Is AM DX Dying with FM Flips?

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Is AM DX Dying with FM Flips?

Postby jon » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:38 pm

In the last few days, the discussion of the seemingly endless stream of AM to FM flips, has turned several times to: Is BCB/MW/AM DX dying as a hobby? Perhaps it was said best in an e-mail I received a couple of weeks back from a close friend and fellow 1960s DX'er here in the Canadian West. He questioned my sense of buying a decent DX receiver and amplified tuned loop antenna with this clear trend of AM stations migrating to FM.

But a caveat first on the comments that follow. If either my friend or I believed that digital radio was going to replace traditional AM and FM in the way that it seems to be in most of Europe -- a forced march similar to what we see with HD TV in the U.S. -- then I wouldn't be saying any of this. Because the likely effect of the forced march would be reassignment of the AM band to another purpose. And that purpose could very well make AM DX impossible. For example, if cordless phones (or anything equally popular) suddenly moved back there. As a trivia note, that is where they started: in the nose bleed section of the standard broadcast band as we know it today. Somewhere in the area of 1630-1700KHz. BEFORE those frequencies were added to the AM Broadcast Band. AND AFTER those frequencies were taken away from Ship to Shore and a few old technology Police Departments (I listened to the Pasadena Police in 1964 in that band).

Quite frankly, I think AM DX will grow more interesting, not less, if AM stations continue to move to FM. I went through the mental process myself back about 1970, as a AM-only DX'er in my late teens. At the time, the FCC was supposedly seriously considering forcing all AM stations in the U.S. to move to FM within a short period (5 years?). Canada and Mexico showed no sign of following suit, nor did the rest of the world.

As a DX'er, I couldn't have been happier, except perhaps if Canada had followed suit. From my DX Den in Burnaby, I knew that, without KING-1090 in Seattle, I could be listening to XERB-1090 24/7 in the winter, and perhaps even more of the year. I'd never had a chance to test high noon reception of a station that far away that was that powerful -- XERB was only 50KW, but with a strongly Northern directional pattern to try and hit Los Angeles as hard as possible, especially daytimes with KNX-1070 and KRLA-1110 both 50KW only 20 KHz away. In an era of lousy selectivity on most radios.

The foreign (i.e. - non-US/Canada) DX possibilies seemed endless. The old U.S. 1-A Clear Channels were only protected in North America. Which meant that Central American stations like TGJ-880 in Guatemala might have been possible with a very good directional antenna back in the days when only WCBS New York was on the frequency, except on those few nights when reception from the South was good but not from the East. Once the 1-A became 1-B (mid-late '60s) with the licensing of a station in Nebraska on 880, TGJ was only a pipe dream except late Sunday nights when both WCBS and Nebraska were off the air for transmitter maintenance.

Of course, the biggest benefit of AM going dark in Your Town would be the lack of local stations to interfere with your DX. For example, I'm about five and a half miles from CFRN-1260. At night that means I get the equivalent of 100KW in my direction, as CFRN protects KYA San Francisco. If I want to hear anything besides CFRN or its slop from about 1200-1320, I have to use a tuned loop. And I have to tune it to about 1100 or 1450 before CFRN or its co-channel interference disappears. I would get a lot stronger signal on 1300 KHz if I could tune the loop to 1300, rather than "detuning it" to 1450.
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Re: Is AM DX Dying with FM Flips?

Postby glaherty » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:49 pm

:mousewalk
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Re: Is AM DX Dying with FM Flips?

Postby Howaboutthat » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:51 pm

glaherty wrote::mousewalk


ROFLMAO !!!!!
Houston, We're dealing with morons!.
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Re: Is AM DX Dying with FM Flips?

Postby glaherty » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:55 pm

The mousewalk is quite mesmerizing for some reason. :wink:
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Re: Is AM DX Dying with FM Flips?

Postby cart_machine » Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:09 pm

Can you name anyone under 50 who DXs?

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Re: Is AM DX Dying with FM Flips?

