DX Central’s From the Static Podcast

NOTE:  This podcast was recorded on June 5, 2026, before the ionosphere absolutely exploded with activity between June 8 and June 10.  For more information on that recent activity, be sure to pick up the July 2026 edition of The Spectrum Monitor magazine at The Spectrum Monitor.

The 2026 Sporadic Es season is off to a roaring start, but things took a while to get going in May, despite some considerable activity over a thr...

• Using other bands to spot openings on FM from Tropo and Sporadic Es. Some folks use 6 Meters for Es and 2 Meters for Tropo as early warning signs of FM openings. How reliable are they? We talk through it.

• Sporadic Es season is so close, here are your last minute preparations you need to wrap up to be ready, come what May (get it?)

• The tropo forecast for next week looks promising. A bit too early to get excited but we may ...

HOUR 1

• FM DX Webservers: Using them as a DXer, hosting one for yourself and other DXers

• Updating SDR Console with the latest RDS information

HOUR 2

• RDS Autologging through Rabbitears: How to use this information as a DXer, how to host your own autologger

• SDR Options for high bandwidth (~10 MHz) IQ recordings for FM

TOH DX

• We navigate the local FM band, keeping an eye on MW

• If time permits, we w...

HOUR 1

• Welcome to April! Time to change our focus to all things FM.

• Before we do, though, a quick hit on MW: We wrap up The Frequency Challenge this week and what a challenge it has been! Just under 3,000 logs in one challenge? Unbelieveable!

• Also, Loyd heard Uruguay this week!

• To get us started on FM DX Preparedness Month, we do a quick recap on Tropo: how it works, how to know when it is happening and what to expect

• ...

- Tropo getting going on the Gulf Coast

- We look at the Tropo forecast to see how long the fun will last

- AM DX heating up to the South - not just Latin America - but even further South along the grayline!

- Portable FM DX with a custom built Arrow Antennas Yagi antenna

- Sporadic Es already underway - at least in Europe

- We check in on the progr...

Hour 1

• With me on the road this week for the dayjob, there was no time for DX. Except for a little FM DX I was able to enjoy on the airplane. Flying 35,000 feet above central Louisiana, my little NXP Nano TEF radio pulled in some interesting stuff!

• I did notice a lot of chatter in the Slack Channel while I was out about antennas, specifically terminated loops such as KAZ, Flags and SuperLoops. So, let's revisit these popula...

HOUR 1

• We sadly say good bye to the US State Challenge. That has been a fun one, hasn't it? I didn't get OR or ID here, wasn't for a lack of trying, but still managed to get some new ones and revisit some old friends i hadn't heard in a while.

• A new TEF has arrived here at the house - the NXP Nano. It may be a tiny little thing, but it performs just as well as it's larger brothers.

• New challenge! | We return to a frequenc...

Hour 1

- Wait, what? Late February Es? Yup, more than once this week, the FM band once again surprises us! We take a look at who got in on the action and discuss what - if anything - it means for our upcoming season.

- The US State Challenge, first week, has been a rousing success. Our DXers have already logged the entire "lower 48", submitted nearly 600 logs and we still have a whole other week to go!

Hour 2

-Spring Equinox, Sprin...

We are back, baby! Hour 1 - We have a new, THIRD, FM DX Webserver. And tonight, we walk through what you need to do to have your own TEF-powered Webserver! - New Challenge Launches! - The challenge site is active again with a new challenge - the US State Challenge. Try to log as many states as you can, with up to 2 logs in each getting you points....just like the Country Challenge we did earlier this year! Hour 2 Hate F-Connector...

HOUR 1

• Solar Storm (Take 1 - The Demo Version) - Well, that wasn't much to sneeze at, was it? The Bz stayed more positive than a motivational speaker on their 2nd pot of coffee. As such, we didn't get a visual or radio event from this one. There was a definite radio blackout - even down here we noticed. Some folks saw little pockets of enhancement this week, but not what we were hoping for. Some folks way up North did manage ...

NEW CHALLENGE

We continue with a new frequency range, another littered with large stations with smaller gems hiding in their shadows: 1500-1540 kHz. This will be a 1 week challenge.

HOUR 1

• See ya next season, FM: We seem to have officially entered that 'dead band' period for FM where it is too cold and stable for most tropo, meteor scatter slows to a crawl and Es - while they can happen at any time - we are likely now in the...

New Challenge!

• Week 14 of the MW Frequency Challenge is here where we focus on 1180-1220. Lots of big guns in this range but can you pick out the ones in their shadows? Some good international DX in here too!

Hour 1

• Sporadic Es Bonanza - almost every day this week saw someone somewhere in the US getting that elusive Winter Es opening. We look at the maps and check the current conditions. And maybe do a little rec...

HOUR 1

• it's the end of the year, and that means it is time to look back at 2025 and reflect on a year of DX. AM, FM, NDB, NOAA WX DX.....it's been quite a year!

• We finally got our Airspy HF+D paired with a splitter from our big Southern-facing KAZ. Let's just say, the CCC and that antenna are a match made in DX heaven. And it is already producing for us!

• I spent the week working on my brand new online logbooks! These will...

HOUR 1

• We test out and demonstrate our new phasing set up using our 35' low noise vertical and a W6LVP loop through an RSPduo. Demoing diversity mode, showing how it works and how well it can help get rid of the unwanted (noise, pest stations, etc.) and pull up DX!

• We launch a new challenge for the week: The 3rd Annual Daytime Challenge! A slight tweak this year: the period runs 2 hours after LSR to 2 hours before LSS. This...

HOUR 1

• We have launched a new station target list - "Loyd's Go-To Pan-American 'Beacon' Frequencies" and will review that and some use-cases for it in the show.

• More solar fun - The sun was playing with our ionosphere again this week like a kitten with a ball of string. And it wasn't just signals to the South that were the result!

• New video has dropped on YouTube - the 35' Vertical Antenna!

• The Country Challenge rolls o...

Show notes for Season 6, Episode 9 of DX Central Live!, a livestream devoted to AM/MW and FM DXing with live DX sessions, tips, tricks, shoutouts from DXers for their DX catches from the previous week, DX challenges and more!

HOUR 1

• The active regions of the Sun are now once again Earth-facing. Already, conditions on MW have been improving towards the South. We had a big opening to Peru here on Wednesday night. Will this cont...