My first DXing report from Hawaii

[MarioMania]

I think he ment KEX

 

[cyberdad]

KEX, right?

Yep....my bad. KNX is easy enough, but gar's already got that one down and recorded.

 

[radioman148]

KEX was no problem on Oahu in 2010.

 

[Icangelp]

One of the best spots for South Pacific DX on the Big Island, is South Point. We go there during the day every time we come to Hawaii. Clear path all the way south to Antarctica.

As a tourist, I've never had the guts to stay late down there. A bit too scary for a mainlander like me.

 

[Ai4i]

What about stations from the other direction...South Pacific, Australia-NZ, Asia?
If the Pacific islands are like the Caribbean ones, they are probably all or mostly 5 KW or less, but I think Au has stations at least as powerful as the big US ones and Asia should have ones like in Europe. I heard some far signals when I visited China in '13, but I have no idea where their transmitters were or what equipment they use.

 

[gar hi]

So far, I haven't heard any stations from Asia or Australia.

Last time I tried was late night about a week ago and I can set my radio from the 10k step to the 9k.

Not a trace of anything even on 774 which is supposed to be a Japan powerhouse.

 

[MarioMania]

How far does 774 kHz get out at 500 kw?

The Antenna height is 165 metres.

 

[davideduardo]

How far does 774 kHz get out at 500 kw?

The Antenna height is 165 metres.

A full half-wave antenna at that frequency is about 201 meters so that is not an optimal height, but it will likely put out a nice skywave given what looks like a higher angle of radiation.

It's been heard over the years in many places in from the Rocky Mountain area and the West Coast.

 

[MarioMania]

I have to look for 774 at night

But I have KCBC IBOC in the way, Prob at night also

 

[davideduardo]

What about stations from the other direction...South Pacific, Australia-NZ, Asia?
If the Pacific islands are like the Caribbean ones, they are probably all or mostly 5 KW or less, but I think Au has stations at least as powerful as the big US ones and Asia should have ones like in Europe. I heard some far signals when I visited China in '13, but I have no idea where their transmitters were or what equipment they use.

In the 70's from Phoenix, I used the 1475 Kota Kinabalu station as a sign of propagation from that area. It it was booming in with its 600 kw, I would look for Australian and New Zealand stations. If it was weak, any good catches were unlikely.

A recent DXpedition to a cliff-side site in the Pacific Nortwest yielded about 50 NZ stations, some with as little as 1 kw and plenty of medium and low power Australians besides the few remaining DXable Pacific Island AM stations. Like the Windward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean, many places have gone FM only.

 

[Radiodx.]

When I was in Maui back in the late 80's I sat in my rental car on a hill and picked KLIV San Jose 5,000 watt for a short time and a Philadelphia station. But then that was before all the freq. side junk that's rides to the sides of AM radio bands now.

 

[MarioMania]

I'm going to take a shot at 4BC 1116 kHz Brisbane QLD

774 kHz JOUB at 500 kW

 

[radioman148]

So far, I haven't heard any stations from Asia or Australia.

Last time I tried was late night about a week ago and I can set my radio from the 10k step to the 9k.

Not a trace of anything even on 774 which is supposed to be a Japan powerhouse.

When I was in Hawaii that 774 from Japan was in nightly. Maybe conditions aren't good in that direction at the moment.

 

[Radiodx.]

When I was in Maui back in the 80' I sat in my rental car on a hill and picked up 1590 KLIV San Jose a 5,000 watt station but it was short lived.

 

[radioman148]

When I was in Maui back in the late 80's I sat in my rental car on a hill and picked KLIV San Jose 5,000 watt for a short time and a Philadelphia station. But then that was before all the freq. side junk that's rides to the sides of AM radio bands now.

You picked up Philadelphia in Hawaii in the 80s--WOW! Even in the "clearer" channel days of the 70s when I was first out there I never heard anything east of Chicago.
I'm guessing you must have heard WCAU?

 

[gar hi]

Nice catch!

No chance of that now with the 1210 from Honolulu.

It says right in the first part of the intro on the 77 WABC Musicradio site that WABC has been heard in Hawaii.

http://www.musicradio77.com/introduction.html

Did KOB once sign off at night?

With KKOB on full time, I think there would actually be a better chance of hearing WABC here than in California where KKOB has a consistent strong signal.

 

[radioman148]

I'm not shocked that an east coast station was heard in Hawaii. In the 60s and earlier it probably happened more often than we think. I know David Eduardo heard Lower power Hawaii & other Pacific stations in Ohio in the early 60s.
What surprised me is that the poster said he heard Philly in the 80s when the frequencies were much more crowded.
Hearing the east coast in Hawaii in the 80s is one helluva catch!

 

[cyberdad]

There was a 1210 in Honolulu when I was living there in the mid-60s. KZOO, which was basically Asian programming. I'm not sure, but I think they eventually went dark, and the current occupant of 1210 is a completely different company.

 

[davideduardo]

Did KOB once sign off at night?

In the 60's it signed off at Midnight on Sunday night, leaving 770 clear for any South Americans that might be on prior to the WABC return at 5 AM.

I heard both of them in Ecuador in the late 60's as none of the Brazilians wason very early on that channel.

 

[Ai4i]

Speaking of Monday mornings between midnight and five AM, one of my proudest DX catches became a semi-regular for me after I learned when and how to listen for it. WGBB, Freeport, Long Island, New York, was 250w (now 1 KW) on the local "graveyard" channel of 1240. I lived on Miami Beach and attended the graduation high school of Barbara Walters, though many years after she did.