AM signals at night

[ajhanson]

Just as a hobby, scanning through the AM dial at night and am interested in what everyone is picking up. I'm sure there are tons of threads like this, but thought I'd get a new one started.

I'm a college student at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.

Here's a few that I was able to easily pull in on Feb 26, was a great night. I'm able to pull in a ton with my midwest location:

590 KXSP - Omaha, Nebraska (not too far)
600 WMT - Cedar Rapids, Iowa (across the state)
640 WOI - Ames, Iowa (local station w/ bleed on 630/650)
670 WSCR - Chicago, Illinois
700 WLW - Cincinnati, Ohio (decent pull)
720 WGN - Chicago
760 WJR - Detroit, Michigan (decent pull)
780 WBBM - Chicago
810 WHB - Kansas City, Missouri
820 WBAP - DFW, Texas (Awesome pull, was able to grab this one back home in Bettendorf, Iowa, as well)
850 KOA - Denver, Colorado (This came in clear as a local)
890 WLS - Chicago
1040 WHO - Des Moines, Iowa (local station w/ bleed on 1030/1050)
1100 WTAM - Cleveland, Ohio (decent pull/same situation as KOA - clear as a local)
1110 KFAB - Omaha
1120 KMOX - St Louis, Missouri
1170 KFAQ - Tulsa, Oklahoma
1200 WOAI - San Antonio, Texas
1210 KGYN - Guymon, Oklahoma
1430 KASI - Ames (local w/ bleed on 1420/1440)
1460 KXNO - Des Moines (local w/ bleed on 1450/1470)
1520 KOKC - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (decent pull)

I'd love to see anyone's log, especially if you're in the midwest and able to pull in any central Iowa stations.

 

[MarioMania]

Can someone move this to the DX & Reception Forum?

 

[blackgold]

I hate to tell you guys, but thanks to HD AM, it's become imossible to do so.

 

[ContinuousWave]

1520 KOKC - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (decent pull)

I'd love to see anyone's log, especially if you're in the midwest and able to pull in any central Iowa stations.

KOKC is still operating at 10kw omni at night under STA....normally 50kw directional....Chief Egr there is Mike Fields (long time friend) and will reply to a reception report if you send it (though he is busy right now!)

 

[semoochie]

If AM reception gets much worse, all that will be left is dxing!

 

[Kelly A]

I hate to tell you guys, but thanks to HD AM, it's become imossible to do so.

I argue that IBOC on AM is probably the smallest percentage of interference-causing problems for the AM band. Switching power supplies in computers and consumer devices, florescent replacement lights, sodium lighting, flat panel monitors, lighting dimmers, are just a few examples of devices causing an overall increase in noise floor. In fact, the ITU has concluded that an AM station's target population base needs to be within the 10mVM contour for reliable listening on AM. That field strength used to be 5mVM just a few years ago.

The tiny percentage of DX hobbyists in the world should consider a new hobby, because consumer appetite for noise-producing devices aren't going to change.

 

[1L6E6VHF]

I would agree that consumer electronics is a bigger problem indoors than IBOC (especially since so many AMs have abandoned it)

Mobile reception is another story. Mobile reception can be fine with 0.5 mV/m or even less (though "hot zones" can be a problem) If you live in a single family home, you can turn the plasma TV off, but you can't turn off a station's IBOC.

Anywhere you had a station running IBOC at night, any skywave signals on adjacent channels were totally wiped.

There may be hope for AM DXing yet. Two of the worst offenders, plasma displays and CFL bulbs, are on their way out, being replaced by LCD and LEDs, respectively.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I don't see how CFL bulbs will ever be replaced. My power company sent me some free and I have yet to replace any of them. I'm still using some incandescent bulbs simply because the ones the power company sent me won't fit under the covers I have and because I still have a lot of them. And 3-way are exempt and I have one 3-way lamp.

I'm not aware of an interference problem with my CFL bulbs. There is one with the tubes in one bathroom. But not a serious one.

I used to do this but the radio that picked up signals really well has a broken switch and I'm afraid to change from FM because it's the best radio I have for FM and it might not switch back. An even better radio (or at least it was, and still is on most frequencies) won't pick up any AMs above about 1400 (or FMs below 92) and I only use it on vacation. I should try it and report on what I hear and I just never do.

 

[frankberry]

I occasionally visit friends and family in the Michigan "north woods." When I'm in the woods, away from noise-producing electronics, the AM reception is amazing.
AM IBOC is an issue, however. The digital "hash" obscures signals from adjacent channels. In some cases, the digital sidebands are clearly audible when I listen to the main analog signal.
That's annoying.

 

[davideduardo]

Mobile reception is another story. Mobile reception can be fine with 0.5 mV/m or even less (though "hot zones" can be a problem) If you live in a single family home, you can turn the plasma TV off, but you can't turn off a station's IBOC.

