[HCDX]: IRCA's AM DX NewsFlash - 6/15/00
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[HCDX]: IRCA's AM DX NewsFlash - 6/15/00
***********************************************************
WELCOME TO IRCA's AM-DX NEWSFLASH - June 18 2000
Vol 6 No 9-11
***********************************************************
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
IRCA's web site... check it out!!
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/5792/
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Deadline for next issue - Thursday, June 22 2000 @ 1400 UTC
Send all contributions to me @ phil@xxxxxxxxxxx
A long break this time as I was sent to Greensboro NC for a week and a
half... not enough warning to get an issue out... sorry.
"**" denotes that the tip/info/etc. came from the IRCA eGroup. You must
be a member of IRCA to subscribe to the eGroup at http://www.egroups.com
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
X XX XX XX X XXXXXXX
X X X X X X X X X X
XXXXX X XX X X X X XXXX
X X X X X X X X
X X X X X XX X
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
HOT STUFF
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Lee J Freshwater 414 SE 3rd St, Ocala, FL 34474
FAX 352-732-7223 E-mail ENGWTRS@xxxxxxx
A COMPLETE LIST IS AVAILABLE AT :
http://members.aol.com/bcblogbook/main.htm
PREPARED ON 5/28/00 09000
CALL SIGN CHANGES
NEW CITY AND STATE FREQUENCY FORMER
CALL * CALL
WZNN LEXINGTON, AL 620 WKNI
KICE BEND, OR 940 KXUS
WZSK EVERETT, PA 1040 WSKE
WHGG KINGSPORT,TN 1090 WKCV
KJJD WINDSOR, CO 1170 KVVS
WIXL PINE CASTLE, FL 1190 WAJL
KREZ ALAMOGORDO, MO 1230 KRSY
KJAZ BEVERLY HILLS, CA 1260 KGIL
KEWE OROVILLE, CA 1340 KJAZ
WXRB BLACKSHEAR, GA 1350 WGIA
KOWS HEBER SPRINGS, AR 1370 KAWW
WHVO HOPKINVILLE, KY 1480 WQKS
KROP ENGLAND, AR 1530 KLEC
* The F.C.C. does NOT list the frequency in their database. I have
tried to supplement this with information from my own database, so look
it over "carefully" before you change anything in yours.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
**Pat Martin - Seaside OR - mwdxer@xxxxxxxxx
1603 KFLS OR, Klamath Falls, KFLS is at it again. Then have a drifting
spur 1602-1604 kHz. The format is Oldies. Fair signal at 350
miles tonight.
I just received the Australian and New Zealand MW Guide from John
Wright. What a great guide! It covers all the MW stations in both
countries, including the X Banders and all the QSL addresses. It was
only $10 US, and well worth it if you DX DUs. The list is put out by the
ARDXC. There is also articles on antennas, loops, beverages, etc.. You
can contact John Wright at: dxer@xxxxxxxxx
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Tim Hall - Chula Vista CA - halls@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
06/09 0115 UTC
540 XEBACH 06/09 0115 UTC is now XEJAZZ, running jazz with slogans "K-
Jazz, [The/Southern California's] new jazz station" and English language
announcers. Spanish call letter IDs are clearly XEJAZZ.
Just this morning I was wondering how San Diego was going to support 3
classical music stations (XEBACH-540, XHLNC-90.7, KFSD-92.1)...
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
**Pete Taylor - Tacoma WA - taytac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Despite not being among the most active summertime DXers, I did take
note of these significant changes tonight:
540 XEBACH? BC Tijuana. Definitely the one (possibly with new calls - I
didn't wait around) with the syndicated Chuck Harder/Harter talk
show 6/10 0120. Ads for cancer cures (for Southern Californians)
and the like, all with 800 numbers. Stronger than KFI or KNX;
very weak CBK under.
920 KGHO WA Olympia. Despite a recent report to the contrary, KGHO
is on at night with its good time oldies format and DID 6/10 0129.
1110 KWDB WA Whidbey Island (mental blank city) noted on RS promoting
some event in Arlington (a town north of Seattle) "tomorrow" (Sat.
6/10 PDT) and ID 6/10 0136
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Karl Zuk - kjzuk@xxxxxxx
WCBS and WFAN seem to be doing transmitter maintenance this Sunday
morning. Signals are way down. WCBS is using an estimated 1000 watts
instead of its usual 50 kW. WFAN equally strong. WCBS 880 kcs. WFAN 660
kcs. Both share a tower near City Island in the Bronx. Karl Zuk KC2FPM
Goldens Bridge, NY
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
INDIVIDUAL LOGGINGS
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
BROADCAST BAND LOGGINGS FROM
SHAWN M. AXELROD VE4DX1SMA
E-MAIL: saxelrod@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
DX'ING FROM WINNIPEG MB
RECEIVERS: ICOM ICR-70 & DRAKE R8
ANTENNAE: 4 FOOT UNAMPLIFIED BOX LOOP / QUANTUM LOOP
145 FOOT OUTDOOR WIRE / 100 FOOT INDOOR WIRE, MFJ 1026 PHASING UNIT
UNID'S AND UNID HELP
1570 UNID 5/23 0021- Station with poor signals under CKMW with ESPN
sports programming. Ideas?? (SA-MB)
REGULAR LOGGINGS
1540 WPTR NY Albany -05/23 0040- NOS or Adult Standards music with
Poor signals u/ KXEL. New calls. (SA-MB)
1570 KYCR MN Golden Valley -05/13 2300- Clear ID on the hour
u/CKMW.(SA-MB)
COMMENTS
Not much to report. Conditions have been terrible. Oh well only 5 more
months to winter!?!?!!?
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
**Pat Martin - Seaside OR - mwdxer@xxxxxxxxx
1250 KKGM KS, KANSAS CITY, hrd with Sports talk and IDs as "12-50 The
Game" and "KKGM The Game" At 0422 EDT 5/30. Haven't heard this
since they were WREN in the 80s. (PM-OR)
1560 WPAD KY, PADUCAH, hrd with WW! NOS format and IDs "WPAD" at 0310
EDT 5/30. On top of KNZR at times. (PM-OR)
Drake R8, 1500' Terminated Eastern Beverage
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Tim Hall - Chula Vista CA - halls@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tim Hall, Chula Vista, CA ICF-2010, KIWA Pocket Loop, Delco car rx
The following report is from a train/car trip we just took to Wyoming
and South Dakota. Additional slogan/format/network updates I noted
along the way have been forwarded to the appropriate IRCA and NRC
editors.
TRH-CA1/CO1/NV1/UT1 DXing aboard Amtrak's California Zephyr
TRH-CO2/MT2/UT2/WY2 DXing on the road
TRH-CO3 DXing from downtown Denver
TRH-SD3 DXing from Custer State Game Lodge (Custer State
Park)
TRH-WY3 DXing from Jackson ("Jackson Hole"), WY
TRH-WY4 DXing from Old Faithful, Yellowstone NP (mostly
from a front-row seat in front of the geyser!)
