2020 may go down as the most challenging year we have had in recent memory; I spent a lot more time at the dials in the year just passed. Here's a month-by-month review of my DX year of 2020.
January: Three new AM (MW) broadcast band stations were added to my home log: KKOZ 1430 Ava, MO on January 3 at 0552 CST (1152 UTC), WKTR 840 Earlysville, VA on January 7 at 0528 CST (1128 UTC), and KXTD 1530 Wagoner, OK on January 13 at 0402 CST (1002 UTC). KXTD was left on overnight, giving WCKY fits. One call change made it into the AM log on January 26 at 0310 CST (0910UTC): WVWZ 790 Ashland City, TN. On the shortwave bands, Asian stations were being heard in the local early morning and late afternoon hours; numerous Chinese stations were heard throughout the month. One FM relay was added to the log on January 29; I found it tough to copy K295CQ 106.9 Saint Louis, MO (relay of WGNU 920 Saint Louis, MO) through KWEC-LP Saint Peters, MO.
February: Two call letter changes made it into the log on Leap Year Day (February 29): WSRP 910 Jacksonville, NC at 0240 CST (0840 UTC) and KTFS 940 Texarkana, TX at 0251 CST (0851 UTC). I logged WSRP previously as WLAS, and KTFS previously as KCMC. On the FM side, two relays were added to the logbook. W296DR 107.1 Alton, IL (relay of WBGZ 1570 Alton, IL) on February 18 at 2344 CST (0544 UTC 2/19); I had to put a super tight null on K296HA Washington, MO (relay of KRAP 1350 Washington, MO) to pull that one in. W232CR 94.3 Alton, IL switched to an Oldies format, relaying WIL-HD3 92.3 Saint Louis, MO, necessitating The Big Z's move to 107.1. K287CM 105.3 Troy, MO was heard at 2358 CST (0558 UTC 2/19); this one had tough copy through WAOX; K287BY (relay of KXFN 1380 Saint Louis, MO) was nulled to pull this one in. Leap Year Day also brought a pair of good shortwave catches: Voice of Turkey on 7280 kHz in Spanish at 0232 UTC (2032 CST 2/28) and Radio Thailand on 13750 kHz in Thai at 0240 UTC (2040 CST 2/28).
March: Before the Shelter-in-Place order (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) for Saint Louis County, MO took effect on March 22, I added three new AM (MW) stations. The big surprise was WGR 550 Buffalo, NY, logged on March 11 at 0415 CDT (0915 UTC) through a nulled KTRS. WDAY 970 Fargo, ND poked through with an ID on March 19 at 0205 CDT (0705 UTC). My old Georgia stomping grounds joined the 70 AM station club on March 20 at 1855 CDT (2355 UTC) with the log of WISK 990 Lawrenceville (moved from Americus). Most of the pre-lockdown logs on shortwave came from China Radio International: 11770 kHz via Beijing in Vietnamese on March 3 at 0045 UTC (1845 CST 3/2), 11790 kHz via Xiamen in English at 0054 UTC (1854 CST 3/2), 7250 kHz via Urumqi in Chinese at 0117 UTC (1917 CST 3/2) and 9710 kHz via Kashgar (Kasgar) in Spanish on March 5 at 0207 UTC (2007 CST 3/4). Three new AM stations were added to the logbook after the order took effect: WDLB 1450 Marshfield, WI on March 24 at 2157 CDT (0257 UTC 3/25), KFLN 960 Baker, MT (on day power) at 0130 CDT (0630 UTC) March 25, and KEBC 1560 Del City, OK at 0625 CDT (1125 UTC) on March 31. Shortwave highlights in the early days of the lockdown were WWVH Kekaha, Kauai, HI on 10 MHz over WWV at 0634 UTC (0134 CDT) on March 24, Radio Japan via Yamato on 9800 kHz in Japanese at 0744 UTC (0244 CDT) and BBC World Service via Vatican City (Santa Maria di Galeria) on 5875 kHz at 0514 UTC (0014 CDT) in English. I tried to send a reception report to Radio Algerienne for reception on 6105 kHz via Issoudun, France; the report never made it out of the United States due to COVID-19 postal restrictions.