But when we have HD sideband interference, it is usually on stations that are not serving our area anyway.

For local car radio reception in larger metros, 0.5 mV/m is not going to cut it. Anecdotally, there are areas in Los Angles where local KFI has over a 10 mV/m signal where noise from power lines and various other nearby sources is noticeable and objectionable. Local KNX is not usable even on freeways much beyond its 5 mV/m signal as the constant, underlying urban noise level makes listening "fuzzy" and unpleasant.

In the urbanized areas of the larger metros... meaning probably the top 75 to 100 markets... in-home and at-work (where two-thirds of radio listening takes place) requires about a 10 mV/m to generate listenership, and in the car a 5 mV/m signal would be a minimum.

Of course, if you are driving on the 94 near Ricardton, ND, on a cold winter day, you may be able to use the 1 to 2 mV/m signal of some farther off station.

 

[CTListener]

WTIC HD splatter wipes out WBAL here. Without the splatter, WBAL is practically a local in southern New England, but as you say, they're not intentionally serving our area, even if, say, transplanted Orioles fans think they are.

 

[kc4rae]

Reception on MW is very difficult with two computers and their displays on. I always use the narrowband setting on my radio to hear anything. Though, I've been surprised at some of the stations I've received on a Zenith Circle of Sound clock radio.

Morning of 03-16-2015
Sanyo MW250 AM stereo boombox radio in normal setting (up to 7kc width)
Lafayette, TN

WSM 650 (very clear)
WFAN 660 (pretty good signal with a little from WSM's sideband)
WGN 720 (noisy but very understandable)
CFZM 740 (very good with a hint of KRMG in the background, but only occasionally)
WSB 750 (very clear with the hint of another station playing country music underneath)
WABC 770 (noisy, but understandable)
WBAP 820 (noisy, can't hear a word they say)
WWL 870 (very noisy, hear news and call sign and not much else)
KDKA 1020 (decent most of the time)
WHO 1040 (in and out)
KRLD 1080 (not very stable, but audible)
WTNK 1090 Hartsville, TN (noisy, but audible. It is a local, but with 2 watts at night)
WTAM 1100 (very clear)
KMOX 1120 (noisy)
WHAM 1180 (weak, but plenty clear enough to hear)
KQQZ 1190 DeSoto, MO (noisy, but listenable and only 22 watts)
WOAI 1200 (very clear)
WLCK 1250 Scottsville, KY (in and out with 76 watts, semi local), then...
WYKM 1250 Rupert, WV blasted through just long enough to catch an ID
WEEN 1460 Lafayette, TN (1 mile away, loads of buzzing and very low modulation)
WLAC 1510 (noisy and weak, which is typical for this station at night)

Interference pretty much kills everything else off, especially below 600kc, from 1270kc to 1400kc and everything above 1480 kc)

 

[kenglish]

If you want to know how to REALLY fight radio-frequency interference, talk to the guys at the National Radio Astronomy Observatories (NRAO). Those folks know how to do some real DX'ing.
Check out this "Screen Room" for the microwave oven at Green Bank:

http://www.astronomynotes.com/telescop/greenbanktour/gbtour13.htm

I've chatted with some of their guys, and heard about ways to "fix" the noise from an LCD Monitor.....you basically, gut-it out, get rid of the extra inputs and outputs, wrap it in copper, and build a linear (NOT switch-mode) power supply.

 

[joebtsflk1]

NRAO's microwave modifications make a $99 microwave look reminiscent of a 1977 Amana Radarange oven/tank

 

[schmave]

It certainly can make for some interesting pulls. If you're new to DX'ing, welcome aboard!
There are many, many threads in the DX and Reception part of the forum, including threads devoted to certain channels as well as IBOC problems and how auroral conditions affect reception on a given night in a given region. If you're interested in DX'ing, some reading over there might very well open a whole new world of radio listening.
Some do think the hobby is pointless and are more than happy to share that opinion. To each their own, I guess. Far-off stations aren't meant to serve faraway areas, but that's part of the fun of it for me, hearing stations broadcasting to their local audience coming in 700-1,000 miles away.

 

[cyberdad]

Agree with everything schmave says. You'll find a warm welcome over at DX and reception.

So, I'm a little late to the party, but here's what I can hear (or have heard on occasion) from Iowa at my location about 44 miles northwest of downtown Chicago....

