Adventures In Amplitude Modulation - Part 1

This is the first post in a series inspired by my personal radio listening habits. However, you can relax. I won’t be offering up a “connoisseur’s” list of my favorite radio stations or bragging about my personal taste in music. At least, not exactly. Often I listen to radio as an explorer of sorts. and occasionally I record some of these aural ventures. In this post (and others that may follow) I’ll offer a taste of where I go and what I hear on these radio hikes, such as they are.

Other than the Internet and my occasional purchases of the New York Times, my main source of information & entertainment comes from radio. However, what makes my media intake more esoteric than most is that I exclusively listen to AM radio and shortwave broadcasts. I don’t watch television and almost never listen to the FM band. Generally, the TV content I do take in, I now gather from the Internet. And to be honest, I occasionally do hear WFMU in the car, but at home I pick up WFMU on the computer. With 128K MP3 stereo streaming, it’s far better than the reception I muster with my radios here in north Brooklyn.

I suppose if I didn’t have all these albums, CD’s and cassettes laying around I might listen to FM more often, or even subscribe to (god forbid) satellite radio. For now, when I want music I listen to my own. When I turn on a radio I want something else. I want novelty, mystery, and most importantly something human. Every commercial music station on FM feels like it’s programmed by a committee of consultants. And even NPR sounds safe and tested these days. On AM and shortwave you're more likely to hear ad libs, idiosyncrasies, mistakes and raw conspiracy & rumor that isn’t always processed for pure potential profit. Oh sure, there ARE agendas and ulterior motives everywhere, probably just like where you work. Bottom line, most of U.S. FM radio is all about mindless listening and shameless profiteering, (Oh, and there's usually a few interesting non-profit stations at the end of the dial.) But AM and shortwave is about power, language, and cultural & ethnic identity. The “word,” whatever that’s worth these days still holds power on the traditional static-ridden bands that carry signals far distances. I like that.

That said, a large plurality, if not a majority, of AM radio and shortwave programming in America is pure propaganda– mostly Christian and/or pro-Republican. But like I said, it’s not just about commercials and "prayer offerings." It’s about the power of broadcasting “the word.” And even if the result is repulsive, at times it’s also fascinating. In the end, FM is “background” radio, and AM and shortwave is typically “foreground.” Either you listen, or you don’t hear it. You’re not just being entertained, you’re being engaged.

For the most part, I interact with the radio like normal people. At least when the sun is up. I tune in to specific stations and programs I like, listen, and go about my day. However, some evenings I turn on a radio to go exploring. Unlike FM (and TV for that matter), transmissions on the AM band (also known as “medium wave”) and the shortwave radio bands bounce off the upper layers of the atmosphere, and stations can be received from hundreds or even thousands of miles away. And as far as reception, the night time really is the right time.

While I’m not going to get into a lot of technobabble about things I barely understand myself (you can follow links I’m providing to learn more), I can explain the basic experience of listening to distant signals on medium and shortwave bands. For one thing, the ionosphere (the layers of the atmosphere the radio signals bounce off of) is a big strange and constantly changing thing. But it’s during the hours of darkness that the ionosphere has maximum reflectivity, and it’s the very best time to hear broadcasts from afar.

While there are a number of influences on what increases or decreases the reflectivity of radio waves on the ionosphere, the most significant factor is space weather. And the main force behind that is what’s happening on the sun, most specifically sunspots (and the 11-year sunspot cycle). Like I said, read up if you like, but the main affect a casual listener to these bands will notice is that the propagation of the broadcast stations varies quite a bit. In other words, on any given night you may find a station you’ve never heard before at that frequency, or you may not be able to find one you’ve found there before. It’s kind of a sport that way.

In fact, this “sport” has a name. It’s called DXing– the art of seeking and receiving far off broadcasts. While it’s not as popular as it once was, those who DX seriously spend A LOT of time and money on equipment to bag those distant transmissions. I’m way out of their league. I just play with a few portables when I get a chance and see what comes my way. If you want to get an idea of how serious DXing can really get, check out this guy’s log of AM stations he’s picked up over the years from San Diego.

