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- The 10 Ways to Maximize Your FM DX in 2026
Nick’s Signal Spot is a new feature in which Nick Langan explores RF signals, propagation, new equipment and related endeavors. This was me on Monday — the Shaquille O’Neal meme. I felt a spring in my step Monday, walking around in the 96-degree early season heat. It was the first E-skip opening of significance on the East Coast of the U.S. In the morning, I positively identified two translators, including a 92.5 out of Peoria, Ill., operating with 38 watts. This morning, what I believe to be 92.5 W223CA, a 38-watt translator for Catholic Spirit Radio from Bloomington, Ill., received with the @SDRPlay RSPDuo’s diversity mode here in New Jersey. A very good early-season E-Skip day! pic.twitter.com/sb9tBSzatz — Nick Langan (@w2njl) May 19, 2026 Later that morning, FM signals from Florida, as well as the Georgia and South Carolina coasts, came rolling in. A smaller evening component even fired back up toward the northern Plains. For a first E-skip opening, it arrived right on time based on my 21 years of FM long-distance reception, or DX, observations. I recently generated a map of my loggings since 2014 that I presented to the Minnesota DX Club over the weekend; you can view it here. Because the northern hemisphere’s E-skip season typically runs from mid-May to mid-August, I figured now is the perfect time for a column outlining the 10 things “I think I think” — with a nod to former Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King — that I’ll be doing to maximize my FM DX this season. Use six-meter E-skip reports as your bellwether. I use the DXmaps real-time QSO map and filter all reports to just the last 15 minutes. Not every six-meter opening is going to climb to the FM broadcast band, of course, and a single line might just indicate someone’s ultra-sensitive FT8 setup. But if you see a dense cluster of activity with endpoints landing near your neck of the woods, it’s a promising sign. Leverage live crowdsourced logs. FMList features many operators in North America and Europe who log their catches in real time. Use their 30-minute map to see openings as they occur. I’d also encourage you to register for an FMList account; this allows you to set up intelligent alerts that notify you when your specific region is likely to be impacted. Start low, but target commercial channels for… [TheTopNews] Read More.1 hour ago - BREAKING: Trump Endorses Ken Paxton in Texas GOP Primary
LEFT: John Cornyn (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) CENTER: Donald Trump (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) RIGHT: Ken Paxton (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s (R) primary campaign against Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) in a bombshell announcement on Tuesday. “The Highly Respected Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, an America First Patriot, and someone who has always been extremely loyal to me and our AMAZING MAGA MOVEMENT, is running for the United States Senate, to represent a place I love and WON, BIG, three times, with 6.4 Million Votes in 2024 (The Most Votes in the History of the State, BY FAR)!” began Trump in a post on Truth Social. He continued: I know Ken well, have seen him tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and he is a WINNER! Ken is a Strong Supporter of TERMINATING THE FILIBUSTER and, very importantly, THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, something which polls at 87%, including Dumocrats, and yet can’t seem to get approved. Perhaps Ken can help move these important elements of Government forward because with the Filibuster, as an example, the Democrats will terminate it on their First Day in Office, giving us two extra States, D.C. and Puerto Rico, and a greatly enlarged Supreme Court of the United States, probably going with their Dream Number of 21 Justices from the 9 that we currently have — And these new Justices will be Radical Left Lunatics! Two years ago, our Country was DEAD — Now we have the “HOTTEST” Country anywhere in the World — And I want to keep it that way. Ken Paxton will help me do that, MAKING AMERICA BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE! Ken is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate. He will tirelessly fight to continue the Great Growth of our Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations (I just delivered the Largest Tax and Regulation Cuts in American History!), and Advance MADE IN THE U.S.A., Unleash American Energy DOMINANCE, Champion Texas Oil & Gas, Advocate for our Amazing Farmers and Ranchers, Promote School Choice, Keep our Border SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, Support our Incredible Military/Veterans, Safeguard our Elections, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment. John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me… [TheTopNews] Read More.2 hours ago - Staffer for Missing Congressman Slams CNN Reporter for Trying to Track Him Down
