| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - SATURDAY 31st OCTOBER 2009: |
The logs have been slow at coming on line this week, due to the time being spent searching through Perseus files.
A few extra pages are planned for this site, as well as a new page which will act as a site index, where there will be links to all pages on line, some of which are now lost in the monthly logs and news. Not every page can fit on the pop up menu system at the top, not neatly anyway. Anyway, new pages tomorrow or Monday, when November begins.
WJZ BALTIMORE, MD - 1300:
This rare three letter station was in at 0700 this morning. A personal first. ESPN.
CIWW OTTOWA - OLDIES 1310:
This station has been pretty loud this week, and has been heard carrying the programmes of ESPN during a special important game of some kind. (I know nothing of sport).
I saw this wrongly reported as a pres WCCW. The reporter had not waited for an ID!!
ASIAN MW DX - NEW STATION HEARD:
There has again been the usual power houses from Asia coming in here in the early European evenings on MW. China is probably the most common and easily heard on 1521. So far I have also heard Taiwan's WYFR outlet on 1557, and VOA Thailand on 1575. I have problems here with a once clear channel of 1566. There are two powerful UK station on the freq, making dx difficult. I must be at the right distance from the UK stations, as they are very loud here. Some dxers manage to log India and Korea on 1566. I have done in the past, but not this season.
But there was one of the powerhouses that always eluded me. VOA Phillipines 1170. This eluded me even since the days when they were on 1143. But on Thursday at 1700, there it was, signing off with the familiar Yankee Doodle Dandy. Ironically it was the Voice of Russia interval signal that was heard on the following night at the same time.
For the record, the best antenna here for the Asian dx is no doubt a 1/4 wave inverted L, cut to the hf end of MW.
091027_1600_1575_voa_thailand.mp3
091029_1700_1170_voa_phillipines_ssb_then_am_inc_magic.mp3
BOOMER 1570:
Does 1570 still id as BOOMER???Not heard that ID in a while.
CBC 600 AUDIO:
Someone has given the CBC station on 600 a few more db of audio. It is still not 100% mod level by any means, but a little higher.
WKOX - 1200 - A RARE CALL ID:
I had a rare call ID today, 31st at 0700 from WKOX, Rumba 1200. Usually it either doesn't peak at ID time, or doesn't give a call.
DAYTIMERS LAST DAY:
Last day today for daytimers, before they change times to both an hour earlier due to clocks changing tonight, as well as their times changing on the per month basis. Maybe they remain connected to sunrise / sunset??
1395 LAST DAY??
Is this the last day that 1395, and therefore 1390 and 1400 will be wide open for DX? Will the much heralded return on Big L happen tonight or tomorrow??? I hope not for DXing sake. Again QRP pirate WNKR will be beaten off!!! They had to leave 1476 when the SS QRM came on air.
1593 STILL OFF AIR:
It has been good to be rid of the German jamming station on 1593 for the last few weeks. They were off air for service work, but their three weeks I think is now up. I wonder if they will bother to come back on and waste more electricity, or if the listener they had has just given up.
1068.7 ish BEACON TYPE THING HEARD 0700 - 0800 ROUGHLY:
Is anyone else hearing a kind of a rough beacon around 1068.6 in the mornings??? Noted on the 0700 recordings for some time now, and the 0800 recordings. I have come to the conclusion it is not local here in the shack, as it is not there all the time.
BBC RADIO ULSTER OFF AIR 0300:
David Hamilton from Davie's Blogs and logs noticed that BBC Radio Ulster was off air at 0300 on 29th. Unfortunately the short 3m window of my recording produced nothing other than a very weak ESPN stn, and at ID time, the channel was complete graveyard mush/ growl. There is a mere 18 possibilities on 1340 for ESPN, according to TOPAZ!!!!
What a pity there was nothing showing itself, during this rare silent period.
IS IT TIME THE BBC SAVED SOME CASH:
It is a pity that the BBC don't switch off the 1341, 810, and 882 regionals at night (and associated smaller relays). They only relay the English "Five Live" anyway. That would be quite a saving when you consider the 400 hundred kilowatts plus output being wasted for 5 or 6 hours during the night. Quite a total in a year.
Us dxers should make a point to put it to the BBC that in these days when they like to claim that AM is not important, they should try and save themselves some money. It is believed that most listeners are on FM, and an increasing amount on DAB and other platforms. The night hours have a very small percentage of audience anyway, and to copy the output that is already available on another frequency overnight seems a pathetic waste of precious energy. Maybe they should start encouraging FM listeners and DAB by switching off the big MW transmitters at 7pm!!!
CBC NEWS ALL CHANGE:
David Hamilton was reporting the other day, the changed toth on CBC, but when I tuned in to one of the other CBC stations, I heard the same old chimes and toth. But when I tried to find that point again, all I heard was all CBC stations carrying the new style tune. I must have been listening to an older file at the time David alerted me!!!
The familiar and unique chimes seem to be dropped, last noted on Monday 26th, in favour of a very quiet sounding tune that is much more difficult to hear under extreme MW dx conditions. I can give the example of 1010 CBC Calgary last winter, my first log of CBR, when I only heard the sound of the unique CBC chimes. It will not be so easy now I don't think to hear it in the mush with the new quiet tune under "stressful dx conditions".
This type of log is much the same as dxers who are satisfied of a log of Vancouver 1470, when they hear only the unique 3 pips. I must say that I am one of those who is satisfied with that as a log. The pips are as unique to CJVB 1470, as the CBC chimes are / were to CBR 1010.
Look at my "identify that news service" page for the new CBC tune.
WCFO - EAST POINT - GA:
On Tuesday night while chasing down daytimers, and there wasn't much "pookin'", but I came across what I think could be a station in GA, WCFO. Initially I thought it might be the Homer City station, but after some extensive listening, and also tnx to Paul C for listening to the clip, it may well be the GA stn. It does sound like WCFS mind you, or could it be WCCS Homer City. The city name is a bit difficult to make out. From TOPAZ, the station details are:
1160 WCFO EAST POINT GA 50000 160 DA-2 TALK
I heard it again on 29th and had a better ID. It was GA, a potential for an FKR-UK
Also heard on 29th, WKGA Atlanta 920, another daytimer. This one was heard here last winter.
091027_2300_1160_unid_like_wcfo_east_point_ga.mp3
091029_2300_1160_wcso_east_point_ga.mp3
LINKS TO ALL AUDIO CLIPS FROM THE LAST FEW DAYS:
091026_2300_1070_wfli_lookout_mountain_tn.mp3
091026_2300_1070_wfli_lookout_mountain_tn_b.mp3 (different perseus settings)
091030_2300_1070_wfli_lookout_mountain.mp3
091031_0704_1200_wkox_good_call_id.mp3
091027_2300_1160_unid_like_wcfo_east_point_ga.mp3
091029_2300_1160_wcso_east_point_ga.mp3
091029_1700_1170_voa_phillipines_ssb_then_am_inc_magic.mp3
091030_0003_1310_ciww_inc_espn_.mp3
091029_2249_1310_ciww_sports_ann.mp3
091029_0800_1310_ciww_ottowa_vg.mp3
091026_0000_1340_wstv_steubenville_oh.mp3
091023_2200_1500_wfif_milford_amazing_mess_then_clear_id.mp3
091029_0700_1520_wwkb_superb.mp3
080920_0603_1520_webex_ad.mp3 (From last year, but often confused as a call in weak condx)
091027_1600_1575_voa_thailand.mp3
SONY HD RADIO:
I had an e mail yesterday from an old collegue I haven't heard from in a while. He had been listening to a top band discussion on the Sony HD radio. Just to make it clear, the HD that I have been trying to bring in is the MW version of HD, which is proving very difficult. I have had the HD light on for the channels listed below. Bear in mind that the HD light flashes when HD is detected, but it hasn't ever locked on yet. A couple of times the radio has went silent, as though the HD was about to kick in, but then it eventually reverted back to AM. The longest it was out for was about 15 seconds. I shall keep on trying. If ever I do get a brief HD signal, I think I will remain pleased with the first instance. It looks like an uphill battle at this distance.
