BOG (Beverage On the Ground) Report

Saturday, September 26, 2009
Jim Glover KX0U
I tried out a BOG (Beverage On the Ground) on the MW BCB band for the first time today. Here are some of the details and results.

Before I got started: To get some idea how I set things up, you may want to look over my general BOG page.

What I did after setup: I put the transceiver up on the dashboard, and began tuning around, logging the stations I received, their signal strength, and their readability. After I went once through the list, I went back, and started trying to ID the ones that weren't locals. After I'd ID'ed a few of them, I started checking to see if I could hear the stations I heard on the transceiver, on the car radio. Partway through that process, I accidentally tuned slightly below the BCB, and heard a beacon. So, I paused to see how many beacons I could log before moving on. Then, I finished seeing how many of the stations I could hear on the car radio, spooled the wire back up, finished packing up, went about half-way through the band confirming I could still hear all the stations on the car radio, even after I'd rolled up the wire (yep), then headed home.

Time of Day: I got started around 4:00 PM, and left by 6:00 PM. Local sunset was at 7:21 PM.

My Location: Oklahoma City (I was at Eldon Lyon Park.)

Antenna Orientation: East/West

Here are some of my observations and reactions:

Here are some ideas to think about for future tests: You will need to know that I use my own signal readability rating system:
F
not readable (or mostly not readable)
D
(Mostly?) readable, but just barely
C
Readable, but noisy
B
A little noise
A
(At least reasonably close to) perfect
Here are some of the particulars about the stations I received. (I'm not mentioning the obvious locals.)

MW BCB Stations Heard
Frequency Station Signal Strength Readability Time Programming Notes Comments
540 UNID 0 D 1608 SS
550 UNID 0 F 1608 Actually two stations mixed together
570 UNID 0 D 1609 talk
580 UNID 0 F 1610 talk Car radio was receiving a different station on 580
620 UNID 0 D- 1610 music
660 KSKY (Dallas/Ft. Worth) 0 D 1613 talk Car radio did not receive this one
690 UNID 0 D+ 1614 game Mentioned "Wildcats", "Kansas State"
710 KGNC (Amarillo, TX) 0 C 1615 sports talk
740 UNID 8 B+ 1616 talk
780 UNID 0 D+ 1617 sports talk
960 UNID 5 C 1622 talk Have logged KGWA in Enid, OK here before
970 UNID 0 D 1623 sports talk
1020 UNID 0 D+ 1625 sports talk
1030 UNID 5 B 1749 financial talk
1050 UNID 0 F 1750 This is the station that faded separately on car radio
1170 KFAQ (Tulsa, OK) 5 C+ 1630
1240 UNID 0 D 1635 sports talk
1270 UNID 0 F 1636 sports talk
1320 UNID 6 C 1639 financial talk
1340 UNID 9 A 1640 sports talk
1380 UNID 0 D 1641 sports talk
1390 UNID 0 D 1642 game (Multiple stations audible)
1420 UNID 5 B 1714 sports talk Discussing Cowboys/Grambling game
1440 UNID 7 B 1646 SS music
1480 UNID 0 F 1648 SS
1490 UNID 6 C 1648 religion
1530 UNID 0 F 1651
1590 UNID 0 D 1653
1600 UNID 3 B 1654 talk in some Asian language
1630 UNID 0 D 1656 CW mentioned "South Lake area"; fading deeply
1700 KTBK (Dallas/Ft. Worth) 0 D 1701 sports talk

And now, here are some beacons heard below the AM BCB.

Beacon Log

FrequencyCallLocation
314 GGU Prague, OK
350 RG Will Rogers, OKC, OK
~370 OUN Norman, OK (Supposed to be 260 KHz ??)
388 OFZ Fort Sill, OK
396 CQB Chandler, OK
411 HDL Holdenville, OK
425 PFL Fort Sill, OK
512 HMY Lexington-Muldrow, OK

My follow-up experiment the next weekend main BOG page Home