CKAC Montréal QC 730

CKAC in Montréal often provides a powerhouse signal on 730 kHz at my listening post at Lista. Their signal is so strong that it is very hard to pull out any signal from any other North American station on this frequency. That’s quite reasonable as CKAC broadcast with a power of 50 kilowatts. At Lista in January 2011 it was impossible to hear anything but CKAC on 730 kHz. At this time CKAC broadcast a sports format, the station has since switched to become Montréals first dedicated traffic radio station branded as “Radio Circulation”.

CKAC has long been a poor verifier, but last year several DX-ers got an e-mail confirmation from General Manager Réal Germain. I had to try my luck too, and received a prompt but brief e-mail reply from M. Germain.

CKGL Kitchener ON 570

CKGL in Kitchener, Ontario, was a surprising catch at Lista in January 2011. 570 kHz is a frequency which is either dominated by CFCB in Newfoundland and/or Radio Reloj in Cuba at our location. In addition there’s WMCA and WSYR, both located in New York so there’s a lot of competition on this frequency! On the first morning of the DX-pedition we enjoyed good conditions towards the Great Lakes, especially towards Ontario. CKGL was one of the stations benefiting from these conditions and the station was heard quite well for some time carrying Fox Sports Radio.

Engineering Manager Mike McCabe verified my reception of the station with a kind e-mail saying he is surprised the signal of CKGL can be received as far away as Norway. CKGL broadcast an “all news” format with a power of 10 kilowatts.

XEQR Radio Centro 1030

Catching the signal of Radio Centro in México City was one of the highlights of the November 2009 DX-pedition to Lista. A highly unusual catch, as the frequency of 1030 kHz is always totally dominated by WBZ in Boston. One morning another station was heard behind WBZ though playing soft music. Luckily the station surfaced with a nice station identification on the hour.

Ing. Luís Cepero Alarcón sent me an e-mail with a perfect verification text and also enclosed a couple of pictures in his e-mail.

HJCA Cadena Melodía 730

Cadena Melodía in Bogotá is one of the most common Colombians heard in Norway on its AM frequency 730 kHz. That’s not surprising giving that the transmitter has a listed output of 100 kilowatts.

Cadena Melodía also used to be heard on shortwave 6140 kHz some years ago, but it seems like this channel has now been closed for good. My reports to the station, both on their shortwave and mediumwave outlets, have remained unanswered. That changed a few days ago when I received an e-mail from the station with a not too perfect verification text, but still “good enough” to be counted as a QSL. This was for a report from the January 2011 DX-pedition to Lista when conditions certainly weren’t favourable towards Colombia. We heard very few stations from Colombia or Venezuela on this DX-pedition, only the most commons ones like Cadena Melodía came through.

ORF Radio 1476

I was very surprised to find a full data QSL card from Radio 1476 in my mailbox the other day. I submitted a reception report to them almost 3 years ago, seems like somebody has really been clearing their deskes there in Vienna!

Radio 1476 was closed down on December 31, 2008 when the Wien-Bisamberg transmitter was shut down. Wikipedia has a pretty good article on the history of the station. The Bisamberg transmitter masts were demolished with controlled explosions on February 24, 2010, so this station and this transmitter is definitely history now. The transmitter on 1476 kHz was always received with good quality here in Norway. ORF on 1476 kHz was one of the stations I frequently tuned in to when I started DX-ing almost 30 years ago…

WIBA Madison WI 1310

At Lista in November 2009 we enjoyed fairly good conditions towards North America and we received several stations further in land than we usually do. 1310 kHz is a frequency where either CIWW in Ottawa or WLOB in Maine are clear dominants. On this particular DX-pedition, however, I could also receive WIBA in Madison, Wisconsin, on 1310 kHz on several occasions.

Kurt Petersen, Director of  Sales, confirmed my reception of the station with an e-mail some weeks ago. WIBA is a news talk station transmitting with a power of 5 kilowatts.

WCAP Lowell MA 980

WCAP is one of the most commonly heard stations heard on 980 kHz at Lista. Despite a power of 5 kilowatts, the station is (luckily) not too dominant but always there if conditions towards North America are fair. I haven’t had any lucky with getting any verification from the station untill some weeks ago when Operations Director Ryan Johnston sent me an e-mail confirming my reception of the station. He also enclosed a studio recording of the station. This was for a recording I made at the most recent DX-pedition to Lista in Janaury 2011.

WCAP is a locally produced and owned station located in Lowell, Massachusetts. The station always airs a mix of “greatest hits” from the 60s, 70s and 80s at night.

WVNA Tuscumbia AL 1590

WVNA in Tuscumbia, Alabama, was a surprising catch at Lista in November 2009. WVNA has been heard by several other European DX-ers in the recent years, but we certainly didn’t expect to catch it. Nevertheless, their signal came through fairly well one morning. Alabama stations are always most welcome!

Chief Engineer Jeffrey Z. Vaughn kindly verified my rececption of the station with an e-mail. WVNA is a news talk station and broadcast with a night time power of 1 kilowatt.

WILS Lansing MI 1320

1320 kHz is an interesting frequency after CKEC in Nova Scotia shut down their AM transmitter some years ago. One of many stations which has turned up in our recordings from Lista has been WILS in Lansing, Michigan. WILS broadcast with a power of 25 kilowatts, reduced to 1,9 kilowatts at nights. WILS is a talk radio station branded as “more compelling talk radio”.

Lee Cohen, Sales Manager, confirmed my reception of the station with an e-mail some weeks ago. This was for a recording made at Lista in November 2009.

International Radio of Serbia 9505

International Radio of Serbia and its predecessor Radio Yugoslavia can’t be considered DX as there broadcasts can easily be picked up on shortwave here in Norway. I have never been able to obtain a reply from Belgrade though untill some weeks ago when I received a full detailed QSL card along with a sticker and a programme schedule.

This was for a report made at Lista in January 2011 when we listened in to their afternoon broadcasts to Europe on 9505 kHz from Stubline near Belgrade. Most of their broadcasts are transmitted via Bijeljina in Republika Srpska in Bosnia-Hercegovina.

Ukrainske Radio 783

Radio Ukraine International has stopped broadcasting on shortwave, but their home service is still broadcast on mediumwave. In fact there are more mediumwave broadcasts from Ukraine now than there was some years ago. Lista is hardly the best placce for picking up signals from Eastern Europe, but on the last DX-pedition there in January 2011 I could pick up the signals of the home service of Ukrainske Radio in the afternoon on both 783 and 837 kHz.

A snail mail report on their transmitter in Brovary near Kiev on 783 kHz resulted in a non-detailed verification letter signed by Deputy Director General V.V. Yurchenko. He also enclosed a nice postcard depicting the capital city Kiev.

CJME Regina SK 980

Saskatchewan stations are rarely heard at my usual DX site at Lista in Southern Norway. When I heard CJME on 980 kHz in November 2009, it was only my second station from this state ever.

CJME broadcasts a news talk format with a night power of 5 kilowatts from the Saskatchewan capital of Regina. David M. Senft, Vice President Engineering, confirmed my reception report with a full detailed QSL card.

Big L 1395

Big L has had a pretty turbulent time broadcasting on 1395 kHz. The station has been off the air since around February 1, owing both to a weak daytime signal in the targeted audience area in England, technical problems with the transmitter and financial problems according to the usually very reliable Media Network blog.

When I heard them in January 2011, their signal was certainly very impressive at Lista (with a 800 long antenna, I have to add). The transmitter, located in Trintelhaven near Lelystad, The Netherlands, used to broadcast with a power of 20 kilowatts (reduced to 10 kilowatts at times).

Big L replied with a nice full detailed QSL-card as promised on their web page, some stickers and some information about the station. The QSL card is depicted above. Despite Big L being off the air, there was nothing in the information provided in their reply nor on their web page indicating that the station is no longer transmitting on 1395 kHz. Weird. Will the station ever return to the mediumwave band? I doubt it very much.

BBC Radio Foyle 792

It’s been more than 10 years since my last QSL from the UK. I have sent a couple of reports to a few stations that never bothered to reply in the 1990s through the last years, most notably to Buzz Asia (963/972 kHz) and Asian Sound Radio (963/1377 kHz), but also to a few other stations. One of the very few BBC local stations which never replied in the 1980s and the 1990s was BBC Radio Foyle in Northern Ireland.