Compared to the Perseus, the HD set sounds easy and nice on the ears. It is a nice quiet radio when there is a mid Euro channel TADX freq available. (Meaning the stations with the widest space away from the Euros, eg 1130, 1120 etc)
HD NOTED ON THE FOLLOWING:
660 - Prob
WFAN
680 - WRKO??
880 - Prob WCBS
770 - WABC??
1010 - Prob WINS
1080 - Prob WTIC
1100 - Prob WTAM
1120 - Prob KMOX
1130 - Prob KFAN
1140 - Unknown, poss VA?
1200 - Prob WOAI
1560 - Prob Disney
Every station is presently UNID, as there has never been an indication of text on screen or HD audio.
The Sony is capable of receiving both AM and FM analogue, as well as AM and FM versions of the American HD. Not that I am a believer in the FCC granting permission to jam the MW band with white noise. But I would like to dx the signal, even if it was only once. See a more detailed description below of the Sony HD set.
Audio clips from the Sony HD set off of MW. You can see how having to stay put on 10kHz effects 880:
091031_0712_570_reloj_gd_on_sony_hd_rx.mp3
091031_0713_590_vocm_gd_on_sony_hd_rx.mp3
091031_0709_880_wcbs_gd_on_sony_hd_rx.mp3
091031_0707_1130_wbbr_gd_on_sony_hd_rx.mp3
091031_0722_1700_kvns_poor_on_sony_hd_rx.mp3
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - TUESDAY 27th OCTOBER 2009: |
PERSONAL FIRSTS BETWEEN LAST NIGHT AND THE NIGHT BEFORE:
1320 WTSJ - RANDOLPH:
Because of the Perseus technology, it is now possible to listen to the radio at your leisure, and re listen to the spectrum recorded again and again. This paid off last night while on the Skype text chat to Paul C and Alf A. Paul had heard a very familiar and regularly noted ann heard on WEAV 960. This is common to 1320 WTSJ Randolph, VT, which was the one Paul had just noted, and what all the excitement was about!! The time was 0000 Monday 26th. I already had WJAS Philadelphia, PA on this channel at that time, but I tried again, first in USB, alongside WJAS, but heard nothing else clearly. In LSB however, there was a very weak ann, exactly like the 960 WEAV ann. So WTSJ log, tnx to the keen ears of Paul C. Tnx OM.
1340 WSTV - STEUBENVILLE, OH:
This rarity also popped up at 0000 on 26th October. It was difficult to pick up the ID, but both Paqul C and I have gave it a listen, and are content that it is the above station. It was one of those hours that the signals were peaking with better than average signals on the graveyards. 1230 also produced an ID. WCMC Wildwood.
Anyhow, other than the CBC Radio 1 ann that had to be filed under unid, due to there being more than 1 possibility, I have never identified anything on 1340. The main cause is probably BBC Ulster, though even when it is not splattering, the growl is just like 1240 and 1230 most of the time. Graveyard growl.
091026_0000_1340_wstv_steubenville_oh.mp3
1070 WFLI - LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, TN:
Saving the best till last. The above two can barely be called ID's. This daytimer was first noted by Paul C first on 25th at 2300. There was no sign here. Whilst I was busy with other work on the PC last night, 2300 came up fast. I had not been prepared for the top of the hour, and ended up having to restart the Perseus software a few times, due to using too many other applications. I managed to restart the Perseus reliably with about 30 seconds to spare!!
I sat on 1070 for the top of the hour, but all I could hear was IBOC hash and see a signal peaking above it, but with nothing dominant. Then suddeny at the top of the hour, I was rewarded by the ann below!! What an exotic name for a town. Lookout Mountain!!! Superb. It is a 50kW station daytime, and 2.5kW at night.
There are a few 50kW transmitters on 1070 by day. They are well worth watching out for at the end of the month of October and November, and the beginning of the month in Feb or March. This is due to the changing darkness/ daylight path. There are a few days left till the daytimers have to shut up shop an hour or a half hour earlier, with winter coming in fast. Another one of the big 1070 stations made it to my radios last winter. WAPI Alabama.
Audio clip of Lookout Mountain below. Notice there is both an ABC news and IRN USA Radio news.
091026_2300_1070_wfli_lookout_mountain_tn.mp3
091026_2300_1070_wfli_lookout_mountain_tn_b.mp3 (different perseus settings)
091030_2300_1070_wfli_lookout_mountain.mp3
ADDITIONAL
LOGS:
780 Radio Coro Venezuala. 0701 27/10 (tip David H)
1070 WFLI Lookout Mountain TN 2300 26/10
1120 WBMW 0759 26/10. Very poor
1310 CIWW - Oldies 13-10 2300 26/10 Gd last day or so.
1320 WTSJ Randolph, VT. Zone 960 ann well below WJAS 0000 26/10
0000 Personal First
1340 WSTV, STEUBENVILLE, OH 26/10 0000 Personal first
1430 The Team 0800 27/10
1480 UNID EWTN amongst WSAR 0800 27/10 (Tip Paul C, but no id either)
1490 WBAE 2201 26/10
1590 WAKR 0200 27/10
1640 WTNI 0200 27/10
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - MONDAY 26th OCTOBER 2009: |
Some reasonable band condx have been with us at various times over the last few days. Some high A and K indices have also made morning listening so very average on some mornings too. I found another couple of frequencies that HD signals from the States are present. They are 1140 and 660. Perhaps the 1140 will be WQBA?? Remember that this is only a flashing light on the Sony HD set, a sign of weak HD being present. I have had nothing locking on to HD as yet.
LOGS FROM THE BANDS:
540 WFLA
FL 24/10 0700
570 WMCA NY 0700 26/10 gd ids
590 Radio Musical, Cuba. La Musica En Cuba jin 0705 25/10. Also
ID 0700 26/10
850 WEEI vg 0700 26/10
920 WDMC Melbourne, FL. The station that the lord has made!!!!! Tell
that to the technicians and riggers who put the mast up.. I wonder how
much sweat the lord lost in the construction.. lol!! 0700 26/10
950 CKNB Satellite WX 2227 24/10
980 WTEM Washington ESPN and multi call ID 0700 980
1030 WBZ Boston. Very good IDs leading up to the toth. ILR AYR very
low music at this time 26/10 0200. Tnx Davie Hamilton for the tip of
ILR Ayr quiet audio at this time
1060 WBIX Boston 0300 26/10
1130 WBBR NY. Vy Vy srong and loud 0800 25/10
1140 CBC local ID 2059 24/10
1170 WWVA Wheeling gd 0700 26/10
1230 WCMC Wildwood NJ. Toth id 0000 26/10
1320 WJAS Pittsburgh 0000 26/10
1360 WDRC Hartford 0000 26/10
1370 WXXI Rochester 0700 26/10
1400 CBC Local ID 2059 24/10
1470 WJDY MD inc CNN NX 23/10 2300 (Pers 1st) Also 2300 24/10,
1470 Radio Formula, MWex 0200 24/10
1470 WNYY 2234 25/10
1480 WSAR 0000 26/10
1500 WFIF 2200 23/10
1500 Federal Nx Radio Washington. Music prog which had me thinking briefly,
till id 2256 25/10
1510 WWZN Boston. ID as REVOLUTION BOSTON!! 23/10 2200
1520 WWKB. Vy strong and loud 0700 25/10
1540 CHIN id mumbled but strong signal 0700 25/10
1540 WDCD 0000 26/10
1590 WARV 0700 25/10, 0600 26/10
1650 CJRS 0700 26/10
1660 WWRU VG 2200 23/10, also 2300 25/10
1670 Dry Branch Ga, Fox Sports 1670. 2300 25/10
1680 WTTM SS LV de Mexico progs. 2200 23/10
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - FRIDAY 23rd OCTOBER 2009: |
CLOCKS CHANGE THIS WEEKEND:
I had assumed the change back to GMT time would take place next week, but in fact as the change happens at 2am local, it is tomorrow night, as the last Sunday in October is this weekend. 31st is a Saturday!! So we get an hour longer in bed on Sunday morning, or maybe an hour later in the pub the night before??? (Tried that old trick in the past, they don't bite these days. Gone are the old lock in's we had 10 years ago!!)
