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.
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.
-----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.
The Graveyard (and only part of it). 1490 KHZ |
1 comment:
This is Thomas. That radio history link is a GOLD MINE! Thanks!
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