February turned out to be quite interesting, DX-wise. The massive solar disturbances we saw in January had waned off considerably, and we even saw spotless days in the second half of the month.
So, February started off with a few stations not often heard here such as KKSE-CO 950, KIMM-SD 1150 and KSAL-KS also on 1150. The following day, the Smøla-HQ followed up with stations like WPWC-VA 1480 and WSYB-VT 1380.
In the evening of FEB-07 we spotted a nice opening towards Australia, with three new logs for me, 3CS-1134 from Colac, Victoria; Easy Music 3MP-1377 Melbourne, and 2QN-1521 from Deniliquin, NSW. Especially the latter was a great surprise with 2 kW on a very noisy frequency. All three are within a small area which obviously propagated well.
FEB-09 was another nice day at the KONG-HQ with WMGG-FL 1470 as a new log.
A proper "daytime" opening happened at Midnight UTC on FEB-14/15. Only one new log for me from that opening, KFXR-TX 1190, but nice catches like KCAP-MT 950, KIHU-UT 1010,, KCRN-CO 1120 and KXJJ-CO 1570 were also noted. Later in the night KVOE-KS 1400 surfaced for a new log, along with interesting stations from the south.
On FEB-17 we had proper "spot" conditions with much enhanced signal levels form eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota. Other areas were subdued. Stations from that area are rather common, but I managed to nail KHND-ND 1470 for a personal first.
On FEB-21 we heard a few stations from New Zealand, one of few openings in that direction this season. Massive signals from Newstalk ZB on 1035 and Radio Spice on 1107 with Punjabi programming. Nothing too exciting though, perhaps Sport Nation with 1 kW on 1548 was the least common of the ones we heard.
Then followed days with low signal levels and nothing of interest, until the last day of the month when one top of the hour stood out with many west coast stations at high signal levels, and even rare ones like KKIN-MN 930 and KVSC-UT 980.
February also saw a new player on the European MW scene, ZoomRock FM from the Finnish city Turku in the far south-west, 1119 km away from me. The signal was weak and barely readable. They have been heard in Central Europe as well. They operate on 1242 kHz with 500-1000 watts. A nice and colourful QSL too!
Station of the month: KRFS Superior NE 1600, 500 watts days, 44 watts nights. There is little doubt KRFS was running with their daytime rig, but 500 watts are not a lot compared with high-powered competition from "everyday" stations like WAAM-MI, KGYM-IA and KEPN-CO. They were audible several days in February. Click on the station name for audio. The signal level may surprise you.
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