What do you think you could get if you were...

[ftballfan]

In North Platte, NE and tuned to 1060 kHz? (day and night)

Thought we could try this game where people can post what they would guess would come in on a certain frequency at a certain location. Of course if anyone has actually DXed from the location, then post what you could get there. Then every couple of days or so, someone can post a new frequency and location for others to guess what would come in there.

How about this..

You are on a cruise ship roughly 1000 miles off the California coast and it's midday.

I'm thinking with a good receiver you may get...

560 KSFO

600 KOGO (possibly, but I'm not sure what their exact pattern is)

610 KEAR

640 KFI

680 KNBR

710 KSPN

830 KLAA

The signals would probably be very weak but still audible enough to get IDs.

I didn't include any higher frequencies like KNX because, as we know, the higher frequencies don't have the same strength for a surface path.

I think KCBS and KGO would likely make it out as well.

 

[gar hi]

I didn't list KCBS and KGO because they are highly directional and I don't think they could be heard that far out at sea.

My brother in Hawaii has never heard KCBS at night and only once has heard KGO but KFI is easily heard there at night.

 

[Buckeyes2001]

I wonder if KIRO 710 could also be heard mixing with KSPN out there? I suppose it depends on how far you are from both signals. Also would KPAM stand a chance of being heard there I wonder?

 

[Buckeyes2001]

How about...99.5 MHz in Maumee, OH. This one is strange but lets see who can figure this one.

 

[radioman148]

I didn't list KCBS and KGO because they are highly directional and I don't think they could be heard that far out at sea.

My brother in Hawaii has never heard KCBS at night and only once has heard KGO but KFI is easily heard there at night.

I can say from my few visits to Hawaii that I've heard KCBS once or twice, but very weak. I never heard KGO out there. KFI, KNX, KNBR, KFAX, KTNQ all very strong in Hawaii & possibly could be heard quite a ways out in the Pacific via ground wave.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

So it seems I took an unplanned vacation from this thread. (I've been elsewhere on the forums now and then though.)
Figured I'd come back & comment on a few... (There's more I probably could comment, but I doubt I'll ever get to them.)

Round 14 - 1180 kHz - Lakeside, CA

I would suspect that to be all splatter from 1170 KCBQ during the day. Critical hours likely KERN and possibly XEUBS if you can get past KCBQ (more likely when they drop to 2.9kW) Nighttime likely KERN around KCBQ splatter.

Maybe...it depends. A couple years ago I heard 1180 KERN at my house at around 1pm on my Tecsun PL-606. Here are recordings of barefoot reception and reception with Select-A-Tenna. I live about 9 miles farther from KERN than the spot in Lakeside I'm thinking of (near the upper 11000s of Moreno Avenue), so maybe KERN could be heard there at midday too?

Oh! Maybe I should mention KCBQ (and co-located 910 KECR) was off the air for several minutes around then. Normally all I get from 1180 when 1170 is on is a weak 1 kHz het when I tune my SRF-M37W to 729 (1179-459) and hold it near my PL-398mp or Superadio III. Even then, the het gets masked when there's a lot of splatter.
KCBQ's transmitter comes back online during the above linked barefoot clip. The SAT clip was recorded a few minutes earlier. KERN is regularly heard at my house at night, though. In fact one time within the past few years I remember it actually coming in STRONGER than KCBQ and splattering over them in the wee hours of the morning!

594 kHz (are TP/TA freqs ok? & yes I HAVE received a station on that freq near there) .

Yes, definitely the 9 kHz TA/TP frequencies are good. FM frequencies, SW frequencies, public safety, or anything anyone wants to throw out there would be great

As for 594 kHz in Rancho San Diego, CA:
With careful phasing of KOGO and with the ripe TP conditions, JOAK from Japan (@ 300 kW) could make an appearance there probably around pre-sunrise in San Diego and at a time of year where it would also be dark in Japan. Also possible, though less likely would be DZBB 594 from Manila, Philippines (@ 50 kW)

A few years ago I DID hear JOAK at my house near there on my PL-380 + SAT. And yes, this time (unlike 1180 KERN vs 1170 KCBQ), KOGO+HD was on the air.

Round 15 - 1410 kHz in Mason, OH

I have heard reports of what this would be but I want to see what others' guesses are

On my radios (yes including the Tecsuns) it'd likely be all WLW.

This almost gave me an idea of another one - 1490 kHz near the central part of the parking lot for Northlake Festival shopping center in Tucker, GA - that is, until finding out via Barry McLarnon's site that WSB isn't currently IBOC. Another idea was a TP/TA split like 1062, 1071 or maybe 1080 (disqualifying domestic signals) near the southwest corner of Columbia Park in Torrance, CA. Anyone have any other suggestions along similar lines?



As for the cruise ship 1000 miles off California idea...

I'd think 1070 KNX would be more likely than 830 KLAA. KNX is fairly close to the coast and uses a slightly larger than 1/2-wave antenna, whereas KLAA is several tens of miles inland and uses a 1/4-wave antenna.

Also I wouldn't discount some of the higher frequencies and/or lower power stations.
For example, here's 16.4 watts (ERP based on TPO & antenna pattern) at 181 miles on 990, and also 650 watts at 179 miles on 1340, both heard using only the SRF-59's built-in ferrite loopstick antenna at Pacific Beach, CA. If those low powers could be heard that well at nearly 200 miles with only an inch-and-a-half or so antenna, I wonder how they (or higher power stations) would do with a communications receiver, beverage antenna and tuned loop? (Based on experiments I've done, I'd guess when coupling my Tecsuns to a utility groundwire + SAT, I get upwards of 50, 60, maybe even 70 dB gain.)



