WSRS

It has been a slow summer for DX, basically due to what I wrote in the previous post. But I did manage to log a new station driving a mile from the QTH: WSRS on 96.1 MHz transmitting 16.5 kW from Worcester, Massachusetts, 70 miles to the northeast.

Traveling north a mile from my house, I drop down a steep ridge from over 1000 feet ASL to 200 feet ASL. I lost count how many DX stations I have caught on this ridge, which I call the “Willis Street RF Trap.” 

WSRS is only 70 miles away and not great DX. But I have also caught some really great DX, like KTBT in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma (almost 1300 miles away) on the “Trap” in my trusty 2007 Subaru Outback Sport.

Mid-winter FM Catch!

Running errands this morning, I had the Subaru radio tuned to W241CG-FM on 96.1 MHz. Although W241CG-FM is located in the next town, it is only transmitting 210 watts, so it sometimes drops out as I traverse the hills and dales of Wolcott, Connecticut. When it dropped out at 1502 UTC, I heard the station identification for WAMU in Washington, DC (American University’s radio station).

Actually, WAMU transmits on 88.5 MHz and what I heard on 96.1 was the WAMU HD Radio  stream. That’s a first for the log!

WAMU is located 282 miles to the southwest... a nice mid-winter FM catch!

Mobile DX

I always have my car radio tuned to an oddball frequency to hear what I can hear as I go mobile. The radio is a stock AM-FM unit in a 2007 Subaru Outback Sport. It is sensitive, but its selectivity could be better.

Anyway, Friday afternoon (3:30 PM EST/2030 UTC), I had a 10-minute run to the grocery store, so I tuned to 1710 kHz to maybe hear a pirate or a TIS. Nothing but static going down the mountain, but on the way back, I heard WQFG689, the Hudson County, New Jersey TIS, transmitting 10 watts, 85 miles to the southwest (photo above). I almost never hear them during daylight from the radio shack, so I was surprised when they popped up and put in a solid signal as I topped the mountain and pulled into the driveway.

By the way, my best AM band mobile DX so far is WAPA in San Juan, PR, on 1030 kHz, about 1650 miles to the south-southeast. Best FM band mobile DX so far is WLHR in Lavonia, Georgia on 92.1 MHz, about 750 miles to the southwest.

OK via Es

Wednesday morning, I did the weekly shopping. I had the car radio tuned to WLNG on 92.1 MHz and as I descended from Compounce Mountain down to ESPN-land, I lost WLNG and heard two other stations vying for the channel.

Five minutes later (1345 UTC), I arrived at my first stop and sat in the car trying to identify the stations, one Spanish, the other English. I had no luck identifying the Spanish station, but I did ID the English station: KTBT in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, transmitting 27kW, 1300 miles to the west-southwest!

1710 Mystery Solved!

This morning (4:15 AM EDST), I dropped a relative off at the airport (BDL).

On the trip home, I was solo, so I did some DXing with the car radio in my 2007 Subaru Outback Sport. I tuned to 1700 kHz and found WJCC in Miami Springs, Florida fading in and out. Nice catch on a car radio!

As I entered Hartford from the north on I-91, a station on an adjacent frequency was splattering onto 1700, so I tuned up and down and found a very strong signal on 1710 transmitting Spanish music and Spanish announcements. The signal was very strong as I passed through downtown Hartford. Heading west on I-84, the signal faded out about 5 miles west of downtown Hartford.

I mentioned hearing a mystery Spanish station on 1710 in the recent past (here and here). The format of the station I heard this morning matches up with what I heard in the past, so I think that solves the mystery.

1710 Mystery Station

Mike, KA3JAW, asked, "Do you hear a multicultural station on AM 1710 that also comes in during the day time at about  the same signal strength?"

I replied, "I have never heard it during the day. I do hear it occasionally at night (maybe once every two or three weeks). I thought it might be a pirate. If you are hearing it during the day, it is probably a lot closer to you than me."

That exchange started a weeklong quest to figure out what we were hearing. 

The only other stations I hear on 1710 are the Springfield (MA) Armory TIS and WQFG689, the Hudson County (NJ) TIS. I usually hear one or both each night, but the mystery station is a little rarer.

