The blog has been lying low for quite awhile. Time allowing, I'd like to present some new ideas.
I occasionally hear talk of the "good old days" of mediumwave DXing, usually referring to back in the 1960s and earlier. The talk is of nightly cross-country DX, of hearing Los Angeles on the east coast, of foreign stations as a regular occurrence. Usually it gets around to a discussion of how fewer stations were on the mediumwave band in those days. I always wondered what a comparison would look like.
Recently, I came across a 1941 Stephenson's Radio Bulletin on a great site called American Radio History:
https://www.americanradiohistory.com/index.htm
They have scanned many articles and magazines from all eras of radio history, back to the 1920s.
I decided to tabulate the 1941 list of mediumwave stations against today's 2108 list and see what it looks like. This has been a project idea I've been thinking about for a long time. I just haven't been able to get a station list with the data readably usable, so I decided to write some code to extract it.
Presented below is the mediumwave radio world of 1941 compared to today's 2018. The 2018 US station counts are all nighttime stations only, at current nighttime power levels. The 1941 station data includes all stations from that year (tabulated in January, 1941). Less than 10% are restricted in their nighttime use of power , a few are daytimers only. That just means there would be even less interference than what can be extrapolated from the table.
So, were these the good old days? I would say so. In 1941 we only had about 31% of the RF wattage flying around at night. There were a total of 833 stations transmitting at night, as opposed to the approximately 4058 transmitting at night tonight. What the table doesn't show is that the stations transmitting at night in 1941 generally transmitted at a higher power than those of today, Fewer stations at higher powers = better DX.
If you want a good example of present-day nighttime confusion, one only has to look at a single channel, perhaps one of the worst. 1490 KHz, one of our US graveyard channels has 182 stations transmitting all at once. The results are shown below. Reception contours are set to the 0.1 mV/m level, a level which should generate signal in even the most marginal receiver, within range.
Good days must be ahead.
Recently, I came across a 1941 Stephenson's Radio Bulletin on a great site called American Radio History:
https://www.americanradiohistory.com/index.htm
They have scanned many articles and magazines from all eras of radio history, back to the 1920s.
I decided to tabulate the 1941 list of mediumwave stations against today's 2108 list and see what it looks like. This has been a project idea I've been thinking about for a long time. I just haven't been able to get a station list with the data readably usable, so I decided to write some code to extract it.
Presented below is the mediumwave radio world of 1941 compared to today's 2018. The 2018 US station counts are all nighttime stations only, at current nighttime power levels. The 1941 station data includes all stations from that year (tabulated in January, 1941). Less than 10% are restricted in their nighttime use of power , a few are daytimers only. That just means there would be even less interference than what can be extrapolated from the table.
So, were these the good old days? I would say so. In 1941 we only had about 31% of the RF wattage flying around at night. There were a total of 833 stations transmitting at night, as opposed to the approximately 4058 transmitting at night tonight. What the table doesn't show is that the stations transmitting at night in 1941 generally transmitted at a higher power than those of today, Fewer stations at higher powers = better DX.
