Heading to OBX tomorrow. What to listen for?

[nocomradio]

I am heading to the Outer Banks of NC for a few days after Christmas, and was going to take along a few radios. I have my GE Superadio, my Grundig G3, a loop and I thought a longwire to lay out on the beach might be a good idea. Anything in particular I should be listening for? The Superadio of course will be for FM and MW, and the Grundig will be used for both, plus some SW. I will be in Nags Head, but we will probably go farther south as well, so that should put me a bit further out into the ocean and that may be a good thing.

Any chance of any decent TA there this time of year? My times will be pretty flexible, so I may do some daytime and well as late night DX'ing.

I will try to report on what I log if anything interesting.

 

[radioman148]

I am heading to the Outer Banks of NC for a few days after Christmas, and was going to take along a few radios. I have my GE Superadio, my Grundig G3, a loop and I thought a longwire to lay out on the beach might be a good idea. Anything in particular I should be listening for? The Superadio of course will be for FM and MW, and the Grundig will be used for both, plus some SW. I will be in Nags Head, but we will probably go farther south as well, so that should put me a bit further out into the ocean and that may be a good thing.

Any chance of any decent TA there this time of year? My times will be pretty flexible, so I may do some daytime and well as late night DX'ing.

I will try to report on what I log if anything interesting.

I'd be curious to know how far up & down the coast you can get a groundwave signal during mid day--noon--1PM. NYC, Boston perhaps?
Thanks!

 

[ddsparxx]

I was there earlier this year and I heard 1521 out of Middle East and few years ago I heard a station on 1134 I think from Bulgaria (I didn't keep a log and should have) at the same place. OBX is a fabulous place to DX though I haven't seen anyone else with radios and wire antennas....During the day I had several AMs from Hartford, CT all the way to NJ coast though the water path.
The OBX is also a great place for FM DX as well as I once heard WALK 97.5 out of Long Island with a GE Superadio III. That was many years ago. That was way before I bought a GE SR II at a flea market.

The antenna I used with hearing 1521 was a ferrite loop inside a radio. I didn't use a long on the beach because the beach was a little too crowded and didn't feel comfortable laying it out with people around, where I could get strange looks or worse, someone tripping over the wire. However next time I go to OBX, I may bring a longwire with me.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Maybe it's not a priority in a venue where water-path is the expected main show, NonCom, but there has been more than a bit of that Mid-Winter Anomaly going around.

You might hear a little bit of that. The combination of the two conditions could be real interesting daytime reception.

 

[nocomradio]

Thanks for all the replies folks!

I will definitely keep a log of anything I catch there and share it with everyone. As I was packing up this evening, I decided the GE SR is going, the Grundig G3 and my Sangean ATS-803 as well. I have an AN200 loop and then I have a 150' roll of #14 wire to lay out. I doubt if the beach will be too crowded but I usually find myself at Coquina Beach on Bodie Island and its like having your own beach this time of year. One plus there is that its the National Seashore area, so there aren't any hotels, motels or houses around, so electrically its pretty quiet too.

My hope is some TA. I've honestly never really confirmed anything across the ocean, so this will (I hope) be a good opportunity to do just that. If nothing else I can see if I can fatten up the logbooks a little more with some other interesting stuff. NJ sounds pretty good, as where I am at in VA, I just can't seem to pick up any NJ stations on MW. I did log a few Atlantic City FM's last December about this time with some mid-Winter tropo.

I'll keep you all posted..........

 

[Buckeyes2001]

How about Bermuda's AM Gold 1450. I'm curious to know how well it comes in there, if at all.

 

[gar hi]

In the daytime, look for 1340 WMID Atlantic City. At only .870 kw that would be an awesome graveyard catch. They would be easy to recognize because they play 50s oldies.

Also, 560 WQAO Miami, although it would probably be in the background of WGAI. Or maybe you'd have a better shot at hearing WFIL the religious station from Philadelphia.

On 610, maybe you could hear 610 WIOD the talk station from Miami or WIP the sports station from Philadelphia, or both at once.

On 990, there's the news/talk station from Philadelphia WNTP. Years ago, I recall someone being there and hearing them when they were the old WIBG. But there are more stations now, of course so it may be a challenge.

The big NYC stations are a given to be able to hear daytime.

Let me know if you hear anything on the suggested frequencies in the daytime.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Some lower-powered daytime AM targets, from Long Island, might include
WGBB 1240
WHLI 1100 (can't see how it can be avoided :- )
WRIV 1390 Riverhead
WALK 1370 Patchogue
W??? 1570 Riverhead
WLIM 1580 Medford
WNYG 1440 Babylon/Patchogue/Medford, whatever
WNYM 740 Huntington

The last three are inland, but send enough juice to the south.

* * * * * * *

On that Mid-Winter Anomaly, NonCom, you might want to keep an ear out for WVBF 1530. They're near Cape Cod and the coast, yet came in rather nicely a few Januarys ago. No water path was involved .... just rolling hills and coal mountains. The 'How Far Is It' site says it was 280 miles in broad Anomaly Standard Time daylight.