April: Two AM call letter changes made it into the log that month: WIJR 880 Highland, IL on April 5 at 0618 CDT (1118 UTC); that had tough copy through WCBS. XELRDA 580 Piedras Negras, CL was heard on April 30 at 0550 CDT (1050 UTC). New AM logs: Michigan joined the 50 station club on AM with WMPL 920 Hancock, MI was heard April 2 at 0158 CDT (0658 UTC). KROL 1430 Carrollton, MO put Missouri into the 130 AM station club on April 5 at 0331 CDT (0831 UTC). By that point, KZQZ Saint Louis was operating 50 kW daytime only. WIIN 780 Ridgeland, MS was heard April 9 at 0510 CDT (1010 UTC), giving WBBM fits. WKPR 1440 Kalamazoo, MI was heard April 11 at 0759 CDT (1259 UTC), giving WGEM a good run for the proverbial money. Wisconsin on 1490 kHz was completed on April 18 at 0400 CDT (0900 UTC) with WIGM in Medford poking through KTTR, WOSH and other stations on the frequency. WIGM is also my 75th AM from Wisconsin. Florida joined the 40 station club on AM with the log of WLVJ 1020 Boynton Beach at 0501 CDT (1001 UTC) on April 22. WGLM 1380 Greenville, MI was heard at 0427 CDT (0927 UTC) on April 25; local KXFN was off for maintenance. One hour and 18 minutes later, at 0545 CDT (1045 UTC), XEMP 710 Mexico City was heard, taking out Cuba with WOR nulled. Shortwave highlights in April included American pirate Damn Skippy on 6925 kHz USB at 2330 UTC (1830 CDT) April 26, Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation on 11905 kHz in Hindi on April 27at 0040 UTC (1940 CDT 4/26) and WWVH Kekaha, Kauai, HI on 15 MHz at 0249 UTC April 30 (2149 CDT 4/29) with no sign of WWV. Three AM (MW) frequencies in the Saint Louis area were cleared when KQQZ 1190 Fairview Heights, IL, KZQZ 1430 Saint Louis, MO and KFTK 1490 East Saint Louis, IL had their licenses revoked by the FCC. The three stations, along with long-silent WQQW 1510 Highland, IL, were owned by Entertainment Media Trust, doing business as Insane Broadcasting Company, and run by right wing extremist Bob Romanik. KFTK 1490 was leased to Entercom, which also owns right wing talker KFTK-FM 97.1 Florissant, MO and 50 kW blowtorch KMOX 1120 Saint Louis, MO.
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| MMSSTV capture from Damn Skippy on 6925 kHz. |
May: The month began with another Florida AM added to the logbook. WACC 830 Hialeah was heard in a WCCO null at 0229 CDT (0729 UTC) on May 1. Two new Midwesterners were added on May 12: WKRO 1490 Cairo, IL at 0520 CDT (1020 UTC) and KLEX 1570 Lexington, MO echoing behind KBCV (with WBGZ nulled) at 0637 CDT (1137 UTC). WKRO completed my 1490 kHz logs from the Land of Lincoln. On May 19 at 0459 CDT (0959 UTC), I caught WNWC 1190 Sun Prairie, WI on day power, giving WOWO fits. On May 26 at 0239 CDT (0739 UTC), I noted WSLV 1110 Ardmore, TN left on overnight. I finally heard KNLS Anchor Point, AK after years of trying; I logged them on 9695 kHz on May 18 at 0835 UTC (0335 CDT). Other highlights on shortwave include Saudi Radio International on 9675 kHz via Riyadh on May 9 at 2001 UTC (1501 CDT) in Turkish, CNR1 Shijiazhuang, China 11720 kHz on May 15 at 0012 UTC (1912 UTC 5/14), along with U.S. pirates Mix Radio International on 12030 kHz USB on May 10 at 0210 UTC (2110 CDT 5/9) and WDOG on 6950 kHz USB at 0108 UTC on May 17 (2018 CDT 5/16). One new FM was added in May: KYGV-LP 102.9 Saint Louis, MO through K275CI and KEZS on May 19 at 0027 CDT (0527 UTC). The Shelter-in-Place order for Saint Louis County expired on May 18.