SONY XDR-F1HD - GENERAL OPINION OF THE HD RX
I resigned myself to the reality that I am not going to the much anticipated radio day in Amsterdam next month. It is a shame, but a weekend in Holland will end up too dear for me this year. So I bought myself a little American Sony HD receiver instead, which it seems was made in China!!!!!!!
The following observations are made of the unit straight out of the box, no modifications, except cutting the American plug off and fitting a UK type!!
These little gadgets are all the rage in the FM DX community, and are remarkably cheap. £55 plus postage. The reviews of this receiver for FM that I have read have been really over the top with praise. It was as though the set had some unique and really "hot" spec. That was one of the reasons I bought it. The second reason was to see if there was any American HD going to be possible across the Atlantic.
During my first trials here, I am comparing side by side with the much heralded Sony SB-920, dual input wide/ narrow tuner. This truly is a great receiver in itself, but I had never read a decent A-B comparason.
Both receivers are running from the same antenna, vertically polarised, and running from the same splitter amp, and fed through the audio desk at the same equaliser settings.
So I began trying the known local channels for selectivity, and sensitivity.
1. 97.4 Belfast and 97.5 Girvan are close in freq, (as well as geographical area). Results showed the HD set was about the same as the SB-920. A little rumble from the stronger ILR AYR 97.5, heard on both sets. Audio on the HD set was far worse, and sounded more like MW, than FM. The SB 920 provided much better audio on both frequencies, and with no difference in selectivity noted, the SB-920 won on that test. My old Grundig Satellit 3400 is also capable of splitting 97.5 and 97.4 equally as good as the two Sony sets, or certainly very close to it.
2. Next, the Kintyre FM frequencies on 107.7 and 107.1. 107.7 is much stronger here, and apart from the audio quality, both radios produced about the same results. On 107.1 on a weak transmission, on a clear frequency, I much prefer the audio of the SB-920. There was absolutely no benefit of any improved signal strength on the HD set.
3. After trying various frequencies, I found a tight one. 101.1 is a weak Edinburgh station, while on 101.3 I have very local Classic FM. On the SB-920, Classic FM is more of a problem ,and the weak Edinburgh signal is barely heard. On the HD set, the station is audible without Classic FM splatter, although still very weak. The HD set had the edge on this freq.
The HD set decreases audio if the signal is weak, so volume has to be turned up to compinsate.
SONY XDR-F1HD - RDS:
RDS is quite important to FM dxers. I prefer to hear IDs myself, and much prefer to have audio clips. But I have loads of little movie clips of flashing and scrolling RDS. To help check the RDS on the two receivers, David Hamilton and I tuned .1 off freq on each set, and on the count of three, both tuned to a strong local, and waited. The SB-920 showed RDS faster. But the story doesn't stop there. On a weaker station that was touch and go with RDS, the HD set won over the SB-920. The word GALAXY was up on the HD set while there was nothing on the SB-920. Both are quite slow to respond to RDS however.
Is the audio quality on FM kept to a lesser standard on the HD set, so as to fool the public into thinking that the HD is so much better??? Or is the American FM system so very different from here?? Who knows? But knowing what I know now, I wouldn't rush out and replace the SB-920 with the XD set. It is a fine addition though to a dx shack, and at a very reasonable price, and probably beats many other FM tuners easily. I find the sensitivity of the HD set absolutely no different to the 920. Selectivity is about the same with moderate strength signals, but if you are tuning a very weak station right next to a very strong local, then the HD set has the edge in some circumstances.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Do not part with your Sony SB-920. I do fancy that the SB-920 will remain to be my FM DX receiver of choice when the season comes in again.
So is it worth while buying a set from the States, paying import duty etc, throwing together a 110v power supply, rather than using a UK tuner, tried and tested in the SB 920.. But there is the stumbling block. They are no longer available, except on the second hand market.
SONY XDR-F1HD - PRESETS, OR LACK OF:
The presets on the HD set revert back to the defaults after power down. So there is no point in programming any local channels in to it. It makes you think this unit has been built as cheaply as possible, or without much thought input, if the presets do not even work properly!!
You may say, "Oh yes, such and such has shared a modification on their web pages, of how to add a back up battery", but that is hardly the point. Imagine if your television presets had to be retuned every time they were plugged in!!! It is not everyone who wants to start tearing their sets to pieces anyway, if they have just purchased a new radio. And not everyone would feel confident making technical mods.
SONY XDR-F1HD - THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING:
Below are a few audio clips to compare the two receivers. Remember the sets are both supplied from the same antenna from a multi way splitter amp. Despite my best efforts at the time of recording, I was finding it difficult to mimic the results on 101.1 as mentioned above. The signal on the very weak 101.1 was barely there today, except during some fluttery strong signals. The SB-920 has the benefit of tuning to .05mHz up or down, where as the HD set can only tune .1 at a time, so the weak station on 101.1 was still audible on both receivers.
1. Good strong signal on ILR AYR on 96.7 FM. HD receiver is less toppy.
3. Medium strength signal from Galaxy Glasgow tx. RDS was more consistant on HD rx.
5. Very weak signal on Argyll FM 106.5, clear channel, no other stations near by.
The Sony
HD rx is on top of the classic NRD 515.
The power unit bottom right is a variable supply useful for the required
110V
Sony SB920,
still a great receiver
SONY XDR-F1HD - MW ON THE SONY HD:
I was pleasantly surprised by the AM audio quality of the HD set. Many Euro channels are beyond the 10kHz channels, and not listenable. Some are however, and the response on MW is quite good. It is also good on some of the American channels, eg 1130, or 1080.
NB: The radio is NOT a MW DX machine, but it does pick up TADX, as will any old junk domestic type radio. The reception of long distance AM stations on kids toy radios seems to be a hobby in itself these days, though this fruitless distraction is not for me. Time spent listening on cheap junk for me would be time not spent listening to dx on my proper receivers, which I spend too much time in front of anyway!!
The Sony HD set has built in AM HD, which is sometimes referred to as IBOC, or to put it another way, jamming with white noise. I thought it would be interesting to try this here in Europe, but the chances I think are slim. Look how unreliable strong DRM is with a skywave signal, never mind a dx signal from 3000 miles away. So trying the band yesterday morning when the signals were well down on the previous day due to high K's and Aurora.
The Sony HD has an HD light, which is always out when listening to European signals. But when listening to American stations, if there is a weak HD signal there, the light will come on and flash. If the signals were strong, I think the idea is that the HD light would lock and the HD signal would switch on automatically, if there was a good enough signal.
I did receive an indication of a weak HD signal from the following.
880, 1080, 1100, 1120, 1200. Also over the weekend I noted the HD light flashing on 660 and 1140. Not sure which station it was on 1140. Listings say the common WQBA has no HD, but WRVA in Virginia does. Add to this 1010, 1130 and 1560, and we have a reasonable selection of signals making it to Europe.
The weak HD signal present indication was as far as it went however. Nothing further noted than a flashing light, which is NOT dx by any means!! I can say however that on MW in the European evenings, even on strong and busy frequencies, the HD light does not come on by itself in error.
