Sunday, 26 October 2008
Two New Ultralight Radios
I recently bought two new ultralight radios. Two weeks ago I got up a Sangean DT-400W at Durham Radio in Whitby, Ontario, and yesterday I bought a Eton E-100 at the Durham Radio table at the York Region Amateur Radio Club hamfest. Good deal on the E-100: they were selling them for only $44.95. I'm not going to start DXing with either of these yet. I want to reach 200 stations in the ultralight log using the Sony SRF-59 before I start using any other radios. But after 200 I think they'll both be used a lot.
Recent Ultralight Loggings
Not a lot of time for radio this past week, but I managed to add another set of stations to the ultralight log using the SRF-59.
KCJJ 1630 is the first station I've logged from Iowa for the ultralight log.
WHKT 1650 is a Radio Disney outlet. I've heard it many nights before this logging, but the difficulty with logging Radio Disney stations is that they all seem to carry a lot of generic network programming and identify with callsign only once an hour. So if the station happens to fade at the time of the hourly ID, you have to wait for another hour to try to ID it again.
WHK 1420 is a News Talk station in Cleveland, Ohio. This station is a real old-timer (as its three letter callsign show). It began broadcasting in 1921, and is the oldest AM station in Cleveland, and the fifteenth oldest in the United States.
WPIE 1160 is a new station for my overall log. This is a sports station located in the Ithaca, NY area.
1160 used to be a clear channel - I suppose it still is technically. In the 1970s it was one of the few AM frequencies where we could regularly hear into the western United States from the east. I heard KSL Salt Lake City, Utah many times from eastern Ontario. But now there are so many stations on 1160 that there is no chance of hearing KSL any longer.
- 1630 KCJJ Iowa City, IA 0354 UTC 18-Oct-2008
- 1480 WZRC New York, NY 2255 UTC 18-Oct-2008 Cantonese
- 1480 WSDS Salem Township, MI 2356 UTC 18-Oct-2008 Spanish
- 1650 WHKT Portsmouth, VA 0355 UTC 19-Oct-2008
- 1160 WVNJ Oakland, NJ 2256 UTC 19-Oct-2008
- 1420 WHK Cleveland, OH 2342 UTC 20-Oct-2008
- 1160 WPIE Trumansburg, NY 1040 UTC 25-Oct-2008
- 1160 WYLL Chicago, IL 1042 UTC 25-Oct-2008
- 1160 WBYN Lehighton, PA 1046 UTC 25-Oct-2008
KCJJ 1630 is the first station I've logged from Iowa for the ultralight log.
WHKT 1650 is a Radio Disney outlet. I've heard it many nights before this logging, but the difficulty with logging Radio Disney stations is that they all seem to carry a lot of generic network programming and identify with callsign only once an hour. So if the station happens to fade at the time of the hourly ID, you have to wait for another hour to try to ID it again.
WHK 1420 is a News Talk station in Cleveland, Ohio. This station is a real old-timer (as its three letter callsign show). It began broadcasting in 1921, and is the oldest AM station in Cleveland, and the fifteenth oldest in the United States.
WPIE 1160 is a new station for my overall log. This is a sports station located in the Ithaca, NY area.
1160 used to be a clear channel - I suppose it still is technically. In the 1970s it was one of the few AM frequencies where we could regularly hear into the western United States from the east. I heard KSL Salt Lake City, Utah many times from eastern Ontario. But now there are so many stations on 1160 that there is no chance of hearing KSL any longer.
Friday, 17 October 2008
Ultralight Loggings for the Past Week
Several more AM radio stations logged on the little Sony SRF-59 over the past week.
Three of these are new stations for my overall log: WFGL 960, WPGR 1510, and WKDM 1380. WWRU 1660 is the first station in my ultralight log from New Jersey.
CHIN, a local station for me, is showing up in the list now because I somehow missed it when I was logging my local stations back in September.
I was surprised to log WIZR 930. It was completely dominating over the semi-local WBEN Buffalo. Surprised because it runs only 28 watts at night and should not even be audible here, let alone overpowering a semi-local station. Just one more example of how radio is full of odd surprises.
- 960 WFGL Fitchburg, MA 2257 UTC 09-Oct-2008 Religious
- 1510 WLAC Nashville, TN 0305 UTC 10-Oct-2008 Talk
- 1510 WPGR Monroesville, PA 0305 UTC 10-Oct-2008 Religious
- 1540 CHIN Toronto, ON 0342 UTC 10-Oct-2008 Multicultural
- 1660 WQLR Kalamazoo, MI 1050 UTC 11-Oct-2008 Talk
- 1570 WFLR Dundee, NY 1149 UTC 11-Oct-2008 Country music
- 1380 WKDM New York, NY 2350 UTC 15-Oct-2008 Mandarin Chinese
- 1660 WWRU Jersey City, NJ 0250 UTC 16-Oct-2008 Korean
- 560 WIND Chicago, IL 0245 UTC 17-Oct-2008 News Talk
- 560 CFOS Owen Sound, ON 0245 UTC 17-Oct-2008 Oldies
- 930 WIZR Johnstown, NY 0310 UTC 17-Oct-2008 Oldies
- 630 CFCO Chatham, ON 2345 UTC 17-Oct-2008 Country music
Three of these are new stations for my overall log: WFGL 960, WPGR 1510, and WKDM 1380. WWRU 1660 is the first station in my ultralight log from New Jersey.
