July 23 E-skip from Moses Lake, WA *2x Skip Included!*

[dxsphere]

What a month for E-skip! I once again had a major E-skip opening in the afternoon/evening of July 23, nabbing Omaha, central Nebraska, Kansas City, OKC and Tulsa. I even got my second ever double hop E-skip!

Before we get to the juicy part... I had two wimpy openings during the early morning hours to Los Angeles along with a weak opening to New Mexico later in the morning.
* 08:05 - 94.7 KTWV Los Angeles, CA (1436 km / 892 mi)
* 08:08 - 88.9 KXLU Los Angeles, CA (1462 km / 908 mi)
* 11:11 - 94.3 KYEE Alamogordo, NM (1939 km / 1205 mi)
* 11:36 - 94.1 KZRR Albuquerque, NM (1703 km / 1058 mi)

The mid afternoon rolls around, with KIOA Des Moines IA starting to come in. From there, things start getting interesting...
* 17:26 - 93.3 KIOA Des Moines, IA (2137 km / 1328 mi)
* 17:28 - 94.1 KQCH Omaha, NE (1961 km / 1219 mi) *HD decode attempt*
* 17:29 - 96.1 KISO Omaha, NE (1961 km / 1219 mi)
* 17:31 - 99.9 KGOR Omaha, NE (1961 km / 1219 mi) *HD*
* 17:34 - 90.7 KVNO Omaha, NE (1961 km / 1219 mi) *HD*
* 17:36 - 94.7 KNEN Norfolk, NE (1813 km / 1127 mi)
* 17:37 - 96.5 KSOM Audubon, IA (2043 km / 1269 mi)
* 17:37 - 95.3 KQKL Keokuk, IA (2339 km / 1453 mi)
* 17:38 - 97.7 KBBX Nebraska City, NE (1973 km / 1226 mi)
* 17:39 - 101.9 KOOO La Vista, NE (1961 km / 1219 mi)
* 17:40 - 103.7 KXKT Glenwood, IA (1961 km / 1219 mi)
* 17:42 - 88.5 KLCV Lincoln, NE (1961 km / 1219 mi)
* 17:43 - 90.5 KXCV Maryville, MO (2092 km / 1300 mi)
* 17:44 - 91.1 KUCV Lincoln, NE (1947 km / 1210 mi) *HD*
* 17:46 - 96.9 KZKX Seward, NE (1910 km / 1187 mi)
* 17:46 - 97.3 KOBM Blair, NE (1931 km / 1200 mi)
* 17:48 - 104.5 KSRZ Omaha, NE (1961 km / 1219 mi) *HD decode attempt*
* 17:49 - 105.5 KKJO Saint Joseph, MO (2119 km / 1317 mi)
* 17:49 - 105.9 KKSW Lawrence, KS (2129 km / 1323 mi)
* 17:53 - 92.9 KTGL Beatrice, NE (1947 km / 1210 mi)
* 17:53 - 93.7 KNTK Firth, NE (1955 km / 1215 mi)
* 17:54 - 94.1 KFKF Kansas City, KS (2199 km / 1366 mi)
* 17:55 - 96.5 KRBZ Kansas City, MO (2198 km / 1366 mi)
* 17:58 - 101.3 KLZA Falls City, NE (2052 km / 1275 mi)
* 17:58 - 102.5 KCHI Chillicothe, MO (2220 km / 1379 mi)
* 17:58 - 104.3 KBEQ Kansas City, MO (2197 km / 1365 mi)
* 18:00 - 107.3 KBBK Lincoln, NE (1947 km / 1210 mi) *HD*
* 18:02 - 89.7 KJCV Country Club, MO (2139 km / 1329 mi)
* 18:06 - 95.1 KRKR Lincoln, NE (1928 km / 1198 mi)
* 18:13 - 93.5 KKOT Columbus, NE (1826 km / 1135 mi)
* 18:21 - 89.1 KHNE Hastings, NE (1837 km / 1141 mi) *HD*
* 18:22 - 92.1 KMZA Seneca, KS (2040 km / 1268 mi)
* 18:24 - 95.3 KBBN Broken Bow, NE (1676 km / 1041 mi)
* 18:24 - 95.7 KROA Grand Island, NE (1815 km / 1128 mi)
* 18:25 - 94.9 KCMO Shawnee, KS (2197 km / 1365 mi) *HD* -- first HD lock from Kansas City
* 18:26 - 98.1 KMBZ Kansas City, KS (2198 km / 1366 mi)
* 18:26 - 98.9 KQRC Leavenworth, KS (2198 km / 1366 mi)