-----1941-2018 DIFFERENCES ON THE MEDIUM WAVES-----
530 (2018) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
540 (2018) #Stations = 20 TotalWatts = 49,620
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
550 (2018) #Stations = 24 TotalWatts = 77,923
(1941) #Stations = 9 TotalWatts = 33,000
560 (2018) #Stations = 23 TotalWatts = 60,320
(1941) #Stations = 9 TotalWatts = 33,000
570 (2018) #Stations = 19 TotalWatts = 53,379
(1941) #Stations = 9 TotalWatts = 24,250
580 (2018) #Stations = 24 TotalWatts = 97,298
(1941) #Stations = 7 TotalWatts = 31,000
590 (2018) #Stations = 27 TotalWatts = 61,390
(1941) #Stations = 5 TotalWatts = 17,000
600 (2018) #Stations = 23 TotalWatts = 55,021
(1941) #Stations = 5 TotalWatts = 17,000
610 (2018) #Stations = 27 TotalWatts = 67,795
(1941) #Stations = 7 TotalWatts = 26,500
620 (2018) #Stations = 23 TotalWatts = 68,577
(1941) #Stations = 11 TotalWatts = 38,250
630 (2018) #Stations = 25 TotalWatts = 55,374
(1941) #Stations = 6 TotalWatts = 17,200
640 (2018) #Stations = 15 TotalWatts = 71,660
(1941) #Stations = 3 TotalWatts = 55,500
650 (2018) #Stations = 8 TotalWatts = 113,420
(1941) #Stations = 1 TotalWatts = 50,000
660 (2018) #Stations = 12 TotalWatts = 125,179
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 50,500
670 (2018) #Stations = 9 TotalWatts = 121,003
(1941) #Stations = 1 TotalWatts = 50,000
680 (2018) #Stations = 20 TotalWatts = 226,216
(1941) #Stations = 3 TotalWatts = 102,500
690 (2018) #Stations = 19 TotalWatts = 53,274
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
700 (2018) #Stations = 8 TotalWatts = 73,690
(1941) #Stations = 1 TotalWatts = 50,000
710 (2018) #Stations = 15 TotalWatts = 201,560
(1941) #Stations = 3 TotalWatts = 65,000
720 (2018) #Stations = 6 TotalWatts = 111,286
(1941) #Stations = 1 TotalWatts = 50,000
730 (2018) #Stations = 29 TotalWatts = 4,714
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
740 (2018) #Stations = 28 TotalWatts = 196,021
(1941) #Stations = 4 TotalWatts = 52,250
750 (2018) #Stations = 8 TotalWatts = 139,630
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 52,500
760 (2018) #Stations = 11 TotalWatts = 119,771
(1941) #Stations = 4 TotalWatts = 57,000
770 (2018) #Stations = 10 TotalWatts = 122,180
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 60,000
780 (2018) #Stations = 8 TotalWatts = 115,049
(1941) #Stations = 9 TotalWatts = 29,750
790 (2018) #Stations = 41 TotalWatts = 60,498
(1941) #Stations = 3 TotalWatts = 58,500
800 (2018) #Stations = 29 TotalWatts = 16,513
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 100,000
810 (2018) #Stations = 16 TotalWatts = 207,678
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 51,000
820 (2018) #Stations = 12 TotalWatts = 73,335
(1941) #Stations = 1 TotalWatts = 50,000
830 (2018) #Stations = 11 TotalWatts = 154,750
(1941) #Stations = 4 TotalWatts = 57,000
840 (2018) #Stations = 10 TotalWatts = 83,105
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
850 (2018) #Stations = 17 TotalWatts = 229,930
(1941) #Stations = 4 TotalWatts = 56,250
860 (2018) #Stations = 27 TotalWatts = 81,799
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 51,000
870 (2018) #Stations = 9 TotalWatts = 63,500
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 100,000
880 (2018) #Stations = 16 TotalWatts = 132,022
(1941) #Stations = 12 TotalWatts = 15,250
890 (2018) #Stations = 11 TotalWatts = 83,810
(1941) #Stations = 8 TotalWatts = 27,500
900 (2018) #Stations = 42 TotalWatts = 16,948
(1941) #Stations = 11 TotalWatts = 30,000
