The best state/province to live in for DX'ing N.A. MW stations.

[Icangelp]

I've always felt that SW Ohio was at best a moderately good location for domestic DX, and a miserable one for potential far-western targets, what with NY & the east to my back, and Chicago to my NW. Not to mention WLW and its IBOQ on 700, WHLO on 640, WIBC on 1070, and WOWO on 1190. I'm not complaining, there many worse locations.

Maybe northern Wisconsin or somewhere in the upper midwest, as you are looking down on the whole country and have a shot at both coasts.

If you are in western Tennessee not too close to Memphis, you have the potential to null Chicago or the east for some good midwest and western dx, plus you have a great opportunity for eastern stations should you choose.

Then there is Colorado or New Mexico. Those locations should only get better with the shift of Mexican AM's to FM.

So who lives in a primo location of domestic DX?

 

[K6JHU]

New Mexico not so good. Not much RFI. But poor ground conductivity (except maybe right this minute with all that funny looking white stuff). And everything on MW coasts and mid-west is going right over your head and not bouncing down on you.

 

[stormy01]

This was quite a few years ago - in the 70's and 80's: in Northern Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, AM reception was average, not particularly outstanding in the daytime, certainly not like in the Dakotas. But at night the AM band came alive. The lack of high powered stations, less stations in the region as compared to a more heavily populated area, then, and now, certainly is an advantage to hearing DX stations.

 

[gar hi]

I'd say Florida.

We're situated in such a way that there's access to most of the country at night. From the northeast to Denver and Salt Lake City, there are stations that are regulars at night with Los Angeles making an occasional appearance too.

The Gulf and the Atlantic make for amazing daytime listening too and not many other places have that.

 

[swfl]

I'd say Florida.

We're situated in such a way that there's access to most of the country at night. From the northeast to Denver and Salt Lake City, there are stations that are regulars at night with Los Angeles making an occasional appearance too.

The Gulf and the Atlantic make for amazing daytime listening too and not many other places have that.

Depends all in where you are at. I agree there is great DX anywhere near the coastlines. There is also good DX in northern Florida but down here in the south end of the state the DX'ing is not very good at all most nights. We can usually pick up the usual suspects such as WBT, WSM and WWL and perhaps KWKH. But that is is not always guaranteed even.

We have several things working against us here mainly the ever present Cuban interference. We also have a lot of interference from lighting storms in the summer months which really cuts into any DX'ing that time of year.

 

[cd637299]

I agree with the above. I cannot say which state is the best (IMO the Dakotas or Nebraska should rack up the state & province count), but as much as I have DXed AM from south Fla. in the mid to late 70s, I gave up for quite awhile here, until the late 90s when the X-band came alive, with me catching 3 stations from California....then more local TIS's sprouted, and I gave up again!

Now....if you wanna hear *South* America, Fla. oughta be the #1 state!

cd

 

[cyberdad]

My take after 30+ years of business travel....

Daytime DX: Winter in coastal Florida. Saltwater path DX that can be downright astonishing. Not too shabby at night either...especially if you want to expand your "field of play" to include Central & South America. I say winter because warm weather months bring frequent noise from thunderstorms.

Nighttime DX: Northern Minnesota and adjacent areas of Ontario. Daytime reception is lousy due to the combinmation of few local stations/population centers and lousy ground conductivity. Night is a different story...partly for different reasons. First, U.S. stations protecting one another's populaton centers aim their signals to areas with smaller populations and thus fewer stations that they can interfere with. Result....lots of signals. Secondly, a high percentage of Canadian stations protect stations on this side of the border. Result: Even though the DA of these stations may be aimed away from you, you're still close enough to hear them. Also, very little noise up here to spoil the party.

Kenora, ON....a couple of hours north of International Falls, MN....is one of the best spots I've encountered. Not unusual to hear both coasts, Mexico, and Cuba. (Where else can you hear KIRO, WDSM, KCMO, WOR, and Cuba slugging it out on 710?)

 

[radioman148]

If you're going to include states outside of the lower 48, Hawaii is by far the best place to DX from. You have your choice of tons of stations from North America, and the entire western Pacific including Australia.

 

[gar hi]

We have several things working against us here mainly the ever present Cuban interference. We also have a lot of interference from lighting storms in the summer months which really cuts into any DX'ing that time of year.

