You're close enough to possibly hear one even now, if conditions are right. I've heard Korea -- once-- with just a bit of unintelligible audio on a Realistic TRF, on just the internal loopstick antenna, even through the heterodyne whistle. And I live in a hole prob. 500-800 miles further away from NE Asia than you are. It was a powerhouse station in the 1500s khz somewhere.
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What are your advantages and disadvantages about your location
- Thread starter dxtrfn80
- Start date
1566 HLAZ. Common here.
I recommend building a large loop out of 12-gauge wire and PVC pipes, with a variable capacitor. You can get the parts online at various electronics/hobby sites. That's how I built my loop for AM DX, in 2012:
http://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?637278-Box-Loop-Update
Last night I was able to get KIIX-1410 Fort Collins underneath CFTE (1000 watts), but the RFI noise is still very high here, even at 1 IN THE MORNING! Oh, for the power of a large beverage on a farm field, or setting up a loop at a mountain campground. Noise goes away, signals come in.
I also recommend a better radio. A Worktunes headset is not going to work well...at all.
The Sangean PR-D5 can most likely be shipped to your area of Alaska; and it works wonders on AM:
http://www.amazon.com/Sangean-PR-D5-Portable-Digital-Tuning/dp/B000TEVQVO
Hoping to hear some interesting logs soon from Alaska.
I recommend building a large loop out of 12-gauge wire and PVC pipes, with a variable capacitor. You can get the parts online at various electronics/hobby sites. That's how I built my loop for AM DX, in 2012:
http://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?637278-Box-Loop-Update
Last night I was able to get KIIX-1410 Fort Collins underneath CFTE (1000 watts), but the RFI noise is still very high here, even at 1 IN THE MORNING! Oh, for the power of a large beverage on a farm field, or setting up a loop at a mountain campground. Noise goes away, signals come in.
I also recommend a better radio. A Worktunes headset is not going to work well...at all.
The Sangean PR-D5 can most likely be shipped to your area of Alaska; and it works wonders on AM:
http://www.amazon.com/Sangean-PR-D5-Portable-Digital-Tuning/dp/B000TEVQVO
Hoping to hear some interesting logs soon from Alaska.
Ditto on the PR-D5, except the audio can be muddy on the AM side. Perhaps the PR-D15 would be a better choice, as it has tone controls.
I thought I'd add that Radio Shack's Pocket Radio works decently, and it's only $14-$15. Probably the cheapest DX capable small radio out there.
My previous post was cut short due to time restraints here...
I have a PR-D5 and it's a great radio. You don't even need an external loop to DX with it. 6 C cells will last maybe two weeks if you don't crank it. It's like a mini-boombox. The selectivity is terrific. But the highs are consequently cut a bit, and that's why I mentioned the PR-D15 might be a good choice also (even though it's about $20 more expensive), as it has a tone control and 1 khz tuning, with which you can tune a little to the right or left of a channel to increase the treble if needed. I've never used a PR-D15, so I can't compare the two. But either radio would probably be better than the headphone radio you're now using.
My previous post was cut short due to time restraints here...
I have a PR-D5 and it's a great radio. You don't even need an external loop to DX with it. 6 C cells will last maybe two weeks if you don't crank it. It's like a mini-boombox. The selectivity is terrific. But the highs are consequently cut a bit, and that's why I mentioned the PR-D15 might be a good choice also (even though it's about $20 more expensive), as it has a tone control and 1 khz tuning, with which you can tune a little to the right or left of a channel to increase the treble if needed. I've never used a PR-D15, so I can't compare the two. But either radio would probably be better than the headphone radio you're now using.
GE Superadio 1's and 2's are about the same in performance. Both are built like tanks. My SR2 took a dive from the refrigerator and still works perfectly.
GE Superadio 3's are good -- if they're made in the early 1990's. Their advantage over the 1 and 2 is that they tune the X-band. Some of the later SR3's are clunkers. Rbrucecarter -- who hangs out here sometimes -- can explain the issue with the GESR3 much better than I can.
All Superadios are great on batteries -- a set of D Cells lasts months.
If you can find a decent SR1 or SR2, you'll do well. There's very little in them to go wrong or break. Most owners didn't bother to try to "improve" them -- a lot of people got them to hear night time talk shows, listen to radio at work, etc. in the 1980's. Then they get rid of them because they're big, old, etc. One guy here got an SR2 that had apparently been messed with. But most of the reports I've read about them people got good ones.
