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Wintertime MW DX from Perth

W

wildthangjim

While you're enjoying your summer ES season, I'm sliding into winter here in Perth. I had a few interesting catches in the past week. On 1053, probable All India Radio's external service, with Bollywood style music and ballads, is a regular after their sunset at ~10pm my time (200kw from Tuticorin on the southern coast, about 3700 miles NW of me). 1170 is an interesting frequency with possible Philippines VOA relay (and/or possibly China) mixing with Easy 1170 (5kw from Sydney, 2200 miles east of here). Many of the frequencies are 2-3 Aussies battling it out. For example, 1026 is Melbourne's 10 kw ABC Newsradio mixing with Port Hedland WA's 2 kw Spirit, with an AC format. Melbourne's 1700 miles SE, Pt. Hedland's 800 miles N). I regularly hear several stations from the eastern states at <5kw.

With many of the non-local Aussies east of me, I should be able to catch more Asians when I resolve my noise problems. I need to learn to better differentiate the languages here...in Texas I only needed to understand Spanish!

I tried out the Shortwave briefly, heard mostly Chinese in a 30 minute session!

There used to be someone from Australia that posted here, wish he was still around to give me some ideas!
 
I'm impressed with the Sydney 1170 catch. It's like hearing California from here in Florida! Interesting about ABC on 1026 Melbourne; are you sure it's Melbourne? 1026 (1030 at one time) is/was a commercial frequency there, and wasn't 10 kW. BTW can you try for Magic 1278 Melbourne? Check against the stream at www.magic1278.com.au

There is a New Zealand station either on 567 or 576, and it was once 100 kW but I think it's down to 50 now. That's one to check out.

cd
 
He mentioned a noise issue so I am also surprised that he's hearing a 5KW from Sydney so well. The band must be a lot less crowded over there.
 
radioman148 said:
He mentioned a noise issue so I am also surprised that he's hearing a 5KW from Sydney so well. The band must be a lot less crowded over there.
Click to expand...

My understanding is that the band is considerably less crowded there...which makes sense given the vast open areas.  And the Sydney "Easy 1170" is also a pretty good listen...I've dialed it up a number of times online.

Keep those reports comin'!
 
Hi Wildthangjim,
When I was living in Mt. Gambier, South Australia I could hear African/Middle East and the odd Europeans stations on AM. I remember a DXer in the 70's and 80's who lived in Perth, Western Australia who would always report hearing Africans on AM. I would check 1107 Cario, Kenya on 747, Maputo on 737, Reunion on 666 and 729, these are a good start, all these were heard from South Australia as well.
Indonesia is a good hunting ground, like RRI Ujung Pandag 666, RRI Surbaya 585.

Keep the reports coming, good reading. I never did get to Western Australia or Darwin, but I have been up and down the East coast of Australia.
 
Easy 1170 is the only station on the frequency in Australia, so is an easy catch in the evening just after my sunset. I'll have to try the Melbourne 1278; Melbourne is mostly a water path from here, so hear many more stations from down that way than from Sydney or further north. For example, Easy Mix 1467 and MyMP on 1377, at 2 and 5kw respectively, are regulars in the evening. The Kiwi on 567 should be a possibility, but haven't heard anything on that frequency yet.

@cd - according to their website ABC Newsradio on 1026 is Melbourne. They have AM's in the major cities, with FM's in smaller places, but never ID the individual stations that I've heard.

@bigroo thanks for the tips, will have to stay up late (or get up early) and try for Africans. Sounds like you did well when you were down here. Reunion is about the same distance is India, so should be doable. It's a bit less noisy in the house with all the lights and wifi off (I DX'ed by flashlight the other night!). I don't know when you were down here, but apparently many of the Indonesians have moved to FM now. 585 is the home of my local ABC Newsradio, so might be tough, but I may get lucky with 666.
 
Hi Wildthangjim,

I was down in Mt Gambier, South Australia around the 1975-1986 period when I heard all the good stuff.
I knew some of the Indonesians were slowly moving to FM band then, but thought those tations I mentioned were still on AM Band.