I've seldom done much AM DXing in the summer mainly because it's just not that good as compared to the other times of year regardless of where you are.

The Cubans are annoying anytime but I've still managed to get stations like KFI even with the Cuban interference at the time.

There is also good DX in northern Florida but down here in the south end of the state the DX'ing is not very good at all most nights. We can usually pick up the usual suspects such as WBT, WSM and WWL and perhaps KWKH. But that is is not always guaranteed even.

I guess you're so close to Cuba that it makes a big difference between there and here.

Swfl, does the Cuban completely dominate WCBS there at night?

 

[MarioMania]

How about California??

 

[davideduardo]

This was quite a few years ago - in the 70's and 80's: in Northern Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, AM reception was average, not particularly outstanding in the daytime, certainly not like in the Dakotas. But at night the AM band came alive. The lack of high powered stations, less stations in the region as compared to a more heavily populated area, then, and now, certainly is an advantage to hearing DX stations.

I DXed many summers in the late 50's into the early 60's from the tip of Leelanau County, MI, 20-some miles NNW of Traverse City. No locals at night, and even in summer the conditions were usually better for NA than deep winter in NE Ohio; no TPs or TA's, though... although a few SA's were heard well. The mostly agricultural area (semi-local WCCW had calls that stood for Cherry Capital of the World) had nearly no noise, and was surrounded by water.

 

[davideduardo]

How about California??

For NA DX, it bites. Too far from the hard to hear states and too filled with stations... even areas like the Sierras or Bishop are still to far from the harder eastern locations.

 

[ddsparxx]

For me, Oregon seemed liked a pretty good place for nighttime MW DX, thought I haven't done much of DXing N. A. MW stations. Where I was, west of the Cascades and away from Portland, most of the stations I heard were from San Diego/Mx border all the way to Vancouver, BC. I didn't try to hear Hawaiian stations or east of the Rockies, however.

The Outer Banks of NC appeared to be a pretty good place also.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

How about California??

For NA DX, it bites. Too far from the hard to hear states and too filled with stations... even areas like the Sierras or Bishop are still to far from the harder eastern locations.

If California bites, then why is just about every single 10kHz channel occupied at night from about 530-1700 here about 12 miles east of San Diego, CA? (The only channels that may not be occupied are the ones immediately surrounding some nearly-impossible-to-null ultra-strong locals.)

 

[charlestondxman]

This is a good question. Lots of choices. My favorite spot to night DX would have to be around Nashville, or the Atlanta suburbs. Nashville is still close enough to get all the New York stations (except WFAN), with Chicago blasting in, and the Western clears like KRLD, KOA, and others blast in at night.

During the daytime, I'd say my area (Savannah up to Cape Hatteras) is the best. I'm a couple miles inland from the coast (near CHS), and every day I can pick up probably 15-20 FL stations (mostly East Coast). Now this winter, I've been picking up Tampa 820 during daytime, and Miami comes in every day, usually at least three or four of their stations.

All the Jacksonville AMs come in (except ones next to locals), most Orlando stations, Gainesville 850, Daytona, and Cuba comes in too. I also get a couple Columbia (560, 620, sometimes even 1170), Augusta and Orlando mixing on 580, WBT, and on a good day, WSB.

Nighttime is a lot harder here, since many of the good frequencies are overtaken by Cuba, and the Western stations are hard to get. I've never gotten anything west of KOA here.

 

[swfl]

We have several things working against us here mainly the ever present Cuban interference. We also have a lot of interference from lighting storms in the summer months which really cuts into any DX'ing that time of year.

I've seldom done much AM DXing in the summer mainly because it's just not that good as compared to the other times of year regardless of where you are.

The Cubans are annoying anytime but I've still managed to get stations like KFI even with the Cuban interference at the time.

There is also good DX in northern Florida but down here in the south end of the state the DX'ing is not very good at all most nights. We can usually pick up the usual suspects such as WBT, WSM and WWL and perhaps KWKH. But that is is not always guaranteed even.

I guess you're so close to Cuba that it makes a big difference between there and here.

Swfl, does the Cuban completely dominate WCBS there at night?

I have only caught WCBS one time ant that's it. The only northern station that you can catch here on some what regular basis is WLW. I will have to give it another try soon. I have pretty much given up on DX'ing around here. Just too much interference down here.

