Because of its unique location, being centrally located in the North American continent, the Chicago area provides an excellent opportunity to log new stations. In theory, every station in the U.S. could be logged, although this isn’t very realistic, taking into account directional patterns and frequency conditions. But, by taking advantage of sunrise and sunset skip propagation, it becomes possible to log seemingly impossible stations. This article will deal with the first of these two reception modes – sunrise skip (SRS). Future articles will discuss sunset skip (SSS).

One of the greatest aids the FCC has given the DXer is the pre-sunrise authority (PSA), first granted in the late 1960’s. Through a PSA, a radio station can operate using its daytime facilities before local sunrise. For example, a daytime only station can sign-on at 6:00 a.m. local time, using its PSA, when its local sunrise comes later. The PSA also allows a full-time station to change to more favorable antenna facilities (such as non-directional antenna) at 6 a.m. The only drawback for the broadcaster is that the PSA power cannot exceed 500 watts – and in many cases, considerably less power, depending on the frequency characteristics. Most regional channel PSA’s are the full power, while the clears PSA powers are usually less. The PSA is never greater than the full power of the station, so a 250 watt station has a maximum PSA power of 250 watts. The low power of the PSA means great DX conditions. Except in a few cases, there are no dominants. After 5:00 a.m. Central Time, the regional channels sound similar to graveyarders, with stations blasting in one minute and gone the next.

The easiest type of PSA to log is that on the regional channels. When you first begin SRS DXing, it is advisable to choose a frequency at 5:00 a.m. Central Time and just sit there waiting for something to come in. A good starting place is 1330 (see note 1), where WFIN Findlay, OH; WKOV Wellston, OH; WTRE Greensburg, IN and WOLD Marion, VA are easy targets. Other good frequencies include 920, 970, 1300 (see note 1), 1360, 1410, 1460, 1480, 1590 (see note 1) and 1600. Since conditions change daily, it isn’t likely that you’ll hear the same stations every day. In fact, you could end up with six or seven PSA’s on a good frequency in a short time. Thus, don’t assume that you can’t get anything else on a frequency just because a strong signal is there one day … It may not be there tomorrow.

After a time, you may want to give up waiting for a sign-on and begin to look for one by tuning around. You should look for open carriers, "America the Beautiful", rooster crows, "Dixie", a bugle, or music that seems out of place on a frequency. These are all signs that something is about to sign-on. PSA DXing should be done about three minutes before the hour to about three minutes after the hour. A tape recorder should always be used, since many times the signals will be too weak to ID with just one try. Additionally, a tape allows you to get a word for word description of the sign-on announcement … excellent for obtaining the QSL!

If you own two tape recorders, you may want to run one continuously during this period; dubbing of whatever good appears. Using this system, you won’t miss a single word. Otherwise, turn on the tape recorder as you anticipate the sign-on. Don’t wait – some announcements are really short and you could miss something really good. If the announcement is un-needed, just rewind the tape.

After 5 a.m., don’t go back to bed. There is still plenty to hear, through what I call scan. The scan is simply tuning from frequency to frequency, looking for something strong. When you find a readable signal, stay with it until it IDs or fades. Then move along, repeating the process. If you own two tape recorders, you might want to let one run constantly to ensure that you don’t miss an ID – especially if you "tune into it". One important thing to keep in mind is that a strong station need not be your 5,000 watt pest. Many times it will be a 500 watter several hundred miles away – and your pest will be nowhere to be found. At 5:57 a.m., the sign on period once again reaches you. This time, sign-ons are from the Central Time Zone. Some good frequencies in this period include 980, 1150, 1260, 1280, 1320, 1330, 1350 1460 and 1480. Since Chicago is in the same time zone, your frequency choices are more limited than at 5:00 a.m., due to sign-ons of stations in the Chicago suburbs.

In addition to looking east and south, sunrise is also a good time to bag stations all the way to the west coast, under the right conditions, of course. As the sun rises in the east, usual dominant stations will fade. Because there is still a darkness path between you and the western stations, there is an excellent opportunity to log a station that would seem impossible on a nearly open channel. An example of this is KBAD-740 Carlsbad, NM, which was heard in Chicago on a regular basis at its 7:00 a.m. s/on last year. Other examples include: CHAB-800, CFOB-800, CFQC-600, CFGP-1-5-, and CFRW-1290. Many times these stations blast in.