(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images) Rep. Thomas Kean Jr.’s (R-NJ) mysterious absence from Congress took an interesting turn this week as one of his staffers, publicly identified as a spokesperson, attacked CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski for trying to track down the congressman. Kean Jr. cast his last vote in Congress on March 5th and, citing a medical issue, has not been present since. A public appearance scheduled for May 28th was also recently canceled, raising further speculation about and alarm over the New Jersey Republican’s well-being. “He’s going to be totally fine, and he’ll be back to a full schedule soon,” Harrison Neely, a spokesman for Kean, told The New York Times last Tuesday. On Monday, Aaron Fritschner, a House Democratic Party staffer, posted to X, noting that Kean’s office is still sending out mailers in Kean’s name during the congressman’s medical absence. “Tom Kean’s office still sending out constituent newsletters like the guy hasn’t vanished off the face of the earth,” wrote Fritschner on the social media platform, attaching screenshots of the emails. Kaczynski replied to the post and added his own comment, “Creepy and weird to send out first person newsletters when your missing and possibly incapacitated (?) and staff won’t tell your constituents what’s going on.” Creepy and weird to send out first person newsletters when your missing and possibly incapacitated (?) and staff won't tell your constituents what's going on.https://t.co/j4cR3hvcFS — Andrew Kaczynski (@KFILE) May 18, 2026 Kaczynski, who leads CNN’s investigative K-File team, sparked Neely’s ire with his comment. Neely replied to Kaczynski, writing, “This is a rich charge coming from a ‘journalist’ who has called the Congressman’s daughter and family members of staff. Creepy.” “Consultants for Tom Kean are now attacking reporters for inquiring about his whereabouts,” hit back Kaczynski. Aaron Blake, a senior political reporter at CNN defended his colleague, noting, “I hope Rep. Kean is OK. He is also a public servant, elected by the people, and his office has stubbornly refused to say why he has been away from his job for so long. Calling people who might know information that powerful people are hiding is literally the job.” Tom Kean Sr., a former Republican governor of New Jersey, spoke to the K-File team late last week and said that his son has a serious illness, but would not disclose exactly what illness, saying that was up to… [TheTopNews] Read More.2 hours ago - Todd Blanche Concedes Creation of Trump’s $1.8 Billion Payout Fund Is Unpreced...
Sen. Chris Coons (D-CT) grilled Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Tuesday about the recent DOJ settlement with President Donald Trump to create a $1.8 billion payout fund for his allies. The settlement has been widely slammed as creating a “slush fund” for MAGA and as being unprecedented in the history of the country. Blanche previously told Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) that such a fund did have precedence in the Obama administration, as a settlement created a fund to payout Native Americans who were suing the federal government for past damages over land discrimination. “You referenced a previous case. I think it was Keepseagle v. Vilsack under the previous administration. Did that case involve a president suing his own government and then settling that case before it could be reviewed or approved by a judge?” Coons pressed, referencing the precedent Blanche raised earlier. Blanche replied, “No, neither does this one.” “It did not. And so when you suggested that they’re nearly identical, they’re not identical. I think there is a critical difference here. President Trump is the first president to sue his own government and then direct his chosen acting attorney general to reach this kind of settlement. Will you commit that none of President Trump’s family will receive a direct payout from this fund?” Coons asked. Blanche replied, “Yes, but what you just said is not true. I mean, if I can correct that, the president did not direct me to do anything. And secondly, when we said that the structure of the commission is similar to Keepseagle, you’re that’s true—it wasn’t the case. The underlying case is not the same; the structure of the commission is the same as Keepseagle has it.” “Has it ever happened that a sitting president sued his own government for $10 billion and then directed the settlement of the case and the establishment of a payout fund?” Coons pressed. Blanche agreed, “Not that I’m aware, but there’s a lot of things that President Trump’s the first of. No president had been indicted one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight times either.” “Correct. No president’s been indicted. And will you commit that none of this money will go to President Trump’s campaign donors?” Coons followed up. Blanche replied, “I am not committing to anything beyond the settlement agreement itself. When you say campaign donors, they… [TheTopNews] Read More.2 hours ago - Control and Monitoring Are No Longer Peripheral
