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Author Topic: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.  (Read 43616 times)

KC8KTN

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #45 on: February 15, 2017, 04:10:19 PM »

I have allways been hooked on radios. When i was a kid i used to listen to radio mystery theater lone ranger stories. On my paper route there was a radio store i bought my first used shortwave halicrafters receiver in 1974 .Then cb craze 1975 started out with Lafayette 1.5 watt 3 chan Crystal  handheld with a trickstick antenna.Always been into radios.When i was a kid used to go to Arkansas for vacation at night i could pick up WLS 890 am I also remember Wmaq going to make you rich. The memories.
https://youtu.be/4n0uqWOOqeg
« Last Edit: February 15, 2017, 04:21:11 PM by KC8KTN »
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N0YXB

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #46 on: February 15, 2017, 05:54:57 PM »

I also remember listening to WLS at night when I was a kid. I used an old 1940's Philco "Hippo".  She was a beautiful art deco six-tube Bakelite Radio. Good times.
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WZ7U

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #47 on: February 15, 2017, 07:08:03 PM »

I have allways been hooked on radios. When i was a kid i used to listen to radio mystery theater lone ranger stories....

Me too! When and where I grew up it was 850 KOA that got all the attention as the 50KW blowtorch. There were others - 56 KLZ, 63 KHOW, and a bunch I don't remember. Dad had a Sears SW receiver and I used to sit up nights listening to WWV and foreign broadcasts. It didn't decode SSB so the funny wonka wonka wonka in the ham bands got ignored because I didn't know what it was. That radio was always on when as a family we would go camping in the CO backcountry and there could explore all the BCB & SW skip there was. What fun that was as a child! CB was around as well, back when it was a licensed service and that was fun too but as kids we were not allowed to transmit without the parental control op on hand. Good memories.
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K1EBU

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #48 on: February 16, 2017, 08:49:08 AM »

I have very fond memories of listening to long range AM stations. When I was 14 in 1979 and studying for my Novice license I had a borrowed HQ-160. After listening to the nightly W1AW code practice sessions I would be spinning the dials and more often then not ended up on the BCB. After returning the Hammarlund I acquired a Halli SX-99 then a DX-160. I still have the old logbook around with all the logged BCB stations. Can't remember how many I had logged but I filled in many pages. If you decide to pursue this be forewarned that it is ADDICTING !!! You will learn all about Clear Channel and graveyard frequencies. I still have the ole DX-160 as well as a DX-300. I recently picked up a Palomar LA-1 Loop amplifier and the plug in coils for BCB, 160/80, LF and VLF. The ability to turn the loop and null out an interfering station or noise is almost a requirement as compared to receiving on a long wire. I wish I had the loop back then. After reading this thread I looked thru a couple boxes and found an old issue of Communications World with the Whites Radio Log from 1981. I would recommend getting a copy of the new WRTV handbook as it will be very valuable for IDing stations. No matter what receiver and antennas you decide on don't forget a good set of ear cans(headphones). Best of luck to you!  73 Gary
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K5NOK

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #49 on: February 16, 2017, 09:58:18 AM »

I'm a ham today because of DX AM broadcasts.
I found a 50's type AM receiver in my parents attic well past the day consumer BC radios had tubes.
I was intrigued and brought it downstairs.
That night I turned it on and found a Omaha Nebraska station and was thrilled. I lived in Houston Texas at the time.
I further tuned around and found a weather forecast for Albany New York and on a different night WLS in Chicago.
I even discovered that it would tune slightly above the BC band into what was SW stations at time.

I later bought a Radio Shack DX 160. I wandered into the ham bands and listening to the guys talk about radios and antennas planted a seed that lay dormant until 2002 when I finally took the exam.
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KC8KTN

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #50 on: February 16, 2017, 11:15:09 AM »

I remember hcjb Ecuador station a power house in the 70s i still have a bookmarker from them and also bbc and Russian stations.I still have my dx -160
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KB2FCV

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #51 on: February 16, 2017, 11:50:38 AM »

Several years ago my friend and I built and experimented with some high performance crystal sets to listen to the AM broadcast band. Mine had some large coils with litz wire. I had a separate tuned circuit I could null out louder stations to listen for the weaker ones. I was using mil-surplus sound powered head phones. I was able to pick out a bunch of stations - some from as far away as down south as well as Canada. All... on a crystal set. Pretty amazing!