For about one week, I monitored 1710 whenever I had the radio on at home and in the Subaru. This is what I discovered:

When the station shows up, it is usually around sunset for 15 to 30 minute appearances. One time, I also heard it very briefly on the car radio at sunrise.

One evening, I was able to receive it very weakly on the directional antenna (a C.Crane Twin Coil Ferrite on a turntable). The signal peaked to the southeast/northwest, approximately 135/315 degrees. There is not much to the southeast... just some small towns in southeastern Connecticut, the eastern tip of Long Island and then the Atlantic Ocean. The northwest is more likely the source... Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo, NY and Toronto and Hamilton, ON.

Mike mentioned that he thought he heard Canada mentioned a few times, so perhaps it is a Canadian station.

The station remains a mystery... maybe a little less mysterious, but still a mystery.

Chasing DX with My Car

The stock radio in my 2007 Subaru Outback Sport is very good. It is very sensitive on AM and FM and is very clean with regards to car-generated noise. The only negative is that the selectivity on FM could be better (strong stations spill over to adjacent channels).

I have logged 67 new AM stations and 29 new FM stations during my 22-mile daily commute with that car radio. Best AM DX was WAPA on 680 kHz in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1655 miles away; best FM DX was WLHR on 92.1 MHz in Lavonia, Georgia, 744 miles away.

I'd like to keep the radio if I ever sell the car, but the new owner might mind the gap.

364 vs. 83 miles

This morning, I got in the car to drive to work and the radio was tuned to 1010 kc. The signal was strong, but it did not sound like WINS out of New York City.

When the weather forecast mentioned snow accumulations in centimeters, I assumed I was listening to a Canadian station. Turned out it was CFRB out of Toronto. I already logged CFRB, but I stuck with 1010 in case anything else showed up.

Thirty-five minutes/twenty-two miles later, CFRB was still dominating 1010 with only occasional flickers of WINS. Both stations transmit 50,000 watts, but CFRB is 364 miles away while WINS is 83 miles away. So there was some interesting propagation this morning heard on the stock radio and antenna of my 2007 Subaru Outback Sport!

You can read CFRB's early history here, which is the source for the image above.

Mid-February Listenings

There has been some interesting propagation in my neck of the woods lately.

Saturday evening, Morocco's Radio Mediterranee Internationale on 171 kc was stronger than usual – probably the strongest I ever heard it.

This morning at the crack of dawn, I tuned my car radio to 1070 kc just for the heck of it and was surprised to hear two stations. Usually backwash from WTIC on 1080 interferes with everything on 1070, so either conditions were very good this morning or WTIC had their IBOC turned off. I was only able to identify one of the two stations, CHOK in Sarnia, Ontario, which I had previously logged with my C.Crane CC Skywave receiver.

I have logged some new stations recently:

📶   WBPZ (1100 UTC February 12) on the 1230 kc graveyard frequency transmitting 1 kW from Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, 237 miles to the west-southwest.

📶   WBYN (0000 UTC February 14) on 1160 kc transmitting 1 kW from Lehighton, Pennsylvania, 153 miles to the west-southwest.

📶   CFRA (0500 UTC February 19) on 580 kc transmitting 30 kW from Ottawa, Ontario, 283 miles to the north-northwest.

All three were heard on my ELAD FDM-S2/FDM-SW2 receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna.

WCNL vs. WINS

I bought some new shelves and have been renovating the radio shack the past two weeks, but I have managed to squeak out two new station loggings during that time.

📶   WYNY on graveyard frequency 1450 kc transmitting 1 kW from Milford, PA, 98 miles to the west-southwest, using my ELAD FDM-S2/FDM-SW2 receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna.

📶   WCNL on 1010 kc transmitting 10 kW from Newport, NH, 126 miles to the north-northeast using the stock radio and antenna in my 2007 Subaru Outback Sport. WINS usually dominates 1010, but on my way home from work yesterday, WINS was battling with a country-western music station. Just as I pulled into my driveway, WCNL identified. Good timing!

