mwnb0498

ODXA's April '98 Mediumwave Notebook by Ken Alexander

Expanded Band Roundup

The mediumwave expanded band, from 1610 to 1700 kHz is slowly starting to fill up. Currently there are only a few
frequencies that aren't occupied with broadcasters, and there are plans by many other stations to take up residence
there fairly soon. However, the lists of who is planning to move to the expanded band seems to change every few
months so rather than take up space with speculation on who is moving and when, let's simply recap who is there
already.

1610    CHEV, Toronto, ON (see Morris Sorensen's logging for more information); WPAN997 NY State Throughway TIS.
Many other TISs can be heard as conditions permit.
1620    WPHG, Atmore AL, KRIZ, Renton (?) WA, R. Esmeraldas, Buenos Aires, Argentina, TIS - WPJP633 Niagara
Falls NY, and other TISs.
1630    WDKW (The Claw), A low power station from Dundalk High School, Baltimore MD (heard in Ontario in Mar
1997), KNAA585 Kennedy Intl Airport, WPJR342 Detroit area
1640    KDIA (formerly KXBT) Vallejo, CA, Dallas-Ft Worth Airport (departures) TIS, other TISs
1650    KGXL Costa Mesa , CA
1660    WJDM, Elizabeth, NJ.
1670    vacant, but WTDY, Madison WI (coming in April)
1680    Dallas-Ft Worth Airport (arrivals)
1690    vacant
1700    WCMQ Miami, JFK Airport TIS.

Tim Flannery, Niel Wolfish, Jacques d'Avignon, Harold Frodge and I visited Coe Hill for Dxpeditions at various times in
February and March. The February weekend proved to be a bonanza for longwave broadcast listening as we logged
Denmark and Poland (tentatively) for the first time on two frequencies where nothing has ever been heard in 7 or 8 years
of listening! We also heard something on 270 kHz where the only station listed is from the Czech Republic. However,
they were so weak that we're not currently making any claims of hearing them.

On Friday February 6, Atlantic 252 was bombing in so well I decided to give them a phone call. I spoke with the DJ,
Tony Dibbin for 5 or 6 minutes and he nearly fell out of his chair when I told him we could hear them in Canada.

Niel managed to get a QSL from Denmark on 243 kHz in record time. Niel e-mailed the station after arriving back in
Toronto to find out who reception reports should go to. He received a reply the next day saying that if he could send
them a recording via the Internet of what we heard he would QSL right away. I had already created audio files on my
computer of what we had heard that weekend and was in the process of stripping away some of the noise with a sound
editing program I have, so I e-mailed a one minute recording to Niel who forwarded it to his contact in Denmark who
finally verified that we had indeed heard them! He also mentioned that they had received reception reports from Canada
for their mediumwave service on 1062 kHz but doesn't remember seeing a report from Canada for their longwave outlet!
Niel's QSL, a Radio Denmark pen and a tape of some of their programming arrived in the mail a week or so later.

The March DXpedition was far less successful because of poor propagation. Niel sums up the weekend as follows:
"Really unspectacular conditions. Almost nothing audible on longwave aside from Iceland 189 on the Friday evening
(March 14 UTC) and the next evening (Saturday night-March 15 UTC) it took a while for the long wave stations to make
appearances. France-162, Germany-183 and Ireland-252 not as strong as we've heard in the past. Medium Wave TA's
totally non-existent except for a short "blip" in propagation around 0020 UTC on March 15."

Listeners' Reports

Andrew Rugg from Cornwall, ON and Morris Sorensen have both sent in several logs of stations received during the ice
storm that happened back in January in eastern Ontario. Their reports both offer interesting insights into who was still
on the air, who was off, and opportunities that these absences presented. It's nice to hear from you again Andrew and I
hope that you get those antennas back up soon!

It's also a pleasure to welcome Mark Coady from Peterborough, ON and Mark Humenyk from Weston, ON and Marshall
Cubitt from Smiths Falls, ON to Mediumwave Notebook. Thanks for the logs guys! Now let's get to them!

