torsdag 25 oktober 2012

PJB TWR Bonaire -800


Like a lighthouse they use to be heard frequently here in Sweden, identifying also as Radio Trans Mundial in spanish. I received a nice letter from Bill Early today

CMHA R Cadena Agramonte, Camagüey -910


this was quite a surprise to hear as the frequency always use to be blocked by strong splashes of BBC -909.  Heard them a few minutes at sunrise and the ID "Cadena Agramonte ...Camagüey"  was easily recognized .  Alicia Sosa Velázquez, Dir  verified my report and invited me to visit the beautiful Cuba.
Camagüey - "La ciudad Confusa" is the third largest city in Cuba. Nicknamed also as "The Maze" because of its narrow twisting streets and alleys, which start or end in public squares and form a complicated labyrinth that was deliberately designed this way to confuse pirates and other raiders in the past.

onsdag 24 oktober 2012

WHK Cleveland OH -1420


A nice and very welcome QSL letter was received a few days ago from Brett P. Dir of Engineering


WKBK Keene NH -1290


This one of the many talk stations on the QRG. I heard them in September last year with its "AM 12-90 104.1 WKBK" ID .  Ira Wilner,  Chief Engineer  and also a Radio Amateur and DXer swiftly answered my reception report. Many thanks Fredrik Douren for the contact information.


 

tisdag 23 oktober 2012

KKAA Aberdeen SD -1560


The 11th of December 2011 there was quite good conditions towards the midwest and on 1560 I heard religious programs from Family Radio on the QRG. Have heard them before but never managed to get a QSL, but today after fresh contact  info from Fredrik Douren -FD  I came in contact with  Jenny Burkhiser , Public Affairs Director who verified my reception.
Aberdeen is located in the northeastern part of the state  with a city population of 26.000 people . Officially founded in 1881, the date of the first arrival of a Milwaukee Railroad train.  The town is subject to wide extremes and fluctations in temperature with a average low of -17 degrees C in January and a average high  of 29,3 degrees in July.
This is also the home of Super 8 Motels, which is the world´s largest budget hotel chain.

BBC Radio Cornwall -630 / -657


It took many years , but finally, I caught my  last BBC local  on MW. The morning 7th of September there was quite strange conditions when both the tx´s  of BBC R Cornwall -630 and -657 dominated their QRGs.
V/s  Tiffany Truscott  verified my reception report today

fredag 19 oktober 2012

WWFE Miami FL -670


Have tried many times to get them verified by the  many emailaddresses on the station website, but no luck.  A few days ago I found them on facebook  and got a positive answer almost directly,

Dear Bernt, Yes, that is indeed us! It seems...
La Poderosa-WWFE
Dear Bernt,

Yes, that is indeed us! It seems DXing is a popular hobby in Scandinavia because all these requests come from there. Very interesting. Good luck with your future endeavors. 



The station is not easy to hear as the Cubans on the same QRG is sooo much stronger and the pattern that "La Poderosa" use has no signal at all in our direction up here in Scandinavia. Seems that there was some pretty strange conditions the 1st October  2010 when I heard them.




torsdag 18 oktober 2012

WNIK R Única, Arecibo PR -1230


Heard them the 21st of January 2012 , alone on the QRG at my local midnight. It was the first time in many years I´ve heard them, and now with a beautiful ID as "Transmite WNIK 1230 AM Puerto Rico"
V/s Jose G Garcia  Gonzalez  verified my reception at the same time as WMSW today. Muchas Gracias Jose!

WMSW Radio Once, Hatillo PR -1120


The 27th of September last season there was a little better than normal propagation towards Puerto Rico  at sunrise and I watched 1120kHz for almost an hour. At last I heard a nice jingle for "Radio Once" . Sent them a reception report but got no reaction from the station.  A few days ago I got a tip from my friend Gert Nilsson  -GN  about a Technican on WMSW/WNIK , Jose Gerardo Garcia , who swiftly verified my reception report.
Hatillo is located on the northwestern coast  between Camuy and Arecibo.

onsdag 17 oktober 2012

WPLN Madison TN -1430


One of the more surprising catches of the 2010 season was  WPLN on 1430. The station probably had some problems with the switch to nightpower/ antenna pattern and kept the daytime 15kW nondirectional running all night. It was the 22nd of October that I heard   "This is Nashville´s Public Radio 14-30 WPLN AM...wpln.org"  and a few other DX-fellows too,  here in Sweden.
Today I got a nice verification at last from Carl Pedersen:

