Intro and quick story

[Mark from MA]

Hi everyone, my name is Mark and I live in southern MA, between Providence and Boston. I'm in my early 30s and I've been DXing for about 10-12 years on and off with a Superadio III and a Terk Advantage loop. I also use my car often; however, the engine makes a ton of electrical noise so the only time I get good stuff from my car is if I park in a lot with the engine off. I tried building a 4 ft loop but I failed miserably(flimsy, won't tune) so I am back to the drawing board.

I have a good friend who casually likes DXing but he keeps no log, just likes listening to some of the distant 50KWs. Since there was no work Monday for New Years and I never get to do any pre-sunrise DXing, I got my friend to meet me for a coffee Monday at 4:30 AM and then do a few hours hrs of DXing from the car to see if I could increase my log totals. The band was behaving well and I ended up with 4 brand new stations, plus a few I hadn't heard in quite a while.

On the way home, I was checking out the X Band and noticed English speaking on 1660. I always get WWRU which is Korean so I park in my driveway and shut off the engine. I keep listening and hear Fox Sports so now I know 100% it isn't WWRU unless they completely changed format within the last couple of hours. There is no sign of any other station behind this but it starts fading. I had no internet with me so I couldn't even check to see if there was just one Fox Sports affiliate on 1660 (there isn't). It kicks back in a bit at the top of the hour (9AM EST) and I hear WQLR Kalamazoo. The little things that get me psyched... but I was excited!

Quick stats, not to show off, just because I love stats:

209 stations pulled in with only one frequency that eludes me, 1340. I've only gotten one ID from that frequency but it was about 8 miles outside my 10 mile radius so it's not counted yet.

24 states, Wash DC, and 4 Provinces logged - Closest ones missing: Delaware, South Carolina, Florida, Prince Edward Island, and New Foundland.

Longest DXs:
1122 miles 1040 WHO in IA
1064 miles 1540 KXEL in IA
1028 miles 1630 KCJJ in IA
1001 miles 1120 KMOX in MO
961 miles 1700 WEUV in AL - long time ago and with WRCR at 1700, I'm not likely to pull it again.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Hi everyone, my name is Mark and I live in southern MA, between Providence and Boston. I'm in my early 30s and I've been DXing for about 10-12 years on and off with a Superadio III and a Terk Advantage loop. I also use my car often; however, the engine makes a ton of electrical noise so the only time I get good stuff from my car is if I park in a lot with the engine off. I tried building a 4 ft loop but I failed miserably(flimsy, won't tune) so I am back to the drawing board.

I have a good friend who casually likes DXing but he keeps no log, just likes listening to some of the distant 50KWs. Since there was no work Monday for New Years and I never get to do any pre-sunrise DXing, I got my friend to meet me for a coffee Monday at 4:30 AM and then do a few hours hrs of DXing from the car to see if I could increase my log totals. The band was behaving well and I ended up with 4 brand new stations, plus a few I hadn't heard in quite a while.

On the way home, I was checking out the X Band and noticed English speaking on 1660. I always get WWRU which is Korean so I park in my driveway and shut off the engine. I keep listening and hear Fox Sports so now I know 100% it isn't WWRU unless they completely changed format within the last couple of hours. There is no sign of any other station behind this but it starts fading. I had no internet with me so I couldn't even check to see if there was just one Fox Sports affiliate on 1660 (there isn't). It kicks back in a bit at the top of the hour (9AM EST) and I hear WQLR Kalamazoo. The little things that get me psyched... but I was excited!

Quick stats, not to show off, just because I love stats:

209 stations pulled in with only one frequency that eludes me, 1340. I've only gotten one ID from that frequency but it was about 8 miles outside my 10 mile radius so it's not counted yet.

24 states, Wash DC, and 4 Provinces logged - Closest ones missing: Delaware, South Carolina, Florida, Prince Edward Island, and New Foundland.