Also I had a few ideas for OUTSIDE the contiguous 48 states, but can't decide. Any suggestions from those below?

Kekaha, HI - 1170, 1340.5, 1449.5
Barrow, AK - 540, 760, 840, 990, 1030, 1090, 1180, 1340.5, 1560

The .5 splits are chosen due to graveyard frequencies being 1 kHz from 9 kHz split frequencies. All the frequencies listed (rounding to the nearest 10 kHz for the splits) are NOT used at all in those states. (There were other contenders, too - I'm just listing those few.)



Oh and I very nearly forgot! Looks like it's a bit late to try it now, but while KAAY was off the air, I wonder what you'd hear on 1090 at their transmitter site if you hooked an SDR like a Perseus, via a phasing network, up to their towers, using them as your receive antenna? (And if KAAY was on and running 50 kW, would the Perseus have enough selectivity to get splatter-free full-bandwidth (pre-NRSC) analog stereo reception of 1080 KRLD or 1100 WTAM at 12:30pm CDT on June 21 during a solar maximum year?)


Another thing I was thinking recently... I wonder if, with a sensitive enough (and selective, due to being near 50kW 810 WHB) receiver & antenna setup, you could possibly hear XEROK and CKLW at midday in summer, with comparable reception quality to 1390s XEKT and KLTX on the SRF-59 and PL-606 in Pacific Beach?



As for the recent suggestion of 99.5 in Maumee, OH, it'd likely be silence or just noise on my Tecsun PL-398mp. (Of course having a broken whip antenna doesn't help.)

 

[gar hi]

I'd think 1070 KNX would be more likely than 830 KLAA. KNX is fairly close to the coast and uses a slightly larger than 1/2-wave antenna, whereas KLAA is several tens of miles inland and uses a 1/4-wave antenna.

That's a good point.

I didn't consider nearness to the coast.

Now that you mention it, I am almost certain that I was hearing KCTA Corpus Christi, Texas midday @ 891 miles across the Gulf.

Had to be them with the preaching. It went on so long and there was no ID.

You can hear it in the background of the louder Spanish speaking station.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsW21MVXM8Q

 

[ftballfan]

99.5 in Maumee, OH - WYCD Detroit

 

[Lawppy]

Are you sure? They recently put a satellator on 99.5 in Perrysburg, OH. But you probably wouldn't have to be too far away from Maumee, OH to get WYCD.

 

[bobdavcav]

Ok, several frequencies in one place here, 92.5, 94.1, 95.7, 96.9, and 97.7 in Eugene, OR. Note I actually heard the 97.7 one the other day.

 

[crainbebo]

92.5 in Eugene - probably not much except maybe the K223AO Florence, OR translator in good conditions, or MAYBE KQMV about once a year...
94.1 - not much.
95.7 - not much
96.9 K245AA Eugene, OR, a KHPE translator. 107.9 KHPE can be heard down there
97.7 KOMO in tropo, otherwise nothing...

-crainbebo

 

[bobdavcav]

Oh ok so that was the 96.9 I heard the other day. There must have been some tropo that day because I did manage to pull KOMO via the Eugene tuner on Global Tuners the other day. Unfortunately, they won't be able to be heard much longer due to the KSHL move. I really don't get why so many stations have translators where the main signal is already strong?

 

[crainbebo]

In Eugene? Hills, especially around Cottage Grove. Reason why KRSB 103.1 Roseburg, and other Southern OR stations, are not even heard there, due to the mountains.

-crainbebo

 

[ftballfan]

Multiple stations in one place:
92.5, 94.5, 96.1, 99.9, 102.5, and 105.3 in Manistee, MI

 

[ddsparxx]

Ok, several frequencies in one place here, 92.5, 94.1, 95.7, 96.9, and 97.7 in Eugene, OR. Note I actually heard the 97.7 one the other day.

Probably usually nothing on 4 of those 5 those frequencies...I remember hearing nothing on them in Eugene except the local K245AA 96.9 several years ago...There's a 94.1 in Bend, OR but the mountains block its signal but once heard it in Salem area.

 

[bobdavcav]

In Eugene? Hills, especially around Cottage Grove. Reason why KRSB 103.1 Roseburg, and other Southern OR stations, are not even heard there, due to the mountains.

-crainbebo

Is that why so many Eugene stations have translators in Cotage Grove? Is it a situation similar to Coeur D'Alene related to Spokane stations? Maybe this is a thread for another board, but KLVU has a translator at 107.3 when the main 107.1 signal comes in just as clear down there, and 107.9 is the same way. Don't even get me started on the KMTT situation in downtown Seattle. Maybe I'll make a new thread about this over on the FCC Policy debate board.

 

[ddsparxx]

I think a lot of cities and towns in the western states have a ton of translators due to surrounding terrain...Roseburg, OR is one example, it has probably nearly 15 within a 23 mile range, including a huge 100.1 translator on a mountain relaying Family Stations' programming.

 

[crainbebo]

That 100.1 out of Black Butte makes it to Eugene. Big signal. (Global Tuners has a Eugene node now for FM...)

-crainbebo

 

[ftballfan]

This thread needs to be brought back!

104.3 MHz in Manistee, MI

 

[Buckeyes2001]

104.3 MHz in Manistee, MI:

Probably several stations with weak signals taking turns fading in and out, including:

CJQM/Sault St. Marie, ON
WCZY/Mt. Pleasant, MI
WKZG/Seymour, WI
WVCN/Baraga, MI
WOMC/Detroit, MI
WJMK/Chicago, IL

Airplane scatter can easily have an influence on which station(s) fade in

Definitely looks like a great DXing frequency there!