A new report brought a brief verification signed by Emma Taylor and some postcards through postal mail. This was for a report from January 2011 when BBC Radio Foyle was heard pretty well one afternoon on 792 kHz at Lista. BBC Radio Foyle used to be heard more regularly in the past, nowadays the station suffers from strong interference from both MDR Info in Germany and Radio France among others.

I had the chance to visit the city of Londonderry (known more commonly as Derry) some years ago. A nice city with a truly interesting history and a very beautiful old city wall surrounding the city centre. Despite this, not many people visit Derry. They definitely should.

WURA Quantico VA 920

920 kHz is an interesting frequency now that CJCH has left the frequency. Nowadays the frequency is normally occupied by another Canadian, CKNX in Wingham, Ontario. Other and more interesting radio stations occasionally turn up on this frequency too. On the last DX-pedition to Lista some months ago (January 2011), I noticed a station playing Mexican music on 920 kHz. I expected this to actually be a Mexican station too, but upon reviewing my recordings it turned out to be WURA licenced to Quantico, Virginia. The station played nice Tex Mex music identifying in Spanish as “Una Señora Emisora”. WURA is certainly not a regular visitor here, this might have been the first logging in Norway, but the station was also heard by several Finnish DX-ers at about the same time. WURA is listed with a night time effect of just 970 watts.

A short but friendly e-mail from Al Hammond confirmed my reception of the station some weeks ago. My thanks to Jari Ruohomäki for providing a workable e-mail address to the station.

WVTL Amsterdam NY 1570

It is hard to hear anything but CFAV in Laval/Montréal on 1570 kHz at my DX QTH at Lista. On our DX pedition in November 2009, however, we were lucky to catch the signal of WVTL in Amsterdam, New York, one morning. That was quite a surprise and surrely one of the best catches on this trip.

WVTL is listed with a night power effect of just 204 watts so certainly not meant to be received in Norway!   The station broadcasts a light music format also simulcasting on 104.7 AM. The station is branded as  “Lite 104.7 and 1570 AM”. Operations Manager Dave Silvers kindly confirmed my reception in an email.

Evangeliumsrundfunk 1539

Hearing Evangeliumsrundfunk on 1539 kHz can’t really be considered DX-ing as the station can easily be picked up on any radio here in Southern Norway. Their 700 kilowatt AM transmitter at Mainflingen in Hessen, Germany, comes through with a blasting signal whenever it is on.

Evangeliumsrundfunk  is currently on the air via this transmitter only for 7,5 hours each day after having reduced their AM presence quite drastically over the past couple of years. With all the recent European stations leaving the AM band in the past few years, a development which will surely continue, it is better to catch and report the stations before it is too late! This led me to send a reception report of one of the recent broadcasts of  Evangeliumsrundfunk. The station sent me a very nice full detailed QSL card depicting their impressive antenna in return.

WTMA Charleston SC 1250

WTMA in Charleston, South Carolina, has a night time power of 1 kilowatt only and is not the most frequent guest on 1250 kHz. The signal of WTMA was noted several times at Lista in November 2009, however. Justin Tucker, Chief Engineer/MIS Director confirmed my audio recording of WTMA with an e-mail some weeks ago.

WTMA broadcast a news talk format. The station has even created a web page about the history of the station called WTMA Memories.

WLIB New York NY 1190

WLIB in New York is easily heard on 1190 kHz, just as many other AM stations in New York City. Receiving a verification from the stations there are not always so easy, however. I have tried WLIB quite a number of times, all in vain untill some weeks ago when I received a friendly e-mail from their Chief Engineer Paul Sanchez. This was for a report on their signal at Lista in November 2009.

WLIB is by far the easiest station to hear on 1190 kHz. They mainly broadcast nice gospel music under the slogan “Your praise and inspirational station”. Talk and religious programmes are also carried at times. WLIB is listed with a night time power of 30 kilowatts, more than enough to make it across the Atlantic… Their transmitting towers are located in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

WNSS Syracuse NY 1260

WNSS was one of several stations heard on the frequency of 1260 kHz at the successfull DX-pedition to Lista in October 2008. WNSS, located in Syracuse, New York, was a sports station carrying ESPN and identifying as “ESPN Radio 12-60″ when we heard them. The ESPN programming was dropped in March 2010. The station still carries sports but is now branded as “The Score 12-60″. The call has also changed to WSKO.

I received a perfect verification e-mail from Operations Manager Tom Mitchell some weeks ago. Tom writes he used to be a radio enthusiast himself DXing North American stations on the AM band so he knows all what our strange hobby is about!

WNYY Ithaca NY 1470

1470 kHz is always an interesting frequency. WLAM in Maine is the dominant station on this channel, but once you get past them there are lots of opportunities to hear other stations.

One of the stations which surfaced on 1470 kHz on the October 2008 DX-pedition to Lista was WNYY in Ithaca, New York. WNYY is branded as “Progressive Talk” and carried the now defunct Air America Network with ads for the Obama presidential campaign when I heard them at Lista in October 2008.

Susan Johnson, President and General Manager of parent company Cayuga Radio Group, confirmed my recording of WNYY with an e-mail some weeks ago.

WFNN Erie PA 1330

WRCA in Watertown, Massachusetts, is by far the most commonly heard station on 1330 kHz. The second most common station is WFNN in Erie, Pennsylvania, which can be heard every now and then with Fox Sports programming. The station usually identifies simply as “The Fan”.

Chales Lelievre at parent company Connoisseur Media confirmed my reception with an e-mail and also attached the above QSL card with his e-mail.

Fox Sports Radio AM 1330: The Fan

WGDJ Rensselaer NY 1300

At Lista in November 2009 we enjoyed good reception of many stations in New York State. One of the stations which was heard with a good signal throughout the DX-pedition was WGDJ licenced to Rensselaer, New York. WGDJ, a station which I had not heard at all untill this DX-pedition, was in fact the dominant station on 1300 kHz.

Angela Rosetti, Traffic Director and Executive Producer at the station, confirmed my reception of the station with a brief e-mail. WGDJ is a local talk station that focuses on live, local talk. The station frequently identifies just as “Talk 1300″.

WXXI Rochester NY 1370

WXXI in Rochester, New York, is the second most common station on the frequency of 1370 kHz at Lista. The trouble is that WDEA in Ellsworth, Maine, usually has such a powerful signal on 1370 kHz making it very hard for other stations to get through. In November 2009, WXXI faded up briefly late on morning with a weak but clear station identification on the hour.

Jeanne Fisher, Vice President for Radio, verified my recording of the station with a kind e-mail. She also sent me a verification letter and some stickers by ordinary mail. WXXI is Rochester’s National Public Radio and can eaily be recognized by its format. The station has an output of 5 kilowatt.

WHKT Portsmouth VA 1650

Updates to this blog has been very rare lately. I discovered it is now nearly a year since my last blog posting. Well, there are times when DX-ing can’t be high on your list of priorities. 2010 has been such a year for me, hopefully 2011 will provide some more time for the radio hobby.

A few QSLs did arrive in 2010 however. One of them – and probably the most surprising one – came from WHKT in Portsmouth, Viriginia, a station which can easily be heard here in the winter season. The reason for my surprise was the time it took to respond. My last reception report to the station was sent in October 2005 so it lasted more than 4 1/2 years before the QSL arrived here. A big thanks to Monica Rae for sending a full detailed QSL diploma to both me and a number of other DX-ers.

Untill January 2010, WHKT was a Radio Disney affiliate. The station was then sold from Radio Disney to a religious broadcaster. The station now broadcasts conservative talk programmes and is branded as “Freedom 1650″.

Arctic Radio Morokulien 1584

Arctic Radio Club celebrated their 50th anniversary with some special broadcasts from the “peace kingdom” of Morokulien on the Swedish/Norwegian border during late December and early January. This special event station broadcast on 1584 khz with a power of 400 watts. These special broadcasts were arranged in cooperation with the amateur radio stations SJ9WL and LG5LG in Morokulien.

I only had the chance to listen in to the first broadcast on December 28 and to my surprise their signal was received quite well at my home QTH. The programme I listened into was a “nostalgia broadcast” with music from the 1960s and 1970s and with some interviews with people working on the Swedish offshore pirate station Radio Nord in the 1960s . I received a QSL sent by postal mail and some information about Morokulien last week.

CHRB High River AB 1140

The first verification from the latest DX-pedititon to Lista (November 2009) came from CHRB in High River, Alberta. CHRB had a very good signal several mornings during our stay and could even be heard well into the afternoon untill around 15.00 local time (14.00 UTC). That was quite exceptional as CHRB was a station I had never managed to hear untill this DX-pedition. This time we could listen to this station for several hours with good quality and no interference.

