DXpedition #3 - Sioux Passage County Park near Florissant, MO

For my first DXpedition in four and a half months, I decided to stay close to my Hazelwood, MO shack, and set up at Sioux Passage County Park, located north of Florissant, MO on May 17, 2019 (UTC May 17-18). The park is run by Saint Louis County. As the camping area and boat launch area were closed due to flooding, I set up the listening post in a gravel parking lot near one of the horse trails.

The weather was very warm that evening; when I arrived to set up around 1800 CDT (2300 UTC), the temperatures were around 86 degrees F (30 degrees C). This DXpedition finally gave me a chance to check out the homebrew 30-foot longwire I made before the Marais Temps Clair DXpedition in December (I couldn't use it because I was in the office parking lot). The antenna outperformed the wire antenna that came with the Tecsun PL-600; I built the wire specifically for shortwave radio reception. I attached the antenna to a Jeststream JTCE4B center insulator that I purchased online from Universal Radio. I also used a PL259 to "F" adapter to get the antenna connected to 25 feet of RG-6QS cable, and an "F" to one-eighth inch connector to hook it up to the PL-600. Pictured below is a closeup of the wooden support of the shortwave antenna, attached to a TV antenna mast.

Once again, the Tecsun PL-600 was used for shortwave DX, while the General Electric Superadio III was used for AM broadcast band DX. Below are the two receivers as set up outside the 2002 Chrysler Voyager minivan I was driving.

The homebrew longwire antenna simply outperformed the wire that came with the PL-600 to the effect that it brought in signals much better. I started listening after 2330 UTC (1830 CDT). Conditions on the shortwave bands favored reception of stations from Europe, Asia, the Pacific and the Americas. WWV was in like a local on 5 and 10 MHz, although WWVH gave WWV a run for the money on 15 MHz. I also had Radio Nacional da Amazonia from Brasilia, Brazil in like a local on 11780 kHz; Radio Voz Missionaria from Camboriu in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina had a fair signal on 9665 kHz. Most of the high-powered U.S. and Cuban shortwave signals were in at local strength. I also had excellent reception of Canadian Forces aviation weather station CHR at CFB Trenton, ON on 6754 kHz USB; I even had great reception on the 40 Meter (7 MHz) Amateur Radio band. The biggest surprises were China Radio International on 9590 kHz in Spanish and Radio New Zealand Pacific on 13840 kHz in stronger than University Network via WWCR Nashville, TN on 13845 kHz.

On the AM broadcast band, typical daytime conditions were the norm until after 1900 CDT (0000 UTC). Most of the reception came from the Midwest under sunset skip conditions. I was a little further east of KHOJ 1460 kHz this time around, resulting in the signal of the Catholic broadcaster being taken out after cutting to 210 watts nighttime power. The digital sidebands from KFUO 850 kHz were not quite as strong as they are at the shack; I was able to pull in WCCO 830 kHz Minneapolis, MN through the digital hash. I noted several stations carrying the Saint Louis Cardinals baseball game vs. the Texas Rangers (Texas won 7-3), while several others were carrying Game 4 of the NHL Western Conference Finals between the Saint Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks (the Blues won 2-1 in regulation time). I wrapped up monitoring around 2015 CDT (0115 UTC).

Below is the logbook for each band. AM stations were logged using a General Electric Superadio III with the built-in ferrite rod; shortwave stations were logged using a Tecsun PL-600 with a homebrew 30-foot longwire antenna.

AM LOGBOOK (all times CDT)

930 kHz KWOC Poplar Bluff, MO - 5/17 1959 noted with local ads, "Talk 930 KWOC Poplar Bluff, Missouri and K227BK 93.3 FM" legal ID into CBS News. A good signal was noted over WTAD.

1030 kHz KCWJ Blue Springs, MO - 5/17 2002 noted with Saint Louis Blues hockey promo, local spots into Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals vs. San Jose. A fair to poor signal was noted over KFAY, WBZ and other stations.

1090 kHz KAAY Little Rock, AR - 5/17 2003 noted with Christian teaching program with the minister mentioning a phone number in Area Code 225 (Baton Rouge, LA). A good signal was noted over other stations.

1210 kHz WILY Centralia, IL - 5/17 1948 noted with Oldies format, "WILY 1210 AM and 98.7 FM" ID. A good to fair signal was noted over KGYN and WPHT.

1240 kHz WTAX Springfield, IL - 5/17 1900 noted with local ad, "The home of the Cardinals, WTAX" ID into Saint Louis Cardinals baseball vs. Texas. A fair to poor signal was noted, mixing with KFMO.

1290 kHz WCBL Benton, KY - 5/17 1950 noted with local ad, "Great Oldies, 99-1 WCBL" ID (WCBL-FM in nearby Grand Rivers) into Saint Louis Cardinals baseball play-by-play. A fair signal was noted over KOIL, WHIO and WIRL.

1290 kHz WHIO Dayton, OH - 5/17 1951 noted with mention of WHIO-TV Channel 7, "WHIO" ID and local ads. A fair to poor signal was noted, mixing with KOIL, WCBL and WIRL.

1390 kHz WLLI Jackson, TN - 5/17 1911 noted with "Willie 94.1 FM and 1390 AM" ID into Country music format. A fair signal was noted with adjacent channel interference from KXFN 1380 kHz.

1460 kHz WROY Carmi, IL - 5/17 2007 noted with Saint Louis Cardinals baseball play-by-play. A fair signal was noted over KHOJ, KXNO and WJCP.

1540 kHz KXEL Waterloo, IA - 5/17 1905 noted with "The Jim Bohannon Show, live at nine on News/Talk 1540 KXEL" ID, weather forecast from KCRG-TV into The Mark Levin Show. A good signal was noted over WSMI.

1560 kHz KTUI Sullivan, MO - 5/17 1906 noted with local ads into Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. A good to fair signal was noted over WGLB with adjacent channel interference from WBGZ 1570.

SHORTWAVE LOGBOOK (all times UTC)

5990 kHz CUBA China Radio International relay Quivican - 5/17 2339 noted with talk on Chinese civilization in English. A good signal was noted.

9420 kHz GREECE ERT - 5/17 2332 noted with discussion in Greek. A good signal was noted.

9590 CHINA China Radio International via Kashgar - 5/18 0005 noted with commentary on U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, CRI IDs in Spanish into pop music. A fair to poor signal was noted.

12000 kHz CUBA Radio Havana Cuba via Quivican - 5/18 0038 second harmonic of 6000 kHz; noted with commentary in Spanish. A fair to poor signal was noted.

13650 kHz CUBA China Radio International relay Quivican - 5/17 2339 noted with discussion in Portuguese. A good signal was noted.

13840 kHz NEW ZEALAND Radio New Zealand Pacific - 5/17 2344 noted with pop music and talk on Australian politics in English. A good signal was noted.

13845 kHz UNITED STATES OF AMERICA University Network via WWCR Nashville, TN - 5/17 2348 noted with a taped sermon from Dr. Gene Scott. A fair signal was noted.

15120 kHz CUBA China Radio International relay Quivican - 5/18 0042 noted with light vocal music and promos for CRI programs in Spanish. An excellent signal was noted.