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So I'm a first time DXER

sox fan matt said:
Hearing a faint KOA Denver plus a 1040 airing the ncaa game.
Click to expand...

Matt, I'm real curious to see if you can get KOA in the middle of the day from where you are if you get the chance.

You are in one of the best if not the best land area of the US which has much better than average daytime groundwave reception.

If you haven't seen this yet, it's a listing of all the AM stations by frequency, their power day and night, and whether or not they are directional.

http://www.amlogbook.com/freq.htm

I bet you can also get 550 KTSA in the daytime from San Antonio, a 5 kw non directional station about 200 miles or so from where you are.
 
In my hurricane emergency kit, I have a Radio Shack AM/FM radio about the same size as yours but it has an analog tuner.

It's quite heavy for the size and when I first got it, I checked out the reception and it's pretty good for the size of the radio and I see it's about half the price of the one you have, so yours may be even better.

If you ever get a real strong interest in daytime AM DXing and have the money to spend, you may want to look into getting a loop antenna to supplement your receiver.

This is the one I use for daytime DXing that I supplement to my Sangean PR-D5 radio.

http://www.amazon.com/Terk-Indoor-AM-Antenna-ADVANTAGE/dp/B000069EUW

On stations that are very weak, you notice a big difference and it can even get stations that you can't hear on the other radio at all. No connection is needed.

The thing is, it doesn't make much of a difference for nighttime AM reception, though some say it does. I haven't noticed a difference myself.

If you decide to make DXing a serious hobby, you may want to just upgrade to a bigger receiver if you can afford to. The people here can give you great suggestions.


Since you're new to DXing, you want to fully understand the difference between day and night reception and why night is so much better. Personally, I like daytime DXing as much as nighttime, if not more, because daytime signals are limited in their coverage and it's interesting to see how such distances can greatly exceed the norm where the land has good conductivity (like where you are) or especially if there's saltwater between your receiver and the stations (as is the case of the beaches here in Florida).

But again, if you have the time to search for certain stations, you'll be surprised how, in your location, you can hear starions in the middle of the day from hundreds of miles away, distances that are more associated with nighttime AM reception.
 
I never would have thought WBAP would be an issue with their splatter into 850 since you're an hour away but that just goes to show how good the ground conductvity is there. ;)

I guess WBAP can't even be nulled out any if you turn the radio to a 90 degree angle from their direction?
 
You could try the walkman, sony makes a great am radio. I have a $12 radio from sony that beats out one I paid $50 for ;D
 
The transmitter is down in Mansfield so probably 45 minutes away. Not during the day, as it's still light here, splatter from 820-850.
 
1100 was WTAM Cleveland, Ohio
I get them quite a bit myself.

Another one to shoot for is 1120 KMOX and 1130 KWKH.
KWKH should come in during the day too.

Also try for quite possibly the best oldies station in the area
1400 KGVL. Which of course, would be a daytime only Catch.
 
sox fan matt said:
Conditions marginal at best tonight. Getting a KKOW, pittsburg KS, but other then that nothing out of the ordinary so far.
Click to expand...
You don't know how long it took me to get KKOW's ID.
It took me months to confirm that station.
 
sox fan matt said:
one more I logged was out of Cleveland (Can't remember the call letters) it was around the 1100's I think.
Click to expand...

That would be WTAM 1100. Not a bad catch with KRLD lurking two channels away. Move up one, and you should be able to catch KFAB from Omaha on 1110. Or, go the other direction from KRLD and try for XEEP from Mexico City on 1060. Cultural/Educational programming and sometimes classical music.

And I'd also second idea of picking up a Sony FM walkman when you get the chance. They run about 30-35 bucks at Wal Mart or Best Buy. It's got a pretty decent AM tuner, and my guess is that it might be just the thing for nulling WBAP where you are. Another plus is that, at "walkman size", it's very easy to take with you wherever you go. I travel in my work and keep one in my suitcase or beifcase wherever I go.

As an example of how well it travels and what you can do with it, a few years ago, I was in a London hotel one evening listening to the armed forces radio relay from Germany of a Bears NFL playoff game. Distance IIRC was about 550 miles.
A couple of fades, but mostly a good clean, reliable signal.

In any event, welcome to the hobby and here's wishing you many enjoyable hours and many great catches!
 
Strangely enough I have a heck of a time with 1080 at night and I'm in Keller (west metro of DFW) for those not here and during the day the siginal on my headset walkman is terrible too. Weird.
 
I think I picked up a 710 KCMO out of Kansas City via a eas siren going off. Was for Chariton County and a few others near Moberly. Not sure if that signal would reach
 
LibertyNT said:
sox fan matt said:
Conditions marginal at best tonight. Getting a KKOW, pittsburg KS, but other then that nothing out of the ordinary so far.
Click to expand...
You don't know how long it took me to get KKOW's ID.
It took me months to confirm that station.
Click to expand...

Back in the mid 70s from south Florida, I used to hear 860 Pittsburg KS almost nightly if I wished.....that was because all the 860's in my normal DX listening area were off air after 1 am. They were KOAM back then. Occasionally KONO would appear, but in the wee hours, KOAM was the one.

I suppose, had I known what the AM band would sound like over the next 35 years, I'd'a recorded some of these catches!

cd
 
sox fan matt said:
I think I picked up a 710 KCMO out of Kansas City via a eas siren going off. Was for Chariton County and a few others near Moberly. Not sure if that signal would reach
Click to expand...

710 in Kansas City should come in well for you. I used to pick it up great in Oklahoma many years ago when they were Top 40 WHB.
 
sox fan matt said:
I think I picked up a 710 KCMO out of Kansas City via a eas siren going off. Was for Chariton County and a few others near Moberly. Not sure if that signal would reach
Click to expand...

Two years ago I picked up an AM/FM/SW radio and resumed DXing as I had done since I was very young. The AM broadcast band was practically useless except well after dark and then only the "usual suspects" came in. I then went to SW where I found the DXing much more interesting. Australia would boom into the Phoenix area for about two hours every day from approximately noon to 1400 and there were a ton of other stations from all over the world also. SW also gave me a chance to catch up on my code skills which I haven't used since the 60's.
 
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