CLICK HERE TO SEE A MOVIE CLIP OF WTIC ON 1080 WITH HD LIGHT ON (7 meg)
Often this mush is seen and heard here in Europe as white noise, much the same sound as DRM jamming. But the technical spec of IBOC is very different than that of DRM. IBOC has two signals, one either side of the main AM signal. DRM is an independent signal on one freq. I have no idea if you need the two sides of the IBOC to be of reasonable signal level to lock the HD signal. If that is the case, it becomes more difficult here in the UK. The mush is often seen and heard around 1070, from what I always took to be WTIC 1080. This being the case, the other half of the HD signal will be somewhere in the middle of Talk Radio which is strong on 1089.
LOGS FOR THIS LAST WEEK OR SO:
540 CBC Ann 540 cbc will be off air tomorrow 19/10 2300, 0200 20/10
570 CKGL 570 news 17/10 0600
580 WCMA NY 0000 23/10
630 CFCO 0605 15/10
640 CBC local id 2300 19/10
640 AM 640 Toronto CFMJ 0605 15/10, Call ID 0700 20/10
640 Unid sounded like Disney kids, but may have been screechy ad on
Toronto. NO id 0600 19/10
660 WFAN 0600 21/10 VG
680 CJOB 0600 21/10
720 WGN 15/10 0700 GD
740 Warbler 0659 15/10
760 SS mix WJR 0607 15/10
770 CHQR 0606 15/10, 0600 21/10
790 WAXY 0700 20/10
830 SS INC Jin 0613 15/10
830 WCRN 2 Audio feeds. Tried fixing 2300 14/10
850 WFTL FL 0600 14/10, 0300 20/10
870 Warbler on 870 as Reloj ID 0400 15/10. Small wobble
890 WLS 0700 21/10
917 Nearly Nigeria. fair in the splatter 2225 14/10
920 Unid IRN USA RADIO NEWS still coming through sometimes 0601 21/10
920 WDMC FL EWTN programming 0700 23/10
950 Warbler. Quite good at this time 0619 +0614 better 14/10,
23/10 0700
950 CFAM 0000 20/10, 0300 21/10
990 German test tones very wide band. Tnk tip Alfie 2254 15/10
1020 Radio Guama, Cuba poor. jin 0601 22/10. Tip DH
1070 KNX 0600 20/10
1110 KFAB 0600 15/10
1130 ESPN/ KFAN 0627 15/10
1140 AM 1140 AB 0701 17/10, 0608 20/10
1140 WQBA Miami 20/10 0600 regular
1150 WHBY 0630 21/10 VVG
1210 The Big Talker, Philadelphia WPHT 0700 17/10
1250 WSSP 0605 Gd id 15/10
1250 AM 1250 MB 0300 15/10
1270 Unid ann 92.1. WMKT has 92.1, but no id. 14/10 0600
1280 WNAM 0705 15/10
1290 CFRW MB 21/10 0631
1300 Praise 1300 Cleveland OH 0637 15/10
1310 KNOX Grand Forks 0700 20/10 Personal First
1390 WLCM 0505 14/10
1440 WHKZ 0000 22/10 Tip DH
1470 SS Long tk 0700 17/10
1470 Unid Business Talk Radio Network 2258 18/10 Poss FL WMGG, But no
ID
1470 WLAM The oldies Channel 870 and 1470 inc CNN nx 18/10 2300, 2301
21/10 gd
1470 WNYY 2232 20/10
1500 WLQV 0400 20/10
1510 WLAC Nashville 19/10 0000
1520 WWKB Exceptional signal 0000 19/10
1530 Vatican Radio Int sig - See this old int sig still in use 15/10
2200
1540 CHIN 0000 20/10 ID
1550 CBC Radio 1 Windsor ID local ID 0000 22/10
1560 KGOW 21/10 0800, 0700, 0600,etc. Gd ids 0700 DISNEY gd 0659
1570 CKMW Winkler. 1st log in a while 0559 17/10 Country 15-70
1590 WAKR ads 0505 14/10, 0650 15/10
1590 KVGB Great Bend, KS!! 0706 15/10. Also 0606 15/10, 0606
16/10. Gd 19/10 0606 0534, 21/10 0800Personal First
1590 WVNA Voice of Northern Alabama 0619 19/10 Personal
First
1593 Euro Sign on with kind of Int sig 0300 16/10
1600 WUNR in EE for once. Irish Hour!! 0100 16/10
1600 KPNP, MN Chanting. This must be pres, as never any ids. Gd 0635,
0700 20/10
1620 KOZN ESPN Omaha - The Zone 0700 20/10
1630 KCJJ VG 0600 16/10, 0700 20/10
1630 KKGM 0459 20/10 0600 20/10
1630 La Grande 0500 20/10
1640 WTNI 0400 15/10
1640 WKSH Disney Milwalkee 2300 19/10
1640 KDIA CA 0500 20/10 Personal First
1640 KBJA UTAH!! 0600 21/10 Personal First
1650 KFOX CA 0600 20/10 Personal First
1650 CINA 0459 20/10
1650 KCNZ 0600 16/10
1650 Long gap then pips into CBS news. 0400 20/10
1650 KKGM 0300 20/10
1660 KRZI 0500 20/10
1660 KQWB Fargo 0700 20/10 also 0600
1660 WCNZ FL 0400 20/10
1660 WQLR Kalamazoo 0300 22/10
1670 WTDY Madison 14/10 0600 19/10 0606, 0000 20/10
1680 WPRR Ada MI 0559 17/10, 19/10 2300,
1680 Multiple calls from Ma, = WTTM 0201 16/10
1700 Sports Radio 1300 = KBGG 0600 16/10
1700 KVNS 0702 20/10
I have heard so much more of course, of the usual regulars, that I don't even write in the log book.
BRIEF NOTES:
La Grande on 1630 is USB only.
CW on 600 seems to be from 594, the toth tones.
KVNS seems to have dropped ABC News on 1700
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - WEDNESDAY 21st OCTOBER 2009: |
We did deserve a break from the very average band conditions. I think we have it!!
A poss FKR-UK in the UTAH stn.
091020_0700_1560_wqew_kgow_great_ids_both.mp3
091021_0600_1640_kbja_sandy_utah.mp3
PERSEUS TIPS, TRICKS AND OBSERVATIONS:
I noticed
a bit of overloading the other day with the Perseus, whewn I was messing
around with the pre amp. That wasn't there before, but I happened to
notice that the three functions that don't seem to do anything were
switched on. The preamp is one of them, and for the first time, I noticed
this built in preamp was best switched off, and the problem immediately
vanished.
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - TUESDAY 20th OCTOBER 2009: |
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' :
Today I have had a mixed bag. Initially my dx neighbour, Paul C in Troon had a long and interesting list on the Skype MW DX Cluser. He heard many rarities from ND, and SD, yet my MW band seemed full of strong "local" common stations. But in between the strong mush and the strong common stuff, there lurked a few surprises. I heard the same station as Paul on 1310, KNOX Grand Forks, but that was the only one of interest I thought. Then after checking 0500 I found that the X band was not only quite good, but there was a CA station on 1640, in the clear. KDIA 1640. And another CA popped up at 0600 on 1650, KFOX. This was reported by Jurgen in Germany yesterday or the day before, although his times were kept secret in his entry on the Skywaves MW board. Nice recording though! At the time I checked my own recordings, but found nothing worthy of note. Yet today, there are three personal firsts so far, two from CA!!
INJUNS HEARD AGAIN AND FKR-UK:
The station I used to affectionately refer to as the INJUNS was out and about today. On 1600 at 0630 as well as 0700 the strange and bizzare chanting from radio station KPNP in MN was heard. See audio clips below. I once thought it was the chanting of American Indians, but it seems it is chanting from the far east. It sounded very like Native American chants one morning featured on 1500 WFED or whatever they called themselves that week.