Laverne Siemens, Director of Engineering at parent company Golden West Radio, confirmed my reception of CHRB with a full detailed QSL letter as a Word attachment.  He tells that CHRB operates with a power of 50 Kilowatts 24 hours a day into a four tower array during the night and into a 500’ omni tower during the day.

DX-pedition to Lista, November 26-30, 2009

Before setting out for this season’s only DX-pedition to Lista at the end of November, I had really high hope for the best DX-pedition to Lista ever! Reception of Transatlantic stations on mediumwave had been very good earlier in the autumn, judging from many reports on the web.

As is often the case, it’s when expectations are high that you are likely to become really disappointed! This was also the case this time. Even though the sun was very quiet and all the indices were really favourable, signals just did not propagate! Others DX-ers listening at the same time, such as David Hamilton over in Scotland, had similar experiences and reported that the conditions were in general “very poor”.

The band was more or less completely dead in the mornings, which is the time of the day when rare stations can rise from the noise. The evenings, especially during 22.00-23.00 UTC, were for a change much more interesting than the mornings. Almost all interesting stations were heard between 950 and 1300 kHz, the rest of the band was more or less “dead” or just nor interesting. In the late mornings some West Coast stations surfaced, such as 1000 KOMO Seattle WA and 1010 CBR Calgary AB. Of the West Coast stations, 1140 CHRB High River AB had the best and most consistent signal.

After reviewing most of the recordings, however, we nevertheless discovered a number of rare to semirare stations. Conditions turned out to be much more interesting than we thought when we were DX-ing “live”. We were especially pleased about finding a number of rare stations in New York. Best loggings so far: 930 WPAT Paterson NJ, 1030 Radio Centro (Mexico City), 1060 WLNO New Orleans LA, 1070 WFLI Lookout Mountain TN (huge signal!), 1070 WAPI Birmingham AL, 1410 WENU South Glen Falls NY, 1420 WNRS Herkimer NY, 1570 WVTL Amsterdam NY, 1580 WEAM Columbus GA and 1580 WHFS Morningside MD.

Update January 19, 2011: The log (still not final) has now been posted!

CFAC Calgary AB 960

CFAC in Calgary, popped up for a couple of minutes one morning on 960 kHz at Lista in October 2008. CFAC is considered a “pest station” by DX-ers listening from Arctic Scandinavia, but for us DX-ing from the southern tip of Norway CFAC is an unusual catch.

Jerry Pendree,  Director of  Engineering Alberta at Rogers Broadcasting, confirmed my reception with an e-mail some weeks ago.

HCJB via Voz Cristiana 9865

I have never tried to obtain a QSL from one of my favourite countries in the world: Chile. Well, there haven’t been a lot of stations to choose from as Chilean mediumwave stations hardly ever makes it to my usual DX pedition site at Lista.

The Christian shortwave station Voz Cristiana has been around for a long time, however. I have heard them a couple of times through the years, but never sent any reports. When HCJB in Ecuador announced they were to broadcast some test transmissions from the Voz Cristiana transmitter site at Calera de Tango near Santiago, I deciced to try for one of these test broadcasts. The transmission I listened in to was in German and beamed towards South America, but as this is in the same direction as Norway their signal was heard very well at my home QTH.

After the closure of the HCJB shortwave transmitter on November 15, 2009, some of their broadcasts have been transferred to Voz Cristiana. One of them is the German language broadcast I listened to, the only change is that their frequency has now been changed from 9865 to 9835 according to the HCJB German language web pages.

Iris Rauscher of the German language team in Quito confirmed my reception with a nice e-mail and later also with a QSL-card and some information about the station by postal mail.

KTOE Mankato MN 1420

A couple of stations from Minnesota made a surprise appearance at Lista in October 2008. Apart from KFAN on 1130 kHz, stations from this state does not appear too often in our headphones at Lista.

When reviewing my recordings I was surprised to hear an ad and an identification from KTOE in Mankato, Minnesota on 1420 kHz. The signal could only be heard for a couple of minutes, but it was enough for me to put the station in the log. Moreover, my recording was good enough for Scott Schmeling, Chief Engineer at the station, to recognize (although barely! ) their announcements.

KTOE broadcasts with a power of 5 kilowatts with a news talk format.

DX-pedition to Lista, February 19-22, 2009

The 2nd DX-pedition of the 2008-2009 season to Lista took place between February 19-22, again accompanied by Torgeir Nyen. We were hoping for a repeat of the  previous DX-pedition a couple of months earlier which was extremely successfull. Unfortunately, some disturbances on the sun prevented us from hearing many unusual stations this time.

Common stations from the usual geographical window of the Canadian and U.S. East Coast, the Caribbean and Venezuela were heard well, but hardly any rare stations surfaced. A striking difference from the DX-pedition earlier in the season was that no stations from the Midwest or from the West Coast could be heard.

Best loggings so far: 1370 WGIV Gastonia NC, 1420 WBEC Pittsfield MA + the 2 Dominicans 970 Radio Olímpica and 1440 Radio Impactante.

A preliminary log will be posted when time permits!

WGVU Kentwood MI 1480

WSAR in Fall River, Massachusetts, is the dominant station on 1480 kHz and often leave little room for hearing anything else on this channel. At Lista in October 2008, a few others were heard too. Among those were WGVU broadcasting from Grand Valley State University in Kentwood, a Grand Rapids, Michigan, suburb. I caught them with a station identification after they aired a programme from National Public Radio.

Michael T. Walenta, General Manager, confirmed my reception of the station with an e-mail some days ago.

WDER Derry NH 1320

1320 kHz is an interesting frequency now that CKEC in Nova Scotia (a real powerhouse here) has left the frequency. Several new stations were heard on this frequency at the October 2008 DX-pedition to Lista. One of the stations heard was WDER in Derry, New Hampshire, which came through briefly early one evening when they were presumably still on their day time power of 10 kilowatts.

WDER broadcasts a Christian radio format and belongs to the “Life Changing Radio” group of radio stations in New England. Other stations in this group are a.o. 1590 WARV and 1500 WFIF, 2 stations which are heard quite regularly at Lista. Bill Blount, President, confirmed my recording and even says he is amazed how clearly I received the signal of WDER!

WHAS Louisville KY 840

WHAS in Louisville, Kentucky, is a station which I have heard many times through the years on 840 kHz. WHAS is the dominant station on this frequency at Lista along with CMHW “La Doblevé” in Cuba. WHAS is also the only station from Kentucky which can be called an easy catch in Southern Norway.

Kelly Carls, Director of Operations, confirmed my recording with a brief e-mail. My recording was made at Lista in October 2008 when WHAS had a strong signal at times.

WGHQ Kingston NY 920 verification

We were really pleased about logging WGHQ in Kingston, New York, on 920 kHz at Lista in October 2008. That was a station we had not even heard of prior to the start of the DX-pedition, much less a station we expected to actually hear…

When reviewing our recordings later on, we found that WGHQ could be heard continuosly for several hours with a weak to fair signal. The programme consisted of mostly non stop music from the 60s, 70s and 80s intercepted with jingle identifications, typically as “at the top of the hour find out what’s happening in your world – 9-20 WGHQ”. WGHQ has been logged by several other DX-ers in Scandinavia both last season and this season, despite that the station has a night time output power of just 78 watts!

Bruce Owens, Program Director at Hudson Valley Talk Radio, confirmed my reception of the station last week. Hudson Valley Talk Radio also owns and operates 1260 WBNR and 1420 WLNA, stations that I guess it is impossible to hear on this side of the pond.

WDZY Colonial Heights VA 1290

One of many highlights at Lista in October 2008 was hearing WDZY in Colonial Heights, Virginia, on 1290 kHz. WDZY was heard one evening with a clear station identication and Radio Disney programming. They were apparently still on their daytime power of 25 kilowatts when I heard them, otherwise the night time power of their transmitter is just 41 watts! WDZY is not an easy catch as there is always heavy competition from other stations on 1290 kHz, a.o. from WRNI in Rhode Island and from WKBK in New Hampshire.

Station Manager Laura W. Haemker made my day when confirming my reception with an e-mail last week.

CJYM Rosetown SK 1330

For those DX-ing from Arctic Scandinavia, CJYM in Rosetown, Saskatchewan, is a common catch on 1330 kHz. For those DX-ing from Southern Scandinavia, however, catching the signal of stations located so far west is much more difficult. On the October 2008 DX-pedition to Lista,  CJYM was heard with a pretty good signal one night playing mostly hits from the 70s and the 80s.