TRH-WY5 DXing from Elephant Head Lodge (13 miles east of
Yellowstone E entrance, 19 miles W of Wapiti, WY)
TRH-WY6 DXing from Sheridan
UNIDs:
1230 5/22 2258 Portland Trailblazers basketball, ad for Oregon
realtors. (TRH-WY3)
1230 5/22 2305 Faded up for a couple IDs that sure sounded like "KRKM
AM 12-30" (TRH-WY3)
1230 5/27 0050 Ad for Sharp's Home Furnishings, soon faded. (TRH-WY6)
1230 5/30 2219 "Continuous soft rock favorites, K?RO AM 12-30."
(TRH-CO3)
1340 5/29 0359 Slogan "Boone County's...", faded out, back after
network news with weather for Manningsville(?) (TRH-SD3)
1400 6/1 2025 Satellite AC/OLD, network ads, "yesterday's and today's
best music, the Point " (or "the Voice", or something similar)".
Logged between Parachute and De Beque. Signals were so weak
today that this would pretty much have to be KDTA. (TRH-CO1)
1490 5/30 0648 "AM 14-90 KITS(?)" (TRH-SD3)
Regular stations:
1050 CJNB SK North Battleford 5/22 0345 Good with country music,
"Saturday mornings you pick the music on CJNB." (TRH-UT1)
1230 KXLO MT Lewiston 5/25 0702 ABC news, network ads, and promos
that their entire broadcast day was simulcast on http://www.kxlo-
klcm.com. (TRH-WY4)
1230 KELY NV Ely 5/25 0305 Faded up for ID. Nice surprise.
(TRH-WY4)
1230 KVOC WY Casper 5/30 0008 Noted with satellite NOS format and
ID. Like many satellite NOS stations, this rarely IDs and almost
never runs local ads. (TRH-SD3)
1400 KBJM SD Lemmon 5/28 2305 End of Country Countdown program,
weather for SD and ND, sign-off with acapella country-style
national anthem at 2312. (TRH-SD3)
1490 KLGR MN Redwood Falls 5/27 0056-0200 Dominating the channel
with local ads and weather, CDT time checks, and ABC news on the
hour. Sign-off at 0158 mentioned they would return at 0630.
Acapella country-gospel style national anthem. Probably my best
catch of the trip, and it came from a noisy hotel room where many
channels were completely unusable. (TRH-WY6)
1630 KKWY WY Cheyenne 5/31 1600 Station is still getting out
poorly. Does not even register on a car radio "scan"! Both
Denver X-band stations were much louder than KKWY while I was in
downtown Cheyenne. (TRH-WY2)
1690 (KSXX) CA Roseville 5/21 1515 No sign of this station testing as
we passed through Roseville today or two weeks later. (TRH-CA1)
TIS and OTHER:
530 TIS CO Fort Collins 5/31 1523 Fort Collins office of
Emergency Management station really gets out well. Mentioned
that the CO DOT was now contributing info to their broadcasts.
First noted between Laramie and Cheyenne on WY 210. (TRH-WY2)
530 (WPCB931) CO Loveland 5/31 1710 No trace of station here as we
drove through the area; doubt there is one, given the loud
station in nearby Fort Collins. 1610 station got out well.
(TRH-CO2)
530 (WPGU770) MT Crow Agency 5/27 1400 No sign of a TIS anywhere in
this immediate area. (TRH-MT2)
530 HAR NV Reno 5/21 2021 HAR noted with road conditions for
Nevada state highways in NVDOT district 2. Announcer referred to
another station on 1610, but she may have been talking about the
airport station. (TRH-NV1)
530 (WNFN792) NV Sparks 5/21 2100 No trace of a TIS here today, or
when we returned 2 weeks later. The train was stopped in Sparks
for some time both days. (TRH-NV1)
530 TIS UT Alta 5/22 0656 City of Alta TIS with driving tips for
people entering the Wasatch National Forest. There are 2
stations licensed, but it sounded like I was hearing a single
station. (TRH-UT2)
530 TIS WY Jackson 5/22 1638 The US Fish and Wildlife Service now
operates a TIS station for the National Elk Refuge and National
Fish Hatchery north of Jackson. Gets out very well with wildlife
and visitor center info. Long tape loop with 2 or 3 different
male announcers from different agencies, but no call letters
mentioned. (TRH-WY2) 5/26 0003 Gets out fairly well at night.
(TRH-WY5)
540 WPDI548 CO Denver 5/31 1656 City and County of Denver airport TIS
audible midday at the CO/WY state line (about 80 miles to the
north). (TRH-WY2)
1200 WPKM997 UT Salt Lake City 5/23 0652 Good signals with airport
traffic information. Got out well. (TRH-UT2)
1590 WPLP689 WY Jackson 5/22 1606 Wyoming DOT station with
information on road conditions for WY-22/ID-33 over Teton Pass.
Using these calls instead of licensed calls WPPU297. There is a
second station licensed to WYDOT for the other end of the pass in
Victor, ID, but I was unable to determine if that one was active.
(TRH-WY2)
1610 TIS? CA Burbank? 6/3 2312 Noted a station with 5 telephone
tones repeating over & over. Peaked as the train went through
Burbank (the Burbank TIS on 1620 was active as well). (TRH-CA1)
1610 KNEU564? CA Soda Springs 5/21 1825 CalTrans station first noted
around Emigrant Gap with info for motorists heading east on I-80
into Donner Pass. Station was not active when we returned this
way 2 weeks later. (TRH-CA1)
1610 KNEU564? CA Truckee 5/21 1920 Another CalTrans station with info
for motorists heading west on I-80 into Donner Pass. No other
CalTrans stations noted along I-80 between Sacramento and Reno
except for the (presumed) Soda Springs and Truckee transmitters.
This one was off when we returned 2 weeks later. (TRH-CA1)
1610 TIS CO Loveland 5/31 1713 "Loveland information radio" noted
with chatty tape loop about local events. (TRH-CO2)
1610 KNNV605 ID Idaho Falls/Pocatello 5/22 0455 Noted from the train
with general campus information and directions. This one really
gets out. (TRH-UT1)
+5/24 0652 Also noted from Old Faithful mixing with KOP714.
