upstate ny mediumwave logs, oct 2013

During an October 2013 trip to upstate New York, my Eton E5 was along for the ride. The trip was brief, but it was a great listening location and I had plenty of late-night time to myself. I was close to identifying another handful of stations, but simply ran out of time. I logged exactly 100 mediumwave stations covering 24 US states, Washington DC, and four Canadian provinces.

Confirmed stations:

550: WGR (5 kW; Buffalo, NY; 170 mi)
560: CFOS (7.5 kW day / 1 kW night; Owen Sound, ON, Canada; 250 mi)
570: WSYR (5 kW; Syracuse, NY; 70 mi)
580: CFRA (50 kW day / 10 kW night; Ottawa, ON, Canada; 100 mi)
590: VOCM (20 kW; St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada; 1140 mi)
590: CJCL (50 kW; Toronto, ON, Canada; 180 mi)
600: CKAT (10 kW day / 5 kW night; North Bay, ON, Canada; 235 mi)
610: WIP (5 kW; Philadelphia, PA; 285 mi)
620: WHEN (5 kW day / 1 kW night; Syracuse, NY; 70 mi)
630: WMAL (10 kW day / 5 kW night; Washington DC; 360 mi)
630: WPRO (5 kW; Providence, RI; 270 mi)
640: CFMJ (50 kW; Richmond Hill, ON, Canada; 180 mi)
650: WSM (50 kW; Nashville, TN; 795 mi)
660: WFAN (50 kW; New York, NY; 245 mi)
670: WSCR (50 kW; Chicago, IL; 620 mi)
680: CFTR (50 kW; Toronto, ON, Canada; 180 mi)
690: CKGM (50 kW; Montreal, QC, Canada; 150 mi)
700: WLW (50 kW; Cincinnati, OH; 560 mi)
710: WOR (50 kW; New York, NY; 245 mi)
720: WGN (50 kW; Chicago, IL; 620 mi)
730: CKAC (50 kW; Montreal, QC, Canada; 150 mi)
740: CFZM (50 kW; Toronto, ON, Canada; 180 mi)
750: WSB (50 kW; Atlanta, GA; 840 mi)
760: WJR (50 kW; Detroit, MI; 385 mi)
770: WABC (50 kW; New York, NY; 245 mi)
780: WBBM (50 kW; Chicago, IL; 620 mi)
790: WTNY (1 kW; Watertown, NY; 0 mi)
800: CJBQ (10 kW; Belleville, ON, Canada; 75 mi)
810: WGY (50 kW; Schenectady, NY; 125 mi)
820: CHAM (50 kW day / 10 kW night; Hamilton, ON, Canada; 205 mi)
830: WCCO (50 kW; Minneapolis, MN; 870 mi)
840: WHAS (50 kW; Louisville, KY; 650 mi)
850: WYLF (1 kW day / 45 w night; Penn Yan, NY; 110 mi)
850: WKNR (50 kW day / 4.7 kW night; Cleveland, OH; 345 mi)
870: WHCU (5 kW day / 1 kW night; Ithaca, NY; 115 mi)
870: WWL (50 kW; New Orleans, LA; 1245 mi)
880: WCBS (50 kW; New York, NY; 245 mi)
890: WLS (50 kW; Chicago, IL; 620 mi)
900: WBRV (1 kW day / 52 w night; Boonville, NY; 45 mi)
900: CHML (50 kW; Hamilton, ON, Canada; 205 mi)
910: WSBA (5 kW day / 1 kW night; York, PA; 285 mi)
920: WHJJ (5 kW; Providence, RI; 270 mi)
920: CKNX (10 kW day / 1 kW night; Wingham, ON, Canada; 270 mi)
930: CFBC (50 kW; Saint John, NB, Canada; 490 mi)
930: WBEN (5 kW; Buffalo, NY; 170 mi)
950: WIBX (5 kW; Utica, NY; 70 mi)
