For my fifteenth DXpedition on August 21, 2020 (UTC August 21-22), I decided to try another conservation area. This time, I selected the August G. Beckemeier Conservation Area in Chesterfield, MO, about 20 miles west-northwest of downtown Saint Louis. Located on Olive Boulevard (Missouri Highway 340) between Missouri Highway 141 and Ladue Road, it's a 54-acre site with a hiking trail. For the first time, I set up at a picnic table instead of inside my vehicle. The table had plenty of room for all of my radios, my logbook and reference materials.
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| The monitoring setup at Beckemeier Conservation Area. |
Once again, I brought my General Electric Superadio III for AM (MW) broadcast band DX, and my Tecsun PL-600 for shortwave DX. Instead of my homebrew 30-foot portable longwire, I brought along an MFJ-1022 active antenna, powered by a nine-volt battery. I checked out this piece of equipment before adding it to my DXpedition equipment list. The MFJ-1022's performance rivaled that of the homebrew longwire above 3 MHz. I also brought my Whistler WS1040 handheld digital scanner; I heard EMS calls from the City of Saint Louis on the 700 MHz band, along with police, fire and EMS calls from Lincoln, Warren and Saint Louis Counties in Missouri, along with Calhoun County, the City of Wood River and the ambulances from Alton Memorial Hospital in Illinois, as well as the Missouri Highway Patrol on the MOSWIN digital radio system (on high-band VHF) and the Illinois State Police on the STARCOM 21 system (on the 800 MHz band). I also checked the NOAA Weather Radio bands; in addition to local KDO89 on 162.550 MHz, I heard WNG728 Bellflower, MO on 162.425 MHz, KXI70 Jerseyville, IL on 162.450 MHz and WWF75 Bourbon, MO on 162.525 MHz.
I found this place an excellent area for a DXpedition. I began monitoring around 1835 CDT (2335 UTC), wrapping up around 2030 CDT (0130 UTC). Sunset skip conditions on the AM (MW) broadcast band favored the Midwest and Mid-South, although I logged one from North Carolina and one from Texas. Shortwave band conditions favored the Americas, Europe, East Asia and the Pacific.
AM (MW) BROADCAST BAND LOGBOOK (All times CDT; for EDT, add one hour, add five hours for UTC.)
600 kHz WMT Cedar Rapids, IA - 8/21 1905 noted with local ad, disclaimer mentioning iHeart Radio, "News Radio 600 WMT" ID into talk format. Good to fair signal with adjacent channel interference from KFNS 590.
680 kHz WMFS Memphis, TN - 8/21 1915 noted with local ads, including one mentioning Olive Branch, MS into sports talk from ESPN Radio. Fair to poor signal with ACI from KSTL 690.
800 kHz KREI Farmington, MO - 8/21 1919 noted with local spots into The Joe Pags Show. fair signal over CKLW.
830 kHz WUMY Memphis, TN - 8/21 1922 noted with light Christian music, mentions of "Esperanza" and "Buenas Nuevas" in Spanish. Fair to poor signal, mixing with WCCO; digital second ACI from KFUO 850.
900 kHz KFAL Fulton, MO - 8/21 1925 noted with local ad, Classic Country format, "Your Home for Classic Country" slogan. Good to fair signal over CHML.
930 kHz WTAD Quincy, IL - 8/21 1934 noted with local ad, "Talk Radio 930 WTAD and 103.3 FM" ID into The Mark Levin Show. Good to fair sugnal over KWOC.
960 kHz KCGS Marshall, AR - 8/21 1943 noted with contemporary music, "You're listening to Flashback on KCGS Radio" mention. Good to fair signal, mixing with KMA and KZIM.
1020 kHz WPEO Peoria, IL - 8/21 1858 noted with the end of a Christian talk program, local ads, "The Word" mention, "WPEO Peoria" legal ID into SRN News at 1900. Good signal over KDKA.
1110 kHz WBT Charlotte, NC - 8/21 1904 noted with weather forecast, mention of 99.3 FM, local ad, "WBT" ID in ad. Fair to poor signal, mixing with KFAB; ACI from KMOX 1120.
