DXpedition #9 - Pere Marquette State Park near Grafton, IL

On the afternoon of November 14, 2019, I took my radios on my first DXpedition outside of the State of Missouri. I chose Pere Marquette State Park as the site for my first DXpedition to the Land of Lincoln. The park is operated by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, named in honor of Father Jacques Marquette, who explored the Illinois River with Louis Jolliet (after whom the city of Joliet, IL is named) in the late Seventeenth Century. The centerpiece of the park is Pere Marquette Lodge, built during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The restaurant is noted for their fried chicken, arguably the best in downstate Illinois. As I found out, this area is prime for DX.

The park is about 40 miles north of Saint Louis, MO in southwestern Jersey County on Illinois 100. The road leading to the lookouts with views of the Saint Louis area was closed due to conditions as a result of the snowfall of November 11. I set up near the marina on the banks of the Illinois River; this is my Plan B. The area is within line-of-sight of scenic Calhoun County. Once again, I brought my General Electric Superadio III for AM (medium wave) broadcast band DX; the Tecsun PL-600 was used for shortwave DX, along with my 30-foot homebrew longwire antenna. This time, I set it on the ground. Temperatures were around 40 degrees Fahrenheit under sunny skies; the sunshine kept the 2002 Chrysler Voyager I set up the listening post in warm. 

The first thing I found out is that KFNS 590 Wood River, IL and KHOJ 1460 Saint Charles, MO have weaker signals than at the other seven DXpedition sites. The park is in KFNS' null toward WMT 600 Cedar Rapids, IA and a KHOJ null toward WMBD 1470 Peoria, IL. The other Saint Louis AM signals were strong, although I noted DX on adjacent channels, even through the digital sidebands of KFUO 850. The closest stations to the park, KYRO 1280 Troy, MO and WJBM 1480 Jerseyville, IL, had decent signals; I could cleanly seperate these signals from adjacent channel WIRL 1290 Peoria, IL and KFTK 1490 East Saint Louis, IL. I also noted two local format changes on this DXpedition: WSDZ 1260 Belleville, IL switched to Relevant Radio in English, while KXFN 1380 Saint Louis, MO switched to Relevant Radio in Spanish.

I began monitoring around 1325 CST (1925 UTC); typical daytime conditions prevailed on the AM broadcast band until just before 1400 CST (2000 UTC). After 1400 CST (2000 UTC), other parts of the Midwest started to come in; sunset conditions favored Ontario and the Eastern seaboard in addition to the Midwest. Shortwave reception conditions favored North America and Africa before 2000 UTC; European stations began coming in after 2000 UTC. Two clandestine stations were noted on the bands; one hostile to the government in Chad, the other hostile to the Turkish government. Tropical band Cubans began to be noted around 2130 UTC; South American stations began coming in after 2200 UTC. I wrapped up monitoring around 1655 CST (2255 UTC).

All times on the AM broadcast band logs are in Central (U.S.) Standard Time; all times for the shortwave logs are in UTC.

The Tecsun PL-600 and General Electric Superadio III used on the Pere Marquette DXpedition.

The homebrew shortwave antenna leading into the van.

AM BROADCAST BAND LOGS

540 kHz KWMT Fort Dodge, IA - 11/14 1444 noted with a Country format, call letters and local ads. A fair to poor signal was noted with adjacent channel interference from KTRS 550.

580 kHz WILL Urbana, IL - 11/14 1329 noted with Here and Now, promo for All Things Considered mentioning AM 580 and 90.9 FM, underwriting announcement mentioning WILL. A fair signal was noted, alone on the channel.

590 kHz KXSP Omaha, NE - 11/14 1645 noted with talk on University of Nebraska athletics. A fair signal was noted through KFNS.

710 kHz KCMO Kansas City, MO - 11/14 1334 noted with local ads into The Dave Ramsey Show. A fair to poor signal was noted, alone on the channel.

740 kHz CFZM Toronto, ON - 11/14 1639 noted with Oldies format, mentions of Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits and gasoline prices in Ontario, Eastern time check, traffic report for the Greater Toronto Area, "Zoomer Radio" ID. A good to fair signal was noted over KRMG with adjacent channel interference from KWRE 730.

750 kHz KBNN Lebanon, MO - 11/14 1434 noted with local ads, "KBNN" ID into The Dave Ramsey Show. A fair to poor signal was noted over WNDZ.

770 kHz WABC New York, NY - 11/14 1651 noted with "77 WABC" ID into New York area traffic report. A fair signal was noted through WEW.

860 kHz CJBC Toronto, ON - 11/14 1649 noted with commentary and Adult Contemporary music in French. A fair signal through digital adjacent channel interference from KFUO 850.

940 kHz WMIX Mount Vernon, IL - 11/14 1450 noted with Adult Standards format, "940 WMIX" ID. A fair to poor signal was noted over KPSZ; weaker than in recent years.

990 kHz WNML Knoxville, TN - 11/14 1548 noted with "99.1 Sports Radio" ID into local ads. A fair signal was noted over CBW.

1040 kHz WPBS Conyers, GA - 11/14 1550 noted with discussion in Vietnamese. A fair signal was noted over WHO.

