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Looks like I'll be doing some DXing from California in three weeks
- Thread starter gar hi
- Start date
"I never thought of checking FM at first but then I thought, "What am I thinking? There are mountains!""
Trouble with most mountains that are accessible, is that there are FM transmitters on them. Does a real number on the front end of most receivers. In many cases making them unusable.
And since almost every FM frequency is used somewhere in the Bay area, getting to a mountain that overlooks the Bay area means, that is about all you can get.
Having said that, if I had an FM receiver on a mountain outside of Satna Cruz, I would try for the FMs out of the central valley (Stockton, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, etc.). The central valley also has a number of rim shotters to the bigger cities in the valley. With the huge number of FMs, be sure to go with a list
Trouble with most mountains that are accessible, is that there are FM transmitters on them. Does a real number on the front end of most receivers. In many cases making them unusable.
And since almost every FM frequency is used somewhere in the Bay area, getting to a mountain that overlooks the Bay area means, that is about all you can get.
Having said that, if I had an FM receiver on a mountain outside of Satna Cruz, I would try for the FMs out of the central valley (Stockton, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, etc.). The central valley also has a number of rim shotters to the bigger cities in the valley. With the huge number of FMs, be sure to go with a list
As for signals across the Pacific, the best time to try for these, in most cases, is around local sunrise, and maybe somewhat before and a little after. A good place would be near an ocean beach, preferably on a high cliff overlooking the ocean. Also it helps to either be a considerable distance away from local transmitters on nearby frequencies, or at a location where nulling them would aim for the strongest desired TP signal.
Also you might take advantage of local pattern/power changes. I've had better luck receiving 774 from Akita after local sunrise, when 760 7.3 miles NW of me switched from 50kW DA to 5kW ND. Also my local on 1170 switches from 2.9kw to 50kW at sunrise and is usually off for several seonds at that time, opening up a little window (although usually KLOK San Jose is heard then).
Also I suggest finding the great circle heading to a few places. For example, I aim northwest to get Japan.
Interestingly, although I've heard several 9 kHz splits across the Pacific, the next Hawaiian I hear will be my first.
Also you might take advantage of local pattern/power changes. I've had better luck receiving 774 from Akita after local sunrise, when 760 7.3 miles NW of me switched from 50kW DA to 5kW ND. Also my local on 1170 switches from 2.9kw to 50kW at sunrise and is usually off for several seonds at that time, opening up a little window (although usually KLOK San Jose is heard then).
Also I suggest finding the great circle heading to a few places. For example, I aim northwest to get Japan.
Interestingly, although I've heard several 9 kHz splits across the Pacific, the next Hawaiian I hear will be my first.
tfcwings said:
I'm surprised you haven't heard any Hawaiian at your location. I would think you'd get one there. Of course I'm not familiar with local interference issues you may have.
radioman148 said:
Well, pretty much every frequency does have a signal or IBOC hash originating from Southern Cal where I am. What are some of the Hawaiian "big guns" / best bets? (For example, is there anything that's 50kW at night with a directional pattern like KXFR(?) 1190 in Dallas, but aimed toward San Diego on a frequency not occupied by anything over 2.5 kW in socal?
With land at such a premium in Hawaii, AM directional arrays don't exist. There was a 50 kW DA, KAIM 870, which used an array (three towers, I think) on Molokai to aim its signal at Honolulu, its city of license, but the cost of generating power on Molokai and maintaining the array proved to be too high. (Also, Salem wanted to get the station off 870 to clear the way for a nighttime power increase at KRLA on the mainland.) So 870 moved to 880 and relocated its transmitter to Oahu at lower power. Most AMs in Honolulu are diplexed or even triplexed on the very small number of sites that exist there, all non-directional.
Scott Fybush said:
When I picked up WLS in Hawaii in 1978, I had to wait for KAIM to sign off. There was a lot of splatter in Oahu from that signal.
The 670 in Hilo used to be 50KW years ago, but not anymore. The station that I heard in San Jose years ago was the 650 in Honolulu.
Many people on the mainland heard that station years ago even though it only runs 10KW which is about the highest for an Hawaiian AM.
tfcwings said:
Your best bet might be to try to catch something on one of the higher frequencies.
Here's a list of the Honolulu area stations:
http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/locate?select=city&city=Honolulu&state=HI&x=0&y=0
I would have assumed that getting a Hawaii AM station at night in California would not be too hard because the skip is over nothing but the ocean but I guess that's not the case.
If only I had made an attempt to get some Hawaiian stations back in the 70s when I was visiting California but I was so obsessed with hearing something from back home on the east coast at the time. I would spend so much time nulling out KOB in hopes of hearing WABC in the background.
There was some other station just above the noise floor in the background but way too faint to identify.
If only I had made an attempt to get some Hawaiian stations back in the 70s when I was visiting California but I was so obsessed with hearing something from back home on the east coast at the time. I would spend so much time nulling out KOB in hopes of hearing WABC in the background.
There was some other station just above the noise floor in the background but way too faint to identify.
gar fla said:
The best chance to get Hawaii now is to try right before California sunrise and try to find the quietest frequency in your area.
Icangelp said:
I think Crainbebo has heard something from Alaska--maybe he can help.
Almost a year ago today-heard 550 KTZN Anchorage, Alaska (ESPN); TOH ID at midnight local time mixing with KOAC and others. Same night also got WLS. I don't think you'll be able to hear any Alaskan's, considering how the band is nowadays; you'd probably need a Drake R8, a 1500 foot beverage pointing NW, and a phaser ;D KTZN was just a lucky log.
