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Tropo? Reception from Foley/Gulf Shores, AL 03-20-12
- Thread starter tomservo
- Start date
gar fla said:
Actually, it didn't surprise me all that much. There are about a half dozen or so Cuban signals here during the daytime on a reasonably good radio. You lose them when you get a mile or two from the beach.
Here are some highlights from last night (I'm omitting previously discussed regulars & "graveyard-like" channels....
550: Strong R. Rebelde. Don't recall hearing this one here before, but I probably just overlooked it.
590: Cuba again. R. Musical Nacional. Classical music fighting it out with WDIZ (Panama City).
680: WCNN strong
720: WGN fair
730: Mexico City blasting in.
740: CFZM on top for about a half hour, then disappeared into the slop.
770: WABC weak but sometimes on top
780: WBBM weak...not as strong as WGN
860: Notable from the standpoint of CJBC being absent while CFZM was in (its on the same stick)
940: XEQ (I presume) weak but usually on top
1000: I may have heard occasional moments of WMVP, but XEOY clearly owned the channel.
1050: Talk format in English. In and out. Any ideas what this could be?
1060: XEEP alone and strong. No trace of WLNO
1100: WTAM surprisingly strong
1150: WJBO Baton Rouge....blasting in like a local
1220: XEB on top more often than not, but regularly getting clobbered
1370: WCOA good. The only Pensacola signal here...and alone on top
1520: "Beautiful Music" Any ideas? I don't think it was R. Eniclopedia, but I could be wrong.
1600: KLEB with the "new and improved" daytime signal, also turns up strong and nearly alone at night.
1620: Again as I pretty much expected, R. Rebelde blowing the doors off WNRP.
1700: KVNS getting stronger as the night went on. Eventually very good...no trace of Miami.
Bit surprised that you had no sign of WLNO. OTOH, they send most of their night signal NW. Do you get it during the day?
Cyberdad, another station I was wondering if you can hear in the daytime is the 1kw WSHO from New Orleans.
Here it is daytime from Honeymoon Island in Dunedin.
I thought it was an interesting catch for just a 1 kw station.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djAgueBwbt0
Here it is daytime from Honeymoon Island in Dunedin.
I thought it was an interesting catch for just a 1 kw station.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djAgueBwbt0
cyberdad said:
I didn't hear anything of note on 1520 around sunrise this morning except muffled English talk radio.
I did however hear crystal clear Spanish-language easy listening-type music on 1570; it was some sort of commercial sounding station, definitely not Enciclopedia.
This morning was pretty good for me, I also got a KVNS ID just after sunrise, very strong, and for the first time ever, KSL from Salt Lake City. It was so strong I thought it was Chicago, but it was SLC instead. I also heard the Spanish under 590 and 1620 finally. I also logged 1680 KRJO from Monroe, LA, which was a station I heard regularly when I lived in Mississippi. The fertile Delta caused those signals to just go and go…
gar fla said:
It might be tough because of the semi-local on 790 there, but I've heard it in Gulf Shores. I don't recall it being super strong but it was audible. Another 1 kW'er from New Orleans that is surprisingly strong is WGSO on 990. For whatever reason it's been the fourth strongest NO signal here lately (after WWL, WLNO and WIST.)
I'll take 'em one at a time....
WLNO: I think it being absent the other night had more to do with XEEP roaring in than anything else. Its in the nighttime mix here more often than not, but usually under XEEP. Neither the daytime or nighttime WLNO signals are what they used to be back in the WNOE days. It also doesn't help matters that there's a 15kw daytime signal from Pensacola on 1070 that's aimed right at me. Back in the eighties, we used to go to Navarre Beach, Florida...about 50 miles east of where I am now. In those days there, both WNOE and WTIX were solid day and night.
WSHO: Great link, gar, thanks for sharing the vid. Yes, WSHO has a pretty decent daytime signal here. The semi-local 790 isn't much of a factor and can be easily nulled. Pretty much the same story for WVOG on 600, which is easy underneath semi-local WVTG on 610. In fact, I'm pretty sure Pensacola 610 and 790 are diplexed off the same stick. As for the New Orleans 990, this is a signal that seems to have gotten better. It used to be weak...now I'd rate it as fair to good. In fact, I'd been thinking that perhaps they moved the stick off the roof of the downtown board of trade building. Two other listenable NOLA day signals here (in addition to WIST and WWL) are 1280 and 1350. I'd rate both as weak to fair.
1570: Zach, I'm pretty sure what you were hearing was XERF. Former border blaster from just across the Rio Grande from Del Rio, TX (Ciudad Acuna). XERF used to have a monster signal that covered at least half the U.S. at night. David Eduardo has reported it being a regular in the early and mid 60s in Cleveland. It's nowhere near it's past glory days as a 150kw blowtorch, despite occasional claims to the contrary. General consensus seems to be that it's now more in the 30kw range. They had a good nighttime signal when I was in Houston a couple of months ago, but don't hear them much in my travels anymore. And it's probably been at least 10-15 years since I've heard them at home in the Chicago area.
1700/KVNS: I just tried for them a little after noon today from the deck. I was using the E-10, which is a decent portable (but definitely not a great one). Essentially, I came up empty. I thought I might have heard a little variation to the background noise, but I'm not sure. If I get a chance, I'll try it directly on the beach. That's only about 25 yards away, but if nothing else, it should be completely noise free.
