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I'm going to Hawaii...with my CC Radio

Well, I have some interesting info from day 1 in Hawaii. I'm on the big island in Kailua-Kona (west side of the island). I went out to the beach away from buildings at about 9pm (midnight on the west coast) with my CC Radio and NO external loop antenna. I wasn't able to catch many of the usual suspects due to adjacent stations (no KFI, KNX, KCBS or most of the othe suggestions above), but I did get the following:

KSFO 560: Very consistent but weak. It didn't really fade in and out, it just kinda stayed weak but strong enough to easily ID.

KNBR 680: This was tough because it was sandwiched between a couple of locals, but it faded in long enough for an ID

KIRO 710: I wasn't expecting this one, and when I first heard it I thought it might have been KSPN in LA. But when it faded in during commercials, they were all for Seattle businesses. I eventually got the KIRO ID. At one point when it was coming in well, there was another station under it that I could not make out but it also sounded like sports- I wonder if THAT was KSPN?

KEX 1190: What surprised me most about KEX was how strong it was. I even dismissed it as a local station at first until it started to fade, then I remembered that
 
Oops...typing on the iPhone and hit 'post' by accident...

I remembered 1190 was a Portland station. I IDd it pretty quickly as KEX, and while it did fade in and out, when it was in it came in VERY clearly.

I'm going to try to get away from the city tonight and see if I can get anything else. I doubt I'll be up late (or early) enough to try for Australian or far east stations, but who knows.

More to come...
 
Hey....

If you are on the Big Island & not Honolulu, try for Alaska then....KFQD 750 & KENI 650, although I would doubt the latter, due to Honolulu's 650.

I was stationed near Anchorage in the late 70s & was able to catch two Hawaiians, 830 & 940.

cd
 
EastBay,

I forgot to mention KEX to you. It does come in well sometimes. You should also be able to hear KPNW Eugene, Or pretty well. If you want to go for a good inland catch try KSL 1160. They usually come in well when I'm there.

Please keep us informed on your DX catches.
 
Wow, EastBay. KSFO is a great catch! I never would have even considered that one.

Can't wait to hear more of your catches.

You mentioned earlier going to the very southern tip of the big island?

If you're there midday, I'd be curious to see what you can get on 640 or 680. Maybe even 560 because of KSFO's low dial position and great ground coverage. I was looking at the map and there's no land blocking the path to SF or LA.

The only thing is, I don't know how close you can get to the beach at South Point Park. I see there's a route 11 that seems to get right near the beach between the towns of Naalehu and Honu'Apo, if you get the chance. You'd have to face the radio almost perpendicular to the shore line there.

Getting back to nighttime reception, I was also wondering about 850 KOA too. They seem to get out far at night as they're pretty much a regular at night here in Tampa. And don't forget to try for the oldies station KVNS 1700. You may not hear it when you first listen but it often can drift in out of the blue.
 
Sorry for the delay; my computer crashed while I was in Hawaii and haven't had time to post anything more until now.

I was able to get a few more catches the next day (last Sunday, 9/12). Some were ones I expected to get in the first place, and there was also one surprise!

In addition to the other stations I mentioned earlier (KSFO 560, KNBR 680, KIRO 710 and KEX 1190), I was finally able to grab KNX 1070 and KSL 1160. But as I was browsing around, I landed on 1050 and heard sports- pretty clearly, too. It always seemed to fade right around the time they'd go to commercial or during station ID time, and it was driving me crazy trying to figure out what sports station would be on 1050 on the west coast other than KTCT ('KNBR 1050'). No way it could have been that one...but finally, clear as day, I heard "KNBR 1050" during a station promo. I never expected to pick up that station; I can hardly pick it up at night in the tri-valley just 20 miles to the east. They're a 10kw station that throws most of their signal to the west at night however, so perhaps it makes sense...but I only thought I'd get 50kw blowtorches in Hawaii. I wonder if their power increased in the last week however, because I can now pick them up clear as day in the tri valley now (ever since I got back from HI). Regardless, it was quite a catch!

To answer a few of your other questions:
gar fla said:
You mentioned earlier going to the very southern tip of the big island?

If you're there midday, I'd be curious to see what you can get on 640 or 680. Maybe even 560 because of KSFO's low dial position and great ground coverage. I was looking at the map and there's no land blocking the path to SF or LA.

The only thing is, I don't know how close you can get to the beach at South Point Park. I see there's a route 11 that seems to get right near the beach between the towns of Naalehu and Honu'Apo, if you get the chance. You'd have to face the radio almost perpendicular to the shore line there.

Getting back to nighttime reception, I was also wondering about 850 KOA too. They seem to get out far at night as they're pretty much a regular at night here in Tampa. And don't forget to try for the oldies station KVNS 1700. You may not hear it when you first listen but it often can drift in out of the blue.
Click to expand...

