mediumwave logs, southwest, may-june 2007

Arizona was a fun location from which to try mediumwave DX. I spent a little more than four hours trying to log stations, mostly at night. There were plenty of clear, strong spanish signals, but I didn't try to identify them because I don't know the language. Surely several of them came from Mexico!

These receptions were done with my Eton E5 with no additional antenna. My E5's alkaline batteries finally needed to be changed. They were installed back in December, so that was definitely a good run. But I had to reset the radio after putting in the new alkalines because the display froze up and the radio wouldn't power on. When the radio came on again, I got a blast of level-20 volume in my earphones despite using level-5 before the reset. Ow ow ow ow ow! Don't forget: resetting the radio resets the volume.

540: Jumbled spanish.

550: Jumbled english. "Newstalk 550 KFYI." (KFYI; Phoenix, Arizona; 5 kW day, 1 kW night)

570: Spanish.

580: "I love you more than I can say" - soft rock song. Faint signal. Local interference in the house - the fans? Damn it! Sinatra - "New York, New York." Did the Yankees just win? This signal disappears if local/dx is switched to local. The DJ referred to New York as his favorite vacation destination. Breakfast spot in Tucson - ad. "KSAZ 580 AM - Arizona's best radio." (KSAZ; Marana, Arizona; 5 kW day; 0.39 kW night)

600: "Hi, this is Corky of Corky's pest control." Music: Abracadabra by Steve Miller band. Coast to Coast with George Noory.

620: "Sports 620 KTAR." "Kobe Bryant wants out of Los Angeles." (KTAR; Phoenix, Arizona; 5 kW)

630: "Let me hear you say penis..." "Penis." "Let me hear you say vagina..." "Vagina." That was on Dr. Laura. ... Art Bell's daughter, Asia, was born. Coast to Coast with a clear signal.

640: Coast to Coast: George with Ian Punnett on the phone.

650: Spanish.

660: "KTNN." Very clear signal. "66 degrees..." Most of the talk is in a native american language but there are some english phrases. "Keep up the good work." (KTNN; Window Rock, Arizona; 50 kW)

670: Spanish music.

680: Spanish.

680: Sports. "Kobe Bryant is our new favorite player." "KNBR 680." (KNBR: San Francisco, CA; 50 kW)

690: English. Sean Hannity is on this station.

700: English. "It may be used, but it's still a Honda." Fox Sports radio.

720: "Bring our troops home now? I don't want that!" Moderate strength signal with static. "We'd rather have Bill Clinton... for the rest of the term." Conservative talk show. "Newstalk 720 KDWN." (KDWN; Las Vegas, Nevada; 50 kW)

740: "KCBS newstime, 10:38." 280 southbound was closed in Cupertino, and traffic had to exit at De Anza. Ahhh, San Francisco calling. (KCBS; San Francisco, California; 50 kW)

740: Spanish music.

750: Faint english. Call-in talk show.

760: Jumbled.

770: "Tap in to michigan.org... Michigan can give you the upper hand." Sean Hannity is doing a mattress ad. "New Mexico's talk monster, 770 KKOB." (KKOB; Albuquerque, New Mexico; 50 kW)

780: Medium-strength signal with english. Talk show. Coast to Coast. Mentioned fark.com. Drew is on the show. "I haven't had as much beer as I'd like but I'm working on it," he said.

780: English, country music. "780 KAZM." (KAZM; Sedona, Arizona; 5 kW day; 0.25 kW night)

790: "Newstalk 790 KNST." (KNST; Tucson, Arizona; 5 kW day, 0.5 kW night)

800: Spanish music. Chihuahua.

820: 866-445-GREG. Street view for Google maps. "I'm looking at a California license plate on a car parked in the street in San Francisco..." He said that Google "tapped into" some surveillance camera. Obviously not! ... Trucking show. Tips on how to get a cheap laptop. Test-drive of a new Freightliner. Rack-and-pinion steering is optional. Cruise control is included? I have a hard time understanding cruise control on a manual transmission vehicle. Fading.

820: Trucking show. 800-288-9227. "In Juckland, Missouri" - ad. "Las Vegas truck show" - ad. "Midnight radio network." Interference from music on the same frequency. I missed the station id because of fading!

840: Spanish music.

850: English, sports. Low fastball, Tony La Russa. Rockies radio network. "Newsradio 850 KOA." (KOA; Denver, Colorado; 50 kW)

860: This was a really unusual signal. "Set your radio now to sports 620 KTAR! All sports, all the time. Sports 620 KTAR. Set your radio now to sports 620 KTAR. That's sports 620 KTAR. KMVP Phoenix." That phrase just kept looping forever. (KMVP; Phoenix, Arizona; 1 kW)

870: "Newstalk 870 KRLA." Some interference. (KRLA; Glendale, California; 50 kW day, 3 kW night)

880: English. King of spam arrested. ... Same trucking show as heard on 820.