Good Luck in finding thoses stations and also finding a good quiet location to listen!!
 
73 and hooroo, Jim and BigRoo ....

Either of you get anything on AM from here in the States?

Radio Australia used to be much a regular on short-wave, even with the sunrise starting. IIrc, it was on 9620 kHz.

I know two people from Long Island (east of New York City) who heard 2NA, 1510, from New Castle. Both fellas were confused as to which side of the earth the reception was from.

On the Atlantic Coast here in the USA, there have to be a hundred stations that send their signals east, or southeast, from inland transmitter sites, through the cities of license and then on out to sea. I figure that the Pacific Coast of the USA must have more than a few who do the same ........
 
Yes, the Pacific Coast has quite a few that do that. Not all of them run 50 kW at night, but many are directional aimed out over the saltwater. There are even some farther inland that directionalize toward Australia, as well. One of them would be 1580 KMIK in Tempe, AZ, near Phoenix. With their 50 kW directional pattern sending a ~400 kW main lobe right at NZ and still ~360 kw toward Australia's east coast (it's down to about 216 kW toward Perth on the west coast, though), I'd be surprised if it couldn't be heard every night there with a listenable signal strength on just about any pocket-sized radio, using only its built-in antenna, that doesn't bear the name "Coby". Here in El Cajon / La Mesa (near San Diego, CA) they are practically strong enough to compete with some of my locals, and they only send ~100 kW toward me.
Also a few San Diego stations that send directional signals out over the water include 760 KFMB (night: 50kW TPO, ~170 kW @ 245°), 910 KECR (night: 5 kW TPO, ~21 kW @ 245°), 1130 KSDO (night: 10 kW TPO, ~35 kW @ 245°) and 1170 KCBQ (night: 2.9 kW TPO, ~9.6 kW @ 245°; day: 50 kW TPO, ~185 kW @ 245°). There are quite a few from L.A. as well, and I'll let someone else look them up. :)
 
I'd been thinking that KCBQ might be capable of making the hop. But between the Sydney 1170 and the limited times (if any really) when you'd have a darkness path between San Diego and Perth, it'd still be a very tough catch.
 
What about right after San Diego's sunrise, when KCBQ steps up to their 50kW day pattern (with a ~200 kW main lobe aimed southwest)? Think there might be a chance then?

KCBQ is fairly strong here in the daytime, as demonstrated in this video recorded up the street from my house. ;) I suspect it may be a little weaker by the time it gets to Australia, but hopefully it'll still be receivable. So... in ham "RST" lingo, would that be something like an S7 "fairly strong", S8 "very strong" or maaayyybee an S9 "extremely strong" signal? ;) (S9+20dB, or the signal strengths based on a calibrated signal level (IIRC S9 supposedly means 50 µV at the antenna inputs), mean nothing to me. To me, S1 is a signal that's at the noise level but can be intelligible with difficulty with headphones in an anechoic chamber, S4 is a signal that may stop the scan on a radio with that function, S7 is a signal with no noticeable background noise (comparable to an inner/urban/city-grade FM signal on a Tecsun except for the lower frequency response on AM), and S9 is a signal that is loudly splattering several channels each way and producing noticeable intermods on a stock Sony SRF-M37W. Anything higher than that means the radio is being overloaded to the point where the audio is distorted even when tuned on-frequency.)
 
Sunrise in San Diego would be about 8:40 pm Perth time, about 3:20 past my local sunset. It might be interesting to check the frequency about that time, but I doubt I'll hear anything from KCBQ. The only things I've heard on 1170 thusfar have been the Sydney station and a possible reception of the 1mw VOA relay in the Phillipines. San Diego is, according to daftlogic.com, about 9400 miles from here. It looks like KCBQ is aiming at me, but I suspect even 200 kw would be tough with the barefoot setup I have here at the moment. I'm sure it's possible with the right gear though.

@bigroo - Regarding the Indonesians, I heard something that may have been the one on 666 the other night, but didn't get a clear ID. I'll keep trying for that one. Regarding the Africans, is it best to try them before my sunrise, or late my time after their sunset?
 
