Topics

76

MW Loggings / 1098 Marshalls into Michigan 1120 UTC 9/25/2017

« on: September 26, 2017, 0149 UTC »

This is the type of DX that makes it all worth it.  Hearing weak exotic island music cutting through the noise, even if it does last for only 90 seconds, and then realizing you're hearing this on the crowded AM dial, from the Midwest!  Here's V7AB Radio Marshalls with an appearance again this morning:

1098_khz_V7AB_25SE17_1120_UTC.mp3

I suspect us landlocked Midwesterners only have 2-3 more weeks of this kind of enhanced MW propagation that centers around the Fall (and Spring) Equinox.

77

ID and Translation Requests / 740 unid Spanish 9/10/2017

« on: September 10, 2017, 0302 UTC »

This popped up fairly strong on 740 earlier tonight during semi auroral conditions here.  Spanish music and a slogan can be heard.  Anyone recognize this?  Conditions were favoring Central and South America:

740_Khz_UNID_10SE17_0120_UTC.mp3

78

MW Loggings / 1098 Marshall Islands & 702 New Zealand to Michigan 8/31/2017

« on: September 01, 2017, 1720 UTC »

MW conditions continue to be hot towards the Pacific from the Midwest.  Here's what I'm fairly certain is V7AB Radio Marshalls on 1098 kHz yesterday morning at sunrise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az6B1rrhWlE

New Zealand also heard on medium wave for the first time yesterday (702 Magic) while mixing with 2BL ABC Sydney.  That's right, a pileup on 702 kHz!

79

MW Loggings / Australia into Michigan on MW 1100 UTC 8/26/2017

« on: August 26, 2017, 2308 UTC »

I connected up my southwest phased BOGs last night and woke up early for a little sunrise DX to gauge MW trans-pacific conditions, since after all, it's that time of year again here when they can make their presence known in Michigan. Expecting nothing more than a few weak carriers to kick off the season, I was pleasantly surprised with weak audio on several channels. These logs all revolve around local sunrise time here, which was 11:03 UTC Aug.26th, 2017, times below are UTC.

612 4QR ABC Brisbane with weak audio, easy enough to tell it's rugby play-by-play with Aussie accents. 11:03 and now domestics have faded way down on 610 making 4QR easier to copy. In with weak audio for a solid ten minutes or so after sunrise. Carrier hung on until about 11:20. 8,993 miles from TX to RX.


702 2BL ABC Sydney getting past heavy KHSE splatter that eventually fades down at 11:03. Now fast paced rugby play-by-play lasting for several minutes and a bit stronger than 612. No idea if this was // to 612 as I couldn't catch simultaneous audio peaks between channels. Carrier still noted at 11:23. 9,345 miles from TX to RX.


738 2NR ABC North Coast in heavy splash from 730 with // 702 rugby coverage, peaking at audio at 11:03 but only lasting a couple of minutes. 9,073 miles from TX to RX.


1098 for the first time here was more than just an open carrier. Slow relaxing music first noted around 10:45 and continued up to the top of the hour and then talk but too weak to comprehend. Marshall Islands, I would assume? Unfortunately I couldn't parallel it against anything else for confirmation. Their streaming site wasn't working for me. Another brief signal peak at 11:10 but then faded rapidly. First time catching any kind of trans-pacific audio here on 1098.

"Down under" carriers also noted on: 531, 549, 558, 576, 594 (strong), 603, 621, 639, 648, 693 (strong), 729, 747, 756, 828, 837, 882 (strong), 891, 1017 (strong), 1035 & 1116.

Noteworthy North Americans heard at 11:00 TOH:

560 KLZ Denver, CO.
600 KCOL Wellington, CO.
640 KFI Los Angeles, CA.
650 XETNT Los Mochis, SIN
680 KNBR San Francisco, CA.
690 KPET Lamesa, TX. - 250w @ 1,120 miles - "Real Country" - NEW LOG!
700 KHSE Wylie, TX. (huge signal)
760 XEABC & KFMB San Diego, CA. (tent w/ Red Eye Radio, CBS network news & infomercial after 11:00 TOH)
890 KJME Fountain, CO.
1020 KCKN Roswell, NM.
1070 KNX Los Angeles, CA.

