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DXing in Hawaii

R

radioman148

I'm in Hawaii for a couple of weeks on Oahu. Tonight on a grundig G5 portable I was able to ID the following:

780 KKOH Reno (decent signal)
1020 KTNQ LA (strong)
1100 KFAX San Francisco (2nd strongest to KTNQ)
1120 KPNW Eugene, Or (pretty good)
1160 KSL Salt Lake City, Ut (most distant catch on mainland)

Possible IDs?

710--not well enough to ID, but heard CBS news on the hour. Could that be KIRO? (8PM HST--10PM PST)
1110--couldn't stay with long enough for definite ID. Years ago was KRLA/KDIS Pasadena, but couldn't tell tonight.
Is there an 1110 on another Hawaiian island?
Help with the 710 would be appreciated. Does KIRO carry CBS news on the hour?

Will try again while I'm here.
 
There is KAOI 1110 in Kihei, HI, according to the 2008 AM log book. Not sure where in HI Kihei is located. A news/talk station that does 5kW both day and night. It's either that or KDIS. Most likely the 710 is KIRO and the AM log book says KIRO carries CBS news. There appears to be no 710 in HI.
If you hear kiddie stuff and bubble gum pop on 1110 then it is most likely KDIS Pasadena, Radio Disney station and the logbook says it does IBOC. If you hear news/talk it's probably KAOI.
 
Caught something different around 10PM Hawaiian time. A split freq signal on 1097 or 98 causing a hetrodyne with KFAX.
It was an unidentifiable foreign language with strange (to me) music. I'm guessing farther west in the pacific at this later hour.
Anyone have any idea how to find out where this is coming from?
 
Thanks ddsparxx--I thought the 710 was KIRO. The 1110 must be the Hawaiian as there wasn't much fading on it.
Now to figure out what the one on 1097 or 98 might be?
 
Re: DXing in Hawaii (what the one on 1097 or 98 might be?)

The station on 1098 might be V7AB Marshall Islands.
They operate with 25kW from 1900 to 1100 UTC. (2 time zones away from Hawaii)
The Marshall Islands are approximately 2300 miles away from Hawaii.

There is a 300kW station in Taiwan on 1098, that is a remote possibility.
(only it's 4 time zones and 2700 miles further away than the Marshall Islands)
 
Check 1070...I found KNX was there on the rental car radio in 2003.
 
Thanks for the help Stormy. Probably was Marshall Islands. Didn't sound like Korean but I'll listen again.
KNX & KFI are tough because there are local co channels next to them. Thought I heard KFI in there, but couldn't really ID because of the splatter. Will try for both again.
 
Back in 1980, I was vacationing on the island of Kuaii and found some tremendous DX on the rental car at sunset Hawaiian Time (winter). All the west coast powerhouses were there including KFI, KNX and many lower powered stations were also dominant including an 1150 station in Morro Bay, CA. I don't think that station is even there anymore. I had parked the car along the ocean on the NE coast of the island. Kuaii only has a few AM stations, so interference from the AM powerhouses on Oahu (100+ miles away) was minimal at that location. Some of the other stations I remember getting clearly there were KOB, KSL, KOA, KCBQ, XETRA, KOMA mixing with KACY, KGO, KCBS, KFBK, KOMO, etc.
 
I tried for KGO & KCBS but since they're nulled in this direction no luck so far. Heard something on KOMO's freq but couldn't pull it through.
That's amazing that you got XETRA with a strong 690 in Honolulu. Was Honolulu off the air at that time?
 
I was well over 100 miles NW of Honolulu and the stations there were not that strong on the NE coast of Kauai. In fact, I recall the 720 station on Kauai was quite weak on the Northern part of the island. There was some interference, of course, but you must remember that in 1980, the AM band was less cluttered and I don't think any of the stations on the islands operated with more than 10 kw (most used less) at the time. I wish I had time to do more DX listening while I was there but a totally disinterested wife shortened my efforts. You know...if a station is noisy, why are you listening to it? AM DXing is a difficult hobby to explain to those, unlike us, who are not infected with the disease....
 
>>I was well over 100 miles NW of Honolulu and the stations there were not that strong on the NE coast of Kauai. In fact, I recall the 720 station on Kauai was quite weak on the Northern part of the island. There was some interference, of course, but you must remember that in 1980, the AM band was less cluttered>>

I remember those days well as I was in Hawaii in 1978 and that trip I picked up WBBM & WLS Chicago and WWL New Orleans.
No way can I do that now. Can't even get KOA as there is another station on 850 probably from another Hawaiian island.
 
ddsparxx said:
Not sure where in HI Kihei is located.
Click to expand...

Its on Maui.

