The WSRY DX Test

I didn't try for the WSRY-1550 DX Test on November 29 as they are a semi-local for me. But it did bring back memories of WSRY, which I remember as WSER. I grew up in the Elkton, Maryland area, living in Elkton from 1991-1998. WSER is the other station in Elkton besides WOEL-89.9, where I worked from 1986-1998. WSER was never a great station but they were a local station that made some effort to serve the Elkton area. I can remember the famous "snow days" when I was a boy, when we would all tune into either WSER or WASA-1330 in Havre de Grace to see if the schools were closed.

WSER suffered the fate of many small town stations, and would up being just another ESPN relay. But the recent DX test did bring back those memories and considerations of what it might have been if it had local ownership committed to local service.

AM Station 850

Got my 850th AM station the other night- WFLI-1070 in Lookout Mountain TN. My AM log goes back to 1976 when we moved to northeastern Maryland. I took a rather long break from AM DXing through the late 80s to the early 2000s, which explains why it took me 33 years to finally get to 850 stations. On to 1000!

WBZ, Heal Thyself?

From Scott Fybush's North East Radio Watch of October 26, about WBIX-1060 wanting to increase power to 50 kw:

"WBIX's (on 1060) proposed return to Ashland could reignite a battle that kept the old WGTR from ever becoming fully licensed at the Ashland site: back then, WBZ (1030) objected to potential interference to its signal from the third-adjacent..."

With all the interference WBZ causes with it's IBOC garbage, isn't it a bit hypocritical that they would complain about potential interference from WBIX when WBZ is guilty of actual and continual interference? 1020 and 1040 suffer from WBZ's IBOC hash and I have trouble hearing KDKA. WBZ has also been the target of lawsuits by WYSL-1040 near Rochester because of their IBOC. Maybe if WBZ turned their IBOC off, they could actually complain about something like this with a straight face.

DelDOT Puts Up Another HAR?

I've noticed that the WTMC network of HAR stations, run by the Delaware Department of Transportation on 1380 may have put up a new transmitter. I was getting overloading of the WTMC signal in north Dover, near exit 104 off Route 1, at the intersection of US13 and Scarborough Road. Sure enough, a new HAR transmitter tower is there, similar to the new one in Smyrna, at exit 114 off Route 1. I don't know if this replaces the transmitter that is already on the air in south Dover near the Puncheon Run Connector or if this is an additional transmitter, which would bring to 5 stations on 1380, run by DelDOT- the main station in Wilmington, Smyrna, two now in Dover and in Rehoboth Beach.

That NRC Contest

One way to re-focus on your DXing is to do a contest, so I am participating in the contests run by the National Radio Club. I don't think any info is online- you have to read about in in the DX News. One is a points-based contest, one is a mileage-based contest. In the points contest, I am at 546 points and in the distance contest, I am at over 82,000 miles of DX. Contests make me go back and spend time on frequencies and stations I have already logged that I might otherwise ignore. You never know what might pop up on a frequency that you thought you had exhausted!

Does Anyone Listen to WTMC?

The Delaware Department of Transportation operates 4 HAR stations on 1380, in Wilmington (WTMC), Smyrna, Dover and Rehoboth Beach (all 10-watt stations, or so). It's the usual fare, construction info and highly annoying PSAs that nag at you continually to buckle your seat belt and to watch for pedestrians. Those PSAs are so insulting and annoying to make me tune out as soon as one comes on. For real-live traffic info, the WTMC network is useless. There was a very serious accident in Camden last week where 11 people were injured and no mention at all of it was made on WTMC, despite a major traffic backup that was the result of the accident. If you want traffic in New Castle County, listed to WDEL or WILM. In Kent County, you'll get some traffic off WDOV (a rather useless station in its own right). I don't know if WGMD gives any traffic for the beaches. But no one tunes into WTMC for traffic. The construction delay info on WTMC is only marginally useful. They don't even give any weather forecasts or conditions, that would be genuinely useful. And the announcers on WTMC are just awful, reading will all the sincerity of a housewife reading the ingredients on a box of cereal in the grocery store. Can't they hire some professional-sounding announcers?

So what's the point in this taxpayer-run network? The private stations in Delaware do it much better and you can always go to the DelDOT website if you want construction delay info. Why not sell the 1380 outlet in Wilmington and shut down the HAR stations and save the already-overburdened taxpayer a few dollars? This makes good sense seeing how far in the financial hole the state of Delaware is currently in.

October 14- UL Log 603

Logged WPMH Claremont VA on 670 about 16:45 on October 14, weak, unknown talk show, heard "...talk radio for Hampton Roads..." I got this a few weeks ago on the car radio, but got it again on the ultralights. UL log #603.

WCTF-1170 Vernon CT leaked through about 08:15 on October 15, with Family Radio's distinctive Christian music. Got it on the FRG-7 but not strong enough for the ultralights.