[OKDXA] 160m contest last night

[Nelson Derks]

Speaking of low-band thrills...

I don't have any wires that will transmit on 160, but I can tell you that
the past month or better has seen some exceptionally good condx on the AM
broadcast band.

About three weeks ago I picked up an old Kenwood KR-4140 AM/FM stereo
receiver at a local thrift shop which I intend to use on the nightstand for
casual AM DX'ing. The more modern digital-tune stuff is fine for FM use, but
I've yet to find one with a decent AM section. The Kenwood is early 70's
vintage, all transistor and definitely 100% analogue. The right channel
needs work, the stereo light is burned out, the dial pointer is off by half
an inch on both bands and it's missing a knob... But... The wood case and
faceplate are very clean and it was a nicer mid-priced model that's
worth restoring.

The first night I had it the factory ferrite bar antenna gave me KDKA in
Pittsburgh at around a Q-4 and right next door on 1030 kHz KWTO in Casper,
WY was doing a Q-3+... Either the rig has good sensitivity or condx were
well above average. Tuning around returned WJR in Detroit on 760 kHz at near
Q-5 quality and I was able to pick up bits & pieces of WSB in Atlanta on 750
kHz. In my part of the world that's exceptional as KRMG on 740 is very much
a strong local signal. So, either the Kenwood has an above average AM
section or condx have been very good. Either way I won't complain, and
during the day it works well on the two loudest signals from Dallas...

BTW: The Goodwill store in Broken Arrow has a load of new reading &
sunglasses they're selling for $1.99 each. Normally I need a very mild
correction of 1.25 to 1.50 Diopters to make reading comfortable, but at that
price I picked up plenty of spares plus a pair with 3.25 Diopters of
correction. Why? It reduces my useful field of vision to approximately 18"
and that starts very near the tip of my nose. When I'm working on PC boards
and trying to read part numbers on itty-bitty components those glasses make
it like CinemaScope from the third row. Everything is LARGER than real life,
so be careful with the soldering iron until you get used to them.

If your eyes are like mine, your best bet is to find a frame with half
lenses so you can look over the top of them as needed.






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