This page contains two lists of all the longwave beacons in Wisconsin of which I am aware. The first list is organized by frequency, and contains data concerning on-air status:
"on" means that I have heard the beacon in my own listening, whether at home or on the road, some time within the past five years or so.
"off" means that I have tried to hear the beacon while near its location and did not find it active.
"?" means that I do not have any current information on the status of this beacon.
An asterisk means that I (or a contributor) have heard the station on the air, or heard it not on, since 1 May 1998.
The second list places the beacons in alphabetical order of location.
Wisconsin Beacons by Frequency
200 HXF Hartford: on*
203 PVB Platteville: on*
203 BXR Siren: on*
206 BDJ Boulder Junction: ?
206 RA Racine: on*
209 CLI Clintonville: on*
212 SSQ Shell Lake: on*
215 ISW Wisconsin Rapids: on
221 ARV Minocqua: on*
224 II Sturgeon Bay: on
230 AT Appleton: on*
233 DAF Necedah: on
233 OEO Osceola: on*
236 DO Minocqua: on*; ex-RUF
239 EA Eau Claire: on*
242 GM Milwaukee: on* formerly with voice weather
243 FZK Wausau: on*
248 FLD Fond du Lac: off*
251 HBW Hillsboro: off
254 ENY Ashland: on*
257 RRL Merrill: on*; short spacing between IDs
257 RNH New Richmond: on
260 BL Milwaukee: on*
260 SUW Superior: on
263 PBH Phillips: on*
266 DU Marshfield: on*
272 LS La Crosse: on*
272 RH Rhinelander: ?
275 CW Mosinee: on*
278 AHH Amery: on*
281 VOK Camp Douglas: off
285 WW Port Washington: ?
289 MO Manitowoc: off
294 RL Racine: off*
298 MK Milwaukee: on*; RTTY
302 V La Pointe: on
304 SC Sturgeon Bay: off
313 G Kewaunee: off
324 UM Plum Island: off
324 SY Sheboygan: ?
326 K3 Sturgeon Bay: off
326 EK Wisconsin Rapids: on
329 LLE West Bend: on*
332 SG Green Bay: on*
335 MDZ Medford: on*
338 HE Sheboygan: on*
341 EGV Eagle River: on*
344 SLY Hayward: on*
344 UNU Juneau: on*
347 AIG Antigo: on*
356 GR Green Bay: on*
356 RCX Ladysmith: on*
359 UES Waukesha: on*
362 BCK Black River Falls: on*
362 MT Manitowoc: on*
364 MHA Manitowish Waters: on*
365 MRJ Mineral Point: on*
368 VIQ Neillsville: on*
371 PKF Park Falls: on*
371 RYV Watertown: on*
375 UBE Cumberland: on*
375 JVL Janesville: ? But off for some years, I think
377 HWS Mosinee: on*
382 PCZ Waupaca: on*
388 OCQ Oconto: on*
388 OLG Solon Springs: on*
389 EN Kenosha: on*
391 MFI Marshfield: on*
395 OS Oshkosh: on*
396 LNL Land O'Lakes: on
400 MS Madison: on*
404 LVV Delavan: on*
407 AQ Appleton: on*; ex-AKT, ex-FXV
407 RIE Rice Lake: on
410 MK Milwaukee: on*
412 CMY Sparta: on*
414 SUE Sturgeon Bay: on*
512 ? Fort McCoy: off
526 ? Fort McCoy: off
Wisconsin Beacons by
Location
Amery: 278 AHH Antigo: 347 AIG Appleton: 230 AT, 407 AQ Ashland: 254 ENY Black River Falls: 362 BCK Boulder Junction: 206 BDJ Camp Douglas: 281 VOK Clintonville: 209 CLI Cumberland: 375 UBE Delavan: 404 LVV Eagle River: 341 EGV Eau
Claire: 239 EA Fond du Lac: 248 FLD Fort McCoy: 512 ?, 526 ? Green Bay: 332 SG, 356 GR Hartford: 200 HXF Hayward: 344 SLY Hillsboro: 251 HBW Janesville: 375 JVL Juneau: 344 UNU Kenosha: 389 EN Kewaunee: 313 G La Crosse: 272 LS La Pointe: 302 V Ladysmith: 356 RCX Land O'Lakes: 396 LNL Madison: 400 MS Manitowish Waters: 364 MHA Manitowoc: 289 MO, 362 MT Marshfield: 266 DU, 391 MFI Medford: 335 MDZ Merrill: 257 RRL Milwaukee: 242 MT, 260 BL, 298 MK, 410 MK Mineral Point: 365 MRJ Minocqua: 221 ARV, 236 DO Mosinee: 275 CW, 377 HWS Necedah: 233 DAF Neillsville: 368 VIQ New Richmond: 257 RNH Oconto: 388 OCQ Osceola: 233 OEO Oshkosh: 395 OS Park Falls: 371 PKF Phillips: 263 PBH Platteville: 203 PVB Plum Island: 324 UM Port Washington: 285 WW Racine: 206 RA, 294 RL Rhinelander: 272 RH Rice Lake: 407 RIE Sheboygan: 324 SY, 338 HE Shell Lake: 212 SSQ Siren: 203 BXR Solon Springs: 388 OLG Sparta: 412 CMY Sturgeon Bay: 224 II, 304 SC, 326 K3, 414 SUE Superior: 260 SUW Watertown: 371 RYV Waukesha: 359 UES Waupaca: 382 PCZ Wausau: 243 FZK West Bend: 329 LLE Wisconsin Rapids: 215 ISW, 326
EK
27 Mar 2010: In Appleton, I noted AQ 407 active, and found its transmitter S of Natures Way at Tracey St, but did not hear AT 230. MT 362 Manitowoc remains active, as do SG 332 and GR 356 in Green Bay. In Sturgeon Bay, II 224 and SUE 414 are listed at the same coordinates, but I did not see the transmitter at that site, and found II on, but did not hear SUE.