WLNO: I think it being absent the other night had more to do with XEEP roaring in than anything else. Its in the nighttime mix here more often than not, but usually under XEEP. Neither the daytime or nighttime WLNO signals are what they used to be back in the WNOE days. It also doesn't help matters that there's a 15kw daytime signal from Pensacola on 1070 that's aimed right at me. Back in the eighties, we used to go to Navarre Beach, Florida...about 50 miles east of where I am now. In those days there, both WNOE and WTIX were solid day and night.
WSHO: Great link, gar, thanks for sharing the vid. Yes, WSHO has a pretty decent daytime signal here. The semi-local 790 isn't much of a factor and can be easily nulled. Pretty much the same story for WVOG on 600, which is easy underneath semi-local WVTG on 610. In fact, I'm pretty sure Pensacola 610 and 790 are diplexed off the same stick. As for the New Orleans 990, this is a signal that seems to have gotten better. It used to be weak...now I'd rate it as fair to good. In fact, I'd been thinking that perhaps they moved the stick off the roof of the downtown board of trade building. Two other listenable NOLA day signals here (in addition to WIST and WWL) are 1280 and 1350. I'd rate both as weak to fair.
1570: Zach, I'm pretty sure what you were hearing was XERF. Former border blaster from just across the Rio Grande from Del Rio, TX (Ciudad Acuna). XERF used to have a monster signal that covered at least half the U.S. at night. David Eduardo has reported it being a regular in the early and mid 60s in Cleveland. It's nowhere near it's past glory days as a 150kw blowtorch, despite occasional claims to the contrary. General consensus seems to be that it's now more in the 30kw range. They had a good nighttime signal when I was in Houston a couple of months ago, but don't hear them much in my travels anymore. And it's probably been at least 10-15 years since I've heard them at home in the Chicago area.
1700/KVNS: I just tried for them a little after noon today from the deck. I was using the E-10, which is a decent portable (but definitely not a great one). Essentially, I came up empty. I thought I might have heard a little variation to the background noise, but I'm not sure. If I get a chance, I'll try it directly on the beach. That's only about 25 yards away, but if nothing else, it should be completely noise free.
DeadElvis said:
An earlier poster mention it was atop a hotel so I'm going to guess it was part of a sign of some sort, or holding up a sign.
It IS atop a hotel.
My brother once worked for 105.3 when its transmitter was in Slidell. At that time, 990, then WNNR, was its sister. The engineer took him to the then-abandoned Jung Hotel to the transmitter and told him the story of what the tower was constructed to do.
The hints: It's on a hotel. And, it's a tower.
DE
My brother once worked for 105.3 when its transmitter was in Slidell. At that time, 990, then WNNR, was its sister. The engineer took him to the then-abandoned Jung Hotel to the transmitter and told him the story of what the tower was constructed to do.
The hints: It's on a hotel. And, it's a tower.
DE
OK...
I found a couple of good pictures that might help. You can find them here:
http://wikimapia.org/3318263/Jung-Hotel-closed
Note how substantial the tower is.
DE
I found a couple of good pictures that might help. You can find them here:
http://wikimapia.org/3318263/Jung-Hotel-closed
Note how substantial the tower is.
DE
DE I'm at a loss. That's an odd looking tower and it seems familiar but no idea what it could have been used for, atop a hotel. Sending morse code telegrams out or something?
Down at the beach today again and I didn't come across anything remarkable but I did hear the mystery shortwave thing again. So whatever it is, it isn't associated with the cleanup because all that stuff has been removed. Here's a quick video of the signal. Maybe one of you intrepid DXers could tell me what I've latched on to at the park. The first half is in AM, the other half in SSB.
Down at the beach today again and I didn't come across anything remarkable but I did hear the mystery shortwave thing again. So whatever it is, it isn't associated with the cleanup because all that stuff has been removed. Here's a quick video of the signal. Maybe one of you intrepid DXers could tell me what I've latched on to at the park. The first half is in AM, the other half in SSB.
That sound kind of reminds me of something I heard when I listened to my older brother's shortwave radio with him in the late 60s that he called 'bagpipes'.
It was a continuous repetition of tones that sounded exactly like real bagpipes.
The station was from Cuba and it was some kind of coded information, I think.
It was a continuous repetition of tones that sounded exactly like real bagpipes.
The station was from Cuba and it was some kind of coded information, I think.
gar fla said:
Not much difference in my result for 1700 today. In the car driving along the beach, I thought I might be hearing some variations in pitch to the otherwise blank background. That MIGHT point to music, but I'm not about to say (or guess) that it was KVNS or anything else. Simply not enough evidence to draw any conclusions
Here is a picture from 1931:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JungHotelNOLA1931.jpg
A couple of things to notice: the thin bit on top of the tower today was apparently added later. Also, the hotel seems to be the tallest structure in its immediate area.
You might see there appears to be some sort of structure on top. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I am sure it's important relative to the tower's purpose.
According to what I read, that tower was added in 1925.
To a history major like me, this is really cool.
DE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JungHotelNOLA1931.jpg
A couple of things to notice: the thin bit on top of the tower today was apparently added later. Also, the hotel seems to be the tallest structure in its immediate area.
You might see there appears to be some sort of structure on top. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I am sure it's important relative to the tower's purpose.
According to what I read, that tower was added in 1925.
To a history major like me, this is really cool.
DE
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