I would think that hearing anything from North America in Perth would be a real challenge without sophisticated equipment. I'm not saying impossible, but very tough.
I will be curious to find out if you hear anything from North America or Hawaii when you make your trip to the east coast of Australia.
When do you plan on doing that?
 
FWIW, I never heard KCBQ during my high school year in Honolulu in the mid-60s. Local KOHO was on 1170 in those days. (It later moved to 1180 eventually went silent).

Anyway, I knew a TV engineer who had worked at KCBQ. He told me about the massive signal that was being dumped into the pacific. According to this guy, KCBQ went to 50kw strictly for purposes of attracting the attention of ad agency media buyers....who had no idea that all of that juice was being aimed at dolphins, tuna, whales, etc.
 
^ Ya know, it piques my curiosity....

If an AM station "powers up" only to send their signal into the ocean, is it only to attract advertisers, to say "we have increased to 10,000 watts!" or whatever?

Like the 1660 in NJ....they went 9800w night, but in the Atlantic. Are they better off in "reach" than they were at 1000w non-directional? (Anyway, originally the FCC only said 10k days & 1k nights for X-banders, anyway.)

Didn't WBMQ Savannah decide to reduce power and go ND? How is *its* reach as compared to before?

With all of this "going green," one would think that coastal stations going ND is the way to go....

But I am not a CE, nor do I play one on radio.

cd
 
The meeting with the former KCBQ engineer I described in my post took place in Honolulu in 1965.

The gambit worked. The 50kw upgrade didn't increase useful coverage, but it did increase KCBQ's inclusion on national and regional ad buys.

Then....as now....agency types had no concept of what a directional antenna is. Or what it does. Or that the station they were buying might be operating with one. (Not to mention if it was running reduced nighttime power!)

"Back in the day", it was automatically assumed that "50kw equals dominant coverage". Now 50kw means absolutely nothing to today's under-assistant junior number-cruncher.

(apologies for the veer)
 
cyberdad said:
FWIW, I never heard KCBQ during my high school year in Honolulu in the mid-60s. Local KOHO was on 1170 in those days. (It later moved to 1180 eventually went silent).

Anyway, I knew a TV engineer who had worked at KCBQ. He told me about the massive signal that was being dumped into the pacific. According to this guy, KCBQ went to 50kw strictly for purposes of attracting the attention of ad agency media buyers....who had no idea that all of that juice was being aimed at dolphins, tuna, whales, etc.
Click to expand...

Three years ago when I was on Oahu I heard KFAQ from Tulsa, Ok on 1170. They really get out with another 50KW DA.
 
I'm getting a strong het bothering the ABC Radio National station on 612 tonight. On 610 there is the 200 kw Voice of the People from Ho Chih Minh City, but audio not clean enough to pick out language. 610 appears to be their actual frequency, based on their website, odd for this part of the world. I need to keep checking this one.
 
True here in the east as well, Cyberdad.

A good pal of mine was the CE at a suburban full-time AMer to a huge market. The owners gave him the task of getting it to 50,000 watts anyway he could. They simply wanted that prestige, that big figure ; that major-market boast, on paper and on flyers.

Being directional to begin with (as well as relatively 'new'), this station already had to protect quite a few signals night and day with its originally licensed wattage. The CE essentially had four towers tied behind his back as the main burden. He had to negotiate with other chiefs, other owners, and some people called the FCC.

Well, my pal couldn't do it. He tried the signal configured every which way to blazes and could not find a suitably safe place to laser 50,000 watts. He even called me (an engineering moron) to inquire about a regional station near me on the same frequency , and asked if they might sell it to be taken off the air. His station owners didn't give a flying one if he sent 49,999 watts straight into the sky, but after much tweaking and tuning and diplomacy, he did get it up to something like 20,000 watts.

That was the best he could do. And the resulting signal wound up making the ratings book with its higher wattage and new directional beam.

Problem was, the ratings book they made was two full markets PAST the huge market they desired.
 
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