The DXing hobby can get as exotic or quixotic as you can imagine. However anybody with a fairly sensitive AM radio can hear a fair number of “clear channel” AM stations broadcasting across the country. Traditionally, the FCC let these stations broadcast their full 50,000 (the maximum in the U.S. & Canada) of medium wave carrier on one frequency all to themselves. In the 80's, the FCC opened the rules up a bit and most clear channel stations now share their allotted frequency. Other stations at their point on the dial either use directional (and often lower power) broadcasting at night, or they're just far enough away to not interfere with the the multi-state coverage of the original clear channel outlet. There’s a list of these clear channel AM stations here and here. New York City, the nation’s largest radio market, also has more of these high power AM stations than any other city in the country (WFAN, WOR, WABC, WCBS, WBBR and WQEW).

While you can hear a lot of stations on the AM dial on any given night in New York City, it is NOT an ideal locale for DXing. For one, there’s too many locals, especially those six clear channel stations which splatter into adjoining frequencies. For example, WCBS blasting at 880 Khtz makes it nearly impossible to hear WLS at 890 (another clear channel station in Chicago), or to be able to pull in another powerful station on the other side of the frequency (WWL New Orleans, LA at 870 AM).

I live so close to clear channel WQEW (now “Radio Disney”) that their inane programming occasionally comes in over the phone line. And if I have a bad cord coming out of my mixer goddamn Radio Disney weasels its garbage programming right into my sound system. Tuning across the AM & shortwave dial, “images” of mouse-eared WQEW show up all over the place. In general, it's torture.

Also, there's RF everywhere. What does that mean? Anywhere human beings setup camp, especially a city, there’s all sorts of infrastructure and gadgets broadcasting noise at various frequences, all the time. Ever notice that “FCC” sticker on your electronic toys? It's because on some level the thing broadcasts. Even wiring in general can make noise on your radio. And dimmer switches blast crackles and pops every which way. And your monitor, computer, printer and power supplies all emit static, buzzes and whines into the airwaves. You get the idea. And your neighbors have the same kind of stuff running too. It's radio spectrum pollution.

So if you’re going to try your luck with AM reception in the city, get away from your gadgets. Near a window is a good idea, and outside is even better. Often car radios have very good AM reception. Boomboxes often have sensitive radios, and most receivers with shortwave bands have decent AM reception too. In general (but not always), the older and bigger the radio the better. An don't forget that old tube radios can sound MUCH much better on the AM band. And unless you have a fancy digital radio, stay away from digital tuning. They're often less sensitive, and not nearly as much fun to tune. But a lot of radios can surprise you with their reception. Just try spinning slowly through the AM dial in the mid to late evening, and if you hear a number of faint stations in between the clear ones, and if you find spots where you hear 2 or 3 stations fading in on top of each other, you’ve got a sensitive receiver in your hands.

Oh, and one other important factor in tuning in distant AM and shortwave stations is the antenna itself. Just like tuning in FM, focusing in on problematic shortwave signals requires adjusting the antenna by pulling up the attached aerial and moving it around until the signal comes in the best. But AM is different. The antenna for that band is actually a ferrite bar inside the radio itself, usually right underneath the top of the unit. Adjusting the antenna for AM reception is accomplished by physically turning the radio around. Some DXing geeks actually utilize a lazy susan for this purpose. Now and then you can get a readable signal on two or even three stations at one frequency by moving the radio gradually around in a circle.

As far as serious listening, it’s when I’m able to get out of the city that I really spend some time sampling the medium and short wave spectrum. I’ve specifically taken some camping vacations in the north woods under dark skies where the radio reception is clear and I get a sky full of stars as a bonus. It’s really a big change when I tune to a shortwave band and there’s near dead silence between stations. In the city, I usually have to hope the signal will overcome the inherent noise floor. Many of the weaker stations don’t make it over that hump.

During the Thanksgiving holiday I spent a couple of days in the Hudson Valley with relatives, and on Friday night I turned on the radio and noticed the reception on AM seemed pretty good. I picked up WWL in New Orleans more easily than usual. So later, after everyone was in bed I plugged in my headphones, hooked up a cassette deck and slowly scanned the AM dial to hear what was out there.

More suburban than rural, the area I was in is about halfway between Albany and New York City. The RF noise was tolerable. I brought one of my favorite radios, a small early 80's Sony 9 band analog portable (ICF-7600A). By the end of the 80's most of the better portable receivers went to digital tuning, which has many advantages, but when it comes to scanning the dial nothing beats the ability to finely tune signals with an analog knob. They don’t make analog portables like this anymore. This radio is a little heavy and feels like a finely tuned instrument in your hands, and can be found with some regularity on ebay for 25 to 70 bucks, depending on condition.