June: After a delay due to the pandemic, the first DXpedition of 2020 took me to Marais Temps Clair Conservation Area on June 1 (UTC June 2) for a sunset DXpedition. On June 13, (UTC June 13-14), I took the radios to Weldon Spring Conservation Area for a sunset-early evening DXpedition. On June 24, I set up at Saint Stanislaus Conservation Area for my first sunrise-early morning DXpedition. I began upgrading my equipment in the shack with a new Dell computer with Windows 10, replacing a 2004 vintage Dell computer with Windows XP. It was a great time to upgrade, as the digital television spectrum repack took full effect. Adding the Hauppaugue Win-TV HVR video dongle, I was able to capture my first DX capture on June 6, in the form of KRBK 22 Osage Beach, MO. The next morning brought in new repack logs from Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. Indiana joined the 40 station club on DTV on that June 7 opening with the log of WTTV 27 Bloomington. A big surprise from that opening was WBKI 16 Salem, IN with local KDTL-LD nulled. Another surprise was KGAN 29 Cedar Rapids for my 15th Iowa DTV. 11 repacked DTVs were logged on June 6-7. June 7 also brought my 200th FM station from Missouri, in the form of KBTN-FM 99.7 Neosho at 0029 CDT (0509 UTC). On the NOAA Weather Radio bands, I noted a city of license change at 0020 CDT (0520 UTC) June 7: WXL46 162.400 Fordland, MO (ex-Springfield). Speaking of Springfield, MO, I logged a call letter change on AM: KRZD 1550 on June 3 at 0544 CDT (1044 UTC). The other call change I caught was KGLA 830 Norco, LA on June 25 at 0314 CDT (0814 UTC). New AM logs included KOTA 1380 Rapid City, SD on June 16 at 0426 CDT (0926 UTC) and WCFO 1160 East Point, GA on June 26 at 0445 CDT (0945 UTC). I caught KOTA while KXFN was off for maintenance. Shortwave highlights include Honolulu VOLMET on 6679 kHz USB on June 11 at 0552 UTC (0052 CDT) and CNR1 from Beijing on 6175 kHz on June 17 at 1016 UTC (0516 CDT).
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| KRBK 22 Osage Beach, MO, seen 6/7. |
July: The excessive heat kept the radios home during the month. On July 2, I noted channel changes for WPXS Mount Vernon, IL (from 21 to 13) and W36EX Alton, IL (from 50, where they were W50CH in analog, flash-cutting to digital, to 36). WPXS' move to 13 made it a semi-local, even though my shack is 85 miles (137 km) from Mount Vernon. July 3 brought more DTV repack logs, this time from central Illinois. The big surprise was WRSP 16 Springfield, IL, pulled in through a tight null of KDTL-LD. Two new FM logs made it to the shack in the month of July: K275BB 102.9 Washington, MO (K275CI Saint Charles was off for maintenance) on July 15 at 0120 CDT (0620 UTC) and WXXQ 98.5 Freeport, IL on July 17 at 0454 CDT (0954 UTC). On the AM side, a call letter change was noted on July 23 with WKST 1200 New Castle, PA heard in a WOAI null at 0255 CDT (0755 UTC). Two new AM stations were logged in July: WTTN 1580 Columbus, WI on July 10 at 0454 CDT (0954 UTC) and WXRL 1300 Lancaster, NY on July 23 at 0212 CDT (0712 UTC). Shortwave highlights include BBC in Pashto on 5930 kHz via Moosbrunn, Austria on July 28 at 0118 UTC (2018 CDT 7/27) and CNR8 Beijing on 9785 kHz at 1115 UTC (0615 CDT) on July 28.