Mr. Holmberg, 
I am responding to your note to Donna regard reception of WPLN 1430AM on Oct 22nd 2010.   I listened to the mp3 and heard the station ID clearly. 
Please consider this note as official verification of your reception of WPLN-AM in Nashville, TN.
Regards,
Carl Pedersen
Technology Director
Nashville Public Radio
WPLN FM
WPLN AM
The station located in Madison,  a northeastern neighborhood in Nashville,  serving Nashville with Public Radio. As seen on the coverage map the signals reached a little bit further that night than normal...
  

WENJ Atlantic City NJ -1450



The most regular one together with Bermuda on the QRG here in Möklinta. A few days ago I  wrote a f/up after hearing them the 5th of January -11, and received   a short message from Kristen Lucca :

Hello,

So fun and cool!  Yep that's our station!

Best,
Kristen


heard them with a "97.3 FM ESPN FM" which is their FM output from ESPN South Jersey.
Atlantic City, nicknamed as "World´s Favorite Playground" a internationally reowned resort city for gambling,conventions and leisure. The city also served as the inspiration  for the original verison of the board game Monopoly. The city is located on the Atlantic coast with about 40.000 habitants.


WNRP Gulf Breeze FL -1620

This station have  been on my most wanted list since they started back in 2005. The ridiculous many Cubans on the frequency, plus the carribbeansWHDP ST Croix  (the reasons of the cuban invasion of the QRG,they relay Radio Martí at nights...) have done the searching of US stations here very difficult. Only a few times i´ve had selective conditions when I could slice out some of the northern stations instead. The 12th of December 2010 was such a date when I first caught " News, Talk, Traffic and Weather - This is Newsradio 16-20 WNRP Gulf Breeze"  and also later KOZN NE .
It was tricky to get them verified until I got contact with the owner  Dave Hoxeng who verified my reception today and also promise to mail a good old QSL Card!


Located on the northwestern tip of Florida , targeting Pensacola just over the bridge, makes the station a difficult catch as the conditions seldom reach this area.
They started back in 2005 as "Classic Country AM 1620" , but changed format in 2007 and was renamed as Newstalk 1620 - Pensacola´s Live , Local NewsTalk Station".  Both WNRP and the sister station CatCountry 98.7 are locally owned by Dave and Mary Hoxeng.

Gulf Breeze...a wonderful name, isn´t it ?  

HJJW Em Nuevo Continente, Bogotá -1460



The 11th of September I had some pretty strong signals from Bogota. On 1460kHz  I caught "esta es la señal de Nuevo Continente en Bogotá HJJW Amplitud Modulada 1460 kHz....Nuevo Continente - La Alternativa Diferente"  totally dominated the frequency. 
Luis Enrique Ramos swiftly confirmed my reception.


CMBD Radio Reloj, Cuba -870


One of the beacons of Cuba , easily recognized programs with a clock ticking in the background and very very often mentions the time. A few weeks ago I reported the station and yesterday  a nice answer arrived from Sonia Suarez :
 Sr. Bernt-Iván:
                    Le escribo para confirmar que ciertamente en esa fecha y a esa hora usted sintonizó claramente Radio Reloj, la muestra de audio  que me envía está clarísima. La locutora se escucha a la perfección. Gracias por la sintonía. Ojalá pronto vuelva a sintonizarnoss y pueda escuchar muchas más cosas de mi país, CUBA. Cariños para su esposa Paola, besos para sus niñas: Jennifer, Jessica y Nathalie y usted reciba mi saludo afectuoso,
                                                             Sonya

WDDY Albany NY -1460



Two NY stations on the same QRG, WHIC Rochester and WDDY Albany, but in each side of the state. From my horizon its about 50/50 chance  which station that dominates the QRG depending on how selective  the conditions are.  WDDY radiates Radio Disney and use to put in local IDs a few minutes before TOH, as when I heard them the 13th of November last season "Radio WDDY and WDDY HD Albany" 
Today Sara Wiseman, Stn Mgr confirmed my reception with a short email
Albany is the capital city of the state of New York, sits on the west bank of Hudson River roughly 240km north of NYC. Albany  has close ties with the nearby cities of Troy,Schenectady and Saratoga Springs, forming the region called Capital District.

