AM DXing report from Anaheim, CA

[jim-satx]

A couple of weeks ago I was in Anaheim attending a technical writing conference and staying at a hotel near the I-5. My DXing time was limited, so I didn't do any full band scans. Instead I tried for states I haven't logged in San Antonio and stations outside of the Anaheim fringe reception area (per Radio Locator).

Anaheim definitely has a lot less open frequencies and more CCI than San Antonio, but on the other hand, as Cyberdad mentioned in another thread, there was no storm static on the band at all.

All listening was done at night or around sunrise on a Tecsun PL-380, CC Pocket radio (when the Tecsun froze up) or a '15 Hyundai Elantra radio. RFI was pretty bad in the hotel room, so I mostly DXed in the outside courtyard or parking lot areas.

620: XESS in Puerto Nuevo, BC, Mexico. 5/16 @ 5:33 a.m. ESPN Deportes Radio ID, discussing the soccer championship in Milan. Fair.
720: KWDN in Las Vegas, NV (new state). 5/15 @ 8:59 p.m. Newstalk 720 KDWN ID, promo for Steve Sanchez Financial Hour, Moderate.
740: KCBS in San Francisco, CA. 5/17 @ 5:41 a.m. KCBS ID, CBS News, story about a seance at a mystery house. Weak.
750: KOAL in Price, UT. 5/15 @ 9:38 p.m. Speed Freaks show discussing car racing. UT Federation of Broadcasters PSA. Weak to fair.
840: KXNT in North Las Vegas, NV. 5/18 @ 10:09 p.m. Coast to Coast AM discussing the blue moon. Matching station web stream. Fair.
920: KVEC in San Luis Obispo, CA. 5/20 @ 6:14 a.m. CA Wildfire Season PSA, weather, northern CA references, station ID. Weak w/heavy fading.
1000: KOMO in Seattle, WA (new state). 5/16 @ 5:02 a.m. News, KOMO News ID. Fair but eventually clobbered by CCI from KFWB.
1120: KPNW in Eugene, OR (new state). 5/15 @ 9:25 p.m. LifeLock & Nubiotix ads, Newsradio 1120 KPNW ID. Weak w/fading
1180: KERN in Wasco-Greenacres, CA. 5/17 @ 5:57 a.m. Ralph Bailey show promo, Newstalk 1180 & the New 96.1 ID, ABC news. Fair to strong.
1200: KYAA in Soquel, CA. 5/16 @ 5:12 a.m. Catholic radio, the Rosary. Fair but became drowned out when KGBN went to day power.
1490: KRKC in King City, CA. 5/18 @ 5:49 a.m. Agriculture news w/reporter Sabrina Hill. Weak and mixing with KSPE.
1490: KSPE in Santa Barbara, CA. 5/19 @ 5:51 a.m. Regional Mexican music & La Preciosa ID. Weak to fair with a lot of fading.
1530: KFBK in Sacramento, CA. 5/17 @ 6:10 a.m. Future Ford ad, station ID, weather. Fair to strong.
1560: KNZR in Bakersfield, CA. 5/19 @ 6:23 a.m. Glenn Beck show, 97.7 FM 1560 AM KNZR & Bakersfield's talk Leader IDs. Weak.

 

[jammerdave]

Haw! Somehow I knew that my flamethrower would be on the list! (KFBK)



df

A couple of weeks ago I was in Anaheim attending a technical writing conference and staying at a hotel near the I-5. My DXing time was limited, so I didn't do any full band scans. Instead I tried for states I haven't logged in San Antonio and stations outside of the Anaheim fringe reception area (per Radio Locator).

Anaheim definitely has a lot less open frequencies and more CCI than San Antonio, but on the other hand, as Cyberdad mentioned in another thread, there was no storm static on the band at all.

All listening was done at night or around sunrise on a Tecsun PL-380, CC Pocket radio (when the Tecsun froze up) or a '15 Hyundai Elantra radio. RFI was pretty bad in the hotel room, so I mostly DXed in the outside courtyard or parking lot areas.

