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AM Frequency of the Week: 1090

cyberdad

cyberdad

The threads about 50kw signals and dominant nighttime signals got me thinking about 1090. Specifically, what's going on with KAAY. Back during their "glory days" of top 40, they had a good nighttime signal here in the Chicago area. And a completely awesome one if you went 100 miles or so west of here. Lately, however, they're weak at best. Somebody correct me if I'm remembering wrong. But it seems to me like the signal deteriorated, then they were dark for a while (following a theft of some of their ground system). Then they came back. Signal was so-so for a while, and now it's as bad as it's ever been. Are there other issues? Are they on STA? In short, does anyone know what's up?

That takes care of nighttime. Days here in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago, 1090 is pretty much empty. Used to be a weak signal from WGLC in Mendota, IL. But they're long gone. I think they might have been 500 watts ND, but I'm not sure. WBAL sometimes puts in an appearance around sunrise/sunset.
 
In the near north Chicago suburbs I used to hear a station in Michigan (my memory is not bringing up the city)weakly during the day. At night KAAY is terrible now. Waaaay back in the late 60s & 70s KAAY was strong enough to earn a button on my car radio. It was a good nighttime listen. WBAL was only heard here at sunrise/sunset time when they were ND.

I also would like to know the current story regarding KAAY's terrible signal.
 
Because of their pattern, KAAY has never been a factor here around Columbus, Ohio. Occasionally, WBAL sneaks in here, but it's very weak. I remember hearing Orioles games on WBAL back when I was a kid and DXed almost solely to hear baseball from other cities.
Daytime, it's a very weak WKFI from Wilmington, Ohio, about 60 miles to my southwest.
 
I was doing laundry one overnight at a 24/7 place in Clearwater Florida, August 1969, and the empty place was piping in KAAY and an all-night jazz show.
So that's where ONE of their lobes went.
And the other lobe reportedly was, as Radioman testifies, listenable gangbusters at night in Minneapolis, next to 1130 WDGY.

On the rare occasions when WBAL Baltimore was off MM's, I'd get KAAY, v e r y weak but, well, by default. They'd sign off MM's with the song 'Take Five'.

* * * * * * *

Here in NE PA, amid my log totals having started again from 000 and with a somewhat slothful approach to DX, 1090 remains one of those banes-of-existence frequencies.
One station logged -- WBAL.

Although our region is culturally and financially considered 'Northeast PA Coal Country', we're actually closer to the PA-MD border than to the PA-NY border. WBAL can be an idle, whimsical car-button here day and night.

It'd be neat to try for that thing from Boston, the former daytimer WILD, maybe around sunrise or SSS. I recently got a new radio so they're a tempting target.
And maybe even KAAY.

That ground-system theft has to be the reception culprit, Cyberdad. Up this way there were a few stations whose signals went into the dumpster after similarly reported instances.
 
This week, KAAY filed for yet another extension of the STA allowing them to operate non-directionally at night with 20% of their authorized power. This is due to damage done several years ago to their ground system that apparently hasn't yet been corrected.
 
JRH said:
This week, KAAY filed for yet another extension of the STA allowing them to operate non-directionally at night with 20% of their authorized power. This is due to damage done several years ago to their ground system that apparently hasn't yet been corrected.
Click to expand...

That pretty much explains things. And thanks also to Steve for suggesting pretty much the same thing, and as always, for his great stories.

KAAY certainly doesn't sound like 10kw ND around here. They should still have a fairly respectable night signal in these parts at 10kw, but the ground system issues must be the reason why they don't. As I originally posted, they sounded better for a while some months ago, but now they're worse than ever.
 
cyberdad said:
That pretty much explains things. And thanks also to Steve for suggesting pretty much the same thing, and as always, for his great stories.

KAAY certainly doesn't sound like 10kw ND around here. They should still have a fairly respectable night signal in these parts at 10kw, but the ground system issues must be the reason why they don't. As I originally posted, they sounded better for a while some months ago, but now they're worse than ever.
Click to expand...

Considering KAAY's dollar a holler format is it any big loss?
 
In Colorado, KAAY historically was very weak to non existant at night given we were west of the big figure 8 like pattern that covered the middle of the country.

As mentioned in the "dominant non-class A" thread, KAAY was a monster in Iowa at night, and it warranted a push button on the car radio.

Today, KAAY has all the makings to be the next WOWO, or worse. Beasley would have fixed it. Cumulus doesn't care. And, it's possible the paid preacher business on AM just isn't what it used to be.

To add insult to the legend of KAAY, it appears that Cumulus owned KARN 920 probably covers the Little Rock metro at night better than KAAY, because of the nulls east and west on 1090. Of course, with the 10 kW ND STA, it mght be better than ever locally.
 
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joebtsflk1 said:
To add insult to the legend of KAAY, it appears that Cumulus owned KARN 920 probably covers the Little Rock metro at night better than KAAY, because of the nulls east and west on 1090. Of course, with the 10 kW ND STA, it mght be better than ever locally.
Click to expand...

I spent a night in a hotel on the far west side of Little Rock last month. KARN indeed had a slightly better signal where I was than KAAY, but neither was very good. Stuff was audible, but unidentifiable, underneath both of them.
 
It's really sad about the state of many AMs today. There's one in Michigan that had a tower collapse over a year ago. They are still on STA. With the DA-N facility, it just may be that 1/4 power nondirectional at night is better in desired areas than full power directional, and they are in no hurry to fix it. I would think that insurance would cover such an incident, so it's hard to believe there is no money to fix it. KAAY might be in the same situation, except that those time brokered programs always used to be on Class I-As and Class I-Bs to cover the skywave areas, not just the local areas. 10 kW nondirectional would have very limited skywave service in today's interference filled environment, both from other stations operating outside prescribed limits and from electrical noise.
 
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In the late '70s, KAAY used to put a decent signal into San Antonio at night. Now it's the weakest by far of the three stations that can be heard here, the others being news/talk KVOP, "The Mighty 1090," in Plainview, TX, and SS talk station XEAU in Monterrey. KVOP dominates the most. Unfortunately IBOC hash from 1080 KRLD occasionally wipes out everything whenever its signal peaks.

During the day I get nothing but splatter from local KDRY on 1100.

Around sunrise, KVOP has a much better signal once it goes to daytime power and is fairly steady until it disappears along with skywave.
 
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