1710 khz AM - "The Big Q"

[Kilokat7]

I'm assuming this is a pirate and not a part 15 AM station due to references of the movie Pirate Radio.  Has anyone else heard this station before?  A Google search turned up only one other logging by another mystified MW DXer.

1710 khz UNID "You're listening to the the midnight man on the Big Q" -
UTC 0940-1033+ 11/6/2010 - I'm hearing an oldies stations here playing
1960s/1970s stuff with announcements between songs like "You're
listening to the Big Q".  Very good signal right now at S7 way over
Radio Soleil with slight warble to audio.  Songs heard include Beach
Boys "Help me Rhonda", Temptations "My Girl" sung by gravely voiced guy,
"Chantilly Lace", etc.  Ad for "GE Super Radio on eBay" and other
weirdness.  The announcer mentioned something about the movie "pirate
radio" and said it had nothing on his operation.  Pirate? Part 15? Don't
know!  Very professional sounding.

[Pigmeat]

I've been hearing a couple of mystery stations there for the past month. I got a tenative id on one as Voz de Latino Boston,but I caught one last Sunday night about 8 pm. EST playing opera with no breaks that never id'ed. It had about the best signal I've heard from the 1710 bunch.

[ChrisSmolinski]

1710 is always Radio Celestial here, from NYC. Apparently they bought the old Lubavitcher rig. 

FWIW They're not shy about their QTH, you can find their address on their website. Then go to google streetview, and you can see their antenna tower on the building.

Hilarious.

[Pigmeat]

Celestial is the one I hear the most frequently too,Chris.

I've been on the road a a lot the past couple of months and set the radio to 1710 about an hour before dusk.I get bits and pieces of stations,but the filter on the car radio is so broad they often get buried by the preachers out of Huntsville,AL. on 1700.

BTW,I think I heard your 1620 station last weekend? Same format you mentioned but no id's. I was just south of Pittsburgh in the 4:30 EST time frame when I caught it. Your guess is as good as any as to where it's coming from.

[ChrisSmolinski]

BTW,I think I heard your 1620 station last weekend? Same format you mentioned but no id's. I was just south of Pittsburgh in the 4:30 EST time frame when I caught it. Your guess is as good as any as to where it's coming from.

Interesting. I was thinking it was the local college station, which runs 20W carrier current. But if you heard it up there, that makes me wonder if it is someone else.

[lovemyradios]

I get the preachers from Huntsville here just about every day and night.  Nothing on 1620 but a TIS from Cape Canaveral.  This TIS really puts out a big signal and while its listed as "20-watts" I'm pretty sure its a lot more.  I know where its located on Merritt Island and the ground system is in the swamp which might account for some of the coverage. 

[Newfoundland DXer]

I get Radio Soleil from Brockton, MA most nights on 1710.  Occassionally, I have heard a Spanish lang station mixing with Soleil, but I have never been able to catch an ID.

BTW, Greek and Serbian stations use the 1700-1750 range frequently, often with quite high power (5kW or more).  I have heard and confirmed Radio B-52 from Greece on 1710.

[Kilokat7]

I've posted some audio clips of "The Big Q" (or Big Cube?) - it's not what I normally hear on 1710 and I haven't heard it since:

1710 khz – The Big Q – Clip 1
1710 khz – The Big Q – Clip 2
1710 khz – The Big Q – Clip 3
1710 khz – The Big Q – Clip 4

[Beerus Maximus]

Just curious what kind of setup (rig, antenna) you used to hear this station. I might try and listen some more down on MW this winter. The noise and hash is pretty unbearable here in the Boston burbs, though. Not to mention, 1620-1710 is awash in ethnic pirates in this area. In about 1990 or 1991, I heard a station on 1610 or 1620 called "WORM", which I think is the only hobby pirate I have ever heard on MW.

[Pigmeat]

A car radio when I'm on the road. A Drake R-3, a R-8A, a 30's era Philco tabletop, or a Grundig YB 400 at home. All of those either go to a twinlead fed 40 meter dipole linked together to make single active element or a homemade MW loop.

The ironic thing is my old sets do better for MW dx. I tried for two years to hear Radio Mosiach on the R-8 and a Sangean 909 with nothing but the occasional het. The first night I fired up the Philco hooked to the outdoor antenna R. Mosiach rolled in with ease.

Got to like those old tube rigs w/ no self generated digital noise.

[Kilokat7]

Just curious what kind of setup (rig, antenna) you used to hear this station. I might try and listen some more down on MW this winter. The noise and hash is pretty unbearable here in the Boston burbs, though. Not to mention, 1620-1710 is awash in ethnic pirates in this area. In about 1990 or 1991, I heard a station on 1610 or 1620 called "WORM", which I think is the only hobby pirate I have ever heard on MW.

If directed towards me, I'm using a Perseus SDR with two unterminated beverage-on-ground "bog" antennas (soon to be "beverage-under-snow" antennas!) of about 500 ft and 300 ft lengths.  I phase both wires with a Quantum Phaser.  On medium wave the phaser setup works well for nulling out pest stations when you're trying to hear DX on the same channel.  On shortwave, I'm finding it works better for eliminating man-made noise and peaking signals to some degree.  I started out with this setup for medium wave DXing but I'm finding decent results on the lower shortwave bands too. 

1710 at my location is usually a weak Radio Soleil.  I've heard some Spanish underneath it at times, but have never been able to ID it.  Soleil has an internet stream making their weak signal easy to ID.

BTW, Greek and Serbian stations use the 1700-1750 range frequently, often with quite high power (5kW or more).  I have heard and confirmed Radio B-52 from Greece on 1710.

Interesting information - about the power they use over there.  I'll have to pay more attention to the upper end of the band, or at least look for their carriers.  Speaking of carriers, I have the Perseus zoomed in tight on 1710 khz and I'm counting about 5 carriers on the waterfall display: 1709.94, 1709.98, 1709.99, 1710.01, 1710.03 & 1710.07 - the strongest are 1709.98 & 1710.03

[Andrew Yoder]

In the car last night, I could hear some Spanish talk & music. Not enough in to ID, but I guess it was Radio Celestial.