Auroral DX on the MW/AM band! OCTOBER 14th & 15th, 2024

My Realistic DX-350A, which for a few years in the 2010's was my mainstay MW DX radio, in front of my Crate loop I made in 2011. I still DX with the DX-350A maybe once or twice a month.... Radios are meant to be played.

Dear Readers: Here is a blog article I'd forgotten about -- I wrote it after a flurry of MW Auroral DX, where the ionosphere makes MW distance listening interesting by boosting signals from Southern US regions. Sorry for the delay, but here 'tis. 

Recently, as even non-radio hobbyists know, we've had a flurry of Auroral activity in the Northern Hemisphere (where there was any in the Southern Hemisphere I don't know -- it obviously didn't make the news here).

When there is Auroral activity, sometimes the Northern Lights show up as far south as the northern tier of US states. And the Shortwave and Mediumwave radio bands are affected as well. The extra solar radiation zaps the ionosphere and makes it absorb radio signals instead of reflect them back to Earth.

The overall effects of an Aurora can vary -- usually there are 'radio blackouts' (as just described). You'll hear distant signals on the SW or MW bands get weaker and weaker as the Aurora hits -- or you'll turn on your radio one night and there's nothing but grainy sounding static.

This happened recently. About three nights ago I turned on my Realistic DX-394 and tuned the SW ham bands. There was very low activity, and as I was tuning through the 40 Meter ham band, any and all signals just faded down to nothing. It was the same thing with the 30M ham band, and the 20M ham band.

The Shortwave broadcast bands were mostly dead. 49 Meters had non-existent audio for WRMI, WWCR, and Radio Marti was barely audible in the grainy static. A couple other stations that are usually on during the evening -- Radio Educacion on 6185 kHz, and Nikkei 1 and 2 on 6055 and 6115, were extremely weak carriers that even the BFO barely made audible -- you had to listen for them.

MW was like a poor summer night.

Then, after a day or so, the Aurora dissipated. When that happens, often it's a fun time to DX the AM band, because here in the PNW US that means that California, Nevada, and sometimes Mexican radio stations will show up!

On the night of the 14th, it was exactly that way. Some Northwest mainstays like KOAC 550 (Corvallis Oregon), KXTG 750 (Portland, Oregon), CBK 540 (Saskatchewan), KONA 610 (Pasco, Washington), and other regional stations were completely gone, replaced by other weaker signals from further south, or just static.

KXTG 750 was missing -- 750 kHz was just static. KOAC 550 (normally always dominant on 550) was gone, replaced by a very weak KARI Blaine WA (about 150 miles north of me), and 

The next night, the AM band returned at least partly to normal. KOAC 550 was in with Oregon Public Radio news, but conditions overall were a little different from normal. Some regular stations weren't in well, and I heard a few California stations much, much better than normally!

On 1270 kHz, I heard KXBX Lakeport, California with Classic Hits, and I also heard KBZZ Reno with Classic Rock and a full, "92.5 The Hawk!" ID! (Actually, they're called "The Hog"). I haven't heard KBZZ since it was a sports station back in the early 2010's! I also heard KEAR 610, a religious station out of San Francisco that plays soft music and hymns at night, and KLBS Los Banos, California, was in on 1270 also! They have Portuguese language talk and music, serving the Portuguese speaking people in the San Joaquin Valley of Central California.

A pic of my Sangean PR-D5 during better days, when I was Solar Eclipse DXing in August, 2017.

MORE ADVENTURES WITH MY SANGEAN PR-D5

As many of you may know, I have one of these Sangean radios that are known for being really good on MW/AM. Sangean PR-D5's are like mini-boomboxes, which also have an AUX IN so you can plug your phone or tablet into the jack and listen to streaming in stereo. I used to listen to Norway's NRK Norske Folkemusikk channel all the time on my PR-D5 that way.

I also discovered a button pressing glitch that seemed to occur on my PR-D5 after the radio had been powered up for several months. It seemed that the constant powering of the radio -- which kept the microprocessor working in the background, waiting for the Power button to be pressed -- would cause the microprocessor's firmware to read the buttons oddly. 

For example, I'd have to press the Power button several times to get the radio to recognise that I was pressing it. Sometimes I'd press a button and an entirely different function would occur (like I would press a memory channel button and the PR-D5 would switch from AM to FM instead).

I discovered the fix out of frustration. I pulled the batteries, and pulled the plug from the AC wall adaptor, and reset the radio that way.

The re-set worked. The radio's buttons started working normally. A few years later, sometimes the re-set wouldn't completely work. I found that pressing the Power button after de-powering the radio did the trick.

I wrote an article about this button issue in 2017 or so. Here is a link to that article, where I go into more detail about it. Other PR-D5 owners who had the issue also found that the re-set fixed their radios.:

Interrock Nation: How to quickly fix a SANGEAN PR-D5 Power Button malfunction -- and other easy fixes

Recently, that hasn't been working 100%. I finally resorted to spraying contact cleaner down the side of all the buttons a couple times, working them after each spray. I wiped the excess off the front of the radio with a paper towel.

Presto! The radio acts like new again.

It appears that if your PR-D5 has been sitting, unused, for several months (I hadn't used my radio in probably a year, using my Superadios in my writing Den instead), the buttons can either oxidise, or they need to otherwise be exercised to work properly again.

NOW, these fixes may work on many of the Sangean AM-FM only radios. I have experienced these button glitches with my PR-D5, PR-D14, PR-D18, and a couple times my PR-D4W even acted up. It's obvious that something in their firmware can develop these button glitches over time. 

The buttons are fine, the radio circuits and 'brain' are all fine, it's just that the firmware will act up if it sees continuous power for too long.

And the buttons themselves either need exercising (i.e., actual use) or they may need a shot of contact cleaner down the side of the buttons now and then. And periodically re-setting your radio (depowering it completely, letting it sit for 15 seconds or so, and maybe pressing the power button to clear the residual charge in the microprocessor) is probably a good idea, too.