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| WRSP 16 Springfield, IL, seen in July. |
August: Two more DXpeditions took place in August. On August 5 (UTC August 5-6), I set up at Sioux Passage County Park and August 21 (UTC August 21-22) at August G. Beckemeier Conservation Area for sunset DXpeditions. Only one new AM station was logged that month: WVHF 1140 Kentwood, MI on August 16 at 0452 CDT (0952 UTC). During August, I added an SDRplay RSPdx software-defined receiver to my shack. Shortwave highlights from home included FEBC via Bocaue, Philippines on 9275 kHz in Chinese at 1120 UTC (0620 CDT) August 11, Radio France Internationale via Issoudun in Swahili on 9655 kHz at 0442 UTC August 12 (2343 CDT 8/11), BBC in Pashto via Armenia on 9880 kHz at 0220 UTC August 14 (2120 CDT 8/13) and VOA Studio 7 via Mopeng Hill, Botswana in Shona on 7270 kHz at 0450 UTC on August 19 (2350 CDT August 18). A DTV opening into southeast MO was received on August 18, allowing me to lok KDKZ-LD 18 Farmington and repacks KFVS 11 and KBSI 36 Cape Girardeau. KBSI 36 turned out to be the 40th Missouri digital TV station logged.
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| KFVS 11 Cape Girardeau, MO, seen 8/17. |
September: On September 19 (UTC September 19-20), I went on a DXpedition to Howell Island Conservation Area at sunset into the early evening hours. Two call letter changes were noted on AM that month: WQEZ 1370 Fort Campbell, KY on September 5 at 0522 CDT (1022 UTC) and WMEJ 1190 Bay Saint Louis, MS on September 23 at 0412 CDT (0912 UTC). New AM logs in September included WATH 970 Athens, OH on September 5 at 0500 CDT (1000 UTC), two new Charleston, SC metro stations on September 12 in the forms of WAZS 980 Summerville at 0136 CDT (0636 UTC) and WTMZ 910 Dorchester Terrace at 0258 CDT (0758 UTC). Much-wanted WAOV 1450 Vincennes, IN poked through on September 21 at 0233 CDT (0733 UTC). Two new stations made it into the AM log on September 23: WHOC 1490 Philadelphia, MS poking through at 0059 CDT (0559 UTC) and WZAM 970 Ishpeming, MI at 0515 CDT (1015 UTC). WHOC represents my 40th Mississippi AM log. Tropospheric enhancement openings took place on September 16 into MO/IL/IN/OH; the big surprise of that opening was WKEF 34 Dayton, OH at 0508 CDT (1008 UTC), September 26 into OK/KS/NE and western MO, and on September 27 into IN and KY. On that opening, I pulled in my 20th Nebraska FM, as KLNE 88.7 Lexington made it through a nulled WSIE on September 26 at 0500 CDT (1000 UTC). I logged my 200th in that opening, in the form of KSHB 36 Kansas City, MO. Two new Kansas City FM stations were logged in that opening: KCUR 89.3 (tough copy through KTBJ) and KWJC 91.9 (with K220HT inaudible). One new Kansas FM was logged: KFXJ 104.5 Augusta (Wichita). Two new NOAA Weather Radio stations were logged on that opening: WXK92 162.400 Ellsworth, KS at 0831 CDT (1331 UTC) and EXL66 162.450 Mountain View, AR (through KXI70) at 0840 CDT (1340 UTC). The September 27 opening brought my 10th Kentucky DTV in the form of WPSD 19 (through KPTN-LD). No FM or DTV E-skip was logged, but the DTV repack salvaged the DTV DX season for me. Shortwave highlights included U.S. Coast Guard station NMN Portsmouth, VA on 13089 kHz USB at 2354 UTC (1854 CDT) September 11, SLBC on 11905 kHz in Bengali at 0035 UTC September 23 (1935 CDT 9/22) and VOA Studio 7 on 6170 kHz in Shona on September 25 at 0450 UTC (2350 CDT 9/24).