* 18:26 - 99.7 KZPT Kansas City, MO (2198 km / 1366 mi)
* 18:30 - 93.1 KWJK Boonville, MO (2345 km / 1457 mi)
* 18:31 - 96.5 KRGI Grand Island, NE (1809 km / 1124 mi) *HD*
* 18:32 - 100.3 KDVV Topeka, KS (2100 km / 1305 mi)
* 18:33 - 101.5 KROR Hastings, NE (1786 km / 1110 mi)
* 18:33 - 102.3 KRNY Kearney, NE (1791 km / 1113 mi)
* 18:35 - 88.9 KPRD Hays, KS (1910 km / 1187 mi)
* 18:37 - 92.9 KMXN Osage City, KS (2140 km / 1330 mi)
* 18:38 - 94.5 KLIQ Hastings, NE (1790 km / 1112 mi)
* 18:39 - 102.5 KBLS North Fort Riley, KS (2037 km / 1266 mi)
* 18:41 - 107.9 KZRS Great Bend, KS (1910 km / 1187 mi)
* 18:42 - 88.7 KLNE Lexington, NE (1759 km / 1093 mi) *HD*
* 18:43 - 90.1 KFJS North Platte, NE (1620 km / 1007 mi)
* 18:46 - 93.1 KRVN Lexington, NE (1717 km / 1067 mi) *HD*
* 18:47 - 94.5 WIBW Topeka, KS (2096 km / 1302 mi)
* 18:48 - 97.5 KJCK Junction City, KS (2028 km / 1260 mi)
* 18:51 - 92.7 KZUH Minneapolis, KS (1973 km / 1226 mi)
* 18:55 - 99.9 KSKG Salina, KS (1994 km / 1239 mi) *HD*
* 18:58 - 91.3 KANV Olsburg, KS (2026 km / 1259 mi)
* 19:04 - 95.5 KWEN Tulsa, OK (2269 km / 1410 mi) *HD* -- Surprise! I finally nabbed KWEN, which is also my first HD lock from Tulsa!
* 19:04 - 95.1 KICT Wichita, KS (2059 km / 1279 mi)
* 19:05 - 97.5 KMOD Tulsa, OK (2269 km / 1410 mi) *HD decode attempt*
* 19:10 - 99.5 KXBL Henryetta, OK (2293 km / 1425 mi)
* 19:19 - 89.3 WRKF Baton Rouge, LA (3042 km / 1890 mi) -- Double Hop E-skip catch to Louisiana! New state and second farthest log. This one came in starting at 19:19 and went in and out periodically until fading out around 19:43 (more than 20 mins later!)
* 19:22 - 94.1 KTHM Waynoka, OK (2052 km / 1275 mi)
* 19:22 - 103.9 KHYM Copeland, KS (1871 km / 1163 mi)
* 19:36 - 90.9 KOKF Edmonds, OK (2221 km / 1380 mi)
* 19:47 - 101.1 KWOX Woodward, OK (2037 km / 1266 mi)
* 19:48 - 102.3 KWDQ Woodward, OK (2027 km / 1260 mi)
* 19:49 - 103.5 KVSP Anadarko, OK (2169 km / 1348 mi)
* 19:49 - 104.5 KZZW Mooreland, OK (2037 km / 1266 mi)
* 19:51 - 90.7 KJOV Woodward, OK (2028 km / 1260 mi)
* 19:52 - 92.1 KFXI Marlow, OK (2252 km / 1399 mi)
* 19:53 - 94.7 KBRU Oklahoma City, OK (2218 km / 1378 mi)
* 20:02 - 100.1 KWFX Woodward, OK (2027 km / 1260 mi)
* 20:05 - 104.1 KMGL Oklahoma City, OK (2221 km / 1380 mi)
* 20:06 - 107.7 KRXO Oklahoma City, OK (2221 km / 1380 mi) *HD decode attempt*
* 20:17 - 95.3 KWKN Wakeeney, KS (1801 km / 1119 mi)
* 20:18 - 96.3 KERP Ingalls, KS (1857 km / 1154 mi)
* 20:20 - 98.9 KYIS Oklahoma City, OK (2221 km / 1380 mi)
* 20:23 - 94.3 KXOO Elk City, OK (2099 km / 1304 mi)
* 20:24 - 96.1 KXXY Oklahoma City, OK (2218 km / 1378 mi)
* 20:25 - 99.1 KUAD Windsor, CO (1367 km / 849 mi) *HD* -- I finally got an HD lock on this one after eluding me the last two openings.
* 20:27 - 104.1 KNAB Burlington, CO (1631 km / 1013 mi)
* 20:27 - 106.3 KLEN Cheyenne, WY (1339 km / 832 mi)
* 20:30 - 91.9 KUWR Laramie, WY (1280 km / 795 mi)

