Back from watching fireworks (and lighting off fountains in this 'safe & sane' state...one of them lasted over 3 minutes at least 
)
BEFORE the visual pyros, came the FM pyrotechnics. I noticed MN autologgers were getting KOLU Pasco and other low-band FMs from the 200 mi. radius around me, around 7PM MT. Ran down to the TEF in the garage (hooked up to the 4-element)...and the 90-minute fireworks show began. All upper Midwest and Canadian prairies, ND/MN/MB/ON/WI/MI. Some of these station had been wanted in personal DX logs for YEARS, dating back to my days in Yakima. This was the BEST OPENING I have had this direction since July 15th, 2014. In that opening (from Yakima) I had 19 new and an MUF to 107.7, just like tonight. But that was without RDS access and a TEF. This opening resulted in dozens of new station and honestly was better than 7/15/14. Lots of rapid flipping around, RDS was everywhere. Often logged multiple stations within minutes.
All logs from my home in Cascade, Idaho (70 mi N of Boise).
7:05PM - First signs of skip, MUF through 99mhz.
7:06PM - 92.1 WMIS Blackduck, MN; with hard rock music and 92.1 The River IDs. RDS captured. NEW #333, 60KW at 1037 miles.
7:06PM - 92.5 WIRN Buhl, MN; they were in for the entire opening, few fades...MPR News programming and RDS. Relog, 26KW at 1131 miles.
7:07PM - 89.7 KGRP Grand Rapids, MN; with MPR News programming and RDS (Fresh Air). NEW #334, 8.9KW at 1099 miles.
7:08PM - 99.1 KLLZ Walker, MN; with Kiss 'Rock and Roll All Nite' and RDS PI 2E43. NEW #335, 100KW at 1032 miles. McCall 'noisemaker' translator (K256AN) has been off for quite a while.
7:08PM - 90.5 KBXE Bagley, MN; Northern Community Radio RDS, got some local info recorded later in the opening. Heard this one from Ellensburg a few years back. NEW #336, 50KW at 1017 miles.
7:09PM - 89.3 WIRC Ely, MN; MPR News Fresh Air. RDS. Relog, 18.5KW at 1176 miles. They were in most of the 90 minutes.
7:11PM - 88.5 KCRB-FM Bemidji, MN; with patriotic classical music, RDS "MPR". PI matched to them and not WGRH Hinckley which I already have from last month. NEW #337, 83KW at 1053 miles.
7:12PM - 88.1 KDGR Grand Rapids, MN; with Christian music and Life 97.3 IDs, relays KDNW Duluth. NEW #338, 5KW at 1094 miles. Wiped out pesty KRRB Kuna.
7:12PM - 88.9 CKMW-FM Winkler, MB; RDS and country music. NEW #339, 100KW at 905 miles. I heard this in Yakima WA in 2014 before a translator came on.
7:14PM - 91.9 KDSU-FM Fargo, ND; RDS wiping out semi-local KBSC Cambridge. NEW #340, 100KW at 923 miles.
7:16PM - 96.7 CILT-FM Steinbach, MB; with weak "Mix 96" ID and weather forecast, but quite unstable. My neighborhood is home to several Airbnbs/Vrbos and someone decided to put their little car transmitter here, so it had to overtake the decent signal of "dead air". NEW #341, 100KW at 959 miles. Previously heard in WA.
7:18PM - 93.9 WTBX-FM Hibbing, MN; RDS and an obvious AI-generated weather forecast. Relog, 100KW at 1120 miles. They were in with little fading for over an hour.
7:20PM - 94.5 KDLB Frazee, MN; with Keith Urban and Bob 95 RDS...over McCall translator. NEW #342, 11KW at 989 miles. They were strong enough to put big HD hash on 94.3.
7:21PM - 97.5 KKCT Bismarck, ND; Hot 97.5 RDS ID, huge signal when they were in. NEW #343, 100KW at 751 miles.
