HOUR 1 it's the end of the year, and that means it is time to look back at 2025 and reflect on a year of DX. AM, FM, NDB, NOAA WX DX.....it's been quite a year! We finally got our Airspy HF+D paired with a splitter from our big Southern-facing KAZ. Let's just say, the CCC and that antenna are a match made in DX heaven. And it is already producing for us! I spent the week working on my brand new online logbooks! These will be embedded at a future Web site I am working on for Northshore Studios. But, both MW and FM have shiny new dashboards thanks to Looker Studio. And they are already coming in handy during my DX sessions! Common mode chokes? Nah, we are getting ready to strangle some common mode noise around here thanks to 10 brand new TDK N30 toroids. Yup. TEN! HOUR 2 Tropo has been flaring and looks to be continuing the next few days and not just here on the Gulf Coast. Let's spend a little time talking FM - besides, this is prime time for a little mid-Winter Es opening action! Improving the Low-noise vertical? Let's throw down some radials! I finally did it, I downloaded Linrad. Now, anyone know of a university engineering course that I can take to learn to use it? :) NEW CHALLENGE We launch into Week 12 of Season 5 of our MW Frequency Challenge with a return to a dedicated frequency range: 1350-1360 kHz. 1350 is our least "covered" frequency in the past five years with only 58.5% of licensed U.S. stations reported by our DXers. Let's remedy that, shall we? DX TESTS 1280 WNAM-WI is going off the air permanently - but not before a nod to the DX community with a special DX Test. We have the details to share. TOH DX Hour 1 - We will actually be checking FM, because the tropo conditions seem to be getting going Hour 2 & 3 - We will be checking our new challenge frequencies of 1350 and 1360.

HOUR 1 We test out and demonstrate our new phasing set up using our 35' low noise vertical and a W6LVP loop through an RSPduo. Demoing diversity mode, showing how it works and how well it can help get rid of the unwanted (noise, pest stations, etc.) and pull up DX! We launch a new challenge for the week: The 3rd Annual Daytime Challenge! A slight tweak this year: the period runs 2 hours after LSR to 2 hours before LSS. This is a tighter window this year to reduce the prevalence of grayline influence in our logs. Antenna projects galore! New verticals, transformers, laying Cat 6 feedines.....gonna be a busy week or two at Northshore Studios HOUR 2 DXpeditions - while our friend Sean Kutzko is on the road for a DX getaway, we talk about our experiences at taking your DX out and away from home. There are definitely some things you will want to keep in mind. TOH DX: We check our usual Latin America/Caribbean beacon freqs as the band has been running Southerly again the last few days!

HOUR 1 We have launched a new station target list - "Loyd's Go-To Pan-American 'Beacon' Frequencies" and will review that and some use-cases for it in the show. More solar fun - The sun was playing with our ionosphere again this week like a kitten with a ball of string. And it wasn't just signals to the South that were the result! New video has dropped on YouTube - the 35' Vertical Antenna! The Country Challenge rolls on and we take a look at the numbers so far, cause WOW! HOUR 2 New podcast episode coming up as a companion to my column in the January edition of The Spectrum Monitor Going to reshoot the Jaguar video - again - as I just learned of a new feature I want to try out! At 20:30 CST, Louisiana will fire the monthly EAS test. We will be taking requests and tuning around looking for stations. Maybe a few we don't already have in the logbook! We also take a look at the ATS25 Max Decoder portable and its MW performance.  How does it stack up against the TEF6686? TOH DX We are looking South with DX catches from Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, Bonaire and more! In the 2100 hour, we actually snagged audio from 920 kHz in Paraguay! You will not want to miss this one!