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| WKEF 34 (22) Dayton, OH, seen 9/16. |
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| DTV #200, KSHB 36 Kansas City, MO, seen 9/26. |
October: On October 9 (UTC October 9-10, I took the radios to Saint Stanislaus Conservation Area for a sunset-early evening DXpedition; the second DXpedition of 2020 to Saint Stan's. Four new AM stations were added in October: WMGY 800 Montgomery, AL on October 2 at 0241 CDT (0741 UTC), WKOK 1070 Sunbury, PA (20th Keystone State AM) on October 26 at 0549 CDT (1049 UTC), KGLB 1310 Glencoe, MN on October 30 at 0405 CDT (0905 UTC) and WCKW 1010 Garyville, LA (likely on day power) on the same day at 0443 CDT (0943 UTC).
November: I wrapped up the 2020 DXpedition season by taking the radios out to Pere Marquette State Park on November 6, a 76-degree (Fahrenheit) day, for a late afternoon-sunset DXpedition. One call letter change on AM was noted in November: WHNY 1000 Paris, TN on November 24 at 0618 CST (1218 UTC). 13 new AM logs were noted in November, including a new Canadian (CFMB 1280 Montreal, QC), two new Florida AM stations (WTBN 570 Pinellas Park and WJXL 1010 Jacksonville Beach), and two new Texans (KWBC 1550 College Station and KILT 610 Houston). Kansas and Oklahoma joined the 40 station club on AM. #40 from the Sunflower State was heard on November 11 at 1701 CST (2301 UTC) in the form of KJRG 950 Newton. The 40th AM from Oklahoma turned out to be KWHW 1450 Altus, heard on November 24 at 0430 CST (1030 UTC). I added one more Oklahoma AM after that: KSEO 750 Durant (with WSB nulled) on November 25 at 0521 CST (1121 UTC). The big surprise on AM in November came on the 23 at 0410 CST (1010 UTC) in the form of WFGM 1300 Morgantown, WV (on day power). A much-wanted FM station finally got into the logbook on November 27 at 0232 CST (0832 UTC) in the form of KDBB 104.3 Bonne Terre, MO.
December: Three call changes on AM were noted in the log: KVCU 1190 Boulder, CO (on day power) at 2055 CST December 16 (0255 UTC 12/17), WDLR 1270 Marysville, OH on December 29 at 2323 CST (0423 UTC 12/30) and WTOU 1660 Kalamazoo, MI on December 30 at 0415 CST (1015 UTC). I would catch WKEX 1430 Blacksburg, VA on day power on December 5 at 0405 CST (1005 UTC) and WKTF 1550 Vienna, GA (also on day power) on December 26 at 0310 CST (0910 UTC). I added another local channel (graveyard) AM station to my log on December 21 at 0300 CST (0900 UTC) in the form of KICD 1240 Spencer, IA. WSYW 810 Indianapolis was a pleasant surprise; I heard this one on December 5 at 0522 CST (1122 UTC). The biggest surprise was WDTW 1310 Dearborn, MI, heard at 0355 CST (0955 UTC) on December 13. Shortwave highlights included two VOLMET stations in the 3 MHz band, Gander on 3485 kHz USB on December 29 at 0657 UTC (0057 CST) and Shannon on 3413 kHz USB at 0818 UTC (0218 CST) on New Year's Eve. A Cuban "Spy Numbers" station was heard on 11635 kHz at 0806 UTC (0206 CST) on New Year's Eve.
So much time was spent at the dials during 2020, especially during the last nine months of the year, when COVID-19 ravaged our planet (especially the United States).