Laverne Siemens, Director of Engineering at parent company Golden West Radio, confirmed my reception of CJYM with a full detailed QSL letter as a Word attachment.  He says CJYM broadcasts at 10 Kilowatts 24 hours a day with a Continental 316F transmitter operating into a two tower array with the same directional pattern day and night.

My very first QSL from Saskatchewan!

OBX4W Callao Super Radio 1400

Hearing Transatlantic stations on mediumwave with my 70 metre random wire antenna at my home QTH is a challenge. Sometimes you can be lucky though and catch the signals of stations which I haven’t even heard at Lista. A station which I had never heard before was Callao Super Radio from Callao, Peru, on 1400 kHz. This station faded up to beat the dominants CBG and Emisora Mariana one morning back in February. I received a brief e-mail verification from the station some weeks ago.

DRS Musikwelle 531

On December 28, 2008, at 22.59 UTC, the mediumwave transmitter at Beromünster, Switzerland, had their very last day on air. During the last couple of years of operation, the transmitter was used for transmitting programmes from DRS Musikwelle, programmes consisting of mainly Swiss-German traditional music which can be either fun or extremely annoying to listen to, depending on your music preferences!

I happened to listen in to the very last moments of this transmitter. A special farewell programme honoring the “Landessender Beromünster” transmitter site was aired during the last hours of transmission. When the Beromünster transmitter finally ceased broadcasting, it had been in operation for no less than 77 years (the transmitter was inaugurated in 1931).  There are some nice pictures and history of the “Landessender Beromünster” transmitter at this web page

A reception report of this special transmission went unanswered untill a reminder resulted in a nice full data QSL card last week  signed by Mario Strano of SRG Media Services in Zürich.

WWBC Cocoa FL 1510

On the very successfull October 2008 DX-pedition to Lista, we managed to hear a number of U.S. daytime stations. One of our best catches was hearing WWBC in Cocoa, Florida, on 1510 kHz. This station had not been heard in Scandinavia before. I must rush to add that WWBC was logged by  several other DX-ers in Norway, Sweden and Finland later in the season.

WWBC broadcasts Christian programming and is known as “The Christian Voice Of Brevard”. Their day time power is 50 kilowatts cutting down to 25 kilowatts two hours before local sunset. Ray Kassis, President, sent me a friendly e-mail confirming my reception of the station. He also included several pictures of the space shuttle and of the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral which is just around the corner from Cocoa. Ray is also an active HAM operator with the call sign N4LEM.

LV9 Radio Salta 840

I haven’t been very succesfull in hearing stations from Argentina on mediumwave, and even less successfull in getting any verifications from the few I have managed to hear. Stations from the Southern part of South America have rarely made it to our DX-pedition site at Lista. The only time I have heard stations from this part of the world was in January 2007 when a handful of the most commonly heard stations from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay made it all the way to Lista.

One of the stations which was heard briefly was Radio Salta in Salta in Northern Argentina. Salta is a very nice city, and a city I have had the pleasure of visiting myself some years ago. Despite my praise for the city, I have had a hard time getting any response from the station untill Carlos Neco Barreira finally confirmed my reception of Radio Salta with an e-mail last week.

WBOB Jacksonville FL 1320

WBOB was a station neither of us had heard prior to the October 2008 DX pedition to Lista. On this 3 night DX-pedition, however, WBOB was the dominant station on 1320 kHz most of the time. WBOB broadcasts a news/talk/sport programming with a night time power of 5 kilowatts from Jacksonville in Florida. WBOB has been a rather difficult catch untill recently, but the station was heard many times in Scandinavia during the 2008-2009 season. Funny how rare stations suddenly becomes regulars while regulars sometimes fade into obscurity!

Operations Manager A.J. Davis confirmed my reception of WBOB with an e-mail today.

CKPC Brantford ON 1380

Broadcasting an oldies format with 25 kilowatts of power from Brantford, Ontario, CKPC has become the most commonly heard North American station on 1380 kHz at Lista . CKPC was also the dominant station on this frequency at the October 2008 DX-pedition to Lista.

Chief Engineer Stewart Bayley confirmed my reception of CKPC with a verification letter by postal mail and also enclosed a CKPC fridge magnet.

CJBK London ON 1290

1290 kHz is an interesting frequency where it is possible to hear a number of stations. At the October 2008 DX pedition to Lista we heard no less than 9 different stations on this frequency – quite amazing for just 3 nights of DX-ing! One of the stations with the most consistent signals these 3 nights was CJBK in London, Ontario. CJBK has a power of 10 kilowatts so no wonder why they were heard so well.

Barry Smith, Operations Manager at CJBK, confirmed my reception of the station with a kind e-mail last week.

WMYF Portsmouth NH 1380

1380 kHz has become an interesting frequency now that CKLC in Ontario left the frequency for FM some time ago. One of the stations which made it to our radios on 1380 kHz at the October 2008 DX pedition to Lista was WMYF in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. WMYF was noted several times at this DX pedition, both early in the evening and at our local sunrise.

WMYF broadcasts an adult standards format with a transmitter of 1 kilowatt. Operations Manager Jeff Pierce confirmed my reception of the station with an e-mail last week.

CFLN Goose Bay NL / CFGN Port-aux-Basques NL 1230

Signals from the CFCB radio network popped up also on 1230 kHz at the October 2008 DX pedition to Lista. These signals could originate from either CFLN in Goose Bay, Labrador or from CFGN in Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland, as both these transmitters repeats CFCB in their respective coverage area.

As far as I know, there is no way in separating these transmitters when they relay CFCB programming which they do most of the day. CFLN is listed with 1 kilowatt of power though while CFGN is only listed with 250 watts of power, which could indicate that we heard the most powerful transmitter (CFLN in Goose Bay).  CFLN will be moving to FM shortly so the next time we hear CFCB on 1230 kHz it will surely be CFGN…

Richard King kindly confirmed my reception of CFCB on 1230 kHz with another e-mail last week.

CFNW Port au Choix NL 790

Hearing CFNW on 790 kHz is not terribly difficult at Lista, especially early at night when other stations haven’t faded in yet. CFNW is located in the small town of Port au Choix on the Northwestern coastline of Newfoundland. According to Wikipedia, Port au Choix (also spelled Port aux Choix) had a population of just 893 in 2006 so it is a very small place…

CFNW does not have it own programming, it only relays programming from CFCB in Corner Brooks. The transmitter is listed as transmitting with 1 kilowatt of power only. Richard King, Program Director at CKGM, confirmed my October 2008 reception of CFNW at Lista with an e-mail some days ago.

CHSM Steinbach MB 1250

Another Midwest station heard at Lista in October 2008 was CHSM in Steinbach, Manitoba. Manitoba stations are rare at Lista, so we were quite pleased about logging these at our location in Southern Norway. CHSM broadcasts from the agricultural heartland of the Canadian prairie and many of its programmes are targeting the agricultural community (according to their programme schedule, they even have funeral announcements on air – now that’s local radio!)

Laverne Siemens, Director of Engineering at Golden West Radio, confirmed my reception of CHSM with an e-mail with a Word attachment today. He adds that CHSM broadcasts with a power of 10 kilowatts. The transmitter is a Continental Electronics 316F and is located near St. Pierre, Manitoba (35kms SSE of Winnipeg).

AM1250 broadcasts on 1250Khz at 10kw, 24 hours a day. The transmitter is a Continental Electronics 316F and is located near St. Pierre, Manitoba (35kms SSE of Winnipeg).

WHK Cleveland OH 1420

A recent reply from 1440 WHKZ made me send another report to Chief Engineer Dave Johnson at Salem Communications in Cleveland, Ohio. This time a report to another station owned by Salem Communications, WHK in Cleveland. WHK was heard briefly at Lista in November 2007 on its frequency 1420 kHz. Dave Johnson kindly sent me another verification, this time confirming my reception of WHK.

CKMX Calgary AB 1060

As mentioned a couple of times earlier on blog, we heard a number of unusual stations at Lista in October 2008. I have to add that many of the stations which we consider “unusual” are powerhouses up in Arctic Norway and Arctic Scandinavia though. One of these, CKMX in Calgary, popped up one morning on 1060 kHz at Lista with a clear station identification among the country music played.

Engineer Richard Luddick confirmed my reception of CKMX with an e-mail yesterday. This was my very first verification from a station in Alberta.

