{"id":54154,"date":"2022-09-27T09:34:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T13:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=54154"},"modified":"2022-09-27T09:34:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T13:34:00","slug":"file-this-under-you-never-know-and-whats-the-harm-in-experimenting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/09\/file-this-under-you-never-know-and-whats-the-harm-in-experimenting\/","title":{"rendered":"File this under: you never know and . . . what’s the harm in experimenting?"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

by Jock Elliott, KB2GOM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ever since Thomas (our Maximum Leader) posted the latest DX Central MW Challenge<\/a>, I’ve been curious . . . what could I hear if I gave it a shot?<\/p>\n

Habitually, I get up early, between 4 and 5 am, so I decided to give it a try. Conventional wisdom is that, if you want to do AM (medium wave) DXing, you need a hot AM radio with a big ferrite bar, like the CCrane 2E . . .<\/p>\n

Wanna guess what radio and antenna combo acquitted itself pretty well?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My old ham rig, an Icom IC-706 MkIIG, (which I wrote up here<\/a>), hooked to my 50-foot wire indoor antenna, the horizontal room loop (which I wrote up here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This AM’s listening, from my home outside Troy, NY, produced:<\/p>\n

1170, WWVA — Wheeling, West Virginia
\n1180, WHAM — Rochester, NY
\n1200, Talk 1200 — Boston
\n1210, WPHT — Philadelphia<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, before you hard-core AM DXers get all up in my face — Hey, I could hear those stations on the fillings in my teeth!<\/em> — I’ll simply say that I get a kick out of hearing a distant station . . . any distant station . . . even it’s just a few hundred miles away. Sure, it’s not the astonishing stuff that Paul Walker and Gary DeBock accomplish, but to hear that faraway signal, crackling through the airwaves does me good.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bottom line: you don’t need the latest and greatest optimized-for-the-task gear to give something a try . . . and you just might really enjoy it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    by Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Ever since Thomas (our Maximum Leader) posted the latest DX Central MW Challenge, I’ve been curious . . . what could I hear if I gave it a shot? Habitually, I get up early, between 4 and 5 am, so I decided to give it a try. Conventional wisdom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[373,3194,433,3],"tags":[625,2190,9323,4099,432],"class_list":["post-54154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-am","category-guest-posts","category-mediumwave","category-news","tag-am-radio","tag-icom-ic-706mkii","tag-jock-elliott-kb2gom","tag-mediumwave","tag-mw"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-e5s","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55526,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/saturday-morning-fun-fat-mw-dxing-with-the-mfj-1886\/","url_meta":{"origin":54154,"position":0},"title":"Saturday morning fun: \u201cfat\u201d MW DXing with the MFJ-1886","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"January 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM It was a reader, Mario Filippi, who set me on this path. He posted a comment that said, in part: \u201cAn interesting place to DX would be the segment between 1500 \u2013 1590 kc\u2019s where there are a number of news stations, one being federal news\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/photos-for-SWLing-blog-002-001-1-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/photos-for-SWLing-blog-002-001-1-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/photos-for-SWLing-blog-002-001-1-1024x683.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56038,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/gentle-reminder-the-great-medium-wave-daylight-dx-challenge-is-tomorrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":54154,"position":1},"title":"Gentle reminder: The Great Medium Wave Daylight DX Challenge is tomorrow!","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"March 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are the rules: Frequency range is the medium wave band: 520-1710 kHz 10 am to 2 pm your local time on Saturday, March 11, 2023 . Any radio with any antenna, but must be the radio at your location (no using remote internet radios) The listener must hear the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/satellit-800.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/satellit-800.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/satellit-800.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/satellit-800.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57826,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/09\/introducing-the-i-listen-project\/","url_meta":{"origin":54154,"position":2},"title":"Please Share: Introducing the \u201cI listen\u201d project","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"September 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM To paraphrase a line from John Fitzgerald Kennedy: \u201cAsk not what your station can do for you, ask what you can do for your station.\u201d Think of this as a reverse QSL program . . . but I get ahead of myself. I was perusing the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/I-listen-001-001-1024x615.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/I-listen-001-001-1024x615.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/I-listen-001-001-1024x615.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61335,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/here-we-go-loop-de-loop-in-which-your-humble-correspondent-tests-a-hypothesis\/","url_meta":{"origin":54154,"position":3},"title":"Here we go loop de loop . . . in which your humble correspondent tests a hypothesis","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"December 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM It was this post by Alan -- https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/bbc-rd-how-to-test-a-loop-antenna\/ -- that set me off. After downloading the BBC report on how to test a loop antenna, I noticed the following in it: \u201cPolarisation Illustrations of the antenna usually show it mounted upright; that is, with its axis\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/MW-amp-001-1024x431.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/MW-amp-001-1024x431.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/MW-amp-001-1024x431.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56020,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/chuck-rippel-sweetens-the-deal-on-the-great-medium-wave-daylight-dx-challenge\/","url_meta":{"origin":54154,"position":4},"title":"Chuck Rippel “Sweetens the deal” on The Great Medium Wave Daylight DX Challenge!","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"March 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jock Elliott, KB2GOM After yesterday's post appeared, Chuck Rippel reached out to me and offered: To whomever logs the most stations using a GE SR-I or SR-II, I will donate that person, a >free< SR-I or SR-II restoration.\u00a0 Includes, parts, alignment, cleaning, etc....\u00a0\u00a0 The winner's only cost will be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mediumwave"","block_context":{"text":"Mediumwave","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/mediumwave\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/GE-Superadio-II-Chuck-Ripple-Mods-1024x737.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/GE-Superadio-II-Chuck-Ripple-Mods-1024x737.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/GE-Superadio-II-Chuck-Ripple-Mods-1024x737.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57831,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/09\/the-great-medium-wave-grey-line-challenge\/","url_meta":{"origin":54154,"position":5},"title":"The Great Medium Wave Grey Line Challenge","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"September 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM According to https:\/\/dx.qsl.net\/propagation\/greyline.html: (the image above comes from them) The \"grey line\" is a band around the Earth that separates daylight from darkness.\u00a0 Propagation along the grey line is very efficient.\u00a0 One major reason for this is that the D layer, The \"grey line\" is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-2023-09-24-120532.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-2023-09-24-120532.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-2023-09-24-120532.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54154"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54163,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54154\/revisions\/54163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}