Jim's comment regarding "off-axis" path to EU from my location in VE6 is very true. My Beverage arrays pointed toward EU from here have much of continental NA off the sides. Since EU BCB is on the 9kHz offset "between" the domestic NA 10 kHz splits really helps, but adjacent splatter can be a real killer. The same is even more true for Asia and OC where from here, NA is mostly off the back of my RX which really helps.
However, as a propagation indicator, we don't need to parse out audio, as much as simply see the 9kHz carrier amplitude between the domestics. The powerhouse EU guys are Moldova on 1413 kHz, Lithuania on 1386, and UK on 1089 kHz. (amongst others) For Asia Korea HLAZ on 1566 is almost always loud, and a handful of other Japanese. The "big one" from VK is Brisbane area ABC 1548 kHz Indeed from California, the path to EU is mainly in the RX boresight of mainland USA, so those domestic offsets are likely to be very strong. Steve wz ________________________________ From: Topband <[email protected]> on behalf of Jim Brown via Topband <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, October 12, 2026 12:10 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Topband: Using AM broadcast stations as propagation "beacons"? The usefulness of AM broadcast stations depends strongly on where we live and what we're trying to study. EU broadcasters use 9 kHz spacing, so looking for carriers from known stations is probably the key to studying the path from the west coast to EU. VE6WZ, other Canadian hams, and east coast hams aren't affected nearly as much by this issue, because their path to EU is off-axis to much of the US and Canada. I routinely use daytime AM broadcast signals to check the condition of my Beverages and VE3DO loops, which are quite vulnerable to damage from falling branches in my dense redwood forest, which also includes a lot of smaller trees, like madrone and tan oak. I've developed a spreadsheet of AM stations within 300 miles of me to facilitate this. My full-wave Beverages are still providing significant directivity low in the US AM band. https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/am-query makes it easy to develop such a spreadsheet if we know how to read it. DA means directional antenna, ND means non-directional antenna, DA-D and DA-N mean directional daytime or night, and the listings include power levels for daytime and night and even details of all antenna systems. Stations are licensed for these parameters to cover their license area while protecting distant stations from interference, both on their own frequency and on first and second adjacent channels. 73, Jim K9YC On 10/12/2026 11:10 AM, Richard (Rick) Karlquist wrote: > The trouble with this concept is that there are hundreds of stations on > any given frequency in locations all over north america, so in general > even if you had propagation from the east coast to W6, the east coast > stations would be lost in the massive QRM of all the other stations > on the west coast. I remember I once heard WCBS on a beverage antenna > going coast to coast, but that probably had a lot more to do with other > stations on 860 kHz being in fades at the time than WCBS suddenly > getting very strong due to propagation. _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
