AM Radio Signals from the US or Canada in Ireland?

tinytobe

Just wondering if there was anybody who can pick up AM radio signals from the US or Canada in Ireland?

I would suggest that at 2 or 3am in the morning that's quite possible in Ireland, provided one has the right radio equipment.

yiddo59

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058201694/am-radio-signals-from-the-us-or-canada-in-ireland

Used to be a bit of AM dxing back in late 70s/early 80s and WINS in New York city on 1010 AM could be heard regularly here in the early hours of the morning. I was using an old valve radio at the time.

If you're on twitter this lad is worth a follow @FMDXIreland He covers both AM and FM long distance reception though obviously at this time of the year its mainly FM

More info here on the Medium Wave Circle https://mwcircle.org/1-introduction/

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117698124#Comment_117698124

I've actually head a similar experience once picking up WINS 1010 in the early hours of the morning. Sadly the Spanish AM stations are a bit too strong at times in Ireland.

Pelvis Parsley

When you look at the US restorers, enthusiasts (or even Dave Tipton in Aus, for those who know who he is), it's striking how busy the Broadcast bands are-a consequence of how big the countries are, I imagine.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117833864#Comment_117833864

I guess, it has to do with the sheer size of both the US and Canada. Radio and broadcasting is more decentralized and the country can be very thinly populated in some areas. There is always a good choice of stations in bigger cities and they cover the countryside around. For Australia I can't say, but I imagine things are a bit like in Canada without a big neighbour like the US.

In North America, the AM signals are reduced, once the sun sets, thus the signal is never too strong and reception quality is still good, or there is no "sky-wave-effect" as they have, or had in some places Europe. I seem to recall that Radio Luxemburg ( 208 meters if you remember) on 1440 AM seems to do quite the opposite, increase power at night. Or remember when the 1215 from Virgin, later Absolute Radio was often jammed by Kaliningrad in Russia broadcasting on the same frequency? Even in the UK the night time reception of 1215 was bad. Now Russia has left MW pretty much, with some exception maybe, the 1215 is pretty good across Europe at night time....

Antenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117834744#Comment_117834744

SOME AM stations (not all) in the USA reduce power and/or switch to a directional (or more directional) pattern at night. This was usually to protect the night-time coverage area of older pre-existing distant stations that were on the frequency first

Reducing carrier power at night would do nothing to reduce the distortion in areas with a mixture of Skywave and Groundwave at night as the RATIO of one to the other remains the same. Reducing modulation level could help though.

Its like saying that reducing transmitter power would have reduced 'ghosting' due to reflections from large metal buildings with analogue TV, it wouldn't have as the ratio of direct and reflected signals would remain the same.

1215 is a favorite frequency for DXers on the other side of the Atlantic trying to receive something from across the Atlantic at night, it being evenly split between two American AM frequencies 1210 and 1220 so there is more chance of hearing something from it on a narrow bandwith setting on a receiver than the likes of 909 1089 ....

tinytobe

Regarding the other side of the Atlantic. I was once in St. John's NL and could pick up all the major UK AM stations with ease. Radio 5, Talk Sports, Absolute, also Radio 4 on LW as well as RTE Radio 1 on 252.

Even with a car stereo in a Canadian-spec car tuned to 910 and 1010 the reception was strong.

dxhound2005

From around 6 am this morning WBZ Boston 1030 kHz was coming in like a local station. I never heard it before, and tomorrow morning it might not be there. That is the way conditions can change. Other frequencies which are often heard are 590,750, 1010 and 1130. 1130 is Bloomberg Radio WBBR New York.

For the next few months reception will improve, and listening in the morning can be better than at night because of less European interference. Stations in the Americas operate on 10 kHz channels, in Europe and Africa 9 kHz. Where the frequency is divisible by 9 and 10, e.g. 630, 720 everything is on the same frequency. 1030 has the advantage of being as far away as possible from 1026 and 1035.

Online receivers give people the chance to tune in remotely. Google Kiwi SDR North West Ireland for one which is well placed for transatlantic reception.

One More Toy

What kind of radio are you using out of curiosity?

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117898617#Comment_117898617

The 590 being VOCM from St. John's NL in Canada I take it?

I've used a Sangean ATS909, a Sony ICF SW11 and an old Sony ICF 4900. The latter ones are all manual, but the sensibility on AM is very good.

1010, 1030 and 1130 are usually good bets in Ireland at night. 4am to 6am in winter time is the best time for any transatlantic radio reception.

dxhound2005

I have the Icom R8600, and a Wellbrook loop on a rotator. I have heard stations up to as late as noon in the dark days of December and January. As you probably know it sometimes helps to tune slightly off frequency to lessen interference. 1011 will be clearer than 1010 when there is splatter from 1008.

One More Toy

Any thoughts on an affordable SW & AM radio?

I've been using a manual Roberts radio for 20 years, doesn't have full SW coverage

(sorry for derailing thread)

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117900931#Comment_117900931

The problem is that good SW / AM radios are hard to come by. You'd have to look for narrow filters which can tune in narrow steps from one frequency to the next and a lot of sensitivity. Older radios seem to have that a lot more than newer ones. Your chances are a lot better older ones on the used market.

The Grundig Satellit models were one of them, especially the Grundig Satellit 650, but in general most older Grundig models did that job more than well.

The Sony ICF SW2001 with Airband was also one of the top models.

Stay away from the newer Sony ICF SW7600GR, it's just not sensitive enough.

dxhound2005

24 and 25 Oct 8 am CFRB Toronto was a strong signal on 1008 kHz on my car radio. The car radio can't tune to the correct frequency 1010, but at that time there are no European signals on 1008. WINS New York is also on 1010.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118069822#Comment_118069822

That's Newstalk 1010 in Toronto. The 1008 is from the Netherlands. Where are you based in Ireland? Also what time of the night was this?

dxhound2005

The high power Dutch transmitter closed some years ago. There are a few 100 watt stations in Holland on 1008, not easily heard in Ireland. Spanish stations on 1008 cause interference to 1010, so it is a good idea to tune up 1 kHz or so. In the mornings the interference disappears, so at 8 am now, 1008 is clear of signals from the east, but propagation continues from the west which is still in darkness. Many US and Canada stations can be heard up to as late as noon here when the days get shorter.

I'm in Dundalk. The North West SDR is better placed for good reception. Check out what can be heard on the 10 kHz splits there, especially around dawn and later.

http://irelandnorthwest.proxy.kiwisdr.com:8073/

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118070911#Comment_118070911

Thanks for that one. I thought you were somewhere in the South West. Dundalk surprised me a bit. The high power transmitter in the NL was heard in nearly the whole of Europe as far as I remember. They used to say "volle kracht, ten nul aacht ( 10 0 8 )". These few 100 watt stations were given to various other operators. Often they don't go even very far within NL.

Yes, the Spanish always come in strong in Ireland,

dxhound2005

For a week or so now transatlantic reception has been very poor due to activity on the Sun. This resulted in the Northern Lights being visible much further South than usual. When conditions recover a good SDR to check is this one in Donegal. It was missing for a long time until recently.

http://malinheadkiwi.ddns.net:8073/

During the day listen on 531 kHz to the Faroe Islands. At night the channel is usually dominated by Algeria. I remember hearing the Faroes in my car in Ballybunion years ago during the day. It had 100 kilowatts of power then, now reduced to 10.