Oh, and another tip, if you're trying the GYs, if you can on either the Sangean or the G8, go to wide bandwidth (if you can) and/or try 2kHz +/- the GY frequency. That's how I got the 1230s last night, but my G5 has two bandwidths, so I used wide and went to 1226 as 1220 was mostly weak stuff (KPJC/CJRB).
-crainbebo
KTZN was just a lucky log. Oh, and another tip, if you're trying the GYs, if you can on either the Sangean or the G8, go to wide bandwidth (if you can) and/or try 2kHz +/- the GY frequency. That's how I got the 1230s last night, but my G5 has two bandwidths, so I used wide and went to 1226 as 1220 was mostly weak stuff (KPJC/CJRB).
-crainbebo
K
kenglish
Guest
Some of the more famous BCB DX'ers have had good results with a "Beverage on Ground (BOG)", which is just a few hundred feet of wire. laying on the ground, in the direction of the signal you want to receive. Probably not too hard to get thru security in a suitcase.
crainbebo said:Almost a year ago today-heard 550 KTZN Anchorage, Alaska (ESPN); TOH ID at midnight local time mixing with KOAC and others. Same night also got WLS. I don't think you'll be able to hear any Alaskan's, considering how the band is nowadays; you'd probably need a Drake R8, a 1500 foot beverage pointing NW, and a phaser ;D
Oh, and another tip, if you're trying the GYs, if you can on either the Sangean or the G8, go to wide bandwidth (if you can) and/or try 2kHz +/- the GY frequency. That's how I got the 1230s last night, but my G5 has two bandwidths, so I used wide and went to 1226 as 1220 was mostly weak stuff (KPJC/CJRB).
-crainbebo
There is a 750 in Anchorage as well, but I think Portland would make that impossible.
Well, I'm here in Santa Cruz. I got in very late last night and didn't get a chance to do any DXing but I'm here in the hotel tonight scanning the AM band on my PR-D5.
On many frequencies, but not all, there's electrical interference but I'm starting to see what I can get and the first thing I noticed is a strong ESPN station on 1700.
It can't be the one from Iowa being that strong so where is it from?
780 KKOH has Mark Levin, I think it is, but there's some other weak station in the background I can't ID.
720 KDWN also has a very weak station in the background.
650 is one of those frequencies with strong electrical interference
870 is a weak mix of stations, so I wonder if one could be WWL.
I thought KNX would be loud and clear but some local station on 1080 is splattering it out like crazy and I thought 1200 WOAI would be an easy catch but there's some oldies station.
I just started listening and perhaps I'll have more time later but it's weird how for so long, I was in the east hoping to hear something from out west and now I'm out west hoping to hear something from back east. ;D
On many frequencies, but not all, there's electrical interference but I'm starting to see what I can get and the first thing I noticed is a strong ESPN station on 1700.
It can't be the one from Iowa being that strong so where is it from?
780 KKOH has Mark Levin, I think it is, but there's some other weak station in the background I can't ID.
720 KDWN also has a very weak station in the background.
650 is one of those frequencies with strong electrical interference
870 is a weak mix of stations, so I wonder if one could be WWL.
I thought KNX would be loud and clear but some local station on 1080 is splattering it out like crazy and I thought 1200 WOAI would be an easy catch but there's some oldies station.
I just started listening and perhaps I'll have more time later but it's weird how for so long, I was in the east hoping to hear something from out west and now I'm out west hoping to hear something from back east. ;D
gar fla said:
The ESPN station on 1700 is XEPE from Mexico, just over the border from San Diego. That station puts out a real good signal as I've heard it in Hawaii. http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=xepe&x=0&y=0&sr=Y&s=C
One of the stations you're hearing on 870 is probably KRLA, but you might have WWL in the background. I have heard it out there years ago.
Good luck, have a good trip & please keep us posted on any DX if you have the chance.
You got 1200 KYAA from Soquel, CA
gar fla said:
That strong ESPN station on 1700 is XEPE from Tijuana, Mexico that serves San Diego, CA. The station is the strongest of all the 1700's in North America broadcasting at 10,000 watts. It's a regular here in Phoenix, AZ every single night, but sometimes we're lucky and KVNS overpowers XEPE with their 880 watts. I've heard XEPE dominate the signal as far east as west Texas, but east of there, it's almost all KVNS.
The weak station below KKOH on 780 could be either KAZM from Sedona, AZ or, if you're lucky, it could be a weak WBBM from Chicago. On 720, you could also be hearing a weak WGN from Chicago underneath KDWN.
870 could be WWL, but a more likely suspect is KRLA from Los Angeles.
As far as 1200 AM is concerned, I've heard that oldies station before down here in Phoenix right after sunset mixing it up with WOAI. I suspect it's probably KYAA from Soquel, CA, which serves the Santa Cruz area with 25,000 watts during the day, 10,000 watts at night.
I suspect in Santa Cruz, you might have a shot at WHO 1040 AM from Des Moines, IA, 1110 KFAB from Omaha, NE, 1520 KOKC from Oklahoma City, OK, News 1130, CKWX from Vancouver, BC and maybe even KMIK 1580 AM from Tempe, AZ if you null KBLA from L.A.
Good luck DXing from your new location!
I just posted that, did you even see it??
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