1180 kHz WGUE Turrell, AR - 8/21 1952 noted with a Regional Mexican format, "La Jefa" ID and local ads in Spanish. Good signal over WHAM.
1210 kHz WMPS Bartlett, TN - 8/21 1954 noted with a trivia show talking about Johnny Weissmuller, "Sunny 103" ID. Good signal over KGYN and WPHT.
1240 kHz WHBU Anderson, IN - 8/21 1958 poked through with mention of 103.7 FM and a local ad. Fair to poor signal, mixing with other stations.
1370 kHz KCRV Caruthersville, MO - 8/21 1850 noted with Country format, "We're AM 1370 KCRV" ID. Good signal, mixing with WLLM; ACI from KXFN 1380.
1570 kHz WBGZ Alton, IL - 8/21 2027 noted with The Clark Howard Show and local ads. Fair to poor signal, mixing with WBGX and other stations.
1610 kHz CHHA Toronto, ON - 8/21 2024 noted with promo mentioning Toronto in heavily accented English. Good signal, alone on the channel.
1650 kHz KFSW Fort Smith, AR - 8/21 2020 noted with Southern Gospel format, "98-7 the Cross" ID. Fair to poor signal, mixing with KCNZ.
1690 kHz WVON Berwyn, IL - 8/21 2012 noted with talk on domestic violence, "The Talk of Chicago, 1690 WVON" ID into promo. Good signal over WPTX.
1700 kHz KBGG Des Moines, IA - 8/21 2006 noted with Kansas City Royals baseball play-by-play, "1700 the Champ" ID and local ads. Good signal over KKLF.
1700 kHz KKLF Richardson, TX - 8/21 2005 noted with Mexican music, local ads in Spanish. Fair to poor signal, mixing with KBGG.
SHORTWAVE RADIO LOGBOOK (All times UTC; for CDT, subtract five hours, for EDT, subtract four hours.)
5130 kHz UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WBCQ Monticello, ME - 8/22 0046 noted with talk on COVID-19 and China in English. A good to fair signal was heard.
5505 kHz USB IRELAND Shannon VOLMET - 8/21 2348 noted with weather reports for various European airports, "This is Shannon VOLMET, Shannon VOLMET" ID in English. A fair signal was heard.
6070 kHz CANADA CFRX Toronto, ON - 8/22 0027 noted with local ads, "News/Talk 1010" ID, traffic report and local news headlines. A good to fair signal was heard.
6754 kHz USB CANADA CHR Canadian Forces Base Trenton, ON - 8/21 2345 noted with weather reports for various Canadian airports, "This is Trenton Military" ID and UTC time check in English. A good signal was heard.
7260 kHz TURKEY Voice of Turkey via Emirler - 8/22 0056 noted with Turkish music, "La Voz de la Turquia" ID in Spanish. A fair signal was heard.
9395 kHz UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Radio Prague International via WRMI Okeechobee, FL - 8/21 2335 noted with news and a feature on Czech railroads in English. A very good signal was heard.
9605 kHz UNITED STATES OF AMERICA KBS World via WHRI Cypress Creek, SC - 8/22 0105 noted with commentary and contemporary music in Spanish. An excellent signal was heard.
9690 kHz SPAIN Radio Exterior de España via Noblejas - 8/22 0116 noted with commentary in Spanish. A very good signal was heard.
9760 kHz ROMANIA Radio Romania International via Galbeni - 8/21 2341 noted with commentary and a feature in Spanish. A good signal was heard.
11780 kHz BRAZIL Radio Nacional da Amazônia ZYE365 Brasilia, D.F.- 8/22 0120 noted with pop music and ID in Portuguese. A good to fair signal was heard.
13840 kHz NEW ZEALAND Radio New Zealand Pacific via Rangitaiki - 8/22 0118 noted with ID and contemporsry music in English. A good to fair signal was heard.
15590 kHz THAILAND Radio Thailand International via Udon Thani - 8/22 0001 noted with news headlines, promo into news in detail in English. A good to fair signal was heard.
15730 kHz CUBA Radio Havana Cuba via Bejucal - 8/22 0008 noted with commentary and ID in French. A good signal was heard with distorted audio.
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