What was the first station Y'all caught DX'ing that got You really interested?

[ddsparxx]

well lots of AM and TV DX but anyone get a FM long distance and get hooked that way?

I actually got hooked on FM DX back in the early 80s when I spent some time in Roswell, NM when I heard tropo coming from various parts of Texas during the summer, with a boom box. I was looking for a good rock station to listen to at that time. The FM DX bug faded away a few years but came back when I heard a couple of Pittsburgh FM stations in northern VA, just west of DC. That was with a tuner section of a stereo receiver and an indoor dipole antenna.

 

[Tincap]

For me, I can probably trace it back to the '78/79, while I was on UN peace keeping duties in Ismailia, Egypt. I was able to pull in Cypriat stations (especially the British Army's BFBS station), in full blown FM stereo on a regular basis. It was also my first exposure to the BBC World Service, which could be heard from Cyprus on the AM band through out the day. As well my interest in SW began there...

I can blame it all, on being an 18 year-old in Egypt, pretty much sheltered from 'pop' for a year and being exposed to a whole new world coming through my radio.

BG

 

[pianoplayer88key]

My first (AM) DX...
I had gotten a free portable sports radio with a bicycle I got about 18 years or so ago. Naturally it had analog (dial) tuning, poor sensitivity and even worse selectivity, being a freebie.
I was tuning around one night with it before I went to bed, and I heard this extremely faint talk station a little bit below a religious station I knew was on 910, and above a spanish station on 860. My dad & I tuned it in in the car - and it was 890AM KDXU from St George, Utah. (Obviously the signal was much better on the car radio.)

As for FM... I haven't really gotten anything of significance -- often I can pull in 103.3 and 97.3 Santa Barbara, CA from some of the higher hills near El Cajon / La Mesa, CA, but considering the fact that some of you regularly probably receive stations from much farther away, my FM "DX" is really considered local "right under the stick" to you all. It probably also doesn't help that I happen to be stuck with an FM radio with absolutely horrendous selectivity - for example, I am completely unable to pull in a station on one channel that is let's say -90dBu (or whatever is considered an extremely weak barely listenable signal on a good quality FM radio - maybe one about 150 miles away with a 1kW transmitter) when I am within 1/8 mile of a local 100kW stick 0.2MHz away (or maybe +150dBm or something - not sure either).

Also my AM DX ability or lack thereof is bad too - for example sitting at Highway 52 and Mast Blvd in Santee, CA, I absolutely have no trace of WSM Atlanta in the daytime (or at night for that matter) or WJR Detroit at any time - my radios are not selective, sensitive or directional enough.

I don't do TV.

 

[radioman148]

>>Also my AM DX ability or lack thereof is bad too - for example sitting at Highway 52 and Mast Blvd in Santee, CA, I absolutely have no trace of WSM Atlanta in the daytime (or at night for that matter) or WJR Detroit at any time - my radios are not selective, sensitive or directional enough. Sad>>

I don't think you're going to have any luck getting those stations during the day. As far as nighttime goes you're about 30 years too late with all the frequency clutter

 

[pianoplayer88key]

>>I don't think you're going to have any luck getting those stations during the day. As far as nighttime goes you're about 30 years too late with all the frequency clutter>>
With an antenna by rbrucecarter, I might have a slight chance in the daytime. Problem is that happens to be the transmitter site for 760 KFMB, which runs 5kW days, 50kW nights - 1st adjacent to WSB (previous post should have said WSB Atlanta instead of WSM Atlanta, but I can't edit it now), co-channel to WJR. I almost said try to pull in 750 KFQD Anchorage, AK, but then got to thinking even though the distance is farther the saltwater path might overcompensate...

