{"id":60925,"date":"2024-10-21T07:48:59","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T11:48:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=60925"},"modified":"2024-10-21T07:48:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T11:48:59","slug":"bob-asks-whats-your-favorite-corner-of-the-dial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/bob-asks-whats-your-favorite-corner-of-the-dial\/","title":{"rendered":"Bob asks: “What\u2019s Your Favorite Corner of the Dial?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post<\/em>\u00a0contributor,\u00a0Bob Colegrove<\/a>, who shares the following guest post:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

What\u2019s Your Favorite Corner of the Dial?<\/h1>\n

As asked by Bob Colegrove<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Let\u2019s suppose you\u2019ve been listening to radio for a while.\u00a0 Consciously or not, you\u2019ve probably favored a range of AM, SW, or FM frequencies.\u00a0 These are areas where you go to DX or just listen to your favorite stations.\u00a0 One area I seem to keep returning to is the very bottom of the medium wave band, roughly 530 kHz to 600 kHz.\u00a0 With the convenience of today\u2019s digital radios, I have consciously pushed the envelope somewhat lower.<\/p>\n

The main reason for specializing in that frequency range is the challenge<\/i>.\u00a0 In the very beginning there didn\u2019t seem to be much at the extreme lower end of the AM broadcast band.\u00a0 Growing up in Indianapolis in the \u201850s, the local stations were all at the upper end of the mediumwave dial.\u00a0 WXLW held down 950 kHz – lower than that nothing.\u00a0 I would say the stator plates on the variable capacitor got very dusty, never being closed any further than that on many radios.<\/p>\n

Another challenge was sensitivity.\u00a0 In analog times, the sensitivity of a tuned circuit had some falloff as the inductance\/capacitance (L\/C) ratio decreased.\u00a0 Sensitivity is highest with the variable cap open at the high end of the band.\u00a0 As you tune lower by increasing capacitance (inductance remaining constant), the Q and consequently sensitivity drop off \u2013 not dramatically, but somewhat.<\/p>\n

Finally, not all old analog radios tuned to 530 kHz; some were even challenged to tune 540 kHz.\u00a0 By performing a little mischief with the alignment, I could sometimes venture into unknown territory.<\/p>\n

This was all part of the challenge<\/i>.\u00a0 So, what could I do to coax some activity out of the bottom of the band?\u00a0 I spent many hours poring over Bill Orr\u2019s Better Shortwave Reception<\/i> (Radio Publications, Inc., Wilton, CT, First Edition, 1957) and tweaking caps and coils trying to squeeze the last few kilohertz and microvolts out of my radios.\u00a0 This exercise fascinated me and became a hobby within a hobby.\u00a0 If I may be allowed a self-deprecating aside here, the first time I took a radio out of the cabinet, I just assumed that all these alignment screws were loose, and dutifully torqued them down.\u00a0 The alignment problem is not comparatively complex with today\u2019s digital receivers.\u00a0 Note, I didn\u2019t say it was unimportant.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I still tend to favor the bottom of the medium wave band.\u00a0 Below is a list of my catches over the past couple of years.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a sample of what one might hear by casual listening over time.\u00a0 Highlighted stations are heard during daylight hours.\u00a0 This is NOT<\/i><\/b> intended to impress anyone, rather it is hopefully a stimulus for your own efforts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As another attraction of the lower mediumwave band, you will find a potpourri of stations.\u00a0 Besides regular North American broadcasting stations, one might possibly hear an occasional high-powered trans-Atlantic station which is not synchronized with the 10 kHz spacing.\u00a0 530 kHz is interesting.\u00a0 It is not used in the US by commercial broadcast stations.\u00a0 Instead, stations from Canada and Cuba at roughly orthogonal directions from me are regularly audible at night on this frequency.\u00a0 Thus, the radio is tuned by simply rotating the antenna.\u00a0 530 kHz is also home to several Travelers’ Information Stations (TIS) throughout the country.\u00a0 Question:\u00a0 How will this long-time service fare if travelers don\u2019t have AM radios in their new cars?\u00a0 Finally, the very bottom of the frequency range still contains a few holdouts of non-directional beacons.<\/p>\n

Frequencies below 530 kHz probably put a strain on the medium wave bands of old radios, but they are likely no problem on most digital radios having both LW and MW coverage.\u00a0 As mentioned, there are a few non-directional beacons down there.\u00a0 They are Morse coded using amplitude modulation.\u00a0 I have found placing the receiver in SSB mode makes detection much easier, as the heterodyne from the carrier can be heard well before the signal is strong enough to produce any audio.\u00a0 These beacons generally fade in for brief periods of time and then fade out like passing comets.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>My most recent catch was experimental station WI2XLQ, 486 kHz, during its annual Fessenden Event on Christmas Day and again on New Year\u2019s Day.\u00a0 See https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?s=Fessenden+<\/a> .\u00a0 The experience was not the armchair listening quality one might expect from FM or the Internet.\u00a0 Instead, it was weak and fraught with atmospheric noise.\u00a0 The station came in periodically, then disappeared, in short, DXing to its highest degree of satisfaction.<\/p>\n

