I have only heard Es one other time in winter, it was January 2017, and resulted in no new logs. Last night a major 108+ MUF E-skip opening resulted in several new stations. This time, just like the July 20th, 2023 double-hop opening, I drove out to the Wenas Valley honey hole (NW of Selah) and had confirmed Es on several local channels that just aren't possible at home without major phasing. I also had unconfirmed Es on 89.5, 90.3, 91.1, 98.7, possibly 92.9 as well...these are just not possible at home!! For example. KSOH 89.5 is a super-local 6 mi away at 8.5KW. From my Es spot, it was 14 mi with major terrain blockage. Thankfully the road isn't busy, and I found a place to pull over and DX in the darkness and slight fog. The things DXers will do for new logs.
Started weak, but improved
6:00PM - 90.5 KBAH Plainview, TX; with weak AFR TOH ID "A listener-supported ministry of the American Family Association." NEW #814, 75KW at 1312 miles. Previously heard in Ellensburg a few times including 5/25/2020.
UNIDs on 88.7, 92.3, 93.1 in and out - very strong Classical station on 88.7 with no RDS, presumed KNAU Flagstaff AZ. My DX friend in Nevada had a brief path to Vancouver Island/Port Angeles top of band, so I was thinking this was a SW US path briefly. But as you can see things definitely improved.
Went into the Wenas Valley and started DXing. These logs were made between 6:30 and 7:00 from the 'honey hole.' Most of the non-comms fade away or are very multipathed here. And I don't have exact timestamps on these.
UNID 88.1 with 'Please Mr. Postman' The Marvelles, 'New York, New York' Frank Sinatra and followed by 'Twistin' the Night Away' by Sam Cooke. Tentative on KOYA Rosebud SD, but could also be the K-ROCKY station in Cheyenne. Unconfirmed, no ID, but definitely not local. KYTR doesn't show up here, completely blocked.
92.1 KORN-FM Parkston, SD; with high school basketball game, local ads, references to other games throughout the state including Ethan HS. Relog, 100KW at 1115 miles.
92.7 KBRB-FM Ainsworth, NE; mixed with at least 2 others, another high school basketball game from Boyd County HS in Spencer NE, vs. West Holt. Play-by-play announcer broadcasting game via cell phone, so it's of shoddy quality...but it's rural NE, what can you do! NEW #815, 26KW at 1056 miles. Prev. heard in Ellensburg 6/29/22.
90.9 KPNO Norfolk, NE; with preaching/teaching program, RDS "GOODNEWS". Relog, 100KW at 1185 miles.
93.9 KKMK Rapid City, SD; RDS "93.9 The Mix", with some syndicated pop program. Huge signal, *5 bars* on the Pioneer car radio, which means full local strength. This wouldn't have happened in Yakima itself, maybe 2 bars if that. Much less RFI in the Wenas Valley. NEW #816, 100KW at 859 miles.
88.3 KOLB Hartington, NE; solid for several minutes, ID Spirit Catholic Radio at 7PM PT/9PM CT TOH. Relog, 100KW at 1164 miles.
MUF was well into the 97 mhz range, and I was focusing my efforts a lot on trying to ID stations on 88.1, 89.9, and other non-comm channels normally blocked in town.
Between 7 and 7:40 it really blew up...this was the peak at 108+ MUF. Some channels were 3-4 deep and not necessarily semi-locals either. They were ALL distant Es DX.
92.3 KBRY Sargent, NE; song/artist RDS, ID "K-Bear Country." Relog, 100KW at 1105 miles.
98.5 KHAQ Maxwell, NE; classic rock, ID 'The Hawk 98.5'. Relog (not heard in years), 100KW at 1053 miles.
102.3 KRNY Kearney, NE; ID 'Nebraska's Hot Country Y-102.' Relog, 77.1KW at 1159 miles.
97.5 KQSK Chadron, NE; ID "Double Q Country." NEW #817, 100KW at 900 miles. Prev. heard in Ellensburg 7/1/21.
UNID 98.7 pummeled KMNA, which was terrain-blocked anyway, the RDS briefly displayed "BIG TIME WHITNEY ALLEN" but didn't have an ID or branding. Likely KOUT Rapid City SD, would be new.
98.9 KKPR Kearney, NE; ID "The New 98-9 The Vibe." NEW #818, 100KW at 1156 miles. New overall!
UNID 91.1 Classical station chewing up 26KW Positive Life Radio KYPL!!! That has *never* happened before in Yakima County. I have heard several Es stations, including 91X Tijuana, from Ellensburg where KYPL is weaker. Possibly KTSD Reliance SD, or KTNE Alliance NE.