You could get a Sony ICF-38 and do almost as well, at possibly a lower cost, and have a brand new radio -- if you're hesitant about buying used and are on a budget. Some nights I set them side by side and hear very little difference in performance. Other nights (and during the daytime), the SR2 definitely has the edge (it has a much larger loopstick inside), which is overcome easily by adding an external, small Radio Shack loop. But for the money, the Sony's a good radio.
They're analog -- very few things to break. The volume control will probably never get scratchy because the chip has electronic volume control built in. The radio sounds decent through the speaker, too. The Sony is cheap enough you could always get something different later if you're not satisfied enough with it.
I have a PR-D5 I use a lot. The only minor drawback is the one I mentioned -- I use a set of 1990's era, flat response Radio Shack headphones and the audio's good enough to DX with. Most people seem to have good luck with PR-D5's. A guy here has had one for 9 years or so (?) and is happy with it. Just don't use boomy headphones if you DX with 'phones.
GE Superadio 3's are good -- if they're made in the early 1990's. Their advantage over the 1 and 2 is that they tune the X-band. Some of the later SR3's are clunkers. Rbrucecarter -- who hangs out here sometimes -- can explain the issue with the GESR3 much better than I can.
All Superadios are great on batteries -- a set of D Cells lasts months.
If you can find a decent SR1 or SR2, you'll do well. There's very little in them to go wrong or break. Most owners didn't bother to try to "improve" them -- a lot of people got them to hear night time talk shows, listen to radio at work, etc. in the 1980's. Then they get rid of them because they're big, old, etc. One guy here got an SR2 that had apparently been messed with. But most of the reports I've read about them people got good ones.
You could get a Sony ICF-38 and do almost as well, at possibly a lower cost, and have a brand new radio -- if you're hesitant about buying used and are on a budget. Some nights I set them side by side and hear very little difference in performance. Other nights (and during the daytime), the SR2 definitely has the edge (it has a much larger loopstick inside), which is overcome easily by adding an external, small Radio Shack loop. But for the money, the Sony's a good radio.
They're analog -- very few things to break. The volume control will probably never get scratchy because the chip has electronic volume control built in. The radio sounds decent through the speaker, too. The Sony is cheap enough you could always get something different later if you're not satisfied enough with it.
I have a PR-D5 I use a lot. The only minor drawback is the one I mentioned -- I use a set of 1990's era, flat response Radio Shack headphones and the audio's good enough to DX with. Most people seem to have good luck with PR-D5's. A guy here has had one for 9 years or so (?) and is happy with it. Just don't use boomy headphones if you DX with 'phones.
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Metro Atlanta, GA
FM:
Advantages: Rolling topography makes it possible to pull in frequencies from surrounding markets such as Greenville-Spartanburg, Chattanooga, Augusta, Birmingham, especially Macon.
Disadvantages: Between the legacy frequencies, move-ins, as well as the LP and translators, there aren't very many open frequencies. Dial is on the crowded side.
AM:
Advantages: Location does allow for one to grab many of the major Eastern, Midwestern, and of course, the Southern 50kw's, under the right circumstances
Disadvantages: Poor ground conductivity pretty much limits what's available during the daylight hours. Most of the area daytimers are very noisy, or barely audible once you get any distance in the suburbs. Other than WSB, most of the 50kw AM's can be noisy around high transmission power lines. Even though most of the 50kw clears from the Eastern half of the US can be received, WLW, KMOX, WSM, WLAC, and of course WSB are the most consistently received. Metro Atlanta is far enough south to where the Mexican and Cubans can interfere with some of the 50kw clears.
FM:
Advantages: Rolling topography makes it possible to pull in frequencies from surrounding markets such as Greenville-Spartanburg, Chattanooga, Augusta, Birmingham, especially Macon.
Disadvantages: Between the legacy frequencies, move-ins, as well as the LP and translators, there aren't very many open frequencies. Dial is on the crowded side.
AM:
Advantages: Location does allow for one to grab many of the major Eastern, Midwestern, and of course, the Southern 50kw's, under the right circumstances
Disadvantages: Poor ground conductivity pretty much limits what's available during the daylight hours. Most of the area daytimers are very noisy, or barely audible once you get any distance in the suburbs. Other than WSB, most of the 50kw AM's can be noisy around high transmission power lines. Even though most of the 50kw clears from the Eastern half of the US can be received, WLW, KMOX, WSM, WLAC, and of course WSB are the most consistently received. Metro Atlanta is far enough south to where the Mexican and Cubans can interfere with some of the 50kw clears.