80

MW Loggings / West Michigan eclipse report

« on: August 23, 2017, 0055 UTC »

Eclipse peak: 18:22 UTC / 2:22pm EDT, 85% Totality
Antenna: DKAZ loop aimed 180 degrees South
Receiver: Perseus SDR
Location: Western lower Michigan

While enjoying the eclipse outside, the SDR was faithfully recording large chunks of RF spectrum which should provide much enjoyment over the next few weeks.  Peak DX time occurred here near the bottom of the hour before tapering off at 19:00 UTC.  Fishing for IDs at TOH isn't going to cut it this time around and it'll require careful listening of content and other clues near the BOH to pick out the more unusual or desirable signals.  That being said, here's just a very partial start, beginning with the x-band down to 1580.  Nothing new so far, but I've barely scratched the surface!  If nothing else, just hearing Florida from Michigan in the middle of a hot summer day is something I won't soon forget.

Here's a start with more to follow in coming weeks:

1580 kHz: WLPK Connersville, IN. (245w), WHLY South Bend, IN., WAMW Washington, IN. (500w) and others jumbled together @ 18:30 UTC before returning to normal cx at 19:00 UTC with WWSJ St. Johns, MI.


1600 kHz: Goes from threshold WAAM Ann Arbor, MI. to a big jumbled mess by 18:30 UTC.  Heard in the mix: KATZ St. Louis, MO., WAOS Austell, GA. @ 653 miles, "Newstalk 94.1" WUCT Algood, TN. (2.5kw @ 484 miles) & an oldies station matching the webstream of WTZQ Hendersonville, NC. (5kw @ 579 miles).


1620 kHz: Blank channel but WNRP w/ Dave Ramsey begins to appear faintly at 18:21 UTC until building to a respectable signal by 18:28 UTC.  By 18:30 UTC, TIS pest WQBR256 decides to get in on the action along with another unid station under a now powerhouse signal from WNRP @ 882 miles giving Pennsicola weather.  Peaked at around 18:36 UTC and then slowly faded and gone by 18:50 UTC.


1630 kHz: WRDW Augusta, GA. @ 704 miles with sports talk peaking around 18:33 UTC over KCJJ.


1640 kHz: WTNI Biloxi, MS. @ 891 miles with sports talk mixing with WSJP Sussex, WI. peaking around 18:35 UTC.


1660 kHz: Dominated by semi-local WQLR Kalamazoo up until eclipse peak, then Allman Bros. "Midnight Rider" crept up and rivaled WQLR for a few minutes at 18:35 UTC, likely WBCN Charlotte, NC. @ 617 miles.


1670 kHz: Threshold audio from presumed WOZN Madison, WI. which peaked to a strong signal by 18:28 UTC with another weak sports talker under it.  By 18:34 UTC, the weak sports talker is identified as WMGE Dry Branch, GA. w/ FOX Sports @ 730 miles.


1680 kHz: It's semi-local WPRR dominating the channel, as usual.  Music begins to be heard around 18:21 UTC and peaks in strength at 18:28 UTC with a nice solid "99.7 My FM" and into Deee-Lite's "Groove is the Heart".  This is KRJO Monroe, LA. @ 806 miles.  Still there but way under WPRR by 18:36 UTC.


1700 kHz: @ 18:00 UTC the channel is dead.  KBGG Des Moines @ 392 miles the first to appear with Sports program about 1813 UTC with good signal.  KBGG soon mixing with UNID SS talk and into SS music (maybe KKLF?).  By 18:29 UTC, KBGG is gone and now replaced by an overly strong WEUP Huntsville, AL. @ 582 miles to the South.

81

MW Loggings / 1620 WDHP U.S. Virgin Islands

« on: August 14, 2017, 0107 UTC »

I've been after this one for years, finally heard here tonight (with c/w music of all things).  Battling against Cuba, often both at equal levels and destroying anything else on the channel.  2,153 miles

82

North American MW Pirate Radio / 1710 UNID oldies 0128 UTC 8/12/2017

« on: August 12, 2017, 0130 UTC »

Back on again right now, was preceded by a strong open carrier for an hour or so.  Playlist seems to be the same again.  Up to S8 at times but much summer static to contend with here tonight.  

0135z: back to open carrier

83

North American MW Pirate Radio / 1710 UNID oldies 0100 UTC 8/2/2017

« on: August 02, 2017, 0107 UTC »

Up again tonight with oldies, no announcements, S6-S7 & great audio.

