DX that makes all the effort worth it

[jon]

The layer in the ionosphere that makes AM signals skip is normally destroyed by sunlight (and clouds don't fly that high). And the layer takes some time (without sunlight) to recover to optimum for skipping signals on the broadcast band. And it does take some time to break down after first being hit by sunlight.

Darkness Path refers to the entire distance between station and your receiver, as an AM signal would travel, being in darkness.

Well, not quite the entire distance. You really only need darkness at the points where the signal is skipping off the ionosphere. The distance between you and first "bounce" off the ionosphere depends on the frequency of the station. The lower the frequency, the larger the wave length, so the longer the distance.

This also explains why ocean is such a great path for signals: unless you are close enough to hear the signal on the first skip, you are relying on the earth's surface to bounce the signal back to the ionosphere.

What makes matters worse is that the ionosphere layer where the signal bounces moves up and down, as evidenced by signals fading in and out.

[jon]

Were you ever able to visit the Queen Charlottes when you worked at CFPR in Prince Rupert Jon???

Technically, I visited the Queen Charlottes twice. In those days (summer of 1972), PWA flew their 737s to and from Prince Rupert with one stop: Sandspit on the South coast of the North Island of the Queen Charlottes. You weren't allowed to get out of the airplane.

As Summer Relief with the CBC, you didn't get any vacation, so I spent the entire two months in Prince Rupert, though I did get a free trip to the transmitter site in the CBC boat. CFPR's tower still is there, just across the water from Prince Rupert on an island.

OK, I'll admit it. I didn't even take a radio with me for those two months in Prince Rupert. But, then again, I spent virtually all my time at the radio station, 7 days a week. Didn't we all back then?

[radiofan]

Thanks for the tip on CFRY coming in again last night Toomas. I checked 920 just before 11:30 and there was a mix of KSHO in Lebanon, OR and KXLY with Red Neck Radio and some faint country music in
the background. Within about 5 minutes, the country music was dominating and of course there was a music sweep with no IDs .. just back to back tunes before it faded out again. I hung in there and once
again the country was dominant, this time i was rewarded with a C-Fry weather with a mention of Portage Online for the 5 day forecast followed by a CFRY jingle! Once again, thanks for the tip.

KOA from Denver on 850 was in like a local as was CKBI 900 Prince Albert. The surprise of the night was WWL 870 from New Orleans talking about the oncoming storm and a look back at 7 years ago today.
I don't think I've heard WWL in about 20 years.

Over the years, some of my best catches have come in late summer. The only time I heard CKLW was in August of 1970.

[Tape Splicer]

I came across this item online. http://www.aa6z.com/ I thought it might be of some use DXers on this forum.

Here is a brief quote from the site.
"AZMap is a freeware Windows program which will generate, and display an Azimuthal-Equidistance map of the world, centered on any point on the surface of the earth (except very near the poles)."

[pieinthesky]

This topic mentioned FM DX. Does anyone do that anymore other than myself?

[jon]

Quite a few regulars here do FM DX, though usually only when they notice an "opening". Any time I've mentioned better than usual reception of "just out of range" FM, I get fairly subdued responses. It is only the really distant stuff, which I understand is a result of a different effect, that generates much interest.

Personally, the only other DX than Broadcast Band that holds any level of interest to me personally "was" Channel 2 analogue TV DX. The DX season is just too short for frequencies above Channel 2, especially FM.

What interested me about DX was the mass audience local broadcasting piece of it, which is why shortwave, long wave, CB and such did not hold my attention for long. It was kind of like traveling, in that you got to hear what people in some distant town or city were hearing right this minute, and presumably what they wanted to hear, which was an education in itself in local tastes.

[pieinthesky]

Good, thanks for the information. I regularly use the tropo ducting forecast to see when an "opening" occurs.

I've had luck with my Onkyo. Got one station XHMORE 98.9 for a few minutes. It was a jaw-dropper. That was the furthest I've received an FM station.

This is all in a concrete frame building.

AM doesn't do a great share here since I'm not using my AM band on my Onko. I have tried my portable Grundig, just not recently. Maybe I'll bring it out tonight so I can tune some of my faves like 880 KRVN.

[Eldon-Mr.CFAY]

Hi Everyone,
I just tried to post or submit something and it did not go through so I will try to gather my thoughts again and do it over!!!! Anyway congratulations RadioFan on hearing CFRY 920 Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Good Catch, also good you heard WWL 870 and those Hurricane Reports. They usually come in here at night but I have not listened for WWL for at least a month. Will have to try for them tonight. I feel like the dxer out in the cold with CFRY and everyone hearing them out in Greater Vancouver. Perhaps I can hear them from Baltimore, Ontario. Tried briefly this morning at sunrise but no luck, did not listen long enough though!!! Usually out in Langley I get KXLY 920 like gangbusters with that satellite talk stuff!!!! Also have heard Lebanon, Oregon on 920 too.

