Re: [IRCA] DXing in Alaska

[Tim Hall <timhall1@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for the update Bruce!  Karen and I hope to take a slow trip
through Alaska someday, possibly using the Ferry system part of the
way.  What antenna did you use?

73, Tim

On 7/31/05, Bruce Portzer <bportzer@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> 
> 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
> 
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