DXing AM

I love getting the distant AM stations. Listen to CBW 990AM CBC Winnipeg most nights

I have a HD radio and even though there is only a couple HD stations in Duluth (public radio) at night I can get some AM stations in HD. Can get 670 & 780 Chicago, 700 Cincy

If I am in a remote area on an install and cannot get any FM stations (already had that happen last year on different occasions) I start going to AM and sometimes I pick up some good distant stations. Was nice to pickup Leo Laporte's talk show.

Way back when, KAAY, Little Rock Ark. was on the dial most nights.

Used to get WKAAAY up here in Wisconsin too. I guess they didn't take to 'new country'. Gone!

FaT Air said:

Way back when, KAAY, Little Rock Ark. was on the dial most nights.

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Beaker Street...Beaker Theater

I don't remember the other stations 'call sign' on my "listen list' BITD, but one program was something 'Power Hour", Late night or early am, again usually staying up to listen, and again (like the previous) waking to nothing but static on the radio sometime after sunrise.
On the 'SW', a station from Quito Ecuador, was a regular after sundown.
Maybe have to throw up a wire thru the trees again????

Using my Farnsworth BC-342N WWII receiver and an outdoor 100' longwire running north to south I have a QSL card from the Shepparton Australia transmission station. Shepparton is in the south of Australia near Melbourne. I'm in NE PA.

Shortwave or mediumwave?

I don't go looking for mediumwave DX because there are so many domestic stations, but years ago I read on Compuserve that Radio Norway was coming in to North America on mediumwave one night. I tuned in and sure enough, there it was. I don't remember what radio I used, but I'm pretty sure I only had an indoor antenna at the time! I'm kicking myself for not sending for a QSL card, because they went off the air a few years later.

Later, with a WinRadio G313 and an outdoor amplified antenna, I got France's longwave service once. I think that's the only one I ever got intelligibly, although I see the carriers from the other Western European LW stations from time to time. (I sold the WinRadio when I got bored with the hobby, now I have a RTL dongle with an upconverter. The sensitivity, selectivity, and noise figure suck compared to the WinRadio, but I just didn't feel comfortable owning something so expensive that I hardly ever used.)

Jim S. said:

Shortwave or mediumwave?

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Shortwave

sat and listened to WOAI 1200 in San Antonio last night for a good hour and it seemed to come in as clear as my locals (in Duluth)

Not sure if you young 'uns have tried those long-gone RDF (Radio Direction Finding) radios from the past. These radios were available from the 40's well into the 70's and were used by mariners for radiolocation using marine radio beacons that were found from 285 - 315 KHz, sending out their callsigns in slow CW. Some beacons even included AM voice broadcasts of local conditions. Using these radios with their large rotatable ferrite antennas and using radio beacons as reference points one could triangulate and navigate the high seas without getting lost.

RDF's were produced by many companies such as Pearce, Gladding, Ray Jefferson, Heath, etc. All RDF's included the radio beacon band and some other bands such as AM, VHF low (for marine VHF comms), FM, the old marine band (2 - 3 MHz), shortwave, CB etc. It all depended on the model. Older models had the beacon and marine band, but as technology progressed some included other useful bands such as VHF and even CB (CB band was added in the 70's as this was a popular band - the Coast Guard/police monitored Channel 9, the emergency channel).

These are still available for sale (Ebay is a good "museum" to see what was produced).Check the pic of this one,a good example of a "modern" model from the 1970's, solid state, includes the beacon band, CB, FM, VHF low, and of course AM. This radio is great for AM DX'ing due to the large rotatable ferrite antenna and the analog S meter which together can be used to hone in on an AM station and null out interfering stations. Also has the extendable antenna for FM and VHF.

Most of these ran on regular dry cell batteries and also had a 12 volt cable included for use of the ship's battery. On the top is a 360 degree compass for determining where the station is coming from.

Sadly most of the marine radiobeacons are gone from LF, but some are still sending out code in slow CW from Canada. Most U.S. marine beacons were decommissioned when GPS, satellite and more modern forms of radionavigation and communication evolved. Interestingly, some of the old marine beacons were outfitted with DGPS by the Coast Guard and you can hear their warbling signals and even decode them if you have a LF receiver (dongle + upconverter) or a wide band receiver. MultiPSK is a free software that will decode DGPS, but there are others besides that.

Well, pardon the long epistle, just a warm story to pass on a cold winter's day.

Sponge