Totals from 7/23 - 87 total, 37 new, 16 IBOC, 1 double-hop

Full compilation video is on my YouTube channel - for some reason RadioDiscussions is not liking YouTube links.

 

[Kelly A]

Now hold on a second DX'er.. How are you receiving more than one station within the same second? You running one of those SDR waterfall logging receivers? If so, then I call bogus. If you can't make out the station, ie; hear the audio and confirm the station via station ID or call letters, then it doesn't count. Even if you played back the recorded waterfall, you can't copy more than one station at the same time.
Can't recall the websites, but there are remotely accessible waterfall receivers in places like Sweden, where you can create an account, and frequency surf via the receiver and bad boy curtain antenna located in Europe, while you sit on your couch in Moses Lake. For some of my former stations, I used to receive QSL requests from DX'er using these remote on-line tools. Generally I've refused to send them a QSL card, because they're just logging bulk spectrum from a remote location having put forth zero effort. Whoever owns the web-accessible receiver and curtain antenna was the one who did all the work.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Now hold on a second DX'er.. How are you receiving more than one station within the same second? You running one of those SDR waterfall logging receivers? If so, then I call bogus. If you can't make out the station, ie; hear the audio and confirm the station via station ID or call letters, then it doesn't count. Even if you played back the recorded waterfall, you can't copy more than one station at the same time.

Where does it say by the second? this is a listing by the minute.

I've often logged stuff without hearing call letters, station id or similar.

Gosh, you are overly negative on this board and first to call someone out, arent you?

 

[Kelly A]

Where does it say by the second? this is a listing by the minute.

Even within the same minute, how would someone confirm what station it was? Answer: you don't.

I've often logged stuff without hearing call letters, station id or similar.

Then how can you confirm what station it is? Answer: Bogus.

Gosh, you are overly negative on this board and first to call someone out, arent you?

I've always found many DXer's somewhat annoying anyway. Just my opinion. Particularly if they're not being forthright in disclosing their reception source. If someone sends me a QSL request with a recording of one of my stations and their address is confirmed as far away, I'll usually send them at least confirmation. I've had a couple from Finland and Russia that were legit. Most from the U.S. are guys just trying to rack up contacts to impress their fellow DX buddies. When pressed to disclose their setup, they go silent.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Even within the same minute, how would someone confirm what station it was? Answer: you don't.

Then how can you confirm what station it is? Answer: Bogus.

I've always found many DXer's somewhat annoying anyway. Just my opinion. Particularly if they're not being forthright in disclosing their reception source. If someone sends me a QSL request with a recording of one of my stations and their address is confirmed as far away, I'll usually send them at least confirmation. I've had a couple from Finland and Russia that were legit. Most from the U.S. are guys just trying to rack up contacts to impress their fellow DX buddies. When pressed to disclose their setup, they go silent.

You can confirm it real easy.. RDS or webstream match.

Often times, and as smart as you seem to think you are, you should know this.. often times.. fm eskip openings are to a certain very defined area.. so using radio locator to search by frequency/format.. you can have, and ive figured out, using that method.. what i had in 30 seconds or less.

I had one log from PA that was 8 seconds of staticy french just fading up out of nowhere. A genius broadcast engineer recognized it as a CBC Rebroadcast transmitter based on audio processing.

We then looked at the relevant databases for all 105.7's in Canada.. then looked for just CBC outlets, then narrowed it down to CBC ICI premiere outlets and there was only one that fit.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

You can confirm it real easy.. RDS or webstream match.