These days I listen to NDB Beacons which are below the AM broadcast band. I have an old BC-453.. I've picked up beacons from as far away as the caribbean or canada..
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N8YX

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #52 on: February 16, 2017, 01:41:18 PM »

I later bought a Radio Shack DX 160.
This was my first SW receiver. Often thought about getting another, but mediocre selectivity and upper HF-range sensitivity coupled with the slide-rule dial calibrated in MHz gives rise to a bit of Larry Niven paraphrasing:

If only I could find a noteworthy station to listen to. If only I could find it twice.

Still, it was a good LF/MF BC set.
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K5NOK

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #53 on: February 16, 2017, 04:54:11 PM »

The DX 160 is still with me and sits on a shelf above my operating desk. I have sadly lost the matching speaker.
Yes, it was a bit drifty.
You had to get the main tuning just right or you were way off in frequency.

I heard all about how I was a decadent American from Radio Moscow. HCJB, The Voice of the Andes, was always there.
VOA and BBC were loud. And sometimes, in-between those stations and the noise you would hear a station from some country I had to go look to see where it was located.
Yeah....  pretty neat stuff for a teenager in those less digital days.
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AF5CC

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #54 on: February 16, 2017, 10:19:32 PM »

Often when I am driving late at night through some place like east Texas or Louisiana I can tune to WBBM newsradio 78. It reminds me of my childhood, listening to CBS Radio Mystery Theater at 10 pm every weekday night.


I can consistently get WBBM here in Oklahoma.  I was listening to part of the Superbowl on WMAQ, also out of Chicago, while driving through town to pick up my daughter from a Church activity. 
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K0SBV

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #55 on: February 17, 2017, 02:50:48 PM »

Request for comment:
I looked at this device with the link you provided it looks great. Can you use this device with any am radio or can I use it with my Icom 718 and how does it hook up.


Response: The antenna connection is 50 ohm coax with SO-239 connectors. I use it with both my Drake SW8 and ICOM R-75.I should also mention that the unit may be powered with a provided AC walwart or a 9 volt battery for which a battery holder is positioned on the back side of the antenna control unit.
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K0SBV

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #56 on: February 17, 2017, 03:02:17 PM »

One additional comment--

To the extent you are interested in doing some heavy BCB DXing, there are two clubs in the U.S. totally dedicated to Broadcast Band DXing. 

The National Radio Club, in its 84th year, is the oldest BCB DXing group.  It publishes regular on-line or paper bulletins, annually produces and sells a comprehensive log book of American and Canadian AM stations, and other relevant publications such as a book showing the antenna patterns of every station on each BCB frequency. For more information on the NRC, take a look at its website at: http://www.nrcdxas.org/

The International Radio Club of America is in its 53rd year.  It too, publishes an on-line bulletin and also produces for sale a log of all AM stations operating in Mexico.  Its website is:http://www.ircaonline.org/index1.html



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KC8KTN

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #57 on: February 17, 2017, 11:57:18 PM »

 I was born in 1960 10-8-1960 here is something from my memory banks .
GILLIGANS ISLAND RADIO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Shw5AVgNg
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KC8KTN

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #58 on: February 18, 2017, 08:05:55 AM »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdlMHYHMM8Y

Really Interesting..Everyone weather hear in Lower Michigan Wow going to be 65 in lower michigan in February.
« Last Edit: February 18, 2017, 08:10:21 AM by KC8KTN »
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KA3AUD

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RE: Long Distance AM station listening a new craze.
« Reply #59 on: February 18, 2017, 10:11:37 AM »

Wow
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