I did go to south point, and yes, there is a road that takes you from hwy 11 to the tip. You actually have to walk the last quarter to half mile or so, but its easy to get to (and boy, was it windy- trees all lean to the west there). I was there up until about 5:30pm HST (8:30pm on the west coast), but unfortunately I could not pick up a single station the whole time I was there. It wasn't until after about 8pm HST that I started getting stations from the west coast, and I had returned to Kona by then.

Regarding KOA 850, Radioman is right- there is a local station that prevented me from getting them.

Nothing on 1700 either. That would have been something!

cd637299 said:
Hey....

If you are on the Big Island & not Honolulu, try for Alaska then....KFQD 750 & KENI 650, although I would doubt the latter, due to Honolulu's 650.

I was stationed near Anchorage in the late 70s & was able to catch two Hawaiians, 830 & 940.

cd
Click to expand...

No luck on either Alaska station...only static.


Next time I'm out there, I'm going to try to build in some time to stay up much later (or get up much earlier) to see what else I could get both from the west coast and the far east. For this trip, the conclusion I came to is that the CC Radio did better than I thought, but then again the only stations I was able to get were from the extereme western US (Except for KSL). Next time (6 months from now), I'll definintely bring an external loop antenna and I might even get a better radio...maybe that PR-D5 that Gar has. This was a lot of fun...something I've always wanted to do and am glad I got the chance to.
 
Thanks for trying anyway on that beach during the day. It's looking like 2000 miles or more may be too far for any AM signal to go on a saltwater path.

I'm still waiting for my brother to go to the beach in Hilo and give it a try but I'm not holding out much hope that he will get anything.

It's great to hear you got KSL and I'm still impressed that KSFO gets out there at night.
 
EastBay said:
Sorry for the delay; my computer crashed while I was in Hawaii and haven't had time to post anything more until now.

I was able to get a few more catches the next day (last Sunday, 9/12). Some were ones I expected to get in the first place, and there was also one surprise!

In addition to the other stations I mentioned earlier (KSFO 560, KNBR 680, KIRO 710 and KEX 1190), I was finally able to grab KNX 1070 and KSL 1160. But as I was browsing around, I landed on 1050 and heard sports- pretty clearly, too. It always seemed to fade right around the time they'd go to commercial or during station ID time, and it was driving me crazy trying to figure out what sports station would be on 1050 on the west coast other than KTCT ('KNBR 1050'). No way it could have been that one...but finally, clear as day, I heard "KNBR 1050" during a station promo. I never expected to pick up that station; I can hardly pick it up at night in the tri-valley just 20 miles to the east. They're a 10kw station that throws most of their signal to the west at night however, so perhaps it makes sense...but I only thought I'd get 50kw blowtorches in Hawaii. I wonder if their power increased in the last week however, because I can now pick them up clear as day in the tri valley now (ever since I got back from HI). Regardless, it was quite a catch!

To answer a few of your other questions:
gar fla said:
You mentioned earlier going to the very southern tip of the big island?

If you're there midday, I'd be curious to see what you can get on 640 or 680. Maybe even 560 because of KSFO's low dial position and great ground coverage. I was looking at the map and there's no land blocking the path to SF or LA.

The only thing is, I don't know how close you can get to the beach at South Point Park. I see there's a route 11 that seems to get right near the beach between the towns of Naalehu and Honu'Apo, if you get the chance. You'd have to face the radio almost perpendicular to the shore line there.

Getting back to nighttime reception, I was also wondering about 850 KOA too. They seem to get out far at night as they're pretty much a regular at night here in Tampa. And don't forget to try for the oldies station KVNS 1700. You may not hear it when you first listen but it often can drift in out of the blue.
Click to expand...

I did go to south point, and yes, there is a road that takes you from hwy 11 to the tip. You actually have to walk the last quarter to half mile or so, but its easy to get to (and boy, was it windy- trees all lean to the west there). I was there up until about 5:30pm HST (8:30pm on the west coast), but unfortunately I could not pick up a single station the whole time I was there. It wasn't until after about 8pm HST that I started getting stations from the west coast, and I had returned to Kona by then.

Regarding KOA 850, Radioman is right- there is a local station that prevented me from getting them.

Nothing on 1700 either. That would have been something!

cd637299 said:
Hey....

If you are on the Big Island & not Honolulu, try for Alaska then....KFQD 750 & KENI 650, although I would doubt the latter, due to Honolulu's 650.

I was stationed near Anchorage in the late 70s & was able to catch two Hawaiians, 830 & 940.

cd
Click to expand...

No luck on either Alaska station...only static.


Next time I'm out there, I'm going to try to build in some time to stay up much later (or get up much earlier) to see what else I could get both from the west coast and the far east. For this trip, the conclusion I came to is that the CC Radio did better than I thought, but then again the only stations I was able to get were from the extereme western US (Except for KSL). Next time (6 months from now), I'll definintely bring an external loop antenna and I might even get a better radio...maybe that PR-D5 that Gar has. This was a lot of fun...something I've always wanted to do and am glad I got the chance to.
Click to expand...