 

[fangio28]

DXing best from the Atlanta suburbs? OMG, no!!!!
I lived there (Dunwoody)for 15 years and of the several places I've lived, it was the WORST for DXing.
My personal experiences:
1951-1961 Avenel (Woodbridge Twp) NJ...pretty good BUT there much less
interference, few all-nighters...truly the golden age of DXing.
1963-1965 Monmouth Beach, NJ 4 blocks from the ocean, water on 3 sides,
tremendous location (heard/verified the bulk of my 101/87 countries there).
1973-1975 Lighthouse Point, FL one mile from ocean, my personal #2
location, great for CA/SA/Caribbean. Verified KORL, Hawaii from there in '75
1976-1989 Dallas, TX lousy ground conductivity, lousy DXing
1989-2004 Dunwoody (Suburban Atlanta), GA lived but only did a little
DXing from a horrible DX location.
2006-present Coeur d'Alene, ID a wonderful place which renewed my interest
in the DX game....great Canadian DX and graveyard channel tuning. Started
FM DXing here and find hearing stations 150-175 miles daily (all W or SW
of here).
DON'T MOVE TO ATLANTA TO DX, please!

 

[radioman148]

We have several things working against us here mainly the ever present Cuban interference. We also have a lot of interference from lighting storms in the summer months which really cuts into any DX'ing that time of year.

I've seldom done much AM DXing in the summer mainly because it's just not that good as compared to the other times of year regardless of where you are.

The Cubans are annoying anytime but I've still managed to get stations like KFI even with the Cuban interference at the time.

There is also good DX in northern Florida but down here in the south end of the state the DX'ing is not very good at all most nights. We can usually pick up the usual suspects such as WBT, WSM and WWL and perhaps KWKH. But that is is not always guaranteed even.

I guess you're so close to Cuba that it makes a big difference between there and here.

Swfl, does the Cuban completely dominate WCBS there at night?

I have only caught WCBS one time ant that's it. The only northern station that you can catch here on some what regular basis is WLW. I will have to give it another try soon. I have pretty much given up on DX'ing around here. Just too much interference down here.

Have you caught anything from Chicago? I'm told that WBBM still makes it down there occasionally.

 

[radioman148]

DXing best from the Atlanta suburbs? OMG, no!!!!
I lived there (Dunwoody)for 15 years and of the several places I've lived, it was the WORST for DXing.
My personal experiences:
1951-1961 Avenel (Woodbridge Twp) NJ...pretty good BUT there much less
interference, few all-nighters...truly the golden age of DXing.
1963-1965 Monmouth Beach, NJ 4 blocks from the ocean, water on 3 sides,
tremendous location (heard/verified the bulk of my 101/87 countries there).
1973-1975 Lighthouse Point, FL one mile from ocean, my personal #2
location, great for CA/SA/Caribbean. Verified KORL, Hawaii from there in '75
1976-1989 Dallas, TX lousy ground conductivity, lousy DXing
1989-2004 Dunwoody (Suburban Atlanta), GA lived but only did a little
DXing from a horrible DX location.
2006-present Coeur d'Alene, ID a wonderful place which renewed my interest
in the DX game....great Canadian DX and graveyard channel tuning. Started
FM DXing here and find hearing stations 150-175 miles daily (all W or SW
of here).
DON'T MOVE TO ATLANTA TO DX, please!

Fangio--

Why is DXing from Atlanta so poor? I've heard about the poor ground conductivity, but what about night time DXing? Also what is the farthest MW DX you've ever pulled in & from which location?

Thanks.

 

[fangio28]

In my case, ATL was poor in the sense that I'd DXed from better! To others,
might seem ok. Ground conductivity not good.
Furthest reception from each location:
1955 Avenel, NJ probably KPKW, WA 250-watt GY; XEAA Mexicali 1340.
1965 Monmouth Beach, NJ ARGENTINA, LEBANON, SYRIA (all over 5000 mi)
1975 Lighthouse Point, FL KORL 650 Honolulu, HAWAII
1977 Dallas, TX Ecuador 1345 (3500 w)
In conclusion, DXing NEXT to or ON WATER is always better than NOT being near water.
I've tried a number of locations around here for FM DX and by far the best two
are parked NEXT TO one of the several lakes up here. Drive a 1/2 mile away & signals evaporate!