Six Twenty

Tuned to 620 kc on the way to work today and found a cacophony of stations vying for dominance of the frequency. I heard bits and pieces of various stations, but the one station that stood out from the rest for the longest period of time was a new one for me: Stephen King's WZON transmitting 5 kW from Bangor, Maine, 304 miles to the northeast. Equipment used was the excellent stock radio and antenna in my 2007 Subaru Outback Sport.

On the Car Radio

Driving to work Friday morning (1030 UTC), I was monitoring 680 kc for anything unusual. The usual (WRKO) was overtaken by the unusual for about 30 seconds: WAPA transmitting 10 kW from San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1655 miles to the south-southeast. Equipment used was the stock radio and antenna in my 2007 Subaru Outback Sport.

WOMR on the radio again

Yesterday, as I headed out to buy groceries in my 2007 Subaru Outback Sport, I hit the button preset for WLNG on 92.1 MHz on the AM-FM radio and drove down the north side of my 1,000-foot mountain, which is not favorable to WLNG, 50 miles to my south-southeast. Yet, WLNG hung in there as I descended the mountain and continued my drive through the relatively flat river valley of ESPN-land.

I was paying more attention to the traffic than the radio, but sitting at a red traffic light about 2 minutes after my descent, it occurred to me that the female announcer now on the radio was not a voice I had ever heard on WLNG. In passing, the announcer mentioned the station's call sign: WOMR, which is on the tip of Cape Cod, about 145 miles to my east-northeast.

After the light turned green and I continued on my journey, WOMR hung in there for about a half mile, then gave up the frequency to WLNG.

For what it's worth, WLNG and WOMR run similar transmitter outputs, 5300 and 6000 watts respectively and neither is line-of-sight by any means in ESPN-land, so there was some enhanced radio conditions yesterday morning.

This is not the first time that I have heard WOMR in my neck of the woods, but it is always interesting when I do.

Sixteen

I added the following 16 new stations to the log during the past few days using an ELAD FDM-S2 SDR receiver, an 80-meter inverted Vee antenna (for HF) and my 2007 Subaru's stock radio and antenna (for the FM logging) an ICOM IC-AH7000 discone antenna (for VHF/UHF).

YUY on 219 kc transmitting 500 watts from Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, 540 miles to the north-northwest

QB on 230 kc transmitting 500 watts from Quebec, Quebec, 360 miles to the north

OW on 236 kc transmitting 14 watts from Ottawa, Quebec, 289 miles to the north-northwest

YVB on 243 kc transmitting 90 watts from Bonaventure, Quebec, 576 miles to the north-northeast

YXR on 257 kc transmitting 400 watts from Earlton, Ontario, 538 miles to the north-northwest

YQA on 272 kc transmitting 400 watts from Muskoka, Ontario, 396 miles to the northwest

YLQ on 289 kc transmitting 550 watts from La Tuque, Quebec, 398 miles to the north

QT on 332  kc transmitting 1000 watts from Thunder Bay, Ontario, 929 miles to the northwest

GW on 371 kc transmitting 500 watts from Kuujjuarapik, Quebec, 967 miles to the north-northwest

JT on 390 kc transmitting 450 watts from Stephenville, Newfoundland, 838 miles to the northeast

3B on 391 kc transmitting 100 watts from Brockville, Ontario, 253miles to the north-northwest

Y8 on 401  kc transmitting 126 watts from Drummondville, Quebec, 393 miles to the north-northwest

YTA on 409 kc transmitting 13 watts from Pembroke, Ontario, 359 miles to the north-northwest

3U on 414 kc transmitting 85 watts from Gatineau, Quebec, 300 miles to the north-northwest

WAZZ on 1490 kc transmitting 1000 watts from Fayetteville, NC, 556 miles to the south-southwest

WNYZ-LP on 87.7 Mc transmitting 3000 watts from New York, NY, 80 miles to the southwest simulcasting WWRU-AM

Mystery on 1420

I added five new stations listening to my 0900 UTC top-of-hour recordings on Monday and Tuesday (using an ELAD FDM-S2 receiver and 80-meter inverted Vee antenna).

WBEC on 1420 kc in Pittsfield, MA, transmitting 1 kW, 59 miles to my north-northwest.

