Mainland DX from Hawaii

[KR4BD]

Dxing in the Hawaiian Islands

Here is the final installment from my recent two-week cruise in the Pacific (roundtrip from Los Angeles to Hawaii aboard the Golden Princess). I took along my Tecsun PL-606 and made some interesting loggings. No special antennas were used...just the PL-606 with its internal loop for AM and short whip for FM.

Oct 14 – Early Afternoon (1-2 PM HDT) about 325 miles ENE of Hilo:

We were about 18 hours from docking in Hilo (scheduled for 8 AM October 15). I decided to try for any AM or FM stations the day before and had some success... Only one AM but also one FM.

On AM, I easily found KPUA-670 from Hilo. They were carrying a Sunday SF 49er's football game. Although weak, they were 100% copy. I tried for all the other Hilo (and other high power Hawaiian) AM stations at this point but heard absolutely nothing else...just KPUA.

On FM, 300-325 miles out, I found ONE station: KAOI-95.1 from the island of Maui. I was up on the 15th deck of the ship (probably about 150 above sea level) but was only using the short whip antenna on the radio which is about 20 inches long. Their signal was steady, but had some frying noise on it. I listened to it for about 20 minutes. This station also announced they could be heard on “The Westside” on 97.7, which I could not hear.

Oct 16 –Early Evening Hours in Honolulu—

Reception was restricted to local AM stations only... which I did not log. Extremely high noise levels everywhere I went, which made any DX efforts futile.

Oct 18 –Lahaina, Maui – Shortly after local sunset (7-8 PM):

580-KMJ Fairly strong
640-KFI
680-KNBR
710-ESPN (I suspect KSPN)
1020-KTNQ
1050-KTCT
1070-KNX
1080-Religious Talk (Possibly KWAI from Honolulu which is talk but has some religion)
1090-Sports (XEPRS ?)
1100-KFAX By far, the Strongest from the Mainland at this location
1150-KIIS Fairly strong
1160-KSL Weak, but clear and steady
1190-KEX
1520-KOKC Mixing with a Country Station (KKXA?)
1530-KFBK

One Mystery... On 1380, I heard a sports station (ESPN sounding) where the ID sounded something like KTAZ, the “Home of the Cowboys”. Any ideas? I know Dallas and Wyoming have Cowboys, but who else might fit?

Most of the above were quite weak except where noted. I did not log Hawaiian stations. The one Hawaiian station that seemed to get out the best in all the islands I visited was KUAI-720 from Eleele, Kauai. Honolulu's 590, 650 and 690 did fairly well, too.

 

[crainbebo]

1150 is KTLK.

Your 1380 is likely KTKZ Sacramento, CA. They are conservative talk, but nothing else matches. Maybe they were carrying the NFL Thursday Night Football broadcast.

-crainbebo

 

[kenglish]

Send the Reception Report to:

Chief Engineer (Reception Report)
KSL Radio
P.O. Box 1160
Salt Lake City, UT 84110-1160

;D

 

[KR4BD]

1150 is KTLK.

Your 1380 is likely KTKZ Sacramento, CA. They are conservative talk, but nothing else matches. Maybe they were carrying the NFL Thursday Night Football broadcast.

-crainbebo

You're right about 1150's call. I still remember the KIIS days on 1150... Old Habits are hard to break....

 

[cyberdad]

Interesting report....

More or less matches what I encountered on Maui back in the mid-90s. KTNQ, KEX, among those blasting in almost like locals on my Yacht Boy PE400. I think Radioman's Hawaiian experiences were also somewhat similar. And perhaps Don Mussel can explain why Kauai seemingly had a better signal on Maui than the Honolulu sticks. I don't remember that, myself....but I do recall that most of the the Honolulu signals were pretty decent.

My first thought for your 1380 was KRKO from Everett, WA...north of Seattle. But the calls don't come close to what you thought you might have heard, and I don't think the Puget Sound area would be a hotbed for teams named the Cowboys. Perhaps crainbebo can shed a little more light on that.

Of course, "back in the day", 1380 was the home of the legendary Honolulu top-40 station, KPOI. I spent my junior year of high school in Honolulu. On a two-day trip to the northeast shore of the big island, KPOI was strong there 24/7 there via saltwater path. (5kw Non-Dir). Other Honolulu stations were good there as well. This was in the mid-60s.