(TRH-WY4)
+5/26 0422 Logged from Elephant Head as well. (TRH-WY5)
1610 (KID776) MT Crow Agency / Custer Battlefield 5/27 1400 Still no
sign of a TIS station here. (TRH-MT2)
1610 House NV Reno 5/21 2025 Talking house noted as we approached Reno
from the west. This one was for the entire Sierra Highlands
housing subdivision on Rainbow Ridge Drive at the west end of
town. Got out quite well. (TRH-NV1)
1610 WPJM982? NV Reno 5/21 2016 Reno-Tahoe International Airport TIS
noted as we crossed the Nevada state line with info on parking
rates. Mentioned web site at www.renoairport.com. Fighting with
talking house station as we approached Reno. (TRH-NV1)
1610 KNDG614 SD Keystone 5/28 1800 Fair signals with Mount Rushmore
information. This station is listed as a Custer State Park
information station, and signs near Mount Rushmore say "tune to
1610 for Custer State Park info", but the message is entirely
about Mount Rushmore and the station is not audible in Custer
State Park. (TRH-SD3)
1610 KOJ761? UT Zion National Park 5/22 0402 This station continues to
get out well. Noted at NV/UT state line near Wendover,UT with
information about the Lodge and Visitor Center. (TRH-NV1/UT1)
1610 WPLP689 WY Alpine Junction 5/22 1539 Wyoming DOT mobile HAR
station with info on road delays for US 26/89 in the Alpine
Junction area. (TRH-WY2)
1610 HAR WY Cheyenne 5/24 0212 HAR is testing with short message:
"This is the WY DOT / CO DOT HAR system on 1610 AM". Station is
located in Cheyenne (per local monitoring there on 5/31) and
really gets out. (TRH-WY4)
+5/26 0013 also noted from Elephant Head (TRH-WY5)
+5/30 0628 Gets into SD at night too (TRH-SD3)
1610 KOC744 WY Fort Laramie NHS 5/30 1345 Fantastic midday signal;
first noted from about 40 miles north on US 85. Tape loop
contains the phrase "Welcome to Southeast Wyoming, one of
America's most historic locations...". This is my UNID from
Teasdale, UT in 1997! (TRH-WY2)
1610 (TIS) WY Grand Teton NP 5/22 and 5/23 No sign of the national
park TIS listed at the south entrance. I doubt there's been one
for a while given the WYDOT stations active in the area.(TRH-WY2)
1610 WPLP689 WY Hoback Junction 5/22 1539 Wyoming DOT mobile HAR
station with info on road delays for US 26/89/189/191 in the
Hoback Junction area. (TRH-WY2)
1610 WQO681 WY Laramie 5/31 1225 Wyoming DOT HAR using these temporary
calls and getting out very well. Audible about 25 miles NE on WY
34 with seasonal road information for WY 130 and other roads
leading out of Laramie. I show a WPJZ253 licensed at this
location. (TRH-WY2)
1610 (WNII729) WY Sheridan 5/26 1810 This station is still silent,
but signs are still up on I-90 northbound and southbound.
(TRH-WY2)
1610 KOP718 WY Yellowstone NP (Bridge Bay-Lake Village) 5/25 1328
Noted with inside-the-park tape loop (mostly about keeping proper
distance from wildlife). Using these calls as opposed to listed
KOD718 (Fishing Bridge). Listings for KOP722 (Bridge Bay) and
KOP717 (Steamboat Point) appear to be obsolete. I also found no
evidence of a station on 1550 in this part of the park as had
been reported by someone a few years ago. (TRH-WY2)
1610 (KOP720/KOP729/KOP709) WY Yellowstone NP (Canyon Campground /
Hayden Valley / Mud Volcano) 5/24-5/25 No sign of these
stations when we were in this area on these two afternoons. The
one at Canyon may still exist, as this part of the park was only
partially open for the season. Mud Volcano appears to have no
transmitter/antenna. (TRH-WY2)
1610 KOP701 WY Yellowstone NP (East Entrance) 5/25 1812 TIS noted
with park entrance tape loop with general info for people
entering the park (mostly about hunting and fishing permits).
Using these calls instead of listed KOP707. (TRH-WY2)
1610 (KOP721) WY Yellowstone NP (Grant Village) 5/23 1910 No sign of
this station when we were in this area. It may still exist, as
this part of the park was only partially open for the season.
(TRH-WY2)
1610 (KOP725/KOD711/KOP712) WY Yellowstone NP (Lamar Valley / Mt.
Washburn / Tower Campground) No sign of these stations when we
were in this area the afternoon of 5/24. They may still exist,
however, as this part of the park was only partially open for the
season. (TRH-WY2)
1610 KOP714 WY Yellowstone NP (Madison Junction) 5/23 2033 TIS at
Madison noted with inside-the-park tape loop (mostly about
keeping proper distance from wildlife). I saw no evidence of
transmitters at individual geysers and other exhibits in this
region of the park, so the listings for the following stations
appear to be obsolete: KOD713 (Artist Paint Pots), KOP716
(Biscuit Basin), KOD712 (Firehole Lake Drive), KOP723
("Fireolgy"), KOP719 (Fountain Flats), KOD710 (Indian Creek),
KOP715 (Midway Geyser Basin), KOP726 (Norris Geyser Basin),
KOP713 (Old Faithful), and KOP727 (Willow Creek-Moose Exhibit).
(TRH-WY2)
1610 KOP708 WY Yellowstone NP (Mammoth Hot Springs - North Entrance)
5/24 1355 Noted with general info for people entering the park,
using these calls. I don't see any way that KOP724, also listed
at the Mammoth north entrance, could exist. I would guess this
station is at the visitor center in WY, not across the border in
MT as earlier listings have suggested. (TRH-WY2)
1610 KOP711 WY Yellowstone NP (Snake River - South Entrance) 5/23 1835
TIS for South entrance noted with general info for people
entering the park. (TRH-WY2)
1680 TIS CA Lake Tahoe 5/21 1934 North Star Ski Resort TIS noted
as we passed through Truckee with info about summer golf packages
at the resort. Didn't get out as well as I would have expected.
(TRH-CA1)
One goal I had was to sort out all of the contradictory information on
Yellowstone Park TIS stations. I visited all sections of the park
except the West entrance, the Northeast Entrance (Lamar Valley), and a
section of the road between Tower Junction and Canyon that was closed
(Mt. Washburn). I found stations active at the entrance stations with
general park info (hunting and fishing permits, etc.), and only two
inside-the-park stations, at Madison and Bridge Bay-Lake Village, with a
message about the dangerous wildlife. Most of the sites where TIS
stations have been listed in the past show absolutely no signs of TIS
transmitters or antennae; I would speculate many of these facilities
were lost in the 1988 fire. Only the stations at the entrance gates
even have road signs posted, so I doubt anyone's listening to the
Madison and Lake Village stations.