This was another article sitting dormant, that I had forgotten I had written. So here it is, nearly two months late. Better late than never.

I still am finishing the article on the mediocre Solar Cycle 25. I have been sitting on that one for almost a year. Here it is, December, during a 'peak year', and the SW DX conditions are mostly crap and MW DX conditions aren't anything like they were in 2011-2014.

So, it's time to publish that article, being that my assessments of Solar Cycle 25 turned out to be very accurate.

I shall get that article out within the week. 

Peace,

C.C. 12-18-2024

DX Conditions = Abysmal; But MADAGASCAR Gets Through Anyway!

The antenna farm in Madagascar for MWV New Life Station, whose Russian broadcasts to Eastern Europe make it all the way to my location near Seattle -- even when the rest of the SW bands are dead, or mostly dead.

(photo courtesy Russian MWV website)

DEAR READERS: I'd forgotten I had this article written up. Here 'tis, over two months late. That said, DX conditions have still been poor over the past two months, so much of what I say here still applies. Plus, the new battery issue I encountered is probably informative -- batteries can be bad out of the box! Ya learn something new every day.

Peace, C.C.

I am still in a funk over losing my cat, and dealing with a bunch of different stuff here at home, but I have managed to tune the Shortwave bands -- usually in the morning hours, when Asia comes in -- and the MW band at night when I'm in my writing Den, or later at night when I am ready to hit the hay.

I am also working on finishing an article on the latest Solar Cycle, and how mediocre it is -- something I've held off on publishing for several months, in the event that the Solar Cycle somehow begins delivering the DX that it's supposed to be delivering (hint: so far, it really hasn't). There have been a few bright spots where there have been mornings and afternoons with some DX on the SW, and MW at night has picked up slightly, but it's also had swaths of 3-4 days where there are mediocre conditions, too.

That article will be posted by mid-October.

That said, the past few days here in mid-September SW and MW have been mediocre at best, abysmal at worst. I tune my DX-394 + wire antenna during the mornings and often during the evenings, and I use my Superadios, Sangean PR-D5, or Sangean PR-D4W for MW DXing at night (and -- on rare occasions, my trusty Panasonic RF-B45), all with a milk crate loop.

The last couple weeks have been pretty mediocre on both the SW bands and the MW band. Sometimes the most interesting catch I've had is the Desert Whooper on 4096 kHz, a small, low power beacon transmitting 'whoop' noises and some CW out of an undisclosed location in Desert California.

This particular morning (the 17th of September) was an example. As I was sipping my coffee, waking up, and tuning my DX-394, I heard mostly static. The 30 Meter Ham Band was dead, no Pinneberg military RTTY on 10100 kHz, no NAU USN RTTY at 10153, no CW and not even any FT8. WWVH on 10000 kHz was in the mud, and WWV was non-existent. The 20 Meter Ham band was dead except for very weak FT8 noises around 14075-14075, and the 40 Meter Ham band was nothing but static, except for a local (WA-OR-BC) net high up in the band, and even then I could only hear the two strongest stations.

The 31 Meter Band, which is a good SW broadcast band for Asia during the mornings, was nothing but static.

Except for Madagascar.

Lo and behold, 9885 kHz had not just a carrier, but audio! Pop music! The signal was weak, but quite audible in the static, and fairly readable. Then I heard some talk by a woman in Russian, and then a man talking in Russian, ID'ing the station as 'KNLS', which is a Christian station that operates out of Anchor Point, Alaska, usually beaming programs in Russian to Siberia and Chinese and English to Asia.

But KNLS also has a station in the Southern Hemisphere, that broadcasts to Russia and other regions of Western Eurasia from Madagascar.

This is the station I was listening to: the MWV New Life Station being transmitted from Mahajanga, a small city in NW Madagascar, not too far from the Indian Ocean coast!

MWV New Life Station seems to be the KNLS service to Western Russia, while KNLS proper serves Siberia. Both stations play a lot of pop music that ranges from 80's pop to 2010's pop. This morning I heard a pop-R&B track sung by a young woman I had never heard before, and then Harry Styles' 2017 hit Sign Of The Times.

After some more talk in Russian, they played some choral music, which was quite good.

I was able to record some of the Harry Styles' track and the choral music on my phone.

It was very odd hearing Madagascar on my DX-394 -- a very capable radio -- and not hearing anything else except very weak carriers with no audio, or static. But it is what it is: that station in Madagascar truly gets out!

What is really cool, at least for me, is that Madagascar is the closest large, populated land mass to the Antipodes of my home region -- it's on the opposite side of the world from here.

The real Antipodes of Seattle, of course, is near Kerguelen Island in the Southern Indian Ocean, but there are no radio stations on Kerguelen (aside from possibly a local, low power FM for the French scientific and military station there). Madagascar, maybe 1800 miles to the north of Kerguelen, shall suffice. :-)

Like I've said before, both here and elsewhere, when concerning the somewhat disappointing Solar Cycle, there are always some surprises, and this was one of them. To not hear much of anything slamming my radio out of Asia, and no Morse Code or sideband on an early Fall morning when the SW bands should be hopping with signals, only to hear Madagascar beaming a broadcast to European Russia, is just proof that even when conditions are down sometimes you get surprises.

FIRING UP MY REALISTIC DX-398 -- and a new BATTERY ISSUE

With a SIMPLE, EASY Fix!

Just this week -- Monday, to be exact -- I decided to fire up my trusty DX-398, which is probably the best radio I have for SSB and Morse Code reception. My DX-394 comes close, as does my Panasonic RF-B45, but the DX-398 pulls in Sideband signals just a hair better than both of them.

That is, when the signal levels across the band aren't cutting down a couple decibels, only to come back up 10-15 seconds later, as happened to me recently....

I had this happen Monday morning. It was odd -- nothing I'd heard before. Strange dipping and increasing of all noises -- both signals and static. It was like someone was messing around with an RF Gain or Volume control.

At first I thought it was the radio. My antenna is pretty solid -- being indoor, there is no corrosion. And I'd never heard signal levels, across an entire ham band, dip 2-3 db and then go back up maybe 2-3 db just 10-15 seconds later.

For a second I thought it might be the battery connection -- I'd just put in new batteries (Walgreen Alkalines I probably got in the 2010's some time, so they were 'new old-stock' batteries), and maybe I'd not put them in right. I double checked the way the batteries were inserted. They were firmly in place, with no corrosion to be seen anywhere.

Now, I'd had two separate issues with my DX-398 dealing with batteries in the past. One was in 2012 or so when the negative terminal spring weakened where it was soldered to the main PCB board. A good dollop of new solder fixed that. Then last year or so there was a time when the DX-398 would turn itself off after a minute of working, on brand new batteries. That was a bit of corrosion on the positive battery terminal plate -- something that was hard to see, but definitely there. Once I cleaned it, the 398 worked like a charm until the batteries were spent maybe a month or two later.

So this time, when the signal levels on the 10 Meter and 20 Meter bands were wigging like someone was messing with my RF Gain or Volume, I at first thought it was the radio. 

At the same time, I realised that it COULD have been propagation -- although that sort of band-wide dipping and increasing of all signals (and static) levels was something I'd never before encountered in all my years of DXing. I'd seen dips and returns in signals, but not the entire band -- static and all. 

This was something new. Something was awry.

I rechecked the antenna clip and connector. All was fine.

I took the new, old-stock batteries out of my DX-398 and put them in my trusty Radio Shack 200629 (the batteries in that radio were next to dead). I fired it up. It worked great, until the same thing started happening. Dips in both signals and static. It was almost like what I experienced when my antenna terminal was wonky, though I knew it was 100% secure -- and the DX-398's antenna terminal has always been 100%. And instead of cutting volume and then cutting it back up, like someone hit a switch, in this case it was like someone quickly turning an RF Gain or Volume control.

Same problem, both radios. That meant the problem was external to the radios. Meaning it was the antenna -- or the batteries.

I switched off the 200629 and DX'ed with my DX-394 (which works on AC power), deciding to let the problem sit for a while.

Later that day, the thought occurred to me that maybe the problem was indeed the actual batteries. Maybe they had gone bad in the package, even though they looked clean and normal. I'd heard of such things happening before.

After all, if a battery lowers in juice, all the circuits of a radio will decrease in volume and gain. Usually you don't notice this when your batteries weaken because it's gradual. But if batteries dive for some reason, you'll hear it. And when batteries are old or bad, they might put out 6 Volts for a while and then dip to 4 or 5 Volts, before surging back up to 6 Volts again. And your radio's circuits will be affected. A voltage regulator (in most radios) can only do so much -- it can't create power that isn't there.

Of course, this sort of issue hadn't happened to me before. But it was worth investigating.

So I went to my battery box and pulled out another set of new AA's, this time they were Energizers I probably bought before the Pandemic hit. Maybe they were 5-6 years old, but they were alkaline, so they should still be good.

I popped them into my Radio Shack 200629, Tuesday morning. I DX'ed the bands for over an hour with no glitching, no bizarre dipping of signals whatsoever.

The problem was the batteries. They were old, yes, but they were still in their case. But obviously, they were weak enough to where they were varying in output, and it was messing with the gain and the RF, IF and AF circuits of the radios.

You learn something new every day.

So remember kids, sometimes the issue you may be having with your radio just might be the batteries.

More Job Layoffs in Radio: IHeart slashes hundreds of positions nationwide

The largest Radio company in the United States, IHeartMedia, has started laying off "less than 5%" of their workforce, as announced in the radio press (and other news outlets) recently.

The layoffs include managers, programmers, positions that oversee operations of entire 'clusters' of IHeart stations, as well as air staff. The NY Post says the layoffs amount to "hundreds" of positions.

As I reported in this blog four years ago (and it was also reported in the Radio press, as well as elsewhere), IHeart laid off roughly 10% of their workforce at the beginning of 2020. There have been other layoffs in the Radio industry by other companies since then, including some IHeart positions. 

So -- since the beginning of 2020 -- the largest Radio company in the US has gotten rid of maybe 12-14% of their workers.

IT HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE

In this section I am listing links to several earlier articles I wrote in this blog concerning the previous layoffs in Radio. There are a few common threads in the reasons for the layoffs. First, Radio revenues are down, largely because ad rates industry wide have declined. Secondly, leaders in the industry think that Radio is in decline and are acting accordingly. Thirdly, the companies involved are in debt, or otherwise having revenue problems, and possibly ratings issues as well. Fourthly, the industry's bigger players are consolidating operations, thanks to available technology. With more centralized operations, middle management positions -- like program directors in major and middle sized markets -- are less needed, or important. 

And the mostly unstated reason is that listeners are going online -- but not necessarily to online platforms run by Radio companies.

So here are the articles I wrote:

This article is about the IHeart layoffs at the beginning of 2020, where they laid off 10% of their workforce.:

Interrock Nation: THE SLOW DEATH OF RADIO

These articles deal with various layoffs, or station closures that also negatively affected Radio employment.:

Interrock Nation: Radio Morning Shows Experiencing Decline -- another moneymaker for Radio is fading

Interrock Nation: Another Large Radio Company Slashes Jobs in the Midwest US

Interrock Nation: Canadian Radio Company Slashes Jobs, Kills 7 AM Radio Stations

Interrock Nation: SO LONG, RADIO DISNEY. You had a good run.

This next, extensive article, 'Who Killed Radio', goes into detail concerning the numerous processes that reduced the Radio medium from something vital and relevant to an industry in decline.:

Interrock Nation: WHO KILLED RADIO? -- The Processes, People and Decisions that Destroyed the Radio Industry; + Mondo Bando, proto-metal, 1976!

This chart reflects the popularity and listenership among the various large music streaming platforms in the United States. IHeart, at the bottom of the chart, is apparently considered a key player. But they only have 8% of the 18-34's, which does not look promising for online Radio streaming platforms. If the biggest Radio company in the United States can't get more than 8% of the younger demographics, what does that say for the future of Radio online?

(To more easily see the graph, you can right click, and open it in a new tab).

REVENUES ARE DOWN, OR FLAT -- BUT COSTS ARE STILL GOING UP

This latest series of IHeart layoffs are yet one more indicator of an industry in decline, and an unfortunate one. IHeart's impetus for laying off just under 5% of their workers is that -- despite some claims of Radio companies seeing more revenues recently -- revenues overall are down in Radio, and costs are still up, due to inflation.

In one of the articles below, it is claimed that IHeart's online media platform has increased numbers of listeners. Of course, other data (see the graph above) shows that IHeart's online platform is not one of the top players in online listening, and it's only got 8% of streaming listeners in GenZ and the Millennials.

THEY'LL JUST 'GO ONLINE' -- NOPE

Some commenters and experts in the Radio industry believe that the laid off IHeart radio workers will be able to find similar jobs in related fields, mostly online. They think some of the Radio skills transfer to other fields. After all, audio entertainment, in general, is headed online. So why wouldn't the lost jobs also drift online?

Well, the biggest problem with that style of thinking is that online is a different animal. Some of the tech -- audio and visual tech used -- may be similar, but the online content business model is much, much different, and much less apt to have actual employees.

Most podcasts (aside from the big names like Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Shawn Ryan, Rick Beato, David Pakman, the Daily Wire podcast guys, and the like) are one or two person affairs, where everything is done by one person, using their computer, with perhaps a nice backdrop, a good microphone, and a high quality web camera. They don't need the extra people that traditional media have usually needed. Also, as AI and other automated technology increases, the need for former Radio skills in other fields will be lessened.

If you have AI gathering your news for reporting, who needs actual people?

If you have AI voices for announcing your YouTube infotainment videos, who needs actual announcers?

If you have an easy to use Digital Audio Workstation on your computer, which has less of a learning curve than the SADIE, AudioVault, or SONIC systems that were popular in Radio in the 2000's, who needs a sound engineer or sound editing tech?

And if you are a smaller operation, podcasting on a platform that can monetise your podcasts via a contractual agreement -- who needs sales reps?

I'll repeat what I've said previously whenever these stories of layoffs come up: The vast majority of the laid off people will never work in Radio again, and most of them will never work in a related field again. They will have to be retrained in another industry. 

I wish them luck. Been there, done that.

Technology, and changes in media from legacy industries like Radio, TV, Cable, and Newspapers to everything being online content (much of it not bringing in much revenue unless you are a BIG player like the aforementioned podcasters) has made many of the skills used for Radio redundant.

And, as I said before, a lot of podcasters are small businesses with moderate incomes. No extra revenue for employees.

I feel for the laid off people. They got their notices just before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Most of them know that they won't work in the field again, and many of their skills -- like the sound engineering skills I had when I worked in Radio -- do not transfer outside of the industry.

But it is what it is.

Here are two news articles on the layoffs, which I've referenced throughout the article.:

Widespread Layoffs at iHeartMedia as Music Radio Gets Downsized

Radio giant iHeart Media slashes hundreds of jobs

List Of Those Affected By The iHeartMedia Cuts Continues To Grow – RadioInsight

A picture of my Squeakers in better days. I had just gotten my DSL router, and had just hooked it up. She was -- naturally -- curious about it. This was around 2012? 2013? I still miss my cat....

IN OTHER LIFE...

Just a week ago, we had Halloween. I took a handful of pics of decorations in my neighborhood. I think I will put them in a separate blog article. I only had two small groups of trick-or-treaters -- three kids in all, with three more people if you include parents and one of the kids' mom. They all got candy (except the one mom, who doesn't tolerate candy well).

So now I've got more mini chocolate bars to eat -- enough to last me for a year.

The weather is somewhat moderate for November, which I'm fine with. The MW DX conditions have picked up a little. As most long time DXers know, this Solar Cycle has been a dud. But it does seem to finally be showing a little promise. I actually heard a couple Oregon stations again for the first time in over a decade! 

I have several posts I've been working on and they just need pics. So over the next couple weeks there will be a cluster of them posted, including one on the Solar Cycle.

So stay tuned.

Peace.

C.C., November 9th, 2024.

The Hearing and Un-Hearing of HEARD ISLAND

A vid clip of my Radio Shack 200629 receiving Australian ham VK1A, working US stations from his location just outside Brisbane, Queensland, during the CQ World Wide contest, the night of Oct. 26th, 2024 (Oct. 27th UTC). The ID of VK1A is right near the end of the clip.

Over this past weekend, there has been a 'contest' on the Shortwave Ham bands. These contests have been around for ages -- the bigger ones usually happen two or three times a year, where you'll tune the ham bands and they will actually be crowded with signals, with hams eagerly trying to contact as many other hams as possible

When I was younger, I would buy CQ Magazine periodically. It's a magazine dedicated to the ham hobby. There are articles on how to improve your antennas, and there would be schematic diagrams of projects hams and other radio hobbyists could build. And there would be articles on DXpeditions (where a team of hams will transmit from some rare island out in the ocean somewhere), and also the results of contests.

A QSL Card for Qatar ham station A7XB, a station I heard on 15 Meters long ago, on my Yaesu FRG-7 and 80-100 ft. outdoor wire antenna. It was my most memorable DX catch. I had tuned into a couple guys -- with American accents -- talking. The signals were weak. The one guy seemed to be in Qatar and the other guy had an unusual DX call -- maybe Indonesia or Afghanistan? I don't remember, and I never got his call right. He might have been part of the US diplomatic mission in one of those countries. When A7XB mentioned his callsign, and spelled out his location ("Q-A-T-A-R"), suddenly there was a churning barrelhouse of signals -- all these 10's or hundreds of hams trying to contact him to get Qatar in their logs. I never did find out who the ham actually was, and never heard him again. Even DX Callbooks didn't show up anything. This QSL Card I found on E-Bay, by chance last year, is the only verification I've got for a very rare reception.

 

One year there was a big article on a guy in Belgium who won the CQ Worldwide DX contest -- I don't remember which year, it was probably in the 1980s. There was a pic of him, sitting proud in front of his several, large and expensive ham radio rigs, and also some pics of his antennas, which -- if I remember correctly -- were very impressive.

Now, this weekend a similar contest is taking place, on sideband. So, for the first time in recent memory, the ham bands are fairly close to packed with all sorts of SSB signals -- it's just like it would be on a typical Saturday afternoon on 20 Meters back in the 80s-00's when the bands were always packed. Not so much anymore -- crap propagation and inactive hams, as well as those running the clown car noises on FT8 have made the bands more spare.

But, this weekend, the bands are very busy.

A map of CQ Magazine's 'DX Zones', with the 'Zones' being designated by the people at CQ Magazine, which sponsors the Contest. During the Contest, individual hams (or teams, in a club) try to get as many contacts as possible, from as many of these 'DX Zones' as possible.

Last night I decided to tune around. 20 Meters, of course, was dead except for one guy calling CQ Contest from the Netherlands -- PJ2T, on 14318. He was alone on the SSB section of the 20 Meter band. And although I could hear him readably on my 24 ft. indoor wire and DX-394, he had no takers, except one American ham, K3DXX.

So I tuned down to the 40 Meter ham band. I had a lot more luck. The band was packed. I logged Brazil, Japan, Barbados, Mali, a bunch of hams from all over the US, and -- at least for a while -- I thought I logged Heard Island!

HEARD ISLAND? NO.... NOT REALLY

Heard Island is a remote island that is south of Kerguelen (the Antipodes of WA state, the exact opposite side of the world), which means it's out in the middle of frozen nowhere in the Southern Indian Ocean. So, why did I think I heard Heard Island? Because the guy in Australia, VK1A, had a web page that indicated that he was transmitting from Heard Island [please see screenshot of the page below].

Here you can see what threw me off: the unusual VK1 ham prefix (Australian prefixes are generally VK2-VK7 for each State, with VK1 being ACT, the Australian Capital Territory -- I've never heard ACT), and this page, which clearly denotes this station as being on Heard Island. Obviously -- it's a joke, or somebody, either at the site or elsewhere, typed in the absolutely wrong geographical coordinates.

This is a Ham Radio Station Prefix map. Maps -- and lists -- help you identify the country of the station you just heard. This map may be hard to read, but it -- and others like it -- are available online. I used to have a small book that had a map just like this inside it.

VK1A's QRZ page (QRZ.com is sort of a clearinghouse of info on ham radio stations) didn't have a location (the location only is available if you are logged in, and if you are not a ham, even if you are logged in the information available is a bit restricted). His QRZCQ page of course, was another matter. QRZCQ.com often has a lot more location info available, and QRZCQ said this VK1A guy was on Heard Island. 

The latitude and longitude coordinates -- which somebody had to take the time to type in -- gave the latitude and longitude for Heard Island as well.

I made a recording of my catch, still thinking there was something awry about the location. The operator didn't speak with an Aussie accent, but he's Dutch originally, so that would figure. I even heard him on my Radio Shack 200629, which is an able receiver on SSB but not as good as my DX-394, DX-398 (out of batteries right now) or Panasonic RF-B45.

Anyway, I moved on and listened some more and then went on with my household chores -- feeding my three cats, making some celery soup for myself, etc.

So then I looked up the station again. VK1A -- very little info on his QRZ page, or his main QRZ page (he has several callsigns, apparently quite active). No info whatsoever on ANY ham operating out of Heard Island, even during a contest. No real bio. Just a bunch of callsigns he's used over the years.

I finally logged into QRZ (after signing up), and being logged in more location info appeared. 

It turns out that the guy's up in the hills just north of Brisbane, and the weird VK1 prefix (not a standard Australian ham call prefix) is for contesters and clubs. Why the misleading info on QRZCQ.com? Maybe someone was having a joke? Maybe they typed in the latitude and longitude coordinates too hastily? I've seen misplaced locations on QRZCQ before, but not 7000 miles off.

So, there ya go. I had thought I'd heard Heard Island, but I had NOT heard Heard Island.

But I did get a clear copy of a guy from Brisbane on my Radio Shack 200629, which actually is a decent catch for that radio and an indoor wire. In fact, VK1A came in as well on my 200629 as he did on my DX-394, which is one of my best two radios for SSB and CW. It may have been that the conditions were up. Either way, I'm still happy with the DX catch -- even if it wasn't in the Indian Ocean. :-)

And, in the process, I found out that Heard Island has numerous glaciers, and its mountain, 'Big Ben', is the tallest mountain on Australian territory (although most Aussies think of Kosciusko as the country's tallest one). And -- no one, meaning absolutely no one -- lives there.

Here's a pic. And remember, if it looks cold, it IS cold. Nothing lives there but elephant seals and some penguins.

A picture of Heard Island, located south of Kerguelen, in the Southern Indian Ocean. The mountain is Mawson Peak, part of the mountain complex called "Big Ben". Big Ben is still volcanically active. No one lives on Heard Island, aside from elephant seals, penguins, and some other birds.