Julien Libeau is U.S. business development manager for WorldCast Systems. This is excerpted from a Radio World ebook on trends in remote control and facility management. Julien Libeau Radio World: Julien what’s the most important trend in this area? Julien Libeau: The move toward centralized, software-driven supervision of highly distributed broadcast networks. Broadcasters are shifting away from isolated, site-by-site monitoring tools and toward unified platforms that provide network-wide visibility across RF performance, audio transport, IT infrastructure and environmental conditions. This evolution is closely tied to hybrid architectures that combine on-premise systems at transmitter sites with centralized or cloud-hosted aggregation and analytics. Engineers increasingly expect to supervise dozens — sometimes hundreds — of facilities from a single interface while maintaining local resilience and regulatory compliance at each location. Another major shift is the growing importance of alarm intelligence and operational workflows. Instead of reacting to floods of device-level alerts, broadcasters want correlated alarms, escalation paths and actionable guidance that allow small engineering teams to manage very large footprints efficiently. These developments reflect a broader operational reality: Fewer people are responsible for more infrastructure than ever. Modern remote control and monitoring systems must therefore emphasize automation, clarity and proactive maintenance — helping teams detect problems early, prioritize responses and keep services on the air with minimal disruption. RW: To what extent have radio companies centralized these infrastructures? Libeau: Most multi-site broadcasters are actively moving toward centralized supervision, though the degree of adoption varies by organization size and technical legacy. Large groups often operate network operations centers overseeing hundreds of transmitter sites, while regional broadcasters are consolidating multiple legacy systems into unified monitoring platforms. Centralization typically means bringing RF metrics, audio transport health, environmental data and IT infrastructure status into a single dashboard, enabling engineers to compare sites, identify anomalies and standardize operational procedures. The operational benefits are significant: faster troubleshooting, reduced travel to sites and better long-term planning through historical trend analysis. However, many broadcasters remain in hybrid environments where modern IP-based equipment coexists with older transmitters and remote-control hardware. As a result, centralized systems must be flexible and vendor-agnostic, capable of integrating a range of protocols and generations of equipment rather than forcing complete infrastructure replacement. The direction is clear: fewer isolated tools, fewer logins and a unified operational view that supports both daily supervision and strategic decision-making across the network. RW: What kind of connectivity is best? Libeau: IP connectivity… [TheTopNews] Read More.2 hours ago - CENTCOM Chief Scolds Congressman During Hearing: ‘That’s an Entirely Inappro...
CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper scolded Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) for making an “inappropriate statement” on Tuesday after Moulton asked him “how many more Americans” would have to die for President Donald Trump’s “mistake” in Iran. During a hearing with Cooper in Congress on Tuesday, Moulton questioned, “The president has called for unconditional surrender. Is that part of the plan?” “Congressman, we achieved all of our military objectives,” replied Cooper. “We are presently in a ceasefire, we’re executing a blockade, and we’re prepared for a broad range of contingencies.” Moulton shot back, “Well it doesn’t seem to be going well, and I would like to know how many more Americans we have to ask to die for this mistake. Do you know?” “I think that’s an entirely inappropriate statement from your, sir, will all due respect,” snapped Cooper, to which Moulton responded, “It’s not a statement, it’s a question.” CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper visibly angered after Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton said he “would like to how many more Americans we have to ask to die for this mistake.” “I think that’s an entirely inappropriate statement from you, sir, with all due respect,” Cooper responded. pic.twitter.com/mDsDxOCJB5 — Joseph Haboush (@jhaboush) May 19, 2026 So far, 15 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Trump’s war against Iran, while more than 500 others have been injured. More than 6,000 Iranians have also been killed, including 120 school children who were killed during the U.S. bombing of a school. President Trump cancelled another planned wave of attacks against Iran this week at the last minute after being urged by allies in the Gulf states to hold off. “I was an hour away. We were all set to go,” said Trump on Tuesday. “It would have been happening right now. Yeah, it was all done. The boats, the ships were all loaded. They were all loaded to the brim and we were all set to start.”The post CENTCOM Chief Scolds Congressman During Hearing: ‘That’s an Entirely Inappropriate Statement From You, Sir’ first appeared on Mediaite. [TheTopNews] Read More.2 hours ago
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