QSL Report

WKGM (940), Smithfield, VA. Sent partial data letter and coverage map in 17 days for s.a.s.e.. V/S Larry W. Cobb, VP
and GM. (AR)

CJBZ (1200), Ottawa, ON. Sent partial data letter and sticker in 3 weeks for s.a.s.e.. V/S Marc Germain, C.E. (AR)

WPZE (1260), Boston, MA. Sent partial data letter in 3 weeks for s.a.s.e.. V/S Joe Tobin, Program Director. (AR)

Trans World Radio (800), Netherlands Antilles. Full data card "Bonaire's Best___ College" with schedule, letter and
calendar in 26 days. V/S Joana Bertards. Heard at last fall's DX Camp. (MAH)

Domestic Loggings

540 CBEF, Windsor, ON. 2214. French programming, announcements by male, mentioned Radio France, the phone
interview by 2 males. Fair. Feb 15. (MAH)

560 WFRB, Frostburg, MD. 2105. News, Burger King ad and other ads, weather, ID as "560 WFRB". Fair. Jan 2.
(MS-B)

600 CKAT, North Bay, ON. 1200. Ad for Leon's on Airport Road, then male DJ with "from the information centre, this is
the CKAT news". Good, with slop from 590 and 610. Jan 5. (MAC)

650 WSM, Nashville, TN. 0500. Music by woman, end of Grand Ole Oprey program and ID by male. Promo for country
music, Coca Cola ad and song by group called Lone Rider. Fair. Feb 15. (MAH)

660 WFAN, New York, NY. 0500. Live hockey game between Czech Republic and Russia. ID as "CBS Sports" and
"WFAN". Fair. Feb 22. (MAH)

690 CBM, Montreal, PQ. 1230. Discussion by two males, with jazz music breaks. Poor. Feb 16. (MAH)

720 CHTN, Charlottetown, PEI. 1008. Say You Love Me, by Fleetwood Mac, and male with simple "720 CHTN" ID at
1012. Poor under WGN. Jan 2. (MAC)

720 WGN, Chicago, IL. 0249. Phone in show, discussing lawsuit against Oprah Winfrey, and the mad cow disease
situation. Good. Mar 2. (MAH)

730 CKAC, Montreal, PQ. 0154. With talk by male in French followed by music. Poor. Feb 16. (MAH)

750 CKGB, Timmins, ON. Country and western music, program promo and "catch is right here on 750 CKGB". Fair in
WSB null. Jan 2. (MAC)

780 WBBM, Chicago, IL. 0411. With news about flu symptoms, bank robbery in Chicago, top cop in New York resigns.
Excellent signal. Feb 15. (MAH)

790 WAEB, Allentown, PA. 2230. ID by woman as "WAEB New Radio". Local news mentioning new stadium in
Williams Township. Also mentioned Bethlehem PA. Good. Feb 11. (MS-S)

800 WTMR, Camden, NJ. 2100. Between two religious programs, had ID as "WTMR, Camden-Philadelphia".
Reception was brief and poor through QRM. Jan 19. (AR)

810 WGY, Schenectady, NY. 0135. Phone discussion with male, program called Handle On The Line. Promo for
snow storm in Albany and area, news by male. Good. Feb 22. (MAH)

820 WBAP, Dallas-Ft Worth, TX. 0530. With Salute to Talk Radio, ID as "Talk Radio, 820 WBAP". Rare here because
of CHAM-820 and splatter from local CFUR-830. Good. Jan 1. (MS-B)

830 CFJR, Brockville, ON. 0015. Emergency programming for victims of winter ice storm, oldies music, urgent request
for firewood from a community shelter, information on temporary shelters, etc. Seldom heard in Scarborough.
According to my father, ODXA member Harold Sorensen who lives in Brockville, they had temporary authority to use
daytime power of 5 kW at night. He found them to be a real lifeline during the crisis. Rural areas around Brockville
remained blacked out long after power was restored to the city. Fair in WCCO null. Jan 16. (MS-S)

830 WCCO, Minneapolis, MN. 0420. News read by woman with taped report by male, speech by Elizabeth Dole
followed by more reports. Fair. Mar 2. (MAH)

890 unid. 1235. Man and woman in French with apparent news. Not CBC as it wasn't parallel to CJBC, CBEF, or
CJBC-FM. Any ideas? Poor signal under WLS. Jan 5. (MAC)