960: WEAV (5 kW; Plattsburgh, NY; 125 mi)
970: WNYM (50 kW day / 5 kW night; Hackensack, NJ; 235 mi)
980: CFPL (10 kW day / 5 kW night; London, ON, Canada; 280 mi)
990: WDCX (5 kW day / 2.5 kW night; Rochester, NY; 105 mi)
990: WNTP (50 kW day / 10 kW night; Philadelphia, PA; 285 mi)
1000: WMVP (50 kW; Chicago, IL; 620 mi)
1010: WINS (50 kW; New York, NY; 245 mi)
1020: KDKA (50 kW; Pittsburgh, PA; 325 mi)
1030: WBZ (50 kW; Boston, MA; 265 mi)
1040: WHO (50 kW; Des Moines, IA; 915 mi)
1050: WSEN (2.5 kW day / 19 w night; Baldwinsville, NY; 65 mi)
1060: KYW (50 kW; Philadelphia, PA; 285 mi)
1070: CHOK (10 kW; Sarnia, ON, Canada; 335 mi)
1080: WTIC (50 kW; Hartford, CT; 220 mi)
1090: WBAL (50 kW; Baltimore, MD; 330 mi)
1100: WTAM (50 kW; Cleveland, OH; 345 mi)
1110: WBT (50 kW; Charlotte, NC; 665 mi)
1120: KMOX (50 kW; St. Louis, MO; 835 mi)
1130: WBBR (50 kW; New York, NY; 245 mi)
1140: WRVA (50 kW; Richmond, VA; 455 mi)
1150: CKOC (50 kW; Hamilton, ON, Canada; 205 mi)
1170: WWVA (50 kW; Wheeling, West Virginia; 365 mi)
1180: WHAM (50 kW; Rochester, NY; 105 mi)
1190: WLIB (10 kW day / 30 kW night; New York, NY; 245 mi)
1190: WOWO (50 kW day / 9.8 kW night; Fort Wayne, IN; 515 mi)
1200: WTLA (1 kW; North Syracuse, NY; 65 mi)
1210: WPHT (50 kW; Philadelphia, PA; 285 mi)
1240: WATN (1 kW; Watertown, NY; 0 mi)
1250: CJYE (10 kW day / 5 kW night; Oakville, ON, Canada; 195 mi)
1260: WSKO (5 kW; Syracuse, NY; 70 mi)
1290: WNBF (9.3 kW day / 5 kW night; Binghamton, NY; 130 mi)
1290: WKBK (5 kW; Keene, NH; 190 mi)
1310: CIWW (50 kW; Ottawa, ON, Canada; 100 mi)
1320: WILS (25 kW day / 1.9 kW night; Lansing, MI; 450 mi)
1340: WMSA (910 w; Massena, NY; 80 mi)
1390: WEGP (25 kW day / 10 kW night; Presque Isle, ME; 420 mi)
1390: WCAT (5 kW; Burlington, VT; 130 mi)
1400: WSLB (1 kW; Ogdensburg, NY; 50 mi)
1410: WNER (3.5 kW day / 58 w night; Watertown, NY; 0 mi)
1420: WHK (5 kW; Cleveland, OH; 345 mi)
1420: WLNA (5 kW day / 1 kW night; Peekskill, NY; 210 mi)
1470: WPDM (1 kW day / 44 w night; Potsdam, NY; 60 mi)
1480: WLEA (2.5 kW day / 20 w night; Hornell, NY; 145 mi)
1500: WFED (50 kW; Washington DC; 360 mi)
1520: WWKB (50 kW; Buffalo, NY; 170 mi)
1530: WCKY (50 kW; Cincinnati, OH; 560 mi)
1540: KXEL (50 kW; Waterloo, IA; 835 mi)
1580: CKDO (10 kW; Oshawa, ON, Canada; 150 mi)
1590: WAKR (5 kW; Akron, OH; 350 mi)
1610: CHHA (10 kW day / 1 kW night; Toronto, ON, Canada; 180 mi)
1630: KCJJ (10 kW day / 1 kW night; Iowa City, IA; 810 mi)
1690: CHTO (1 kW; Toronto, ON, Canada; 180 mi)
1690: CJLO (1 kW; Montreal, QC, Canada; 150 mi)
1700: KBGG (10 kW day / 1 kW night; Des Moines, Iowa; 915 mi)


