Tuesday, January 30, 2007

KVAN Burbank WA 1560 Verification

Email from Tom Hodgins (GM at KUJ Walla Walla) this morning confirmed my reception of KVAN last Sunday. Finding a route for directing a reception report to KVAN wasn't straightforward, since the station is brand new with no web pages available and not much information elsewhere, but I relatively early found that KVAN and KUJ were co-owned with their HQ in Walla Walla. So I sent the report to KUJ.

Isn't it nice to see new AM'ers on the air!

Sunday, January 28, 2007

This Weekend's DX: New Station 1560, KRSN 1490 Test

I had planned to take Friday off and spend the entire weekend in my DX shack in Kongsfjord; however weather took a turn for the worse Thursday when heavy wind and snow created a whiteout. All roads were blocked as well so I had to delay the departure. Friday wasn't as bad but they had just managed to get the roads opened when on Saturday another whiteout set in... finally on Saturday evening the weather had cleared enough for me to drive. I hear from other locations in Northern Scandinavia that I hardly missed any interesting DX. At the time of writing: Clear sky, -8C but a fresh breeze that makes it feel a lot colder.

I had two goals for the weekend: The new KVAN Burbank WA 1560 station, and the KRSN Los Alamos NM 1490 DX test. KVAN is only 1.6 kW nights but the nighttime lobe is directed towards me, and it had already been heard in Sweden and Finland so I thought I should have a good chance of hearing it. I did... Sunday at 0623, just minutes after I got on the frequency, I heard a clear "Oldies 92.1" ID. KKAA Aberdeen SD was rather dominant though. It is going to be a regular catch at least up north.

No sign of KRSN though, on any of the three full hours. Conditions had a northerly and easterly dominance (typically CKEC-NS dominating 1320 and WDDY-NY dominating 1460, to give a few examples), so the prospects for hearing a NM station that morning weren't good.

Update at 1200 UTC: But I did see the sun for the first time since November on my drive home! The Polar Night is over.

Friday, January 26, 2007

KXLY QSL Proper


Email reports and veries are fast, efficient and put a lot less strain on the household budget. But nothing compares to a proper QSL, which I received from Tim Anderson at KXLY Spokane WA 920 today. Enjoy this! Thanks Tim!

CKBX "The Wolf" 100 Mile House BC 840 Verification

840 The Wolf, formally known as CKBX, had a brief and unexpected appearance during the KONG14 DX-ped on Oct 10. A new log for me. I received a friendly and detailed email from Lynn Desandoli at the station this morning. Lynn also informed me that Larry Rode, who does "The Rode Show" weekdays from 6 to 10 am, played my audio clip on the air. 100 Mile is located in BC's central interior and CKBX plays "Modern Country & Best Southern Rock" according to their website.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

CHOK Sarnia ON 1070 Verification


Friendly email from PD Sue Storr today confirmed a rather old (2005) reception of CHOK. I just haven't heard them with good audio since. CHOK used to be Hometown Radio with News, Talk and Sports, however they have recently flipped to a Country format and what you see above is their new logo.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

KONG15 DX-ped: Bjarne's Digest Oct 18-23

A few of the most noteworthy loggings are listed below. Sorted only by frequency, not by continent and frequency as is usually the norm. Some good ones from the Americas, and some really good ones from the Pacific! Date format is dd.mm. Times are UTC.

Freq Date Time Station
576 18.10. 15:05 2RL ABC R Nat, Sydney, NSW
684 18.10. 15:00 2KP ABC Kempsey, NSW
756 20.10. 16:05 1YA National Radio, Auckland
760 23.10. 03:23 Emissora Atlantica, Mar del Plata
783 19.10. 12:58 2YB Wellington Access Radio
840 10.10. 07:55 CKBX 100 Mile House BC
920 20.10. 04:05 KXLY Seattle WA
1030 20.10. 03:00 XEYC Radio Formula, Cd.Juarez
1210 20.10. 06:23 KGYN Guymon OK
1230 19.10. 05:00 KWYZ Everett WA
1233 18.10. 15:26 2NC ABC Newcastle, NSW
1296 20.10. 15:11 Newstalk ZB, Hamilton
1320 20.10. 23:44 WJAS Pittsburgh PA
1360 23.10. 03:58 R. Cultura, Paulo Afonso BA
1390 23.10. 09:18 KSLM Salem OR
1440 23.10. 08:00 KMED Medford OR
1480 23.10. 09:00 KGOE Eureka CA
1490 18.10. 12:00 KCID Caldwell ID
1490 18.10. 11:19 KTEL Walla Walla WA
1490 18.10. 11:37 KRNR Roseburg WA
1503 18.10. 15:21 2BS Gold, Bathurst NSW
1512 18.10. 15:00 2RN ABC Newcastle, NSW
1560 23.10. 03:07 R. Educadora, Ribeira do Pombal BA
1600 19.10. 23:02 WUNR Brookline MA
1600 23.10. 08:11 KUBA Yuba City CA

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

KGOE Eureka CA 1480 Verification

Email from PD Tom Sebourn today confirmed my October 23 reception of KGOE. At the time only two stations were audible on 1480; KGOE and KBMS Vancouver WA. KGOE's full hour signal was excellent, as acknowledged by Mr. Sebourn: "The sound cut you sent was better than any I have heard from that distance." There you go!