I started listening around midnight. But this recording is not completely in real time, as I stopped the tape a couple of times, and made a few edits. But the MP3 segment I’m posting here is a recording of the beginning of a journey through the AM dial that night, starting at the bottom at 530 kilohertz and working my way to 750 kilohertz. If I stay longer on a station I’m either trying to tune it in better or just identify it. Or maybe I found the broadcast interesting, or was grabbing a cold beer.

So, I’m not going to link the audio to every frequency, but if you download this MP3 of this segment, and follow along, it should all be pretty self-explanatory.

Segment 1 - Hudson Valley AM Radio 11-25-05 (530 to 750 AM)

530 - Radio Vision Cristiana, Turks & Caicos (W.Indies)

I hear this all the time in the city, and I didn’t think it was from so far away until I looked it up. The signal itself may be coming from the Carribean, but the content is from the Bronx. It’s Jesus-type broadcasting, in Spanish. Sometimes the preaching on this station gets a bit hysterical and interesting. I suppose I might find it less intriguing if I actually understood Spanish.

540 - The News... from somewhere

I’m not sure what station this is, but some more distant sounding Spanish station is eating at it. I’d guess it might be WLIE out on Long Island, but they run directionally toward the ocean at very low power at night. A better guess might be KNOE in Monroe, Louisiana. I think I heard some reference to the Louisiana capitol, Baton Rouge, right before I turned the station.

550 - (Nothing Intelligible)

560 - (Nothing Intelligible)

570 - WMCA, NYC

A Christian call-in show, probably a rerun from daytime programming. It’s coming in poorly with a bad whine with some operatic singing from another station bleeding in. This used to be one of the biggest top 40 stations in the city years ago. Now it’s the home of Jesus and brokered programming. It’s now owned by the super conservative "family" style corporation,  Salem Communications, who also bought up WWDJ 970 AM in Hackensack, NJ.

580 - (Nothing Intelligible)

590 - WARM Scranton, PA

CBS News– A fatal ice skating accident in Wisconsin. Faint, but readable. Nice call-letters.

600 - (Probably) CICQ Montreal, QC

Some inspired classical music. Usually when you hear jazz, classical or something out of the pop music mainstream on AM radio at night, it’s probably coming from Canada.

This is a correction from the original post. An outdated listing at Radio Locator said this station was CFCF, which hasn't been true since 1991.

610 - Spanish Music

Sounds like 60's Spanish music, possibly Cuban. Don’t know where this is coming from. It could be WEXS in Puerto Rico, but I have no idea.

620 - WSNR, Jersey City, NJ

Yankees information. Barely coming in. Whatever.

630 - (Nothing Clear)

There’s something in English with old Spanish music on top of it. It might be the same song as on 610. Some Cuban stations broadcast the same network at nearby frequency intervals.

640 - WHLO Akron, OH

It’s CBS News and a story about a Cleveland area Sunni cleric who’s being deported because he’s suspected of terrorist ties. Broadcasting at only 500 watts from Ohio, as far as DXing goes this is a decent catch. The Kinks song is probably a bumper music lead-in to a talk show.

650 - WSM Nashville, TN

It’s heartening to hear George Jones on an AM station these days. Classic country used to be a mainstay of the band. Not anymore. WSM still broadcasts the Grand Old Opry every Saturday night, and it’s one of the last (if not the last) clear channel AM station that plays real country music. Four years ago they ALMOST switched to an all-sports format. It’s a legendary station that has so far kept their music heritage and bucked the trend turn over their 50,000 watts to knuckleheads talking about running backs or cheerleading Republican talking points. It’s a minor miracle.

660 - WFAN, NYC

Sounds like a Nets game.

670 - Radio Rebelde, Cuba

Cuban music coming in loud and clear from the Carribean. Unlike the states, Cuba doesn’t restrict their AM stations to 50,000 watts of power. Most likely there’s a lot more oomph blasting the salsa here. I remember when I worked at a small station in Louisiana and there was a Cuban station killing our signal when we went to low power at night. One day the FCC had us briefly shut down our transmitter so they could attempt to measure the power of the Cuban station. They estimated there were booming a half-million watts our way.