Bad move award: Cody, WY has established a very low-power TIS on 107.1
FM. Although there are signs for this station near the edge of town, it
is only audible within a few blocks of the chamber of commerce. Even
there, the signal is terrible. A 10-watt station on 1610 kHz would have
covered the entire area and not interfered with any other station.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
**kevin redding - Mesa AZ - lwdxer@xxxxxxxx
Heard on a GE Superadio, Model 7-2880B:
540 XEJAZZ MEXICO, Tijuana, BCN 0609 Playing jazz // 1260 KGIL.
Stronger than usual signal. No more XEBACH and classical.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
**Dennis Gibson - dcgibson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
I spent June 1-12 on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Let me begin by
thanking Chuck Boehnke and Sheldon Remington, both in Hawaii, for
answering my request on the news group for tips. Both Patrick Martin and
Chuck say the conditions were terrible during that period. Well, here's
what I heard; most are UNID's because the signals were relatively weak,
there was noise I couldn't get rid of, and the narrow filter on the
Sony, which I've never used before (the filter, that is) is nothing to
write home about. I have a pretty short attention span anyway (called
attention deficit disorder), so in most cases I didn't park on a
frequency and wait for an ID. Local KNUI-900 (about 2 miles away) didn't
do me any favors by having very distorted audio the entire time I was
there and probably splattering more than if their audio were normal.
KAOI-1110 also broadcasts from KNUI's tower. KUAU-1570, which also
broadcasted from KNUI's tower, has been dark since May of 1999
(according to the WRTH). I'll start at the bottom of the band; any
thoughts on likely ID's would be appreciated. The setup was a Sony ICF-
2010 and a Select-a-Tenna loop. There were carriers on almost every
split and North American frequency. I was in Kihei unless otherwise
stated.
540 unidentified foreign language; very weak.
640 KFI
657 Down under (from here on out abbreviated DU) also good in the car
710 KIRO from the car near Maalea. All car radio reports were from
near Maalea
738 Tahiti; good signal every night. I am assuming Tahiti because it
was in FF. One of the few consistently good signals. Good from
the car, too.
774 DU and possible Fiji
780 KKOH
783 DU
810 DU and possible Fiji both fixed location and from the car
819 DU
846 Oriental language; not sure which one.
882 DU
963 DU good from the car also
1008 DU good from the car also
1017 DU
1020 KTNQ quite good a lot of the time both car and fixed location
1026 DU
1050 KTCT was the most consistently strong signal from the mainland,
and only 10 KW. This was a major surprise. Their pattern doesn't
particularly favor Hawaii, but their towers are very near San
Francisco Bay, so their ground is probably pretty good. Good from
the car also. 1060 in English, and the same time zone as Hawaii.
This one has me stumped.
1070 KNX no big surprise they did pretty well both in the car and from
my fixed location
1098 DU
1150 KXTA another big surprise. They have trouble covering some of
their semilocal area at night, and they are diplexed off KTNQ.
Also good in the car.
1152 Oriental language; not sure which one.
1190 KEX good from the car also
1251 DU
1296 DU
1310 KMKY a major surprise at only 5 KW. Their pattern doesn't
particularly favor Hawaii, either. But once again, a good ground
may have been a factor. Their towers are at one end of the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Good from the car also.
1314 DU
1320 KCTC a surprise at only 5 KW. I don't know what their pattern
looks like, but they are well inland.
1332 DU good from the car also
1341 DU
1476 DU
1512 DU good from the car also
1520 KOMA this one really surprised me; I hear them from the car at
7:30 pm local time!
1548 DU good from the car also
1566 DU good from the car also
1602 Oriental language; not sure which one
1620 KSMH good signal for 1 KW, but no competition either.
The graveyard frequencies were pretty wild with lots of action, but
nobody peaking enough to ID. Any ideas on who some of these DU's or
Orientals likely were?
I had a great time, but I expected bigger signals overall. If the
conditions were really poor, maybe I didn't do all that badly
considering the meager antenna. A long wire or beverage would probably
have made a world of difference.
Any comments or ideas from anybody are most welcome. Thanks for taking
the time to look at this.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
**Pete Taylor - Tacoma WA - taytac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
540 #1. Last night, I reported hearing a "Chuck Harter" (or Harder)
show on 540 (6/10 0120). When I finished sending the E-mail, I got back
for an ID check at 0158. By this time, CBK was dominant again and all I
heard under it was "the new KJAZ." I would appreciate it if some
SoCalians would check 540 out to see if they drop jazz and have talk
every night from 10-10:30pm PDT. It seems unlikely they would do a half
hour talk show but they were playing jazz when I tuned back in at 0158
last night. As I recall the station was very generous with IDs as
XEBACH; this does not seem to be the case with XEJAZZ.
540 #2. When I first checked 540 6/11 0245, CBK was very dominant with
a W. C. Handy tribute. A second station, with the loop aimed SSE, was
carrying religious chorale and other light orchestral and guitar music.
My first inclination was KVIP doing a no-no. However, I heard a KNAK ID
at 0300:45 and two minutes later, "This is the Bonneville International
Elders (?) Radio Network, broadcasting from coast to coast, 24 hours a
day." Obviously day power; new to me.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
HELP WITH
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
**Pat Martin - Seaside OR - mwdxer@xxxxxxxxx
I have been hearing an ESPN station QRMing CBR very badly at night here
on the Oregon coast since the first of June. Has KGUY gotten night ath.?
Or are they on illegally?
**Eric Bueneman - MO - n0uiheric@xxxxxxx
KGUY-1010 Milwaukie, OR applied for 500 watts at night a decade ago,
when the station was hard rocker KZRC. (I still have a 1988 aircheck
from KZRC!), and as far as I know, was granted a CP. Maybe this CP is
finally on?
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
**Pat Martin - Seaside OR - mwdxer@xxxxxxxxx
Does anyone know who the station that is testing on 940 khz running
fast paced morse code. I started hearing it around 0500 EDT 6/8. I can
only hear it off the Eastern Beverage.
6/10. There is that UNID solid morse code station again tonight on 940
kHz off the Eastern Beverage. Anyone else hearing this?
By listening to the signal again tonight and also it sounds like the
same signal on 920 kHz, a Utility station with a spur or harmonic. I
tried two receivers with the beverage antenna and I get the same thing.
Tried through a presellector too and I still get the code, so if anyone
else notes this and can ID it, please let me know. I tried harmonics on
LW, but nothing matches either. The funny thing is the code is right on
920 & 940, no hets.
6/12. It is back again tonight and after 0700 UTC (0300 EDT), weaker
tonight because cx are terrible. With all the sunspot activity cx are
mostly GW tonight. Not a peep out of KCJJ-1630. I did hear a bit of WOAI
for a while. Plus we corrently have a Winter type storm outside with
gusts of 50 MPH and have had over an inch of rain in the past 6 hours,
temps in the mid 50s. Very unusual for this time of year.
**Robert Foxworth - rfoxwor1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Morse code reported on 940. My analysis:
Last week after seeing Patrick Martin's report of code heard here I
wrote him and offered to listen to a tape of the signal and try to
decipher it. His tape arrived here (Tampa) today along with my DX News
and, breaking a long standing practice, I listened to the tape BEFORE
reading my DX News, which normally precedes anything else!
I can report that the signal is _NOT_ Morse code or anything similar.
Pat's signal on the tape was of several audios, I heard Spanish and I
thought Portuguese mixing in. The unidentified signal was spectrally
pure and clean, I would estimate 800 to 900 Hz pitch but I did not
measure it.