7:22PM - 97.3 KDNW Duluth, MN; with Francesca Battistelli's "Holy Spirit" and Life 97.3 ID - another big signal. NEW #344, 72KW at 1161 miles.
7:22PM - 98.9 KTCO Duluth, MN; with RDS ID. Kat Country. NEW #345, 100KW at 1162 miles.
7:26PM - 97.5 KDKK Park Rapids, MN; with Whitney Houston, and announcement that the local fireworks show was canceled due to severe weather. This is the StarStation, one of the few *local* standards FMs left in the US. This was well-wanted and so glad I got to hear them!! NEW #346, 100KW at 1025 miles. (Trivia: KDKK is one of the few FMs in the US that signs off at night. They leave the air at midnight CT.)
7:29PM - 99.7 WIMI Ironwood, MI, with RDS fadeup "The Storm". I've been looking to hear this station on Es for YEARS. Ever since I moved to Ellensburg in late 2019 and got away from the local Yakima KHHK. WIMI was my best chance at Michigan from central WA (at ~1440 miles). Now I have gotten them from Idaho!!! NEW #347, MI #3, 100KW at 1251 miles. I loved their old format a decade ago, the adult hits mix was fantastic, but the audio stream was a piddly mono 16kbps mess. Still loved 'em.
7:30PM - 107.5 KJKJ Grand Forks, ND; with KJ108 RDS and audio ID. Top of the band! NEW #348, 100KW at 937 miles.
7:32PM - 97.1 KYCK Crookston, ND; with 97 KYCK ID in Radiotext/RDS. NEW #349, 100KW at 945 miles.
7:34PM - 97.7 WAQE-FM Barron, WI; RDS, Seal "Kiss from a Rose" and ID captured on tape. NEW #350, 47KW at 1183 miles.
7:37PM - 107.3 WNXR Iron River, WI; with Milwaukee Brewers baseball, top of the 9th inning. NEW #351, 21KW at 1195 miles.
7:38PM - 105.5 KBAJ Deer River, MN; faded up and out with a "Thunder" ID. The full branding is J105.5 The Thunder. NEW #352, 100KW at 1102 miles.
7:38PM - 105.5 CICY-FM Selkirk, MB; the station mixing with KBAJ. NCI Radio IDs. NEW #353, 100KW at 970 miles.
7:39PM - 103.7 KKBJ Bemidji, MN; with special announcement of the cancelation of Walker, MN's fireworks show due to weather, and Bemidji mentions. NEW #354, 100KW at 1037 miles.
7:40PM - 99.9 WUSZ Virginia, MN; with immediate RDS hit and audio ID, "99-9 Radio USA". NEW #355, 100KW at 1120 miles.
7:41PM - 95.9 WWWI-FM Pillager, MN; RDS "Cash 95." NEW #356, 6KW at 1058 miles.
7:42PM - 95.5 KKZY Bemidji, MN; WIPING OUT LOCAL KUJJ MCCALL!!! UpNorth Weather, KZY IDs. NEW #357, 100KW at 1032 miles. There was wavering and slight chewing of local KBSM-91.7, and possibly KGSY-88.3 as well. My local Cascade translator on 92.7 was completely wiped out at times too. But I was pointed away from Snowbank Mountain.
7:44PM - 90.3 KCCD Moorhead, MN; RDS "MPR" PI 157F, wiping out KBSU Boise. NEW #358, 100KW at 950 miles.
7:45PM - 89.5 CJRL-FM Kenora, ON; over KTSY with "The Lake" RDS and audio ID. NEW #359, 50KW at 1073 miles.
7:46PM - 92.9 WSCD Duluth, MN; classical music at ridiculous levels, RDS "MPR". NEW #360, 70KW at 1161 miles.
7:49PM - 104.3 KZLT-FM East Grand Forks, MN; Cities FM RDS, Delilah, but no local ads. The station failed to trigger a local break, thus they took PSAs from the satellite feed. RDS saved me here. Wiped out Wow Country! NEW #361, 100KW at 940 miles.