Show notes for Season 6, Episode 9 of DX Central Live!, a livestream devoted to AM/MW and FM DXing with live DX sessions, tips, tricks, shoutouts from DXers for their DX catches from the previous week, DX challenges and more! HOUR 1 The active regions of the Sun are now once again Earth-facing. Already, conditions on MW have been improving towards the South. We had a big opening to Peru here on Wednesday night. Will this continue? Not only was AM DX bumping on Wednesday night, but we had a rare December FM DX Tropo opening to the Southeast as well! Stations along the Florida Gulf Coast were coming in strong, all the way to Orlando and Mount Dora! We review the logs and look ahead to see if tropo conditions will return! DX TESTS RETURN! We have to wait until February, but the West Coast will soon be the home to sweeps, tones and morse code thanks to a series of DX Tests. We cover the details and the 'Save the Dates" (yes, we will be doing live streams for each!) I cannot say enough good things about the low-noise 35' vertical antenna! It has been a remarkable surprise just how good it actually is! How good? We are going to put up another one! (More on that next hour). HOUR 2 Another antenna change here at Northshore Studios and around the corner at Mamacita's shack? Well, thanks to Barry, yes....we will be making some changes. We talk through our thought process. With those changes in store, we take a look at phasing for MW DX. If you have a phaser such as the MFJ-1026, we talk through what you can do by just turning a few knobs! The ATS-25 "Max Decoder" portable radio has arrived. What do we think so far? We explore some "beacon" frequencies for our new MWFC Challenge. NEW CHALLENGE With the Solar conditions what they are, this is the perfect time to bring back one of our more popular "theme" challenges from Season 4, "The Country Challenge". Try to log as many countries as you can. 5 points if you log one station from the country. 10 points if you log two. Max of 10 points per country (countries like BVI and Antigua with 1 station, we are awarding the full 10 points for hearing them). The US counts as a country, so be sure to throw two logs in there for an easy 10 points! Top-of-Hour AM DX SESSIONS: Hour 1 - Finish up on 1470-1480 Hours 2 & 3 - Start Country hunting!

HOUR 1 The new low-noise vertical. Talking through the install, the setup, the unique "Jeff Imel-inspired" chemical ground and checking out the performance LIVE! Unveiling the new MW Frequency Challenge - All Season Data Analysis! You all have been checking out and the feedback has been fantastic. Now, we unleash it to the world. A few sections are still under construction (the audio locker and the seasonal stats). A new MW Frequency Challenge announced! Using our data from the All-Season data analysis, we zero in on two more of our least "covered" frequencies: 1470 & 1480 kHz. There are lots of opportunities here for most of us, at least, to flush out our logbooks. The Airspy Semi-Annual Sale is on! HOUR 2 A preview of Loyd's new logbook analysis, using the same tool we are using for our DX challenges. Review of target stations for our new challenge frequencies FROM THE SLACK - A tip on some unique audio to listen for from Radio Santa Maria on 590 kHz from the Dominican Republic. TOH DX: Hour 1 - Finish up on 580-600 Hours 2 & 3 - Start 1470 and 1480  

HOUR 1 FM DX - recent tropo and Auroral Es. We take a look at Bill Hepburn's Tropo Forecast New gear is here! - VE3PSZ model V3A High-Z Amplifier - this is going to be the matching unit and amplifier for my new ~35 foot low-noise vertical antenna that (hopefully) will be going up this weekend. New gear on the way! - We take a look at two new pieces of gear on the way for testing: Also in Hour 1, we will be introducing our new MW Frequency Challenge frequency range for the week as well as our brand new data analysis dashboard for the weekly challenges! HOUR 2 We are talking about feedlines! 50 ohm, 75 ohm, coax, twisted pair and even Cat 5/6 (I know Notorious B.O.G. is gonna love this!). Whether we are talking about AM DX, FM, shortwave, or beyond.....how to make sure this critical component of your signal chain doesn't let you down! We look at our new challenge frequencies and identify possible target stations NEW MWFC Frequencies - I used our new MWFC All-Season Data Analysis tool to help find some frequencies where we have much lower coverage/completion, while still offering a nice assortment of states and countries to chase. So, the data pointed very clearly to 580 - 600 kHz! TOH DX Hour 1 - We finish up on 910-930, to put a finish to Week 6 of the MWFC. Hour 2 - We take a look at our new challenge frequencies of 580-600 kHz. Hour 3 - We continue with our new challenge frequencies - 580-600 kHz.

