DX Standards of Behaviout

[SomeRadioGuy]

The problem with SW is that many broadcasters use relays. Radio Nederland used to use the RCI (Sackville Canada) as a relay. Their signal blasted in up and down the eastern seaboard. You had to have a pretty insensitive radio not to receive them.
Many of the graveyarders are impossible to DX. They aren't running any spots so you can't use that to locate the station. So you must wait for the TOH ID and hope its not in a fade at that time. And then many of the Hispanic stations plug in to satellite programming and don't even run TOH ID's.
But I think ALL broadcasters appreciate reception reports. They show these to potential clients as proof that "we're really reaching out."

Who said graveyarders aren't running any spots?

Who said hispanic stations dont run TOH IDs? I've heard plenty who do.

Who said all broadcasters appreciate reception reports? they dont, lets face it, they wear many hats. Ive sent reception reports and never even gotten so much as a thank you, etc.. a reply is not necessarily expected but its nice.

 

[boombox4]

I hear plenty of spots on graveyard AM stations. Although a lot of them may not necessarily be local. A lot of them at night are the standard PSA's and national spots. And I'm sure the spot load is a bit lighter at night, when we tend to DX the channels.

I also hear plenty of spots on Hispanic stations, but at night, yeah, you don't hear as many. Lucky to catch a legal ID (which often you're lucky to hear anyway, on any station, because of fading), and the slogans sometimes are hard to decipher in the fading and QRM. I've heard the station on 1060 in Reno probably 20 times now (doesn't always come in through CKMX's null) and have yet to hear a clear slogan, much less an ID.

As for reception reports, I've never done that in MW DXing. I would think a lot of engineers are less inclined to mess with them, especially post 1996 Telecom Act, when you have an engineer dealing with several stations, or contracted to several clusters. The social media version of 'reception reporting' is also a big nothing. I've sent PMs to two separate stations -- telling them that I enjoy hearing their programming at night -- over the past year and they never even reply with a 'thanks' or anything. The people running the social media apparently can't be bothered with something like that. They probably only are concerned with the FM audience. Maybe aren't even aware the station has an AM.

I did PM a station that seemed to be running its stereo on the AM side using just one channel of the stereo spectrum -- sort of a quick patch version of what we used to call 'upper mono', perhaps... Except it wasn't upper mono. It was one channel off the stereo output. On some songs you could really tell. I did get a response from the station, but I don't think the person behind the desk truly understood what the issue was. But at least it was something.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Last request for a verie I'm likely to send was several years ago. I won't say the station's name, but was a somewhat highly publicized TEST broadcast at one of those times in the morning when only true hobbyists would consider socially acceptable.

I did hear the TEST. It was only though the Grace of Morse Code, but I taped two of those IDs. The channel was noisy and cluttered, but the signal managed to make it here from 5 states away. Next day I made a dub of the cassette and mailed to the engineering department a telescoped but salient version of it.
Along with a letter.
And a picture of the radio and den.
And return postage.

Never heard a word back.
I 'count' it, of course, because of the taped ID.

* * * * * * *

In the 60's, a notorious non-verifier was WHHH 1440 from Ohio. A lot of DXers hung around the channel, not for WHHH but to look for a het and maybe some audio from Radio Luxembourg on 1439. Theorizing that WHHH never verified any reception reports since they first signed on, they must have quite a stamp collection. Mint stamps, too!

* * * * * * *

A fellow DXer sent a reception report to a station where I and a buddy worked. We were pretty good DXers then, and the CE couldn't be bothered with the carton of reports he had stacked up. We gladly took the chore.
Now this DXer pal who sent us the report was one of those conscientious/veteran/tangental fellows who didn't count a station as a 'catch' unless it QSLed him. For him to have some 4000 AM veries (!), that seems pretty conscientious to me.
My pal at the station signed the QSL: 'Frenilio F Farkensnarl , Engineering Dep't.' About a week later, we got a phone call and then a letter from the DXer. There was genuine concern in his voice. Ya never know, ya know? We felt bad, and quickly sent him a real one.

 

[CTListener]

Who said graveyarders aren't running any spots?

Who said hispanic stations dont run TOH IDs? I've heard plenty who do.

Who said all broadcasters appreciate reception reports? they dont, lets face it, they wear many hats. Ive sent reception reports and never even gotten so much as a thank you, etc.. a reply is not necessarily expected but its nice.

Unless your being able to hear the signal is really unusual, or if you're getting a poor signal somewhere the station should be strong, I don't think most broadcasters really care about your reception report. They know where they want their audience to be and how well they're reaching it, and they can't attract $1 more in advertising by telling local businesses that someone 300 miles away picked up their station just after dawn one Monday morning.

That said, I'm sure there are engineers at FMs who get a kick out of long-distance skip reception reports, even though, again, no advertiser is going to buy time on those stations because it reaches someplace two time zones away when conditions are right.