AM DX Daytime Catch: WSCR - 670 Chicago at 413 Miles

[DXBob]

Friends,

From Overland Park, Kansas:

This morning at 10:35am CST, I heard a moderately weak [no adjacent channel interference] but also clearly listenable WSCR on 670 kHz in my car on my way to an appointment. The air temperature here was 34 degrees. After my appointment concluded at 11:30am, they were gone. This seemed to be too late for critical hours activity. I presume I heard extended ground wave since I live in an area of higher ground conductivity. I am 413 miles from the WSCR transmitter site. I have heard WSCR before during the day but never as strong as I did this morning.

What is your longest, non-salt water aided AM DX catch?

Bob

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

I'm thinking Daytime Skywave. I've heard WSM 650 in SE MI in the Daytime. No other stations observed at the time. Groundwave would be in the range of a few microvolts per meter.

 

[asugeorge1]

Nice catch! That great catch might have to do with some of the recent snowstorms that dumped a lot of snow between you and Chicago. That could contribute to the great ground conductivity as well.

The best daytime groundwave DX I have been able to catch is a very very very weak KFI 640 AM from LA in Buckeye, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix) at a distance of about 300 miles. Beyond that, I have gotten KTNN AM 660 from Window Rock, Arizona in Mesa, Arizona during the day, a distance of about 230 miles. Nothing spectacular, I wish KNX 1070 or some of the other big LA stations made it this far, but they don’t.

 

[DXBob]

Thank you for the responses! There is snow cover from here all the way to Chicago. Regardless of whether it was extended ground wave or daytime skywave, it was a fun daytime catch...

Bob

 

[radioman148]

I'm guessing daytime skywave since you weren't able to hear WSCR after your appointment. My best catch via daytime skywave was in the mid 70s in December. In the Chicago area I heard a bunch of stations from the east coast around noon CST. The three NYC 50KW NDs were all coming in along with WBZ, KDKA, and WHAM. I've had other daytime skywave catches in winter, but never as good as that day.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

So far my daytime record just after the sun rose is KSLL 1080 Price, UT from Laramie, WY.. about 375 miles Around the same time, I heard KXXX 790 Colby, KS 275 miles

 

[DavidEduardo]

I'm guessing daytime skywave since you weren't able to hear WSCR after your appointment. My best catch via daytime skywave was in the mid 70s in December. In the Chicago area I heard a bunch of stations from the east coast around noon CST. The three NYC 50KW NDs were all coming in along with WBZ, KDKA, and WHAM. I've had other daytime skywave catches in winter, but never as good as that day.

There is definitely daytime skywave, and in my experience it peaks around noon, local time and is most evident in the winter. My best catch was from Cleveland, OH, in the early 60's when missionary station 4VEH from Cap Haitien, Haiti, on 1035 was heard quite readably in Kreyol. That was about 1,600 miles for a 10 kw signal.

On the other hand, during the several decades that I lived in Puerto Rico, I never noted daytime skywave towards the north, although Lybia, Senegal and Morocco were noted on partial darkness paths around 3 PM AST on many occasions.

 

[icybluelake]

Good catch! Sounds like skywave to me. I've heard a pretty listenable WSCR during the daytime in Des Moines, roughly 300 miles west, under that I doubt were skywave. Maybe locals could tell me if that is a regular thing. (I'm in eastern Iowa and listen to WSCR regularly during the day.) In KC, however, that's gotta be skywave.

 

[cyberdad]

Nicely done, Bob. Congratulations!

My best daytime skywave catch of what's now WSCR was in the 1990s when the 50kw occupant of 670 in Chicago was still WMAQ. I heard it in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota at around 11am local time on a car radio one sunny spring day, Detroit Lakes is about 45 miles east of Fargo, ND, so I'd estimate the distance at about 550 miles.

My longest daytime skywave ever was WWL in the mid '70s in Rock Island, IL Also on a car radio. Noon local time in winter. Probably about 750 miles. I've also "dialed up long distance" a couple of times for CFZM Toronto at my home location in the Chicago area. Also mid day, also winter. Probably about 500 miles.

 

[radioman148]

Nicely done, Bob. Congratulations!

I've also "dialed up long distance" a couple of times for CFZM Toronto at my home location in the Chicago area. Also mid day, also winter. Probably about 500 miles.

Now that you mention it I have also received Toronto mid day skywave when they were still CBL.

 

[gr8oldies]

I remember one day I made a drive from Knoxville to Nashville in January. It was one of those days the band never closed. There was monkey chatter under WLAC even in Davidson County. I remember getting both WHIO and WING at 2pm Central that day.

Usually if I'm getting WCKY during the daytime in East Tennessee, it's time to look around. I've gotten WCNW, Fairfield, OH there a couple of times in winter broad daylight

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

So far my daytime record just after the sun rose is KSLL 1080 Price, UT from Laramie, WY.. about 375 miles Around the same time, I heard KXXX 790 Colby, KS 275 miles

I take that back, in reviewing some of my recordings today and measuring distance, I had KIXZ 940 Amarillo TX at 460 miles, just before 8am mountain

 

[crainbebo]

Noontime record is CBK-540 Watrous SK from Monroe, WA, over 800 miles away. However there was a time a few years ago where KKZN-760 in Denver weakly came into Yakima at 2 or 2:30 in the afternoon, over 900 miles away. I don't count wintertime logs at 3:30 or 4PM because it's almost sunset - greyline propagation which is regular.

 

[DXBob]

Thank you for all the great responses and education!

It looks like I have logged my first AM DX daytime skywave signal. If I hear them again today around that time, I will certainly share my results.

As a benchmark, the most distant signal I receive on the AM band during all daylight hours is WNAX in Yankton, SD on 570 kHz at 305 miles.

Bob

 

[DXBob]

Good catch! Sounds like skywave to me. I've heard a pretty listenable WSCR during the daytime in Des Moines, roughly 300 miles west, under that I doubt were skywave. Maybe locals could tell me if that is a regular thing. (I'm in eastern Iowa and listen to WSCR regularly during the day.) In KC, however, that's gotta be skywave.

I drive from my location to Madison, WI at least twice a year for work projects and on every trip, I start to receive WSCR, WGN and WBBM where I-35 meets I-80 on the west side of Des Moines.

Bob

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

I take that back, in reviewing some of my recordings today and measuring distance, I had KIXZ 940 Amarillo TX at 460 miles, just before 8am mountain

512 miles KDXU 890 St George, UT.. about 40 minutes after sunrise today

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

512 miles KDXU 890 St George, UT.. about 40 minutes after sunrise today

832am mountain time.. CJGX 940 Yorkton, Sask 703 miles.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

832am mountain time.. CJGX 940 Yorkton, Sask 703 miles.

AM 1590 The Answer KLFE Seattle with end of hugh Hewitt show, some commercials, legal ID and news at 10am mountain time.. a distance of 945 miles! (Im in Laramie, WY with a Sony XDRF1HD and 25 foot long by 10 foot tall magnetic loop antenna!!)

 

[crainbebo]

I would count your KLFE log as daytime skywave. 8:30AM MT is still skywave left over from the D-layer and I don't count those. It's like counting something heard at the break of dawn as 'daytime'...the closer to solar noon, the better.

 

[KR1S]

Thanks for this thread! Starting at 1100 MST, added two new ones, and plan to scan again at 1200 and 1300: 1105 MST KJOL 620 Grand Junction, CO 530 miles; 1115 MST KSOP 1370 SLC 642 miles.