E-skip June 9-10

Late Tuesday afternoon, I checked the FM band for E-skip and was greeted by a station from Missouri: KTBG in Warrensburg on 90.9 MHz. That's where I usually hang out during E-skip openings because it's one of the few FM frequencies with nothing on the air in my neck of the woods. KTBG was a relog.

Wednesday afternoon brought relogs of WHRM in Wausau, Wisconsin, and KLRC in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. However, at 2200 UTC, I logged a new one: KPNO in Norfolk, Nebraska, 1,252 miles to the west. KPNO was not only a new station for the log, but it also represented a new state on FM. (That's KPNO’s tower in the photpo above.)

The radio used for these receptions was an indoor Tecsun S-2200x.

New Loggings with New Radio

I have been AM DXing with a new radio, the Qodosen SR-286 AM/LW/FM/SW portable. One attractive (to me) feature is the ability to electronically disconnect the internal AM/LW antenna and use an external antenna via a jack on the side of the radio. 

I took advantage of this feature and connected the SR-286 to the DX Tools Quantum Loop QX antenna, which is an amplified external ferrite antenna on a mount that allows you to rotate the antenna for maximum (or minimum) signal reception.

I used this combination for a few evenings and I was impressed hearing many DX stations, but nothing new for the log until the last two nights when I logged the following new entries:

WIZR transmitting 28 watts on 930 kHz from Johnstown, New York, 118 miles to the north-northwest,

WVAE transmitting 1000 watts on 1400 kHz from Biddeford, Maine, 197 miles to the northeast.

WFLI transmitting 2500 watts on 1070 kHz from Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, 811 miles to the southwest.

WWAC

Sundown Wednesday, I heard oldies on 1020 kHz, a place where I normally don’t hear oldies, so I hung back and waited for a station ID. The station identified between each song and it took a few songs before I figured out the ID: "wibbage."

It took some Googling on the Internet to figure out what was wibbage.

“WWAC began operations in the mid-1960s as WSLT on 1520 kHz, featuring such notable radio hosts as Larry Keene, Phil Sheridan and Bob Everland. The call sign was changed to WIBG in 1978 after the call went out of use in Philadelphia. The station broadcast with various formats over the years including MOR, Top 40, oldies and country. In the early 1980s WIBG moved their transmitter and tower from Somer's Point to Palermo, changing its frequency to 1020 kHz in the process. The call letters were changed to WWAC in 2021. Today WWAC airs "Wibbage Gold", a tribute to the original "Big AM 99 in Philadelphia with 50s/60s oldies music and local talk on the weekends.” (Source: WIBG.com)

So it turns out I logged a new one: WWAC transmitting 680 watts on 1020 kHz from Upper Township, New Jersey, about 190 miles south-southwest of here using the ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and 120-ft Loop Underground (LUG) antenna.

July 7 E-skip

Mid-afternoon Sporadic E / E-skip noted here today. Relogged two stations on 90.9 MHz:

1930 UTC, WJKV in Jacksonville, Florida, transmitting 41,000 watts, 920 miles to the south-southwest

1950 UTC, WOWB in Brewton, Alabama, transmitting 100,000 watts, 1057 miles to the southwest 

Both were received with my ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and ICOM AH-7000 discone antenna.

May 31 E-skip

I have been checking 90.9 MHz every morning for any sign of life. As I mentioned before, 90.9 MHz is the only FM band channel that is unoccupied here, so anything heard on 90.9 is an indication that the band is open.

WBUR on 90.9 from Boston was loud and clear at 9 AM, but I did not get back to the radio until 11 AM when the band was hopping with E-skip.

I relogged two stations and logged one new one. I relogged KLRC in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, 1224 miles to the west-southwest and WOWB in Brewton, Alabama, 1058 miles to the southwest.

The new logging was WATP in Laurel, Mississippi, 1106 miles to the west-southwest.

All were heard with the ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and ICOM AH-7000 discone antenna.

WJFP and WTJZ

Logged two new ones.

WJFP in Chester, Pennsylvania, 177 miles southwest transmitting 1,000 watts on 740 kHz.

WTJZ (photo above) in Norfolk, Virginia, 376 miles south-southwest transmitting 50,000 watts on 1110 kHz. WTJZ was buried in the slop from WPRX 2 miles down the road, but using the IC-R8600’s passband tuning, I managed to hear it in the clean and add a new one in the log.

Both stations were received with the ICOM IC-R8600 receiver; WJFP with the Hy-Gain 18AVT/WB-A vertical antenna and WTJZ with the 120-foot loop underground antenna.

Is WTIC 's IBOC Gone for Good?

WTIC's IBOC'd signal extended from 1065 to 1095 kHz!

Living 13 miles line-of-sight of WTIC’s 50,000-watt transmitter site on 1080 kHz makes DXing on 1070 and 1090 kHz very difficult especially since WTIC uses IBOC (In-band on-channel), a hybrid method of transmitting digital radio and analog radio broadcast signals simultaneously on the same frequency. 

With IBOC on, I can’t hear a thing but IBOC on 1070 and only 50,000-watt WBAL manages to break through on 1090.

Good news is that it seems that WTIC is no longer using IBOC. It has been off for weeks (maybe months) and I hope it is not coming back. 

Hurrah!

Missing Person

It has been over three months since I last posted here. I had a very messed up knee and had been doing very little radioing because sitting at the radio (or anywhere else) was painful after 10 minutes or so.

Shots to my bad knee provided temporary relief, but temporary was not satisfactory. 