920 CJCH, Halifax, NS. 0421. Talk radio, local ads and ID. Dec 10. (MC)

930 CFBC, St John, NB. 0426. Local ads, ID and news. Dec 10. (MC)

940 WINE, Brookfield, CT. 2130. Ad cluster, network ID and news. Actual ID was "WSTC, Stamford, WINE Brookfield-
Danbury, WNLK Norwalk". Fair over WKGM while CBM was off the air. Jan 12. (AR)

940 WIDG, St Ignace, MI. 2300. After a strip of oldies selections, boomed through with on-the-hour ID as "WIDG, St
Ignace-Mackinac-Cheboygan, Cool 94 AM". Good while CBM off. Jan 12. (AR). Also fair with oldies music and ID
"Your official oldies station in St Ignace". Also used KOOL-FM slogan (they parallel their FM station at this time). Fair
with no sign of usual CBM, Montreal. (MS-S)

940 WKGM, Smithfield, VA. 2115. Religious program. ID as "Christian 940, WKGM, the Ministry Station". Fair while
CBM silent. Jan 12. (AR)

950 CKNB, Campbellton, NB. 0433. Talk radio program with interview, mention of Moncton. Dec 12. (MC)

950 WJPC (?), Chicago, IL. 1211. Regional traffic report for the greater Chicagoland area. Not sure if the call sign is
still in use, but having WGN on cable has made me familiar with the road and highway designations in the area. Poor
under WIBX and WWJ. Jan 5. (MAC) [I don't know about that callsign Mark, but the Chicago station listed on that freq
in the 1998 WRTH is WDBI. There are several "sound alike" calls from stations on adjacent frequencies, like WCPC
Houston, MS on 940, or WJCM Sebring, FL on 960..KPA]

960 CIAM, Cambridge, ON. 1758. Song "My Girl" then "AM-96" slogan. News, Waterloo regional weather, "AM-96" ID
sung out. Usually dominant CFFX, Kingston was off because of ice storm. (MS-S)

980 CBV, Quebec City, PQ. 2212. Assumed to be the one here with French talk and a man named Monsieur Colombe
(?). Parallel to local CJBC-860. Not too common here. Poor to fair. Feb 15. (MS)

990 CJAD, Montreal, PQ. 0222. In English with Montreal Canadiens hockey, Montreal ads. ID at 0229 "you're listening
to Montreal Canadiens hockey on news talk radio CJAD. According to Wayne Plunkett and others, Standard
Broadcasting are renting this transmitter from CKGM which is owned by the CHUM Group. CKGM had been losing
money. CJAD is expecting to return to its normal 800 kHz frequency sometime in April when its transmitter site which
was damaged during the ice storm is repaired. They had been operating on 1410 kHz, the old CFBM frequency, for a
short time but coverage there was limited. When CJAD vacates 990, CKGM expects to return, possibly with a new
format. Fair to good. Feb 5. (MS-S)

990 WDCZ, Rochester, NY. 2116. With The Praise Company, Bible verses and contemporary Christian music,
Rochester ads. Call and format change from former WCMF. Good. Jan 21. Also noted Jan 23 at 1700 with ID as
"WDCZ AM Rochester" and "WDCZ-FM Webster-Rochester". (MS-S)

1040 WHO, Des Moines, IA. 0355. Ad for caf‚ in central Iowa, comments by male and ID as "news radio, 1040 WHO".
Poor. Mar 2. (MAH)

1080 WKGX, Lenoir, NC. 2256. With program ending and host giving program announcements and ID as "the Lenoir
(Hills) super station, 1080 WKGX". Fair. Dec 30. (MS-S)

1080 WTIC, Hartford, CT. 0322. With sports talk by man and woman. Mentioned LA Lakers, ESPN Radio, President's
Day, ID by male announcer, string of ads then ID by woman. Feb 15. (MAH)

1110 WNNW, Salem, NH. 2257. With Spanish ballad, English sign off announcements at 2300, mentioning 5000
watts.executive offices on 462 Merrimac St in Methuen, MA. Fair. Dec 28. (MS-S)