Here is an article on Heard Island's volcanic activity, courtesy the Australian CSIRO.

Blowing the lid off the volcanic story of Heard Island - CSIRO

I will post a couple more short articles within the week.

I hope my readers are all doing well. It's almost Winter here in Seattle, although the temperatures have been more or less moderate for it being this late in the year. I hope that holds.

Racofrats, when a kitten, Oct. 23, 2011. Such a long time ago.

I'll close this article with a pic of my cat Racofrats, when he was very young -- still a kitten. He's on my lap, looking to attack the other cats when they go by. He's the survivor of that litter. I call him Rac-a-doodle. He's turning into an indoor cat now. The plush, antique chair on the upstairs landing is all his, as is the cat furniture there.

Peace,

C.C. October 27th, 2024

Three Canadian FM Stations shut down, including one in OTTAWA -- FM Radio is taking a hit, not just AM

CJWL, 98.5 FM, a Hot-AC station in Canada's capital and fourth largest city, will soon be shut down, and taken off the air. Two other FM Country stations in nearby, smaller cities are also getting their plugs pulled.

[NOTE: Several weeks after writing and posting this article, I learned that the three Ottawa region FM stations mentioned in this article were bought by two separate, Canadian radio companies and they will stay on the air. I decided not to cut up the article with this news, but I added an Addendum (with news link) at the bottom of the blog post with this information. I have left the article otherwise intact because most of the negative factors concerning the radio business, that are covered in this article, still exist and are still affecting radio companies and radio stations in the U.S. and Canada.]

Over the past several years, some AM stations have been shut down, flipped to syndicated programming like Sports Betting, or otherwise just plain removed from the airwaves, and being that this blog is about AM Radio as well as all other things Radio, in recent articles here I have covered the closings of several AM stations -- as quite a few of those closings have occurred after the Pandemic.

The post-Pandemic economy is socking it to Radio, and now it is apparent that it's not just AM Radio that's taking the hit.

It was recently announced that three FM stations in Canada (owned by the Evanov company) are being shut down, due to financial reasons, and one of them is a station that plays Hot AC, a very popular radio format, and that station is in Canada's #4 city (and its capital), Ottawa -- metro population approximately 1.5 million people.

The three FM stations in question went on the air in 2000's, with CJWL Lite 98.5 going on the air in 2006, with the other two stations hitting the airwaves not long afterwards.

It appears that these FM stations -- like many others -- have been getting hit by changes in listenership, with its migrating to Streaming. On top of that, there have been downturns in advertising revenues in the Radio industry, especially since the Pandemic.

The Evanov company's PR release concerning the shutting down of the FM radio stations says it all, really: "All broadcasters are now contending with the challenges of increased competition, a difficult media climate, and the residual effects of the pandemic."

Here is a link to the RadioInsight article on the FM station closings.:

Evanov To Shutter Ottawa And Two Other FMs – RadioInsight

Whether a new buyer is interested in purchasing these stations to make a go of it is a good question. None have been mentioned. No potential sale was mentioned, either. It looks like these three Eastern Ontario stations will go permanently dark.

From everything else that I've read concerning the state of Radio, the Evanov spokesman seems correct. The 'difficult media climate' he mentions is directly related to the state of advertising -- ad revenues are down across the board, especially for legacy media like Radio, TV, Cable, Newspapers, Magazines -- there are infinite 'slots' for advertisers on the internet and it decreases the value of those advertising 'slots' media wide.

On top of that, of course, you've got inflation, something which Canadians also deal with. Their dollar, like the US dollar, is worth less than it was worth in the 2000's. For example, according to the Bank of Canada, the Canadian dollar is worth 69% less than it was in 2000, and 18% less than it was before the Pandemic hit.

The Bank of Canada inflation calculator can be found here. It is similar to the US BLS Inflation Calculator.:

Inflation Calculator - Bank of Canada

Being that the Canadian dollar -- like the US dollar -- has declined in value since the 2000's, the effect has hit Radio with a double-whammy: you have decreased numbers of listeners since the 2000's, increased online competition for advertising over the same time period, and overall inflation, too.

Radio is a difficult business anymore because of these factors.

KNPT 1310, Newport, Oregon, left the air for good in late January, 2024, after seeing its ad revenues dive by more than 50% during and after the Pandemic. Several other stations in Newport's Oregon Coast market, both FM and AM, as well as a stream, were shut down at the same time. This left Lincoln City, OR, without an AM station (KBCH).

WHEN IT WAS JUST AM STATIONS, NO ONE CARED

Over the past couple of years, I've noted -- on this blog -- the shutting down, or potential shutting down, of several radio stations in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. From KNPT Newport, to KUTI Yakima, to KYVL/KMED Medford, to the shutting down of Las Vegas's 50KW powerhouse station KDWN, to the potential closings of two stations in Edmonton and Vancouver, to the shutting down of 7 AM stations in Canada by Bell Media (4 of them in Alberta and British Columbia), to Bell Media's selling off 45 other radio stations in Canada last year to smaller Radio companies. Many of the stations in Bell Media's 45 station fire sale (this last February) were on the AM band, with all of them affected by the post-Pandemic economy, and migration of listeners to Streaming platforms.

During the February sale of the 45 stations, Bell Media's spokesman said "radio is not a viable business anymore."

Here is my article on Bell Media's selling off the 45 stations -- many in Western Canada.:

Interrock Nation: A Canadian media company sells 45 Radio Stations, both AM and FM, lays off 4,800 workers

My article on Bell Media pulling the plug on CFRN and 6 other AM stations in Canada is here.:

Interrock Nation: Canadian Radio Company Slashes Jobs, Kills 7 AM Radio Stations

To AM Radio fans, all of these sales and station closings were a bit of a shock.

But to many others in the Radio business, there were a lot of scoffers, who just shrugged it off as 'AM Radio', the 'dying media'.

