KRSN 1490khz Los Alamos, NM DX Test

*Rescheduled*

Date(s): Sunday Morning (Late Saturday Night) Jan 28, 2007.
Time(s): 0100-0110, 0200-0210, & 0300-0310 Mountain Time. Ten minute long test period at the top of each hour.
Modes of Operation: Special DX Test. 640 Watts, Non-Directional
Programming: Phonetic voice ID’s, Morse Code ID's, Sweep Tones.

Notes: This will be a challenging test, as KRSN is on an STA that allows them only 640 watts. The antenna is a short (about 80 foot) folded unipole mounted on a 150 foot tower. The top of the tower supports several bays of cell phone antennas. KRSN has installed a new Harris DAX-1 transmitter.

QSL Information: Reception reports via e-mail are preferred. Send reports to: dxtest @ krsnam1490.com

For those who cannot send e-mail reports, the address for Postal reports is:

KRSN AM 1490
145 Central Park Square
Los Alamos, NM 87544

Please include an SASE for reply.

A recording of the test is requested. The following formats (only) are acceptable: .MP3 or .WAV for e-mail attachments. Audio CD or cassette for Postal reports. If a recording is not available, please include a detailed description of your reception including the sequence of test elements, description of sweep tones, etc.

A big "Thank you" for Mike Westfall who personally arranged for this test! Not only did he set it up, he provided complete details, asked for very specific test elements, and generally made life easy for the BTC! Thanks, Mike!

WODI 1230khz Brookneal, VA DX Test

Date(s): Sunday Morning (Late Saturday Night) Jan 1'st. Tests started October 1st and continued weekly until January 1, 2007.
Time: Midnight until 00:05AM Eastern Time (5 Minute test each week)
Modes of Operation: Special DX Test. 1,000 Watts, Non-Directional
Programming: Morse Code ID's, Sweep Tones, Voice ID.

Notes: This DX friendly station is co-owned by two amateur radio operators, and they have decided to conduct this rare, on-going DX test, giving listeners a weekly opportunity to put these station into the log books. Reception reports are desired via e-mail (first choice) and snail mail (only if e-mail is not available) Station would prefer to received recordings of the test (MP3, CD, or cassette). Submit reports to: les @ highnoonfilm.com and please put "WODI DX Test" in the subject line. All standard mail reports should go to:

Les Rayburn
High Noon Film
100 Centerview Drive
Suite 111
Birmingham, AL 35216

*SASE Required for reply.

Thanks to Dave Marthouse, N2AAM & Tony DeNicola, WA2IHZ for putting on this unusual, long term DX tests for the benefit of distant listeners!

Montana "Big Sky DX Tests" Special Event

The state of Montana is one of the rarest of all for DX’ers, especially those east of the Mississippi River. Through the joint efforts of a lot of dedicated folks, we are now proud to announce a special multi-station DX test from Montana offering listeners a rare opportunity to log this state.

Special thanks go out to the ABDX E-Mail List, Engineer Ron Huckeby, Michael Richard of KEVA, and the staff of these stations for putting this test together. DX’ers everywhere owe them all a debt of gratitude.

KANA 580khz, Anaconda, MT (1KW Daytime Pattern)
KKGR 680khz East Helena, MT (5KW Non-Directional)
KERR 750khz Polson, MT (50KW Non-Directional) **
KLCY 930khz, East Missoula, MT (5KW Daytime Pattern)
KGVO 1290khz, Missoula, MT (5KW Daytime Pattern)
KEIN 1310khz Great Falls, MT (5KW Daytime Pattern)

Date(s): Late Saturday Night November 18th, 2006 continuing until early Sunday morning, November 19th.
Time: Midnight until 2 AM Mountain Time. 2 Hour Long Test.**
Modes of Operation: Transmitter Testing. Daytime Power & Patten for all stations.
Programming: Morse Code ID's, Sweep Tones, Voice ID. KEIN 1310khz will run a mixture of nostalgia music programming and Morse Code ID’s, sweep tones, etc. KERR will run country music and normal ID’s, no code or sweep tones.

