For the past two years, the MW Frequency Challenge, hosted by DX Central, has helped push DXers to learn new skills and focus their efforts at getting as many stations received on each frequency in the AM/MW frequency band.
Now, the challenge gets a facelift and new home with a dedicated web site: dxchallenges.com
For Van Horn, this is a continuation of a process that began nearly three years ago.
"It started back in early 2021 when 1560-WFME in New York went off the air," shares DX Central's Loyd Van Horn. "All of us on the East Coast were suddenly flooding 1560 to see what we could hear with WFME no longer in place to dominate the frequency. DXers were on social media and online forums sharing what they were hearing, giving each other tips...it was a real crowd share of knowledge that helped us all to focus on this single frequency and squeeze out every reception we could."
"I remember thinking at the time," he continues "we should do more of this as a hobby. Everyone focus on one or a handful of frequencies at a time, and just see how much we can all collectively get from the exercise. One of my favorite activities in ham radio are contests, so this could be something similar. I know it isn't a new concept to the hobby, but it was one that no one was really doing at the time."
Thus, the MW Frequency Challenge was born. A weekly challenge for AM DXers around the world to collectively tune their radios to the same frequency or group of frequencies and share what they are hearing.
"We have had DXers from all over the world participate in the challenge. DXers from Canada and Mexico, Australia, United Kingdom, Tunisia, Netherlands..all over the world."
Those DXers are hearing incredible amounts of DX.
"Last season was our biggest yet, and we had loggings from all 50 US states plus DC, from nearly all Canadian provinces, and logs from every continent with licensed AM stations," says Van Horn. "More than 5,500 logs from 2,100 unique stations. It was an unbelievable year!"
For this third season, Van Horn wanted to improve the process to make it more efficient for DXers to participate.
"There were a few pieces of feedback we received, including that the log entry process had a lot of repetitive entry of certain fields and that it was difficult to track what had already been submitted. So, I started working on trying to find a new home for the challenge to replace the basic Google Forms we had been using. This led to a whole new WordPress site with user registration and more!"
That new site can be found at dxchallenges.com. DXers must first register to submit logging entries. But this will allow DXers to enter any of the challenges that DX Central hosts throughout the year.
"Whether it is our popular Grand Slam DX Challenge during baseball season, our weekly challenges or any new ones that we develop later, registered users will always have access to participate. I will continue to work and push to improve the process and the product, but hopefully this new edition will inspire DXers around the world to turn on their MW radios and see what the atmosphere brings them!
ABOUT DX CENTRAL Founded in May 2020, DX Central is a multi-platform entity devoted to AM/MW and FM DXing. More information can be found at dxcentralonline.com and dxcentrallive.com.
ABOUT LOYD VAN HORN
Loyd Van Horn has been DXing since he was a small child Growing up in a "radio family," Van Horn began AM DXing in 1993 in his home in Terrytown, Louisiana. After stints in Brasstown, North Carolina, Greer and Charleston, South Carolina, he returned to his home state in 2021 in the town of Mandeville, Louisiana. He is a licensed Extra Class amateur radio operator (W4LVH) and trained spotter for the National Weather Service.