[IRCA] DXing in Alaska
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[IRCA] DXing in Alaska



Everyone

I recently returned from a ten day vacation in Alaska, covering Anchorage, Denali National Park, Fairbanks (briefly), and Seward.  It was a fantastic trip with lots of wildlfie and scenery.   I even managed some DXing on My Sony 2010 while we were there.

 

Here are a few observations from the trip:

 

Anchorage: There are six locals, plus a TIS at the local university.  KHAR-590 is standards, KUDO-1080 is Air America, and KTZN-550 is Sportstalk.  KENI-650, KBYR-700, and KFQD-750 are news and talk, ranging from mainstream to conservative.   The Soldotna and Homer stations are also audible (fair-weak) during the day.  Our hotel had lots of electrical noise so I didn’t try any DX listening.

 

Healy: This is a small town a few miles north of Denali National Park.  The strongest daytime signal is KIAM-630, about 50 miles up the road in Nenana.  I could also hear the four Fairbanks area stations with fair signals: KFAR-660 (talk), KCBF-820 (sports), KFBX-970 (talk), and KJNP-1170 (religion).  Sunset was about 11:45 pm and sunrise was around 4, but it never really got dark at night.  I tried DXing at around 2 or 3 am two nights.  The first time, I had weak carriers from the Anchorage stations, with bits of audio on 650, but that was it!  The second attempt was better – readable audio from the Anchorage stations, plus some of the other stations in south central Alaska (620 790 890 920 1140 1230 1450), and a few signals from the lower 48.  KFBK was the strongest non-Alaskan, followed by KGO and KEX.

 

Seward: Seward is on the coast, at the north end of a bay about ten miles long and 2-3 miles wide, with high mountains on all sides.  We stayed in a duplex, which had some electrical noise I could sort of deal with.  Seward has one local, KSWD-950, plus a flea-powered TIS on 1500.  The Anchorage stations, about 70 miles away, are audible during the day with fair signals.  I could also hear the more distant Homer (620 890) and Soldatna (920 1140) stations fair-poor, plus KCHU-770 Valdez very weakly. 

 

I DX'ed three of the nights we were there.  The results weren’t all that spectacular, but it was interesting to hear my locals and other pests as DX. The Vancouver stations were mostly strong, as were some the other 50kw west coast stations.  I heard several regional channel stations, including surprises like KITI-1420 and KYKN-1430.  I sometimes had audio on graveyard channels but it was never readable, except from the Alaskans on 1230 and 1450.  There was absolutely nothing from the higher latitude stations (Nome, Fairbanks, Whitehorse, etc.) and nothing outside North America.

 

I hadn’t done any domestic DXing for a while, so it was frustrating to hear the same six talk shows up and down the dial, with infrequent local station breaks all at the same time.  I miss the 1970s, when we had all those Top 40 stations shouting out their calls after each song….

  

Station Notes

 

840  KCKC Big Lake, confirmed silent, not heard while in the area and has been deleted from FCC database

950  KSWD  Seward, had been silent, but is now active.  24 hour non-stop country music, no ads or announcements except for occasional IDs

980 KZXX  Kenai confirmed silent, not heard while in the area and has been deleted from FCC database

1020 KAXX Eagle River is silent, though still listed in FCC database
1110 KAGV,  Big Lake-Houston, was silent.  According to www.daveandlauraonline.com, KAGV started broadcsting in late 2004.  Less than a month later, the transmitter building was flooded,  and some of the equipment was damaged.   The station had hoped to be back on by March.  No mention of a revised target date.

1170  KJNP is apparently not 24hr.  Noted off at 2 or 3 am LT while in Healy, but stayed on past midnight 7/19.  Their web site says they’re on  about 19 hours/day, so sked might be 0500-0100 +/- local time.

1500 Seward, low powered TIS noted here while in Seward w/parking info, etc.  Very low power.

1610 WPHC769 Anchorage, TIS at University of Alaska Anchorage campus, parking and other info about campus activities, "WPHC769, Wolf Radio for University of Alaska Anchorage".  Good-fair throughout Anchorage.

1610 KOE700  There is a TIS near the entrance to Denali National Park, with park info etc. “KOE700 The Radio Voice of Denali National Park”


Bruce

_______________________________________________
IRCA mailing list
IRCA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://dallas.hard-core-dx.com/mailman/listinfo/irca

Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers

For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org

To Post a message: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx