CFZM Zoomer 740

[NQC]

Hey All,

Zoomer in deep QSB, mostly weak (or gone) ,up to fair "at times". Up against local Co -Channel WJIB .

JIB is the "Giant Flea" here  at night.Their tower is only around 2.5 mi direct  line of sight, so even when at 5 W night time power, it's BIG.

Also noted (as always) was the infamous  "Zoomer Flutter" .As CFZM starts to rise up out of the mud, it begins to flutter up against JIB. This is not a"variable" rate propagation type of flutter.Instead it is  rock solid and is always  at "referenced rate " that is constant at around .5 seconds.My guess is that one of these guys is a few 10's of Hz off frequency, and causes this  interaction. (Any comments  ?).

  This Co channel  is always  fun , but a   challenge to null. The loop and the 803's ferrite ( X AND Y "origin" point)  both have to be in EXACT  position. 1/8 to 1/4 " fully makes or breaks Zoomer reception. It's really cool how tight it is.The Panasonic is tiny bit more forgiving due to a longer rod, but not by  much.

I doubt many folks can pull it out , at least in the immediate Boston area.

 I can only imagine how the big litz loop will play on this situation  and on other frequencies. Gotta finish the  "small" (16") "Test Bed" loop first,maybe this weekend (if my first "shot" on Friday doesn't make me sick).

Also noted KDKA, but not as good as the other night.The band seemed down a bit from earlier in the week.

K

[Nielsbo]

I am able to hear them almost every night pretty well in Mid-Michigan. I am lucky to not have any stations near me that compete on that frequency. I really like their night-late night programming as it's stuff I dont hear often around here.

Sent them a physical reception report a while back asking for QSL, but I am getting more and more confident every day that they dont send QSLs. Oh well.

[NQC]

We are on the same channel, I too thought of sending for a paper QSL from Zoomer. Probably won’t bother now.

[~SIGINT~]

CFZM is in my backyard, well, 17 miles as the crow flies. I just verified it and it is right on frequency. They operate a 1 tower non-directional 50 kW transmitter. Their coverage pattern is approx 300 miles. I have listened to this station from 500+ miles away at night with no issues. I concur with liking the programming. At least someone is playing decent music vs. all of the syndicated garbage which pollutes the airwaves. 80's at 8 as I am writing this post.

[East Troy Don]

Their coverage pattern is approx 300 miles. I have listened to this station from 500+ miles away at night with no issues.

458 miles to my QTH and usually a pretty easy snag.

[NQC]

Hey Guys,

Hmmm,

Maybe the JIBber is off a bit. No biggie though and actually a "good" thing. When the Zoomster is just barely starting to creep up from zero signal the flutter begins. It is actually a useful indicator  that Zoomer might be "up" soon, it begins LONG before any useful audio is copied. At least in this case, it's actually more useful than a BFO

I am sure everyone here has parked on a ""totally vacant" frequency  and inserted a beat oscillator  to note the presence of a station that has not risen   up into ANY audio yet. Then the wait begins to see if it ever makes it or not ( a regenerative   receiver is great for  doing this )

Same thing with  the Radio Reloj  "RR" cw id on the minute. I copy the CW around five times as often as any actual    useful audio, which is usually gets crunched  by a US  Co channel station anyways.On the  old R70 or 71a  I used to be able to  eliminate  any US stations on frq   so that I heard nothing but "RR" every minute ( but  with  no RR audio either) . Kind of neat the tricks you can pull, even on a good  analog rig.I can only imagine the possibilities of an  SDR.

I too really like the Zoomer  format and play list. But they they only deliver fair or better signal  maybe 10 % of the time here.

K

[skeezix]

They're about 680 miles to here and usually comes in well here after dark (and after daytimer WDGY is off the air). There are times when it fades out & back in. Sometimes KNFL from Fargo comes down here as well too, but CFZM is definitely the dominant station at night.

I also like their programming. I sent them a reception report and got a QSL card back in the mail from them, but that was many years ago, maybe over 15.

[Nielsbo]

I also like their programming. I sent them a reception report and got a QSL card back in the mail from them, but that was many years ago, maybe over 15.

I heard somewhere that a local Tornoto amateur would volunteer their time to respond to reception reports. But they unfortunately have passed away, therefore CFZM no longer responds with QSLs.

[Ct Yankee]

They are just over 500 miles away from me and at night they blast through the speaker.

[pinto vortando]

Zoomer had good signal in here on a pocket portable (Grundig Traveler III) today at noontime...
about 200 miles.