I think everyone that has heard this is still lacking IDs with this one, but during a live dxing session, Paul C matched their web stream. So all we need now is a chanting ID then. If anyone is claiming this as a FKR-UK without a proper ID, then I must dispute the claim, as a friend of mine in Glasgow heard this who was not in any dx club. A fine example of my long held belief that the term UK FIRST should be replaced by something like I use on this page, FKR-UK, which means first known report in the UK. Maybe better sounding letters with a ring to them would benefit, but for now, they are what I use on these pages.
Tnx to Guy Atkins in Seattle for pointing out my typo KPNP - not KPHP. Need Specs I think.. LOL..
AUDIO CLIPS BEFORE LOGS:
OK then, the audio clips are ready before the logs today, so here goes.
091020_0200_540_cbc_off_air_ann.mp3
091020_0608_0600_1140_am_1140_wqba.mp3
091019_0619_1590_wvna_alabama.mp3
091019_0606_1590_kvgb_gd_wx_re_short_vs.mp3
091020_0700_1600_pres_kpnp_watertown_mn.mp3
091020_0702_1620_zone_omaha_kozn.mp3
091020_0500_1630_krnd_wy_la_grande.mp3
091020_0500_1640_kdia_ca_poor.mp3
BAND JUMPING AT 0800:
The band seemed to be jumping at 0800 this morning. I never really checked the 0800 GMT time slot in a while, so maybe this has been the case for a week or so?? Winter is upon us for sure.
JAMMING STILL OFF AIR:
It is so nice to be rid of the German jamming QRM on 1593, but make hay while the sun shines. It could return at any time. I'm sure their listener will look forward to that!!!!
I recall when the so called western countries hated the white noise the Soviets broadcast in the middle of AM broadcast bands. Look who is doing the jamming now, with the ITU approval it seems. What does that tell you?
NO LOGS FOR A FEW DAYS:
I have not typed up any logs for a few days, but here goes with what I have heard:
NB Logs will be added here shortly
MORE FAULTY EQUIPMENT:
I often comment here on these pages about the faulty equipment, or maybe poorly maintained equipment that one comes across as a dxer. We are all used to the flat and low audio on 950 CKNB, and this summer saw something go wrong with the usually strong CBC transmitter on 600. The audio is still barely audible.
There is another one to add to the list. Noted tonight, as well as this morning, with not much more than a carrier, was Greenland 570. Let's see if Greenland make repairs now that the word is they will probably leave MW. CBC seem to be in no hurry to repair AM 600 Sydney, NS.
QUOTES FROM THE PAST:
This from my 22nd October 2007 entry.....
Nothing worthy of note, but 1290 CJBK ided 0800, Exc WWL id on 870 at 0700, and ESPN 1450, no real id. 1370 pres WDEA, very strong and clear during music 0719, not ided though. Seemed to be a lot of stations on a lot of frequencies. O if only we could record the full mw band at the peak times....
And this from 1st November
Finally I was reading on the web about the new Perseus SDR. WAHHHHHHHHH.. This is the technology we could only dream of even last year!! Recording 400kHz of bandwidth and playing back at your leasure, all the toth ids!!!! Guess who needs to stay out the pub for a few weeks!!!
NB: I think
I got the statement wrong about the dream. I could only dream of it
the day before, as that was the day when I first heard of Perseus.
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - FRIDAY 16th OCTOBER 2009: |
1590 JAMMING TRANSMITTER STILL OFF:
Interesting to see that the German Jamming service was out of action again last night. I'm sure their listener has already written a letter of complaint.
I wonder why they are closing the likes of 594 this year because of the costs, yet keeping this jammer on air with one listener, or maybe two??
I would have thought that in the case of 1593, it may be better to buy the listener a PC and broadband connection for 10 years, rather than jam the AM with that obsene amount of power. What is the price of 1 PC compared to 24/7 white noise??
Anyway, from a DXers point of view, make hay while the sun shines.
1590 KVGB, GREAT BEND, KS:
I have made quite a few logs of the above station in the last days. It began yesterday at 0706, but soon realised it was there at 0606 as well as 0534. JF logged the signal at 0534 too. Well done. It was heard this morning at a couple of different times as well. It is coming though best in USB.
AUDIO CLIPS - A RESOURCE FOR MW DXERS:
Not only do I have the news services jingles / top of the hours on line here, but I feel there is no current resource on line to listen to the top of the hour clips, without resorting to waiting for an hour and streaming live. Not all stations are available on a stream anyway. None of the paper DX clubs have any on line resources like this, (surprise surprise) so I thought I would make an effort to upload station IDs of many of the common top of the hours, in as good a quality as possible. (Not taken from the web, as this can distract from the sound of AM radio). A worthwhile project I feel. The clips of stations with the big signals will be made using AM and will sound like good AM radio. The poorer stations will be made from clips made as best as possible under splatter and weak signal conditions. I will probably change the name of the 2009 page of audio clips, so that they are current. Many stations change TOTH ID's every year, so it will be helpful to have current toth ann's available, including the confusing multiple call and HD calls that are so often so wrongly reported.
PERSEUS STICKING:
Just every now and again, Perseus users may find that the tuning seems to suddenly stop as you try to tune lower in freq, than say 800kHz. The freq is only used as an example, and could be anywhere on the band. I have found this I think during live dxing only. I think... . I am not too sure about during playback. This would always be on the 2000kHz sampling rate. I am rarely off this setting. It is no problem though. There is a little bug somewhere in the software. I had this happen again last night. The freq in question I could not tune below was around 800kHz. I restarted the software, and still had exactly the same bug. But a quick click to 1000kHz sampling rate and back to 2000 fixed this extremely minor bug. This fix can sometimes help the odd stuttery problem as well.
Another Perseus tip worth remembering.
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - THURSDAY 15th OCTOBER 2009: |
1590 SILENT OVERNIGHT:
The German jamming signal on 1590 has been silent for 2 nights now. Let's hope it NEVER comes back on!!
AUDIO CLIPS:
A couple of audio clips so far from this morning. More logs and chat to come.
091015_0700_1100_wtam_cleveland.mp3
091015_0700_1590_kvgb_great_bend_ks.mp3
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - TUESDAY 13th OCTOBER 2009: |
Nothing too much to report from the dxing front over the weekend. The band has been very much the same, with mainly common stations from the East being heard.
But today. Tuesday, well.... What a difference. At these lattitudes it is always a great sign that the band is open farther west when the distinctive classical music comes through on 950, and at 0630 today, it was very loud. The station CFAM rarely ids and does play over the top of the hour most of the time. Check for // 1220 and more so 1250.
AM 1593 OFF AIR TODAY:
Also today, because the band was a bit same old same old for the last while, I limited recordings to only top of the hour, as well as 0630. I now wish I had done the complete hour from 0600 - 0700. The German jamming signal on 1593 went off air at 0606, and was still off at 0700. This made 1590 so much more available. Only seldom do I have the Euro faded out enough to pull in anything on 1590 these days. Let's hope the 1593 transmitter has went on fire and is beyond repair, although I suspect it will be back on by the time you read this. I also read on Ydun's web site that we are to have BIG L back on 1395. Wonderful.... Bang goes another DXable area of the band.
MESSY LOGS FROM THE LAST FEW DAYS:
TUESDAY 13th October:
0700
830 WCCO
inc a sister stn on FM, WLTE Minneapolis/ St Pauls. Had me fooled for
a bit at 06!!
1130 KWKH
1220 WHK 0701
1330 WFNN
1590 WAKR (Better 0705)
1590 KCNN East Grand Fork, ND Very poor ID, but Fox Sports..
Red River Valley ....
