1040 WHO audible
1160 KSL audible

 

[jd]

880 KRVN solid. Open carrier with IDs so they were testing their new 880. Anyone got a date?

A little investigation shows that it was further back than I thought. They switched from 1010 to 880 almost 40 years ago, with the first mentions of the impending move appearing around 1968. A glance at an article dealing with their history, however, implies that it didn't actually happen until 1972.

 

[gar hi]

I've heard WCBS in California late at night many years ago after KRVN signed off.

It took a lot of listening until finally getting an actual ID, though.

 

[radioman148]

I've heard WCBS in California late at night many years ago after KRVN signed off.

It took a lot of listening until finally getting an actual ID, though.

I heard WCBS in Southern California in the late 70s after KRVN signoff a few times.

 

[cyberdad]

Late to this movie....sorry. But a few thoughts....

First of all Clorenzo, welcome to the board. I'm wondering if that 1000 you heard in Colorado was XEOY (Mexico City). They have a killer signal and are widely heard nightly in a large part of the U.S.

Mexican and Canadian "clears" fighting it out on the same channel. I've heard that a number of times here in Northern Illinois with XEROK and CKLW...along with PJB from Bonaire thrown in for good measure!

Too close to a shortwave stick? Sure. On occasion I've been within 30 or so miles from CFRX, WRNO, and WWCR without hearing a trace. In the case of CFRX, I used to regularly stay in a hotel a few miles from their stick. The signal was fairly good that close....but definitely less than city grade.

 

[boiseengineer]

Drove past the WWV WWVB site years ago. Really weak signals on the HF frequencies. But, noted the car radio was messed up as we drove by. All sorts of birdies. Probably from WWVB.