WEMJ

Top of the hour, specifically at 0000 UTC last night, the station ID of WEMJ popped out of the cacophony of 1490 kc. Transmitting 1,000 watts 152 miles to the north-northeast in Laconia, New Hampshire, I heard WEMJ on my KX3 and 80-meter inverted Vee.

WODY

During my Monday morning commute, I decided to DX rather than play tunes on my iPod. So as I pulled out of the driveway. I tuned the receiver to 1160 where I could hear at least three stations simultaneously. And a minute later, in the midst of the cacophony, I heard the station ID of WODY as clear as a bell.

Now I had 35 minutes on the road to ponder WODY. Where was it? Was it a new one? Since I was driving, there was no way to check my log until I got to the salt mine.

Arriving at work, I checked my log and was happy to confirm that WODY was indeed a new logging! Located in Fieldale, Virginia (near Martinsville), 510 miles to the southwest, WODY was transmitting a mere 250 watts!

Equipment used was the stock AM-FM radio and antenna in my 2007 Subaru Outback Sport.

Stretching Stretch

The 40-meter inverted Vee that I stretched for 80 meters last week is a keeper. So I wanted to do something more permanent about how the antenna was supported.

Each end of the antenna was tied to trees with a rope. There was no give, so if one of the trees swayed enough in the wind, the antenna might break apart.

In the past, I used weighted plastic bottles as counterweights. But I thought there might be a better and simpler way, so I searched the Internet for ideas.

Somebody suggested bungee cords. (Why hadn't I thought of that?) So I bought some new bungee cords, shortened the rope on each end of the antenna, and placed a bungee cord between eye hooks bored into each tree and the shortened ropes.

Worked like a charm!

Duo at Dusk

I logged two new longer distance AM stations at dusk Friday evening:

WKGM on 940 kc transmitting 10 kW from Smithfield, Virginia, 378 miles to the south-southwest.

WGBR on 1150 kc transmitting 800 W from Goldsboro, North Carolina, 510 miles to the south-southwest.

Both were logged with the Elecraft KX3 and an 80-meter inverted Vee antenna.

2 new in 3 minutes

I was connecting a new power supply (a Powerwerx SS-30DV) to the KX3 and PX3 when I noticed that the top of the hour was approaching. So I powered up the KX3 and ended up on 1390 kc listening to a commercial for something or other, then at 0000 UTC, the station ID, WFBL in Syracuse, NY, running 5 kW, 200 miles to my west-northwest.

I quickly moved over to 1380 kc and heard a woman speaking Chinese. It had to be WKDM in New York City. I don't understand Chinese, so I confirmed that it was WKDM by listening to it on the Internet's TuneIn. Running 5 kW, their transmitter is located in the New Jersey Meadowlands, 81 miles to my southwest.

Both new loggings were captured with the Elecraft KX3 and an 80 meter inverted Vee antenna.