7:50PM - 104.5 KBUN-FM Blackduck, MN; with KBUN Sports Radio IDs, mention of 100.1 translator. NEW #362, 8.5KW at 1037 miles.
7:51PM - 104.7 CIUR-FM Winnipeg, MB; with Now Country ID. NEW #363, 3KW at 958 miles.
7:51PM - 104.7 KFGO Hope, ND; with RDS "KFGO" mixing with CIUR. NEW #364, 100KW at 912 miles.
7:52PM - 98.5 KQYZ Emerado, ND; "Blame it On the Rain" Milli Vanilli, RDS ID "Q98." NEW #365, 9KW at 936 miles.
7:54PM - 96.1 WDKE-FM Coleraine, MN; RDS, heard Duke FM ID later on with translator W252AN Hibbing also IDed. Wiped out KSRV Bob FM. NEW #366, 100KW at 1107 miles. Previously heard in WA as KGPZ.
7:55PM - 94.5 KQDY-FM Bismarck, ND; Tim McGraw, KQ94.5 ID, not a stinkin' fade in sight, as if I gained a new local station. NEW #367, 100KW at 758 miles.
7:56PM - 93.7 KIZZ Minot, ND; Olivia Rodrigo song, Z94 RDS ID. NEW #368, 100KW at only 738 miles.
7:56PM - 94.3 CJSD-FM Thunder Bay, ON; Rock 94 and RDS IDs. Relog, 93KW at 1303 miles.
7:57PM - 91.3 KNBJ Bemidji, MN; with immediate RDS "MPR", PI match. NEW #369, 65KW at 1052 miles.
7:58PM - 107.1 KKEQ Fosston, MN; RDS, Matthew West song, "Your Q FM." NEW #370, 100KW at 1009 miles.
8:00PM - 91.5 KQMN Thief River Falls, MN; RDS "MPR" and PI match. NEW #371, 84KW at 956 miles.
8:04PM - 95.3 KKWZ Rugby, ND; CBS News, Rugby Broadcasters mention, RDS. NEW #372, 6KW at 807 miles.
8:07PM - 97.9 WEVE-FM Eveleth, MN; patriotic music, and WEVE IDs. NEW #373, 100KW at 1157 miles.
8:08PM - 96.7 KKCQ-FM Bagley, MN; ABC news and Weatherology forecast for the KKCQ listening area. NEW #374, 25KW at 1009 miles.
8:09PM - 104.1 KSDM International Falls, MN; country music, RDS PI hit "3FE2", got it on camera. NEW #375, 8.5KW at 1108 miles.
8:12PM - 94.7 CKLF-FM Brandon, MB; RDS, Star FM. NEW #376, 100KW at 843 miles.
8:13PM - 93.7 KOYY Fargo, ND; "Justin Bieber now on Y94..." NEW #377, 100KW at 923 miles.
8:14PM - 92.9 KYYY Bismarck, ND; RDS "Mix 92.9". NEW #378, 100KW at 758 miles.
8:25PM - 103.9 WVBO Winneconne, WI; long skip into the Appleton market! Weak with WVBO weather forecast, heard on tape. NEW #379, 24.95KW at 1356 miles.
8:31PM - 93.3 KBLB Nisswa, MN; MUF dropping, but heard this with Zac Brown Band and RDS. NEW #380, 100KW at 1054 miles.
8:31PM - 93.3 KSJZ Jamestown, ND; mixing with "Mix 93.3" RDS and 'Luther' by Kendrick Lamar. NEW #381, 100KW at 850 miles.
8:32PM - 91.3 KXRP Bismarck, ND; with Alan Jackson song and 4E85 PI on RDS. This is a 'positive Country' station operated by religious outlet KNDR-104.7. NEW #382, 4.2KW at 751 miles.
8:33PM - 97.1 KYYX Minot, ND; Taste of Country Nights, ID. NEW #383, 100KW at 742 miles.
8:51PM - 94.3 CHNW-FM Winnipeg, MB; in briefly with Alt 94.3 ID. NEW #384, 100KW at 951 miles.
