There are over more than 5000 AM broadcast stations in the United States besides these few. I can't believe Clear Channel WLW 700 Cincinnati doesn't have a web page that I can find.

AM Broadcasting Links

National Radio Club- The premier US club for AM broadcasting listening and DXing.

N9MBK MW and LW DXing Web Site

Radio/TV Dial Pages- list of US radio stations.....

Bunches of radio stations have a presence on the web.

Radio Stations on the Internet- Worldwide radio stations with web pages, including many who broadcast on the web, for example using RealAudio.

BRS Directory of Radio Stations on the Web

Shortwave Radio Links

North American Shortwave Association

Introduction to Shortwave Radio

Shortwave Radio Catalog- more radio links than you can shake a stick at!

IRCA International Radio Club of America

Jim's Radio Room- radio links galore

Control and listen to a Drake R8 SW receiver- live!

Ham Radio Links

Ham Radio Links- one of my favorite link sites

American Radio Relay League

QRZ.com - This is the homepage on my own browser, I love to QSL.

Discussion of rhombic antennas(including W6AM)- I love this site.

K3WWP's Ham Radio Site- loads of ham stuff, including CW operation

PA3BWK's Ultimate CW Site- CW from a European point of view, also fast speed CW

AC6V's Ham & DX Reference Guide - zillions of ham links

FISTS - A Cool Club for CW Operators

My Trip to HCJB

Ecuador is on the equator, hence the name, and there is a cool monument 12 miles north of Quito marking the equator line. At 9300 feet elevation in the Andes Mountains, Quito's climate is, I think, ideal. 70s farenheit or low 80s daytime year round, down into the 50s at night. Only difference between winter/summer is that in winter it rains almost daily, although usually the rain ends by noon and the sun comes out. Being on the equator, the sun rises at 6am everyday of the year, and always sets at 6pm. Weird. Ecuador contains 30 volcanos, three of which are active, including Cotopaxi, the world's highest active volcano.

Some 60 years ago someone discovered the Andes were a great spot for a shortwave broadcast station. Good propagation from there worldwide. As a casual listen of HCJB will reveal, HCJB is a religious broadcaster, in English HCJB stands for Heralding Christ Jesus's Blessings. But about one third of their air time is devoted to Ecuadorian cultural programming. The depth and quality of these local programs are world renown.

One of my lasting memories of Quito is the pleasant pine-like aroma that permeates the city of one million. Quito is a city of contrasts with the shantys of the poor right next door to high rises of the more well-to-do. Centuries of Inca occupation resulted in the deforestation of much of the Andes. Eucalyptus trees were imported from Australia many decades ago to reforest the country and it worked. The poor today heat and cook with the abundant and free eucalyptus wood, filling the city with its pungent aroma.

From 1978 to 1988 my parents volunteered to work at HCJB. HCJB operates Voz Andes Hospital right across the street from their Quito studios, the premier medical facility in Quito. My father became director of the hospital, while my mom helped at the radio station. HCJB receives hundreds of letters a week from shortwave listeners and one of her jobs was to cut the postage stamps from these letters and maintain the extensive HCJB stamp collection. Duplicate stamps are collected and sold to stamp dealers to raise more funds. My mom also answered requests for QSL cards and edited tapes received from the United States for later broadcast. What a neat job!

I was able to borrow a Sony portable shortwave receiver from one of the HCJB personel, and I had a great time DXing. The AM broadcast band at night was an incredible jumble of Spanish. I do not speak Spanish very well, so was able only to pull out a few IDs. I do recall hearing WCKY 1530(now WSAI) and WMAZ 940, Miami, FL. The evening TV news often included video pulled from American satellities and dubbed in Spanish.

Besides visiting the HCJB compound and studios, I was able to drive out to the Pifo transmitter site about 15 miles east of Quito. Great view back west towards Quito with Mount Pichincha dominating the city. Acres and acres of antennas. 110 acres of antennas actually. I remember marveling at the amazingly long 25 element yagi antenna cut for the 16 meter band. The homebrew shortwave transmitter with its own swimming pool for cooling the transmit tubes. 35 miles further east up over the continental divide of the Andes leads to Papallacta, the site of the HCJB power generating station, complete with its own hot springs. We went swimming at the small spa set up here. Currently there is a drought in Ecuador and HCJB is constructing another dam and power generating station further up in the mountains where the water supply is more dependable. Currently HCJB has been ordered by the Ecuadorian government to remove all of its huge transmitting towers from the Pifo site to make room for a new Quito municipal airport. Quito definitely needs a new airport. The present airport is right inside the city, and huge jets regularly take off low, directly over the HCJB studios. I hope that HCJB can dismantle their towers and find a new transmitting site in the four years they have been given by the government.

Being a ham radio operator, I was very interested in trying to operate from Ecuador. Many of HCJB's technical personel have Ecuadorian ham licenses and they helped me obtain a recriprocal license, allowing me to operate the month I was in Ecuador. Visiting the homes and using the equipment of 6 or 7 HCJB hams, I was able to make over 300 ham radio contacts. It was great to feel like a DX station!

HCJB operates a small hospital in the remote southwest Ecuadorian village of Shell.. Right on the edge of the jungle, coffee bean bushes growing at the door of our cottage. One of HCJB's goals is to bring medical care to the remote regions of Ecuador. The Shell hospital has a ham station of course, from which I was able to operate for a few hours with the unusual HC7 prefix.

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