DX Question; Which station did I hear on AM 11:30

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Re: DX Question; Which station did I hear on AM 11:30

Postby Tape Splicer » Thu Jan 15, 2015 9:01 pm

Radiofan; Those are the stations I've also heard very clearly here in the eastern valley. The rest of the AM band fades in and out with lots of noise. The interference from the apartment building environment is quite substantial. When we visit our son and family on the mountain near hear, the DXing is great... lots of room to get away from electronic noise. The Grundig G8 is a nice little radio to use for DX listening.. Perhaps listening in the wee hours of the morning when everyone else in the building is down for the night will work... the computers, tvs cf lights are off etc should make a difference.
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Re: DX Question; Which station did I hear on AM 11:30

Postby radiofan » Thu Jan 15, 2015 9:12 pm

I'm just happy the next door neighbour has finally shut off their LED Christmas Lights. They were running 24/7 since mid-November and did noting but create noise from one end of the dial to the other~
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Re: DX Question; Which station did I hear on AM 11:30

Postby Dan Sys » Thu Jan 15, 2015 9:13 pm

I can totally relate to the interference from living in an apartment building environment. While residing in an apartment in Maple Ridge for 2 years the AM band was basically unlistenable (even the local stations were choked by static, TVI, computers, etc.). What a difference it was moving back to Aldergrove in a townhouse complex (end unit) where the AM band is nice and clean.
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Re: DX Question; Which station did I hear on AM 11:30

Postby Tape Splicer » Thu Jan 15, 2015 10:32 pm

If I have the radio near a window the reception improves somewhat ...however if I am away from a window it's mostly a lost cause. We have utility cables entering the building between the dinette and bedroom windows...I'm going to guess that this also contributes to the QRM. such is life.
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Re: DX Question; Which station did I hear on AM 11:30

Postby kal » Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:25 pm

The G8 is a terrific little radio. I do notice that KGO's signal at night is not as good as it was up until several years ago. After the major lineup purge I'm wondering if they tampered with their signal or power to some extent. Those were the days when Dr. Bill Wattenburg would proclaim the station as the one with the signal that boomed all the way from Alaska to South America.
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Re: DX Question; Which station did I hear on AM 11:30

Postby skyvalleyradio » Fri Jan 16, 2015 4:49 pm

KGO hasn't tampered with their signal at all. Conditions in general for long-distance night reception on AM this winter have been very poor due to the high amount of solar activity, which has variable effects both good & bad. However, it's too technical to get into here. Even with high-quality communications receivers & specialized antennas for night-time AM reception, there have been nights with little or no "DX" (distant stations) OTOH, last night & Wed night were fairly decent & did offer a bit of long-haul signals: Radio Rebelde, Cuba in both nights on 1180 & Wed night on 600 too; Radio Progresso, Cuba 640 Wed night; XEW 900 Mexico City last night. On both nights signals as far east as Manitoba & Minnesota could also be heard later in the evening. As a few have noted, signal noise from a variety of sources is a big problem particularly in dense, urban environments. Sometimes a partial solution to this is elevated signals levels - the kind that a beefed-up antenna can provide. For approx $50-70 CDN (from a variety of online sources) an easy solution is the Terk 'Advantage' 1000 which is an indoor "loop antenna". This needs no power source & can work without direct wiring to the antenna. This is accomplished by placing the loop antenna near or against the radio with a bit of experimentation until signals get louder & stronger. It works quite well & when compared side-by-side with my high-end, specialized "loop" with a pre-amplified signal booster, it performs quite well at grabbing weak signals & overcoming noise. Here is the link to Terk that has more info. Recommended for beginner/casual AM DXers & listeners!

http://www.terk.com/radio-antennas/?sku=ADVANTAGE :glasses7:
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Re: DX Question; Which station did I hear on AM 11:30

Postby Tape Splicer » Fri Jan 16, 2015 5:52 pm

That looks like something worth investigating. Would you know where it can be found in Canada? I know that while listening, rotating the G8 in my hand nulls some of the interference but it is always there.
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Re: DX Question; Which station did I hear on AM 11:30

Postby jon » Fri Jan 16, 2015 6:22 pm

As I reported in the review I did here when I first gone my hands on one of these, if you are near any powerful AM transmitters, you need two things to make this antenna work for you:
  1. a radio with antenna connections you can wire this to; and
  2. a way to turn off the internal antenna in the radio
Even then, you will have to de-tune the TERK well away from the frequency of the local transmitter.

This is my Medium Wave/Broadcast Band antenna of choice, i.e. - the best antenna I can afford.

As for availability in Canada, I bought mine from C.Crane in the U.S. with one of their radios, to keep the cost of shipping reasonable. I have since discovered, and verified with C.Crane staff that the CCRadio-EP is their only model that meets conditions 1 and 2 above. This is especially important with radios like C.Crane makes, which have really high gain internal antennas, as that tends to make high powered local stations even more of a problem.

I'll see what I can find in Canada and report back here.
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Re: DX Question; Which station did I hear on AM 11:30

Postby jon » Fri Jan 16, 2015 6:28 pm

Amazon.ca offers free shipping on both of the following. If you want it immediately, you will pay $72.85:
http://www.amazon.ca/Terk-AM-1000-Advan ... B000069EUW

If you wait a month or two on a backorder, you will pay only $54.99:
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000069 ... YIK6Y9EEQB
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