Crazy opening - pictures of RDS and audio to come in the next few days...
)BEFORE the visual pyros, came the FM pyrotechnics. I noticed MN autologgers were getting KOLU Pasco and other low-band FMs from the 200 mi. radius around me, around 7PM MT. Ran down to the TEF in the garage (hooked up to the 4-element)...and the 90-minute fireworks show began. All upper Midwest and Canadian prairies, ND/MN/MB/ON/WI/MI. Some of these station had been wanted in personal DX logs for YEARS, dating back to my days in Yakima. This was the BEST OPENING I have had this direction since July 15th, 2014. In that opening (from Yakima) I had 19 new and an MUF to 107.7, just like tonight. But that was without RDS access and a TEF. This opening resulted in dozens of new station and honestly was better than 7/15/14. Lots of rapid flipping around, RDS was everywhere. Often logged multiple stations within minutes.
All logs from my home in Cascade, Idaho (70 mi N of Boise).
7:05PM - First signs of skip, MUF through 99mhz.
7:06PM - 92.1 WMIS Blackduck, MN; with hard rock music and 92.1 The River IDs. RDS captured. NEW #333, 60KW at 1037 miles.
7:06PM - 92.5 WIRN Buhl, MN; they were in for the entire opening, few fades...MPR News programming and RDS. Relog, 26KW at 1131 miles.
7:07PM - 89.7 KGRP Grand Rapids, MN; with MPR News programming and RDS (Fresh Air). NEW #334, 8.9KW at 1099 miles.
7:08PM - 99.1 KLLZ Walker, MN; with Kiss 'Rock and Roll All Nite' and RDS PI 2E43. NEW #335, 100KW at 1032 miles. McCall 'noisemaker' translator (K256AN) has been off for quite a while.
7:08PM - 90.5 KBXE Bagley, MN; Northern Community Radio RDS, got some local info recorded later in the opening. Heard this one from Ellensburg a few years back. NEW #336, 50KW at 1017 miles.
7:09PM - 89.3 WIRC Ely, MN; MPR News Fresh Air. RDS. Relog, 18.5KW at 1176 miles. They were in most of the 90 minutes.
7:11PM - 88.5 KCRB-FM Bemidji, MN; with patriotic classical music, RDS "MPR". PI matched to them and not WGRH Hinckley which I already have from last month. NEW #337, 83KW at 1053 miles.
7:12PM - 88.1 KDGR Grand Rapids, MN; with Christian music and Life 97.3 IDs, relays KDNW Duluth. NEW #338, 5KW at 1094 miles. Wiped out pesty KRRB Kuna.
7:12PM - 88.9 CKMW-FM Winkler, MB; RDS and country music. NEW #339, 100KW at 905 miles. I heard this in Yakima WA in 2014 before a translator came on.
7:14PM - 91.9 KDSU-FM Fargo, ND; RDS wiping out semi-local KBSC Cambridge. NEW #340, 100KW at 923 miles.
7:16PM - 96.7 CILT-FM Steinbach, MB; with weak "Mix 96" ID and weather forecast, but quite unstable. My neighborhood is home to several Airbnbs/Vrbos and someone decided to put their little car transmitter here, so it had to overtake the decent signal of "dead air". NEW #341, 100KW at 959 miles. Previously heard in WA.
7:18PM - 93.9 WTBX-FM Hibbing, MN; RDS and an obvious AI-generated weather forecast. Relog, 100KW at 1120 miles. They were in with little fading for over an hour.
7:20PM - 94.5 KDLB Frazee, MN; with Keith Urban and Bob 95 RDS...over McCall translator. NEW #342, 11KW at 989 miles. They were strong enough to put big HD hash on 94.3.
7:21PM - 97.5 KKCT Bismarck, ND; Hot 97.5 RDS ID, huge signal when they were in. NEW #343, 100KW at 751 miles.
7:22PM - 97.3 KDNW Duluth, MN; with Francesca Battistelli's "Holy Spirit" and Life 97.3 ID - another big signal. NEW #344, 72KW at 1161 miles.