 

[radioman148]

I concur with your report about KFAX being the strongest mainland signal. KTNQ is a close second and KSL does amazingly well from my experiences considering the distance.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

KTKZ uses 5000 watts night with four towers slightly less than a half wavelength in height, and has a major lobe maximum which is the equivalent of 50000 watts at slightly more than the Class B minimum efficiency. The maximum direction is about 280 degrees.

 

[crainbebo]

No professional "Cowboys" teams in the Seattle area. Chimacum High School on the Olympic Peninsula is the "Cowboys"-but why would KRKO cover them. It's likely KTKZ however.

-crainbebo

 

[davideduardo]

Of course, "back in the day", 1380 was the home of the legendary Honolulu top-40 station, KPOI. I spent my junior year of high school in Honolulu. On a two-day trip to the northeast shore of the big island, KPOI was strong there 24/7 there via saltwater path. (5kw Non-Dir). Other Honolulu stations were good there as well. This was in the mid-60s.

Interestingly, two of the just-as-legendary "Poi Boys" went on the join with Bill Drake to convert KHJ and KFRC to Top 40 in '65-'66. They were Ron Jacobs and Tom Rounds, who went on to snag the services of Casey Kasem and created American Top 40.

KPOI was a terrific radio station.

 

[kinphoenix2]

Actually not surprised at KSL 1160 reception, nor Los Angeles 1070. For what it's worth the ionosphere is good for MW reception lately, so much so it's worth newbies getting their AM radios out and trying DXing for the first time. Since MW dxing is a not oft/newish subject mentioned on radio-info, hey you guys who don't MW dx- why not try it? It's addictive.

 

[cd637299]

Actually not surprised at KSL 1160 reception, nor Los Angeles 1070. For what it's worth the ionosphere is good for MW reception lately, so much so it's worth newbies getting their AM radios out and trying DXing for the first time. Since MW dxing is a not oft/newish subject mentioned on radio-info, hey you guys who don't MW dx- why not try it? It's addictive.

My first serious dive into DXn was on AM here in south FL in 1974....but I assure you.....times have changed, and I've been more into the FM & TV aspect of the hobby. Down here, at night, almost every frequency is like a graveyarder. Lotsa Cubans at night, and with the FCC allowing night operation for many stations who wouldn't have dreamed of it 35 years ago, well, it's a mess here.

That being said, (1) I still enjoy **daytime** AM DXn from remote areas, just to find out what stations "get out" more than others (my Bermuda trip in 2005 was my favorite by far); and (2) I do enjoy reading what others are getting, like this Hawaii thread & what our new member in Newfoundland is getting

BTW I am also stumped at how some can rack up countries on AM, and I wouldn't know the language to tell where a station is!

cd

 

[MarioMania]

Can you get KCBS 740??

 

[cyberdad]

Of course, "back in the day", 1380 was the home of the legendary Honolulu top-40 station, KPOI. I spent my junior year of high school in Honolulu. On a two-day trip to the northeast shore of the big island, KPOI was strong there 24/7 there via saltwater path. (5kw Non-Dir). Other Honolulu stations were good there as well. This was in the mid-60s.

Interestingly, two of the just-as-legendary "Poi Boys" went on the join with Bill Drake to convert KHJ and KFRC to Top 40 in '65-'66. They were Ron Jacobs and Tom Rounds, who went on to snag the services of Casey Kasem and created American Top 40.

KPOI was a terrific radio station.

I think Ron Jacobs had just left when I was there during the winter of 64-65. TR was there doing either mornings or mid-days IIRC.

Afternoon drive was Bob "Weird Beard" Lowrie...who also hosted "Beard's Wierd Movie" (horror flicks) Saturday nights on KHON-TV, channel 2. Older guy for a top 40 jock but very witty and also very good as a "campy" TV host.

Steve Nicolet was the evening guy, who lived in the same apartment complex as me. The station was about a ten minute walk from there, so I used to bump into him quite regularly. Nice guy and a very good jock. Younger guy probably in his early or mid 20s at the time. I used to keep him supplied with WLS surveys which my grandmother sent me every week. (He would count down the top 3 from other cities as a semi-regular feature).

Overnight was Dave "Moose" Donnely.....another witty pro, who seemed very comfortable in the after midnight shift. "Moose on the loose". I do know that he passed a few years back.

With apologies for the thread veer....I'm curious, David, if you're familiar with any of these guys.