WKOX on 1430 kc in Everett, MA, transmitting 1 kW, 109 miles to my east-northeast.

WCEC on 1490 kc in Haverhill, MA, transmitting 1 kW, 123 miles to my northeast.

WQCP849 (Rhode Island DOT TIS) on 1630 kc in Newport, RI, transmitting 10 watts, 85 miles to my east.

And finally, the mystery station: WAAF on 1420 kc. WAAF, "Boston's Rock Station," is an FM-only station, but I heard it loud and clear on 1420 AM at 0900 UTC Monday. Was this a test or a pirate or what? 

Twenty-four hours later, WBSM (New Bedford, MA) dominated 1420, but there was a station that I could not ID playing rock music under WBSM. Driving to work two hours later, WLIS (Old Saybrook, CT) dominated 1420 on my Subaru's receiver, but again I could hear an unidentified rock station under WLIS.

I will listen again tomorrow morning.

Finally!

After a 19-day dry spell, I logged a new one during my morning commute today: WZMF transmitting 1 kW on 730 kc from Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, 160 miles to the west-southwest. Playing 70s rock, WZMF fought a losing battle with WACE's religious banter, but it was strong enough at times for a positive ID.

680 to 690

Monitoring 680 kc got me two new ones, CFTR mentioned in the previous post and WINR in Binghamton, NY. Transmitting 5 kW, 150 miles to the west-northwest, I heard WINR out of the blue for about 10 minutes around 2315 UTC on the KX3.

Yesterday morning, I moved the car radio to 690 and listened to a station way down in the mud for about half my commute until CKGM took over the frequency. I never heard a station I.D., but I thought I heard West Virginia mentioned. Looking up West Virginia 690 radio stations, I found only one: WELD, but I had my doubts that it was WELD because it was only transmitting 14 watts at the time.

This morning listening to 690, I heard the station again, but today the signal was much better and I heard the WELD I.D. more than once: 14 watts, 370 miles to the west-southwest on the stock radio and antenna in my 2007 Subaru!

680 News

Sunrise is getting earlier every day now and nearly coincides with the beginning of my morning commute. So I don't know how much longer I will bother chasing AM DX on the way to work. In fact, I almost did not bother to turn on the AM radio this morning because it was so light out when I hit the road, but I did anyway and nabbed a new one: CFTR "680 News" out of Toronto transmitting 50 kW, 360 miles to the west-northwest.

CFTR was up and down throughout my 30-minute commute, but was definitely there until the top of the hour (1200 1100 UTC) when WRKO took over 680 kc with a vengeance. Dunno if WRKO changes antenna patterns at 7 AM or not, but the change was very noticeable. Before 7 AM, I did not hear a peep from RKO, but after 7 AM, that is all I could hear on 680.

970 x 2

970 is another frequency where I have only one logging, so I dialed up 970 on the KX3 Sunday evening at 2242 UTC and heard the station identification for WESO transmitting 1 kW, 59 miles to the east-northeast in Southbridge, Massachusetts. At 2248 UTC, WESO disappeared! I looked up the sunset time and it was 2248, so I assumed that WESO switched to nighttime power (21 watts) when the sun went down. All I could hear after that was WNYM, so I shut off the KX3 and ate dinner.

Out the door at 1130 UTC this morning, I tuned to 970 on the car radio and immediately logged another new one: WZAN transmitting 5 kW, 190 miles to the northeast in Portland, Maine. I lost WZAN about ten miles into my commute to work. (Sunrise was at 1112 UTC.)

1140

I parked on 1140 last night since it is a frequency where I only have one station (WRVA) logged, so I figured it had potential. WRVA dominated the frequency with a weak station playing what sounded to me like opera fading in and out behind WRVA. Doing an Advanced Search on Radio-Locator came up empty as far as any US or Canadian stations on 1140 with a classical music format. Maybe it was coming from beyond North America.

Commuting to work this morning, I tuned the car radio to 1140. WRVA was gone and in its place was a new one for the log: WCJW, "CJ Country," transmitting 2300 watts from Warsaw, New York, 280 miles to the north-northwest.