From northwest San Antonio:
AM Advantages
- Pretty good groundwave propagation during the day. Besides the locals and semi-locals, I can usually hear some weak but copyable 200+ mile Houston, Dallas, and Monterrey area stations.
- At night the band's not too crowded by locals, and stations close to my residence drop their power enough to allow reception on adjacent channels by nulling. All graveyard channels free of locals.
- Being fairly close to the southern U.S. border, I regularly receive some Cuba stations and a lot of Mexico stations. I've logged 22 Mexico states plus D.F.
AM Disadvantages
- I'm three miles from 5 kW KCOR on 1350 and five miles from 10 kW KRDY on 1160. Faint images of both show up in different spots on AM (less so on my better radios) at daytime. Depending on the radio, adjacent bleed from KCOR can extend as much as 500 kHz on either side during the day.
- Although it's great receiving all the Mexico stations because of my location, they block out a fair number of U.S. stations. Not counting locals, there are four frequencies where I've logged zero U.S. stations and a little over a dozen where I have just one U.S. logging.
- During the day there's some RFI from neighboring houses and my own house's wiring, especially aiming north/south. At night it lingers in the lowest AM frequencies and LW. I can alleviate this by going 20 feet out in the front yard or to the side of my house in the back yard near the front gate. I have to be careful at night, though, because I've occasionally seen skunks cruising the area.
FM Advantages
- Decent line of sight reception. Locals, translators, and most semi-locals come in fine.
- Tropo scatter much of the year except when it's really cold and dry. Great tropo from late March to mid-September with openings to south and east TX as well as northeast and north central Mexico. Occasional openings to north central and northeast TX, to LA and further east, and further in to Mexico. Occasional good fall and winter tropo when the weather heats up for a few days.
- Good e-skip. Plenty of openings to the west, southwest, midwest, and southeast U.S. and many areas of Mexico. I've also had a few openings to the mid-atlantic US, the Yucatan peninsula, and northern Central America.
FM Disadvantages
- I'm seven miles from an antenna farm with four 96+ kW stations and two ~70 kW stations, some of them using IBOC, which hampers tropo and e-skip on adjacent frequencies. A good number of my 88.x e-skip catches were made on my car radio at locations in town that are further away from the antenna farm.
- The great tropo sometimes interferes with e-skip openings. Also, the Gulf of Mexico is about 150 miles to my southeast, which means there is nothing to receive from beyond the Texas coast when tropo is coming from the southeast.
- The band is getting more clogged, with about half a dozen new translators and LPs added in the last two years.
I'll be traveling to Anaheim, CA, for a few days in May. Can anyone tell me the DXing advantages/disadvantages of that locale during that timeframe?
AM Advantages
- Pretty good groundwave propagation during the day. Besides the locals and semi-locals, I can usually hear some weak but copyable 200+ mile Houston, Dallas, and Monterrey area stations.
- At night the band's not too crowded by locals, and stations close to my residence drop their power enough to allow reception on adjacent channels by nulling. All graveyard channels free of locals.
- Being fairly close to the southern U.S. border, I regularly receive some Cuba stations and a lot of Mexico stations. I've logged 22 Mexico states plus D.F.
AM Disadvantages
- I'm three miles from 5 kW KCOR on 1350 and five miles from 10 kW KRDY on 1160. Faint images of both show up in different spots on AM (less so on my better radios) at daytime. Depending on the radio, adjacent bleed from KCOR can extend as much as 500 kHz on either side during the day.
- Although it's great receiving all the Mexico stations because of my location, they block out a fair number of U.S. stations. Not counting locals, there are four frequencies where I've logged zero U.S. stations and a little over a dozen where I have just one U.S. logging.
- During the day there's some RFI from neighboring houses and my own house's wiring, especially aiming north/south. At night it lingers in the lowest AM frequencies and LW. I can alleviate this by going 20 feet out in the front yard or to the side of my house in the back yard near the front gate. I have to be careful at night, though, because I've occasionally seen skunks cruising the area.
FM Advantages
- Decent line of sight reception. Locals, translators, and most semi-locals come in fine.
- Tropo scatter much of the year except when it's really cold and dry. Great tropo from late March to mid-September with openings to south and east TX as well as northeast and north central Mexico. Occasional openings to north central and northeast TX, to LA and further east, and further in to Mexico. Occasional good fall and winter tropo when the weather heats up for a few days.
- Good e-skip. Plenty of openings to the west, southwest, midwest, and southeast U.S. and many areas of Mexico. I've also had a few openings to the mid-atlantic US, the Yucatan peninsula, and northern Central America.