680 - (Probably) CFTR Toronto, ON

Weak signal with other stations bleeding in. An American is talking to somebody (w-British accent) about how the U.S. needs to establish a leadership role in stopping worldwide epidemics and poverty. Jeez. Freedom is on the march. You’d think that would be enough.

690 - CINF Montreal, QC

French language talk radio. And is “okay” the only word that is the same in every language?

This is a correction as well. Online, a number of online sources still list this station as CBF. When it was a CBC outlet, those call letters stood for "Canadian Broadcasting French."

700 - WLW Cincinnati, OH

It’s “America’s Trucking Network, with Steve Sommers.” Trucker shows have been a staple of late night AM radio since the 70's, but they used to play old country music, and give lots of traffic and trucker info. Now you have something like this, a HACK talk host in the tradition of Matt Drudge– chattering about hot-button non-issues which typically make fun of the underprivileged and underpowered. Here ol’ Steve is on his “soapbox” ridiculing “black Friday” shoppers who get up early to snag a sale item on the biggest shopping day of the year, and then ultimately stampede over kids and grannies to get thier booty. In his wisdom, he postulates that these shopping-crazed masses go through this absurd dance simply because they're just too lazy to get up early and get a real job. Oh. Now I understand.

While the "Black Friday" shoppers are kinda stupid, it’s a bit presuming to think they went shopping that morning BECAUSE they didn't have a good job. I had turned in to him before this and he was pointing out the (ever popular) evils of liberalism. Not only is this guy a wimp, but he’s obviously a radio amateur with a thin grating voice. This time slot on WLW used to be occupied by a guy who called himself the “Truckin’ Bozo.’ I think he was a bit of redneck too, but at least he was a professional who had more to say about truck driving than reading talking points about the evils of liberalism. He’s gone to XM, one of those satellite networks. Speaking of that, apparently Dave Nemo’s gone to XM as well. He did a wonderful trucking show for years that you could hear across the country on the AM band, featuring old country music and homespun humor. It's kinda sad. Now truckers without a satellite hookup are subject to blabbering hacks, like Steve Sommers.

710 - WOR, NYC

It’s Lionel, again taking on the bumper-sticker-playbook right wing morons, as he does so well. Notice the old Spanish music heavily intruding on this relatively nearby clear channel station. It’s probably the same “Radio Rebelde” I picked up at 670, with PLENTY of power. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t get WOR to come in clearly.

720 - (Probably WGN Chicago, IL)

This usually comes in pretty good out this way. But tonight it was a muddle, with what seemed to be WGN easily overcome by at least two other stations.

730 - CKAC Montreal, QC

It’s a French talk show. Faint reception. I know. Where are my language skills?

740 - CHWO Toronto, ON

Also known as “AM 740.” It’s Dusty Springfield I believe, coming in HORRIBLY. I try valiantly to pull the signal together, but no go. I listen to this station a lot in the city, and it usually comes in quite strong. Since CHWO took over this legacy frequency from the CBC a few years ago, their format has been slowly morphing from a general big band/standards sound to more of a “music of your life”-middle-of-the-road oldies format. In the car, it’s a good stop on the dial, reminds me of what music on AM used to sound like, especially from the back seat of my parents car. They’ve got a fat strong signal that covers a huge swath of the U.S. & Canada. However, the propagation of AM varies quite a bit. And as you hear, sometimes the ionosphere doesn’t do the job and the trying to listen from a few hundred miles away just yields a static-ridden mess.

750 - WSB Atlanta, GA

Apparently snuffed out this night by a far off Spanish station. Like CHWO, WSB usually comes in easily after dark in New York City. In fact, WSB usually comes in strong up in the Hudson Valley too. But not every night...

Okay, that’s about a quarter of the AM dial. I’ll offer you up another chunk of this episode of broadcast listening next week, starting with WJR in Detroit.

The following posts in this blog series can be found here.

Thanks for listening.

Comments

[Mel Matsuoka]

God, what a great post...I remember doing this as a kid in the late 80's & early 90's with my crappy RadioShack boombox. Living in Honolulu, Hawaii, I would accidentally stumble upon mainland stations like KNX 1070 and KFI in Los Angeles, a station called "LG 73" in Vancouver BC (i think) and a station in Alberquerque. On one rare occasion, I even managed to pick up some religious station with a "W" call letter prefix (cant remember the actual call letters though).