CHIN, a local station for me, is showing up in the list now because I somehow missed it when I was logging my local stations back in September.
I was surprised to log WIZR 930. It was completely dominating over the semi-local WBEN Buffalo. Surprised because it runs only 28 watts at night and should not even be audible here, let alone overpowering a semi-local station. Just one more example of how radio is full of odd surprises.
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Recent Ultralight Loggings
Loggings on the Sony SRF-59 over the past few days:
WMKI and CFMB come in here regularly, but it took over a week to log both of them because they seldom ID. WMKI is a Radio Disney station, and IDs itself only as Radio Disney, except for the legally required callsign ID on the hour. CFMB is an ethnic station in Montreal. In the morning it carries Italian programming, and apart from the required ID on the hour, I heard little that could identify it.
WCAT is the first station in Vermont I've logged on an ultralight; the 23rd state in all.
- 1150 CJRC Gatineau, QC 0530 UTC 05-Oct-2008 French
- 1220 WHKW Cleveland, OH 0555 UTC 05-Oct-2008
- 1330 WFNN Erie, PA 2245 UTC 05-Oct-2008
- 1360 WYOS Binghampton, NY 1210 UTC 07-Oct-2008
- 1330 WRCA Waltham, MA 0325 UTC 08-Oct-2008
- 1310 WLOB Portland, ME 0333 UTC 08-Oct-2008
- 1260 WMKI Boston, MA 0457 UTC 08-Oct-2008
- 1280 CFMB Montreal, QC 1053 UTC 08-Oct-2008 Italian
- 1410 WDOE Dunkirk, NY 1135 UTC 08-Oct-2008
- 1440 WJJL Niagara Falls, NY 1210 UTC 08-Oct-2008
- 1440 WDRJ Inkster, MI 2244 UTC 08-Oct-2008
- 1390 WCAT Burlington, VT 2310 UTC 08-Oct-2008
WMKI and CFMB come in here regularly, but it took over a week to log both of them because they seldom ID. WMKI is a Radio Disney station, and IDs itself only as Radio Disney, except for the legally required callsign ID on the hour. CFMB is an ethnic station in Montreal. In the morning it carries Italian programming, and apart from the required ID on the hour, I heard little that could identify it.
WCAT is the first station in Vermont I've logged on an ultralight; the 23rd state in all.
Sunday, 5 October 2008
Ultralight Awards
This week I received two awards from the Ultralight Radio Awards Committee for my ultralight DXing efforts: the 100 Stations Heard Award, and the 20 U.S. States Award. They look spectacular and I was pleased to get them. They were also issued very quickly - it took only a few days for me to receive them after submitting my applications. If you're interested in these awards, check out the ultralight DXing files area at dxer.ca.
Recent Ultralight Loggings
Loggings on the Sony SRF-59 for the past few days:
WLEA 1480 is a new station for my overall log. All the others are relogs.
I'm surprised it has taken me this long to log CBE in Windsor. This station is pretty dominant on 1550. But in Toronto 1550 tends to be swamped by CHIN on 1540. I also think that, at night, Toronto must be in CBE's skip zone, because I remember this station coming in quite strongly in Kingston when I was listening there.
- 1310 WRSB Canandaigua, NY 1155 UTC 02-Oct-2008
- 1480 WLEA Hornell, NY 1207 UTC 02-Oct-2008
- 1470 WNYY Ithaca, NY 2317 UTC 02-Oct-2008
- 1320 WDER Derry, NH 0257 UTC 04-Oct-2008
- 1240 WATN Watertown, NY 1129 UTC 04-Oct-2008
- 1420 WACK Newark, NY 1145 UTC 04-Oct-2008
- 1550 CBE Windsor, ON 1202 UTC 04-Oct-2008
WLEA 1480 is a new station for my overall log. All the others are relogs.
I'm surprised it has taken me this long to log CBE in Windsor. This station is pretty dominant on 1550. But in Toronto 1550 tends to be swamped by CHIN on 1540. I also think that, at night, Toronto must be in CBE's skip zone, because I remember this station coming in quite strongly in Kingston when I was listening there.
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Ultralight Loggings: Sept. 30, 2008
Loggings on the Sony SRF-59 ultralight for Sept. 30, 2008:
WKOK 1070 is a new station for my overall log. It's an all news station, 10 kW daytime, 1 kW nighttime, in eastern central Pennsylvania. I logged it before sunset, when nighttime skywave propagation is already beginning to occur but while the station is still on its daytime power.
WHIC is a relog but its callsign has changed since the last time I logged it. This is parallel to WLOF at 101.7 FM, from Attica NY, which is also audible at my home location. This is a Catholic station using the slogan "The Station of the Cross."
- 1460 CJOY Guelph, ON 2145 UTC
- 1460 WHIC Rochester, NY 2145 UTC
- 1070 WKOK Sunbury, PA 2232 UTC
- 870 WHCU Ithaca, NY 2240 UTC
WKOK 1070 is a new station for my overall log. It's an all news station, 10 kW daytime, 1 kW nighttime, in eastern central Pennsylvania. I logged it before sunset, when nighttime skywave propagation is already beginning to occur but while the station is still on its daytime power.
WHIC is a relog but its callsign has changed since the last time I logged it. This is parallel to WLOF at 101.7 FM, from Attica NY, which is also audible at my home location. This is a Catholic station using the slogan "The Station of the Cross."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)