Back in 2022, we recorded an interview with IRCA President, Bruce Portzer. It was originally intended to be broadcast in our season 3 premiere of DX Central Live, as we had done the previous season with our interview with Publisher Wayne Heinen of the National Radio Club. However, the fates conspired against us with corrupted video files and then, we lost access to the files altogether. Fast forward three years. We have now officially launched our podcast and while doing prep work, we actually found the audio-only files of our interview with Bruce. There were a few missing pieces but the meat of the interview was intact! So, as part of our DXC 1-on-1 series here on the podcast, we present to you - for the first time anywhere - our 2022 interview with IRCA President, Bruce Portzer. We talk about Bruce's origins in AM DX, we talk about his techniques, gear and more! You can join the IRCA by visiting ircaonline.org and clicking "Join IRCA"!

This episode is brought to you by the letter "S" as in "Solar Storm"! Tons of shoutouts with a definite "Latin theme" to them this week as auroral enhancement brought signals from the South to DXers all over the United States.   EPISODE 6 AGENDA: HOUR 1 - Attack of the Sun - or - Getting DX from down South (and I don't mean Waffle House territory) - We dive into the week of amazing DX, Latin American enhancement, 3 CMEs and all the fun that came with it. HOUR 2 - Antennas for MW DX - To follow up with our discussion two weeks ago on SDRs for AM DX, we explore some popular antennas to help pull in those distant signals. We will also touch on components for MW antennas including handwound transformers and variable resistors for termination purposes. MW FREQUENCY CHALLENGE - This week, we say goodbye to the Grayline Challenge and say hello to a new challenge. In this one, we quite literally return to our roots both because after nearly a year-long break, we are focusing on a specific frequency range for our challenge: 910 to 930 kHz. Also, 910 kHz was the very first frequency we used for our very first MW Frequency Challenge back in November of 2021 - so nearly four years later we come full circle! Full details will be available at dxchallenges.com. ADDITIONAL TOPICS: We will take a look at 910 to 930 kHz looking for potential target stations for DXers, especially Latin American and Trans-Oceanic DX TOP-OF-HOUR DX HOUR 1 (0100 UTC) - We check Latin American beacon frequencies looking for any remaining enhancement from this week's solar storms. HOUR 2 (0200 UTC) - We launch our new challenge and as such, spend our first hour focused on 910 kHz. This can be a treasure trove of Latin American DX with San Andres y Providencia (a unique country from Colombia for DX purposes), Costa Rica, Venezuela, Cuba, Honduras and Mexico all possible along with some really good Domestic DX. HOUR 3 (0300 UTC) - We return to our challenge frequencies, this time focusing on 920 and 930. Both of these frequencies can also support excellent Latin American DX and we will cover some options during the show.

Show Notes:  Season 6, Episode 5 MW Frequency Challenge: The Grayline Challenge - October 31 through November 14 - The challenge continues! Only stations received 45 minutes prior to through 45 minutes after local sunrise/sunset. In years past when we did similar challenges around grayline periods, we had a much larger window. I am tightening that up this year to try to reduce skywave influence a bit. Agenda for Season 6, Episode 5 HOUR 1: Storage for IQ Recordings - what are the options out there for holding, archiving our IQ recordings? As with most questions like this, there is no single answer here....so we explore some of the options so you can hopefully land on one that works for you! HOUR 2: Jaguar software for Perseus AM DXers - Specifically built for AM DXers that use the popular Perseus SDR, Jaguar is not so much an SDR program as it is a tool for AM DXers to use in conjunction with their Perseus to get more DX. We walk through some of the basics in advance of our multi-part video coming to our YouTube channel. Other topics we touch on: Ole Sol is active yet again. We take a look at the current and forecasted solar conditions Bill Hepburn's Tropo forecast - a look ahead Offseason Sporadic Es - yup, it has been a busy November

Show notes from Season 6, Episode 4 | October 31, 2025 HOUR 1: Logging and logbooks - with a special focus on the Google Suite and using Google Forms, Google Sheets and Google Sites for logbook entry and analysis. We also take a quick look at the new DX Central Live! Web site and show archive and discuss "Studio C," the new DX Central Patreon!HOUR 2: Choosing the right SDR for AM DX - With so many options on the market, how do you know which one is the right choice for you? We break down some of the more common options with pros and cons for each.GRAYLINE CHALLENGE: - We take a look at the grayline map for November and how it compares to actual sunrise/sunset times.TONS of shoutouts: - we didn't get them all in last week so this week, it will be a shoutout-o-rama!LIVE DX SESSIONSSession 1 (19:00 CDT TOH) - We finish up the Graveyard Challenge, spending some time on 1230 with the Co-Channel Canceller in SDR#.Session 2 (20:00 CDT TOH) - With our new challenge focused on grayline, we open up this session for requests.Session 3 (21:00 CDT TOH) - Same as above, open for requests.

