Trying to DXing AM stations at Night

[e-dawg]

While I was staying over a Waikiki for a week. I tried to DX radio stations broadcasting from the mainland and from Asia, but I cannot get anything outside of Honolulu, Maui, or Kauai. I'm using Radio Shack DX-390 shortwave radio. Either Honolulu stations are close together, or it's too far to catch a DX stations in Hawaii. Did you guys have a better luck catching DX radio stations from Mainland or Asia over there?

 

[Goldilocks94941]

I lived in Honolulu in the mid 1980s, when the city was mostly AM radio, with only a handful of mostly high powered FM signals, messing up the dial with massive interference from towers on top of hotels. I gave up trying to DX anything on AM, since there were so many local signals covering up what might have been a good catch. Nothing from the South Pacific even came in. Or from Alaska. Just some strong shortwave from Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the Americas. When Lahaina got its first FM on 101.1, it was the first FM signal from off of Oahu I could get, tho' I think a few diehards might have been able to get KAOI on 95.1 from Wailuku, if they lived away from the bug RF zone in town.

However, if you rent a car on the Big Island (and probably on Maui, too), you should still be able to pick up several 50kw nighttime signals from stations in California, Nevada, and Oregon. I did. These are the ones that throw a lot of signal over the Pacific, like AM 1540 and 1580 from Los Angeles. Plus 780 from Reno, which is directionalized to the west. (I'm leaving off the call letters, because I think they've all changed from what I remember them to be.)

I didn't have car access on Oahu often, but you might get some of those signals in the remote corners of Oahu, like out by Hawaii Kai, when you get away from the RF and electrical interference of Honolulu.

 

[KR4BD]

Back in February 1980, I was vacationing in Kauai. I had a rental car and had great luck just after sunset hearing stateside stations....mainly from CA, OR and WA. Many Mexican stations, including XEW-900 were also noted. Almost all the 50 KW stations were audible including as far east as KSL and KOA. Many 5kw regional stations were heard, too. To hear these stations, I found a parking lot overlooking the ocean at an unpopulated beach on the NE coast of the island near Kapaa. There were only two AM stations on that island back then as I recall (720 and 1350?) so overloading was Not a problem. Kauai is 100 miles or so NW of Oahu, so the glut of AM stations there did not cause too many problems on Kauai. I would think that AM-band DXing would also be possible from The Big Island and Maui, too.

I can attest to all the AM overloading in and around Honolulu making AM DX there a challenge.

 

[Lopaka]

Camping on the east shore of Maui with a cheap transistor radio and nothing to do at night but play with the radio we DX'd KNX, KFI, XEPRS, KOMO, KGO, KNBR, KCBS, KFBK, KOH, KOA, KKOB, KSL, WBAP, some monster from Australia on about 1325 kc, once those signals make it to the high conductivity of ocean water at night there doesn't seem to be much stopping them. All the more frustrating because I have never once DX'd a station from Hawai'i on the mainland, and I have tried.

 

[KR4BD]

Camping on the east shore of Maui with a cheap transistor radio and nothing to do at night but play with the radio we DX'd KNX, KFI, XEPRS, KOMO, KGO, KNBR, KCBS, KFBK, KOH, KOA, KKOB, KSL, WBAP, some monster from Australia on about 1325 kc, once those signals make it to the high conductivity of ocean water at night there doesn't seem to be much stopping them. All the more frustrating because I have never once DX'd a station from Hawai'i on the mainland, and I have tried.

I lived in Riverside, CA in the early 60's and was able to hear 4 stations from Hawaii. Today, of course, this is much more challenging as the AM band has filled up and most stations operate 24 hours now, where back then, many signed off at midnight or 1 AM. I was able to hear these: KPOI-1380, KORL-650, KGU-760, KIMO-850. Back then, KFI-640 in L.A. signed off at midnight on Sunday nights leaving 650 a clear frequency for me. KFMB-540 in San Diego had not moved to 760 yet, so that frequency was much clearer.

 

[SML]

When you are in Waikiki, there is a lot of RF noise floating around, and it makes it more difficult to DX the bands. Seasonal changes also affect AM DX quite a bit, with winter months being the best for reception of things far away. Getting out of Honolulu and into Ewa, or up on the north shore, as well as the windward side really helps clear reception up for DX purposes.
Over here on Kaua`i, I can easily hear the west coast most evenings, with stations from British Columbia to South America on some nights. Other nights, conditions are only good from Southern California and the northwest is barley audible. The conditions vary every night, and sometimes the west coast is barely audible, but the mountain west is clear. By 11 PM, the far east begins to open up, and most nights Japan is clear by 1 AM. That remains fairly constant until around 4 AM, when other far east stations begin to come in, along with the polar skip, which can bring in northern Europe for a short while, along with Alaska stations. The Alaskan stations are mostly gone by sunrise here.
When I lived in California in the mid-1980's I too could hear a couple Hawaiian AM stations, including KGU and KIMO. I even remember when AM stereo was being tried on KIMO, and I could decode it in Santa Cruz, and called them up to report the news to them. The Dj at the time was not all that impressed. I was, however.
The amount of interference on the mainland really prohibits hearing any of the Hawaiian stations anymore. I've tried, but there is never a time I have been able to dig through the interference to hear anything from out here.