Monday, January 22, 2007

KTKZ Sacramento CA 1380 Verification

Heard on Dec 26, 2005, my first logging of KTKZ. KRKO and KSRV aren't easy to get past when conditions favour the west coast. Very friendly email from CE Dave Fortenberry tonight. My third Sacramento verie and my 30th from California. Well worth a very small glass of Mas Amiel wine!

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

WFDF Flint MI 910 Verification

Another October, 2006 logging, WFDF had a fair signal when they did their legal ID and I sent a recording to Station Manager Richard Padgen. A friendly response came - not in the usual form as an email, but as a comment to the 2KP post below! My first blog-comment verification! Very cool indeed. 910 was less productive than I had hoped last autumn - apart from the usual dominants CKDQ-AB and WSUI-IA there were few other signals.

2KP ABC Radio Mid-North Coast, Kempsey NSW 684 Verification

Heard at 1500 UTC on October 18. Running ABC overnights but giving a regional "Radio New South Wales" ID insert on the hour. That's as close to a local ID one gets at night. Cameron Marshall is the Station Manager and Breakfast Presenter, and he confirmed my reception with a friendly email tonight.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

KXLY Spokane WA 920 Verification

Email from Tim Anderson tonight confirmed my reception of KXLY with the promise of a "proper" QSL in the mail. Though no rare guest on 920 over the years, in later years I have found them less common than they used to be.

5AA Adelaide, SA 1395 Verification

"Adelaide's 1395, 5 Double-A" was audible only a few minutes on Oct 16, but with good strength at that. Long time wanted. Email response from Mark Murphy at Productions tonight made it my 10th verified in-band Aussie! Before the start of this season I had three... and I still have reports not sent.

Monday, January 15, 2007

2BS Gold 1503, Bathurst NSW Verification

Another DU verie today when CE Jason Davis confirmed my reception of 2BS Gold. Heard on the Fabulous Aussie Afternoon on October 18 when conditions favoured New South Wales and possibly Victoria.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

KWOK Hoquiam WA 1490 Verification

Swift email from Pat Anderson this evening confirmed my October 12 reception. KWOK, running ESPN, had a period when it was quite exceptionally strong to be a 1 kW station. Moreover, it happened to be on the top of the hour when the legal ID came. Hoquiam is located just west of Aberdeen and is the smaller city of the two, and they used Hoquiam - Aberdeen in their ID.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

2RL Radio National, Sydney NSW 576 Verification

Email this morning confirmed my reception of 2RL 576. Heard during the extremely good AUS conditions we had on October 18. Richard Garcia at ABC said the engineers were highly amused at the rather unexpected growth in listenership, but also mentioned that the excellent conditions provided problems for the local AM stations "being drowned out at night by distant AM transmissions".

Bjarne's Loggings From KONG14

The KONG14 DX-ped (6-13 Oct 2006) produced some interesting catches. Below are my most interesting loggings. Regular stations omitted. A full KONG14 log will appear when all participants have compiled their logs. Date format dd.mm; time is UTC.

Freq Date Time Stn Comments
AS



639 9.10. 13:06 JOWN STV Hakodate
792 11.10. 13:00 DXBN Butuan City DZRB-ID, sign-off 1330 local id.
810 8.10. 14:55 FEN Tokyo AFN Radio
1080 8.10. 15:05 AFN Korea, Daegu Thunder AM
1089 9.10. 13:20 JOHB NHK2 Sendai
OC



570 10.10. 12:00 KQNG Lihue HI
684 8.10. 14:56 Radio Fiji 1, Labasa
810 7.10. 14:47 Radio Fiji 2, Labasa
855 8.10. 15:00 4QB ABC Pialba Possibly both, echo heard
1035 9.10. 12:36 Newstalk ZB, Wellington
1080 10.10. 11:46 KWAI Honolulu HI
1098 8.10. 10:02 V7AB Majuro VOA News until 1005
1110 12.10. 10:33 KAOI Kihei
1151 7.10. 11:19 Radio Fiji 1, Rakiraki
1180 7.10. 11:41 KORL Honolulu HI
1332 11.10. 11:48 Radio Sport, Auckland Good signal, local ads
NA