The strength of the tone appeared to fade from near-inaudible to being
occasionally atop the channel, probably > 20 dB. There were several
separate sequences totalling approx. 3 minutes which gave ample time to
listen to the signal.
As you know, Morse code is either "off" or "on" and the "on" state has
two conditions, the "dit" and the "dah" and the "dah" is exactly 3 times
the length of the "dit". The spacing between the characters is also
precisely specified. In the case of machine-sent code, probably most
recently heard in the "QRA Tfc List at :50 mins" from WSL or WCC, these
spacings are precise. Hand-sent code will closely approximate these
spacings if it is to be readable. Further most letters in Morse have
from 1 to 4 parts, either a "dit" OR a "dah" and numbers have five,
before the longer inter-letter space occurs.
The signal was NOT Morse because it was totally random in both length
of the "on" condition and in the spacing between the "on" and "off"
condition. The "on" condition is of course, when the tone was heard. The
"on" condition ranged from 4 or 5 rapid bursts of tone, to periods when
the tone was present for a full second +, and practically every length
in between. The silent periods between the tone was similarly random and
unpredictable. Further the transitions between the times when the tone
was "on" and "off" were sometimes sharp and tight and sometimes a little
ragged and fuzzy.
My theory for what is happening here, and this is really boosted by
the report of tones on 920 as well as 940 is that this is originating
from a station on 930 which has this defect: there is some sort of low-
level audio artifact present in the audio chain in periods of no
modulation. If this is coming from a station operating on 930 this could
be a 9 kHz or 11 kHz tone. This tone, *in the absence of any other
audio* would create sidebands on 920 and 940. When audio IS present in
the station's audio chain it swamps out this weak oscillation and makes
it disappear. This tone could be tens of dB below program level but when
no modulation is present, the StaLevel (or whatever they use today),
would boost it up to provide at least a few tens of percent modulation,
so now it starts to behave as a CW ID would behave.
The random pulsing of the tone sounds like it is being "keyed" off of
a voice modulation and not from music. I believe music would force it
"off" for seconds at a time.The station may be automated and carrying
overnight talk, and we are hearing an artifact of a pilot tone, maybe
even on the sat feed?.
The way to approach testing for this by DXers would be to monitor the
tone on 940 and look for a modulated signal on 930 that either directly
or inversely corresponded with the 940 tone being present, this would
require a dual track tape, 2 receivers and some patience.
The station would test for it using a spectrum analyzer. Since
nowadays many stations don't even have a full time Chief, well, this may
not happen in at least MY lifetime...
Later, Bob F Monday 12 June 2000
**Pat Martin - Seaside OR - mwdxer@xxxxxxxxx
Thanks so much for listening to the tape. It sure didn't sound like
something from am AM station. Interesting though, of late there has been
a het on 930 khz, as someone is off channel. The funny think is I only
have caught the signal on 920/940 after 0000 PDT.
**Karl Zuk - kjzuk@xxxxxxx
Another theory: Often broadcast stations transmit audio from satellite
sources without any filtering. There are often subcarriers, signaling
schemes, and other ratty stuff that goes out with the audio. If you are
listening to the main carrier channel, the bandpass of your receiver may
attenuate this junk making it relatively unnoticeable, but if you listen
to the first adjacent you will hear all sorts of hash. When the station
goes to a local ad or other non-satellite source, the nonsense will go
away or at least change. So much for NRSC bandpass filters! This may be
the cause of Pat's "Morse". Also, I've noticed that there is a new noise
on the first adjacents of 710 WOR NYC which I think is a test of IBOC
digital much like what WNEW-FM is doing on 102.7 in NYC. This is legal
adjacent channel noise. Sounding like a beehive or loud waterfall, this
will drive DXers to drink. Maybe even to Ham Radio. P.S. Check out Pat's
new web site. Besides his great smile, there are great QSLs and
pictures! 73 de KC2FPM Karl Zuk
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
QSLs
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
**Pat Martin - Seaside OR - mwdxer@xxxxxxxxx
960 KKJX Klamath Falls OR, rec ppc back in 7df. V/S/ Robert ???.
Address: 4509 S. 6th Street #201, Klamath Falls OR 97603 (PM-OR)
990 CBKN BC, Shalath, rec. full detailed QSL card in 12d from CBC-
Vancouver. 40 watts. V/S: Dave Newbury-CE. Address: P.O. Box 4600
- Vancouver BC V6B 4A2 CANADA (PM-OR)
1250 KKGM KS, KANSAS CITY, rec. short handwritten note in 6d from:
4935 Belinder Road-Westwood KS 66205. V/S: Brian Johnston-
Sales Mgr. (PM-OR)
1280 KLDY WA, LACEY rec. verie statement at bottom of my report in 5d.
V/S: Skip Marrow-Owner KLDY/KBRD. Address: 125 N. Turner -
Olympia WA 98506. (PM-OR)
1340 KEWE CA, Oroville rec. verie statement on bottom of letter in 15d
from: Mel Peterson-Owner. Address: P.O. Box 1340 - Oroville CA
95965. MW QSL #2675 (PM-OR)
1460 KTXX CA, Salinas, rec. FD letter with coverage maps, etc in 40d
from: V/S Jim Hilliker-PSA Director. Address: 903 N. Main St.,
Salinas CA 93906. Thanks Jim. (PM-OR) QSL #2673
1540 KMPC CA, LOS ANGELES, rec. letter and stickers in 22d from: Chuck
Hayes-Director of Sports Marketing. New address: 2800 28TH Street
#133, Santa Monica CA 90404. MW QSL #2672. (PM-OR)
1550 KZRK Canyon TX, rec. verie form in 405dfff V/S: Unreadable.
Address: 301 So. Polk St. #100, Canyon TX 79101 (PM-OR)
1700 KQXX TX, Brownsville, rec. nice mult-colored QSL sheet none by
the station in 36dfff. No V/S. Apparently Gary Jackson's
continued requests for QSLs, got them to do this. I guess the
sqeakey wheen does get the grease! I has early gotten my prepared
card back signed by: Sandra Conche. (PM-OR)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Terry Palmersheim - Gold Bar WA - kc7ldp@xxxxxxxxxx
610 KONA Pasco, WA f/d pink card in 8 days. V/s: Art Blum, CE
720 KFIR Sweet Home, OR f/d prepared card in 11 days. V/s: Robert
Ratter
860 KPAM Portland, OR f/d prepared card in 12 days. V/s: David L.
Bischoff
860 CBRJ Grand Forks, BC f/d CBC card in 8 days. 40 watts LPRT. V/s:
Dave Newbury
1280 KIT Yakima, WA f/d prepared card in 4 years & 4 months! for
SASE. V/s: Ric McClary
1290 KPAY Chico, CA f/d prepared card in 10 days. V/s: Daniel W.
Butner, CE
1470 KELA Centralia, WA Own ham-style card in 5 days. V/s: Steve A.
Richert
1600 KEED Eugene, OR f/d prepared card in 20 days. V/s: Dave
Winchester
1680 WTIR Winter Garden, FL f/d Certificate in 7 months. V/s: M.
Issacson
1700 KQXX Brownsville, TX f/d prepared card in 2 weeks after several
f/u's. V/s: Sandra C. Conche
1701 R 1701 17 Mile Rocks, Qsld. AUSTRALIA n/d E-mail in 9 hours. 100
watts. V/s: Jack Puran
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
MISC ITEMS
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
**Eric Bueneman - MO - n0uiheric@xxxxxxx
(St. Louis, MO) -- For only the second time in franchise history, a
station other than KMOX-1120 will be carrying St. Louis Blues hockey
games. And, for the first time, the Blues will be carried on FM in St.