WHKZ Warren OH 1440

1440 kilohertz is a very interesting frequency now that Luxembourg vacates the frequency most of the night. At Lista in October 2008, we managed to hear no less than 5 different U.S. stations on this frequency. One of them was WHKZ in Warren, Ohio, which was heard pretty well at times at this frequency. Most of the time WRED in Maine dominated the frequency though, as could be expected.

A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail with a nice QSL letter attached from Chief Engineer Dave Johnson at Salem Communications Cleveland. Dave says the WHKZ transmitter is located at Lordstown just south of Warren transmitting with a power of 5 kilowatts. WHKZ simulcasts “1220 The Word” (1220 WHKW in Cleveland) most of the time, but has some local programming originating in Warren too.

CJVB Vancouver BC 1470

Creative and Promotions Coordinator Leela Donna at CJVB in Vancouver surprised me by sending me a letter by postal mail verifying my reception of the station as well as a sticker, a schedule and some information on the station.

I heard CJVB briefly one morning on 1470 kHz at the October 2008 DX-pedition to Lista. Leela Donna says I listened in to one of their programmes in Afghan when I heard the station. Most of the programmes of CJVB are in Chinese, however, with 144 hours while other languages only airs 23 hours a week.

This was my very first reception of a station on the Canadian West Coast. Hearing stations from this part of North America is very rare at Lista where both the location as well as our antennas favour reception of stations from the East Coast rather than the West Coast.

WQAM Miami FL 560

WQAM in Miami has become a rather common catch at Lista after CHVO left 560 kilohertz in October 2008. Although WGAN in Maine dominates the frequency, it is not uncommon to hear WQAM either, despite a listed nighttime power of just 1 kilowatt. May be the seaside location of their transmitter just south east of Miami adds up for their rather limited power.

WQAM was heard with a perfect station identification on the hour at the October 2008  DX-pedition to Lista, just a couple of weeks after CHVO quit broadcasting on 560 kHz. Chief engineer George Culso confirmed my reception of the station with a brief e-mail some days ago.

WGAM Manchester NH 1250

WGAM in Manchester, New Hampshire, was another surprise catch from the October 2008 DX-pedition to Lista. WGAM was heard as early as 21.22 UTC (5.22 p.m. EST) one evening, but faded away rather quickly.

WGAM, dubbed “The Game – New Hampshire’s Sports Radio”, broadcasts with a power of 5 kilowatts simulcasting with WGHM in the neighbouring town of Nashua on 900 kHz. Michael S. Winn, General Manager, confirmed my reception with a brief e-mail some days ago.

WLAC Nashville TN 1510

The only station from Tennessee which can be said to be heard fairly regularly in Southern Norway, is WLAC in Nashville on 1510 kHz. For my part, however, I hadn’t had any luck hearing WLAC untill the October 2008 DX-pedition to Lista. On this DX-pedition, their signal was heard well for several hours mixing with WWZN in Boston. The main challenge in hearing WLAC – which has a power of 50 kilowatts – is getting past WWZN which usually has a powerhouse signal here.

Program Director Tom Peace verified my reception with a kind e-mail. He also enclosed this very cool QSL certificate, which must be a replica of a certificate they used many years ago. Note that WLAC is the station of the “Life & Casualty Insurance Company”. Obviously, that ownership has changed now, but the call sign of the station W-Life-And-Casualty has been kept and points back to the early pioneer days of radio

KNX Los Angeles CA 1070

My first verification ever from a West Coast station appeared in my inbox today when Andy G. Ludlum, Director of News Programming at KNX in Los Angeles, confirmed my reception of the station. Besides his professional job as a broadcast journalist, Andy is also a HAM with the call sign KI6NON.

KNX was heard briefly one morning on its frequency of 1070 kHz at the October 2008 DX-pedition to Lista. A few other of the most powerful stations on the West Coast (such as KGA on 1510 kHz) were also heard at the same time.

XECTL Radio Chetumal 860

One of the surprises at Lista in October 2008 was catching a few rare stations from Central America. One of the best loggings was Radio Chetumal in Chetumal, Mexico, close to the border to Belize, on 860 kHz. Their signal made it through to our radios one morning identifying both as “Radio Chetumal” and using their slogan “la radio de todos”.  Although this station has a power of 10 kilowatts, it is rarely logged in Scandinavia.

José Leonardo Cámara Ramírez confirmed my reception of the station with an e-mail yesterday. He says the station dates back to 1985 and belongs to the“Sistema Quintanarroense de Comunicación Social” radio group. This radio group is owned by the state government along with 3 other stations in the state of Quintana Roo. Chetumal is the capital of  Quitana Roo and is now starting to develop as a big tourist destination. Chetunal is still not as developed for tourism though as other wellknown places along the coast of this state such as Cancún, Cozumel and Playa del Carmen.

My thanks to Henrik Klemetz and to Tore B. Vik for both identifying this station and for providing a working e-mail address.

KSTP St. Paul MN 1500

Discovering the signal of KSTP in St. Paul, Minnesota, on the recordings made at Lista in October 2008, was another surprise. 1500 kHz is usually totally covered by WFED in Washington DC with WLQV in Detroit also heard from time to time. The signal of KSTP made a brief apperance one night, however, with several identifications before disappearing behind WFED once again. Program Director Steve Konrad confirmed my reception with an e-mail yesterday.

WQEW New York NY 1560

Another station I have tried to get a reply from several times through the years is WQEW in New York. WQEW is one of the very strongest US AM stations at my place and can be heard every night in the winter season with Radio Disney programming. Their 50 kilowatt transmitter located in Maspeth, New York City, beaming east towards Europe explains their powerful signal here. Bob Galerstein confirmed my audio clips from Lista in October 2008 with a letter sent by postal mail last week.

CMHW “Dobleve” 840

I have tried to get a reply out of CMHW in Santa Clara, Cuba, a number of times before succeeding last week. CMHW is not a difficult station to hear, especially at Lista where they are often the dominating station on 840 kHz. CMHW – or “La Dobleve” as the station is better known as – broadcasts with a power of 10 kilowatts and had a strong signal at Lista last October when I listened in to their night programme “Al ritmo de la noche”.

CHHA Toronto ON 1610

CHHA “Voces Latinas” in Toronto is a station I have only been able to hear a few times. Their frequency is usually covered by either Caribbean Beacon in Anguilla or CJWI in Montréal here. At Lista in October 2008, however, the signal of CHHA was also heard briefly with Spanish language programming. CHHA is a station primarily catering to the Latin community in Toronto and broadcast mainly in Spanish, but also has programming in Portuguese, Italian and Tagalog.

Werner Lopez, Technical Coordinator at CHHA, confirmed my reception with a long and friendly e-mail. He says that the power og their transmitter was 1 kilowatt at the time I heard them. Right now, however, their AM transmitter is on low power only as they are in a transition period of their system patern from Non Directional to a Directional pattern. CHHA plans to arise power again when they finish collecting the money for the new tower system.

CBT Grand Falls NL 540 verification

Now that Belgium has left and Hungary doesn’t use the frequency at night, 540 kHz has become a frequency opening up for Transatlantic DX. During the October 2008 DX-pedition to Lista, 3 stations were heard on this frequencies: CBT in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, CBGA1 in New Carlisle, Québec and WFLF in Pine Hills, Florida. Of these 3 stations, CBT in Grand Falls Windsor in Newfoundland usually had the best signal. CBT broadcasts with a power of 10 kilowatts carrying regular CBC Radio One programming as well as  local programming and regional programming. Keith Durnford at CBC in St. John’s confirmed my reception of CBT with an e-mail today.

CBGA1 New Carlisle QC 540 verification

One of many new stations (well, new to me at least) which popped up at Lista in October 2008 was CBGA1 in New Carlisle, Québec, on 540 kHz. CBGA1 broadcasts French language programmes from CBCs “Première Chaîne”, but has local station identifications like other CBC stations. Jimmy Berthelot, Chief Technicien, confirmed my reception with a brief e-mail today.