Distant stations (500+ miles): 

• WOWO (Fort Wayne, IN; 515 mi)
• WLW (Cincinnati, OH; 560 mi)
• WBBM, WGN, WLS, WMVP, WSCR (Chicago, IL; 620 mi)
• WHAS (Louisville, KY; 650 mi)
• WBT (Charlotte, NC; 665 mi)
• WSM (Nashville, TN; 795 mi)
• KCJJ (Iowa City, IA; 810 mi)
• KXEL (Waterloo, IA; 835 mi)
• KMOX (St. Louis, MO; 835 mi)
• WSB (Atlanta, GA; 840 mi)
• WCCO (Minneapolis, MN; 870 mi)
• KBGG, WHO (Des Moines, IA; 915 mi)
• VOCM (St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada; 1140 mi)
• WWL (New Orleans, LA; 1245 mi)

States and Provinces:

• New York
• Vermont
• New Hampshire
• Maine
• Pennsylvania
• New Jersey
• Massachusetts
• Connecticut
• Rhode Island
• Michigan
• Ohio
• Minnesota
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Missouri
• Kentucky
• Tennessee
• Maryland
• Washington D.C.
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• North Carolina
• Georgia
• Louisiana
• Ontario, Canada
• Quebec, Canada
• New Brunswick, Canada
• Newfoundland, Canada

Reception coverage

Alternate ID methods (when the callsign was not heard):

• CJCL "sportsnet 590 the fan"
• WIP "CBS sportsradio 610"
• WSCR "Chicago CBS Sportsradio"
• CFTR "680news.com"
• CKAC "radio circulation"
• CHAM "funny 820"
• WBRV "the blizzard"
• WHJJ "news radio 920"
• WEAV "960 the zone"
• WNYM "am 970 the answer"
• CFPL "am980.ca"
• WSKO "score 1260"
• WCAT "Cruisin 93.7" "Burlington"
• WHK "Ohio, am 1420 the answer"
• WWKB "western new york" "espn 1520"

Unique:

• VOCM is one of only four Canadian radio stations with a VO callsign prefix.
• KDKA is (depending on who you ask) the world's first commercial radio station
• WLIB night power is 3x day power

Quotes / songs:

• "Take these broken wings, and learn to fly again..." (host on WSKO)
• "Facebook and twitter are available. We both have smart phones."
• "Nothing's gonna stop us now" - Starship
• "Long run" - Don Henley
• "Everybody wants five inches!" (talking about snow)
• "It's across the continent in Los Angeles." (hockey game)
• "Is diluted bitumen corrosive?"
• "...on the ones, at one, eleven, twenty one, thirty one, forty one, and fifty one minutes past each hour."
• "They're gonna love me, they're gonna hate me, but I'm gonna be me."
• "Eli Manning has thrown 12 interceptions."
• "You now have permission to sing off-key." (WCAT)
• "I was the one in my house who would say, okay everyone, let's go to church!"
• "This is what defense lawyers do in cases like this."
• "They can't get a ten-day forecast right to save their lives."

chu time station frequencies

Someone recently asked me why CHU, Canada's time station on three shortwave frequencies, isn't broadcasting on 7335 kHz anymore. Here are the CHU frequencies as of November 2013:

• 3330 kHz
• 7850 kHz
• 14670 kHz

I wrote those from memory but confirmed them with the CHU (radio station) Wikipedia page and NRC shortwave station broadcasts (CHU) page.

As to the frequency change from 7335 to 7850 kHz, this was due to a reallocation of the frequencies 7300-7350 kHz in 2007, which led to an increase in broadcasting interference. CHU moved to 7850 sometime in 2009. The two webpages linked above provide a lot more history and technical details for CHU.