1180 WHAM, Rochester, NY. 0330. Sports talk by male about hockey. Phone number given for tickets, ads for Pepsi
and Cellular Unlimited. Good. Feb 22. (MAH)

1200 CJBZ, Ottawa, ON. 1659. "Ten in a row" oldies format, ad cluster and IDs as "The Buzz". Call letters not heard.
Excellent armchair reception while local CJSS01220 silenced by ice storm. Jan 6. (AR)

1320 CKEC, New Glasgow, NS. 2050. Ad for Jean Depot, program announcements mentioning "here on 1320 CKEC".
Heart Disease prevention message. Good. Dec 28. (MA-B)

1400 WICK, Scranton, PA. 2136. With weather, where male announcer gave temperature as 45 degrees. Fair. Feb
11. (MS)

1410 CJAD, Montreal, PQ. 1830. Tommy Shnurmacker call-in program, subject: Hydro Quebec, and news break. Still
IDs as "CJAD 800", while using former frequency and site of CFMB (now 1280). CJAD lost their antenna to the ice
storm. They subsequently leased the 990 channel as well. Steady but mediocre reception with occasional QRM from
presumed WUZZ, Watertown, NY. Signal noticeably weaker than adjacent semi-locals WSLB-1400 (NY) and WWSR-
1420 (VT). Jan 19. (AR)

1410 WLSH, Lansford, PA. 2204. With USA Radio Network News, ID as "WLSH AM 1410 news and information".
Local news with Cindy ____, then "AM 1410 WLSH sports" beginning with high school and college basketball scores.
Good. Feb 12. (MS-S)

1480 WCFR, Springfield, VT. 1500. On daytime skywave with news, weather mentioning Springfield temperature, local
ads including Bookmarker Bookstore in Springfield. Fair. Jan 2. (MS-B)

1480 WHBC, Canton, OH. 0328. Song Let Me Be There, by Olivia Newton John. Full ID by male, then into news. Ads
for Chevrolet and a dance club. Fair. Mar 2. (MAH)

1510 WWSM, Annville-Cleona, PA. 2209. With promo for country music "only on 1510 WWSM". Into song Walking
The Floor Over You, by Ernest Tubbs. Good. Feb 12. (MS-S)

1560 WQEW, New York, NY. 0258. Jazz music then male DJ talking about Latin Jazz festival mentioning performers'
names. ID and weather. Excellent. Feb 22. (MAH)

1580 CBJ, Chicoutimi, PQ. 0038. French programming with interview by man and woman. Male DJ mentioned
Montreal, brief classical music then more discussion. Good. Feb 16. (MAH)

1610 CHEV, Toronto, ON. 2349. NEW STATION testing with continuous tape message as follows: "This is CHEV
AM, operating at 1610 kHz with a power of 99 watts serving Toronto and York-Durham Region. This is a test. This a
test. CHEV is a low power transportable mobile radio station. This is a test. This is a test". Good on Feb 13 thanks to a
tip from Wayne Plunkett. Also noted with regular broadcast originating from Markham ON at 0143 to 0200 from
Markham Centennial Centre with MTHL Junior A hockey playoff game between Durham Lakers and Markham Waxers.
ID at 0156 as "you're listening to Consumers Gas _____ hockey on AM 1610 CHEV radio". Ads for Consumers Gas,
McKenzies RV, Northport Chev-Olds in markham. Said would be broadcasting a game from Pickering the next night.
Thanks to a tip from John Grimley who said they were broadcasting from a truck and trailer with whip antenna, parked
outside the arena complex. It is my understanding that they will use this to broadcast various sports events throughout
the Greater Toronto Area. Good on Feb 21, but did not seem quite as strong as on Feb 13 test. (MS-S)

1630 T.I.S. WCJR42, MI. 1106. Continuous loop of woman with "this is the Michigan Department of Transportation
Highway Advisory Radio Station WCJR42". I may have the call sign messed up but the signal was barely audible. Jan
3. (MAC)

1640 KXBT, Vallejo, CA. 1131. Eclectic mix of pop and jazz music. Man with "1640 KXBT" ID at 1137. First California
log in over ten years, my last was from up near Algonquin Park when I could null out 640 and get KFI. Barely readable.
Jan 3. (MAC)