FM Disadvantages
- I'm seven miles from an antenna farm with four 96+ kW stations and two ~70 kW stations, some of them using IBOC, which hampers tropo and e-skip on adjacent frequencies. A good number of my 88.x e-skip catches were made on my car radio at locations in town that are further away from the antenna farm.
- The great tropo sometimes interferes with e-skip openings. Also, the Gulf of Mexico is about 150 miles to my southeast, which means there is nothing to receive from beyond the Texas coast when tropo is coming from the southeast.
- The band is getting more clogged, with about half a dozen new translators and LPs added in the last two years.
I'll be traveling to Anaheim, CA, for a few days in May. Can anyone tell me the DXing advantages/disadvantages of that locale during that timeframe?
Anaheim has a disadvantage, well, maybe two:
RF noise is very high on AM...especially with Disneyland so close.
Also, every channel (except maybe 1 or 2) on FM is occupied with a station, or IBOC hash. 95.1 may be one of the few exceptions (some parts of LA get KBBY, some parts get KFRG).
-crainbebo
RF noise is very high on AM...especially with Disneyland so close.
Also, every channel (except maybe 1 or 2) on FM is occupied with a station, or IBOC hash. 95.1 may be one of the few exceptions (some parts of LA get KBBY, some parts get KFRG).
-crainbebo
Can't say enough about the PR-D5. I've had mine for 6 years now and I've never seen such a solid durable radio, not even the portable AM/FM radios I had in the 60's and 70's were as good in that respect.
It's amazing the tuning knob is still fully intact. Never expected it to last this long.
The 200 mm internal antenna for AM makes the sensitivity great. It also makes it more sensitive to background noise too but that's still worth it.
Given recent events, you can now say you've logged 23 states (Mexico City is now a state, no longer known as the DF). I wish I could get more interior Mexico; I have no shot at Mexico City given the open frequencies here, though I have logged Guadalajara 730 (barely, under XESOS Agua Prieta) and one from Monterrey.
Here are my Mexican verifications from Cleveland, OH, from the early 60's. I also heard 30 of the states from Phoenix in the period from 1972 to early 1975.
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-DX/Veries/DFG-Mexico.pdf
Nice to see your verification from XERH/XEHH/XERR. The two shortwave signals were frequent visitors in Indianapolis, and though I didn't understand what was being said, I used to love listening to them. Seemed their only advertiser was Pepsi Cola.
I never DXed sortwave, and that "verie" was for the 1500 AM, which was a rather difficult catch in the Northeast. Still, it was heard by most foreign DXers at the time.
Thanks, crainbebo. Good to know. I'll plan on looking for an area that's a bit away from the town to escape the RFI when I try DXing.
I have a PR-D15 and it's very sensitive, but all the great reports are making me want to get a PR-D5. The PR-D15 has soft muting, so weak stations are sometimes too weak to understand even when the volume is cranked all the way. I've also been looking at the newer Sangean PR-D4W, which has received good reviews by Jay Allen and others. It's like a PR-D5 in that it only tunes in 9 and 10 kHz steps, but it has adjustable bandwidth on both AM and FM (and has the weather band).
Manistee, MI
Advantages (FM): Not many strong locals (nearest station that's C2 or stronger is 30 miles away), clear path over Lake Michigan brings in Green Bay and Milwaukee signals routinely with Wausau, Marquette, and Iron Mountain (plus 99.9 WHFB and the occasional Chicago) showing up less often
Disadvantages (FM): Terrain to south/east (and locals) blocks Detroit, (most) Tri-Cities, Flint
AM: No real disadvantages, nearest AM is 20 miles away and is a graveyarder, Wisconsin AMs are in solid daytime, Chicago bigs (670, 720, 780, 890, 1000, 1160) are in 24/7, the big Midwest and East Coast clears can be heard almost every night
Advantages (FM): Not many strong locals (nearest station that's C2 or stronger is 30 miles away), clear path over Lake Michigan brings in Green Bay and Milwaukee signals routinely with Wausau, Marquette, and Iron Mountain (plus 99.9 WHFB and the occasional Chicago) showing up less often
Disadvantages (FM): Terrain to south/east (and locals) blocks Detroit, (most) Tri-Cities, Flint
AM: No real disadvantages, nearest AM is 20 miles away and is a graveyarder, Wisconsin AMs are in solid daytime, Chicago bigs (670, 720, 780, 890, 1000, 1160) are in 24/7, the big Midwest and East Coast clears can be heard almost every night
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