I finally had total knee replacement surgery on Monday and my condition is improving rapidly. I am undergoing physical therapy and expect to be getting back to normal soon.   

87.9 MHz Mystery Station

About a week ago, I noticed a radio station on 87.9 MHz. It was a Spanish language station playing continuous Spanish contemporary music (perhaps, Spanish Christian contemporary music). The only voices heard were short announcements at the 27 and 57 minutes past the hour. 

Despite taking Spanish in high school and college, I had a difficult time translating the announcements, but I believe that the station is called “Radio de Morte e Vida” (Death and Life Radio).  

Springfield, Massachusetts was mentioned once, so the station may be located in that city or thereabouts, which is about 40 miles to the north-northeast. (I can receive the station on my car radio if I travel north or northeast from my home in the general direction of Springfield. Traveling south of here, there is no signal.)

As you know, there are supposed to be no radio stations on 87.9 MHz in the USA. So when I first heard the station, I figured it was a fly-by-night pirate that would pull the plug soon. But the station has been on the air 24/7 everyday since I first heard it. With a name like Morte e Vida, maybe it is a Halloween pirate station that will go away after the holiday.

I’m stumped, but I will stay tuned and let you know if I discover anything more.

Equipment used ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and ICOM AH-7000 discone antenna.

UPDATE: Less than one day after publishing the above, I tuned to 87.9 and find a dead carrier – no audio, just RF; an S-4 signal with the pre-amp on.

UPDATE 2: The dead carrier lasted all day on Friday, but this morning, the audio (voice and music) has returned.

Radio Progreso

WSB on 750 kHz was off the air for maintenance, so I monitored 750 last night to hear what I could hear and Radio Progreso transmitting 10 kW from Palmira, Cuba was loud and clear for awhile and then disappeared into the noise. Radio Progreso is a new logging 1408 miles to the south-southeast. Also heard CBGY in Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland (1050 miles, east-northeast) on 750, but CBGY was already in the log.

Equipment used: ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and 130-foot loop underground antenna.

Found on the Aisle of Shame

Grocery shopping today, I made a pass through the Aldi Aisle of Shame and came upon the LED novelty lamp that you see in the accompanying photo. 

I could not resist buying it. Not because I am a big cacti fan, but because the lamp is a dead ringer for the logo of TAPR (Tucson Amateur Packet Radio). (I am a TAPR member, its secretary, newsletter editor and on its board of directors.)

The lamp now sits on a desk in my ham shack. I was worried that the LED might cause RFI, but so far, so good.

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.

Where‘s Stanley?

My wife and I have been having health issues the past two months and I have seldom had time to turn on the radios. As a result, I had nothing to write here about my radio activities because there were next to none. 

This post is just to inform my loyal readers that I am still alive and kicking and looking forward to turning on the radios more often real soon now.

Another Sunday Morning Test

The May 1st, WCGA test was a success here 880 miles from its transmitter. 

Began hearing the test just after 0400 UTC with the “Star Spangled Banner” under WTAM, followed by Morse code, sweep tones, etc. until I shut off the IC-R8600 and went to bed about 15 minutes into the test. Best heard on the 120-foot Loop Under Ground antenna, weaker on the remaining leg of the 80-meter dipole and nothing on the HyGain 18AVT/WB-A vertical.

Sunday Morning Test

Two Kentucky radio stations conducted simultaneous DX tests 0400 to 0600 UTC on April 10.

Receiving WMST 1150 kHz was easy. Strong signals heard on all four antennas (including a VHF/UHF discone) and the ICOM IC-R8600 receiver.

WWKY 990 kHz was a no-go. Not a surprise since WNTY is four miles from here on 990. I listened for about 45 minutes hoping that WWKY would break through WNTY, but it never happened. So I went to bed.

WMST is located in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, and was transmitting 2500 watts, 632 miles to the west-southwest.

WSDE in the log

Logged WSDE at 0046 UTC on 1190 kHz transmitting 20 watts from Cobleskill, New York, 107 miles to the northwest. Used my ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and one leg of my 80 meter dipole antenna (the other leg came down in a storm earlier this winter).

Radio Kiev

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!

And a Happy New Year!

I spent a lot of time on non-radio projects this month, primarily moving my daughter from a loft to a condo (oh – my aching back). Bad news is that there is still some of her stuff here that has to go there. Good news is that she is now only 20 minutes away (versus 35 minutes).

Lost my 80-meter dipole during a storm a couple of weeks ago. I can’t climb a ladder to fix it because I messed up my knee hiking in the woods.

So the antenna farm is down to three: the 120-foot Loop under Ground, which is only for receiving, the Hy-Gain 18AVT/WB-A vertical, which has seen better days (it’s about 50 years old) and the ICOM AH-7000 discone, which is 30 years old, but is in good shape and still an excellent performer.

Finally, that is Kainuk in the photo above. She is an orphaned elephant that I adopted at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. My daughter gifted me the adoption and I will be contributing regularly to support Kainuk in 2022.

73 and good DX in the coming year!

Colombia on 770

Two new loggings to report:

November 8 : WBRV on 900 kHz transmitting 52 watts from Boonville, New York, 179 miles to the northwest. 

November 10: WABC (770 kHz) was off the air for maintenance for about an hour. Band conditions were poor due to a recent sun flare, yet I heard three very weak Spanish language stations and managed to identify one: JX (RCN Radio) in Bogota, Colombia, transmitting 100 kW 2555 miles to the south (photo above).

Both loggings were with the ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and Hy-Gain 18AVR/time WB-A vertical antenna (WBRV) and 120-ft Loop on Ground antenna (JX).