UNID 89.5 wiping out KSOH. I tracked this one for a couple of minutes, but no IDs. REO Speedwagon and Paul Young. Turns out I likely had KLND Little Eagle SD, a Native American station. Stream last night had (you guessed it) classic hits and no IDs, a virtual jukebox. No ID, no log.
89.9 had three stations, classical/Christian Contemporary and I believe preaching...none of which were the little Air 1 translator in Yakima, which is more than gone in the Wenas area. 90.3 got chewed up by Es. Local 93.7 Spanish religious translator blocked here, replaced by classic rock (and no IDs)...thought this one might have been KWYR Winner at first, but now I'm leaning towards the Alleycat, KVAR Pine Ridge SD. Magic 93 would have IDed at least once and they have scrolling RDS, easy to ID. This 93.7 was 3-4 bars for a good 20+ minutes and never once cued an ID. There were rumblings and mumbles underneath KDBL-92.9 as well.
94.7 KCNB Chadron, NE; very strong with top 40 music, ID 'B94.7'. Relog, 100KW at 919 miles.
104.5 KCVN Cozad, NE; would have *never* been possible at home!! Bott Radio Network promos and phone number. NEW #819, 100KW at 1113 miles. Prev. heard in Ellensburg 7/14/21.
Multiple 104.9 stations on top of KYXE as well. One country (Emerson NE?), the other was unknown. Es to the top of band at this point.
103.5 KXNP North Platte, NE; with local ad for a credit union in North Platte, and scrolling RDS ID 'KX 104'. Also would have never been possible at home due to KZTR-LP. NEW #820, 100KW at 1053 miles, new overall.
102.5 KZSD-FM Martin, SD; NPR promos, SDPB ID. Yet another one that wouldn't have made it at home due to a translator. NEW #821, 100KW at 953 miles. Prev. heard in Ellensburg 7/1/21. May have also heard KPSD Faith on 97.1, but it got clobbered by preaching (assumed KCMI Terrytown/Scottsbluff).
95.7 KQLZ New England, ND; Tina Turner song, ID "KQLZ Q95". NEW #822, 27.5KW at 836 miles. This was within 70 miles of the Montana border. New overall.
105.5 KMOM-FM Roscoe, SD; commercials for cattle auction, Aberdeen ads. Mixed with a classic hits station. NEW #823, 100KW at 1045 miles. New overall.
106.7 KBFO Aberdeen, SD; very strong, Aberdeen ads, "POINT FM" RDS. NEW #824, 100KW at 1067 miles. New overall!
94.9 KLRJ Aberdeen, SD; promo for the K-LOVE Fan Awards in Nashville, tickets to give away. // 103.1 KYKV, which was line of sight and definitely un-nullable. This is the only K-LOVE station on 94.9 until you get to southern IL, so definitely logging this one. NEW #824, 100KW at 1067 miles. KIOK completely missing even though they would usually show up weakly. Two other UNIDs, one with Insight for Living (assuming KJLT North Platte) plus another one with pop music.
95.5 KSDZ Gordon, NE; 'The Twister' mixing with several others. NEW #825, 60KW at 935 miles. Prev. heard in Ellensburg 6/10/20.
93.1 KRVN-FM Lexington, NE; 'THE RIVER' RDS. Relog, 100KW at 1113 miles.
I ended up leaving the honey hole at 7:40, mostly because some guy pulled over and asked if I was OK...like, yeah, I am! Tune your radio to any FM channel and you'll probably get something out of state!
To avoid being 'suspicious,' I left and went back into Selah, and drove home. Still had skip. The things we will do without an SDR, phaser, rotor antenna and preamp.
7:50-8:25PM driving home from honey hole, locals now unblocked and fewer channels to try
92.3 KSTH Holyoke, CO; solid for 30 minutes. Eastern Colorado's Best Variety, Star 92-3, various soft rock/pop songs. Relog, 1KW at 1001 miles. However, I think they are operating 35KW now, which makes sense.
101.1 KFNF Oberlin, KS; Oberlin ads, 785 area codes. Relog, 100KW at 1104 miles.
107.7 KGCR Goodland, KS; solid for at least 5 minutes...'Sunday Sermons' by Anne Wilson, Tri-State Praise IDs. NEW #826, 100KW at 1085 miles. Previously heard in Ellensburg 7/7/20.
