Longwave DXing

Every shortwave radio that I have ever used has had four bands: FM, AM (or mediumwave), shortwave, and longwave. Longwave has always been a disappointment to me because I have never had much luck with longwave DXing. The only longwave signals I have ever heard consistently are beacons which endlessly repeat the same two or three characters in Morse code. But I have never known how distant they were or what their purpose was.

A recent thunderstorm knocked out our electrical power for over six hours. One of the few good things about a power outage is that it eliminates nearly all of the electrical interference that plagues radio reception. I always make it a point to test reception when that happens, so I used a battery-powered shortwave radio (a Sangean ATS-909) to tune the radio dial. I heard two of those those longwave beacons once again. It occurred to me that I ought to be able to use the internet to determine what they really are. I wrote down the frequencies and the repeated letters so that I could look them up later.

I quickly found this list of North American longwave beacons and found to my surprise that both of the beacons are at nearby airports. They are called non-directional beacons and are used by planes and boats for navigation. Apparently, you can plot your position on a map just by receiving two beacons with a directional antenna. I was a bit disappointed to learn that those “distant” longwave signals are actually quite local.

If you’re looking for more information about longwave DXing, Longwave DXing and An Introduction to Longwave DX by Paul Ormandy look like two good introductions. If I keep trying, perhaps someday I can receive a longwave signal from more than ten miles away!

Written by Matthew Reed | Filed Under Radio