Louis. Local ABC affiliate KTRS-550 (formerly known as KSD and KUSA), a
5 kW full-time news/talk station, has snatched the rights to the
National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues away from KMOX-1120. The Blues
apparently didn't want to play second fiddle to KMOX's coverage of Major
League Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals. The Blues games that had been
pre-empted by KMOX were moved to KFNS-590 (Wood River, IL)/KFNS-FM 100.7
(Troy, MO) the past several seasons. KTRS' advantages are AM Stereo
operations (in which KMOX recently dropped) and it's low frequency,
allowing for better coverage for daytime games. However, there is one
drawback to moving to KTRS; their night signal has a null to the east to
protect WKRC Cincinnati, OH, thus leaving gaps in coverage in Illinois.
KTRS has asked non-commercial WSIE-88.7 Edwardsville, IL to also carry
the Blues games, to fill the coverage gaps in Illinois left by the KTRS
null toward WKRC. This is apparently the first time that a non-
commercial, educational radio station has been asked to carry the games
of a major league sports franchise. WSIE has an effective radiated power
of 50,000 watts horizontal/41,000 watts vertical, and is directional to
protect KUMR-88.5 Rolla, MO and KJLU-88.9 Jefferson City, MO. Their
format is jazz, with affiliation from Public Radio International. The
only other station that had the Blues rights was KXOK-630 (now 97.1 FM),
which held the rights during the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons. The Blues
will be the primary sports team aired on KTRS.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Horacio A. Nigro - hanigro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Medium Wave news from Uruguay:
URUGUAY:1410, CX 44 Emisora del Siglo, Montevideo, has been bought by
the Montevidean morning journal "La Republica" which will be renamed as
"Radio Libre". The station will be starting with this new ownership in
the coming month of July. The multimedia project, claims to be an
"alternative to the dominant communication" in words of his General
Director Dr. Federico Fasano Mertens. They will add to it an existing FM
outlet, 89.7 MHz in La Paz, Dept. of Canelones -near Montevideo- which
will be launching on next August or September with the name "FM Libre",
as well as an evening paper "Primera Plana" and a company for production
of TV programmes. CX 44 was Radio Panamericana for several years and
after Uruguay reconquer of democracy in 1984 was the voice of "ex-
guerrilleros" of Leftist "MLN ("Movimiento de Liberacion Nacional -
Tupamaros", but was closed by White Party administration of President
Dr. Lacalle, when the station got involved with tragic episodes around
the expatriation of Basque ETA members living in Uruguay to Spain. The
station was then owned by a journalist identified with the White Party
and renamed Emisora del Siglo, but has not been a succesful commercial
venture.
(Source: Uruguayan paper "La Republica", May 25, 2000, Montevideo,
adapted by Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Glenn Hauser - Enid OK - wghauser@xxxxxxxxxxx
WORLD OF RADIO AND CONTINENT OF MEDIA SHORTWAVE-ONLY SCHEDULE AS OF
JUNE 9, 2000
Days and times strictly UT. RFPI 25930-USB went off May 19 and is
expected to be replaced by a 21 MHz channel, but perhaps not until July.
RFPI frequency usage is flexible, so check each beyond the hours shown.
Wed 2330 WOR WBCQ1 7415
Thu 2030 WOR WWCR 15685
Fri 0930 WOR WWCR 7435
Fri 1900 COM RFPI 15049
Fri 1930 WOR RFPI 15049
Fri 2030 WOR WBCQ2 9330-CUSB [irregular]
Sat 0300 COM RFPI 15049 6970
Sat 0330 WOR RFPI 15049 6970
Sat 0300 WOR WWCR 3215
Sat 1100 COM RFPI 6970
Sat 1130 WOR RFPI 6970
Sat 1130 WOR WWCR 15685
Sat 1730 COM RFPI 15049
Sat 1800 WOR RFPI 15049
Sun 0130 COM RFPI 15049 6970
Sun 0200 WOR RFPI 15049 6970
Sun 0230 WOR WWCR 5070
Sun 0630 WOR WWCR 5070
Sun 0930 COM RFPI 6970
Sun 1000 WOR RFPI 6970
Sun 2300 WOR RFPI 15049
Mon 0026 WOR WWCR 9475 [may shift to Sun 2330]
Mon 0501 WOR WWCR 3210
Mon 0700 WOR RFPI 6970
Mon 1500 WOR RFPI 15049
Tue 1100 WOR WWCR 15685
Tue 1900 WOR RFPI 15049
Tue 2000 COM RFPI 15049
Wed 0300 WOR RFPI 15049 6970
Wed 0400 COM RFPI 15049 6970
Wed 1100 WOR RFPI [suspended]
Wed 1200 COM RFPI [suspended]
Wed 1730 COM RFPI 15049
For latest updates and complete details of all our broadcasts see
http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio
WOR is also available at http://www.wrn.org/ondemand/worldofradio.html
COM is also available at http://www.DXing.com
WOR is also streamed when broadcast on WBCQ1 at http://wbcq.com
WOR is also streamed (via SW pickup in USA) when on RFPI at
http://www.rfpi.org/webcast.html
Glenn Hauser, inviting you to be a regular listener to WOR and COM
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
**Eric Bueneman - MO - n0uiheric@xxxxxxx
Recently, two St. Louis radio stations, KMOX-1120 and KFNS-590,
discontinued all operations in AM Stereo. The lack of Stereo on their
signals has greatly affected the sound quality of the stations. KMOX's
sound quality is a little more distorted now, KFNS not quite as
distorted. This has brought up a question: "Why has AM Stereo not caught
on, like FM Stereo did 30-40 years ago?" Part of the blame can be
pointed at the Federal Communications Commission. When AM Stereo was
operating with four incompatible systems (Kahn, Harris, Magnavox and
Motorola C-QUAM), the FCC made the wrong decision to "let the
marketplace decide". The other major mistake made in the AM Stereo
debate was made by Leonard Kahn, by filing legal action against his
opponents in the AM Stereo wars. Those that operated with Harris and
Magnavox AM Stereo soon converted to Motorola's C-QUAM system. Even
Kahn's AM Stereo system was selected to add Stereo sound to NDXE, the
shortwave station in Opelika, AL that was never built. Had the FCC taken
the "hands on" approach, the whole AM Stereo question would have been
settled in the 1980s, instead of 1993 (the decision was to finally
mandate the Motorola C-QUAM system over Kahn's ISB system). Waiting so
long to settle the AM Stereo matter is one of the reasons why, in my
honest opinion, AM Stereo has not caught on (despite it's fuller,
better-quality sound and, in many cases, larger signal coverage, than FM
Stereo). Consumer groups can also be to blame for the lack of acceptance
AM Stereo has received. In the early 1990s, there was a proposal on the
table to require all AM/FM receivers capable of receiving FM Stereo to
also receive AM Stereo broadcasts. These consumer groups didn't want
this, because they believed it would "take away consumer rights".