560 9.10. 04:04 WIND Chicago IL
570 9.10. 04:29 WNAX Yankton SD Voice of the mid-west
570 9.10. 04:06 WKBN Youngstown OH Newsradio 570 WKBN
580 13.10. 06:25 KTMT Ashford OR SS: Radio Lazer 580 AM
580 13.10. 06:30 WTCM Traverse City MI C2C AM
790 10.10. 04:05 KJRB Spokane WA 790 The Fan
910 9.10. 03:00 WSUI Iowa City IA
970 9.10. 04:48 KBUL Billings MT
980 9.10. 04:39 CFPL London ON
1150 8.10. 00:03 KWKY Des Moines IA
1170 10.10. 10:55 KPUG Bellingham WA
1230 7.10. 06:20 KHDN Hardin MT
1230 11.10. 07:39 KDIX Dickinson ND Surfacing briefly
1230 6.10. 06:43 KORT Grangeville ID KORT FM – AM
1230 7.10. 00:10 WSDR Sterling IL
1240 10.10. 07:42 KCCR Pierre SD
1240 9.10. 05:00 KWIK Pocatello ID
1250 12.10. 09:19 KKDZ Seattle WA Radio Disney
1260 10.10. 23:33 WRIE Erie PA
1260 10.10. 23:45 WNDE Indianapolis IN Sportsradio 1260 WNDE
1260 10.10. 10:50 KLYC McMinnville OR
1260 10.10. 10:00 KPOW Powell WY ID for Powell – Cody
1280 10.10. 10:59 KIT Yakima WA Newstalk 1280 KIT
1280 6.10. 04:49 VSB2 Hamilton
1310 8.10. 03:03 KZXR Prosser WA
1330 12.10. 05:02 WHBL Sheboygan WI
1340 7.10. 06:16 KLKI Anacortes WA MYL
1340 12.10. 10:34 KTCR Kennewick WA
1350 8.10. 01:00 KRLC Clarkston WA
1350 6.10. 06:21 KSRO Santa Rosa CA
1350 12.10. 06:00 KTIK Nampa ID ESPN
1350 11.10. 07:19 KDIO Ortonville MN Real Country, KDIO 1350
1350 9.10. 01:48 WARF Akron OH Radio Free Ohio + Radio Nation
1390 10.10. 23:03 WFBL Syracuse NY
1420 7.10. 06:53 WCED Du Bois PA Newstalk 1420
1470 8.10. 03:47 KBSN Moses Lake WA Cougar Sports Radio Network
1470 10.10. 22:47 WNYY Ithaca NY
1480 12.10. 08:40 KBMS Vancouver WA
1490 12.10. 07:04 KNDC Hettinger ND
1490 12.10. 07:38 KOVC Valley City ND Dakota Country Radio
1490 9.10. 02:28 KEYG Grand Coulee WA You got it – Key Country 1490 AM
1490 12.10. 09:00 KWOK Hoquiam WA Excellent signal
CA/SA



930 9.10 0119 XEU Veracruz Pelota
980 12.11. 05:27 XETU Radio Tampico "980 kHz" + jingle "Radio Tampico"
1230 12.11. 07:32 XEEX Radio Formula, Culiacan ID for 970

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

KZXR Prosser WA 1310 Verification

Email from Randy Pugsley of Churchill Media today confirmed my reception of KZXR. First time heard in 2005, they were heard a couple of times in 2006 as well.

KTMT Ashland OR 580 Verification

I heard KTMT on October 12 with a "Radio Lazer, 580 AM" Spanish announcement, that is - it took a bit investigation to find out it was them. A very rare station, although it was heard by POS last autumn too. Email from PD Devin Harpole today confirmed my reception. Thanks Henrik Klemetz for transcribing the announcement for me.

KONG15 DX-ped: Bjarne's Digest Oct 14-18

I've finished going through recordings and logs from the first days of KONG15, until 0600 UTC on Oct 18. Below is a list of the more interesting stations heard (commonly heard stations are omitted to make the list a more interesting read). Sorted by frequency only, not by continent as is usually done.

Freq Date Time Station Comments
567 17.10. 13:37 KGUM Agana Guam
570 14.10. 03:00 CFWH Whitehorse YT
630 17.10. 14:00 4QN Local R. Queensland
830 18.10. 04:31 XELN Linares NL Super Llagedora 95.3, tnx HK.
920 17.10. 09:00 CBQI Tulita NT CBC Radio One
970 18.10. 04:54 XERFR Radio Formula, Mexico DF
980 18.10. 04:18 XETU Radio Tampico Jingle-id
1240 18.10. 03:47 WSDR Sterling IL
1240 18.10. 04:48 WHFA Poynette WI Relevant Radio
1240 18.10. 04:00 KWIK Pocatello ID
1240 17.10. 05:32 KELK Elko NV C&W, also 09:45
1240 17.10. 05:37 KDLR Devils Lake ND
1310 17.10. 04:00 WDTW Dearborn-Detroit MI Dual-city ID
1330 18.10. 04:31 WHBL Sheboygan WI
1330 18.10. 05:04 WTRX Flint MI Sports Extra
1350 18.10. 04:00 WOAM Peoria IL
1390 17.10. 09:30 KLTX Long Beach CA Radio La Vida
1390 17.10. 09:33 KLGN Logan UT Memories 1390 KLGN
1395 16.10. 16:40 5AA Adelaide SA
1400 14.10. 02:59 KWNA Winnemucca NV
1467 17.10. 13:20 JOID NHK 2 Oita 1 kW – very strong
1480 17.10. 07:24 WCNS Latrobe PA Oldies 1480
1548 15.10. 15:12 4QD ABC Emerald

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

First Verie In 2007: KELK Elko NV 1240

When I returned home from a 13-hour drive today I found an email from Marilyn at KELK, confirming my October 17 reception. Rather brief appearance at the time but a nice ID.