1660 WJDM, Elizabeth, NJ. 0305. Program of rap music. Good. Feb 15. (MAH)

1700 WCMQ, Miami Springs, FL. 0500. With Spanish music and talk. ID at 0451 as "la nueva CMQ" with Miami and
Cuba mentions. Gave WCMQ call in English at 0500, other announcements and mention of Miami. Spanish ballad at
0501. Fair to good. Jan 25. (MS-S) Also good signal at 1106 with man and woman in Spanish with apparent news,
several promos, grand ID of "Esta es C-M-Q, la gran cadena transmite en Miami". Jan 3. (MAC)

International Loggings

153 GERMANY, Deutscheland Radio. 0257. On top of Algeria with choral music and ID by man at 0300; playing 70s
oldies by Morris Albert, Dr. Hook and Billy Joel and // to 207 at 0340 recheck. Feb 8. (NW) Also fair with up tempo
Arabic vocal. Fair signal. Mar 15. (NW)

162 FRANCE, Allouis. 2105. Noted in passing with really horrendous French rap music. Fair. Feb 6. (NW) Also very
good at 0133-0200 on Feb 8 with documentary on the Irish rock band U2; time pips and news by a woman at 2100.
Heard as early as 2028 this evening. In spite of the excellent program details I provided for this broadcast, these guys
wouldn't QSL me! (NW).

177 GERMANY, Deutscheland Radio, Berlin. 0302. Presumed with a woman in German reading the news. Poor. Feb
8. (NW)

180 TURKEY (tentative). 0317. Barely audible with a woman singing. Weak signal and getting hammered by the
splatter from Europe 1 on 183. No ID heard. Feb 8. (NW)

189 ICELAND, RV. 0133. Playing the latest single by The Wallflowers. Poor signal, usually one of the better longwave
signals. Feb 8. (NW) Also at 2225. Starting to fade in with a Madonna song from the movie Evita. Poor signal. Mar
13. (NW) Also good on Mar 14 at 2245 with "Monkey Wrench" by The Foo Fighters as well as rock music by Led
Zeppelin, David Bowie, The Clash and Jimi Hendrix. (NW)

216 MONACO, Radio Monte Carlo. 2204. End of newscast, Radio Monte Carlo jingle, then into pop oldies by Paul
Anka and "Hold On Tight" by E.L.O. Fair signal. Feb 6. (NW)

225 POLAND (tentative), Polskie Radio. 0402-0503. Man in unknown language playing 1960s oldies such as Ringo by
Lorne Greene, Get Together by The Youngbloods and stuff by Marty Robbins and Floyd Cramer. Possible ID by woman
and rooster crowing noises at 0500 recheck; had faded out (local sunrise, I assume) at 0600 recheck; Poor signal at
best with beacon QRM. Feb 8. (NW)

243 DENMARK, Danmarks R. 0527. With Classical music; chimes before the top of the hour, followed by ID by
woman at 0600 and news by a man in Danish. Fair to poor with beacon QRM. Feb 8. (NW) 2 different QSLs, one from
the station, and one from the Kalundborg transmitter site received in 3 weeks, along with a pen and a cassette recording
of Danmarks Radio for an e-mail report (which included a .wav file recording of what we heard) sent to my best pal in the
world, Erik Koie.

252 IRELAND, Atlantic 252. 2107. Announcer Tony Dibbin going ballistic playing dance-pop and T40 tunes by Robyn,
Smash Mouth and others. Taking phone requests, so Ken gives them a call. Fair with Algeria QRM. Feb 6. (NW) Also
very strong at 0034-0136 on Feb 28 with hyper-voiced announcer Tony Dibbin playing dance and pop music, such as
Tubthumping by Chumbawumba and No Surprises by Radiohead. Good signal with a weak Algeria audible underneath;
best signal on LW this evening. (NW) Also at 0330 on Mar 15 when they finally surfaced above the beacon QRM with
pop music by The Fugees, Backstreet Boys and Blur. No sign of Algeria which was present the previous night (Mar 14)
with a weak signal around this time. (NW)

270 unid. 0603. Heard talk by a man, but I couldn't recognize the language enough to even presume I was hearing the
Czech Republic. Poor with beacon QRM. Feb 8. (NW)