** KERR 750khz Polson, MT will be doing transmitter maintenance 0005-0058 Mountain Time. 50kw Non-Directional.

Notes: Transmitter audio chain testing. Stations will broadcast voice ID’s, Morse Code ID’s, special Sweep Tone signals, etc. Reception reports are desired via e-mail (first choice) and postal mail . Due to the high volume of QSL requests, we will only accept Postal reports as a last resort. No DX’er with e-mail capability will be allowed to submit a Postal QSL request. Station would prefer to receive recordings of the test (MP3, CD, or cassette). Submit reports to: les @ highnoonfilm.com and please put "Montana DX Test" in the subject line. All standard mail reports should go to:

Les Rayburn
High Noon Film
100 Centerview Drive Suite 111
Birmingham, AL 35216

Please include a SASE for reply.

Our thanks to the Kevin Redding & The ABDX E-Mail List, Ron Huckey, Michael Richard, Steve Dow, Todd Clark, and the staff members of these great stations for helping to arrange this once in a lifetime DXing event!

Flash: KBOI 670 kHz off air tonight

This is just in from DX'er Bill Frahm in Boise, posting on the AMFMTVDX E-Mail list, via Les Rayburn:

KBOI 670 will be off this Wednesday morning 12:05am MST to ?am.

Update: KNBR 680khz Potential Maintenace Period

This in from Mike Hawkins, via Les Rayburn:

.. that on Tuesday (11/28), he will be taking KTCT/1050 down for 1-1.5 hours at 2300 PT, returning to the air on Wednesday (11/29) at 0000-0030. After one of the 50KWers was back up, he would then take down the other one (KNBR/680) for the same amount of time, though he said this would probably be around 0100 PT. He stressed that the information was tentative, that it was not confidential, and that I could tell people in the hobby, as long as I made sure that I also let people know that it was tentative and exact details were subject to change.

KNBR 680khz Potential Maintenace Period

This news just in from Les Rayburn. Be sure to check back in the coming days for updates and clarifications. Here's Les:

DX'er Mike Hawkins of ABDX/IRCA spoke with engineers at KNBR and found out some juicy information.

KTCT 1050khz, San Francisco, CA will be off the air on Tuesday night at 11PM West Coast Time for about 1.5 hours, on November 29th.

KNBR 680khz, San Francisco, CA will be off the air on Tuesday night/Wednesday night around 1AM West Coast for about 1.5 hours on November 29th.

It should be noted that this off air period is tentative, and may be rescheduled without notice...but KNBR is almost never off the air opening up some real DX opportunities for those in the West/Southwest.

I'm also sending an e-mail to Ron Huckeby to see if KKGR 680khz in East Helena, MT might be willing to do a second DX test during this period. Cross your fingers!

Big thank you to Mike Hawkins for this info!

-Les

KKGR 680 kHz added to next weekends Big Sky DX Test lineup

This announcement just in from Les Rayburn regarding next weekends Montana DX Test extravaganza!

Late word today from engineer Ron Huckeby that KKGR 680khz will join the "Big Sky DX Test" this coming weekend! They'll be running 500 watts into a short tower (290 feet). I doubt they'll be as well heard as some of the others, but for Western DX'ers this is a chance to add an additional station to the log book.

-Les

Update: KKGR will be using full daytime power, 5 kw ND for the test.

Latest update from the Broadcast Test Coordinator

Big news in the DX Test World today. We heard from Tony Mulligan of KERR 750khz in Polson, MT. He wanted to let us know that he's decided to do some full power maintenance tests, and as scheduled them for the same night as our "Big Sky DX Test" on November 19th! While KERR will not broadcast tones or Morse, their 50kw Non-Directional signal should make them a great target anyway!

We've also got a new test from NM station KRSN arranged by Mike Westfall, and QSL news from WMRO!

The other resource is the #mwdx chat room that allows for all of us to communicate in real time during DX tests or just about any evening. You can join in just by surfing to: www.starchat.net and selecting "#mwdx" as your channel. This is a great way to solve questions like, "who's playing classical music right now on 1620khz?" While this chat room is great every night, it's best during DX tests. Join Us!

--Les

WMRO-1560 update

Please check the WMRO-1560 listing for an update from Les Rayburn.