At 0500 UTC (Midnight CDT) on March 23, 2020, a Shelter-in-Place order took effect for Saint Louis County, MO due to the COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) pandemic. This Shelter-in-Place order is in effect until April 23, 2020. This has put a delay on my DXpedition season; I've had to push back my first DXpedition of 2020 (my eleventh DXpedition) for as long as this order remains in place for the Saint Louis metro area.
What is there to do? Of course, for me, I'm DXing. These logs are from the first week of the Shelter-in-Place order for Saint Louis County. The listening post is located in Hazelwood, MO, located 15 miles (24 km) northwest of downtown Saint Louis and three miles (0.91 km) north of Saint Louis-Lambert International Airport.
SHORTWAVE LOGS
Equipment used: Sangean ATS-803A portable communications receiver, MFJ-959C antenna tuner/amplifier, homebrew 150-foot (45 meter) dipole antenna, installed in the attic, homebrew 30-foot (9.1 meter) longwire antenna, installed outdoors (All times UTC)
5875 kHz VATICAN CITY BBC World Service via Santa Maria di Galeria - 3/28 0514 noted with an interview in English with a fair to poor signal.
6105 kHz FRANCE Radio Algerienne via Issoudun - 3/28 0536 noted with commentary in French into Middle Eastern music with a fair signal. Adjacent channel interference was noted from Radio Havana Cuba on 6100 kHz.
6145 kHz CUBA Radio Havana Cuba via La Habana - 3/24 0640 noted with talk on how the COVID-19 virus has affected Cuba in English with a good to fair signal.
7780 kHz UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Radio Slovakia International via WRMI Okeechobee, FL - 3/25 0042 noted with talk on education in English with a very good signal.
9800 kHz JAPAN Radio Japan via Yamato - 3/26 0744 noted with commentary in Japanese into light vocal music with a fair to poor signal.
10000 kHz HAWAII WWVH Kekaha, Kauai - 3/24 0634 noted with time signals and time announcements every 60 seconds in English. A good signal was noted over WWV.
AM (MW) BROADCAST BAND LOGS
Equipment used: CountyComm GP-5/SSB Gen 3 Ultralight receiver, Grundig AN-200 tunable loop antenna, National NC-60 Special five-tube AM/SW receiver, Apex 303WA-2 LW/AM/SW vertical antenna, Yaesu FRG-7 communications receiver, Worcester Electronics Space Magnet II ferrite core loop antenna (All times CDT; for EDT, add one hour.)
820 kHz WCPT Willow Springs, IL - 3/28 0545 noted with station promos, "WCPT, Chicago's Progressive Talk" slogan into local ads. A fair signal was noted in WBAP's null; apparently on day power and pattern.
930 kHz WGAD Rainbow City, AL - 3/26 0209 noted with a "WGAD" jingle into an Oldies format. A fair to poor signal was noted, mixing with WRVC and WTAD.
960 kHz KZIM Cape Girardeau, MO - 3/26 0356 noted with the tail end of Coast-to-Coast AM, local ads, dual-station legal ID with KSIM 1400 Sikeston, MO into ABC News. A fair to poor signal was noted, mixing with KMA and WABG.
960 kHz KFLN Baker, MT - 3/25 0130 noted with mention of "online at KFLN-dot-com" into a Country format. A fair to poor signal was noted, mixing with KMA and KZIM; apparently on day power. Fifth AM station logged at Hazelwood, MO from Montana.
1050 kHz CHUM Toronto, ON - 3/26 0413 noted with a "TSN 1050" ID into a Toronto traffic report mentioning an accident on the 404 expressway. A fair signal was noted over other stations.
1260 kHz WNDE Indianapolis, IN - 3/24 0043 noted with Fox Sports Radio programming, local and national ads. A fair signal was noted over WSDZ.
1290 kHz WIRL Peoria, IL - 3/24 0127 noted with "WIRL" jingle into an Oldies format. A fair signal was noted over WHIO.
1350 kHz WPDR Portage, WI - 3.27 0033 noted with a weather forecast, "AM 1350 WPDR" ID into an Oldies format. A good to fair signal was noted, mixing with other stations; apparently on day power.
1380 kHz WKJV Asheville, NC - 3/29 0335 noted with a Southern Gospel format and local announcements. A good to fair signal was noted, nearly taking out KXFN.
1450 kHz WDLB Marshfield, WI - 3/24 2157 noted with a Classic Hits format, "1450 WDLB" ID. A fair to poor signal was noted, mixing with KMRY, WASK and other stations. 74th AM station logged at Hazelwood, MO from Wisconsin.
OTHER NOTES: Three reception reports went out during that week. Reports went out 3/27 to Radio Slovakia International (7780 kHz via WRMI) and Gander VOLMET (6604 kHz USB), and on 3/28 to Shannon VOLMET (5505 kHz USB). I checked in to my regular Ham Radio nets that week: the Monday night Lewis and Clark Radio Club net on the 145.230 MHz (-) repeater and the Tuesday night Saint Louis and Suburban Radio Club net on the 146.850 MHZ (-) repeater. 27 operators checked in (myself included) on the LCRC net; 53 operators checked in on the SLSRC net. As long as there's signals to be heard, that's a good thing.
To the DX community: be safe and healthy.
