I found a nifty tool for DXing recently -- the TuneIn Radio app. Does anyone else use this? It's an aggregator of AM and FM radio signals from around the world. Not every broadcaster streams on the internet, of course, but a remarkable number do, and TuneIn has a huge number of them. I've found that I can quickly "tune in" an internet stream for a station on my iPhone while I'm DXing on my radio, so that if I have a guess as to a particular broadcast signal I'm hearing, there's a good chance the stream is available to confirm or deny whether that's the case, although usually the internet stream lags what I'm hearing on the radio.
It's especially good for Spanish language stations, since I don't speak Spanish, but I'm eager to hear, for example, if the station I hear on 730 AM is the blowtorch sports station from Mexico City. (It was, and I heard it from Iowa a couple nights in a row recently, over the usual, CKDM from Dauphin, Manitoba.) I did this with a couple of other Canadians that I think I've heard in the past, CKBI 900 from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and CKLQ 880 from Brandon, Manitoba. It would be nice for Cuban stations, too, but I suspect that a lot of them are not streaming on the internet.
It feels a little bit like cheating, since for years I've held out for a station ID before confirming a particular catch, or at least, a local radio spot from the local area of the station. But ultimately, a catch is a catch, and once I have a good one, then I want to find another good one. Hence the peculiar, esoteric thrill of DXing.
It's especially good for Spanish language stations, since I don't speak Spanish, but I'm eager to hear, for example, if the station I hear on 730 AM is the blowtorch sports station from Mexico City. (It was, and I heard it from Iowa a couple nights in a row recently, over the usual, CKDM from Dauphin, Manitoba.) I did this with a couple of other Canadians that I think I've heard in the past, CKBI 900 from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and CKLQ 880 from Brandon, Manitoba. It would be nice for Cuban stations, too, but I suspect that a lot of them are not streaming on the internet.
It feels a little bit like cheating, since for years I've held out for a station ID before confirming a particular catch, or at least, a local radio spot from the local area of the station. But ultimately, a catch is a catch, and once I have a good one, then I want to find another good one. Hence the peculiar, esoteric thrill of DXing.
Couple things I don't like about it, though - not every station is on it (for example Clear Channel / iHeartRadio which won't run on my too-old phone, and some international stations). Also it would help me immensely if the stream and over-the-air transmitted audio were synchronized so there's no echo / delay. (Bonus points for running straight off the board at the studio, but then the FCC might have something to say if someone utters something like *********************************.)