WHO Des Moines IA 1040 verification

1040 kHz is a frequency where I hardly hear any signals from North America on my usual DX pedition site at Lista. During the October 2008 venture to Lista, however, the signal of WHO in Des Moines, Iowa, was heard at times and sometimes even with pretty good signal. WHO broadcasts with a power of 50 kilowatts and is a common catch in Northern Scandinavia (not so in the south). Today I received a tiny QSL card by postal mail confirming my reception of WHO

WIZZ Greenfield MA 1520 verification

WIZZ is one of the easiest U.S. day timers to hear at my usual DX pedition site at Lista. Only WFIF in Milford, Connecticut, on 1500 kHz is more common. If conditions towards North America are good enough, the signal of WIZZ can sometimes be as good or even better than the signal of the normal powerhouse on 1520 kHz – WWKB in Buffalo, New York – around their their sign off in the evening. WIZZ broadcasts a nostalgia format from Greenfield, Massachusetts, with a daytime power of 10 kilowatts

I have tried to get a reply from WIZZ several times before, but no luck untill last week when I got a very friendly e-mail from WIZZ Chief Engineer Dan Ferreira. A few weeks later I also received a full detailed QSL card by postal mail. My reply came as a result from a follow up to a report to my best ever reception of WIZZ at the October 2004 DX pedition to Lista. WIZZ was also heard this winter, but with much more interference from WWKB than in October 2004

CKDH Amherst NS 900 verification

900 kHz was an interesting frequency on the October 2008 DX-pedition to Lista. One of several Transatlantic stations surfacing was CKDH in Amherst, Nova Scotia. Despite its location on the East coast of Canada, CKDH is not logged too often in Europe. I have never heard them before this DX-peditions, despite many DX-peditions to Lista over the years. The power of their AM transmitter is just 1 kilowatt though so that probably explains why CKDH is not hear more often.

Kurt Fawthrop at CKDH sent me a brief e-mail confirming my reception of the station today. CKDH plans to switch to FM so this station will be gone from the AM band pretty soon.

HRUP6 Radio Satélite 900 verification

One of the biggest surprises of the fabulous October 2008 DX-pedition to Lista, was logging the signal of Radio Satélite in La Ceiba, Honduras, on 900 kHz. Radio Satélite was a station we had never heard about, much less a station we thought it was possible hearing. Their signal, however, faded up one morning with a weak but clear station identification announcing the local time as “2.22 horas”.

I couldn’t find an e-mail address for Radio Satélite, so I had to send a letter and an accompanying CD with a recording of my reception by ordinary mail. The hopes of getting a reply were pretty small. I was thus very surprised to find a long and friendly e-mail from Arturo Zúniga, locutor at the station, in my e-mail inbox today. Arturo writes that Radio Satélite operates on AM 24 hours a day across several cities in Honduras: Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, Choluteca and La Ceiba. Radio Satélite in La Ceiba is listed with a power of just 1 kilowatt. My thanks to Artur for one of my rarest QSLs ever!

WGAN Portland ME 560 verification

WGAN in Portland, Maine, has become a regular catch after CHVO in Newfoundland left the air in October 2008. Lara Seaver, Promotions Director, confirmed my MP3 recording of the station with a brief e-mail. A couple of weeks later on, Program Director Jeff Wade also confirmed my reception of WGAN with another e-mail.

This was another October 2008 catch at Lista. WGAN is now definitely the most common station on 560 kHz here with its news/talk format.

KEZW Aurora CO 1430 verification

Today I received my first verification from the state of Colorado. KEZW in Aurora, Colorado, was heard one morning during the January 2007 DX pedition to Lista. Huge surprise as the signal of stations in the Rocky Mountains hardly ever makes it to Lista. I haven’t had any success in my attempts in getting a reply untill General Sales Manager Emily Kyle confirmed my reception of the station today.

KEZW – or “Studio 1430″ as the station calls is a Nostalgia/Oldies station serving the Denver area. The station broadcast with  power of  5 kilowatts at night.

WEPN New York NY 1050 verification

WEPN in New York is a very easy catch on 1050 kHz, especially at Lista. I haven’t tried very hard to obtain a verification from this station, but when I saw replies from Bob Galerstein to other DX-ers, I decided to send a reception report to him as well. Today, I got a letter in my snail mail with a perfect verification text from Bob. This was for a report from the October 2008 DX pedition to Lista. Bob mentions their transmitter are in East Rutherford, New Jersey with a power of 50 kilowatts day and night, while their studios are located in Midtown Manhattan.

Radio Zavidovici 1503 verification

Sometimes my recordings from previous DX-peditions just lie very quietly on my computer without being touched. One of these recordings was of an unidentified station on 1503 kHz. I had a suspicion this station was Radio Zavidovici in Zavidovici, Bosnia, but didn’t try to confirm the identity of the station untill last week when I sent an MP3 recording to Danijel Dado Slipogor at Radio Zavidovici. Dado replied and confirmed my suspicions with a nice e-mail some days ago. He tells that Radio Zavidovici is a local station with programming only from 7.10 untill 19.15 local time. Their transmitter has an output of 1 kilowatt from a 52 metre tall antenna mast. Dado is also a HAM with the call signs E72PLQ.

1503 kHz is a frequency where usually only BBC Radio Stoke and at times Iran surfaces here in Southern Norway, but on the November 2006 DX-pedition to Lista, the signal of Radio Zavidovici was heard briefly. This is the one and only time when I have ever heard this station, so I am quite pleased about this logging as well as Dados nice reply.

CHNS Halifax NS 960 verification

CHNS in Halifax, Nova Scotia, used to be a very common station at my place and by far the most commonly heard station on 960 kHz. I have sent a couple of reports to this station through the years, but no answer untill today when I got an e-mail verification from Alison Morash, Promotions Manager,  confirming my reception of the station on February 11, 2006.

CHNS left the AM band for good on October 19, 2006, and 960 kHz is now a much more exciting frequency. CHNS can nowadays be heard on FM and is known as “Hal FM”. They broadcast an interesting mix of Classic Rock music which I listen in to now and then on my computer. CHNS also used to broadcast on shortwave 6130 kilohertz with the call signs CHNX. The shortwave transmitter was closed down in 2001.

CKDO Oshawa ON 1580 verification

CKDO in Oshawa, Ontario, is another easy catch and is easily heard on its frequency 1580 kHz. In fact it is very difficult to hear anything but CKDO on this frequency. The station broadcasts with a power of 10 kilowatts and was also heard very well on the October 2008 trip to Lista. CKDO has an oldies format, but also carries many sports events. When I heard and reported them in October, I heard them with live hockey coverage of the local team The Oshawa Generals.

I have had some trouble getting a reply from them, but today Shawn Smith sent me a very nice and fully detailed QSL card by postal  mail. I very much prefer such replies to e-mail replies, but email replies are of course the norm today.

WEAV Plattsburgh NY 960 verification

After both CHNS in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then CFFX in Kingston, Ontario, left AM for a new life on FM, WEAV in Plattsburgh, New York, has become the dominant station on 960 kHz at my place. WEAV The Zone has a talk format and is now usually an easy catch at my regular DX pedition site at Lista. Program Director Jamie Dennis kindly confirmed my reception of the station with an e-mail today. This was for a report from the October Dx-pedition to Lista.

By the way, the location of their transmitter is Peru, New York, just south of Plattsburgh. Reminds me of a few other American names like London ( Ontario), Athens (Georgia), Amsterdam (New York) or Paris (Texas) – the latter is of course also the name of a fascinating movie. The transmitter of WEAV operates with a power of 5 kilowatts noth day and night.

WNAM Neenah-Menasha WI 1280 verification

WNAM in Neenah-Menasha, Wisconsin, was one of the more uncommon stations heard during the November 2007 DX-pedition to Lista. Normally the frequency of 1280 kHz is completely covered by either WFAU in Maine or by WCMN in Puerto Rico with VSB2 in Bermuda and CFMB in Montreal also showing up from time to time. Hearing stations as far west as Wisconsin  is rare at Lista, so we were pleasantly surprised to hear WNAM with a pretty good signal at times. WNAM was easily recognizable playing non stop nostalgia music with some announcements in between the music played. Today Market Manager Jeffrey A. Schmidt confirmed my reception of the station with a brief e-mail.

CBE Windsor ON 1550 verification

CBE is a pretty easy catch at my regular DX pedition site at Lista. It is the dominant station on 1550 kHz and about the only North American station which it is possible to hear on this frequency. CBE is the CBC Radio One outlet in Windsor, Ontario, and broadcasts with a power of 10 kilowatts.

CBE was heard well during  the October 2008 DX pedition to Lista with several local station identifications before and after the CBC News on the hour.  Some days ago, I received a full detailed QSL card (yes they still exist) by regular mail, some stickers, a frequency guide and a bookmark from the station.

