Overnight listening

Do I have a hobby?
If you want to call it that. My hobby goes way back long before the internet. Long long before Apps that play a gazillion radio stations on my iPhone around the world. Long before ‘Tune-in Radio.’
When we had moved from Hawaii in 1974 back to the mainland it has always been known that radio signals travel farther at night than in the day. It has something to do with the ionosphere, clouds, and magic. This is the best way to explain this radio signal phenomena.
Knowing this night time radio thing and just after going to bed I would get out my portable radio and headsets. Then I would tune up and down the AM frequencies. The phenomena only occurs on the AM frequency. Not on FM.
But anyway I would start at the low end of the radio dial at about 550 KHZ and start scanning up the dial. I would find radio stations in Denver, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Omaha, all over Illinois, Michigan, and on and on. Hearing from stations with an omni directional signal and mostly from the big wattage stations. Fifty-thousand watts being the highest wattage.
To me it is most interesting to hear people from other parts of the United States and what they are up to. What music they are playing. What local events they talk about. You can hear about the good and the not so good. The larger cities usually have the most interesting radio personalities. WGN in Chicago had way back when a morning guy named Wally Phillips. WBBM, an all-news station, had a news guy with a really good voice named Pat Cassidy. There was this overnight guy up in Denver on station KOA and during the severe winter months would spit off his high-rise balcony and could hear crackle when it hits the ground. Then if the ionosphere and clouds were shifting the far away signals would fade in and out. Which is part of the fun.
I did this for many years before hearing about others doing the same. They called it DX’ing. Not sure what it means. None the less still like to check in on what others across our great radio spectrum are saying and doing.
But now I cheat. I have an App on my iPhone that can conceivably pick up thousands of radio stations around our globe. Recently I have been listening to our northern neighbors in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. And, yes it’s true, they are very polite.
Try this. You might like it. You might discover what others are thinking. Escape your bubble and listen to ‘Tune-in Radio.’ This is not an endorsement. There are other radio Apps as well.
Or go buy a small portable radio and try DX’ing over the airwaves. It’s most fun.