6MM Mandurah WA 1116 kHz QSL and Audio

6MM Mandurah WA on 1116 kHz was heard and identified for the first time on the 27th July 1989 via the FRG 7 and 30 metre longwire antenna at Fish Hoek.

Senior Technician Sydney Smith responded to my reception report with an informative letter and kindly included a 6MM car sticker as well as a photograph of the studio building.

The 6MM Studio Building (Photograph courtesy of Sydney Smith).

Inside the 6MM studio (Photograph Mark Leonard).

Audio Clip

The 2 kw signal from 6MM was heard over a distance of 8 657 km with a very good consistent level on the 13th May 2009 at 1647 UTC via the Sony SRF-M37V ultralight receiver and 220 metre BOG at Fish Hoek.

The 6MM transmitter building and 73 metre antenna mast, situated at West Pinjarra (Photograph Google Street View).

WGN Chicago IL 720 kHz QSL and Photographs

WGN Chicago IL on 720 kHz made it through to Fish Hoek on the 26th of February 1989. The station was heard over a distance of 8 517 miles / 13 707 km via the FRG7 and 25 metre longwire antenna.

I was fortunate to receive a QSL card in response to my reception report (click onto the relevant images below for a higher resolution).

Included with the reply was a promo card with a photograph featuring Bob Collins and Friends, signed by WGN business and agribusiness reporter Max Armstong.

The WGN Transmitter Site

An impressive aerial view of the 750 ft. WGN antenna tower in the foreground with the 250 ft. self-supporting auxiliary antenna tower behind and the transmitter building on the left (photograph courtesy Bart Shore).

Another aerial view showing the WGN transmitter building (photograph courtesy Bart Shore).

Thanks and appreciation to Bart Shore for his kind permission to share the two impressive aerial photographs above !

The WGN transmitter building (photograph Google Street View).

CKEC New GLasgow Nova Scotia 1320 kHz QSL

It was a pleasure to hear Canadian mediumwave station CKEC New Glasgow, Nova Scotia on 1320 kHz on the 16th of February 1989. The station made it through via the FRG7 and 25 metre longwire antenna at Fish Hoek.

I was fortunate to receive a friendly QSL letter from Doug Freeman, CEO President and Managing Director, in response to my reception report. Doug also kindly enclosed a photograph of the CKEC main transmitter room and added :

" ... To reach South Africa from a Canadian medium wave station is quite a feat - certainly our first ! Congratulations ... "

The verification letter received from Doug Freeman.

The main transmitter room of CKEC, showing the 25 kw Nautel tx and 5 kw Gates standby tx (Photograph c1991 courtesy Doug Freeman).

In 2006, CKEC was licensed to convert to FM. As of December 11, 2007, CKEC launched its FM station, 94.1. Simulcasting remained on both the AM and FM stations for 90 days, before converting entirely to FM.

WVIE Pikesville MD 1370 kHz - Audio

Another highlight from the September 2011 Seefontein dxpedition was the reception of WVIE Pikesville MD (a personal first) on 1370 kHz.

The station (branded as "V-1370") made it through over a distance of 12 616 km via the Icom R71E and 220 metre beverage antenna directed towards Eastern Canada. I thought I'd share an audio clip of the reception from across the Atlantic on the 15th September 2011 at 0436 UTC.

Audio Clip

The six WVIE (Presently WQLL) antenna towers. The night time antenna pattern towards the south-east would have contributed greatly towards the trans-Atlantic reception in this part of the world.

WQLL (Q-1370)

On August 6, 2012, WVIE changed their format to classic hits (branded as "Q-1370"). On August 7, 2012, WVIE changed their call letters to WQLL.

WNGL Mobile AL 1410 khz - QSL and Audio

It was a pleasant surprise to hear and identify WNGL Moblie AL on 1410 kHz (a personal first) on the 15th September 2011 during the previous dxpedition to Seefontein.

The station's 4.6 kw signal made it through over a distance of 13 186 km via the Icom R71E and 220 metre beverage antenna directed towards Eastern Canada.

Station Manager David Renshaw kindly responded to my follow-up reception report with a prompt email reply. David seemed to recognise the call letters from the female announcer on the audio clip and added that there are no female announcers at the station (My guess is that the top-of-the-hour id announcement was possibly pre-recorded and aired during the time when the previous station manager, Daniel diSilva, was in charge).

Audio Clip

A careful listen to the recording at 0500 UTC on the 15th September 2011 revealed the station id : " ... WNGL 14-10. You're listening (static crash) to Archangel Radio ... ".

A Brief History

As the oldest radio station in Mobile, WODX first broadcast from the Battle House Hotel on February 7, 1930.

WODX engineer and equipment (Photograph : Erik Overbey c1930).

The radio station has undergone various ownership and callsign changes : WODX (1930-1933), WALA (1933-1963), WUNI (1963-1984), WMML (1984-1991), WLVV (1991-2009) and WNGL (2009-present).

The WLVV transmitter building and antenna towers, situated on the coast between Mobile and Baldwin Counties (Photograph : Google Maps Street View).

In late April 2010 WNGL received a construction permit to move from the marshland transmitter site (pictured above) to one off Peach Street in Mobile. In late September 2010 the station was reported as active from the new site.