CKMW Winkler MB 1570 verification

Hearing stations as far west as Manitoba is not very easy or very common at Lista. On the very successful October 2008 DX-pedition, however, we managed to hear a couple of stations from Manitoba. One of them was CKMW in Winkler which was heard pretty well on 1570 kHz one night along with the dominant CFAV Radio Boomer in Laval, Québec. Both stations transmit country music so it is not always easy to separate them from each other other

Director of Engineering Laverne Siemens sent me a nice QSL letter today where he writes that the transmitter of CKMW is really located in the neighbouring city of Morden. CKMW transmits with a power of 10 kilowatts 24 hours a day and the transmitter is a Nautel XR-12 operating into a two-tower array. CKMW became my very first verification from a station in Manitoba so I am quite pleased about this one.

CJOY Guelph ON 1460 verification

I have a lot of audio files and reception reports waiting to be sent out to common and fairly common stations in Canada and in the USA. One of the stations which is heard fairly commonly is CJOY in Guelph, Ontario.

CJOY can be heard quite frequently on 1460 kHz with their Oldies format programming usually mixing with WDDY Radio Disney in Albany, New York. CJOY has applied to move to FM, but so far the application has been denied by the Canadian broadcasting authorities. CJOY Program Director Larry Mellott confirmed my reception of the station at  the October 2008 DX pedition to Lista with a brief e-mail today.

Radio Afrika International 1476 verification

Hearing Radio Afrika International from Vienna on 1476 kHz was not really “hard-core-dx”, but it is a nice station which I enjoy listen to every now and then. Unfortunately, the 1476 kHz transmitter  at Wien-Bisamberg closed down on December 31, 2008, so their programmes are now only available on FM in Vienna and as an online streaming service on the Internet. I sent a reception report to Radio Afrika International for their December 30 broadcast and today Jana Frühauf sent me a full detailed QSL card and a nice letter by postal mail.

WSVU North Palm Beach FL 960 verification

One of the star loggings from Lista last October was catching the signal of WSVU “Seaview AM” on 960 kHz. This station had not been heard previously in Scandinavia according to the KOJE master list of North American AM stations, but popped up one morning around sunrise with an acceptable signal for a few minutes mixing with the dominant station Radio Reloj in Cuba. The station is listed with a night time power of just 250 watts so it was a big surprise hearing them. WSVU broadcasts from North Palm Beach, Florida and has a adult standards format.  Today Rex Lardner, Director of Marketing at WSVU sent me an e-mail confirming my reception of the station.

CHKT Toronto ON 1430 verification

CHKT in Toronto is a station I have heard many times on 1430 kHz. Their programmes are easily recognizable as they only broadcast foreign language programming. The main language of CHKT is Chinese but I have also heard them with programmes in a.o. Tamil and Pashto. The main problem about CHKT has been getting a proper station identification as I believe an identification is only heard at the top of the hour. On the October 2008 DX pedition to Lista, however, I managed to get a good quality identification of CHKT and tonight Louise Lam, News & Public Affairs Manager at Fairchild Radio Toronto confirmed my reception of CHKT with a friendly e-mail.

XEEP Radio Educación 1060 verification

Stations from Mexico are not heard often at my place, but at Lista in November 2007 we managed to hear a few. One of them was Radio Educación in Mexico City. The signal of Radio Educación was heard one morning on 1060 kHz when their signal was heard pretty well mixing with the dominant station Radio 26 in Cuba and WBIX in Boston.

Lic. Virginia Bello Méndez, Directora General at the station sent me a kind letter and a very colourful QSL-card by FedEx some days ago confirming my reception of the station. Unfortunately, the frequency mentioned on the QSL-card is their shortwave outlet 6185 kHz and not 1060 kHz which was the frequency I received them on. Oh well, I’ll still count this one as a verification of XEEP on 1060 kHz.

CFAV Laval QC 1570 verification

After many attempts, Claire Bellefeuille, Directrice at CFAV Radio Boomer, confirmed my reception of the station today. CFAV, or Radio Boomer as the station usually identifies as, broadcasts from Laval just outside Montréal. CFAV is an “easy” target for Transatlantic DX and is the dominant station on 1570 kHz here. This was for a MP3 recording of their signal as received at home with a 70 metre long antenna in October.

WLMC Georgetown SC 1470 verification

WLMC in Georgetown, South Carolina, was another nice catch at Lista in last October. The station was heard with gospel music and announcing various religious and community events in and around Georgetown. WLMC broadcasts with a daytime power of  1 kilowatts while their nighttime power is  just 184 watts. As we heard them around 7.15 p.m. EST, I guess we heard them with 184  kilowatts only. A nice catch indeed!

Station owner  Rod Stalvey mentions they spent some effort and money to improve their transmitting facility 2 years ago and this may explain why the station makes it through all the way to Scandinavia at times. In 2006 Mr. Stalvey also verified my reception of their sister station WGTN on 1400 kHz, heard in February 2006 at Lista. WLMC has got a really nice logo (with palms), see above.

OAX4O Radio Victoria 6020 verification

QSLs from shortwave stations are rare these days as there are simple not a lot of stations left on the shortwave dial.  Radio Victoria in Lima is one of very few stations in the bigger cities of Peru which are still transmitting on shortwave. The station has been heard quite regularly on both 6020 kHz and 9720 kHz here with 6020 kHz providing best reception. The programmes are not too exciting as they only consist of the religious “La Voz de la Liberación”  programmes. Radio Victoria is owned and operated by the pentecostal church “Iglesia Pentecostal Dios es Amor” run by Brazilian missionary David Miranda.

Today I found a friendly e-mail from Henrique Silvo Ramos, Administrador, who, judging from his name, must be a Brazilian living in Lima.

HJKM Emisora Mariana 1400 verification

Emisora Mariana in Bogotá, Colombia has been heard quite regularly on 1400 kHz this winter at my QTH, even with a 70 metre longwire antenna only.  As with most Colombians, reception is always best around sunrise now in winter.

It took a couple of tries to get a reply, but I finally got I nice e-mail reply confirming my reception of the station.

WBTX Broadway-Timberville VA 1470 verification

Hearing the unexpected is to me the main thrill about DX-ing. We heard several unexpected stations during the October 2008 DX-pedition to Lista. One of the highlights was hearing WBTX licenced to Broadway-Timberville in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley on 1470 kHz, a daytimer with a power of 5 kilowatts. WBTX was a station we never had heard about,  and much less expected to hear. The station was heard at sign-off at 6.45 p.m. EST one evening with about the same signal strength as the usual dominant WLAM in Maine.

WBTX belongs to a group of 3 radio stations and broadcasts a Southern Gospel format. The station confirmed my reception with an e-mail last week and also asks me to make a liner to the station. I’ll do as requested of course, so may be you will hear my voice if you listen in to WBTX one time!

WOND Pleasantville NJ 1400 verification

WOND in Pleasantville, New Jersey, is a station I have heard many times. WOND is the second most commonly heard station on 1400 kilohertz at my place, and would have had a very good signal had they been on a clearer frequency. 1400 kilohertz is normally occupied by CBG in Gander, Newfoundland, here.

The challenge for WOND has been obtaining a verification. Last week, however, their Director of Engineering Mike Ferriola sent me an e-mail with a perfectly acceptable verification text. This was for an MP3 recording of their signal at Lista last October.

WATR Waterbury CT 1320 verification

WATR in Waterbury, Connecticut, was another nice catch at our last venture to Lista in October 2008. WATR came up with a clear station identification around local sunset in Connecticut at 22.00 UTC. I guess the station switched from their listed day time power of 5 kilowatts to the night time power of 1 kilowatt at around this time.

After a couple of tries, General Manager Tom Chute confirmed my reception of the station with an e-mail last week.

KBRW Barrow AK 680 verification

Hearing Alaska on mediumwave has been something I have tried for years in the winter afternoons and evenings. The station I have hunted for has primarily been KBRW on 680 kHz, which is supposed to be the easiest Alaskan station to hear on mediumwave in Scandinavia. KBRW is located in Barrow, 515 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. Barrow is the northern most community in the USA and on the North American mainland and has a population of around 4,000 only.

KBRW is a very easy catch in Northern Scandinavia. At my location at around 59° N in Southern Norway, however, KBRW is far from being an easy catch. Conditions just have to be very good for their signal to propagate this far south. On December 2 last year I discovered a carrier on 680 kHz and at 15.00 UTC I noticed a clear albeit muffled ID for KBRW! Later on I discovered that their signal even made it to both Germany, Scotland and England on this date so conditions must really have been exceptional on this particular day. On December 2, the signal of KBRW was audible from 15.00 to 22.00 UTC at my place, weak signals only and deep fading but no doubt that it was KBRW all the time. Reception of KBRW was again possible in late January, when conditions on mediumwave was also exceptionally good. My receiving antenna on both occasions was a 70 metre longwire antenna only.