Thats very interesting Jon about the propagation and the ionosphere changes. Thats something quite a few dxers forget including me about the changes in height or elevation of the ionosphere causing the fading etc. Good to know you did land on the Queen Charlottes, thats better than me since I have never been here. I told my sister about that and it rekindled her interest to visit there instead of talking about the Aegean Islands as a tourist destination all the time! I told her to visit Canadian locations she wanted to see in her own country first!!! Yeah when you are working including at CFPR thats your first priority so I can understand how radio dxing might have been on the backburner in Prince Rupert for that summer!!!! Anyway Jon thanks again for the interesting technical stuff regarding dxing stations, enjoyable reading!!!

Yes there has been quite a bit of talk about FM Dx on here including some interesting info. by Sky Valley Radio earlier on this topic. Also a few weeks ago Dan Sys posted an article in the Batavia, New York daily newspaper on FM Dxing. Very interesting article and it was on the main page of Radio West. I myself do FM DXing and have heard some stations from Ohio and Michigan here in Eastern Ontario on tropo I think. No E Skip that I noticed here but have not been listening or dxing all that much on FM and AM in the past month or so here, too busy unfortunately!!! In the late 1980s when I lived in Calgary and made trips to Medicine Hat, Alberta I heard the Havre and Shelby Montana stations there on the GE Superadio Two with no external antenna. I also heard Billings and Glendive FM stations there and I think one of the Williston, North Dakota stations, all in Medicine Hat. Some were daily regular FMs received, others probably by Tropo. So there has been quite a bit about FM reception on Radio West too!

Take care everyone, keep up the great dxing!!!!

73s, Eldon

[jon]

To round out the topic of DX in more Northerly latitudes, I should mention that DX in the summer (and most of the Spring) becomes less and less practical the farther North you go.

I'd never been as far North as Prince Rupert before my time at CFPR, and I was astounded at the late sunset times and the long period of twilight that followed. Since I did the morning shows on the weekend, I was up at 3:30 a.m. and it was already light. Even for my last weekend shifts just before Labour Day, it was twilight when I woke up, and the sun was rising as I walked to work for my 5:00 a.m. start to the work day.

At the end of April 1974, I arrived in Yellowknife. You could play baseball all night well past mid-July. It was late September before I heard anything on my DX receiver other than local CFYK, where I was moonlighting by this time. And then, as often as not, Northern Lights eliminated anything other than local reception. Between two jobs, I did not have much time to check the dial, so all I ever heard was O.K. Radio's new station in Fort McMurray.

As you get farther North, the longer the dead DX season in the summer because of very late sunset and very early sunrise times. Likewise, in the Fall and Winter, the farther North that you go, the more often you hear nothing because of Northern Lights, which occur more frequently the farther North that you go.

Other things make up for all this though. Even as far South as Edmonton, the late Percy Kesteven used to get a lot of AM DX "over the pole".

[Toomas Losin]

Well, CFRY made itself heard three nights in a row tonight. When I tuned in it was playing something that I can only describe as psychedelic country so I wasn't sure of it until I heard a station ID (which also identified the song as Tim McGraw's "Truck Yeah"). I didn't even have to wait for KXLY to fade out.

I've only heard four Manitobans so I tried for the other three tonight as well: CKLQ 880, CBW 990, and CKMW 1570. The only one I didn't hear is CKLQ; 880 was a mess of CHQT (iNews 880), KWIP (assumed, Spanish), KIXI (assumed, easy listening) all fading in and out, but no CKLQ although I did hear country once. CKMW continues to be a regular one.

About maps: A couple of years ago I came across a web site that generated Azimuthal Equidistance maps given center latitude and longitude but I never bookmarked it. Google should find it. Under Linux I used pscoast to generate some maps.

[skyvalleyradio]

Toomas - Give CFAR 590 Flin Flon a try. Last fall at Tofino, while looking for one of my Hawaiian "beacons" - KSSK 590, I managed to get an ID on two different occasions from CFAR. Now that CKBD 600 Vancouver is gone, 590 is much clearer.

[jon]

I'm surprised that non-directional 5KW KQNT Spokane isn't dominant on 590 like it was in Vancouver in the '60s. Then, it was KHQ (KQNT's original call letters) at night and KUGN whenever they were on non-directional day pattern. In fact, I never heard CFAR in those days, just CFTK Terrace.

Admittedly, 590 was no fun in those days of CJOR being 24/7 as soon as Jim Pattison bought them.

[Toomas Losin]

Thanks, I'll try for CFAR. Last year on 590 I logged KQNT and KUGN, both were fading in and out. Tonight I checked CKMW on 1570 and it was audible while we still had light. I hope that's an omen. On 590 it's been all KQNT so far.

[Dan Sys]

I don't know where you are in the Lower Mainland Toomas, but right now in Aldergrove I'm hearing a fairly strong CKDM 730 in Dauphin underneath CHMJ 730.

[Toomas Losin]

I'm close enough to CHMJ that 730 is useless. Eventually I'll look into using phasing to cut out the strong locals.

No CFAR on 590, only KQNT tonight. I need to put my loop antenna back in service so I can null it. The Pennant antenna works well but is not steerable.

CKMW is stronger than normal tonight (I'm listening to it on my G8 right now!) and I heard barely-detectable music on 1610 (CHHA?) and there is a carrier on 1710 but I heard no audio. Perhaps the high-end of the band is most active tonight.