1660 KQWB Fargo
0630
680 CJOB
Gd 0631
770 Mess with poss old time radio at one point
830 WCCO
1540 KCRJ News on KXEL. Another one to watch the call
0600
600
CJWW id in the mud
770 CHQR
830 Funny sounding ann after IRN USA Radio news instrumental on WCRN.
Need to listen closely
MONDAY 12th October 2009
0600 WGN Buffalo 550. Reasonable peak, but not much else of note today.
SUNDAY 11th October 2009
0700
900 CHML
920 CKNX
1130 WBBR Good AP News toth
1280 WFAU Gd multi call ID
1360 WTAQ
SATURDAY 10th October 2009
0536
1060 AM 10-60 Classic Country
0600
830 WCCO
1130 ESPN but local ID lost. Prob KFAN
1150 WHBY VG peak
1310 WCCW
1510 KCKK
1660 KQWB Fargo
0630
640 Unid
SS Radio Suyato or similar. (Maybe Progresso, have to relisten) Req
closer listening
840 SS here, no id
ANTENNA MEMORIES:
Last year at this time I was out in the field across the way, with sticks and wire and Davie Hamilton. I had permission to use the field as an aerial park, while the farmer was not using it in the winter. Unfortunately this year it has been sown again with winter barley, so I can't use it. It was such a great aerial, and last years logs of KBRW were enhanced by the aerial. Not that a 500m beverage through the woods is anything to sniff about, but the wire through the open field was just so much better on most frequencies. There were times when the other aerial showed up as better, but in general the wire through the open field was just great.
If anyone is living in an area where they have a chance of throwing up a beverage, I would say, yes, go for it. What a difference to dxing that really is. I often wish I was really in the sticks, and able to run aerials in every direction.
There was an old leaflet from the 70's or 80's I think that came from Radio Nederlands, called "Give your Antenna Some Air". It really does work. If you are fortunate enough to have the access to nearby countryside, make good use of it. You will never regret it.
I have taken notice that last years 420m and my permanent 500m antenna both well out perform much shorter 150m, or 200m beverages. By a very long way. Obviously if you don't have a piece of rough ground or woods near you, 150m may have to do. But if you do have the space, USE IT.
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - FRIDAY 9th OCTOBER 2009: |
WINTER IS HERE:
Today is the first day for many months since I had to light the old calor gas heater in the shack here. Winter is creeping up fast. I suppose it will keep the hard drives cool, but I was still fighting with myself about the fact the summer has gone. I imagined a late summer, to get out and do outside stuff, like walks and bikes, but here we are in the winter now. The trees still have leaves, most of them, but they are gradually going. It is raining leaves in the gusts as I type this. I may manage a few nice photos of Scotland in the Fall, or as we say here, Autumn, before the end of the month, when the trees are normally all but bare.
PERSEUS NAVIGATION - MESSED UP RECORDINGS:
I have made a mess of my long recording this morning. Oh it is recorded and playable ok, but due to the limitations of the Perseus navigation for playback, it is clumsy and awkward to listen over the top of the hour. I should know better, but I wasn't thinking last night while altering my autohotkeys file. I shall explain.
I have been recording some toth (top of the hours) through the night, although I have never found too much to boast about of late. The best time for MW dxing transatlantic signals at this time of year is approximately from 0600 - 0700 GMT. I was recording the full hour from 0526 - 0638 recently, and again a few minutes at 0700. The winter is moving on, and I was finding the 0530 time slot less useful, so changed the times last night to 0555 - 0708. But I failed to remember that my time started at an even 5 (So to speak). That would be OK if all was as you would expect with the Perseus software.
But files are by default a reasonable 5m long, max 8m. I failed to remember that if the default of 5m was selected, the top of the hour would be just as the file changes to the next one. The navigation in the Perseus software is such that a file will play to the end, and if there is another file to follow in sequence, it will change flawlessly to the next file. But try that in reverse.
YOU CAN'T!
You have to browse for the file again, check the number in the sequence of files, and click on the previous file. The freq reverts back to the centre frequency of the recording, and then you have to retune to wherever you were listening. All to go back 20 seconds!!
Navigation backwards and forwards through recorded files has been asked for repeatedly on the Perseus Yahoo group, but the problem has never been addressed. It is a pity, because the record function is the selling point for this receiver, certainly amongst MW dxers. (See my article, Perseus - A Life Changing Receiver)
So anyway, I hastily changed my recording time to 0554, to incorporate the top of the hour well within a single file!!
ON THE BAND:
The band was lacking in interest yesterday morning so much that I did not make a single entry into the log book. It is not as though there were no signals. There were dozens of signals, and some years ago, I would have been happy with logging many of the stations that were coming through, some very loud and clear. But in the case of a dxer who records the whole band every morning and checks for something different, or something powering in which is usually much weaker, there was certainly "no' much pookin'...", to use a local fishing phrase.
Last night in the evening, the band seemed to be alive by 2300. I tried to record a local ID from CJYQ on 930 around 2130. This seems to be coming in quite well in the early evening, at this time in October. BRT did cause a bit of grief, and before the next NFLD toth at gmt -3.5, CFBC was coming in over the top of the weak CJYQ. In years gone by, CJYQ would only have became stronger. Not much used to get past it. It was a big deal for CFBC to fade in at the right time to ID, and even rarer for the now common WBEN!!
There was a loud and clear ID from WCCW 1310 today. This is an example of a recording I would copy off and create an audio clip of. The station IDs that I put on line here are of course my best signals from whatever station they are. The signals are NOT like that all the time... Just incase anyone thinks I always have WCCW for example like the clip today, I can assure you it is more often in the mud!!
0100
920 CKNX with ESPN Game
0200
830 WCCO Dominant
0500
920 UNID RADIO AMERICA and IRN USA Radio News
(This is reported to be KDHL Fairbault, MN, but I have yet to hear this ann associated with a KDHL id)
0600
550 WSAU
550 WGR
770 CHQR Tune only just below WABC
1210 VOAR
1310 WCCW
1420 WOC
1410 WPOP
1360 WDRC
1520 WWKB Joey Reynolds Show Good local IDs and 50kW talk 0610
1560 WQEW (ID 0558)
1640 WTNI
1660 WQLR Fox Sports
WCCW TRAVERSE CITY - 1310:
Below is today's recording of WCCW Traverse City. Quite good, and may be the best I have heard this one.
WHAT'S YOUR MOST FRUSTRATING FREQUENCIES ?
This season, my most frustrating frequencies have been I suppose the usual suspects from last season, plus a few others. By frustrating, I mean that the garble of stations often heard mixing only really produces one ID on a regular basis!!! Yes, you know the situation!! It may also include that dominant station that peaks really great sometimes, but rarely if ever has a decent ID.
Here are some of my frustrations..
670 - Cuba is a pest here, knocking out Chicago and possibly others
920 - Every top of the hour seems to only bring in the Information Leader in Mid Western Ontario, CKNX. The Radio America station that was also heard today at one of the hours with IRN USA Radio News is notoriously difficult to put an ID to.
960 - Again loads of stuff seems to be just out of reach as THE ZONE, WEAV takes over the toth...
970 - Despite the multitude of stations coming through regularly, it always seems to be WZAN that is dominant!!!
1080 - How often do you suspect you hear English below WTIC??
1130 - WBBR can be such a pest, especially when there is another station dominant a few minutes before the top of the hour.
1200 - WKOX with the non stop rumbo music seems to never ID now, at least when I am listening. The thing is, their signal is sometimes booming!!
1290 - This frequency has such a garble of stations, often nothing can be heard for graveyarg growl. But the common annoyance that seems to be dominant, and certainly this season, is CJBK. This one used to be a dx target for me. I had heard other stuff on there before I managed to hear CJBK. Now it is a pest!!