Playlist ended again with Chuck Berry's "Hail, Hail, Rock And Roll" followed by (and currently) S8 open carrier as noted on previous receptions.

84

North American MW Pirate Radio / 1710 UNID oldies 0153 UTC 7/30/2017

« on: July 30, 2017, 0154 UTC »

S5-S7

0152z: Patsy Cline - Walkin' After Midnight
0154z: Gene Chandler - Duke of Earl
0228z: Audio cut during mid-song, open carrier now

Repeating the same set of songs as reported in previous logs.  Nice signal tonight!

85

North American MW Pirate Radio / 1710 UNID oldies 0123 UTC 7/22/2017

« on: July 22, 2017, 0125 UTC »

S5-S6 with lots of summer static

0123z: The Danleers - One Summer Night
0131z: Question Mark and the Mysterians - 96 Tears
0135z: Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River
0139z: Freddy Cannon - Palisades Park
0142z: Roy Orbison - Pretty Woman
0145z: Sue Thompson - Sad Movies
0148z: Tommy James and the Shondells - Hanky Panky
0151z: The Gories - Let Me Show You Where It's At
0156z: Smokey Robinson - I Second That Emotion
0159z: Faron Young - Hello Walls
0201z: Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made for Walking
0206z: Burl Ives - Call Me Mr In-Between
0215z: Dion - The Wanderer
0219z: Chubby Checker - Let's Twist Again
0224z: Dave Edmunds - I Hear You Knocking
0226z: Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs - Wooly Bully
0229z: The Isley Brothers - It's Your Thing
0232z: Johnny Taylor - Who's Making Love
0241z: Beach Boys - Surfin USA
0244z: Otis Redding - Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay
0246z: James Brown - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag
0252z: Elvis - Little Sister
0255z: Chuck Berry – Hail, Hail, Rock And Roll
0258z: S8 carrier with dead air

Bits of music also audible on the car radio while sitting in the driveway, I couldn't resist checking :-)

86

North American MW Pirate Radio / 1710 Test Tone 2343 UTC 7/20/2017

« on: July 20, 2017, 2353 UTC »

A continuous 400 Hz test tone noted right now on 1710, exhibiting fading at the same rate as the carrier but up to S5 at times.  No doubt from the same source as my previous two logs.



0142 UTC: Still there and much stronger now at a near solid S7

Off at around 0200 UTC.

87

North American MW Pirate Radio / 1710 UNID oldies 0136 UTC 7/17/2017

« on: July 18, 2017, 0137 UTC »

Back again tonight, same time as last night.  S6-S7 over the summer static:

0136z: Fats Domino - Ain't that a shame
0141z: Elvis - Heartbreak Hotel
0150z: Patsy Cline - Walkin' After Midnight
0153z: Gene Chandler - Duke of Earl
0208z: Percy Sledge - When a Man Loves a Woman
0211z: garbled and distorted audio
0212z: open carrier and back into the same music set
0306z: audio dropped to open carrier after an hour of solid audio, no announcements ever heard

88

North American MW Pirate Radio / 1710 UNID oldies 0139 UTC 7/16/2017

« on: July 17, 2017, 0142 UTC »

Well, this is something different.  Definitely not W807:

S6-S7 over S5 noise floor with fading.

0139z: Percy Sledge - When a Man Loves a Woman
0140z: Patsy Cline - Crazy
0143z: Chubby Checker - The Twist
0146z: unid old c/w tune w/ mentions of Texas
0149z: Jim Dandy to the rescue
0151z: Elvis - Jailhouse rock
0154z: Mountain - Mississippi Queen

I tuned away at 0157z and returned back to 1710 at 0206z and it's gone.

Thanks, whoever you were, for making some noise on 1710!

89

European Pirates and Private Stations / UNID 6320 AM 0002 UTC 7/2/2017

« on: July 02, 2017, 0005 UTC »

0002z: First found on 6320, then VFO drift down to 6323 and now settled on 6320 with Men at Work "Down Under".  S4 in the summer noise.
0006z: Off after song ended.

90

North American Shortwave Pirate / UNID 6190 AM 0309 UTC 5/27/17

« on: May 27, 2017, 0324 UTC »

S7-S8 over the static with The Doors, AC/DC, Paul Simon, ZZ Top and others right now.  No ID yet since tuning in at 0309.