540: KWMT, Fort Dodge. Daytime, under WAUK from the Milwaukee area. Nulling WAUK can produce a listenable KWMT.
600: WMT, Cedar Rapids. Reliable daytime signal. Still present at night, but often gets swallowed up by other signals.
640: WOI, Ames. Very weak, but audible under WMFN (Grand Rapids, MI area) daytime. Stronger, but not always dominant at night
800: KXIC, Iowa City. Very weak, but audible daytime on a good radio. Sometimes mixing with CKLW (Detroit/Windsor)
910: WSUI, Iowa City. A little stronger than KXIC during daytime, but not by much. Disappears at night
940: KPSZ, Des Moines. In it's days as KIOA, it could be an occasional visitor around sunset before going to night pattern and power
1040: WHO, Des Moines. I used to be just out of range of their day signal. Generally a good signal at night. Local pest on 1030 doesn't help matters
1170: KJOC, Davenport. Occasional nighttime visitor
1300: KGLO, Mason City. Sometimes audible around sunset before going to night pattern
1420: WOC, Davenport. I'm just beyond their max day range, but once in a while thy turn up at night
1460: KXNO, Des Moines. "Back in the day" as KSO, they were reliable here at night. As KXNO, not so much, but they still turn up once in a while.
1540: KXEL, Waterloo. Monster night signal here. Strongest Iowa Signal by a significant degree
1600: KCRG, Cedar Rapids. I think the call letters have changed, but as KCRG this was a fairly easy night time catch

Finally, there are three x-banders. 1630, 1650, and 1700. Iowa City, Cedar Falls, and Des Moines, respectively. 1630 is KCJJ (Run by the legendary "Captain Steve" Bridges...who I once just missed being on the same staff with). The other two stations have changed calls once or twice. All have fairly reliable night signals here, with KCJJ usually being just a tad better than the other two.

 

[joebtsflk1]

A quick aside on KXNO...I think the only better set of calls than KXNO would be KSO, except that KXNO fits the sports format so well.

Also, heard on the news about a major solar storm that's going to affect radio reception. Any guidance on what might be expected for the different bands?

 

[cyberdad]

Dic Youngs was at KSO before he went joined KIOA in 1966. I think there was a brief stop in Florida in between. In the mid 60s for a while, "Youngsie" was on fron 7-Midnight. Beautiful music on either side of his shift....from "the carousel studio" (whatever that was). Very strange.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I don't see how CFL bulbs will ever be replaced. My power company sent me some free and I have yet to replace any of them. I'm still using some incandescent bulbs simply because the ones the power company sent me won't fit under the covers I have and because I still have a lot of them. And 3-way are exempt and I have one 3-way lamp.

I'm not aware of an interference problem with my CFL bulbs. There is one with the tubes in one bathroom. But not a serious one.

I used to do this but the radio that picked up signals really well has a broken switch and I'm afraid to change from FM because it's the best radio I have for FM and it might not switch back. An even better radio (or at least it was, and still is on most frequencies) won't pick up any AMs above about 1400 (or FMs below 92) and I only use it on vacation. I should try it and report on what I hear and I just never do.

CFL's are one of those technologies that was developed without a clear path to recycling. For a supposedly "green" technology, it really doesn't save that much electricity - maybe 20% at best. But you trade off that savings for the problems associated with disposing of all that mercury inside. And exposure to mercury if you break one.

LED is the way to go - it really does offer substantial power savings, and done right it doesn't generate interference. Getting rid of plasmas and CFLs (which also generate light by changing molecules to plasma) won't solve the worst of it. There are still plenty of houses with the old light dimmers. Those automatic night lights are a nightmare if the bulb burns out. Home networking screams out interference. And cell phones in your pocket will jam your radio. New washing machines and dryers use massive stepper motors and the motor drive is noisy. But the absolute worst nightmare are all the wall warts with switching supplies inside. Improper design, marginally rated components - I had one that had a 1/16 Watt 0402 size resistor trying to dissipate one WATT, of course it burned out eventually, and the switching supply went into nightmare RFI broadcast mode, you could hear it 4 or 5 houses away. Worse yet, it was attached to a "freebie" microcell, given to everybody in the neighborhoold by the cell carrier to patch a hole in their coverage. They couldn't get a tower permit for a real cell tower. So now those things are blowing all over the neighborhood. The power supply still works enough to keep the microcells working. But the neighborhood is a nightmare pattern of extreme RFI. Cheap Chinese JUNK! They can't design electronics worth a darn.

 

[icybluelake]

Finally, there are three x-banders. 1630, 1650, and 1700. Iowa City, Cedar Falls, and Des Moines, respectively. 1630 is KCJJ (Run by the legendary "Captain Steve" Bridges...who I once just missed being on the same staff with). The other two stations have changed calls once or twice. All have fairly reliable night signals here, with KCJJ usually being just a tad better than the other two.

That's a pretty good list, cyberdad. About Steve Bridges -- his morning show is an interesting listen. I haven't caught it lately, but that guy can be pretty entertaining just by basically running his mouth. It's unusual stuff in this era of radio. I remember him well from 99 Plus KFMH days, which I listened to a lot as a teenager. He's a character, for sure.