1360 - Always seems to be WDRC, but never booming.
1370 - Always seems to be WDEA but rarely strong
1650 - Ethnic Canadian that rarely ID's
1690 - Ethnic Canadian that rarely ID's
There are many more, but those are just some of the stations I see as pests and non id'ers.
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - WEDNESDAY 7th OCTOBER 2009: |
A FEW AUDIO CLIPS:
I have a couple of clips from today, and a couple from January of logs of a couple of stations that have been in the "chat" recently. There has been some mention that Radio AMERICA and IRN USA Radio news on 920 is KDHL, but the clip below shows it as playing ABC news. Today's WGN is good with the pips of BBC notched, but not as good as the 25th January, so there are three from that superb dx day.
I also have an advert from WEBEX.COM which caused some confusion recently as well
091007_0704_1200_wkox_ann_no_id_am_then_usb.mp3
091007_0700_720_wgn_pips_notched.mp3
090125_0300_920_kdhl_fairbault_mn.mp3
090125_0900_570_wnax_yankton_am_then_lsb.mp3
090125_0946_570_webex_advert_on_wnax.mp3
NORTH AMERICAN MW STATIONS - TOP OF THE HOUR NEWS SERVICES:
Often DXers will have a clue to the ID of a station by hearing their news bulletin at the top of the hour. There are a few audio clips below of top of the hour news services or slogans that are used by many many stations across the USA and Canada.
Some dxers seem happy to hear a news service coupled by some other feature of programming to make a claim of reception. I personally really prefer to hear a real station ID, to make a proper log. Otherwise it is a tent. But these unique news announcements may help with IDs and help eliminate possibilities.
eg I have been trying to ID a station on 920 since last season that carries Radio America and IRN-USA Radio News. I heard the station again on Monday morning, but still no local ID.
Here are how the news services etc sound. Files are only a few k. All are taken off MW, so as not to alter the sound heard by mw dxers. If They had been taken from the web, they would have a false sound compared to from AM Radio.
These results are by monitoring here in Europe, and not taken from any possibly dated web page. The services do change from time to time though. You can find which news services are being heard at the top of the hour on my "all time logs list".
The above audio clips deserve a page to themselves, so it is now on line via "Audio Downloads" - "Identify News Services" in the main menu.
I believe that this type of resource is desirable by dxers from dx club's web pages. Most club's I have seen on line seem to concentrate on pages with hard sell $$$ type pages.
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - TUESDAY 6th OCTOBER 2009: |
CFRB - THE STATION WITH NO ID:
I have been hearing CFRB 1010 Toronto with their new NON ID type of ID. The call themselves simply NEWSTALK 10-10. And that is it!! No Newstalk 10-10 CFRB, or in fact any mention of a station ID any more. What a very original name and what a whizzbang of a catch phrase, I don't think.. lol..!!!
It is not only across the Atlantic that they seem to have odd names for their stations these days. In the UK some are coming up with names that are very different from the traditional style of names for a radio station. Names like Real Radio, Absolute Radio, and even silly names like Radio Radio!!!! Even school kids in the 70's came up with more exciting names than that for their low power pirate stations!!
Here are a couple of recordings of CFRB from today, and an older recording to see what the reader thinks is the better of the two announcements for promoting the station!!
091006_0633_1010_newstalk_1010_new_slogans.mp3
091006_0600_1010_newstalk_1010_new_format.mp3
090927_0600_1010_cfrb_old_format.mp3
PHOTOS OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND ST JOHNS:
I wonder if there are any dxers out there who like me, often have a look around the web and look for some decent photos of areas they have heard. Last winter I recall looking at images of Barrow AK, and many others. But this season I thought I would try again and find some photos of Newfoundland. And voila. I came across a great photographers web site, where they actually have high res images on line to share. What a great site this is to see photos of Signal Hill in St John's and photos of the city, including fantastic night views.
Click here to see a selection of photos of St John's
BEVERAGE ADJUSTMENTS:
I am unable to use the farmers field across the way for a beverage antenna this winter, due to the field already being planted with winter barley. But of course I still have the permanent antenna up through the woods. It has been there for a number of years, but only on low sticks about 4 feet high. I had a much higher signal gain last winter on the antenna through the open field, which was up on poles about 7 feet high, (around 2m if you are French). Maybe it was because the antenna was out in the open, maybe the little bit of height helped, maybe it was much straighter than is possible through a dense wood. Maybe it was a combination of all of the above. The aerial runs through rough and dense woodlands, and one loses sight of the wire pretty quickly when trying to string out hundreds of metres in a straight line. However, the antenna works, even though it has a very long feeder of around 200m!!
Anyway, even though things are working well, I did have the notion of trying a few things. I thought of pegging out and adding a higher aerial side by side, or even above the existing one. What effect this will have I am not sure. I don't have enough heavy duty coax to run another length, so will have to make an A-B test one day while the band is open, and change antennas while recording with the Perseus. But that is OK too.
The situation is not ideal, but better than many can manage who live in cities.
Some of the signals that come in on that old beverage, make me scared to even touch it. Why fix a clock that is ticking.. ! lol
(Mind you some dxers earlier in the year suggested I have serious problems with the beverage!! Listen to some of the dx recordings and see if you agree.....)
LOGS FOR TODAY:
I don't think the conditions were as good as yesterday at 0700, but some loud and powerful signals around though. 0630 had some stations coming through from the mid west again, like CFAM 950, as well as 1250, and CFRW 1290. Good to hear the band opening up west.
950 CFAM
Classical Mx No Id though today 0630
970 KQAQ Country and ID 0637. (Also hrd yesterday 0632)
980 WOFX Troy 0600
1010 NEWSTALK 10-10 New CFRB ID. NO call.... clever eh?? 0600
1010 WINS VG 0625
1050 CP24 px called EWTB or similar. 0631. Check recording for another
possible confusing call
1080 WTIC VVG 0630
1250 AM 1250 MB - Classical Mx No id today 0630
1280 BBN Bermuda Personal first I think for some kind of an ID. 0548
Tnx DH for tip
1290 CFRW Good ids etc 0630
1390 WLPM 0300
1510 KCKK 0300 gd
AUDIO CLIPS:
091006_0633_1010_newstalk_1010_new_slogans.mp3
091006_0600_1010_newstalk_1010_new_format.mp3
091005_0630_1080_wtic_powering_in.mp3
091003_0557_1160_ksl_am.mp3 (Same file as the other day except AM and not SSB)
CALL CONFUSION:
I will continue to include recordings of stations that could result in confusion, or even wrongly reported dx!! I have heard the following three in the last days.
1. The first clip sounds like a call given on 1290, but listen to the ann heard on LW 198 at the same time. It is prob a relay from WRNI.
091006_0300_1290_bbcws_poss_WRNI_then_198_id.mp3
2. The second clip is an ad heard on VOCM on 1240. Luckily there was a // outlet coming thru at the same time.
091003_2300_1240_eg_of_vocm_ad_with_w_call_then_590_clip.mp3
3. The third clip is a programme on CP24, which sounded like a call initially. On reversing the recording a bit, the disclaimer was heard.
091005_0631_1050_ewtb_on_cp24_call_confusion_possibility.mp3
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - MONDAY 5th OCTOBER 2009: |
CW ON 930 AT 2200:
Who plays the CW as in the following clip?? Sounds like YI being repeated... Unfortunately I don't have a Perseus recording of this one, as I only had the radio on in the background, listening to CJYQ and CFBC fighting it out, but at least I was recording.
CW ON GREENLAND 570:
I also had some kind of a CW signal at the end of this recording of Greenland, from 2230 last night. There was no sign of the CW on either 650 or 720. Wonder what this is. I do have a Perseus wideband file for this.