880: Nebraska? "KRVW." (KRVN; Lexington, Nebraska; 50 kW)

910: Giveaway for a $50 gift certificate to Radio Shack. What are they talking about? Talking about the Stanley cup. Snoop Dogg's kids - do they call him dad, or do they just call him Snoop? Phone number: 877-996-? Speak slower and clearer, idiots! Stupid interview with the gift certificate winner. He doesn't know what he'll get at Radio Shack. "Fox gametime Sunday." "Fox sports radio." "Action sports 910." Actually, after doing a quick web search, this is most likely "XTRA sports 910" in Phoenix. (KGME; Phoenix, Arizona; 5 kW)

930: English. Sports hilights. "ESPN radio." Weather. Highs in the 80s. "Sports talk 930 KIUP." (KIUP; Durango, Colorado; 5 kW day; 0.1 kW night)

960: Financial talk. "Wealth survival." 888-819-1023. Strong signal. Manage home equity - invest in something safe. They're not advising that people take equity out of their homes just to get extra spending money. They're offering a DVD - is it free? It's from a third party (so I doubt it is free). Sounds like it's only useful for homeowners. Properly manage your assets. Look up "arbitrage." Only Ron Paul stood up for what he believes - in the opinion of the hosts after they watched debates. What's the name of the DVD? They talked about it like it was the only DVD ever made. Tax evasion is illegal, tax avoidance is a strategy. End of show. That was a paid program. "Newstalk 960 KKNT Phoenix." (KKNT; Phoenix, Arizona; 5 kW)

980: California news. "KFWB newstime, 10:30." "KFWB news 980." (KFWB; Los Angeles, California; 5 kW)

990: Spanish.

1000: Spanish music.

1020: "That's the only girl that I ever thought about marrying." Religious. The host advises consulting God to get permission to marry.

1060: "Sporting news radio." Strange weather in Colorado.

1070: "KNX 1070 news radio." Four Escondido teens killed in an alcohol-related crash; racing involved. (KNX; Los Angeles, California; 50 kW)

1080: English. Interviewing the father of an incarcerated border agent. Shooting of drug smugglers near Mexico border. ... Baseball play-by-play. Rangers vs. Mariners. Game is over 3.5 hours long so far. A strikeout with a 68mph curveball ended the game. "This is newsradio 1080 KRLD." (KRLD; Dallas, Texas; 50 kW)

1090: English. Sports hilights.

1100: Baseball play-by-play. College level. Call to the bullpen. "Juco radio network." I think that's what they said.

1110: English. Savage nation.

1140: Spanish.

1160: "Tomorrow, high of 80... KSL news radio." (KSL; Salt Lake City, Utah; 50 kW)

1170: "If I were to give you three names, would you tell me if they were involved in the JFK assassination?" Two women guests (the psychic twins) on Coast to Coast. None of the named people were involved, according to the twins.

1200: Utah Jazz play-by-play. Game 5 of western conference finals. The Spurs are winning.

1200: Very clear signal of Coast to Coast. Something about a tidal wave hitting San Francisco? "Texas state farm agent." "Alamo community college." So many ads! "1200 WOAI news." Heavy rain in Georgia/Florida. "Newsradio 1200 WOAI." (WOAI; San Antonio, Texas; 50 kW)

1260: English.

1290: Fox sports radio.

1300: "Get out of debt" - ad.

1320: Sports. "ESPN arena football." "1320 KFAN." "ESPN radio sports center." Oh, they said K-fan, which is just a phrase, and not the callsign. Annoying! (KFNZ; Salt Lake City, Utah; 5 kW)

1350: "Welcome back to 'This is America' with John Elliott."

1380: Basketball play-by-play. ... BBC news brief. ABC news. Strong english signal. "ESPN radio." "This is the V-show..." "Here's Bob Valvano."

1420: Spanish.

1430: CBS news. Very faint. "Anaheim Ducks..." "AM 1430 KLO." (KLO; Ogden, Utah; 10 kW day, 5 kW night)

1440: Spanish music.

1500: English. "68 in the twin cities. Fading. "The talk station, AM 1500 KSTP." (KSTP; Saint Paul, Minnesota; 50 kW)

1510: Country music. Too bad I have no patience for it! I picked this signal up twice. With more time, I could have identified it.

1520: "Internet moonbats." Political talk. ... Sports talk? Zero-lot homes. People want a big home without having to take care of a yard. Two hosts are talking about water and a/c expenses. "Midnight radio network." Strong signal. Commercials that targeted truck drivers. Jobs and tips. "Give those big rigs a lot of room." "Talk radio 1520 KOKC." (KOKC; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; 50 kW)

1540: Spanish music.

1550: Faint english.

1570: Spanish.

1630: Music.

1700: "Cash 1700" Minor league baseball play-by-play. (XEPE; Tecate, Baja California North, Mexico; 10 kW)

Stations identified: 27

States/districts logged: 11
* Arizona
* Baja California North
* California
* Colorado
* Minnesota
* Nebraska
* Nevada
* New Mexico
* Oklahoma
* Texas
* Utah

Locations of furthest stations, with distance estimates:
* Dallas, Texas: 850 miles
* Denver, Colorado: 650 miles
* Lexington, Nebraska: 1000 miles
* Ogden, Utah: 625 miles
* Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: 850 miles
* Salt Lake City, Utah: 575 miles
* San Antonio, Texas: 900 miles
* San Francisco, California: 800 miles
* St. Paul, Minnesota: 1500 miles