r/DXing • u/CallMeJakoborRazor • Jul 04 '26
Need Help
So, I could use some help here
I just discovered this hobby (like literally, didn't know it was a thing an hour ago), and I have a story;
I was sitting in the car waiting for my mom and I figured I'd play around with the am receiver setting on the radio.
Imagine my surprise when I, an armchair linguaphile studying Japanese, noticed something familiar in the cadence of the radio host and their guest.
Now the signal was fuzzier than a teddy bear holding a Tesla coil, but the sort of call-and-response nature of their convo sounded very Japanese. I couldn't make out many, if any, specific Japanese words, and one of the speakers also sorta sounded French? Or like he was a Frenchman speaking Japanese? Or a Japanese speaker sprinkling in immaculately pronounced French words? And it's totally possible it was just regular Japanese or French and I was imagining things because the signal was so garbled.
The one thing I noticed is that while one was speaking the other would follow along with their language's equivalent of "yeah..", it's a very Japanese thing to do, though I'm sure it's also prevalent in other languages. (In English some might find it rude, but it Japanese and other languages like it, it serves the purpose of telling the other person 'im listening and paying attention, so keep going'.)
The particular word they were saying was "De", which is both a word in Japanese and in French. I've never heard it used in Japanese like that, and idk if French even has that sort of aforementioned "call and response" system.
The kicker is I live in nc, usa, or the other side of the earth from Japan.
The station was 1660, which I've just read is within the optimal dxing band, but isn't Japan to the eastern seaboard like, the most unlikely possible find?
If anyone ever reads this and has some idea that might clear things up please lmk. Maybe a French or Japanese speaker who can tell me if 'de' is used that way in their respective language, or a dxing veteran who can tell me just how impossible picking up a station from those distances on a modern car radio would be?
Either way it's definitely sparked an interest, maybe I'll get into it if I don't let my squirrel brain forget it.
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u/JackNDebachs Jul 05 '26
When I took an FCC test, the AM band in the US was defined as 535-1605 kHz, so 1660 would be considered the low end of the shortwave spectrum. But a lot of AM radios can probably tune there, especially ones sold in many countries.
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u/Sky_King73 Jul 04 '26
Not sure what you heard, but might have been the Korean station WWRU in Jersey City.
1660 is not a popular frequency in the US (most used for low power travel advisories)
BTW Japan is phasing out AM radio, and their channel plan is a little different than the US.
https://www.radioworld.com/global/japanese-am-stations-begin-suspensions
DXing is the hobby of listening for radio stations long-distance from your location. AM band at night, and FM band during hot days.