25 Jun 2009: Listening in Cedar Rapids IA, I noted that CI 326 Cedar Rapids is not on, and did not hear AJP 287 Marion nor VTI 338 Vinton. UOC Iowa City, which was on 524 and supposed to move to 349, was heard on neither frequency. AL 382 Waterloo remains on.
1 Aug 2007: Monitoring beacons in the daytime from Oak Creek I made a few observations. Four nearby beacons were noted missing: Milwaukee's GM 242, BL 260, and MK 298, and UES 359 in Waukesha. There was a strong open carrier on about 305. New catches included MT 362 in Manitowoc, a beacon previously unknown to me (and now added to this page) and the surprisingly distant DFI 246 from Defiance OH.
8 Aug 2005: GM 242 Milwaukee is now IDing as MT. Thanks to Gary Timm for noticing this.
14-19 July 2003: Some notes on beacons in southern Illinois. Noted on: BDD 254 Brookport, CIR 397 Cairo, MD 388 Carbondale, HSB 230 Harrisburg, MW 382 Marion. Not heard: MIX 281 Metropolis, BEE 414 Benton. In Mattoon on 347 I heard NE, not MT, and in Greenville, I heard SLO on 233, not GRE.
17-19 March 2003: Visiting Minnesota, we noted these beacons on the air: HCD 209 Hutchinson, ULM 272 New Ulm, and ACQ 371 Waseca. ACQ carried voice weather.
2 January 2003: Monitoring beacons in Davenport IA, I found the following on the air: ML 215 Moline IL, DV 353 Davenport, CWI 377 Clinton IA, and FN 517 Clinton. BBC 224 Davenport is apparently not active, and I did not hear MUT 272 Muscatine IA, but perhaps I was just too far away.
29 July 2002: AMW 275 Ames IA noted IDing as IKV, in an apparent call change.
6 June 2002: GM 242 Milwaukee heard recently with code only, apparently having dropped voice weather (Kent Winrich)
18-20 March 2002: While in central Illinois we noted that the following beacons were active: 236 CTK Canton, 275 DE Decatur, 356 PI Peoria, 375 LQ Springfield, 382 SP Springfield, and 407 CM Champaign. I tried to hear 281 HMJ Homer from Urbana, and did not.
27 June 2001: UOC Iowa City IA noted back on the air on 524, not 349 (Rick Dau)
11-15 June 2001: On vacation in northern Minnesota, we noted these beacons on the air: AIT 397 Aitkin, MD 371 Bemidji, BR 251 Brainerd, COQ 335 Cloquet (code only; had voice in a 1993 check), CKN 400 Crookston with voice weather, GP 272 Grand Rapids, IN 335 International Falls with voice, LXL 359 Little Falls with voice, XCR 404 Little Falls, JMR 327 Mora (here, not on 216, with voice; code not audible in lightning static), PK 269 Park Rapids, SAZ 257 Staples, HY 260 Thief River Falls, and SW 360 Warroad. The following were not heard while nearby: HSK 391 Hackensack and RAD 397 Warroad. In Wisconsin, RIE 407 Rice Lake was noted not on, as in 1999, though I did hear it in 1996.
19 May 2001: Rick Dau reports that UOC 524 Iowa City IA is off the air, and that it is not audible on 349 (to which it was to move) either.
12 May 2001: Bill Dvorak notes that Springfield IL beacons LQ 375 and SP 382 are both active.
25 September 2000: MK 298 Milwaukee is not running an open carrier, but is actually transmitting RTTY, from the Coast Guard station at Jones Island (John Wilke)
10-14 July 2000: During our trip we noted EY 209 Indianapolis on the air; it was not heard while in town in 1995. But HFY 318 there was not heard, but was noted in '95. The "Barbara Ann" beacon, OQ 219 Indianapolis, remains on. DTG 344 Dwight IL was not heard while in town.
19-22 June 2000: On vacation we noted that the following beacons in northwest Lower Michigan are active: CVX 222 Charlevoix, CXK 251 Bellaire, BFA 263 Boyne Falls, CAD 269 Cadillac, and TV 365 Traverse City. We were close enough to believe that these beacons were not on the air: FR 291 Frankfort and CR 302 Charlevoix.
21 March 2000: Visiting the area I noted that CHU 209 Caledonia MN is active. And it's not a time signal!
5 November 1999: While in Fond du Lac I noted FLD 248 still not on the air.
3 August 1999: I checked the two Racine beacons while in town. RA 206 was on with code, and RL 294 was not on.
14 July 1999: While in Milwaukee
I note that MK 298 is still on the air with open carrier only.
22 June 1999: I note that UOC Iowa City remains on 524, though I read that it was to move to 349.