7:22PM - 98.9 KTCO Duluth, MN; with RDS ID. Kat Country. NEW #345, 100KW at 1162 miles.
7:26PM - 97.5 KDKK Park Rapids, MN; with Whitney Houston, and announcement that the local fireworks show was canceled due to severe weather. This is the StarStation, one of the few *local* standards FMs left in the US. This was well-wanted and so glad I got to hear them!! NEW #346, 100KW at 1025 miles. (Trivia: KDKK is one of the few FMs in the US that signs off at night. They leave the air at midnight CT.)
7:29PM - 99.7 WIMI Ironwood, MI, with RDS fadeup "The Storm". I've been looking to hear this station on Es for YEARS. Ever since I moved to Ellensburg in late 2019 and got away from the local Yakima KHHK. WIMI was my best chance at Michigan from central WA (at ~1440 miles). Now I have gotten them from Idaho!!! NEW #347, MI #3, 100KW at 1251 miles. I loved their old format a decade ago, the adult hits mix was fantastic, but the audio stream was a piddly mono 16kbps mess. Still loved 'em.
7:30PM - 107.5 KJKJ Grand Forks, ND; with KJ108 RDS and audio ID. Top of the band! NEW #348, 100KW at 937 miles.
7:32PM - 97.1 KYCK Crookston, ND; with 97 KYCK ID in Radiotext/RDS. NEW #349, 100KW at 945 miles.
7:34PM - 97.7 WAQE-FM Barron, WI; RDS, Seal "Kiss from a Rose" and ID captured on tape. NEW #350, 47KW at 1183 miles.
7:37PM - 107.3 WNXR Iron River, WI; with Milwaukee Brewers baseball, top of the 9th inning. NEW #351, 21KW at 1195 miles.
7:38PM - 105.5 KBAJ Deer River, MN; faded up and out with a "Thunder" ID. The full branding is J105.5 The Thunder. NEW #352, 100KW at 1102 miles.
7:38PM - 105.5 CICY-FM Selkirk, MB; the station mixing with KBAJ. NCI Radio IDs. NEW #353, 100KW at 970 miles.
7:39PM - 103.7 KKBJ Bemidji, MN; with special announcement of the cancelation of Walker, MN's fireworks show due to weather, and Bemidji mentions. NEW #354, 100KW at 1037 miles.
7:40PM - 99.9 WUSZ Virginia, MN; with immediate RDS hit and audio ID, "99-9 Radio USA". NEW #355, 100KW at 1120 miles.
7:41PM - 95.9 WWWI-FM Pillager, MN; RDS "Cash 95." NEW #356, 6KW at 1058 miles.
7:42PM - 95.5 KKZY Bemidji, MN; WIPING OUT LOCAL KUJJ MCCALL!!! UpNorth Weather, KZY IDs. NEW #357, 100KW at 1032 miles. There was wavering and slight chewing of local KBSM-91.7, and possibly KGSY-88.3 as well. My local Cascade translator on 92.7 was completely wiped out at times too. But I was pointed away from Snowbank Mountain.
7:44PM - 90.3 KCCD Moorhead, MN; RDS "MPR" PI 157F, wiping out KBSU Boise. NEW #358, 100KW at 950 miles.
7:45PM - 89.5 CJRL-FM Kenora, ON; over KTSY with "The Lake" RDS and audio ID. NEW #359, 50KW at 1073 miles.
7:46PM - 92.9 WSCD Duluth, MN; classical music at ridiculous levels, RDS "MPR". NEW #360, 70KW at 1161 miles.
7:49PM - 104.3 KZLT-FM East Grand Forks, MN; Cities FM RDS, Delilah, but no local ads. The station failed to trigger a local break, thus they took PSAs from the satellite feed. RDS saved me here. Wiped out Wow Country! NEW #361, 100KW at 940 miles.
7:50PM - 104.5 KBUN-FM Blackduck, MN; with KBUN Sports Radio IDs, mention of 100.1 translator. NEW #362, 8.5KW at 1037 miles.