 

[ScottBurns]

The last time I was on the Big Island was in April of 2006. I rented a car and attempted to DX on the AM dial while driving between Hilo and Kona after sunset. I picked up absolutely nothing other than the Honolulu AMs. Perhaps conditions were not great, but it was disappointing.

 

[davideduardo]

I lived in Riverside, CA in the early 60's and was able to hear 4 stations from Hawaii. T

Going farther east, in the early 60's I heard a number of Hawaiian stations in NE Ohio.

650, 690, 760, 830, 870, 1040, 1270 and 1380 were the ones I heard, several of which were heard under several different call letter combos. KIKI 830 was 250 watts at the time, and heard a number of times. I also had a tentative reception of 940 as well... on a night when I could not spend more time trying to dig it out as Roturua, NZ, was coming in on 1000.

 

[SML]

The last time I was on the Big Island was in April of 2006. I rented a car and attempted to DX on the AM dial while driving between Hilo and Kona after sunset. I picked up absolutely nothing other than the Honolulu AMs. Perhaps conditions were not great, but it was disappointing.

As I said, conditions can vary wildly from night to night. It is likely that later that night, one direction or another probably opened up.
When I am in American Samoa during summer in the southern hemisphere (December-February), I can usually hear KNX and KFI from Los Angeles, 740 KCBS, KGO, KNBR and 1050 from the Bay area. AM 1500 from Honolulu is usually very strong and clear, but hardly anything else from Oahu can be heard. During their winter (our summer) the entire South Pacific and east Asia is clearly audible down there, and not much from up north comes in.

 

[Lopaka]

KIKI @ 1/4kw all the way to Ohio is amazing! A personal record, perhaps? Let me guess WCCO was off then. For anybody interested, what was your personal record for DX, your best? For me, WPVL from Plainsville, O, to San Diego.

 

[SML]

KIKI @ 1/4kw all the way to Ohio is amazing! A personal record, perhaps? Let me guess WCCO was off then. For anybody interested, what was your personal record for DX, your best? For me, WPVL from Plainsville, O, to San Diego.

Out here, catching AM 530 khz in Cuba during winter months is probably the distance winner. Although hearing the occasional Brazilian AM is kind of special, but it is hard to dig them out of the crud, while Cuba is fairly clear and easy to ID.

 

[davideduardo]

KIKI @ 1/4kw all the way to Ohio is amazing! A personal record, perhaps? Let me guess WCCO was off then. For anybody interested, what was your personal record for DX, your best? For me, WPVL from Plainsville, O, to San Diego.

That was one of the better catches, but considering the the totally clear channel (At least until the 5 kw station in Salta, Argentina, signed on at 4 AM EST) it would not have been as good as things like KTIP 1450 from Porterville, CA, or AFRTS 780 Ramey AFB, PR, with 50 watts into an 80 foot tower. Considering how often I heard KIKI, too, it would have to be a trophy catch, but not anything like some of the congested channel stuff... another that comes to mind is KHSJ-1320 in Hemet, CA with 500 watts or the one in Paradise, CA, on 930 with 500 watts. My personal pick as best would be KFAR in Fairbanks, 660, 10 kw. One of the very, very few Alaskan catches in the Eastern US in the 60's. Also had a tentative on KBYR, 1270... a real catch at 1 kw.

 

[njradionj]

Maybe from Hilo, but from West Hawaii even in February just nothing not Hawaiian.

 

[SML]

Maybe from Hilo, but from West Hawaii even in February just nothing not Hawaiian.

I'm not sure what you mean. I can hear the west coast clearly in the winter, and Japan as well. And I live on Kaua`i, which about as far west as you can get in this state.
To that point, I was listening to KNX at sunset just this evening out at Kilauea point, about a mile from my house.

 

[keo]

I can verify nothing distant from all sides of the Big Island.
From the East you are completely shut out to just the Hilo stations.
From the West if your outside of Kailua Kona the Honolulu & Maui FM & AM stations come in very strong.
The Big Island FM's only put out half the power as the neighbor Maui & Oahu FM's use.
The Big Island AM's are worse, carry only 30 to 45 miles. At 5000 watts this is a disgrace.
On the mainland 5000 watts will take you into 3 states.
Strongest AM's are 650 KRTR & 940 KKNE, both off the Oahu Kunia location.
Kauai's two AM's 570 KQNG & 720 KUAI come in. For Kauai FM's I have just dxed 97.9 KFMN off a car radio.