Of course, if that 1530 station from Wanchese OBX is still on, you may have some difficulty.

* * * * * * *

@ Gar FL : eMail me, okay? Your listed eMail address didn;t go through.

 

[spunker88]

I was there several years ago, before I had any decent DX gear. I had a simple AM/FM walkman and was pulling in NYC very easily during the day in April. Even the cheap alarm clock radio in the room I was staying in was able to get the big NYC AMs.

With proper DX equipment this would be a very interesting place to DX from. Even FM can be interesting, maybe not this time of the year, but in the spring there was some awesome tropo up and down the coast.

 

[Buckeyes2001]

Also try for ZIZ from the Caribbean on 555 kHz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97_vA3D5C1I&fmt=18

 

[N4GBK]

I’m in NE NC a bit inland from the Outer Banks. Follow up to what has already been posted. 1530 WOBX is still going strong so I doubt that you can do much with 1530 days. They sign off around 4:45 PM in December. Should be able to hear 690 WOKV from Jacksonville, FL during the day. You may hear Savannah, Charleston or others from the south. Also look for 530 Radio Rebelde from Cuba. Used to hear ZNS on 1540 from the Bahamas. Not sure what you’ll get on that frequency. I’m getting Philadelphia on 1540 most of the time.

In Elizabeth City, during the mid-day I regularly hear 1200 WXKS from Boston, 1340 and 1450 from Atlantic City. Semi-regulars 600 WICC Bridgeport, CT and 1160 WOBM from Lakewood, NJ.

For TA, I’m hearing a lot of hets before sunset and around sunrise. With the right equipment, you should be able to get 1521 and others. Stormy weather today with thundershowers, might make a mess of the MW band for a while until all of this moves way out to sea.

 

[cd637299]

To our OP:

I was at Nags Head and also at Cape Hatteras in Nov 1997.

I was able to hear WIOD 610 & WWL 870 in the daytime with Superadio II & II + Select-a-Tenna. Yes, WWL, over land! That was Hatteras only.

At night I heard a het on 585, maybe Spain. With the shorter days, TA's should be quite possible. Maybe broadcast LW too.

I also heard Prince Edward Island on 720, but that is gone now, as is 850 Verdun/Montreal. I'd try for Canadians not only on clear channel frequencies, but also the regionals; I did hear CKOC 1150, and possibly CHKT 1430. Also CJCH 920, but that is gone now as well.

I would also try for Bermuda 1 hour before NC sunset. 1160 runs BBC World Service & 1280 Bible Broadcasting Network (you might be able to catch a parallel on another radio); also there is 1450 AM Gold, which one of our members bagged from NC last year!

If I went again, I'd bring outdoor TV & FM antennas too, for long haul Tropo over the Atlantic. Now *I* wanna go!


PS: WBZ 1030 was there when I went (Hatteras), and right next door at 1040 was Boynton Beach FL, now Spanish "Actualidad" WLVJ....both in the day! Quite a spread there, over 1100 miles....

cd

 

[JaxRadioFan]

Possible Florida catches might include 540 WFLF, 550 WAYR, WQAM 560, WDBO 580, 600, WBOB. I'd be interested to know if you can pull WZNZ 1600 Atlantic Beach, FL which has their transmitter about a mile from the beach. I was in OBX (Nags Head) August 2008 and was able to hear the NYC bigs as well as WTIC Hartford and WBZ Boston with a fair signal. I was only able to get a hint of a signal on 690 and it seemed mixed with a Spanish station. I would guess that to be WOKV Jacksonville and WADS Ansonia, CT

 

[cd637299]

Possible Florida catches might include 540 WFLF, 550 WAYR, WQAM 560, WDBO 580, 600, WBOB. I'd be interested to know if you can pull WZNZ 1600 Atlantic Beach, FL which has their transmitter about a mile from the beach. I was in OBX (Nags Head) August 2008 and was able to hear the NYC bigs as well as WTIC Hartford and WBZ Boston with a fair signal. I was only able to get a hint of a signal on 690 and it seemed mixed with a Spanish station. I would guess that to be WOKV Jacksonville and WADS Ansonia, CT

^ WOKV should be no problem there! I myself heard WAYR daytime, and I am sure there were others in JAX. The other 690 in Spanish is likely Radio Progreso in Cuba.

cd

 

[gar hi]

Nocomradio, a couple more to try daytime are 1210 WPHT Philadelhpia (the talk station) and 640 WWJZ Mount Holly, NJ (Radio Disney).

Like WIP, their transmitters are in south Jersey, whereas all the other Philly stations have their transmitters northwest of the city.

The stations with their transmitters in south Jersey have less of a land path to pass over than the other stations.

Out of all the Philadelphia area stations, 640 WWJZ should be the easiest to get.

@ Gar FL : eMail me, okay? Your listed eMail address didn;t go through.

You can PM me instead directly through the board if that's OK.