Eastbay--I've had quite a bit of success getting some 5KWs from the west coast in Hawaii. Several from the bay area. Also ESPN 1700 in the San Diego area comes in alot. I knew you'd get KSL. It almost always puts in a good signal to the islands.
Thanks for the reports.
 
I forgot to say....

I once knew a DXer who lived in Keaau (south of Hilo?) who I think told me that he'd hear KFI in the daytime (maybe winters only).

He is no longer with us....but he used to tell me what AM stations he used to catch....and he said he even caught a Japanese FM station on multihop (cannot recall which station/frequency, but it was in their Japanese band). Of course, he must have had tip-top equipment....!!

cd
 
Real interesting he could hear KFI in the daytime.

If any station has any chance at all of making it out there on a saltwater path, KFI would be it because of it's low dial position.

When he said daytime, do you recall if he was saying he could hear it all day any time of day or did he happen to hear it late afternoon?

When I lived in New Jersey and listened to WNBC 660 in the dead of winter from 80 miles away, I never heard any multipath fading/scrambling due to skywave any earlier than around 2:30 in the afternoon.

I say that because if your friend was able to hear KFI (which is two frequencies below 660) midday before 2:30, it probably wasn't the result of a skywave.

Of course if he was hearing KNX 1070, for example, or something higher up the dial midday, skywave could never be ruled out even midday during the winter.
 
cd637299 said:
I forgot to say....

I once knew a DXer who lived in Keaau (south of Hilo?) who I think told me that he'd hear KFI in the daytime (maybe winters only).

He is no longer with us....but he used to tell me what AM stations he used to catch....and he said he even caught a Japanese FM station on multihop (cannot recall which station/frequency, but it was in their Japanese band). Of course, he must have had tip-top equipment....!!

cd
Click to expand...

It is 2,500 miles from LA to Hilo. It would probably take skywave to make that happen.
 
In winter, skywave on AM does ocassionally happen. I have heard WBZ in Boston in Lexington, KY on my car radio between noon and 2 PM several times in the past, especially in December and January. I can't see how WBZ's groundwave could make it here under any circumstances. . . a distance of about 750 miles...
 
KR4BD said:
In winter, skywave on AM does ocassionally happen. I have heard WBZ in Boston in Lexington, KY on my car radio between noon and 2 PM several times in the past, especially in December and January. I can't see how WBZ's groundwave could make it here under any circumstances. . . a distance of about 750 miles...
Click to expand...

I also have heard WBZ here in the Chicago area mid-day in December around the winter solstice. Definite mid-day skywave.
Also, WABC, WCBS & WHAM. This hasn't happened for me recently, but a couple of times back in the 70s.
 
I've been wondering about daytime skywave, based on portions of the following articles....

http://web.archive.org/web/20070512064813/www.mindspring.com/~loop_antenna/amloop4.htm
"The most distant stations were characterized by deep fades with periods of an hour or more, so not all were simultaneously logged. "

http://web.archive.org/web/20070510144338/www.mindspring.com/~loop_antenna/umbrellaloop.htm
"Daytime DX of this nature is characterized by very deep, very slow fades. A station barely readable one hour may be booming in an hour later"'

I was thinking about something.... Is it possible that the D-layer isn't a perfect absorber, and there maybe is some slight trace of skywave present at all times... and you'd just need a sensitive enough receiver, large enough antenna, and be in a quiet location to hear it, maybe?
 
On the upper end of the AM band in winter, I bet there's always the possibility of skywave any time of day.

The lower down you go on the band, the less likely it is to get a daytime skywave and that's why I wonder if it's possible at all to ever get any winter skywave on the lower frequencies midday in winter, at least in the mid and lower latitudes.

That's why I wonder if that person who heard KFI in Hawaii in the daytime was hearing it what time of year and what time of day. If it happened to be midday even in winter, I don't know how much if any skywave could really be involved.
 
During the winter (Dec and Jan), I've had the opportunity to take a few business trips to different portions of Canada and to spend time driving between cities. On each occasion, the farther north I've been - the more daytime skywave I have picked up. Dependable midday signals from the likes of WBBM and a bit of WLS from near Pembroke, ON; KSL, WZFG, KEX and a slew of Vancouver AMs into central Alberta for almost the entire day.

So yes, I can personally attest that skywave can happen during the day....if that day features a low sun angle as you see around Winter solstice and in higher latitudes during those months. The description of long fades AND long periods of killer reception that a previous poster made are absolutely correct. Some signals would fade out for hours while others faded in for hours. Very little of the shorter duration in-and-out reception that nighttime skywave often features. Reminiscent of longwave.
 
But even at lower latitudes such as South Carolina, I've picked up daytime (2PM or so) reception of both the NYC and Chi AM's as well as a lot of other stuff. The reception was in late fall. I think it is remotely possible for someone to get a Calif (or west coast) station from Hawaii during the day but one would have to be in the right place at the right time w/ a pretty good radio.
 
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