Show notes from Season 6, Episode 4 | October 31, 2025 HOUR 1: Logging and logbooks - with a special focus on the Google Suite and using Google Forms, Google Sheets and Google Sites for logbook entry and analysis. We also take a quick look at the new DX Central Live! Web site and show archive and discuss "Studio C," the new DX Central Patreon!HOUR 2: Choosing the right SDR for AM DX - With so many options on the market, how do you know which one is the right choice for you? We break down some of the more common options with pros and cons for each.GRAYLINE CHALLENGE: - We take a look at the grayline map for November and how it compares to actual sunrise/sunset times.TONS of shoutouts: - we didn't get them all in last week so this week, it will be a shoutout-o-rama!LIVE DX SESSIONSSession 1 (19:00 CDT TOH) - We finish up the Graveyard Challenge, spending some time on 1230 with the Co-Channel Canceller in SDR#.Session 2 (20:00 CDT TOH) - With our new challenge focused on grayline, we open up this session for requests.Session 3 (21:00 CDT TOH) - Same as above, open for requests.

In this debut episode of DX Central’s From the Static: The History of Radio series, we journey back to the dawn of broadcasting — to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the transmitter that changed everything. It began with hobbyists, tinkerers, and a garage in Wilkinsburg where engineer Frank Conrad strung up an antenna and started sending music into the ether. From those humble beginnings came KDKA — a call sign that would ignite the age of commercial radio. As we weave through the history and legacy of KDKA, this episode explores the evolution of communication from the age of Morse code to the first presidential election broadcast in 1920, the chaos and regulation that followed, the rise of network radio, and KDKA’s enduring legacy through war, television, and the digital era. You’ll hear authentic archival sound, carefully recreated historical moments, and the voices that shaped a century of broadcasting — from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wartime fireside chats to Orson Welles reflecting on The War of the Worlds panic, to the launch of Sputnik that ushered radio into the space age. Whether you’re a DXer, a historian, or someone who just loves radio, this is where the history of radio broadcasting comes to life. Support future episodes and help keep radio history alive at Patreon.com/DXCentral. ARCHIVAL AUDIO SOURCES “Ballet Music from ‘Rosamunde’ – Vera Barstow & Robert Gaylor (Schubert/Kreisler, 78 RPM)” — Public Domain via Archive.org. Source: https://archive.org/details/78_ballet-music-from-rosamunde_vera-barstow-robert-gaylor-schubert-kreisler_gbia0023328a “Pittsburgh, PA” – Edison Blue Amberol Cylinder #50655 (circa 1910s) — Public Domain (CC0) via Archive.org. Source: https://archive.org/details/edison-50655_01_7132 “Terrific Floods Sweep Cities – Pittsburgh, PA” (Universal Newsreel, May 11 1936) — Public Domain (CC0) via Archive.org. Source: https://archive.org/details/1936-05-11_Terrific_Floods_Sweep_Cities President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Fireside Chat #26 – Italy Surrenders” (September 9 1943) — Public Domain (CC0) via Archive.org. Source: https://archive.org/details/1943-09-09_Long_Way_to_Go_Says_FDR “Attack by Mars Panics Thousands – Orson Welles Press Conference” (Universal Newsreel, October 31 1938) — Public Domain (CC0) via Archive.org. Source: https://archive.org/details/1938-10-31_Attack_By_Mars_Panics_Thousands Warren G. Harding, “January 20 1920 – Americanism” (Pathé Actuelle Recording #021042 A) — via Miller Center, University of Virginia. Source: https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/january-20-1920-americanism. Audio used under educational and historical fair-use context. All rights retained by original archive source. “New Moon – Reds Launch First Space Satellite” (Universal Newsreel, October 7 1957) — Public Domain (CC0) via Archive.org. Source: https://archive.org/details/1957-10-07_New_Moon RESEARCH & REFERENCE SOURCES Library of Congress – American Memory Collections The Smithsonian – National Museum of American History Broadcast Division Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia Westinghouse Historical Archives Federal Communications Commission History Project National Archives and Records Administration Broadcasting Magazine (1922 – 1959 Issues) Contemporary Newspaper Reports from The Pittsburgh Post, Pittsburgh Gazette Times, and The New York Times Oral Histories and DX Community Accounts provided to DX Central Produced and written by Loyd Van Horn / DX Central.Part of the “History of Radio” series on the DX Central From the Static podcast.All archival content sourced and verified through public domain and historical archives for educational storytelling. Support future episodes and help keep radio history alive at Patreon.com/DXCentral. DISCLAIMER: Portions of this episode include historically based dramatizations of early 20th-century events, such as KDKA’s first election-night broadcast (November 2 1920), t

