I have gotten a lot of East Coast DX, especially in the 80s & 90s with the beverage, but I sure would not have heard any of it, without the beverage. But unfortunately, back in 2004, I had to raise the first 500 feet of it, so the farm equipment could go under it. The messed up some of the directivity. From 1982 until 2004, I had it running 4 feet off the ground on top of old wooden fence posts, but those were removed and I had to raise the antenna, the first 1/3 or it, but it still works. At least I still have one. Back in the 80s, WXVI 1600 Montgomery AL was a nightly visitor. One night 1600 was really in a jumble and in popped WWRL NY. A nice ID and promo. I got a beautiful QSL card too. Ah, the good ol' days. I caught the WARV 1590 RI test and they were mixing with a station running "Bubba FM". It turned out to be Charleston SC! A nice QSL from both. Hearing new "W" calls is not quite as easy as it once was, but I get one once in a while. I still need to ID WSLM 1220 IN. That one has slipped away so many times. But that beverage has been a pain to keep up in our Pacific storms. The one in 2007 with winds of over 150 MPH and the storm blew for 4 days, 3of them 100 MPH or more, tore the daylights out of trees and I lost over half of the beverage. I had to wait until the weather improved and I finally got it all back, but it took weeks. But all of the work has been worth it I never know what might pop in. Before XERF 1570 boosted power to 100KW, they were around 18KW for years and I rarely heard them. 1570 was wide open after BC & AB moved to FM. I logged WTRB Ripley TN with 53w. It faded up at ID time and then disappeared. Fortunately I had the cassette running. The GM about fell out of his chair when he heard the cassette. He replied that it was too bad I never heard any of their local programming. I wish XERF would have stayed at 18 KW. I have been DXing MW for over 50 years now and I am glad I found that old Zenith on that garbage rack on my way home from school back in 1962 in Seward AK. I have often thought, what if I would gone a different way or if I would not have seen the radio? I was 13 at the time. It changed my whole life.
73, Patrick Patrick Martin Seaside OR KGED QSL Manager _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: irca@hard-core-dx.com