I didn't know there was an actual term for my accidental hobby! Thanks for the post!

[Blind Uncle Gaspard]

Speaking of Satellite Radio, I've said many times:

"I ain't getting satellite radio until one of them pays WFMU to broadcast...unedited and 24 hours a day."

Although I occasionally would like to hear from "Celebrity" DJS and Air America.

b.u.g.

[M.G.]

So cool, i thought i was the only one interested in this stuff.

I'm from Montreal, glad to see you got the local stations there!

940 should offer you spooky stuff late at night. Sort of a Art Bell spinoff now has a show, entertaining with the usual conspiracy stuff and more aliens.

[Pete]

Ah, another AM junkie. Nice to see there are still some of us left.

I grew up with parents who listened almost exclusively to AM, with cars that only had AM on the radio (until 1985 or 87, in fact), and on a lot of long drives in remote areas without a lot of interference. So the AM 'DXing' hobby (a name I only heard recently) is deep in my veins. I no longer keep lists of the stations I pull in like I did as a kid, but I often eschew the "seek" button on the radio to check every single frequency, particularly in summertime when I can listen from my car in various points in New England to Cardinals games on KMOX, Blue Jays games on CHOK (what an appropriate set of call letters, no?), Orioles games on WBAL, and from my kitchen a mile from downtown Boston, beautifully, Yankees games on WCBS.

[Mac]

Ah, the old Sony 7600A. I still have mine. Wish I could find someone to clean it up. Don't forget the GE Superadio.
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze20h45/radio/superadio/gesr_faq.html

[George Stuart]

Excellent post. Now I know what tonight's "Avoid studying for finals because I'm a bum" activity will be.

[Scrooge McDuck]

HEY that's the Sony 7600 - I had one of those! First the FM quit working then the whole radio went bust, but I did get 12 good years out of it.

The Alberquerque station Mel mentioned is KOB. It was a 50,000 clear channel with no other cities around to interfer with its signal.

Never, ever, ever go dial hopping in Vegas or Phoenix. All those air conditioners running evrywhere just plays havoc with the signal.

[ralph]

I've been a shortwave DXer for almost 30 years at this point, with occasional dips into mediumwave (AM) DXing, primarily to try and get stations from Europe. Yes, with a good location, decent equipment, and a bit of luck, you can hear AM radio from Europe on the east coast of North America.

As far as mediumwave DXing being an "accidental hobby", a lot of us started out thinking we were the only ones with such an odd interest. I regularly read such stories in DX News, the publication of the National Radio Club, one of two clubs that caters to mediumwave DXers in North America. The other club is the International Radio Club of America. Both clubs are great sources of information about how to DX and what others are hearing.

As for shortwave radio, I'm no doubt biased, but my favorite source of information about what to hear on shortwave is the WWW Shortwave Listening Guide, hosted by the North American Shortwave Association, for which I serve as the webmaster. (Sorry to blow my own horn here; I really do think this is a useful source, and a lot of other people think so too.)

[Paul Kelly]

Great post. Can't wait for the follow-ups. Keep going all the way to 30Mhz!

[Jeff Jotz]

Growing up as a sports fan in the 1980s, Orioles games on WBAL used to come in rather clear in my parents' living room in eastern Union County, NJ. Ditto with Montreal Canadiens hockey games from Montreal and Saint Louis Blues games from the midwest. As a college student in Indiana, I used to sit on the front steps of my dormitory with my crappy Panasonic radio under the chilly air to listen to New Jersey Devils games on WABC, some 800 miles away.

[David Bachner]

Oh man, this is a great post! A few comments on your Hudson Valley DXing experience from a DXer in Toronto...

> 530 - Radio Vision Cristiana, Turks & Caicos (W.Indies)

Wow, that's a new one on me! CIAO, a 250 or 500 watt ethnic station, occupies that frequency here. I've been told that it be heard as far away as Pennsylvania, Illinois north of Chicago and in much of eastern Wisconsin. Truely amazing for a station with such low wattage, but I'd much rather be hearing what a Turks & Caicos signal sounds like.

> 600 - (Probably) CFCF Montreal, QB

The official abreviation for Quebec is QC (formerly PQ).

> Usually when you hear jazz, classical or something out of the pop music
> mainstream on AM radio at night, it’s probably coming from Canada.