88.7 KLNE-FM Lexington, NE; TOH ID mentioning KHNE, the Max NE translator (K227AC), etc. Relog, 60KW at 1138 miles.
95.1 KSQY Deadwood, SD; 'K-SKY' ID. NEW #827, 100KW at 825 miles. Shortest log of the night.
97.5 KSRX Sterling, CO; Bob FM IDs, rock solid for 10 minutes at least. Relog, 38KW at 968 miles.
98.3 KATR Otis, CO; Kat Country, also solid signal to end the night. NEW #828, 100KW at 977 miles.
Audio coming later...it was a doozy!
Started weak, but improved
6:00PM - 90.5 KBAH Plainview, TX; with weak AFR TOH ID "A listener-supported ministry of the American Family Association." NEW #814, 75KW at 1312 miles. Previously heard in Ellensburg a few times including 5/25/2020.
UNIDs on 88.7, 92.3, 93.1 in and out - very strong Classical station on 88.7 with no RDS, presumed KNAU Flagstaff AZ. My DX friend in Nevada had a brief path to Vancouver Island/Port Angeles top of band, so I was thinking this was a SW US path briefly. But as you can see things definitely improved.
Went into the Wenas Valley and started DXing. These logs were made between 6:30 and 7:00 from the 'honey hole.' Most of the non-comms fade away or are very multipathed here. And I don't have exact timestamps on these.
UNID 88.1 with 'Please Mr. Postman' The Marvelles, 'New York, New York' Frank Sinatra and followed by 'Twistin' the Night Away' by Sam Cooke. Tentative on KOYA Rosebud SD, but could also be the K-ROCKY station in Cheyenne. Unconfirmed, no ID, but definitely not local. KYTR doesn't show up here, completely blocked.
92.1 KORN-FM Parkston, SD; with high school basketball game, local ads, references to other games throughout the state including Ethan HS. Relog, 100KW at 1115 miles.
92.7 KBRB-FM Ainsworth, NE; mixed with at least 2 others, another high school basketball game from Boyd County HS in Spencer NE, vs. West Holt. Play-by-play announcer broadcasting game via cell phone, so it's of shoddy quality...but it's rural NE, what can you do! NEW #815, 26KW at 1056 miles. Prev. heard in Ellensburg 6/29/22.
90.9 KPNO Norfolk, NE; with preaching/teaching program, RDS "GOODNEWS". Relog, 100KW at 1185 miles.
93.9 KKMK Rapid City, SD; RDS "93.9 The Mix", with some syndicated pop program. Huge signal, *5 bars* on the Pioneer car radio, which means full local strength. This wouldn't have happened in Yakima itself, maybe 2 bars if that. Much less RFI in the Wenas Valley. NEW #816, 100KW at 859 miles.
88.3 KOLB Hartington, NE; solid for several minutes, ID Spirit Catholic Radio at 7PM PT/9PM CT TOH. Relog, 100KW at 1164 miles.
MUF was well into the 97 mhz range, and I was focusing my efforts a lot on trying to ID stations on 88.1, 89.9, and other non-comm channels normally blocked in town.
Between 7 and 7:40 it really blew up...this was the peak at 108+ MUF. Some channels were 3-4 deep and not necessarily semi-locals either. They were ALL distant Es DX.
92.3 KBRY Sargent, NE; song/artist RDS, ID "K-Bear Country." Relog, 100KW at 1105 miles.
98.5 KHAQ Maxwell, NE; classic rock, ID 'The Hawk 98.5'. Relog (not heard in years), 100KW at 1053 miles.
102.3 KRNY Kearney, NE; ID 'Nebraska's Hot Country Y-102.' Relog, 77.1KW at 1159 miles.
97.5 KQSK Chadron, NE; ID "Double Q Country." NEW #817, 100KW at 900 miles. Prev. heard in Ellensburg 7/1/21.
UNID 98.7 pummeled KMNA, which was terrain-blocked anyway, the RDS briefly displayed "BIG TIME WHITNEY ALLEN" but didn't have an ID or branding. Likely KOUT Rapid City SD, would be new.
98.9 KKPR Kearney, NE; ID "The New 98-9 The Vibe." NEW #818, 100KW at 1156 miles. New overall!
UNID 91.1 Classical station chewing up 26KW Positive Life Radio KYPL!!! That has *never* happened before in Yakima County. I have heard several Es stations, including 91X Tijuana, from Ellensburg where KYPL is weaker. Possibly KTSD Reliance SD, or KTNE Alliance NE.
UNID 89.5 wiping out KSOH. I tracked this one for a couple of minutes, but no IDs. REO Speedwagon and Paul Young. Turns out I likely had KLND Little Eagle SD, a Native American station. Stream last night had (you guessed it) classic hits and no IDs, a virtual jukebox. No ID, no log.