However, now, the picture is changing. The shutdowns are starting to hit FM.

Both AM, and FM, are being bludgeoned by Streaming platforms -- and those Streaming platforms aren't owned by Radio companies.

In one of my last articles on this subject, I mentioned that I understand why some listeners migrate to Streaming. If I want to hear all 2010's Electronic pop, Radio doesn't provide a lot of it. But Pandora has a channel devoted entirely to 2010's Pop. If I want to hear 2000's Nu-Metal, there are channels online that cater to that genre as well. The local FM Rocker that played a lot of it -- KVRQ 98.9 -- got flipped to country after a year, and the other local FM rocker, KISW, doesn't play a lot of Nu-Metal, and they shut down their HD2, Metal Militia channel that played nothing but Metal. 

However, I can get all the Nu-Metal and Metal I want on a couple channels on Pandora, which is on my phone.

CKHK-FM was a Modern Country station in Hawkesbury, a small to medium sized city on the Ottawa River, near the eastern tip of Ontario, about 30 miles upstream from the junction of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers. Country is one of the hottest radio formats. Even such a format can not save a station if the ad revenues are down.

THE DECLINE OF HD RADIO -- GIVING THE LISTENERS THE FINGER

Radio is stuck between a rock and a hard place, but it's not helping itself by leaving a lot of listeners in the lurch. Half the HD FM signals in my metro of 4 million people are HD1 only, meaning that their HD signal just broadcasts the main channel. A lot of FM's have no HD.

It wasn't always this way. Just 8 years ago there were quite a few HD2's with different formats -- Blues, Metal, BBC, Alt, Radio Disney, LBGTQ, Viet, Religion.... Yet the radio companies got rid of a lot of them. Thankfully, some companies still have HD2's on their FM stations. But it seems to be a declining trend.

They sometimes say that HD2's are expensive to maintain, which seems a bit laughable: it's just another programmed computer playlist and the signal is already on the air.

Either way, Radio in general appears to be drifting in free fall, and many of the experts seem to be resigned to the fact that the future is all online, and they're resigned to keep it that way.

Some of them, but not all of them, understand that the transformation to All Streaming means that by 2035 or 2040 most of them won't have a job, because most listening won't be to individual stations, but to channels on Pandora and other platforms, as well as individual, user-programmed streams.

For those who are or were in the Radio business, it's just the reality. Radio could advertise more, but apparently the Radio companies are strapped for promotion revenue, and the ROI that would come from advertising your station/stream's existence on other platforms like YT, FB, or other online media -- to try to attract and gain new listeners -- just isn't there.

In conclusion, it's sad to see FM radio take the hit. For the past few years, a lot of folks -- even Radio people -- make fun of AM as the old-person's media, and even MW DX'ers talk as if they wish a lot of stations would just shut down.

I've always been against that idea, and detest that attitude. I know some stations are going to shut down due to economics, but I in no way applaud it. Any stations shutting down -- AM or FM -- is an indicator that the industry is in great trouble. And this applies not just to AM, but FM also.

If an FM station that plays one of the two most popular music formats in North America can't pay the bills, while being on the air in one of Canada's Top 4 cities, what does that say for the state of Radio today?

WPLJ New York City was a top FM station in the 70's and 80's, and probably one of the top stations in the US. When it finally sold to EMF in 2019, it was valued much lower than it was even 20 years ago. An FM station with a good signal, in America's biggest city, couldn't keep going without being sold to a religious broadcaster.

THE WRITING FOR FM WAS ON THE WALL WITH WPLJ

I have a feeling that there may be more of these stations going off the air, or otherwise being sold to religious broadcasters -- some of which have enough money to buy an FM in a big city, as was proven by EMF's purchase of WPLJ New York several years ago in 2019 (it was part of a deal where EMF bought 5 Cumulus FM stations, including FM stations in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta). The purchase of WPLJ, once a major station in NYC, got the biggest discussion in Radio circles, however.

That purchase, of what once was a hit radio station in the #1 market and #1 city in the United States was a harbinger of the future of FM radio. The station also sold for a fraction of what it was worth in the 1980's.

Here's the Wiki on WPLJ:

WPLJ - Wikipedia

WPLJ's logo today. K-Love is a national, Christian contemporary / praise music format, with stations in nearly every major city in the US. They are owned by EMF, who also runs Air-1 stations in most metros. The Air-1 in Seattle is on 88.1 FM.

So now Canada's capital city, and Canada's fourth largest metro area, will see a station go dark on 98.5 FM. The other two FM stations being shut down, both Country (the #1 music format in the US), serve smaller cities SE and East of Ottawa. According to the RadioInsight article above, three employees of these stations will still have jobs at other stations in the company, but whether there were other employees let go or not isn't mentioned.

If there were, I feel for them, as their Radio days are probably over. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: chances are extremely high they will never work in the Radio industry again. The industry is in decline. Even a cursory look at BLS labor stats indicates that employment in Radio, and broadcast media in general, is dropping. Although that's just the US, I'm certain in Canada it isn't much different.

Rockland, Ontario is a moderate sized city maybe 20km / 15 miles East of Ottawa, on the Ottawa River. Modern Country is the #1 or #2 music format on radio in North America (excluding Mexico and Greenland). It couldn't keep this FM station on the air. The spectre of listener migration to online Streaming, as well as the decline in advertising revenues is killing Radio stations. Including FM.

CANADA IS A DIFFICULT RADIO MARKET

I used to work with two Canadians who were format consultants at the Radio Format company where I worked for 16 years. They both told me that it's a tougher market in Canada. It's because it's a smaller national Radio market. The country is vast, but the population is comparatively small, and it's mostly concentrated in just ten or eleven large metros (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Quebec City, Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Victoria, Halifax, and a few other cities with over 200K in the market). 