Except for a few frequencies, clear channel SRS is a more advanced type of DX than regional channel sunrise. To fully exploit it will require better equipment (a really sensitive receiver & a loop antenna with extremely good nulls). It also is more complicated since sign-ons will be every 15 minutes instead of every hour. Additionally, there will be little chance for a scan, since stations sign-on very close to local sunrise and will fade out rapidly as a result. Unlike regional channels, you will find many SRS pests. This is due to the stations signing on with full power rather than PSAs (although there are clear channels PSAs, these will be discusses later in the article). Some on the frequencies, such as 1580, will be extremely lively, producing sign-ons every 15 minutes. Others, with 1120 being an example, will bear fruit only under the best of conditions. You will find most frequencies somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.

In order to DX clear channel sunrise, 2 items (in addition to the NRC Log) are needed; a copy of the sunrise/sunset maps (you can get these from IRCA or NRC Reprints), and a good road atlas (such as Rand-McNally). These are needed because clear channel stations sign-on every 15 minutes moving from east to west. When you pick a frequency to DX, check the road atlas for the location of each station, and then consult the sunrise/sunset map for the month to find the sign on times for each station. Then, of course, be there at those times to try for the sign-ons. SRS is best at the beginning of the month during the months when the days are getting longer (January-June) and the last 15 days of the month (with the end being the most productive) during the months that the days are getting shorter (July-December). This is because stations do not sign-on exactly at local sunrise daily. Instead, they sign-on at the closest 15 minute period to local sunrise on the 15^th of the month. Thus, if local sunrise is at 6:18 on the 15^th, then a station would sign-on at 6:15 for the entire month. This is a great aid for DX, because for at least part of each month (some months as much as 30 minutes) there will be a darkness path between you and the station.

As in regional channel PSA DX, a tape recorder is almost essential when DXing clear channel sunrise. Although some stations will be strong, other will not. It is not at all unusual to hear 3 or 4 stations sign-on at the same time. Without a tape recorder probably only the strongest could be IDed. Since most clear channel stations don’t use SSBs (Start Spangled Banner), it is best to run the tape from about 2 minutes before the sign-on period until about 2-3 minutes after. Always play the tape back (especially if you were on a channel with a strong 50 kilowatter). Since many of the signals are going to be weak, you may have missed something the first time around. The most important thing to look for when working the clears is open carrier. Most clear channel daytimes put on their carriers for a period before sign-on. Some only for a short time, others for several minutes. The tape recorders should be turned on as soon as you notice this. because in most cases the station will sign-on without warning. Also, don’t turn the tape off immediately; chances are another station signing-on under the stronger one.

There are two types of clear channel PSAs. The first being exactly the same as regional channels, the stations sign-on at 6:00 am. Local time during the months that local sunrise arrives later. The frequencies where this occurs are: 650, 660, 710, 730 (some stations), 750 (Central Time Zone), 800, 900, 1050, 1510, 1530, and 1570. 900, 1050 and 1570 are extremely productive channels. These differ from regionals in that the PSA power will probably be less than 500 watts, some less than 100. On the rest of the clear channels with PSAs, a PSA can be used only after the sunrise of the dominant station. An example, no PSA can be used on 1560 until the sunrise has occurred in New York City, thus protecting WQXR. These PSAs are determined the same way as regular clear channel sign-ons. They sign on at the closest 15 minute period to local sunrise in New York on the 15^th of the month. Not all clears have PSAs. The ones that do (with dominant station) are: 810 (WGY), 940 (CBM), 1060 (KYW), 1080 (WTIC), 1100 (WWWE), 1130 (WNEW), 1410 (WRVA), 1500 (WTOP), & 1560 (WQXR). Not all stations on these channels have PSAs (for example, there are only a few low power ones on 1130). In order to have one, a minimum distance to the dominant station must be maintained. The closer the daytimer to the dominant, the lower its PSA. This all is determined by a complicated FCC formula, explaining why some PSAs are not whole numbers.

Probably the biggest cause of unusual sunrise conditions is the aurora borealis. Although the aurora is a big influence on SRS, this is not always positive. There have been many aurora mornings when I’ve looked forward to great SRS session, only to find that all skywave, including that from the south, has been eliminated. Even a mild aurora can do this. However, for many of you, this can produce new stations, via groundwave, that otherwise are out by the usual pests. One example of this occurred last season when the aurora knocked out all skywave, but groundwave to the west was good. WKKN-1150 Rockford (rare) was blasting in all alone. Luckily though, on a good number of occasions, SRS was just fantastic during periods of high geomagnetic activity, bringing in unbelievable catches.