89.9 had three stations, classical/Christian Contemporary and I believe preaching...none of which were the little Air 1 translator in Yakima, which is more than gone in the Wenas area. 90.3 got chewed up by Es. Local 93.7 Spanish religious translator blocked here, replaced by classic rock (and no IDs)...thought this one might have been KWYR Winner at first, but now I'm leaning towards the Alleycat, KVAR Pine Ridge SD. Magic 93 would have IDed at least once and they have scrolling RDS, easy to ID. This 93.7 was 3-4 bars for a good 20+ minutes and never once cued an ID. There were rumblings and mumbles underneath KDBL-92.9 as well.
94.7 KCNB Chadron, NE; very strong with top 40 music, ID 'B94.7'. Relog, 100KW at 919 miles.
104.5 KCVN Cozad, NE; would have *never* been possible at home!! Bott Radio Network promos and phone number. NEW #819, 100KW at 1113 miles. Prev. heard in Ellensburg 7/14/21.
Multiple 104.9 stations on top of KYXE as well. One country (Emerson NE?), the other was unknown. Es to the top of band at this point.
103.5 KXNP North Platte, NE; with local ad for a credit union in North Platte, and scrolling RDS ID 'KX 104'. Also would have never been possible at home due to KZTR-LP. NEW #820, 100KW at 1053 miles, new overall.
102.5 KZSD-FM Martin, SD; NPR promos, SDPB ID. Yet another one that wouldn't have made it at home due to a translator. NEW #821, 100KW at 953 miles. Prev. heard in Ellensburg 7/1/21. May have also heard KPSD Faith on 97.1, but it got clobbered by preaching (assumed KCMI Terrytown/Scottsbluff).
95.7 KQLZ New England, ND; Tina Turner song, ID "KQLZ Q95". NEW #822, 27.5KW at 836 miles. This was within 70 miles of the Montana border. New overall.
105.5 KMOM-FM Roscoe, SD; commercials for cattle auction, Aberdeen ads. Mixed with a classic hits station. NEW #823, 100KW at 1045 miles. New overall.
106.7 KBFO Aberdeen, SD; very strong, Aberdeen ads, "POINT FM" RDS. NEW #824, 100KW at 1067 miles. New overall!
94.9 KLRJ Aberdeen, SD; promo for the K-LOVE Fan Awards in Nashville, tickets to give away. // 103.1 KYKV, which was line of sight and definitely un-nullable. This is the only K-LOVE station on 94.9 until you get to southern IL, so definitely logging this one. NEW #824, 100KW at 1067 miles. KIOK completely missing even though they would usually show up weakly. Two other UNIDs, one with Insight for Living (assuming KJLT North Platte) plus another one with pop music.
95.5 KSDZ Gordon, NE; 'The Twister' mixing with several others. NEW #825, 60KW at 935 miles. Prev. heard in Ellensburg 6/10/20.
93.1 KRVN-FM Lexington, NE; 'THE RIVER' RDS. Relog, 100KW at 1113 miles.
I ended up leaving the honey hole at 7:40, mostly because some guy pulled over and asked if I was OK...like, yeah, I am! Tune your radio to any FM channel and you'll probably get something out of state!
To avoid being 'suspicious,' I left and went back into Selah, and drove home. Still had skip. The things we will do without an SDR, phaser, rotor antenna and preamp.7:50-8:25PM driving home from honey hole, locals now unblocked and fewer channels to try
92.3 KSTH Holyoke, CO; solid for 30 minutes. Eastern Colorado's Best Variety, Star 92-3, various soft rock/pop songs. Relog, 1KW at 1001 miles. However, I think they are operating 35KW now, which makes sense.
101.1 KFNF Oberlin, KS; Oberlin ads, 785 area codes. Relog, 100KW at 1104 miles.
107.7 KGCR Goodland, KS; solid for at least 5 minutes...'Sunday Sermons' by Anne Wilson, Tri-State Praise IDs. NEW #826, 100KW at 1085 miles. Previously heard in Ellensburg 7/7/20.
88.7 KLNE-FM Lexington, NE; TOH ID mentioning KHNE, the Max NE translator (K227AC), etc. Relog, 60KW at 1138 miles.
95.1 KSQY Deadwood, SD; 'K-SKY' ID. NEW #827, 100KW at 825 miles. Shortest log of the night.
97.5 KSRX Sterling, CO; Bob FM IDs, rock solid for 10 minutes at least. Relog, 38KW at 968 miles.
98.3 KATR Otis, CO; Kat Country, also solid signal to end the night. NEW #828, 100KW at 977 miles.
Audio coming later...it was a doozy!