 

[SML]

"I can verify nothing distant from all sides of the Big Island"

You can? You no try brah. Or you broken antenna.

Drive to the Saddle road midpoint, mile marker 28. In the daytime, you will hear all islands, even Kaua`i on AM and FM. I've done signal measurements at South Point, and even there the AM stations from Oahu come in during the day. There is no line-of-sight for FM down there, so it is quiet except for the KAPA FM booster.
After dark, anywhere around the Big Island (except under noisy lights or power lines), the West coast down to Costa Rica and up to Alaska is right there on AM. After 10 or 11 PM, Japan and the South Pacific rolls in, and by 3 AM, China, Indonesia, and other stations around the Pacific Rim are fairly clear, depending on the conditions that particular night.
As for power levels, on the Kona side all the FM station antennas at Kaloko are 5,000 feet above sea level. Full class C power is around 30KW, but it is a waste of power, not to mention expensive at 40 cents per KWH. Most of the commercial FM stations on Maui are at Ulupalakua, on a highly directional master panel system, pointing 70KW ERP west. Most transmitters are 8KW TPO to achieve 70KW. I can hear them on Kaua`i, 200 miles west.

 

[cd637299]

^ Oooh who is the Costa Rican??

Somebody give us $5000 so we can go to HI....I'll promise to DX with my best radios. j/k

cd

 

[WGU20]

Best DX I had from living for decades in Kailua on the windward side of Oahu. The mountains blocked all the inter-mod and spurs from the shared mw towers in Honolulu.
Best AM DX East-WBZ 1030 Boston/Radio Rebelde Cuba 1180
Best AM DX West-Oman 1413/India 1566
Best Long Wave BC Day-Russia 180 Winters
Best Long Wave BC Night-France 162 Winter
Best Low Band TVDX-New Zealand channel 1 picture and sound on a 625/25 modified TV. F2 Skip.
Best High Band TV DX-KGO-TV Channel 7 San Francisco picture and sound on rabbit ears during the annual July Tropo opening.
Furthest QTH worked simplex five watts on 2 meters-Portland, OR during the annual July Tropo opening.

 

[hm insulators]

Back in February 1980, I was vacationing in Kauai. I had a rental car and had great luck just after sunset hearing stateside stations....mainly from CA, OR and WA. Many Mexican stations, including XEW-900 were also noted. Almost all the 50 KW stations were audible including as far east as KSL and KOA. Many 5kw regional stations were heard, too. To hear these stations, I found a parking lot overlooking the ocean at an unpopulated beach on the NE coast of the island near Kapaa. There were only two AM stations on that island back then as I recall (720 and 1350?) so overloading was Not a problem. Kauai is 100 miles or so NW of Oahu, so the glut of AM stations there did not cause too many problems on Kauai. I would think that AM-band DXing would also be possible from The Big Island and Maui, too.

I can attest to all the AM overloading in and around Honolulu making AM DX there a challenge.

Back in the early 1980s, I was living on Kauai and being originally a Los Angeles native, I was probably the only person on the whole island who had KFI-640 preset on his car radio! I used to DX stations, and besides the West Coast, I was able to pick up stations as far away as Casper, Wyoming (AM 1030) and even WOAI in San Antonio. In those pre-Internet days, I would write the stations, let them know what I heard, and they would frequently send me cards.

 

[hm insulators]

When you are in Waikiki, there is a lot of RF noise floating around, and it makes it more difficult to DX the bands. Seasonal changes also affect AM DX quite a bit, with winter months being the best for reception of things far away. Getting out of Honolulu and into Ewa, or up on the north shore, as well as the windward side really helps clear reception up for DX purposes.
Over here on Kaua`i, I can easily hear the west coast most evenings, with stations from British Columbia to South America on some nights. Other nights, conditions are only good from Southern California and the northwest is barley audible. The conditions vary every night, and sometimes the west coast is barely audible, but the mountain west is clear. By 11 PM, the far east begins to open up, and most nights Japan is clear by 1 AM. That remains fairly constant until around 4 AM, when other far east stations begin to come in, along with the polar skip, which can bring in northern Europe for a short while, along with Alaska stations. The Alaskan stations are mostly gone by sunrise here.
When I lived in California in the mid-1980's I too could hear a couple Hawaiian AM stations, including KGU and KIMO. I even remember when AM stereo was being tried on KIMO, and I could decode it in Santa Cruz, and called them up to report the news to them. The Dj at the time was not all that impressed. I was, however.
The amount of interference on the mainland really prohibits hearing any of the Hawaiian stations anymore. I've tried, but there is never a time I have been able to dig through the interference to hear anything from out here.

Where on Kauai are you? I used to live in the Koloa area.