1100 kHz WTAM Cleveland, OH - 11/14 1456 noted with local ads, talk on the upcoming Browns game, "News Radio WTAM Cleveland, an iHeart Radio Station" legal ID at 1500. A fair to poor signal was noted, alone on the channel.

1110 kHz WBT Charlotte, NC - 11/14 1551 noted with "99-3 WBT" and "WBT, a Radio-dot-com Station" mentions, station promo, "News/Talk 1110 and 99.3 WBT" ID into a talk show with Jim Bohannon filling in. A good signal was noted over KFAB with adjacent channel interference from KMOX 1120.

1140 kHz WRVA Richmond, VA - 11/14 1614 noted with local ads. A fair to poor signal was noted, mixing with KXRB and WVEL.

1150 kHz WGGH Marion, IL - 11/14 1619 noted with local ads, The Mike Gallagher Show, "WGGH Marion" legal ID at 1630 into SRN News. A fair to poor signal was noted, mixing with other stations.

1180 kHz WHAM Rochester, NY - 11/14 1630 noted with Eastern time check, "News Radio 1180 Wham" ID, news headlines and traffic report. A fair to poor signal was noted, mixing with other stations.

1210 kHz WILY Centralia, IL - 11/14 1346 noted with "WILY 1210 AM and 98.7 FM" ID into a Classic Hits format. A fair to poor signal was noted with slight adjacent channel interference from KLPW 1220.

1220 kHz KLPW Union, MO - 11/14 1348 noted with a Classic Rock format, "KLPW" ID by Saint Louis radio legend Radio Rich Dalton into local ads. A good signal was noted, alone on the channel.

1260 kHz WSDZ Belleville, IL -11/14 1500 noted with "Relevant Radio 1260 WSDZ Belleville, 95.1 K236CS Saint Louis" legal ID into Relevant Radio News. A very good signal was noted, alone on the channel. Change in format from Urban Gospel.

1340 kHz KXEO Mexico, MO - 11/14 1503 noted with a mix of Adult Contemporary music and Oldies, "Your Local Radio, 1340 KXEO" ID. A fair signal was noted over WSOY.

1380 kHz KXFN Saint Louis, MO - 11/14 1646 noted with discussion on Catholic teaching, “Relevant Radio en español” mention in Spanish. A good to fair signal was noted over other stations. Change from Conservative Talk.

SHORTWAVE LOGS

3330 kHz CANADA CHU Ottawa, ON - 11/14 2200 noted with "CHU Canada" ID in English, UTC time checks in English and French, brief pause before starting time signals, ID in French at 2201. A fair to poor signal was noted.

5025 kHz CUBA Radio Rebelde CMBA Bauta, Ciudad de la Habana - 11/14 2129 noted with commentary in Spanish. A fair to poor signal was noted.

5040 kHz CUBA Radio Havana Cuba via La Habana - 11/14 2201 noted with news headlines in Spanish into vocal music. A fair to poor signal was noted.

9395 kHz UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The Overcomer Ministry via WRMI Okeechobee, FL - 11/14 1952 noted with Brother Stair telling Bible stories. A good signal was noted.

9420 kHz GREECE Voice of Greece via Avlida - 11/14 2106 noted with traditional Greek music and commentary in Greek. A good to fair signal was noted.

9455 kHz UNITED STATES OF AMERICA The Overcomer Ministry via WRMI Okeechobee, FL - 11/14 1953 noted with Brother Stair telling Bible stories. A very good signal was noted; slightly better than on 9395 kHz.

9525 kHz CLANDESTINE Denge Walat via Issoudun, France - 11/14 2114 noted with commentary in Kurdish into traditional Kurdish music. A fair to poor signal was noted.

9600 kHz CHINA China Radio International via Kasgar - 11/14 2119 noted with discussion in English. A fair to poor signal was noted.

11720 kHz SÃO TOMÉ E PRÍNCIPE Voice of America relay - 11/14 2136 noted with pop music countdown and ID in English. A good signal was noted.

11770 kHz NIGERIA Voice of Nigeria via Abuja - 11/14 1937 noted with commentary in Fulfulde. A good signal was noted.

11780 kHz BRAZIL Radio Nacional da Amazonia ZYE365 Brasilia, D.F. - 11/14 2227 noted with a discussion in Portuguese. A very good signal was noted.

11810 kHz ASCENSION ISLAND BBC World Service relay - 11/14 2138 noted with a feature on sourdough bread in English. A good signal was noted.

12050 kHz CLANDESTINE Radio Ndarason International via Woofferton, U.K. - 11/14 2026 noted with "Radio Ndarason International" ID and commentary in Kanembu. A good signal was noted.

12095 kHz ASCENSION ISLAND BBC World Service relay - 11/14 2020 noted with discussion on the flooding in Venice in English. A good to fair signal was noted.

15555 kHz USB UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WJHR Milton, FL - 11/14 2016 noted with preacher talking about the Bible's teaching on adultery in English. A good signal was noted in upper sideband.

15580 kHz BOTSWANA Voice of America relay - 11/14 2009 noted with pop and hi-life music, "VOA" ID in English. A fair to poor signal was noted.

17775 kHz UNITED STATES OF AMERICA KVOH Rancho Simi, CA - 11/14 2005 noted with Contemporary Christian music in Spanish. A very good signal was noted.