FWIW - 1566 kHz from Korea carries a few hours of VOA to P5.
73 Ken K4ZW On Monday, October 12, 2026, ve6wz--- via Topband <[email protected]> wrote: > Jim's comment regarding "off-axis" path to EU from my location in VE6 is > very true. > My Beverage arrays pointed toward EU from here have much of continental NA > off the sides. > Since EU BCB is on the 9kHz offset "between" the domestic NA 10 kHz splits > really helps, but adjacent splatter can be a real killer. > The same is even more true for Asia and OC where from here, NA is mostly > off the back of my RX which really helps. > > However, as a propagation indicator, we don't need to parse out audio, as > much as simply see the 9kHz carrier amplitude between the domestics. > The powerhouse EU guys are Moldova on 1413 kHz, Lithuania on 1386, and UK > on 1089 kHz. (amongst others) > > For Asia Korea HLAZ on 1566 is almost always loud, and a handful of other > Japanese. > The "big one" from VK is Brisbane area ABC 1548 kHz > > Indeed from California, the path to EU is mainly in the RX boresight of > mainland USA, so those domestic offsets are likely to be very strong. > > Steve wz > ________________________________ > From: Topband <[email protected]> on behalf of > Jim Brown via Topband <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, October 12, 2026 12:10 PM > To: [email protected] <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: Topband: Using AM broadcast stations as propagation "beacons"? > > The usefulness of AM broadcast stations depends strongly on where we > live and what we're trying to study. > > EU broadcasters use 9 kHz spacing, so looking for carriers from known > stations is probably the key to studying the path from the west coast to > EU. VE6WZ, other Canadian hams, and east coast hams aren't affected > nearly as much by this issue, because their path to EU is off-axis to > much of the US and Canada. > > I routinely use daytime AM broadcast signals to check the condition of > my Beverages and VE3DO loops, which are quite vulnerable to damage from > falling branches in my dense redwood forest, which also includes a lot > of smaller trees, like madrone and tan oak. I've developed a spreadsheet > of AM stations within 300 miles of me to facilitate this. My full-wave > Beverages are still providing significant directivity low in the US AM > band. > > https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/am-query makes it easy to develop such a > spreadsheet if we know how to read it. DA means directional antenna, ND > means non-directional antenna, DA-D and DA-N mean directional daytime or > night, and the listings include power levels for daytime and night and > even details of all antenna systems. Stations are licensed for these > parameters to cover their license area while protecting distant stations > from interference, both on their own frequency and on first and second > adjacent channels. > > 73, Jim K9YC > > On 10/12/2026 11:10 AM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist wrote: > > The trouble with this concept is that there are hundreds of stations on > > any given frequency in locations all over north america, so in general > > even if you had propagation from the east coast to W6, the east coast > > stations would be lost in the massive QRM of all the other stations > > on the west coast. I remember I once heard WCBS on a beverage antenna > > going coast to coast, but that probably had a lot more to do with other > > stations on 860 kHz being in fades at the time than WCBS suddenly > > getting very strong due to propagation. > > > _________________ > Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband > Reflector > _________________ > Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband > Reflector > _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
