Since I returned to Oklahoma from Washington state at
Thanksgiving, I've been enjoying domestic MWDX for the first time since
1959-60, via Ultralighting, Unlimited Class. I had competed in the
Ultralight Spring Sprint (80 stations) in February of 2008, but this late
Fall was my first real exploration of the domestic scene in 50
years. I've found that it is not nearly as bad as I feared.... yes,
there is IBOC and yes, there is so much syndication that you turn blue in
the face, but still, hearing Fergus Falls, MN or Winslow, AZ from
northern Oklahoma is a pure DX kick and catching "WBZ, the
NE's Most Listened-to Station" is positively orgasmic. I've
been having real FUN, a lot of real fun doing Ultralight
domestically!
That fun has been multiplied and my climb up the station count ladder has
been accelerated by having two fellow-Okie DX buddies within 40 miles:
Richard Allen, 30 miles to my NW and Kirk Allen (no relation) 40 miles to
my due North. As they have each mentioned here, we share DX loggings
almost every day and a lot of my catches have been the direct result of
walking in their footsteps. Happily, the reverse has been true, as
well. As of last week, Richard stood at about 525 stations logged,
mostly (or maybe totally) Barefoot; Kirk stood at about 425 stations,
Unlimited Class and I stood at about 325 stations, Unlimited Class. Our
varying station counts fairly accurately reflect when we each started all
of this insanity.
Since sharing loggings among such close DX neighbors has been so useful
for us, we decided to create an UltraOkie Composite Log, thinking that we
might each be able to develop superb hit lists from the result; we were
right. We also thought that we might learn a few things that might be of
use to others; we think that we were right, there, too.
So, with the Allens standing about 525 and 425 stations and me at 325,
that is 1275 station loggings amongst us three. It turns out that there
were 672 unique stations logged by at least one of the three of us....
and an average of two of our three DXers hearing each station.
Since we really weren't concerned about who heard which station first,
the most expeditious way to create the UltraOkie Log was to start with
Richard's 525 stations and add in the other stations logged by me and
Kirk, but not logged by the others. That is what I did, using MS Access
database software. Happily, Richard's log was in Excell and mine in
Access, so combining the two of them wasn't too difficult. Kirk's log is
in straight text, so I added it last. I was pleased to learn that,
even at my paltry 325 stations, I had heard 60 or so stations that
Richard had not heard; Kirk had heard an additional 70-some stations that
neither Richard nor I had heard, thus making up that total of 672 unique
stations.
Here is the breakdown of what we've heard from our post halfway between
Oklahoma City and Wichita:
Total Stations: 672
Total Continents: 4 (NAm, SAm, Asia, EU)
Total Countries: 8 (USA, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Aruba, Japan, Spain,
Croatia)
USA: 36 states (missing Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon in the West, some mid-Atl
and NE states)
97 stations in Texas (!)
Mexico: 15 states, 77 stations
Canada : 5 Provinces, 23 stations (All provinces Ontario and
west)
Cuba: 17 stations
One of the things that impresses me is that we are nearing 100
Latins. As far as South America, the picture is grim, though: it
may speak to our location and all-land route, maybe, but out of those 100
latins, we have not heard a single station on Mainland South America,
while having heard three in Japan and two in Europe.
The happiest news for ourselves and possibly the rest of the Ultralight
community are the levels of our individual Hit Lists. For instance,
Richard was sitting at 525 stations when we did the composite log... with
672 unique stations in the Log, there are still over 150 stations that
either Kirk or I have heard (or both) but that Richard has not!!!
And he knows that each of those stations got within about 25 miles of
him, at least once. That is pretty encouraging for someone with 525
already under his belt. Kirk has around 250 on his hit list and
I've almost 350. VERY NICE!!!
What may be even more encouraging is that the three of us,
DXing at
less than half speed this past week, have still added nine totally
new stations to the overall composite log... and that nine consisted of
one new Canadian, one Cuban,1610 Anguilla for a new country and 6 US
stations. Even better for those of you with high station counts,
Richard (nearing 550 now) added four of the nine (and added five new ones
to his hit list, too) So, there is hope out there in radio land, even for
those of us hanging around the fateful 600 station
"barrier." There are clearly more stations out there,
even in one season!
Well, we hope that this little litany has been of interest.....
when you think of the UltraOkie DXer, picture a bow-legged, stooped older
guy with a battered straw cowboy hat, long-john uppers, buttoned
incorrectly, dirty gym sneakers and jeans with a half-zipped fly.... that
is on a good DX morning. Yes, the hat fits nicely over the headphones,
too.
John B.
Stillwater, OK, USA
Rcvrs: Hotrodded NRD-535, Slider e100's
Antennas: Wellbrook Phased Array