WFIF Milford CT -1500


I have been watching this QRG many times when the the possibilities for daytimer signals been good, but always ended up with the signals from WLQV instead. They also belong to Life Changing Radio Network  so one must be careful  not confuse the stations.
The 23rd of October last season  I once again had WLQV  strong, but just before 22UTC  the signals from WFIF popped up  and luckily with a announcement as "You´re tuned to AM 1500 WFIF, stay tuned for a special program from WFIF Radio"  These words really made my day !
Jon Vaught, Stn Mgr, sent a pleasent message to me a few days ago :


Dear Mr. Holmberg,

Yes, this is a verification of the reception report you sent to Dave Young about our station, WFIF. WFIF is a Christian radio station, located in Milford, Connecticut, USA. We are a daytime station only. We periodically receive reception reports from your area of the world. Congratulations for picking up our signal.

Blessings in JESUS,

Jon Vaught
Station Manager
WFIF 1500 AM
www.wfif.net

Their market are Bridgeport in the south to New Haven on the north but the station is located in Milford  on the northern shore of Long Island Sound just an hour from New York City.With about 50.000 residents,they call themself  "A small city with a Big Heart" 


tisdag 16 oktober 2012

WSUA Miami FL -1260


Although  located on a European MW QRG it is pretty regular guest here in Möklinta, especially in the early season Aug-Oct. Identifies as "Caracol 1260" and with the English call-ID at TOH. Heard them the 11th of September promoting their website "www.caracol1260.com" . As the name says closely connected to Caracol Colombia
V/s  Tomas A. Martinez Vice Pres and GM.  confirmed my report today.

lördag 13 oktober 2012

WXYT Detroit MI -1270


The QRG is often dominated by CJCB here in Möklinta, but when the condtion moves further west it can be  as a bubbling pot of stations. Two MI Talk stations can be found of the frequency, WMKT and also WXYT which I heard the 15th of Dec 2011 with a ID and jingle. They currently running a conservative talk radio format, but will switch to the new CBS Sports Radio in January 2013.
V/s Rona Danziger

WAMG Dedham MA -890


The station is most common in early nights here, easily recognized by their hot Tropical music and "La nueva Mega"  slogans. Heard them the 16th of September 2012 and soon received a short email message as "Congratulations, that is us.    Ivon Gois, GM WAMG 890"  

La Nueva Mega consists of three stations covering the central and eastern part of Massachusetts from Dedham, Lowell-Lawrence and Worcester.

WCHP Champlain NY -760



As I have wrote about earlier,  was the 12th of Dec 2010 a extraordinary evening with many audible daytimer signals. On 760 khz I´ve heard french religious programmes earlier suspecting the Champlain station but never got a positive ID. This evening at 21UTC I had them again, now with quite strong signal altough the QRM from nearby europeans was intensive. At 21.14 the program ended and the closedown procedure  started and "..WCHP Champlain  operates on a assigned frequency of 760 kHz..." was perceived  and a few more IDs.
The vicinity to Quebec and the direction of their antenna pattern indicates the market they´re aiming at are both Montréal and Quebéc City.
Champlain is a border town with about 5700 inhabitants in the northeastern part of the state, along the Interstate 87. Named after the Lake Champlain which forms the border with Virginia State.
As I didn´t receive any reactions on my former reception report I tried a f/up yesterday. A few hours later Teri Billiter, General Mgr wrote back confirming my reception. He also heard from "listeners" in Denmark,Norway and Germany last year.


fredag 12 oktober 2012

XEVA Radio Hogar, Villahermosa TB -790


Spanish on this frequency always use to be the Cuban Radio Reloj which is easy to recognize. But the 27th of December I had  religous talk here so I stopped and listen. A minute later a programme started with the contact announcement   "Radio Maria,  Av. Cruz Del Sur 3195, Lomas de Victória,Tlaquepaque, Jalisco. Relé de Radio Maria 920AM “ . Surprised by the announcement I looked up the Mexicans on the QRG in WRTH but no one mentioned a relay of R Maria. Not until I found radiomariamexico.com where they mention relays of R Maria  over XEVA Villahermosa,Tabasco every night from midnight to 4 in the morning.  Karla I. Barajas Cisneros verified my reception a few days ago. 