In this debut episode of DX Central’s From the Static: The History of Radio series, we journey back to the dawn of broadcasting — to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the transmitter that changed everything. It began with hobbyists, tinkerers, and a garage in Wilkinsburg where engineer Frank Conrad strung up an antenna and started sending music into the ether. From those humble beginnings came KDKA — a call sign that would ignite the age of commercial radio. As we weave through the history and legacy of KDKA, this episode explores the evolution of communication from the age of Morse code to the first presidential election broadcast in 1920, the chaos and regulation that followed, the rise of network radio, and KDKA’s enduring legacy through war, television, and the digital era. You’ll hear authentic archival sound, carefully recreated historical moments, and the voices that shaped a century of broadcasting — from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wartime fireside chats to Orson Welles reflecting on The War of the Worlds panic, to the launch of Sputnik that ushered radio into the space age. Whether you’re a DXer, a historian, or someone who just loves radio, this is where the history of radio broadcasting comes to life. Support future episodes and help keep radio history alive at Patreon.com/DXCentral. ARCHIVAL AUDIO SOURCES “Ballet Music from ‘Rosamunde’ – Vera Barstow & Robert Gaylor (Schubert/Kreisler, 78 RPM)” — Public Domain via Archive.org. Source: https://archive.org/details/78_ballet-music-from-rosamunde_vera-barstow-robert-gaylor-schubert-kreisler_gbia0023328a “Pittsburgh, PA” – Edison Blue Amberol Cylinder #50655 (circa 1910s) — Public Domain (CC0) via Archive.org. Source: https://archive.org/details/edison-50655_01_7132 “Terrific Floods Sweep Cities – Pittsburgh, PA” (Universal Newsreel, May 11 1936) — Public Domain (CC0) via Archive.org. Source: https://archive.org/details/1936-05-11_Terrific_Floods_Sweep_Cities President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Fireside Chat #26 – Italy Surrenders” (September 9 1943) — Public Domain (CC0) via Archive.org. Source: https://archive.org/details/1943-09-09_Long_Way_to_Go_Says_FDR “Attack by Mars Panics Thousands – Orson Welles Press Conference” (Universal Newsreel, October 31 1938) — Public Domain (CC0) via Archive.org. Source: https://archive.org/details/1938-10-31_Attack_By_Mars_Panics_Thousands Warren G. Harding, “January 20 1920 – Americanism” (Pathé Actuelle Recording #021042 A) — via Miller Center, University of Virginia. Source: https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/january-20-1920-americanism. Audio used under educational and historical fair-use context. All rights retained by original archive source. “New Moon – Reds Launch First Space Satellite” (Universal Newsreel, October 7 1957) — Public Domain (CC0) via Archive.org. Source: https://archive.org/details/1957-10-07_New_Moon RESEARCH & REFERENCE SOURCES Library of Congress – American Memory Collections The Smithsonian – National Museum of American History Broadcast Division Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia Westinghouse Historical Archives Federal Communications Commission History Project National Archives and Records Administration Broadcasting Magazine (1922 – 1959 Issues) Contemporary Newspaper Reports from The Pittsburgh Post, Pittsburgh Gazette Times, and The New York Times Oral Histories and DX Community Accounts provided to DX Central Produced and written by Loyd Van Horn / DX Central.Part of the “History of Radio” series on the DX Central From the Static podcast.All archival content sourced and verified through public domain and historical archives for educational storytelling. Support future episodes and help keep radio history alive at Patreon.com/DXCentral. DISCLAIMER: Portions of this episode include historically based dramatizations of early 20th-century events, such as KDKA’s first election-night broadcast (November 2 1920), t