910 (2018) #Stations = 48 TotalWatts = 103,992
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
920 (2018) #Stations = 43 TotalWatts = 51,396
(1941) #Stations = 8 TotalWatts = 19,500
930 (2018) #Stations = 48 TotalWatts = 61,745
(1941) #Stations = 5 TotalWatts = 16,500
940 (2018) #Stations = 31 TotalWatts = 102,952
(1941) #Stations = 7 TotalWatts = 27,000
950 (2018) #Stations = 42 TotalWatts = 175,799
(1941) #Stations = 4 TotalWatts = 15,500
960 (2018) #Stations = 43 TotalWatts = 65,320
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
970 (2018) #Stations = 50 TotalWatts = 84,713
(1941) #Stations = 3 TotalWatts = 11,000
980 (2018) #Stations = 43 TotalWatts = 77,055
(1941) #Stations = 1 TotalWatts = 50,000
990 (2018) #Stations = 37 TotalWatts = 57,793
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 51,000
1000 (2018) #Stations = 8 TotalWatts = 107,940
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 51,000
1010 (2018) #Stations = 33 TotalWatts = 97,098
(1941) #Stations = 5 TotalWatts = 17,000
1020 (2018) #Stations = 11 TotalWatts = 164,600
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 51,000
1030 (2018) #Stations = 16 TotalWatts = 123,103
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
1040 (2018) #Stations = 10 TotalWatts = 68,113
(1941) #Stations = 4 TotalWatts = 100,750
1050 (2018) #Stations = 45 TotalWatts = 67,845
(1941) #Stations = 4 TotalWatts = 61,000
1060 (2018) #Stations = 20 TotalWatts = 70,437
(1941) #Stations = 3 TotalWatts = 61,000
1070 (2018) #Stations = 21 TotalWatts = 110,877
(1941) #Stations = 3 TotalWatts = 50,600
1080 (2018) #Stations = 16 TotalWatts = 145,216
(1941) #Stations = 3 TotalWatts = 60,000
1090 (2018) #Stations = 10 TotalWatts = 157,238
(1941) #Stations = 1 TotalWatts = 50,000
1100 (2018) #Stations = 8 TotalWatts = 115,240
(1941) #Stations = 5 TotalWatts = 72,000
1110 (2018) #Stations = 10 TotalWatts = 141,012
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 55,000
1120 (2018) #Stations = 9 TotalWatts = 103,705
(1941) #Stations = 13 TotalWatts = 13,350
1130 (2018) #Stations = 18 TotalWatts = 164,484
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 70,000
1140 (2018) #Stations = 14 TotalWatts = 150,746
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 30,000
1150 (2018) #Stations = 48 TotalWatts = 113,462
(1941) #Stations = 1 TotalWatts = 50,000
1160 (2018) #Stations = 25 TotalWatts = 126,221
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 15,000
1170 (2018) #Stations = 13 TotalWatts = 139,368
(1941) #Stations = 1 TotalWatts = 50,000
1180 (2018) #Stations = 14 TotalWatts = 80,935
(1941) #Stations = 3 TotalWatts = 56,000
1190 (2018) #Stations = 20 TotalWatts = 103,867
(1941) #Stations = 1 TotalWatts = 50,000
1200 (2018) #Stations = 14 TotalWatts = 148,070
(1941) #Stations = 72 TotalWatts = 16,350
1210 (2018) #Stations = 19 TotalWatts = 98,977
(1941) #Stations = 68 TotalWatts = 14,750
1220 (2018) #Stations = 43 TotalWatts = 55,519
(1941) #Stations = 10 TotalWatts = 28,250
1230 (2018) #Stations = 164 TotalWatts = 156,357
(1941) #Stations = 7 TotalWatts = 23,000
1240 (2018) #Stations = 154 TotalWatts = 148,812
(1941) #Stations = 5 TotalWatts = 11,750
1250 (2018) #Stations = 52 TotalWatts = 65,657
(1941) #Stations = 9 TotalWatts = 21,000
1260 (2018) #Stations = 51 TotalWatts = 90,041
(1941) #Stations = 10 TotalWatts = 25,250
1270 (2018) #Stations = 53 TotalWatts = 114,009
(1941) #Stations = 9 TotalWatts = 17,700
1280 (2018) #Stations = 52 TotalWatts = 53,333
(1941) #Stations = 8 TotalWatts = 17,250