torsdag 11 oktober 2012

WMYF Portsmouth NH -1380


Had been watching the channel for some time searching for WBAH who also carries ESPN and sometimes use to "forget" to switch to nightpower. Then, the 21st January I heard ESPN programme, but when the TOTH ID came it was instead "WMYF Portsmouth -The Sports Animal" Surprised  and nice as it also was a new one for me. The usual ones on the QRG here are CKPC/KOTA/KLIZ and KRKO.
Portmouth sits near the mouth of the Piscataqua River, a short wide river that divides New Hampshire and Maine. It has roughly 21.000 inhabitants and the town is a popular summer tourist destination.
V/s Jeff Pierce writes "I got a lot of e-mails from your side of the world, I wish you counted in the ratings..."





HJHL Oxígeno Ibagué -1350


Caught this station the morning of 23rd of March 2011, when the conditions favoured  Colombia at sunrise. The station had almost armchair listening quality with a nice "esta es Oxígeno Ibagué 1350AM" ID, but as heard on the recording they were not the only LA station on the QRG.Some idea who the other station might be?  https://www.box.com/shared/n3iiqxz20j
Ibagué is the capital of the Department of Tolima with a population of approx. 500 000.  It lies within the Andean Volcanic Belt  and has two active volcanoes in its immediate vicinity, Nevado del Tolima and Cerro Machín.
v/s  was Jesus Varon Tamayo.



WCRW Leesburg VA -1190


The evening 13th of November last year was one the most interesting this season with daytimer signals on at least 5 channels here in Möklinta. On 1190kHz were WLIB weaker than usual  and instead I heard  a close-down procedure  "...the studios of New Broadcasting Network in North America... Washington... Falls Church....WCRW Leesburg -Washington..."  followed the national anthem.  A nice surprise and it became the second  daytimer station I´ve heard on the QRG last season.
The station is a pure daytimer with power of 50kW, serving the Washington area with China Radio Int programs. Not heard in Sweden before, but both our Finnish and Norweigan colleagues have catched them last season.
Leesburg is a historic town situated in Loudoun county,VA  along the Catoctin Mountain and adjacent  to the Potomac River.


tisdag 9 oktober 2012

4VEH Cap-Haitien -840


Long time ago they had a transmitter in the 60mb but I was never able to catch their signal at the beginning of my DX career. So it was exciting when I heard Creole on 840kHz the 6th of January 2010 and at the Top of the hour also heard  their ID and webaddress.
The station reach up to one million people in the northern two-thirds of the country from Cap-Haitien, which is located on the northern coast of Haiti  with about 190 000 inhabitants. The island of Hispanola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Rep. is  seismically active and has a history of destructive earthquakes. Cap-Haitien was hit by a 8.1 magnitude back in 1842 killing  ten thousands of people, but we all remember the catastrophic 2010 earthquake that caused a much larger number of casualties and major damage to the capital Port-au-Prince, about 140km south of Cap-Haitien.
V/s was Kate Michel, Marketing & Communication Director of 4VEH



måndag 8 oktober 2012

Celtic Music Radio, Glasgow -1530


Due to the late harvesting here in Möklinta I have used a shortened,not ideal version of my beverage array in 295 degrees. The antenna pattern is somehow bend southwards  and made it possible to log this very unusual small station from the riverside of Clyde in Glasgow. The QRG is usually dominated by Pulse2, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, but this morning it was temporarely swept away by Celtic music and a ID as "This is Celtic Music Radio online celticmusicradio.net and Glasgow on 15-30 AM" at the top of the hour.
The station is a community broadcaster, manned entirely by volunteers and operates to promote singers and songwriters of contemporary and traditional Scottish music. They started as a RSL station at  the Celtic Connections Music Festival back in 2006 and in 2008 they went on air on mediumwave as a Commuinty Radio serving Glasgow with a power of 70 Watts.
A few months ago they got license to move from AM to FM, and will return their AM license soon, maybe it already has happened?
Anyway, the nice guy who answered my reception report was Alex Jenkins (MM0OIL), Tx Engineer and chairperson, Many thanks Alex!