So how do you DX when you're close to local sticks and going on a DXpedition isn't an option? Within several miles (with a few strong and somewhat more distant stations also listed) I have a 5KW IBOC on 600, a 77kW/50kW on 690, a 5kW/50kW on 760, a 5kW on 910, a 50kW on 1090, a 10kW on 1130, a 50kW/4.5kW on 1170, a 5kW/1kW on 1360, among several others. 760 and 1130 probably tie for the strongest signal at night, with 1170 taking the honors in the daytime. All three strongest stations splatter strongly onto the second adjacent, and quite audible on the third adjacent on the radio I have been using.

 

[radioman148]

You'll need a very directional antenna setup, but even with that it will be very tough to work around that strong splatter.

 

[crainbebo]

My first (AM) DX...
I had gotten a free portable sports radio with a bicycle I got about 18 years or so ago. Naturally it had analog (dial) tuning, poor sensitivity and even worse selectivity, being a freebie.
I was tuning around one night with it before I went to bed, and I heard this extremely faint talk station a little bit below a religious station I knew was on 910, and above a spanish station on 860. My dad & I tuned it in in the car - and it was 890AM KDXU from St George, Utah. (Obviously the signal was much better on the car radio.)

As for FM... I haven't really gotten anything of significance -- often I can pull in 103.3 and 97.3 Santa Barbara, CA from some of the higher hills near El Cajon / La Mesa, CA, but considering the fact that some of you regularly probably receive stations from much farther away, my FM "DX" is really considered local "right under the stick" to you all. It probably also doesn't help that I happen to be stuck with an FM radio with absolutely horrendous selectivity - for example, I am completely unable to pull in a station on one channel that is let's say -90dBu (or whatever is considered an extremely weak barely listenable signal on a good quality FM radio - maybe one about 150 miles away with a 1kW transmitter) when I am within 1/8 mile of a local 100kW stick 0.2MHz away (or maybe +150dBm or something - not sure either).

Also my AM DX ability or lack thereof is bad too - for example sitting at Highway 52 and Mast Blvd in Santee, CA, I absolutely have no trace of WSM Atlanta in the daytime (or at night for that matter) or WJR Detroit at any time - my radios are not selective, sensitive or directional enough.

I don't do TV.

That's WSB, not WSM.

-crainbebo

 

[pianoplayer88key]

I know it should have said WSB I even said so in a post after that because I had gone past the editing time. 8)

 

[Icangelp]

Grew up in Indianapolis & listened to out of town stations as a pre-teen during the very late 50's, including WJJD which at the time was playing r&r, but I didn't realize I was doing the DX thing.

My best friend in high school introduced me to short wave listening in freshman year and I went out and bought a Zenith TransOceanic with my paper delivery money. I then was given an old and working Zenith floor model AM/Shortwave radio with a loop antenna. The rest is history.

At first I primarily used DXing to find AM top 40 stations and left my true DXing to the shortwaves, but soon moved to MW DXing for the shear pleasure of hearing far away AM stations, but it wasn't until 1979 that I was able to afford some real DXing receivers and antennas.

One of the biggest mistakes I every made was yielding to my curiostity and opening up my TransOceanic for a look-see. I removed one to many parts and was never able to get it back together again. Went looking for the box of parts a few months ago, but we must have thrown them out. Sadness is overcoming me. I need a beautiful woman to hold my hand, maybe Erin Andrews.

 

[vchimpanzee]

In 1977 we got our first FM radio for Christmas. It was an AM/FM/turntable with stereo speakers. Whether these other details have anything to do with the AM reception I don't know. There were other AM radios in the house that might have been as good.

I would listen to the second half of my high school's football games. Ours was a town where high school sports was really important on the local radio station. I was never interested in going to see a game. One time I heard the announcer mention that the station for the other team was in the booth, and that got me to wondering if I could pick up that station. I didn't actually know where to look, but I found this great radio station while in the process of looking. It was WCKY 1530 in Cincinnati. You just didn't hear music like this on the radio back then. Stations that we would call "adult standards" today had pretty much given way to adult contemporary or other formats. Interestingly, at around the same time, "WKRP in Cincinnati" came on the air and I enjoyed it. It was said to be at 1530 when a frequency was mentioned, and 50,000 watts. And they played that same kind of music. Until Andy Travis got there.