Postby MIKE FM » Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:21 pm

Right here!!! Proud to DX and I'm 22!
My pride and joy is my Sony ICF-7600GR.
Just moved to Edmonton and I use it even more now to listen to 660 in the morning. Need the narrow filter circuitry to take out 680 CHFA.
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Age

Postby jon » Wed Aug 26, 2009 7:01 am

Cartie's question would be an interesting one to pose to the IRCA or NRC Medium Wave DX Clubs. To get a demographic breakdown of their membership.

Ironically, in the '60s, the clubs were heavily weighed, demographically, in favour of teenagers. In fact, many of the older members spent most of their time reliving past DX glories (from their teenage years) rather than DX'ing (sound familiar?), sticking around for the socialization with other adults in the clubs, and to encourage the teens.
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Re: Age

Postby cart_machine » Wed Aug 26, 2009 7:49 am

jon wrote:Cartie's question would be an interesting one to pose to the IRCA or NRC Medium Wave DX Clubs. To get a demographic breakdown of their membership.


It's nice to hear from Mike. It just strikes me that DXing (in North America) is something like shortwave, something that really from another era. Though I admit I'm on other venues where there are teenagers who talk about old cartoons, old radio, and pre-big-band music of the 20s and 30s.

I have a lot of sympathy for another trying to DX AM radio today. Without live programming at night, there's only a short window to identify stations.

cArtie.
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Re: Is AM DX Dying with FM Flips?

Postby skyvalleyradio » Wed Aug 26, 2009 9:36 am

Like jon, eldon & others, I grew up in the 60's and was an avid AM DXer. My interest in AM DX pretty much died when the clear channels died and many daytimers were granted permisssion to operate on these. However, my interest in serious AM DX on the beach at Tofino a few times every fall/winter/spring has never diminished. My "Tofino longwire" is now almost 600' long and strings through the trees very nicely from the beach cottage we stay at. Having long ago logged many Hawaiian stations plus the big powerhouse AM broadcasters from Japan, Phillipines, China and Thailand, I've turned my attention over the last 15 years to logging as many Pacific islands on AM as is possible. Last year I finally snagged the 3 kW AM service from Vanuatu, and Nuie, the Solomon Islands and Indonesia remain high on my list. Another 6 weeks and its off to Tofino for a well-deserved rest and some serious DX action in the wee hours of the morning!
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Foreign DX

Postby jon » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:42 pm

It is what has been termed "Foreign DX" that really interested so many of us after a few years and after acquiring some decent DX equipment: still Medium Wave (540-1600KHz originally) but anything outside the 48 continental U.S. states and 10 provinces of Canada. Especially those who have stuck with it all these years.

Bruce Portzer of Seattle is perhaps the best example. He has got so interested in Asia/Pacific DX that he is the editor of the most respected log listing all the stations currently on the air on Medium Wave in the Region. It is hosted on a Web site run out of New Zealand, but dedicated to Asia/Pacific Radio.

Since Seattle is hardly the best place for reception these days, he is usually on the DXpeditions to the Coast that occur at least once a year. Most have ended up in Gray's Harbor area, near Hoquiam and Aberdeen, Washington. But an especially memorable event was to the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Amazingly, they often get Trans-Atlantic reception as well as Trans-Pacific from these locations.

The Queen Charlottes event is a good place to start reading, if you really want to be inspired:
http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/haida ... 09_2007.dx

All but the earliest Gray's Harbor events are linked to from here, under USA: Grayland, WA:
http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/

The Asia/Pacific radio site, including Bruce's log, is here:
http://www.radioheritage.net/
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Re: Is AM DX Dying with FM Flips?

Postby albertaboy4life » Wed Aug 26, 2009 6:11 pm

Count me in as a DXer under age 50: I'm 37. I got my first radio capable of DXing when I was 6. My dad, now 65, is the one who got me interested in it. He's probably scanning the dial right now with his Grundig.

I drive many of my friends crazy when they travel with me by car. I'm often scanning the dial manually. Most of my DXing is done just before bed.

I probably just opened myself up to some abuse. Oh well.
Faster cars, younger women, older cheese, more money . . .
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