091004_2230_570_greenland_vg_signal_cw.mp3
I did hear a third CW mystery either today or last night, but can't recall where and when. It was something other than Radio Reloj, Cuba or Radio Moscow on 1323, both of whom have CW. I shall report back here if I find it again.
MY UNID ON 630 WITH THE BIRDS CROWING AT 0300:
Thanks to Ydun's MW web page, the following answers have come up to the unid signal heard last weekend.
From
Ehard Goddijn in The Netherlands:
UNID on 630 kHz heard by Ken Baird is most likely
Radio Timisoara, Romania.
They announce HORA EXAKTA on the hour as heard
on their internetstream.
From
Patrick Robic, Austria
The spoken words before and after the crowing belong to Radio Romania
Actualitat (ID at 00:26). I think the cockeral crowing came also from
RRA, although I never heard that before - maybe listening to the wrong
time and this is only used in the morning hours.
MW SCREENSHOTS:
I have split up my MW screen grabs which I am gradually adding to this web site. Look under Perseus Screenshots in DX EQUIPMENT, or look for the link from the logs index page. I have just recently uploaded a screenshot from 1340, and the amount of stations at carrier level is pretty amazing. Especially when you consider that there are hardly ever any stations heard on 1340 with audio here...
Click for Perseus Screenshots page
LOGS FROM THE LAST FEW DAYS:
As often happens at the weekends, I have not had much time to write up any logs etc. I have seen some great signals from some stations in the last days. Last night, Sunday, I was amazed by the strength of Greenland on both 570 and 650, as well as 720.
I also had a personal first this morning in the shape of FL on 670. WWFE Miami.
Thanks to AB by the way for pointing out that I had forgotten to put the freq column in the personal first table at the top of the page the other day!!! All sorted today.
I have not too much else to say for myself today, so on with the logs....
Monday 5th October
0600
840 Tent
Cuba - Radio Cultura ann. Similar ann on 670. Need to listen more careful.
970 KQAQ 0632
1310 WCCW
1390 WLCM VICTORY 13-90 Gd
1400 WOND
1620 WTAW Excellent peak.. Daytime Power??
1660 KQWB Fargo Moorhead
1690 WPTX
0700
550 WSAU
670 WWFE Miami, FL ID in EE as well as "La Ponderosa"
(Pers 1st)
920 UNID again, with Radio America programme, and IRN USA Radio news
950 CFAM Classical Mx Hrd a few times recently
960 KMA
Sunday 4th October
0300
630 Convinced
I am still hearing the French here sometimes. Need to try and ID
730 CKAC SPORT Local IDs and not just the night music
830 WCCO
1090 WBAL using splatter killer as best as possible, ided WBAL. CBS
nx
1500 WLQV Detroit
1630 KKGM
0600
850 WFTL
FL
1150 WHBY
1250 WSSP Milwalkee
1420 WOC Gd at this time
0700
980 Unintelligable
singing jingle
1130 KWKH Superb signal, on it's own almost!!
1200 WOAI
2230 and 2300
650 and 570 as well as 720 all coming in very well from Greenland.
Saturday 3rd October
0600
570 Greenland
(No ids of course)
580 WKAQ PR
720 Greenland (No ids of course)
970 Radio Formula Mexico
980 WCUB
990 CBW Winnipeg (CBC) Local CBC Winnipeg AM 990 ID!!
0559 Had poor id the other day, but good today. (News jingle played
in error about 30s past toth as well)
1130 KWKH
1140 WQBA LV MIAMI, FL
1150 WHBY
1160 KSL mixing with WYLL. Fair before wx 0559
1180 Rebelde
1620 WTAW ABC NX
2300
1240 VOCM advert
sounding like an American call. lucky there were // freqs.
1540 WDCD Great peak
Friday 2nd October:
0600
650 WSM
750 CBC Very Good
900 CHML ID heard best in LSB
1310 WCCW
0630
1290 Radio Treize (Radio 13) Mexico. Cheers to David H for the tip.
AUDIO CLIPS FROM THE LAST FEW DAYS:
091003_0634_890_wls_vg_bad_jin_before_c_c.mp3
091003_0559_990_cbw_winnipeg_local_id.mp3
091005_0555_1160_ksl_good_peak.mp3
091005_0600_1390_wlpm_holt_gd.mp3
| KEN'S
DX DIARY AND LOGS - THURSDAY 1st OCTOBER 2009: |
CALL CONFUSION - WRCA 1330 AND WUNB:
WRCA Watertown / Boston as they announce nowadays, carries a programme from an MA University station WUNB sometimes. I noted this in my logs on 15th Sept this year (Also a Thursday morning). Luckily I had a great fade in at that time. Often WRCA can be in the mush like it was this morning. The ID came through at 0600, but luckily I remembered about this programme. I had not put the audio clip on line from mid September, but I include it today. It is one that could easily be mistaken for something else, if signal strengths are low. I have also included an mp3 of an ID from the former Waltham, MA station from 12th Sept during a great peak.
090915_0530_1330_wrca_inc_wunb_call.mp3
It is for this reason that I am a little bit lacking confidence with my 1230 log a few days ago of WBOK New Orleans. We have all heard the WLW id's on 1130 this last month, and regular WRKO id's all over the band in connection with Boston Redsox games. I have had KXEL 1540 with the KCRG weather forecast on 10/9, and I heard the very difficult CJAD 800 id, but on 1010 CFRB!!
(There must be virtually nothing from CJAD 800 comes in this direction. I have never ever heard it here. I had some interesting perseus files from John Washburn in Newport VT, and signals from CJAD, Montreal are booming in).
Some other confusing ID's happen at the top of the hour, either with sister station calls, or with HD calls. How many times have we listened to an ID over and over again only to discover it is the common station with a changed TOTH ID. This happened to me in the case of the 2009 TOTH id from The Zone 960, see below. In the case of KDKA, the HD stations have W calls, yet KDKA is one of the old original K stations!!. Here are a few of other common stations where it would be easy to see where a mix up can happen. So if you hear a station that sounds like a call from a 2 watt station in Antartica, it probably isn't.. lol.. !!
090909_0500_960_weav_vg_new_id.mp3
081002_0600_wepn_ny_vg_1050.mp3
NEW LOG TODAY - CKTB 610:
If the whole month of October brings a new station every day, it will be great month. I doubt however this has any chance of happening. But after a few checks of the 0600 recording this morning, I came across a new one on me. CKTB Saint Catharine, ONT, at 0558. I wondered if 610 had finally switched off, but it seemed it was just on a fade. I think.. Not bad. A new station on 1st day of the month. This is not an FKR-UK, but certainly a rarity with the powerful French station on 610 still on the air. I wonder if soon that station will be a common one, when 610 goes off air on 1st Dec?
091001_0558_610_cktb_st_cath_ont.mp3
SEPTEMBER LOGS FROM SCOTLAND PDF AVAILABLE:
My September logs and notes pages are now available as a PDF from the logs index page, or click below.
Remember there are NO secret passwords, or subscription costs. This material will always be 100% in the public domain!!!
transatlantic_logs_september_2009.pdf
LOGS FROM THE BAND TODAY:
All logs made at 0600 today. I never made any other recordings...
590 WEZE
Boston
610 CKTB St Catharine, Ont (0559)
1180 Rebelde 0600
1330 WRCA With WUNB programme
1410 Unid playinmg Big Yellow Taxi through the top of the hour
1470 CJVB Vancouver No real decent audio, but the three pips loud and
clear.
See screenshot below for visible pips!!
Listen to todays clip - 091001_0600_1470_cjvb_pips.mp3
Listen to two other clips from last season. 24/11 has the pips, 2/12 doesn't.
081124_0900_1470_cjvb_vancouver_vg.mp3
081202_1201_1470_cjvb_vancouver.mp3