Often times, and as smart as you seem to think you are, you should know this.. often times.. fm eskip openings are to a certain very defined area.. so using radio locator to search by frequency/format.. you can have, and ive figured out, using that method.. what i had in 30 seconds or less.

I had one log from PA that was 8 seconds of staticy french just fading up out of nowhere. A genius broadcast engineer recognized it as a CBC Rebroadcast transmitter based on audio processing.

We then looked at the relevant databases for all 105.7's in Canada.. then looked for just CBC outlets, then narrowed it down to CBC ICI premiere outlets and there was only one that fit.

Example of how you confirm it in less than 30 seconds:

I was hearing California on FM one day in 2020 from Wyoming and I knew what I heard on 95.7 wasnt KGMZ San Francisco with sports.. so within 5 seconds, i was over at www.radio-locator.com told it to search California for 95.7's

I knew what i had sounded like a talk show/interview of some sort that wasnt sports and wouldnt be on a music station .. found the most likely candidate and in under 20 seconds, before she even mentioned "Yellow County" at the 27 second mark in my recording, I knew I had KDRT DAvis, CA

Here's my audio:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xrVW4aX-WIpgxKnOiG52YLVZ3fSmyV21/view?usp=sharing

 

[crainbebo]

He's using military 24hr time in Pacific...so 18:45 is 6:45PM, and 18:46 is 6:46PM, so on.
As for me, if I hear two stations at one time on two channels, and one is 3/4ths through a song and one is 2/3rds through a song, I'll head for the first one and ID it, then go to the next one quickly and ID it. On 7/23 I had 103.7 and 104.5 Omaha IDed about 30 seconds apart and both were new.

The RDS really helps too. Many stations have RDS that read the call sign or branding. Example: 90.5 on Friday night, an NPR station cued an ID on my car's Pioneer Supertuner as "KXCV". That's Maryville, Missouri, a relog for me. Took a picture and moved on. Even some translators have RDS on them, I had "KNZZ" a few weeks ago on 92.7 - that's K224FE Grand Junction. The signal, at even 250 watts, was strong enough to cue an RDS ID. It's so helpful in openings, especially when the station is playing 'American Pie' or some other long song, or all the commercials are "do you owe $10,000 to the IRS" with generic 800 numbers. Often stations using Westwood One feeds for music formats will forget to cue local breaks or just don't after a certain period in the day, like after 7 local, so all I hear is Wave Ventilation, Optima Tax Relief, etc. These are 3-4 min stop sets, and without RDS I could be sitting there forever knowing there are a couple of other Es stations in with local commercials or the song is about to end.
Then there are stations like KVSV Beloit KS, on 105.5, where I just have to stop and listen for a few minutes just to realize that I'm not listening to an AM clear-channel MOR station of the 1970s in my El Camino. They have no webstream, and what a shame. Locally-run standards and MOR music, not America's Best Music or MOYL. And they even play local sports and have news a few times a day. Full service at its finest, and in 2021, just amazing to have around in a town like Beloit, Kansas where most people listen to CCM or country.

A fellow DXer in MO helped me ID 96.5 KRAV Tulsa with just the song that was currently playing. He looked up the Mix 96.5 website, looked at the current song, and it was 'Good Feeling' by Flo Rida. Slam dunk match, and I was getting OKC and Kansas stations on the same path.

We have a lot more tools to help us with E-skip DX nowadays than back in the '80s when digital readouts were just not the norm. And there was no internet, no RDS with song/artist and station calls, a lot of B/EZ stations on reels, and satellite formats were just starting out so IDs were sometimes seldom.

I'll even look up Radio-Locator to see what stations are in a particular area out to fringe (like St. Joseph, Missouri), and instead of just listening to Q Country on 92.7 for 10-15 minutes, I can surf around and look for other stations in NW Missouri or SE Nebraska...

 

[CTListener]

Then there are stations like KVSV Beloit KS, on 105.5, where I just have to stop and listen for a few minutes just to realize that I'm not listening to an AM clear-channel MOR station of the 1970s in my El Camino. They have no webstream, and what a shame. Locally-run standards and MOR music, not America's Best Music or MOYL. And they even play local sports and have news a few times a day. Full service at its finest, and in 2021, just amazing to have around in a town like Beloit, Kansas where most people listen to CCM or country.