It is episode three of season 6, where we discuss some of the "other" kinds of DX that you can do besides AM and FM.  Not the easy ones like shortwave or ham radio....some of the more off-the-path types such as NOAA Weather Radio, NDBs on longwave, ADS-B, AIS ship tracking and TV DX! We take a look at Nick Langan's fantastic article in Radio World magazine about AM DX in the Graveyard.   Check it out at:  https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/nicks-signal-spot/digging-up-the-am-radio-graveyard  We also talk through setting your contrast within SDR Console to maximize the view of weak signals for FM DX during Sporadic Es so you can visually see even those weak/brief bursts.  (HINT:  this also helps during meteor scatter as well). Bill Hepburn's Tropo Forecast (https://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html) is reviewed for the coming weekend and early week. It's the final week of the Graveyard Challenge on 1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450 and 1490 kHz, we will be announcing our next challenge on our Halloween show!  Plus some great shoutouts from our audience make for a packed episode this week!

For our second episode of Season 6 of DX Central Live!, we dive into using AI in your DX. Can AI actually help you identify stations and get more logs in your logbook?  We test it out!   Also, a quick run through of using WavViewDX software for review of IQ recordings made in a wide assortment of SDR software.  Between the analysis and carrier slueth views, is there value here for DXers to use it in reviewing their AM and FM DX recordings? (https://rweiss.de/dxer/tools.html) Bill Hepburn's Tropo Forecast (https://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html) is reviewed for the coming weekend and early week as the possibility of some Tropo associated with a front approaching the central and Southeast US could give FM DXers some openings in the coming days. Our Live DX sessions find us once again poking around in "The Graveyard" as our Graveyard Challenge on 1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450 and 1490 kHz continues for another week.  Plus some great shoutouts from our audience make for a packed episode this week!

For episode 3, we bring to you our interview conducted for the May 2025 season finale of Season 5 of DX Central Live! with famous FM DXers - and hosts of the fantastic VHF DX Podcast - Nick Langan and Bryce Foster.   Nick is well known and established DXer based in New Jersey who writes for Radio World magazine on radio and DX related topics.  Think of him as an ambassador of sorts for the DX community among the radio industry. Bryce is also a very well known and established DXer based in Massachusetts.  Part of Bryce's claims to fame was developing the popular WTFDA WLogger app that allows DXers to report and converse around DX catches in real time.  He is also widely known as being the first DXer from the continental United States to receive Sporadic Es reception from stations in Europe. The VHF DX Podcast can be found on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/0QWtETNePlWl3V0F7dU5Qw) and anywhere that podcasts are available.  

In this episode we tune in for the premiere of Season 6 of DX Central Live! We do some live DX including searching for Latin American signals and stations within "The Graveyard".  The new season of the MW Frequency Challenge gets underway as we launched the "Graveyard Challenge" and talked about some tips and tricks for DXers to use as they tuned in on the graveyard frequencies.  Plenty of shoutouts, talk about the 2025 FM Sporadic Es season, wrapping up the 2025 Summer of DX Challenge and more! You can join in on the fun of the Graveyard Challenge by registering at dxchallenges.com.   Then, submit your logs of stations received starting at 0000 UTC Saturday, October 11 through 0100 UTC Saturday, November 1, 2025. Be sure to join us for our weekly livestream Friday nights at 2345 UTC/1845 CDT at dxcentrallive.com or our YouTube channel youtube.com/@DXCentral.

Welcome to the first episode of the DX Central ”From the Static” Podcast.  In this episode, after we do some basic introductions, we dive into our first DX101 segment.  This episode, we cover the basics of ”What is DX?” For those who are newer to the topic of DX, have you ever found yourself tuning around on an AM or FM radio and come across a signal you were not expecting?  Maybe it was from a station that identified itself and it was from a city far from your home?  Guess what, you just DXed! Topics discussed include a very brief history of DX, some basic information on AM and FM DXing, how signals propagate, what to listen for and when to listen for it, some gear recommendations and play some actual DX audio samples so you get tune your ear for what to expect on the bands.