Interesting about XETRA. The Koolau mountains chew up a lot of the groundwave of the Honolulu stations, so north or northwest of Honolulu on Oahu or elsewhere, nothing would seem be impossible. Also agree about KNX. When I lived in Hawaii for a year as a teenager in the 60s, it was a pretty easy catch (assuming you weren't in the city). Also just as easy when I returned for a visit in '94. (KTNQ was the easiest).

Finally, null notwithstanding, I'm pretty sure I did snag KGO on my '94 trip. In a separate thread, David Eduardo has stated that this would be next to impossible, so I could be "mis-remembering". Whatever, KNBR was certainly there with a moderate to strong signal, as was KFI and a couple of others from the west coast. My all time best catch in Hawaii was WLS in early '64 on the Oahu north shore. Delco car radio in a '62 Impala.
 
I've never been to Hawaii myself but always wondered what it would be like to listen to AM at night there. My brother moved to Hilo from California about four years ago and he told me about getting many stations from the west, especially KFI and KNBR. Hearing all the reports of reception in Hawaii, it goes to show how the ocean is a factor even at night bacause the distance from the west coast to Hawaii is pretty much the same as the west coast to much of the eastern US.

Speaking of Hawaii, the ocean, and AM reception, what came to mind is Gilligan's Island. LOL

There were obviously many things on that show that weren't possible and that's what one of the running jokes is about that series but there's one that shouldn't have been included and that's how, if you remember, they would listen to the radio and hear stations from Hawaii even though they were supposed to be well over 200 miles away. Obviously, the average person thinks that would be impossible.

Here's a quote I found from some forum about this. ;D


"I'd sure like to know what brand of radio they had. Man for a deserted island that radio could pick up some decent signal."


http://www.hawaiithreads.com/showthread.php?t=14959


::)
 
Just logged KNX at Hawaii sunset. No KGO or KCBS so far. Those must be good nulls cause I don't even hear them in there putting up a fight.
Heard something on 1170 "Talkradio" and the calls sounded like KFAC or KFJZ or KFAZ, but nothing on radio-locator matches.
Anyone know where I can look up by frequency, or what this could be? Hope it's not something from another Hawaiian island.
 
radioman148 said:
Just logged KNX at Hawaii sunset. No KGO or KCBS so far. Those must be good nulls cause I don't even hear them in there putting up a fight.
Heard something on 1170 "Talkradio" and the calls sounded like KFAC or KFJZ or KFAZ, but nothing on radio-locator matches.
Anyone know where I can look up by frequency, or what this could be? Hope it's not something from another Hawaiian island.
Click to expand...

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/amq.html

There's a Talkradio 1170 KFAQ in Tulsa -- which would be one heck of a catch in Hawaii!
 
Thanks W9WI, must have been KFAQ, because they mentioned FOX and their website says Fox affiliate. So far Tulsa is my most distant on this trip. Also caught KEX in Portland and now at almost 10PM HST I have the 1098 from apparently the Marshall Islands coming in again.
They sure play weird music.
 
Have you had any luck with X-Band stations in Hawaii? I'd be interested to know if any of those make it out there. I don't think any X-Band stations are located in Hawaii, so it might be quite open. 1580 from Santa Monica/Los Angeles was receivable when I was in Hawaii; as well as 730 from Vancouver and 750 from Anchorage (I pulled them in on Maui). Another possible catch could be WOAI from San Antonio; the 1210 from Honolulu may eliminate WOAI, but a friend pulled in WOAI on Maui a few years ago.

dlf
 
I'm going to try some x-banders while I'm here. I haven't heard anything on 730 yet but will try again.
750 & 1200 are tough because of co channel Honolulu stations.
 
gar fla said:
I've never been to Hawaii myself but always wondered what it would be like to listen to AM at night there. My brother moved to Hilo from California about four years ago and he told me about getting many stations from the west, especially KFI and KNBR. Hearing all the reports of reception in Hawaii, it goes to show how the ocean is a factor even at night bacause the distance from the west coast to Hawaii is pretty much the same as the west coast to much of the eastern US.

Speaking of Hawaii, the ocean, and AM reception, what came to mind is Gilligan's Island. LOL

There were obviously many things on that show that weren't possible and that's what one of the running jokes is about that series but there's one that shouldn't have been included and that's how, if you remember, they would listen to the radio and hear stations from Hawaii even though they were supposed to be well over 200 miles away. Obviously, the average person thinks that would be impossible.

Here's a quote I found from some forum about this. ;D


"I'd sure like to know what brand of radio they had. Man for a deserted island that radio could pick up some decent signal."


http://www.hawaiithreads.com/showthread.php?t=14959


::)
Click to expand...

Here it is without the decorative antenna and handle http://www.transistor.org/collection/packardbell/packardbell1.html
 
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