7:51PM - 104.7 CIUR-FM Winnipeg, MB; with Now Country ID. NEW #363, 3KW at 958 miles.
7:51PM - 104.7 KFGO Hope, ND; with RDS "KFGO" mixing with CIUR. NEW #364, 100KW at 912 miles.
7:52PM - 98.5 KQYZ Emerado, ND; "Blame it On the Rain" Milli Vanilli, RDS ID "Q98." NEW #365, 9KW at 936 miles.
7:54PM - 96.1 WDKE-FM Coleraine, MN; RDS, heard Duke FM ID later on with translator W252AN Hibbing also IDed. Wiped out KSRV Bob FM. NEW #366, 100KW at 1107 miles. Previously heard in WA as KGPZ.
7:55PM - 94.5 KQDY-FM Bismarck, ND; Tim McGraw, KQ94.5 ID, not a stinkin' fade in sight, as if I gained a new local station. NEW #367, 100KW at 758 miles.
7:56PM - 93.7 KIZZ Minot, ND; Olivia Rodrigo song, Z94 RDS ID. NEW #368, 100KW at only 738 miles.
7:56PM - 94.3 CJSD-FM Thunder Bay, ON; Rock 94 and RDS IDs. Relog, 93KW at 1303 miles.
7:57PM - 91.3 KNBJ Bemidji, MN; with immediate RDS "MPR", PI match. NEW #369, 65KW at 1052 miles.
7:58PM - 107.1 KKEQ Fosston, MN; RDS, Matthew West song, "Your Q FM." NEW #370, 100KW at 1009 miles.
8:00PM - 91.5 KQMN Thief River Falls, MN; RDS "MPR" and PI match. NEW #371, 84KW at 956 miles.
8:04PM - 95.3 KKWZ Rugby, ND; CBS News, Rugby Broadcasters mention, RDS. NEW #372, 6KW at 807 miles.
8:07PM - 97.9 WEVE-FM Eveleth, MN; patriotic music, and WEVE IDs. NEW #373, 100KW at 1157 miles.
8:08PM - 96.7 KKCQ-FM Bagley, MN; ABC news and Weatherology forecast for the KKCQ listening area. NEW #374, 25KW at 1009 miles.
8:09PM - 104.1 KSDM International Falls, MN; country music, RDS PI hit "3FE2", got it on camera. NEW #375, 8.5KW at 1108 miles.
8:12PM - 94.7 CKLF-FM Brandon, MB; RDS, Star FM. NEW #376, 100KW at 843 miles.
8:13PM - 93.7 KOYY Fargo, ND; "Justin Bieber now on Y94..." NEW #377, 100KW at 923 miles.
8:14PM - 92.9 KYYY Bismarck, ND; RDS "Mix 92.9". NEW #378, 100KW at 758 miles.
8:25PM - 103.9 WVBO Winneconne, WI; long skip into the Appleton market! Weak with WVBO weather forecast, heard on tape. NEW #379, 24.95KW at 1356 miles.
8:31PM - 93.3 KBLB Nisswa, MN; MUF dropping, but heard this with Zac Brown Band and RDS. NEW #380, 100KW at 1054 miles.
8:31PM - 93.3 KSJZ Jamestown, ND; mixing with "Mix 93.3" RDS and 'Luther' by Kendrick Lamar. NEW #381, 100KW at 850 miles.
8:32PM - 91.3 KXRP Bismarck, ND; with Alan Jackson song and 4E85 PI on RDS. This is a 'positive Country' station operated by religious outlet KNDR-104.7. NEW #382, 4.2KW at 751 miles.
8:33PM - 97.1 KYYX Minot, ND; Taste of Country Nights, ID. NEW #383, 100KW at 742 miles.
8:51PM - 94.3 CHNW-FM Winnipeg, MB; in briefly with Alt 94.3 ID. NEW #384, 100KW at 951 miles.
Crazy opening - pictures of RDS and audio to come in the next few days...