864 EGYPT. 0202. Presumed with what sounded like Koran recitation. Poor. Feb 8. (NW)

882 SPAIN, COPE. 0008. Talk by a male announcer and a shlocky romantic vocal by a woman; no ID heard, but it
was parallel to both 837 and 1134 (both of which were much weaker than 882). Good. Mar 15. (NW)

890 CUBA, CMDZ, Radio Progresso. 0149. With instrumental music, mention of Habana, and Progresso ID. Good in
WLS null. Dec 29. (MS-B)

999 SPAIN. 2141. Weak with a bit of WMVP/CKBW splatter with a man speaking rapidly in Spanish. Spain also
audible (with better signals) at this time on 684, 874, 1026, 1044 and 1107. Feb 7 (NW)

1008 unid. 2247. Program of classical music and a female host. Language did not sound Spanish. Poor with
CFRB/WINS splatter. Feb 7. (NW)

1089 ENBGLAND, Talk Radio UK. 0702. With newscast (one of the news items may have been how they will continue
to ignore my reception reports!!) Not able to hear parallels on 1053 or 1071. Poor with 1090-CKKW/WBAL splatter. Feb
7. (NW)

1215 ALBANIA, Radio Tirana. 2204-2213. Woman with English program (probably a magazine-type show) with
numerous mentions of Albania and the Albanian government. Fair signal - a pleasant surprise, as I was expecting Virgin
Radio. Feb 7 (NW)

1375 ST. PIERRE ET MIQUELON, RFO. 0129. Man and woman taking in French and playing pop and MoR music like
"San Francisco". Good signal -although the het seems to always be strong, usually there isn't much audio. Feb 7.
(NW)

1394.9 ALBANIA (tentative). 2128. Faded up briefly with a woman speaking in a language I didn't recognize. I was
hoping for Trans World Radio relay. Poor. Feb 7 (NW)

1512 BELGIUM, Radio Nederland relay. 2227-2233. Tentative with talk in English by a man and woman. Tried to find
a shortwave parallel for Radio Nederland but couldn't. Feb 7. (NW)

1521 SAUDI ARABIA, BSKSA Duba. 2026-2111. Middle Eastern stringed instrumental music and low-voiced male
announcer (who sounded like Barry White!) in Arabic with lengthy dialogue. Heard what really sounded like an ID at
2110 so this is much more than your typical "list-log". Good signal - best I've ever heard them and also for the
longest period of time. I guess it helps to listen before sunset hits WWKB-1520. Feb 7. (NW)

1611 VATICAN CITY, Vatican Radio. 0617. Caught end of program followed by interval signal and sign off. Did
not seem to be parallel to 4005 at this time. Fair. Feb 8 (NW)

2 Mystery Stations on Longwave:

194 kHz In the evening of Mar 15, while listening to the TUK weather station from Nantucket, we noticed that there was
another station underneath. We finally IDed it at WDCD-1540 in Albany NY. (NW)

216 kHz A "bubble jammer" we've heard before was present again. Heard as early as 0037 the evening of March 15
and as late as 1100 UTC (long after European sunrise and after every other broadcaster on longwave no longer could be
heard). (NW)

Thanks go out to this month's contributors.

AR Andrew Rugg, Cornwall, ON. Hammarlund HQ-180A and Radio West Loop, also GE Superadio III.

MAH Mark Humenyk, Weston, ON. Magnavox D-2935, Sony ICF-SW33.

MC Marshall Cubitt, Smiths Falls, ON. Kenwood TS-450 and 80 metre dipole.

MS-S Morris Sorensen, Scarborough, ON. Hammarlund HQ-150 with SM-2 (Space Magnet) ferrite loop, Realistic DX-
302 with McKay-Dymek DA-9 ferrite loop, Grundig Yacht Boy 400 with built-in antenna.

MS-B Morris Sorensen, DXing in Brockville, ON. Grundig Yacht Boy 400 with built-in antenna.

NW Niel Wolfish, DXing in Coe Hill, ON, with Ken Alexander and Jacques D'Avignon. ICOM R71 A, 965 foot terminated
beverage antenna at 45 degrees.