Transatlantic DX on AM broadcast band today?
grumpus
group,
whether they be humorous, opinionated, informative, or inflammatory.
Gentlemen,
and ladies, have at it.
Were propagation conditions exceptionally weird today? Today I
played with
a Zenith Deluxe Royal 755 Standard Broadcast radio for the first time.
This is the version with the brown plastic WAVEMAGNET as a handle.
Right off, somewhere in the 1030-1200khz range, I was listening to a
program of Irish news. Initially I thought it might be ethnic
programming from Toronto, but as it continued I realized that it was a
program strictly for the domestic market. Dangerously high tides at
the confluence of two rivers in Dublin. A drug courier shot three
times at close range as he was getting into his van, slain by members
of an unspecified gang. A politician or career criminal reined in by
a no-nonsense judge. The weather, etc. I listened to this show for
the better part of an hour hoping to get a firm ID, but shortly before
2 PM Eastern time, the signal faded altogether. At one point during a
deep fade I thought I heard the announcer say "RTE", but I could not
be sure.
My attention piqued, I dialed around some more. A German
language broadcast. Two in Spanish. I began to wonder if the radio
itself had not been shortwave enabled. My SR111 could hear nothing of
the Irish newscast. Perhaps I was looking in the wrong place due to
the analog tuning of both receivers. Passport notes SW relays for
both RTE and DW in Canada, so my "transatlantic" catches may prove
chimerical. Yet, it was so uncanny. As if I were sitting in a pub in
Dublin, pint in hand, looking out the window and listening to the
local news. Any ideas about what I was listening to and how I was
able to receive it on a portable AM radio? Thanks.
phil
> Any ideas about what I was listening to and how I was
> able to receive it on a portable AM radio? Thanks.
not sure what you were listening to; however, did this happen during dusk or
dawn your time?
phil :)
Frank Dresser
Probably spurious SW reception. Harmonics from the local oscillator can allow
all sorts of out of band signals to be received.
Frank Dresser
.Your Friend Bill
>
> 2 PM Eastern time, the signal faded altogether. At one point during a
> deep fade I thought I heard the announcer say "RTE", but I could not
> be sure.
> My attention piqued, I dialed around some more. A German
> language broadcast. Two in Spanish.
I agree that it sure sounds like overload or intermod from strong SW
stations. RTE does relay some programming via the big intl SW
broadcasters and it is 'local' programming so its always surprising to
hear it pop up.
-Bill
J999w
John Wilke
Milwaukee
Paul Logan
there is an RTE transmitter in Dublin on 1278 khz, but I find it very weird
that you should hear this tx during daylight- had it been at your dusk or
night more understandable, but still I am not ruling it out.
I recognise the news details being 80 miles North West of Dublin here. Not
sure if RTE uses any s.w. relays at this time of day.
Never rule anything out in radio......I have been listening to the
California Highway Patrol on 42 mhz this week..........quite a hobby we
have!
regards.
--
Paul Logan,
Lisnaskea, N. Ireland
Located 54 15 N 7 27 W in IO64GF.
Interests: FM and TV-DX, SWL, Scanning.
Low VHF Skip and Scanning page: http://www.geocities.com/yogi540
"grumpus" <mwe...@madbbs.com> wrote in message
news:39385c80.02020...@posting.google.com...
Nobody You Know
>
>
>I listened to this show for
>the better part of an hour hoping to get a firm ID, but shortly before
>2 PM Eastern time, the signal faded altogether. At one point during a
>deep fade I thought I heard the announcer say "RTE", but I could not
>be sure.
> My attention piqued, I dialed around some more. A German
>language broadcast. Two in Spanish. I began to wonder if the radio
>itself had not been shortwave enabled.
>
>
It's probably 99% certain that you were NOT getting trans-Atlantic MW reception
at midday. Trans-Atlantic MW reception happens only at dusk/night, and is
usually greatly hampered by interference from domestic MW stations unless you
live right by the ocean. I agree with the others, your Zenith may be getting
front-end overload and/or is out of alignment. Do you live near a strong MW or
SW station?
-------------------------------------------------
Take up the White Man's burden,
And reap his old reward--
The blame of those ye better
The hate of those ye guard--
(Rudyard Kipling)
-------------------------------------------
grumpus
Thanks for the input. In answer to some of your responses, here
is some more information. You guys will have to judge its relevance
since my technical understanding, while not nil, is very dim indeed.
I live in Western New York.
In my town, there are two AM stations with an output of 500 watts
daytime, and 1000 at night. As far as I know, there are no daytime
powerhouse broadcasters closer than Buffalo which is at least 70 miles
distant. My "catch" occurred neither at dusk or dawn, but at 2 PM EST
Friday afternoon. Local conditions may have had some bearing. That
afternoon and that morning the whole region was socked with wind and
ice storms. The ice was north of us, but the wind was gusting
constantly at 30-40 mph. One Toronto station was knocked off the air
sometime during the morning or noon hour and did not resume
broadcasting until well into the afternoon. There may have been other
stations down as well. There were power outages all over this part of
the state and north into Canada. The local press reports that up to
1000 utility workers from around the state are endeavoring to restore
power by Monday. So far I gather from several of your responses that
I may have heard an out of band SW transmission. But was RTE
transmitting on shortwave to North America at that hour? Paul Logan's
message, the sixth in this thread, while properly skeptical, lends
some credence to the reports of my lying ears: "I recognize the news
details being 80 miles northwest of Dublin..." and "There is an RTE
transmitter in Dublin on 1278 khz..." Did anyone else hear this
particular broadcast on the AM band or have I been drinking again?
Thanks one and all for your responses!
.Your Friend Bill
>
> power by Monday. So far I gather from several of your responses that
> I may have heard an out of band SW transmission. But was RTE
> transmitting on shortwave to North America at that hour? Paul Logan's
> message, the sixth in this thread, while properly skeptical, lends
> some credence to the reports of my lying ears: "I recognize the news
> details being 80 miles northwest of Dublin..." and "There is an RTE
> transmitter in Dublin on 1278 khz..." Did anyone else hear this
> particular broadcast on the AM band or have I been drinking again?
> Thanks one and all for your responses!
There is a shortwave broadcast to North America at 1830z, thats 1:30PM
EST. It relays the local RTE1 station in Dublin "News at
Six-Thirty"...not a different programme. I believe the actual freq is
13640 and its being transmitted from Sackville, NB, Canada. This could
easily overload a marginal receiver in the NE USA. The fact that you
didn't hear it on the other radio is good evidence that it was a
spurious overload signal.
-Bill
Graham
Console yourself with the thought, that there is a suspicion that the very
first transatlatic transmission by Marconi (long wave) did in fact cross
the atlantic via transmitter harmonics on short wave to a wideband
receiver.
Graham M
.Your Friend Bill
Nobody You Know
>
>The fact that you
>didn't hear it on the other radio is good evidence that it was a
>spurious overload signal.
>
Excellent point. Since his other radio is a GE SR3, it would hear any genuine
TA MW signal a lot better than his other radio. And him being near Buffalo, TA
MW signals would reach him by the great circle route, and would actually hit
the shore somewhere in the Canadian Maritimes or maybe Labrador, which means
they would have to traverse close to a thousand miles overland to reach him,
probably an impossible feat at midday.