The antenna is the key to good reception, and there is no exception to this rule at the lower end of the AM band.\u00a0 Many years ago, I switched to an indoor, resonant loop antenna.\u00a0 The selectivity, directional properties, and noise rejection of a loop antenna in this frequency range are superb.\u00a0 The figure below shows my 40-year-old loop antenna, which is still used in its original form.\u00a0 It tunes from ~485 kHz through ~1710 kHz in two bands.\u00a0 The antenna can rotate 360 degrees horizontally and 90 degrees vertically.\u00a0 Further, it is mechanically balanced to remain in any position without locking.\u00a0 For those not inclined to construction projects, the Tecsun AN-100, AN-200, and Terk Advantage will perform quite well through inductive coupling with a portable radio\u2019s ferrite bar antenna.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As all experienced medium wave DXers know, for success you need to have patience, \u201cset a spell,\u201d and let the radio do its thing.\u00a0 Radios are living organisms, kind of like cats, very independent at times, and will let you hear only what they want you to hear.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 On many channels, stations will come and go over time.\u00a0 If you\u2019re lucky, you might catch an ID; lacking that, you might be able to identify it by the format or network.\u00a0 You might try to compare the contents you hear on the radio with what you can hear online either over the station\u2019s website or via streaming sites such as TuneIn, iHeart, or Radio Garden.\u00a0 There may be a delay between the Internet stream and the live signal.<\/p>\n

When you feel you\u2019ve exhausted the possibilities, there\u2019s still more.\u00a0 Turn the antenna 90 degrees and start over.\u00a0 You\u2019re only half finished with that frequency.\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget a headset or earbuds.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the next challenging rung on the limbo bar?\u00a0 Well, possibly the 633-meter ham band, 472 to 479 kHz.\u00a0 I\u2019ll have to pad the old loop with a small capacitor to tune down there.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favorite corner of the dial?\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor,\u00a0Bob Colegrove, who shares the following guest post: What\u2019s Your Favorite Corner of the Dial? As asked by Bob Colegrove Let\u2019s suppose you\u2019ve been listening to radio for a while.\u00a0 Consciously or not, you\u2019ve probably favored a range of AM, SW, or FM frequencies.\u00a0 These are areas where you go to DX […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"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":[373,3194,433,3,7566],"tags":[625,7988,4342,4099,5820],"class_list":["post-60925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-am","category-guest-posts","category-mediumwave","category-news","category-radio-memories","tag-am-radio","tag-bob-colegrove","tag-guest-posts","tag-mediumwave","tag-mediumwave-dxing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-fQF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51812,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/guest-post-control-of-electromagnetic-radiation-conelrad\/","url_meta":{"origin":60925,"position":0},"title":"Guest Post: Control of Electromagnetic Radiation (CONELRAD)","author":"Thomas","date":"February 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Bob Colegrove, who shares the following guest post: Control of Electromagnetic Radiation (CONELRAD) As recalled by Bob Colegrove In his comment on my recent posting, Tinkering with History, Mario noted the dial on the featured radio, the General Electric P755A, sported two small triangles, one\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\/2022\/02\/Fig-1-e1644317508418.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Fig-1-e1644317508418.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Fig-1-e1644317508418.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Fig-1-e1644317508418.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Fig-1-e1644317508418.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60935,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/responding-to-the-colegrove-inspiration\/","url_meta":{"origin":60925,"position":1},"title":"Responding to “The Colegrove Inspiration”","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"October 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM It was Bob Colegrove\u2019s post -- this one\u00a0-- that inspired me and set me on this path. Medium wave broadcast band DXing (MWBCB) has a certain fascination for me, but I am poor at it. Oh sure, I have read the advice: map the band at\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\/2024\/10\/Satellit-on-1690-001-001-1024x662.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Satellit-on-1690-001-001-1024x662.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Satellit-on-1690-001-001-1024x662.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60370,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/a-band-aid-for-the-xhdata-d-220\/","url_meta":{"origin":60925,"position":2},"title":"A Band Aid for the XHDATA D-220","author":"Thomas","date":"August 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor, Bob Colegrove, who shares the following guest post: A Band Aid for the XHDATA D-220 By Bob Colegrove In the olden days of analog radios, we would have generated a graph plotting frequency against a 0 to 100 linear bandspread scale. That permitted determination of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Guest Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Guest Posts","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/guest-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fig-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fig-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fig-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fig-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Fig-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48403,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/am-radio-history-80th-anniversary-of-the-havana-treaty\/","url_meta":{"origin":60925,"position":3},"title":"AM Radio History: 80th Anniversary of the \u201cHavana Treaty,\u201d","author":"Thomas","date":"April 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob Colegrove, who writes: Hi Thomas, I came across this article on Wikipedia. It is a few days late, but thought it might be of interest to others. The link is https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/North_American_Regional_Broadcasting_Agreement. Briefly, this past Monday, was the 80th anniversary of the implementation of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/philco38-4_dial_1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/philco38-4_dial_1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/philco38-4_dial_1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50861,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/11\/guest-post-remembering-the-radio-shack-trfs\/","url_meta":{"origin":60925,"position":4},"title":"Guest Post: Remembering the Radio Shack TRFs","author":"Thomas","date":"November 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor,\u00a0Bob Colegrove, for the following guest post: Remembering the Radio Shack TRFs As recalled by Bob Colegrove There has always been an interest in DXing on the cheap.\u00a0 At the same time, most of us don\u2019t want to sacrifice any more capability than necessary.\u00a0 In the late\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\/2021\/11\/656A-Dial.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/656A-Dial.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/656A-Dial.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/656A-Dial.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56447,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/bobs-bespoke-rack-of-radios\/","url_meta":{"origin":60925,"position":5},"title":"Bob’s Bespoke “Rack of Radios”","author":"Thomas","date":"April 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bob Colegrove, who shares the following: A Rack of Radios by Bob Colegrove You simply cannot have enough radios \u2013 a principle I learned a long time ago.\u00a0 The difficulty occurs when it comes to storing them and yet having them at the ready\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image1-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image1-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image1-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image1-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image1-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60925","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\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60931,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60925\/revisions\/60931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}