It is episode three of season 6, where we discuss some of the "other" kinds of DX that you can do besides AM and FM.  Not the easy ones like shortwave or ham radio....some of the more off-the-path types such as NOAA Weather Radio, NDBs on longwave, ADS-B, AIS ship tracking and TV DX! We take a look at Nick Langan's fantastic article in Radio World magazine about AM DX in the Graveyard.   Check it out at:  https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/nicks-signal-spot/digging-up-the-am-radio-graveyard  We also talk through setting your contrast within SDR Console to maximize the view of weak signals for FM DX during Sporadic Es so you can visually see even those weak/brief bursts.  (HINT:  this also helps during meteor scatter as well). Bill Hepburn's Tropo Forecast (https://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html) is reviewed for the coming weekend and early week. It's the final week of the Graveyard Challenge on 1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450 and 1490 kHz, we will be announcing our next challenge on our Halloween show!  Plus some great shoutouts from our audience make for a packed episode this week!

For our second episode of Season 6 of DX Central Live!, we dive into using AI in your DX. Can AI actually help you identify stations and get more logs in your logbook?  We test it out!   Also, a quick run through of using WavViewDX software for review of IQ recordings made in a wide assortment of SDR software.  Between the analysis and carrier slueth views, is there value here for DXers to use it in reviewing their AM and FM DX recordings? (https://rweiss.de/dxer/tools.html) Bill Hepburn's Tropo Forecast (https://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html) is reviewed for the coming weekend and early week as the possibility of some Tropo associated with a front approaching the central and Southeast US could give FM DXers some openings in the coming days. Our Live DX sessions find us once again poking around in "The Graveyard" as our Graveyard Challenge on 1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450 and 1490 kHz continues for another week.  Plus some great shoutouts from our audience make for a packed episode this week!

For episode 3, we bring to you our interview conducted for the May 2025 season finale of Season 5 of DX Central Live! with famous FM DXers - and hosts of the fantastic VHF DX Podcast - Nick Langan and Bryce Foster.   Nick is well known and established DXer based in New Jersey who writes for Radio World magazine on radio and DX related topics.  Think of him as an ambassador of sorts for the DX community among the radio industry. Bryce is also a very well known and established DXer based in Massachusetts.  Part of Bryce's claims to fame was developing the popular WTFDA WLogger app that allows DXers to report and converse around DX catches in real time.  He is also widely known as being the first DXer from the continental United States to receive Sporadic Es reception from stations in Europe. The VHF DX Podcast can be found on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/0QWtETNePlWl3V0F7dU5Qw) and anywhere that podcasts are available.  

In this episode we tune in for the premiere of Season 6 of DX Central Live! We do some live DX including searching for Latin American signals and stations within "The Graveyard".  The new season of the MW Frequency Challenge gets underway as we launched the "Graveyard Challenge" and talked about some tips and tricks for DXers to use as they tuned in on the graveyard frequencies.  Plenty of shoutouts, talk about the 2025 FM Sporadic Es season, wrapping up the 2025 Summer of DX Challenge and more! You can join in on the fun of the Graveyard Challenge by registering at dxchallenges.com.   Then, submit your logs of stations received starting at 0000 UTC Saturday, October 11 through 0100 UTC Saturday, November 1, 2025. Be sure to join us for our weekly livestream Friday nights at 2345 UTC/1845 CDT at dxcentrallive.com or our YouTube channel youtube.com/@DXCentral.

Welcome to the first episode of the DX Central ”From the Static” Podcast.  In this episode, after we do some basic introductions, we dive into our first DX101 segment.  This episode, we cover the basics of ”What is DX?” For those who are newer to the topic of DX, have you ever found yourself tuning around on an AM or FM radio and come across a signal you were not expecting?  Maybe it was from a station that identified itself and it was from a city far from your home?  Guess what, you just DXed! Topics discussed include a very brief history of DX, some basic information on AM and FM DXing, how signals propagate, what to listen for and when to listen for it, some gear recommendations and play some actual DX audio samples so you get tune your ear for what to expect on the bands.