 

[vchimpanzee]

For me it was WLS in the early 70's. During the day everyone listened to our local top 40/rocker WKUL 1340 but after dark it was all WLS. I'm located in north Alabama.

I spent a year in Oklahoma in the late 60s & WLS was the most listened to station at night.

This is hard to believe but I heard "Hot for Teacher" by Van Halen on WLS, and something by ZZ Top. Maybe "Legs". I guess a few AM top 40s survived longer than others.

 

[vchimpanzee]

The first station that led to me DXing when I heard whatever the 660 AM in NY was in the 70s, on an AM radio shaped like an antique car during the late evening in northern VA. The radio was not a good performer at that time.

It was WNBC and I heard "Purple Rain" by Prince.

 

[Darth_vader]

Re: What was the first station Y'all caught DX'ing that got You really intereste

For me it was Voice of America on 9450 (?) kHz, in the early 1990s using a DX-360 Grampa gave to me. I think I was probably in second or third grade at the time. Of course this was back when VOA were still using their transmitter in California, and was (at that time) relatively easy to pick up in the Northwest even in the daytime. Ira Melman was doing the news (I think it was Ira; I know I still have a tape of it somewhere...) and then they signed off at 7:00 PM playing Yankee Doodle. And then about 1/2 hour later a station in French popped up on the same frequency, with the musical "VOA" ident. (Might have been French to Africa for all I know.)

About 1993 or so, first time I had ever heard [of] Black Sabbath was on a musical revue programme on VOA. Ozzy Osbourne was in the studio that night being given an interview. I still have my LP of "Paranoid" that I asked for my Birthday that year. ;o)

Then they went and shut the California site down. Now (at least for those of us on this coast) we seem to be forced to DX Maryland if we want our "Border Crossings" fix--*IF* we can even hear it above all the computer and BPL noise!

Some years later, I discovered medium-wave DX.........

 

[almaniac27]

I have been in Cincinnati pretty much all my life, but my dad was from Cleveland. I started listening to AM in middle school but usually only during the day. I started talking radio with my dad and he explained all the basics, like stations go farther at night, higher frequencies versus lower frequencies and all that. He mentioned listening to WWWE as a kid for Indians games and Pete Franklin. I put my radio on 1100 that night and was hooked. I was born in Chicago, so I also liked to listen to 670, 720 (difficult being only a few miles from WLW's tower), 780, 890 and 1000. My favorite nights were when the Reds played the Cubs or the Cardinals or when the Indians played the White Sox and I could flip between different announcers. I remember one night listening to an Indians/Sox game on WTAM and a foul ball flew into the White Sox booth. I flipped to WMVP right away to hear the reactions!

 

[radioman148]

I have been in Cincinnati pretty much all my life, but my dad was from Cleveland. I started listening to AM in middle school but usually only during the day. I started talking radio with my dad and he explained all the basics, like stations go farther at night, higher frequencies versus lower frequencies and all that. He mentioned listening to WWWE as a kid for Indians games and Pete Franklin. I put my radio on 1100 that night and was hooked. I was born in Chicago, so I also liked to listen to 670, 720 (difficult being only a few miles from WLW's tower), 780, 890 and 1000. My favorite nights were when the Reds played the Cubs or the Cardinals or when the Indians played the White Sox and I could flip between different announcers. I remember one night listening to an Indians/Sox game on WTAM and a foul ball flew into the White Sox booth. I flipped to WMVP right away to hear the reactions!

Back in the 60s being a baseball fan with most of the stations on 50KWs was great.
Living in the Chicago area I heard the Yankees on WCBS, Mets on WABC, Phillies on WCAU, Braves on WSB, Twins on WCCO, Indians on WKYC, Cardinals on KMOX, Tigers on WJR, and even the Dodgers on KFI sometimes.

