Re: [IRCA] DXing in Alaska
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Re: [IRCA] DXing in Alaska



Tim

I only had the internal loopstick in the 2010.  I didn't have much space in my luggage for a loop.  Plus I wasn't sure what airport security would think of my radio west ferrite loop, or for that matter a spool of wire.

Bruce 

Tim Hall wrote:
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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