The best way to determine whether or not there is an aurora, or will be, is to tune WWV at 18 minute past the hour. They will give two types of numbers relevant to aurora: the A-index and the K-index. Normally an A-index (based on the previous day) above 30 or a K-index (based on the past 6 hours) of 4 or more indicates aurora, But for SRS, an A-index of 15+ seems to effect conditions. Over the years I have noticed that SRS is best the morning the aurora hits (making the K-index valuable), especially when the A-index tops 30, particularly just before the geomagnetic storm begins. The day after the aurora begins many times produces the dead skywave conditions I previously described. But this is not always true. There is, unfortunately, no way of determining how good sunrise will be. There have been auroras that seemed really dead, only for 5:00 a.m. to arrive and the entire band is covered with 500 watt PSAs from Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. And this continues at 6:00 a.m. with Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Texas. After listening to WWV’s propagation forecast, pay particular attention to SRS when the geomagnetic field is predicted to be at minor or major storm levels. The higher the A or K index, the more severe aurora. A really severe aurora will wipe out everything that is north of it (except groundwave signals). Since during periods of high aurora activity signal absorption moves further and further south as the aurora intensifies, there have been times that even Georgia has been affected. Whenever an aurora of this intensity occurs, SRS conditions are almost always good. It is this type of aurora which will cause Florida stations to dominate even local channels. And it is not uncommon for a Florida 250 watter to dominate a clear channel, with the usual 50 kilowatter nowhere to be heard. If you are unable to get WWV, you can usually tell auroral conditions by the deadness of the band, dominance of regional channels by South American stations, increased slop-over from local stations, and the characteristic "aurora buzz" on many of the channels.

When DXing aurora SRS, it is best not to sit on a channel looking for a sign-on. You should, instead, tune around in search of clues that someone is about to sign-on. Pay particular attention to pen carriers and SSBs. don’t be fooled by weak SSBs, you could be wasting your time DXing a regular pest severely weakened by the aurora. Weak stations should be IDed during the scan. The scan is very important during aurora SRS, because it would be impossible to get every station at sign-on (unless you own more than 50 receivers, hi). Also, a station affected by the aurora at sign-on may not be a half hour later (or vice versa). I can’t stress more the fact that anything is possible during aurora. Don’t be shocked by what you are getting. Even graveyard channels can be totally dominated by a Florida station over 1,000 miles away. I have seen this happen on more than one occasion. The same is true also on a clear channel, even if the 50 kilowatter is directional right at you. Probably the best advice I can give you is: don’t presume it is something easy just because a station is blasting in. The aurora completely alters all reception patterns and can make even the lowest power station come in with excellent signal levels.

Note no. 1: since the article was written, local Chicago area stations have started using those frequencies on 24-hour basis. WRDZ on 1300 kHz, WKTA on 1330 kHz and WONX on 1590 kHz.

Since there are several mentions of clear, regional and local types of stations in the article, here is the breakdown of the frequencies:

CLEAR CHANNEL: 540, 640, 650, 660, 670, 680, 690, 700, 710, 720, 730, 740, 750, 760, 770, 780, 800, 810, 820, 830, 840, 850, 860, 870, 880, 890, 900, 940, 990, 1000, 1010, 1020, 1030, 1040, 1050, 1060, 1070, 1080, 1090, 1100, 1110, 1120, 1120, 1140, 1160, 1170, 1180, 1190, 1200, 1210, 1220, 1500, 1510, 1520, 1530, 1540, 1550, 1560, 1570, 1580

REGIONAL: 550, 560, 570, 580, 590, 600, 610, 620, 630, 790, 910, 920, 930, 950, 960, 970, 980, 1150, 1250, 1260, 1270, 1280, 1290, 1300, 1310, 1320, 1330, 1350, 1360, 1370, 1380, 1390, 1410, 1420, 1430, 1440, 1460, 1470, 1480, 1590, 1600, 1610, 1620, 1630, 1640, 1650, 1660, 1670, 1680, 1690, 1700

LOCAL (also called "graveyard"): 1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450

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