Does anyone have, or know of, a recording of CHU on 7335 kHz that includes interference from another broadcaster?

upstate ny longwave logs, oct 2013

During a trip to Upstate New York in October 2013, I scanned the longwave band on my Eton E5 and discovered a lot of morse code beacons. Single sideband (ssb) helped me get additional logs when the morse was faint, or multiple beacons were on neighboring frequencies.

Here are the 31 beacons I identified:

216 -.-.   .-..   -... "CLB" (Wilmington, NC; 685 mi)
236 ---   .-- longdash "OW" (Ottawa, ON, Canada; 100 mi)
248 ..-   .-.. longdash "UL" (Montreal, QC, Canada; 150 mi)
257 --.   -   -... "GTB" (Fort Drum / Great Bend, NY; 10 mi)
263 -.--   --.   -.-  longdash "YGK" (Kingston, ON, Canada; 35 mi)
272 -.--   --.-  .-  longdash "YQA" (Muskola, ON, Canada; 185 mi)
278 -.   --  longdash "NM" (Matagami, QC, Canada; 450 mi)
289 -.--   .-..  --.- longdash "YLQ" (La Tuque, QC, Canada; 280 mi)
303 -.--   .--.   .--. longdash "YPP" (Parent, QC, Canada; 280 mi)
317 --..  --   -..- longdash "ZMX" (Montreal, QC, Canada; 150 mi)
326 ...-   ...-  longdash "VV" (Wiarton, ON, Canada; 250 mi)
329 -.--   ....   -. longdash "YHN" (Hornepayne, ON, Canada; 550 mi)
332 -.--   ..-.  --  longdash "YFM" (Lagrande 4 Baie-James, QC, Canada; 700 mi)
334 -.--   ...  .... longdash "YSH" (Smiths Falls, ON, Canada; 60 mi)
335 -.--   .-..   -.. longdash "YLD" (Chapleau, ON, Canada; 550 mi)
340 -.--   -.-- longdash "YY" (Mont Joli, QC, Canada; 480 mi)
341 -.--   -.--  ..- longdash "YYU" (Kapuskasing, ON, Canada; 485 mi)
351 -.--   -.-   --.- longdash "YKQ" (Fort Rupert, QC, Canada; 550 mi)
362 ...   -... longdash "SB" (Sudbury, ON, Canada; 300 mi)
366 -.--   --   .--  longdash "YMW" (Maniwaki, QC, Canada; 160 mi)
371 --.   .-- longdash "GW" (Kuujjuarapik, QC, Canada; 780 mi)
373 ..---   --.- longdash "2Q" (Mont Laurier, QC, Canada; 175 mi)
378 .-.  .--- longdash "RJ" (Roberval, QC, Canada; 360 mi)
382 -.--   .--.   .-.. longdash "YPL" (Pickle Lake, ON, Canada; 840 mi)
391 ...--   -... longdash "3B" (Brockville, ON, Canada; 40 mi)
392 --   .-.. longdash "ML" (Charlevoix, QC, Canada; 400 mi)
400 .--.  -   -.. "PTD" (Potsdam, NY; 60 mi)
401 -.--   .--.   --- longdash "YPO" (Peawanuck, ON, Canada; 870 mi)
407 --..   ....   ..-   longdash "ZHU" (Montreal, QC, Canada; 150 mi)
409 -.--   -   .- longdash "YTA" (Pembroke, ON, Canada; 140 mi)
414 ...--   ..- longdash "3U" (Gatineau, ON, Canada; 100 mi)

I relied on the LW Radio Beacons page on dxinfocentre.com to confirm the ids and use the correct frequencies.

swling post listener submission

Over at The SWLing Post, a blog author recently requested stories about how readers got involved with shortwave radio. I sent in a submission, and it has been published:

• Listener post: Eric Weatherall