Old Vacation Radio observations from way back

[markwa1ion@aol.com]

<<
>From kvahey@comcast.net  Thu Mar 27 10:08:53 2008

What I found amazing is how well several Boston and Maine stations
could be heard in the daytime in Newfoundland because even as the
seagull flies you are talking at least 800 miles.
>>

On 3/27/08, Doug Drown <revdoug1@verizon.net> wrote:
> A good many of the 5 kw stations from the Boston area
> can be picked up during the day in midcoast Maine, between Brunswick 
and
> Ellsworth --- and WEZE 590 can be received well northeast of there.  
That's
> probably true in Nova Scotia as well.

Little WCAS (now WJIB) on 740 made it to Tusket and Clarke's Harbour on 
the southwest end of Nova Scotia no problem at midday during a trip I 
took up there in 1974.  Higher powered Boston stations were the 
strongest things on the dial along with their 1340 local (CJLS, now 
silent) and Portland's WGAN-560.  Heck, even some of the New Yorkers 
(660, 710, 880) weren't too bad.

I have a 1998 daytime bandscan report from a southward-facing shore 
near Cape Race on the Avalon Peninsula in extreme southeast 
Newfoundland.  Some Boston and New York stations still registered good 
strengths at ca. 900 miles and 1100 miles respectively.  Bermuda even 
showed up on a couple of channels too.  See 
"http://chowdanet.com/markc/webpage/RockportMWDX/nf_dayscan.txt".

(590 covered by St. John's station)
WRKO-680 = S 7.5
(740 covered by Marystown station)
WEEI-850 = S 8
(950 covered by Sydney, NS station)
WBZ-1030 = S 6
WILD-1090 = S 5
(1150 covered by Gaspe, QC station)
WPZE(WMKI)-1260 = S 5
WJDA-1300 = S 3
WXKS-1430 = S 4
WNRB(WWZN)-1510 = S 4

1200, 1330, and 1600 were just a bit above the noise level.

On the eastern shore of Newfoundland (Cappahayden, Renews, etc.) you 
can get Azores (693 kHz) groundwave all day.  That's about 1200 miles 
out.  Skip from Europe can persist much of the day in autumn and winter.

Since WBZ's 2-stick array cuts off its signal to the east, it is not 
the strongest Boston station far at sea.  That honor goes to WEEI-850 
(best groundwave) and WWZN-1510 (best skip).  WWZN may not make it to 
Framingham at night, but they can really pile in at Ilfracombe, 
southwest England on an Internet-operable receiver that I check every 
so often.  Old WHDH-850 was easy copy on an unaided Realistic TRF 
portable from Ireland on my trip there in '77; a link to a recording of 
it is available at "http://home.comcast.net/~markwa1ion/dx_audio.htm".

Mark Connelly, WA1ION - Billerica, MA