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Noth Carolina, South Carolina Coast... One of the best DX spots

M

Mid West Clubber

Guest
Along the coast of the Carolina's DX is alot of fun,,, regular catches of stations all up and down the east coast from Maine to Miami.... If you have never been, try going to Outer Banks or Myrtle Beach and park right along the beach, any time of day except mid afternoon is good for DX down there. And if you rent a 20 story condo you would be surprised on what you can catch on a walkman.
 
Jekkyl Island GA is a pretty good place as well to Dx. Just 10 min or so off I-95. Not a lot of peripheal noise being an isolated semi tropical island.
And good food and some good sightseeing ops.
 
You are correct on this one. Back in the late 80's while living on the NC Coast north of Wilmington I received FM signals in the summer from as far north as Ocean City MD to as far south as near Savannah GA. I remember always driving out to Topsail Beach NC listening to 690 AM out of Jacksonville FL and WIOD (610) out of Miami.
 
I've always heard about "Bodie Island DXing"....went out and got a NC map last week, to see exactly where that was.

Looks to be, pretty much, Kitty Hawk! That'll make it easier to find when I get there ;D .
 
The isolated portions of Cape Hatteras, if that exist anymore, is wonderful for AM daytime DXing. The GE Superadio II did very well receiving the big signals from NYC including WMCA. The low dials positions from the south were also loud and clear. The NYC 50kw were usable on the car radio.
 
Re: Noth Carolina, South Carolina Coast... One of the best DX spots-Maine too!

Was in Harpswell ME (about 12 mi S of Bunswick, ME) and along the immediate coast, had a chance to play with the radio while the other half played with the bathroom. This was at 2PM or so.

Got 3 NYC's 660,770, and 1130 albeit faintlly from over 300 mi. A real strong 890 from Boston completely wiped out WCBS. Got what I think was a small Spanish AM on 650 from near Ashland, MA. Is there another foreign language station on 650 in the Northeast or eastern Canada? THAT would be a great catch but I couldn't ID it for sure.
AM 830 from Worc was like a semi local. 1080 Hartford was quite strong.
This salt water DX ing is cool, like the temp, high 70's vs 10 degrees warmer 12 miles away.
 
Yes, I have dxed from nearby Boothbay, ME and had a similar experience. You get the salt water path, thanks to the geography, and many New England AM signals are directional toward the east/northeast (especially at night). So, lots of selection on AM there. Boston area stations come in well; go a few miles inland and they fade fast.

The geography there also enhances FM signals from southern ME/Portsmouth, NH thanks to topography where you're a few feet up on the rocks and the signal is all over water.

The difference between the mid-coast of Maine and the NC/SC coast is that the land terrain in the Carolinas is sandy and level and has great ground conductivity too. Almost as good as the salt water than surrounds it.

In Maine, it's basically a one-way street. Signals from the north don't come in nearly as well, passing over all that granite. This is why Cape Hatteras is such a terrific dxing spot for AM. It's good for FM too - when you get those humid days that make for good tropospheric enhancement. But you can get that effect in lots of coastal locations (Gulf Coast, SE New England, etc.) and it varies. The AM goodies, on the other hand, are pretty much always present.

New York to Florida all day. Hard to beat!
 
Thanks for the geog lesson; although I didnt play with the radio more than 10-15 min, it did seem that most of the reception was to the south but the time dx ing wasn't enough. Gotta get down to the NC coast soon; to get NYC and FL must be cool. Was it too far for the Boston and Prov. stations??
 
vibe said:
Thanks for the geog lesson; although I didnt play with the radio more than 10-15 min, it did seem that most of the reception was to the south but the time dx ing wasn't enough. Gotta get down to the NC coast soon; to get NYC and FL must be cool. Was it too far for the Boston and Prov. stations??
Click to expand...

I'd say so. I've picked up faint daytime traces of WBZ along the southern coast of NJ (right by the coast) and WTIC a bit better than that. Both are gone pretty much as soon as you head inland. You've basically got to be right on the water.

However, I seriously doubt that either one would make it as far as Cape Hatteras by groundwave. And, none of the other AM stations in New England have the juice and/or signal pattern to even have a chance (day or night). For those (i.e. WRKO, WEEI, WWZN, WCRN, etc.), you'd have better luck dxing from the south and west coasts of Nova Scotia.
 
Re: Nova Scotia-been there-done it. Great AM reception along the shore. The only thing I was surprised about was how far the Maine FM's travel across the water. Was able to get a decent 94.9 Mt. Wash in Yarmouth and also got BLM there from Portland as well as some of the higher power Banger stations.
 
I never thought DX was all that great along the lower outer banks of NC (Morehead City-Atlantic Beach area). Sure WAPE/690AM came in great daytime, along with the 4 Wilmington AMs. No NYC or NE stations during the day, and poor reception of those stations at night (but tons of Spanish (Cuban?). Back in the 60s-early 70s, it was almost like a FM quiet zone. There was WITN-FM (now WDLX) and WNCT-FM and 2 very weak FMs from Jacksonville NC, and that was it. Now there are 8 or 9 strong FMs from the Greenville/New Bern market but nothing else. Back in the day TV, even channels 7 and 12 were a hit or miss proposition, depending on the weather.
 
I picked up quite a few FM stations in the car in Myrtle Beach in the 80s and 90s.

One was from Orlando and was at 105.9 (couldn't do that now). Before WZFX there was some station on 99.1 from Florida. Actually, I may have picked that one up after WZFX signed on.

AM doesn't do well in Myrtle Beach at all.
 
vchimpanzee said:
AM doesn't do well in Myrtle Beach at all.
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Interesting, given I've read several posts from people that have reported to have received 690 from Jacksonville, FL in Myrtle Beach..when it was "APE" (now WOKV, a news/talker). Have you tried getting any of the powerhouses (50kw) in MYR, such as WPTF or even some of the lesser-powered ones as WFNC (640, Fayetteville), or 630/980 Wilmington?
 
Actually, I suppose if I tried in the car I would do better. But now that I'm the one driving, probably not a good idea. And I don't drive at the beach any more. I can walk wherever I want to go except Brookgreen Gardens and I don't want to spent the admission price any more, plus I just don't have time to go there.

But in the motel room, even during the day, except for WOKV, WIQB, and WRNN-AM, it's pretty much hopeless. And I'm not even in the room during the day.
 
radioman148 said:
I would love to see a list for daytime AM DX on Cape Hatteris.
Click to expand...

I DXed at many locations along the barrier islands including aboard the Cedar Island Ferry. There was lots to choices from up and down the coast. A few highlights from ten years ago using a GE Superadio II:

570 WMCA NYC
600 Jacksonville
660 WFAN NYC
690 WOKV Jacksonville
770 WABC NYC
880 WCBS NYC

The NYC 50kw were receivable on the car radio (Toyota/Clarion). I remember comparing Rush on WABC and a Norfolk signal (either 790 or 850, the two flipped format and call letters around that time) since the program on 770 didn't have the satellite bounce delay. Once you returned to the mainland the extreme AM reception would disappear less than a mile inland.
 
I was in Ocean Isle Beach, NC the other day. Was able to get the following AM Stations from FL up there:

580 WDBO Orlando 5kw
600 WBWL Jacksonville 5kw
690 WOKV Jacksonville 50kw
1230 WSBB New Smyrna Beach 1kw
1510 WWBC Cocoa 50 kw

While some of these stations were 50K blowtorches or low dial position, I was impressed to hear WSBB make it all the way up to NC with only 1KW on a graveyard channel. I guess it doesn't hurt to have the tower in and around salt water, either....
 
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