True enough, although several months ago I did hear a faint signal on 1530 playing classical on a weekday afternoon while driving between Toronto and London, Ontario. I don't know of any Canadian station in Ontario or Quebec occupying 1530, so I had to assume it was coming from somewhere across Erie or possibly Michigan?

> 680 - (Probably) CFTR Toronto, ON

I'm surprised WRKO Boston didn't shout loudly over CFTR. WRKO is true clear channel whereas CFTR is directional - apparently very directional - to the north. A couple of summers ago, I took a long 80 mile bike ride to the Niagara region on the Lake Ontario trail and rode right past CFTR's transmitter - in GRIMSBY of all places, east of Hamilton across the lake from Toronto. When I got home I looked it up and confirmed that indeed CFTR's transmitter is located some 40 miles south of Toronto.

> 690 - CBF, Montreal

690 is no longer CBF. Sometime in the late 90's, the CBC moved both English and French Radio-1/Chaine Premiere services to the FM band. 690 and 940 (the former english frequency for CBC Montreal) both became commercial all-news stations Info-690 (francais) and 940-News (english). The english station has since drifted more towards a news-talk format. I'm not sure if the french station has done likewise.

> 740 - CHWO Toronto, ON

Man, if I ever win a lottery...

db

[toober]

Great post! I have quite a few old radios that I use, although I mostly listen to what the hams are babbling about (mostly the weather, actually, but every so often a good bit comes up). I agree with the "old is better" claim. I mainly use two old US Navy radios - circa 1943 models RBB-2 and RAL-7, both made by RCA. The RBB is astoundingly good, but at 130 pounds, it better be. The 90 pound RAL is an old regenerative design, and is literally a handful, but if you do not mind having your hand fall off the regeneration knob after ten minutes, you can pull anything out of the air.

So when does WFMU start a shortwave station?

Will

[Dale]

Great post. I bought a TERK tunable antenna and placed it near my radio ... a HUGE difference in making a faint signal actually listenable.

[Haz]

DXing can be alot of fun, i would can get US Armed Forces Network radio from Frankfurt (sp?) Germany up here in Sweden during the evenings. Its enough to get the American-Football games Live! Unfortunely with the introduction of Digital radio on the Mediumwave (an idea that makes no sense on many levels). DXing will become harder and harder.

For the shortwave fans i strongly recommend listening to Wilco's album "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" which does a wonderful job of adding sounds from the shortwave to there music, Including a "Numbers station" broadcast from which the album gets its name from.

Great Post
- Haz

[GW]

Oh god..what a WONCERFUL series! I am a radio FIEND, and wouldl isten to my shortwave radio scanner twice daily, in the AM and in the PM..then it died. I haven't had the cash to get another since, but your series has motivated me to get cracking! There is nothing like distant radio, especially late at night......sigh! I live in the L.A. area, how difficult is it to pick up international frequencies from So.Calif? I would think it would be because of the radio and cell phone towers, not to mention our lovely mountains and hillsides......

[Tom in Florida]

Great blog!
I've been an AMDXer for longer than I care to mention (OK, 40 years!) and I got started with a 6-transistor portable. I was astounded when I began to actually stop and listen to the kind of staticky and not-too-clear voices between the big local guys (I was in Albuquerque at the time and KOB was my normal "home page") and discovering I was hearing stations from Denver, Los Angeles, Dallas, Oklahoma City (KOMA, anyone?)! I was hooked. My favorite fall-asleep-with-the-earphone-in station was KFAB Omaha with their "Seranade In The Night" program. I also enjoyed listening to KSL Salt Lake City for their nightly airing of the CBS Mystery Theater...
I could go on and on.
My dad presented me with a no-name solid state multiband RX when I was about 9 - which would have been about 2 years after I got the little Lloyd's transistor RX - and suggested I try the SW band.
I almost turned my blue jeans into a diaper the first time I heard the BBC come out of that little radio! DXing is a disease I want no cure for.

I'd been out of the hobby for a long time, but recently, I went EBaying and ended up dropping 275USD which, quite honestly, could have found a better use :-/ on a Hammarlund HQ145X. With 200 feet of longwire antenna, the world has opened up for me again in a way that the Internet just can't do.

[joel]

For the past two nights I have been getting RaDIO rebelde from cuba on 600 khtz. I live in the Bronx