I’ve been casually DXing for about a year now after being away from the hobby for a long time. Since catching the radio bug again I’ve been thinking it would be nice to upgrade to a better receiver. Though the old DX-440 has served me well I was looking for something with a few more options. I’ve been wavering between a Drake R8B (used market) and a new Perseus software defined receiver for a year now. Both cost the same and both are great receivers based on every last reference I’ve read on the net concerning both. My decision came...
DX’ers love to keep records of their logs and count the number of states and/or countries they have heard. I guess I’m no different in this regard. I’ve been DX’ing medium wave casually for one year now, so it seems fitting to assess where I’m at. Here goes: Total US states heard: 36 + District of Columbia Total Canadian provinces: 5 Total countries: 22 Total AM stations: 353 Furthest domestic catch: KNX Los Angeles Furthest TA: 783 Khz Syria @ approx 5,900 miles
KNMX heard with a fair signal during peaks with West Las Vegas (NM) “Lady Dons” high school basketball at 0300 UTC. Lady Dons vs. Robertson(?) Usuals CBK Saskatchewan & KWMT were unheard. I assume KNMX was on their 5kw day power as 25w would be an unlikely catch.
Email verification recevied in 62 days from sending a short audio clip in the form of an MP3 file to the email address shown in the e-QSL below. This is for reception on December 8th, 2009 (hasn’t been heard here since). QSL signed by Lorraine Stavropoulos, DX Secretary Africa. Thanks Lorraine!
New opportunities have presented themselves on both 690 & 940 thanks to CINF & CINW going silent on Jan.29th, 2010. Both Montreal stations dominated the channels here, so it will be interesting to see what can be heard in their absence. New logs on 690: KTSM El Paso, TX. WZAP Bristol, VA. KGGF Coffeyville, KS. In addition to the above, Radio 5 Live on 693 was in the clear with enjoyable audio during most of the evening last night. New logs on 940: KVSH Valentine, NE. KPSZ Des Moines, IA. WGRP Greenville, PA. No doubt, there will be more new...
I’ve been hearing a faint carrier on 531 during the evening for the last few months but nothing ever reaching audio. CIAO on 530 usually obliterates anything in this neighborhood anyway for me but I have heard Cuba here before. Checked again tonight, not really expecting to hear anything other than the mystery carrier, and was surprised to hear some audio coming across from RNE 5 Spain on 531. I had to tune up to 533 to avoid much of CIAO’s splatter. About 5 minutes after tuning in, RNE 5 faded into soft pop music which had started to dominate. ...
The more I use Google Earth, the more uses I find for it relating to DXing. Case in point- I’ve been looking at the vacant land behind our house with the anticipation of laying out a pair of BOGs (beverage on ground antennas) for DXing medium wave stations. Google Earth’s satellite view allows me to visualize the antenna layout (to work around obstacles, etc.) and provides a tool to measure length and heading. With this information, I can figure out exactly how long of an antenna I can layout and the beam direction. Knowing the antenna’s heading, I can then...
I just started DXing again this year after being out of the hobby since about 1990. I was active during my teenage years in the 1980s and was affiliated with such radio clubs as IRCA and the ACE. At that time, I was primarily interested in shortwave pirate radio DXing, mediumwave DXing, and shortwave utility monitoring. My equipment was modest and included various old tube “boat anchors” that usually gave poor results but kept the room warm on winter nights. Antennas used were nothing more than a long wire strung through some tree branches outside. At some point I got...