There's a similar station in New Hampshire, WCNL 1010 Newport/W234BN 94.7 Claremont, which runs a similar format, country music, local talk and news, even a "swap shop" show on Sunday mornings. They stream, too. Check out their primitive website at this 1990s-style URL:

HOME | wcnlwebsite

dunebugg66.wixsite.com

 

[tvnut]

I identified three TV stations in about seven seconds once upon a time, Kelly A, whether you believe it like it or not. Channels 2-3-4, just like that. And WCBS-2 was audio over local WBBM. The 4 was KOA Denver. Yep, e-skip from east and west at the same time. With rabbit ears. It can be done, no matter how annoying you find us.

 

[Mitch Brewer]

It's funny how if you do something long enough it becomes second nature. My specialty is knowing songs in one note, irritates my GF to know end but it's something I have developed. I respect all you cats who can ID a station that quick.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

It's funny how if you do something long enough it becomes second nature. My specialty is knowing songs in one note, irritates my GF to know end but it's something I have developed. I respect all you cats who can ID a station that quick.

In FM DXing, its knowing where youre opening is coming from.. then having tools at hand to search when yo uget other stuff

 

[crainbebo]

It's funny how if you do something long enough it becomes second nature. My specialty is knowing songs in one note, irritates my GF to know end but it's something I have developed. I respect all you cats who can ID a station that quick.

Time for you to apply this winter for the next season of Beat Shazam! You'd kick butt at it, getting the songs right in 1.1 or 1.2 seconds...
Corinne, Jamie Foxx's daughter (the DJ), played The Beach Boys as one of the categories last Thursday. On the play-along phone game, I got three of the four songs in <1.25 seconds and beat out the TV contestants. See what listening to classic hits constantly does to you? ;-)

 

[dxsphere]

crainbebo is right, I use military time (aka 24 hour time) - apologies if I confused anyone. It is indeed possible to log several stations in one minute -- my method of working E-skip openings is by flipping through FM channels, recording a few seconds of anything out of the ordinary (i.e. not a local or tropo) before moving to the next channel. I use the SPARC SHD-TX2, which supports both HD/IBOC and RDS, and easily reads PI codes (false decodes can and sometimes do occur, but most of the time it's spot on). A lot of the stations listed above were received with RDS/IBOC decodes, branding, local ads, playlist match or TOTH ID, with a handful being path matches. One thing with me is that I don't log stations unless I'm strongly confident that is in fact what I'm hearing.

I uploaded my footage of the 7/23 opening to my YouTube channel -- I'm having trouble embedding it to the page though. https://www.youtube.com/c/dx_sphere

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

crainbebo is right, I use military time (aka 24 hour time) - apologies if I confused anyone. It is indeed possible to log several stations in one minute -- my method of working E-skip openings is by flipping through FM channels, recording a few seconds of anything out of the ordinary (i.e. not a local or tropo) before moving to the next channel. I use the SPARC SHD-TX2, which supports both HD/IBOC and RDS, and easily reads PI codes (false decodes can and sometimes do occur, but most of the time it's spot on). A lot of the stations listed above were received with RDS/IBOC decodes, branding, local ads, playlist match or TOTH ID, with a handful being path matches. One thing with me is that I don't log stations unless I'm strongly confident that is in fact what I'm hearing.

I uploaded my footage of the 7/23 opening to my YouTube channel -- I'm having trouble embedding it to the page though. https://www.youtube.com/c/dx_sphere

Everyones method of Dxing and how/what they log is different. This past winter, I spent 15 minutes one day listening to a Bangin signal from Talk Sport 1089 UK and later on a 10 minute listening session occured with Hungary's MR4 1188khz... because the signals were that good.

 

[dxsphere]

Everyones method of Dxing and how/what they log is different. This past winter, I spent 15 minutes one day listening to a Bangin signal from Talk Sport 1089 UK and later on a 10 minute listening session occured with Hungary's MR4 1188khz... because the signals were that good.

That's typically how I DX AM since there's no such thing as AM RDS.

 

[radioman148]

It's funny how if you do something long enough it becomes second nature. My specialty is knowing songs in one note, irritates my GF to know end but it's something I have developed. I respect all you cats who can ID a station that quick.

I used to be able to do that too with oldies. I couldn't do it with todays music.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

That's typically how I DX AM since there's no such thing as AM RDS.

Up here i hear non asian accented english (Japan, China, South Korea) or a European language.. i know i have something really good.. and that makes the list to search much shorter.