DXing The Shortest Days

It's that time of the year again when the days are the shortest and the nights the longest. There are barely 10 hours of daylight here in southwestern Arizona, as the sun is rising at 0724L and setting at 1722L. D-layer absorption during daytime hours is at the lowest this time of year. Today, at the noon hour, I went on a little mini-DXpedition to a nearby hilltop which gave me a 360 degree view. I started DXing at 1130 local time and continued till about 1230 local.

Radios used were the Tecsun PL-600 and the unassisted truck radio. The Tecsun PL-600 was assisted with the 24-inch box loop. Here are the highlights:

660 KHz, 1130L, KTNN, Window Rock, AZ. 50KW (truck radio). Medium strength, but easy. 327 miles.

740 KHz, 1135L, KBRT, Avalon, CA (Catalina Island, "26 miles across the sea"). 10KW (PL-600 and truck radio). Strong on the truck radio and overriding KCBS, San Francisco. 239 miles.

760 KHz, 1145L, KKZN, Thornton, CO. 50KW (PL-600). 675 miles at the noon hour! Progressive Talk Radio. Signal was in and out, weaker and underneath San Diego's 50KW powerhouse KFMB. I was able to partially null KFMB using the box loop, which made the difference. Great daytime DX.


1090 KHz, 1221L, XEPRS, Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico. 50KW (PL-600). Weak, but readable, peaking to medium at times. This is Baja's XX Sports Radio, broadcasting in English to San Diego from an appreciable distance down the Baja peninsula. Studios are reportedly in San Diego. 186 miles.

1120 KHz, 1210L, XEMX, Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. 400 watts (PL-600 and truck radio). Broadcasting oldies. 100.9 miles. Good reception for 400 watts.

Now for the amazing "pipeline" station, which always seems to put some kind of a signal into southwestern Arizona at any time of year:

700 KHz, 1225L, KALL, N. Salt Lake City, UT. 50KW (PL-600 barefoot and truck radio). 514 miles.


KALL is the amazing one, not for distance but for signal strength. Though I have heard this one before during the daytime, this time of year it seems to have a pipeline into the southwest. Signals on the unmodified truck radio were absolutely astounding. Note that the distance here is in excess of 500 miles at the exact center of the daylight period. Shown is the beautiful location of KALL's tower array.

Try some daytime DXing during this time of year, particularly near mid-day. You might be surprised at what you can hear.

WWL New Orleans Finally Logged

November 25, 2009

WWL-870, New Orleans, LA (50KW) appeared this morning at 0455L (1155 UTC). The signal was weak with much phase distortion, however, it is now finally and positively logged! Received both on the Tecsun PL-600 barefoot and with the 24-inch loop.

A 24-Inch Box Loop On A Budget

Last week I completed construction of the 24-inch box loop. As previously described, the frame is composed of 1 x 2 inch furring strips, notched at their centers, and screwed together to form a cross. Length of each member is 33.9 inches (24 x 1.414). A 36 inch piece of 3/4 x 3/4 inch wood is screwed to one of the cross members to form a pivot, which will rest on the ground, elevating the loop to chair height.

Using a wood file, a wide, flat notch was cut at the end of each member to keep the coil turns in place. Sixteen turns (128 feet) of 20 gauge insulated wire was then close-wound on the frame, secured by small nails at each end.

Earlier this summer I rescued a small AM-band variable tuning capacitor from a very old transistor radio. It will serve as our tuning device. Using vinyl electrical tape, I taped this to the end of one of the cross members. These capacitors are actually two capacitors in one. In a superhet radio, one section tunes the signal and the other section tunes the superhet oscillator at 455 KHz higher than the signal, therefore this second section's capacitance is less, and not usually usable for tuning a wide range. We will use the section with the greater capacitance (the first section mentioned) to tune the loop.

Tuning range of the loop was found to be 530 KHz to about 1400 KHz. A short clip lead is used to short about five turns of the coil to allow tuning to the top (1710 KHz) of the band.


Turning the loop, signal peaking and nulling is fairly sharp. Signal strength increase over a barefoot radio is excellent and better than a 7-inch inductively coupled, tuned loopstick. Local electrical noise pickup is low, but the loop will transfer noise if pointed towards close noise sources. Atmospheric noise pickup is very low, and the signal-to-noise ratio seems markedly better than the tuned ferrite loopstick.

Performance. Inductively coupled to the Tecsun PL-600, signal strengths off the loop are equal to or greater than the 240 foot longwire attached to the Eton E1 last winter here at this location. 500+ mile mid-day DX is routine. KGO-810, San Francisco, CA, and KALL-700, N. Salt Lake City, UT are exceptional during the day using the loop, and are not receivable using the barefoot PL-600.

The 24-inch loop is a good compromise between a small loop and a large one. It is easily transportable. Try building one for yourself.

Fresh Japanese Catch This Morning

Nice signals out of Japan this morning at 0710L (1410 UTC). Caught both JOUB-774, Akita, and JOAK-594, NHK-Tokyo. Audio fair to good on JOUB, and fair to poor on JOAK. This is the first time I have heard readable audio out of JOAK. Both stations received with the Tecsun PL-600 barefoot. Tried to enhance the signals with the tunable loopstick, but no luck, the background noise came up right along with the signals.