Re: [IRCA] 2013 - The Year In Review

[Barry McLarnon <bm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I enjoyed reading Rick Dau's recap of his AM DXing accomplishments in 
2013, and was expecting to see more of the same from others, but so far, 
nothing.  Anyway, here's my contribution...
My AM Dxing efforts have been greatly hampered in recent years by local 
noise issues.  I would estimate that my overall noise floor has gone up 
at least 10-15 dB in the past five years or so, and there are many "hot 
spots" throughout the band where there are much stronger sources of 
noise/birdies.  I have no less than six houses within a 50 ft radius of 
my antennas, and with the untold numbers of modern household devices 
capable of radiating significant RFI, there is no hope of doing much 
about this problem (other than moving, which is not in the cards).  Some 
of the discrete noise sources can sometimes be reduced using 
cancellation technques (phasing box), but that's about it.
However, I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet... though it's 
very frustrating that weak-signal DX is no longer possible here, there 
is still some DX to be heard.  That includes the occasional new station, 
stations running DX tests, stations running day power/pattern at night 
(by mistake or otherwise) and especially, targeting stations that can be 
quite strong if you catch them at the right time (SSS or SRS, but I'm 
not a morning person, so mostly the former).
When I totaled things up, I was pleasantly surprised to find that 2013 
wasn't as bleak DX-wise as I had thought.  I had 28 new catches, and 
ended the year with 2409 AM stations logged from this location since 
1998 (48 states, 10 provinces, and about 75 countries, no call changes 
counted).
For the few who are interested in the minutiae, here's a breakdown:

Jan:  KFUO-850 (MO)
Feb:  KWOS-950 (MO), WBAX-1240 (PA), R. Maria 1467 (France)
Mar:  CJWI-1410 (QC), WDAK-540 (GA), WRLV-1140 (KY), R. Rebelde 1179 (Cuba)
Apr:  XET-990 (Mexico)
Aug:  WXKS-1200 (MA)  [local 1200 off air]
Sep  WKAJ-1120 (NY), WYCB-1340 (DC)
Oct:  WIXK-1590 (WI), KWAM-990 (TN), R. Guama 990 (Cuba)
Nov:  WFNO-830 (LA), WRIX-1020 (SC), WBQH-1050 (MD), WTNK-1090 (TN), 
WWHN-1510 (IL)
Dec:  WZGV-730 (NC), WBKK-820 (MN), WCIT-940 (OH), WBXR-1140 (AL), 
WNLR-1150 (VA), WCRW-1190 (VA), WTOY-1480 (VA), R. Cadena Agramonte 1140 
(Cuba)
I have a couple of new catches already in 2014, so there's still hope...

Good DX,

Barry

--
Barry McLarnon  Ottawa, ON

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