Instead, they took away the consumer's right to listen to AM Stereo
broadcasts. Isn't it about time to have the FCC revisit the issue?
Availability of new AM Stereo receivers is another matter. While
Chrysler had AM Stereo as standard equipment on ALL models during the
1989 and 1990 model years, they have all but disappeared from dealer
options on most North American-made cars, trucks, vans and SUVs. Most of
the AM Stereo receivers for the home market were also very expensive.
Radio Shack had the only affordable AM Stereo tuner with it's TM-152,
which was discontinued in the late 1980s. Now, there are no new AM
Stereo radios being manufactured. Once again, the lack of a requirement
that receivers capable of receiving FM Stereo also having to receive AM
Stereo comes into play. If we had this requirement, then AM Stereo
broadcasts would be more widespread than it is now, and more stations
would be broadcasting in the fuller, richer sound of AM Stereo instead
of the dull monaural sound. The "hands-off", or marketplace approach to
settling the AM Stereo matter was not very good for broadcasters or
consumers, in my honest opinion. This approach is mainly to blame for AM
Stereo's lack of acceptance in the marketplace. If you feel that AM
Stereo has been given a bum rap, then you really should express your
ideas here or to the FCC in Washington, DC.
**Tim Hall - Chula Vista CA - halls@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
I'm always surprised how much support there is for AM stereo within
the DX community. As a DXer, I have always found it especially annoying
when I'm on the fringes of a signal's coverage area and the stereo
component keeps cutting in and out.
And it doesn't improve the quality of those pathetic talk programs
that litter the airwaves all night :)
If AM broadcasters want to improve their lot, AM stereo isn't the
answer. Instead, why not try:
* Original, local programming (yeah I know... but the rest of my
suggestions are even less realistic!)
* Not overmodulating the signal.
* Doing some equipment tests once in a while.
* Dumping the consultants.
* (Now that one or two companies own all the stations in town -- how
much campaign contribution $$$ did it take to get THAT crooked law
passed?)... Taking the useless third-string talk format stations
off the air. Nobody's listening. Game over!
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
**Pete Taylor - Tacoma WA - taytac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(1) KGXL-1650: I believe I read a couple of months ago that KGXL had
applied for 10kw-D, 9kw-N, DA-N. I remember this only because it was
the same that WWRU-1660 had applied for. For some reason the WWRU
application was withdrawn. I haven't seen anything further on KGXL.
(2) KAXW-1660 Merced. I reported this as testing a couple of months
ago on the basis of hearing a strong SSE-originating carrier doing a
brutal job on KXOL one night. This one-time-only apparent reception has
been picked up by some as an indication that they were now on RS. This
is not the case. I talked with the PD the next day and he was reluctant
(to put it mildly) to give me any information at all; he has also not
sent me a QSL. Someone else (Gary Jackson?) also talked with him and I
think the anticipated air date was 6/1 with SS programming. My guess is
they took the XR out of the box and turned it on for kicks and that the
delay is programming based, not engineering.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Mark Connelly - MA - MarkWA1ION@xxxxxxxxxx
Palstar R30 field-test and a few comments on a Wednesday night DX
session:
I had a good opportunity to test the Palstar R30 last night (14 June)
out at the Granite Pier DXpedition site in Rockport, MA. The first
foreign (non-US/Canada) signal to show, at 2345 UTC, about a half-hour
before local sunset, was Euzkadi Irratia, Vitoria, Spain on 1602 kHz.
Strong interference from Boston's WUNR-1600 was phase-nulled to a good
degree with the loop/whip cardioid array, but 1600 still produced a
substantial blob of QRM consisting of WWRL and residual WUNR. The
Palstar with the 2.5 kHz Collins filter had similar performance to the
Drake R8A with the 2.3 kHz L-C filter selected. Audio from 1602 was
somewhat fragmented by the 1600 slop. When I put the R8A on the 1.8 kHz
filter and either tuned in AM mode to the high side or listened on USB
with passband tuning optimized, I had superior 1602 audio to what the
R30 could produce. I guess that isn't really that surprising.
In terms of maximum loudspeaker volume, the audio from the R30's
little speaker began to distort / get "rattly" at a lower level than the
audio achievable from the Drake. With headphones, or an external
speaker, this becomes a non-issue. In general, the R30 did a creditable
job considering it's half the price and size of the receiver to which it
was being compared. The R30 is certainly fine for a casual travel radio
for trips where luggage weight must be managed carefully. It's nice
that it can be connected to high-gain broadband antennas and not get
overloaded the way a Sony ICF-2010 (2001D) does.
As the evening rolled along, I did most of my DXing on the Drake, as
DXing in June is a challenge that makes you want to pull out all the
stops, including rapid access to parallel channels. Spain dominated the
DX in a big way from one end of the dial to the other. Some of the more
interior and northern Europeans made appearances after 0100 UTC. UK-
1089 and 1215, Croatia-1134, Germany-1422, Switzerland-765, and
Slovakia- 1098 were among the louder ones. The two strongest TA's,
nearly local-like a week before the longest day of the year, were
Canaries-621 and Spain-1044. Morocco-612 and Algeria-549 were also big
... monster signals indeed. On the other hand, there was absolutely no
trace of Norway-1314. Even when I could fight off the WLOB-1310 and
CKEC-1320 slop, the only thing on 1314 was weak Spain.
Because of my correspondence with Ron Gitschier in the Caribbean, I
was hoping for some decent signals from the south, but that area turned
out to be singularly unproductive. Nevis-895, often a good signal, was
only copyable as a carrier with the BFO on. The same generally held
true for other splits like 535, 555, and 705. Bits of audio here and
there, but decidedly substandard reception. I found no trace of a 595
carrier (Ron had mentioned Dominica possibly being back on that split).
The 594 Euro QRM and splash from WEZE/VOCM-590 could have very well
obliterated whatever 595 had to offer, given the pitiful propagation to
the Caribbean and Latin America.