Longest DXs:
1122 miles 1040 WHO in IA
1064 miles 1540 KXEL in IA
1028 miles 1630 KCJJ in IA
1001 miles 1120 KMOX in MO
961 miles 1700 WEUV in AL - long time ago and with WRCR at 1700, I'm not likely to pull it again.

Welcome to the hobby. With fewer and fewer stations playing formats that interest me, I am getting back into the hobby myself.

Loops can be really tricky. I've got a four foot loop design that is nice and robust, although I have to switch turns in and out to tune the whole band. It is more effective on the lower end of the dial: http://earmark.net/gesr/loop/

 

[crainbebo]

I succeeded in completing a 3ft box loop, which works wonders on MW. However, I've never tried it outside my apartment complex - it's too big to fit into a regular sized car. I'd love to take the loop and my Grundig out to a quiet setting - a park or a rural area.

 

[boombox4]

Welcome, Mark.

You could always try to build a plastic crate loop. 110 or so turns of wire on a plastic crate and a 365 pf tuner covers the AM band from 530 to 1700. Mine has maybe 1-2 db of gain over my small factory made loops. The smaller loops are easier to null with on the fly, though, so I tend to use them more often.

Have a great new year, and good DX this season.

 

[gar hi]

Welcome, Mark.

Looks like you are in a good location for AM DXing because there's nothing but ocean between you and most of the east coast. (not counting the relatively short distance on land from you and the coast)

One interesting catch you may want to try for would be 690 WOKV Jacksonville right around dusk while they are still on their 50,000 watt non-directional daytime mode before they switch over to their 25,000 watt directional nighttime pattern.

CKGM from Montreal would be what you'd most likely hear dominating the frequency but you may hear WOKV when the conditions are not too good for hearing CKGM.

Many a time in New Jersey at dusk, I was able to hear 690 from Jacksonville (then WAPE) for that brief period until they switched power and vanished completely.

And daytime AM DXing should be real fun if you are right at the coast of southern Massachusetts, as AM signals can be heard much greater distances over salt water than over land.

I'd imagine you'd be able to hear as far south as possibly Virginia in the daytime if you knew exactly what to look for.

If you don't have this one already, here's a good AM station guide to help your DXing efforts day and night.

http://topazdesigns.com/ambc/


Good luck in your DX adventures!

 

[Ai4i]

209 stations pulled in with only one frequency that eludes me, 1340.

Welcome on board, 1340 is one of the six hardest frequencies to catch,
the other five being 1230, 1240, 1400, 1450. and 1490.

 

[Mark from MA]

Love the topaz designs site. I've got all of RI in between me and the ocean so my daytime DX isn't spectacular. I've gotten WHAM out of Rochester NY during the day, 1pm or so, but maybe that is daytime sky wave? 690 was actually what I tried for today but I actually picked up WELD in WV who must have still been on daytime power at 5pm. That is likely my best shot at Florida. 540 is another one but I've only logged WLIE.

 

[mimo]

If you didn't hear P.E.I. before 2003, you won't hear it on AM. All 3 of the provinces AM stations have flipped to FM. The only hope would be if someone decides to start up an AM station. The odds of that happening are slim to none, sadly. Welcome to the board and we look forward to your contributions.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Hya Mark .....

I don't know the local dial where you live, but offer a mere suggestion for that missing '1340' tooth in the comb.

Try for WNBH 1340 from New Bedford -- at the exact midday.

I've heard quite a few 'impossibles'/'unheards' at that time. There was minimal sunrise and sunset propagation -- sheer groundwave.

Of course, my peak DXing years were decades ago. The dial was quieter. But with a good antenna and a quiet spot, a null of a semi-local station (or even at outright local) at noon surprised me a few times.

73!

 

[Mark from MA]

I always assumed 1340 WNBH would be doable since I've picked up a 1420 from New Bedford but it's just never happened for me. Their signal points out into the ocean so I am directly behind it which makes it difficult but not impossible. I've been doubling down working on that frequency on my commute to and from work which is how I pulled in a station out of Gardner MA on my way in, just too far from home to officially count it.