1290 (2018) #Stations = 48 TotalWatts = 83,100
(1941) #Stations = 9 TotalWatts = 25,700
1300 (2018) #Stations = 59 TotalWatts = 130,076
(1941) #Stations = 9 TotalWatts = 21,000
1310 (2018) #Stations = 55 TotalWatts = 66,965
(1941) #Stations = 69 TotalWatts = 15,550
1320 (2018) #Stations = 56 TotalWatts = 72,802
(1941) #Stations = 6 TotalWatts = 21,500
1330 (2018) #Stations = 53 TotalWatts = 84,399
(1941) #Stations = 8 TotalWatts = 23,500
1340 (2018) #Stations = 163 TotalWatts = 154,407
(1941) #Stations = 9 TotalWatts = 16,250
1350 (2018) #Stations = 56 TotalWatts = 48,789
(1941) #Stations = 6 TotalWatts = 19,000
1360 (2018) #Stations = 58 TotalWatts = 58,040
(1941) #Stations = 8 TotalWatts = 10,750
1370 (2018) #Stations = 53 TotalWatts = 87,796
(1941) #Stations = 81 TotalWatts = 18,350
1380 (2018) #Stations = 58 TotalWatts = 129,410
(1941) #Stations = 5 TotalWatts = 9,000
1390 (2018) #Stations = 54 TotalWatts = 78,856
(1941) #Stations = 6 TotalWatts = 18,000
1400 (2018) #Stations = 175 TotalWatts = 170,415
(1941) #Stations = 6 TotalWatts = 16,500
1410 (2018) #Stations = 56 TotalWatts = 53,636
(1941) #Stations = 8 TotalWatts = 9,500
1420 (2018) #Stations = 61 TotalWatts = 53,262
(1941) #Stations = 61 TotalWatts = 13,450
1430 (2018) #Stations = 57 TotalWatts = 97,857
(1941) #Stations = 8 TotalWatts = 20,000
1440 (2018) #Stations = 56 TotalWatts = 44,551
(1941) #Stations = 7 TotalWatts = 13,500
1450 (2018) #Stations = 175 TotalWatts = 167,406
(1941) #Stations = 7 TotalWatts = 15,000
1460 (2018) #Stations = 65 TotalWatts = 77,316
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 100,000
1470 (2018) #Stations = 47 TotalWatts = 62,378
(1941) #Stations = 3 TotalWatts = 15,000
1480 (2018) #Stations = 63 TotalWatts = 72,040
(1941) #Stations = 3 TotalWatts = 15,000
1490 (2018) #Stations = 182 TotalWatts = 174,560
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 60,000
1500 (2018) #Stations = 13 TotalWatts = 121,038
(1941) #Stations = 62 TotalWatts = 14,450
1510 (2018) #Stations = 12 TotalWatts = 144,770
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
1520 (2018) #Stations = 18 TotalWatts = 196,492
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
1530 (2018) #Stations = 11 TotalWatts = 110,763
(1941) #Stations = 3 TotalWatts = 3,000
1540 (2018) #Stations = 23 TotalWatts = 149,357
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
1550 (2018) #Stations = 50 TotalWatts = 41,851
(1941) #Stations = 2 TotalWatts = 6,000
1560 (2018) #Stations = 19 TotalWatts = 90,638
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
1570 (2018) #Stations = 55 TotalWatts = 28,476
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
1580 (2018) #Stations = 43 TotalWatts = 109,951
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
1590 (2018) #Stations = 59 TotalWatts = 63,336
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
1600 (2018) #Stations = 58 TotalWatts = 96,127
(1941) #Stations = 0 TotalWatts = 0
Total watts 2018 = 10,829,145
Total watts 1941 = 3,389,200
If you want a good example of present-day nighttime confusion, one only has to look at a single channel, perhaps one of the worst. 1490 KHz, one of our US graveyard channels has 182 stations transmitting all at once. The results are shown below. Reception contours are set to the 0.1 mV/m level, a level which should generate signal in even the most marginal receiver, within range.
Good days must be ahead.
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| The Graveyard (and only part of it). 1490 KHZ |