The Canadian radio experts I knew each said that the Canadian Radio infrastructure isn't financially robust, especially compared to the US Radio marketplace. They each consulted hundreds of radio stations in the US. That was something they couldn't do in Canada. The economics of Radio in Canada is smaller than it is in the US.

Perhaps with the shutting down of these three Ontario FM stations we're seeing some of that. And we may be seeing the start of a trend, not just in Canada, but in the US as well, of FM's going under. Because the economics of Radio in the US isn't very robust at the moment.

Remember, one of the largest Radio companies in the US, Audacy, just flipped the #10 billing radio station in the country -- WCBS-AM -- from news to sports. Top billing doesn't count like it used to.

My article on WCBS having the news format 'plug' yanked.:

Interrock Nation: Top Billing Station WCBS 880 Flips To Sports -- What That Means For Radio in the US

FM going down the tubes is inevitable. I personally think the death of FM is a few decades away, but it's apparent that everything is going online, and that means more concentrated power in the hands of a few key players: Spotify, YT, Pandora, Apple, Amazon Music, IHeart, and Audacy, and a few other large music and audio streaming platforms.

There will come a day when the economics of Radio won't support studios (with all the expensive desks, microphones, processors, computers, etc.), station audio processing equipment, STL's, Transmitters, backup transmitters, and Towers -- and all the electric bills it takes to run that FM infrastructure. Many FM stations in the US are 100KW or more. Even smaller ones can be 30-50KW. That electricity cost adds up. 

One expert on a Radio forum I go to said that most of the stations in a small metro of around 45K people in the Eastern part of my state are financially in trouble, because of the decline in advertising revenues. Most of those stations are FM's. Another small metro on the western side of the state is seeing its small cluster of stations (including an FM) getting rid of staff because of a decline in revenues.

As can be seen, FM Radio is not immune to the decline. Remember, KNPT Newport had two FM stations in its cluster, and KNPT itself had an FM translator. They also had a station stream. 

It didn't save them. The economics just wasn't there for the operation anymore.

To those of you in Canada, my other mother country: I realise that the economy is hitting Radio in your country, and it's sad that so many of these stories are about shut down radio stations across your great land.

CKMX, CFRN, CKST, CFTE, and other stations in major Canadian cities -- some of which still had ratings (like Edmonton's CFRN, a TSN/ESPN affiliate), and some of which I listened to (CKMX, CFRN) are now all gone. Just recently, 900 CHML Hamilton, an AM news and talk station, was shut down. Its owners, media company Corus, is facing economic difficulties.

97 years on the airwaves, and a Global / City News format in Canada's #9 city couldn't keep CHML 900 from having the plug pulled. The mayor of Hamilton called CHML the 'DNA' and the 'fabric of the city.' Not any more. The company abruptly laid off the staff one morning in mid-August, switched to automated music for a couple hours, and then -- after a statement by a radio company exec -- went to one hour of dead carrier before finally switching it off. True class.

Here's a CBC news story on that destruction of a nearly 100 year old, community-related news station.:

Hamilton's 900 CHML radio station, one of Canada's oldest, closes | CBC News

And now these 3 FM's in Ottawa and nearby cities are being shut down. 

What my former Canadian workmates said about media in Canada turns out to be pretty accurate. It's a tough radio marketplace. And it's getting that way all over.

My oldest cat, Tigger, born some time in March, 2007. He is now 88 cat years old.

He's a tough, gentle cat. He still misses one of his cat pals that ran off 6 years ago. But his other pal, Racofrats, keeps him good company.

IN OTHER LIFE? SHITTY, BASICALLY

There really isn't all that much to say about what's going on, really. The weather is still relatively warm, and I buried my cat Squeakers, but it didn't take away the pain. She was getting stronger and doing better over a couple days, and then I went in to check on her and she was dead. Now she rests near my hawthorn tree.

Now I just have to ensure that my other cats stay healthy.

I'm keeping physically active. I eat OK. A lot of noodle soups, with beans, peas, celery, bok choy, onions, potatoes, carrots, and some cut oats mixed in -- with lots of paprika, curry, cayenne and other spices. I still DX the SW and MW bands, although it's been a bit boring to do so, as I'm not really enthused about it. I'm starting to plan ahead for Halloween. I have some electric jack o' lanterns to fix, and I suppose I'll have to carve a pumpkin for this Halloween also. But that's a month away.

Although I really have nothing to celebrate, I'll at least put up the effort.

There are millions of people worse off than me. Believe me, I am aware of that.

Racofrats, named after my very first cat, that I had when I was a little kid. Racofrats is Tigger's pal.

Today, of course, is September 11th. On this day, 23 years ago, we all know what happened in New York City. It was an event that changed the United States in many ways.

I have a post on September 11th here.: 

Interrock Nation: MY SEPTEMBER 11th

Until next time, 

Peace.

C.C. September 11th, 2024.

ADDENDUM, October 23rd, 2024:

I have since learned that a couple small radio companies have decided to buy all three of the FM stations in the Ottawa and nearby areas. They were purchased at the last minute, and they will stay on the air.

Here is a link to an article about the sale, and the continuance of CJWL and the other FM's being on the airwaves in Eastern Ontario.:

Evanov Finds Last Minute Buyers To Prevent Ottawa Area Sign-Offs – RadioInsight

I added a short paragraph inside the article about this.

During a discussion online about this situation with the three stations -- the failure of the Evanov company to see a good ROI in Canada's 4th largest metro, one radio expert reminded me that Ottawa (and probably other radio markets on the Ontario / Quebec border -- Pembroke would probably be another similar city) have split Anglophone / Francophone markets, because the audiences get divided between the two dominant language groups, and advertisers generally prefer one language group over another. Makes sense, as it would decrease the size of the market from 1.4 million to whatever size the Anglos / French speakers are in their effective areas.

C.C. 10-23-2024