Last week I was pleasantly surprised to find a letter in my mailbox confirming my reception of KBRW. Vice President and General Manager Robert C. Sommer mentions that 66% of the programming of KBRW is locally produced and that 70% of their audience is Native American, mainly Inupiat Eskimo. KBRW is owned and operated by Silakkuagvik Communications Inc. and is a non-profit community owned station. Their AM transmitter operates at 10 kilowatts 24 hours a day.

Needless to say, I am very pleased to finally both hear and verify Alaska on mediumwave!

Radio Libertad 1310 verification

Radio Libertad was a surprise catch one morning in Occtober when DX-ing with my very modest equipment at my home QTH. This station has been heard a couple of times in Scandinavia, but as far as I know it is not a very common catch on its frequency of 1310 kHz. Radio Libertad broadcasts from the lovely city of Arequipa, Peru, a city I had the chance to visit myself some years ago.

After a couple of tries Oscar Roumainville Tejada sent me an e-mail confirming my reception of the station yesterday.

KWSL Sioux City IA 1470 verification

Another Iowa verification found its way to my e-mail inbox today. This time from Traffic Director Nicole Maranville at KWSL in Sioux City, Iowa. KWSL “La Preciosa” is, as the name implies, a Spanish station. The station was heard briefly on 1470 kHz on the January 2007 DX-pedition at Lista, and has also been noted a few other times at Lista.

KXNO Des Moines IA 1460 verification

Hearing stations as far west as Iowa is not that common on my usual DX-pedition site at Lista. At the November 2007 DX-pedition, however, we managed to hear quite a few stations from as far inland as Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

One of the stations heard was KXNO in Des Moines, Iowa, a station neither me or my DX-buddy Torgeir Nyen had heard before. KXNO was heard with a fair signal around our sunrise one of the mornings announcing the slogan “KXNO – Des Moines’ Sports Station”. Assistant Programme Director Geoff Conn sent me an e-mail confirming my reception of the station today.

Zenith Classic Rock 1584 verification

Zenith Classic Rock holds a temporary license to broadcast on 1584 kHz and is presently on air on weekends only with a power of 1 kilowatt. The station transmits in AM stereo using the C-QUAM-system and is believed to be the only station in Europe presently broadcasting in stereo on mediumwave. The transmitter is located in Ballygorey, County Kilkenny, which is north west to the city of Waterford in Ireland.

I managed to hear the station during the first weekend of 2009 despite using a 70 metre longwire only and despite heavy interference from Radio Tay in Scotland. Andy Linton confirmed my reception of the station today and also promises to send along a QSL-card when they have been printed. Andy also tells the AM  transmitter is a BE AM2.5 transmitter, capable (and using) AM Stereo and that the power run is 1kW. Their AM antenna is an 80m vertical tower, insulated, base fed. That height is 100 degrees at their frequency which is the optimum size. The exact transmitter location is Ballygorey, Co. Kilkenny, which is also the studio location of Zenith Classic Rock.  The FM transmitter is on 103.8 MHz, 2kW from White Mountain, Co. Wexford.

It’s been a long time since I have heard and verified a new station in Ireland and I am quite pleased about being able to hear this station with my limited radio equipment at home.

In June, I also received a full data QSL card, a postcard and some information about the station. Zenith Classic Rock hopes to be back with a new temporarily licence towards the end of 2009. They also want to apply for a permanent licence later on.

WEZS Laconia NH 1350 verification

Catching the signal of WEZS on 1350 kHz at the last DX-pedition to Lista was a big but pleasant surprise.  WEZS was caught with a top of the hour identification at 22.00 UTC on the first night of our DX-pedition. Not too good a signal, but enough for a postitive identification. WEZS is an Oldies music station located in Laconia, New Hampshire.

Owner and General Manager Gary W. Hammond sent me an e-mail today verifying my reception of the station.  He says WEZS dates back all the time to 1922 with the call sign WKAV becoming WEZS in 1994. At present WEZS operates with a daytime power of 5 kilowatts into a 192 foot (58 metre) non-directional antenna located at Sanbornton, New Hampshire. Their regular service area normally encompasses about 65 to 70 miles (105-112 kilometres) only. This season, however, the signal of WEZS has been heard by several DX-ers in Norway and Finland.

WNSH Beverly MA 1570 verification

One of many interesting stations heard at Lista last October was WNSH broadcasting from Beverly, Massachusetts, on 1570 kHz. WNSH came up to beat the dominant CFAV in Québec a couple of times during our first evening and was heard with a clear station identification at 22.58 UTC (6.58 EST).

We thought we heard the station with their daytime power of 35 kilowatts, but according to a verification e-mail sent by Chief Engineer Gregory P. Lynam they were on their night time effect of only 85 watts at that time. I have never received a North American AM station with such a low effect before so I am really pleased with this logging (and with the QSL too, of course!).

WLQV Detroit MI 1500 verification

WLQV in Detroit, Michigan, is a station which sometimes pops up at Lista on 1500 kHz. Usually, WFED in Washington DC (and its predecessors WTOP, WTWP and WWWT) totally owns this frequency, but on both the November 2007 Dx-pedition as well as the most recent October 2008 DX-pedition, WLQV had a good signal at times, sometimes even better than the signal of WFED.

Sales Manager Brad Smith confirmed my most recent reception of the station (from October 2008) with a brief e-mail.

CIWW Ottawa ON 1310 verification

For some reason I have never bothered to send a reception report to the most commonly heard station on 1310 kHz: CIWW in the Canadian capital Ottawa. CIWW – or “Oldies 1310″ as the station brands itself – can be heard on 1310 kHz whenever conditions favour North America. CIWW always has the strongest signal although it is not unusual to hear WLOB in Maine on this frequency either.

Program Director Danny Kingsbury dutily confirmed my reception of the station with a brief e-mail. This report was from the DX-pedition to Lista last month (October).

DX-pedition to Lista, October 23-26, 2008

The first – and probably the only – DX-pedition of this season for my part took place on October 23-26. The QTH was again Lista on the south western coast of Norway. Lista is located between Kristiansand and Stavanger on the coast, some 6 hours drive from the Norwegian capital Oslo as can be seen on this Google Map.

My DX buddies this time were Torgeir Nyen and Tore Johnny Bråtveit – Torgeir travelling from Oslo while Tore Johnny travelled all the way from Melhus south of Trondheim. Being able to spend some days just on the radio hobby with other DX-ers is always enjoyable even if we don’t hear anything interesting. This time we were even blessed with good DX conditions making this my best DX-pedition to Lista since February 2006 (and possibly even beating the February 2006 DX-pedition).

As usual, we used a 800 metre long antenna towards the East Coast of North America / Florida / Cuba and another antenna towards the West Coast. The signals were generally better on the East Coast antenna (not a surprise), and I only used the West Coast antenna to grab some of the big stations in Alberta and Manitoba.

Conditions definitely favoured the East Coast of North America and were especially good towards Florida. We hardly heard any South American stations, it felt like there was a big wall somewhere in the Caribbean which simply kept stations from Venezuela and Colombia out. Well, we didn’t complain!

Some of the highlights: 540 WFLF Pine Hills FL, 560 WQAM Miami FL, 580 WDBO Orlando FL, 920 WGHQ Kingston NY, 960 WSVU North Palm Beach FL, 980 WCAP Lowell MA, 980 WAAV Leland NC, 1070 WFLI Lookout Mountain TN, 1310 WYND DeLand FL, 1320 WARL Attleboro MA, 1350 WEZS Laconia NH, 1440 WPRD Winter Park FL, 1440 WLWI Montgomery AL, 1470 WLMC Georgetown SC and 900 Radio Satélite in La Ceiba, Honduras.

A number of U.S. daytimers were also noted: 760 WCHP Champlain NY, 1470 WBTX Broadway VA, 1500 WFIF Milford CT (huge signal at times), 1510 WWBC Cocoa FL, 1520 WIZZ Greenfield MA and WNSH Beverly MA.

Neither 580 WDBO, 960 WSVU, 1440 WLWI nor 1510 WWBC has been heard in Scandinavia before according to the KOJE master list of North American AM stations.

Update October 25, 2009: Our log is now available as a PDF file (in Norwegian only). The total number of North American stations heard is now 249 and there are stille recordings to be checked…