A couple of odd X-band signals showed: one was Haitian French Creole
on 1620 and the other a Spanish religious station on 1670 that mentioned
just about every South American country. These were probably of
domestic origin, either legal or pirate. The signals of both of these
were good, comparable to NJ on 1660 and VA on 1650.
I ended the DX session at 0200 UTC. Signals from Spain were still
abundant and on the ride home the Saudi-1521 carrier fired up on top of
the wild quasi-religious political-harangue show that WWKB was running
(.. would SOMEBODY over there at 'KB shut that junk off and run some
1964 Joey Reynolds tapes PLEASE !)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
CONVENTION - MEETING INFO (corrections/additions welcome)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
2000 IRCA Billings, Montana Convention Information
The 2000 IRCA convention will be held August 25,26,and 27 in Billings,
MT. The convention will be hosted by John and Nancy Johnson.
IRCA's 2000 Convention has a web site for complete information.
http://pages.prodigy.net/john_johnson/irca2000.htm
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
2000 National Radio Club Convention, Lima OH
This year's NRC convention will be held in Lima OH on Labor Day weekend
(9/1-9/4/00). Host is Fred Vobbe, 706 Mackenzie Dr, Lima OH 45805-
1835. Complete details are available at the following Web site:
//www.nrcdxas.org/convention
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
CPC DX tests
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
TIME TO START THINKING ABOUT THE '00-'01 SEASON CPC... read on
CPC Chairperson (IRCA) - Lynn Hollerman - gmhollerman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Right now Lynn is looking for target station lists and stamps or money
to help get the lists worked on. Thank you Lynn... pb
CPC Chairperson (NRC) - Blaine Thompson
Send both requests for stations to try and/or stamps and $ for postage
and envelopes/paper (respectively) to:
Blaine Thompson
6523 Emmons Drive
Fort Wayne, IN 46835-2293
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
GEOMAGNETIC INDICES
Geomagnetic Summary May 25 2000 through June 15 2000
phil bytheway - Seattle WA - phil@xxxxxxxxxxx
Tabulated from email status daily
5/25 173 22 3 low-mod quiet-active - 8
26 168 23 2 low-mod quiet-unsettled - 7
27 162 9 1 low-mod quiet-unsettled - 7
28 156 11 1 low-mod quiet-unsettled - 7
29 149 19 3 low-mod unsettled-active - 8
30 146 18 3 low unsettled-active - 6
5/31 154 12 1 low unsettled - 3
6/ 1 148 8 1 low-mod quiet-unsettled - 4
2 155 9 2 mod-high quiet-unsettled - 6
3 166 9 3 mod-high quiet-unsettled - 6
4 170 10 3 mod-high quiet-unsettled - 6
5 171 21 3 mod-high unsettled-active - 5
6 186 17 1 mod-high unsettled-active - 5
7 180 13 3 mod-high unsettled-mis - 5
8 175 30 4 mod-high active-mas - 10
9 169 8 2 moderate quiet-active - 3
10 180 25 3 low-mod quiet-active - 9
11 187 25 5 moderate unsettled-mis - 9
12 193 16 3 moderate unsettled-mis - 7
13 199 16 2 low-mod quiet-unsettled - 6
14 201 17 4 low-mod quiet-active - 6
6/15 202 19 3 low-mod quiet-unsettled - 8
The new statistic on the right is "Aurora Level".
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
PUBLICATIONS
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
NRC LOG IS BEING UPDATED NOW!!
NRC Log editor Wayne Heinen (Nrclog@xxxxxxx) is looking for the updated
information in the following areas:
"The changes that are needed are Addresses, Phone Numbers. formats,
network affiliations and Hours of Operation. These are the keys to
logging and verifying they also are the most changed and hard to track.
I need all update to me NO LATER THAN August 1st because we are going
back to a Labor Day availability date."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Get in line NOW for your copy of the latest IRCA "AM SLOGANS LIST".
Completely revised by IRCA's own Rich Toebe to 2/00 and includes X-Band
stations as well. This 24 page "DX Aid" can be yours for only $5.00
through the IRCA Bookstore. Non-IRCA/NRC members... add $1.00.
Overseas... add $0.50.
IRCA Foreign Log #10 is NOW available from the IRCA Bookstore for
$10.00 US. Overseas, add $2.00 US for airmail delivery. This edition
contains ALL the SDXM DXWW-E and DXWW-W tips from 9/96 to 7/99... almost
three years of material! All collated and in frequency order by TA, PA
and TP for each DXWW column.
A DXers TECHNICAL GUIDE. Now in its 3rd edition (published early
1998), this 155 page book answers questions on receiver and antenna
theory (how to improve their performance), how audio filters and loop
antennas can improve DX (and hints on their construction), how to build
a
Beverage and phasing unit, and much more. Only $10.00 for IRCA/NRC
members, $12.00 for non-members (overseas airmail add $2.50).
IRCA Bookstore, 9705 Mary NW, Seattle WA 98117-2334
(all checks payable to Phil Bytheway)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
AM RADIO LOG 20th Edition (SOLD OUT, next one due in late August)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
The AM DX NewsFlash is sent weekly from Teknologic in Snohomish WA
All contributions will be used
Comments regarding content are appreciated
With your submission, please include as a minimum:
Your name, location and email address
Tell your email friends about "AM DX NewsFlash"
To receive this email newsletter, send your email ID, name and
location to phil-bytheway@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Folks whose bulletins are returned twice in a row are dropped from the
list. If your email address changes, please let me know!
Information appearing the NewsFlash can be quoted provided the original
author and "IRCA's AM DX NewsFlash" are given proper credit.
Soft copies of the latest IRCA BookStore and Reprint Updater are
available from: phil-bytheway@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
IRCA DUES STRUCTURE
DXM-printed DX MONITOR (21x/year), SDXM-"soft" DX MONITOR (35x/year)
WORLD - SDXM $10.00
USA - DXM $20.00, DXM/SDXM $25.00
Canada - DXM $22.00, DXM/SDXM $27.00
Overseas surface - DXM $23.50, DXM/SDXM $28.50
Airmail (Central America, Caribbean) - DXM $35.00, DXM/SDXM $40.00
Airmail (Europe, North Africa, Middle East) - $38.00,
DXM/SDXM - $43.00
Airmail (rest of the World) - $41.00, DXM/SDXM $46.00
To join the IRCA, send the appropriate dues to: IRCA HQ
PO Box 1831
Perris CA 92572-1831
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
If you note any AM changes (call, format, slogan, etc), please send them
to the NRC Log coordinator (Wayne Heinen) @ nrclog@xxxxxxx
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
END of 6/15/00 IRCA's "AM DX NewsFlash"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a message from Phil Bytheway <phil-bytheway@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
to hard-core-dx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx list. To unsubscribe the list, send
"unsubscribe hard-core-dx" in mail body to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
For more information, please check http://www.hard-core-dx.com/
or email us, staff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
------------------------------------------------------------------------