 

[vibe]

Did the ball hit the "Hawk" on the beak?
Actually our circumstances were pretty much the same. You could usually find at least 4-5 games (maybe more) airing at the same time. From the Hartford Ct area, my furthest reliable station (for long distance) was KMOX followed by the Chi "clears." The only fustrating time was after prolonged good reception, the station would fade for a minute or so during the most critical part of the game. Oh well, over to another game for awhile. Too far for KFI although a friend of mine (a real geek) used to receive it. I would take "shots" at KFI almost every nite but with zero success.

 

[MN Maniac]

KAAY in Little Rock, Arkansas.

I grew up about 20 miles south of Minneapolis. For a kid in the 1970s, this was unfortunate since I was in the nighttime null of both KDWB and WDGY. WDGY was 9 miles from me and ran 25kW at night, but those NINE towers put a sharp null towards Shreveport. I was right in it. When pattern/power changed, they became extremely weak and out-of-phase. When I was 6, I realized that if I tuned slightly to the left of WDGY (1130), a station from Little Rock would come in. This station was as loud at night as WDGY was during the day! (Little did I know that I was dead centered in KAAY's northern lobe from that great "figure 8" pattern.) This was very convenient since KAAY played much of the same music as WDGY. However, I soon learned that if I stayed up VERY late (which I wasn't supposed to do), I would hear some strange music that NONE of my local stations played. Along with an announcer who spoke very slowly and with long pauses between his words. BEAKER STREET and my introduction to Yes, Humble Pie, and It's a Beautiful Day! All very cool stuff when you're a young boy listening from 800+ miles away!

 

[Icangelp]

Ahh! Bleaker Street.

I lived in the Kansas City area for a couple of years in the late 60's, and although we had a couple of good top 40 stations in KUDL and the more adult R&R of WHB, I used to love listening to KAAY and Bleeker Street.

We did have some "underground" rock played by KANU, the U of Kansas FM station, but it just didn't compare to BStreet.

Then I moved to Cincinnati, and found 102.7 WEBN, owned by the Wood family. Now that was album rock at it's best delivered by some great on-air talen, and it is still rockin' on today even under the grip of CC. Tree Frog Beer. Ribit.!

 

[crainbebo]

Re: What was the first station Y'all caught DX'ing that got You really intereste

Bongwater, did you have any other cool loggings with your friends other than KFI when you were in school? And, do you have the QSLs still?

-crainbebo

 

[necrat123]

My $0.02.
Believe it or not my first real DX experience came with a police scanner. I had just returned from a family vacation Springfield, MA to my folks house in Berkshire County, MA. and had accidently left 154.40 in the scanner, which is Queens, NY FDNY operations. When I turned on the scanner that evening, I was hearing Queens fire, it was amazing.

When I got my first digital stereo, one evening I was hearing WQHT "Hot97" out of New York, like it was a local, even though it was 80 miles away.
My first experience with E-Skip came with my old "The Fisher" tuner, I had rebuilt in High School (this was in '91). I was doing homework, listening to one of those top 40 countdown shows (I believe it was Shadow Steven's countdown) on WBPM 94.3 out of Kingston, NY. Well it had faded into a real mess, I went and adjusted the tuning, thinking that it had drifted. A slight change of the dial, and it was Shadow Stevens coming in again. However it was odd, it was like WBPM screwed up and jumped ahead in the countdown. When the local break hit, it wasn't anything I recognized, which lead me to believe I was now hearing another station. Well it stayed in long enough for the legal ID "Power 94.5 KJCK Junction City-Manhattan". (Which is now on 97.5). I couldn't believe it. I called the next day and they sent me some bumper stickers. I was hooked after that! I got a DX440 receiver and would log catches all the time. I got WPCH out of Atlanta one day on it, I was thrilled. (I was using "radio on wheels" as my reference).

Now I have my Sony XDR-F1HD tuner and outdoor antenna and live close to the ocean, so I am loving the DX i've been getting here.