620: XESS in Puerto Nuevo, BC, Mexico. 5/16 @ 5:33 a.m. ESPN Deportes Radio ID, discussing the soccer championship in Milan. Fair.
720: KWDN in Las Vegas, NV (new state). 5/15 @ 8:59 p.m. Newstalk 720 KDWN ID, promo for Steve Sanchez Financial Hour, Moderate.
740: KCBS in San Francisco, CA. 5/17 @ 5:41 a.m. KCBS ID, CBS News, story about a seance at a mystery house. Weak.
750: KOAL in Price, UT. 5/15 @ 9:38 p.m. Speed Freaks show discussing car racing. UT Federation of Broadcasters PSA. Weak to fair.
840: KXNT in North Las Vegas, NV. 5/18 @ 10:09 p.m. Coast to Coast AM discussing the blue moon. Matching station web stream. Fair.
920: KVEC in San Luis Obispo, CA. 5/20 @ 6:14 a.m. CA Wildfire Season PSA, weather, northern CA references, station ID. Weak w/heavy fading.
1000: KOMO in Seattle, WA (new state). 5/16 @ 5:02 a.m. News, KOMO News ID. Fair but eventually clobbered by CCI from KFWB.
1120: KPNW in Eugene, OR (new state). 5/15 @ 9:25 p.m. LifeLock & Nubiotix ads, Newsradio 1120 KPNW ID. Weak w/fading
1180: KERN in Wasco-Greenacres, CA. 5/17 @ 5:57 a.m. Ralph Bailey show promo, Newstalk 1180 & the New 96.1 ID, ABC news. Fair to strong.
1200: KYAA in Soquel, CA. 5/16 @ 5:12 a.m. Catholic radio, the Rosary. Fair but became drowned out when KGBN went to day power.
1490: KRKC in King City, CA. 5/18 @ 5:49 a.m. Agriculture news w/reporter Sabrina Hill. Weak and mixing with KSPE.
1490: KSPE in Santa Barbara, CA. 5/19 @ 5:51 a.m. Regional Mexican music & La Preciosa ID. Weak to fair with a lot of fading.
1530: KFBK in Sacramento, CA. 5/17 @ 6:10 a.m. Future Ford ad, station ID, weather. Fair to strong.
1560: KNZR in Bakersfield, CA. 5/19 @ 6:23 a.m. Glenn Beck show, 97.7 FM 1560 AM KNZR & Bakersfield's talk Leader IDs. Weak.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Haw! Somehow I knew that my flamethrower would be on the list! (KFBK)



df

I was going to ask about WOAI, because you are from SA. Or WBAP. My one foray into nighttime DX from the Los Angeles area was in 2006 from Mann Medical plaza in Santa Clarita. Mann Medical plaza is named wrong - it ought to be called TV production central because there were a dozen TV shows in production there, including the one my daughter was in. All that TV equipment puts out tons of RFI, but they made us park way up the hill from the outdoor set anyway - so I had a noise free listening location. We drove our car out there that just had a stock radio in it. But the DX was still amazing - a lot of your list. Sadly no 530 from Cuba - we WERE far enough from LAX we didn't get a trace of that. 530 was just blank. I couldn't get WOAI or WBAP, either. I didn't stay to DX in the car long - 2006 was the heat wave to end all heat waves, it was 106 degrees at midnight. Absolutely miserable in a car. Not much better on set, they had to change the script to film at night because daytime was 120 degrees.

 

[radioman148]

I was in the Anaheim area about 6 months ago. The interference in the hotel was terrible, but in the rental car WBAP came in quite well. I wasn't able to get WOAI well because of another station. Probably the one Jim mentioned, but WOAI was in the background.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I was in the Anaheim area about 6 months ago. The interference in the hotel was terrible, but in the rental car WBAP came in quite well. I wasn't able to get WOAI well because of another station. Probably the one Jim mentioned, but WOAI was in the background.

Only about 70 miles between those locations - I will have to try WBAP again. Now that my daughter is over 18, a parent doesn't have to be on the set, so I don't travel to LA much any more. A very interesting FM DX location, though - the valleys and mountains can completely change the mix of stations in a few minutes! That 690 from over the border used to be a real interesting AM DX target, I remember them making it to within 100 miles of San Francisco in the 60's. One of the few super power Mexican stations that is near the border.

 

[cyberdad]

Good stuff, Jim. Thanks for posting. That's a nice mix of nighttime regulars from my visits, as well as a few I've never heard.

To Bruce's comment... I'd count WBAP as a regular in Orange County, but on some nights it would be missing. I've also heard WOAI in OC, but less reliably than WBAP. The fact that there was an Anaheim local on 1190 didn't help matters. I think that transmitter has subsequently been moved. XESS on 620 is an interesting catch to me. I used to hear them during the daytime in southern California, but night was usually pretty much all KTAR. I'd also be a little surprised if KFI wasn't something of a pest. Their stick is not very far up the I-5 from Anaheim in Montebello.

 

[jim-satx]

I listened for WOAI but never heard it underneath KYAA. Maybe it was because I only tried 1200 around sunrise. Wish I’d thought to listen for WBAP. I was so focused on new stations and new states, though, and I was especially glad to finally log NV, OR and WA. I also targeted a few big guns in MT and ID (two more states I’ve never logged) but without any luck.

It’s too bad I didn’t have more time to really check out the band in Anaheim. The one completely free day I had was spent at Disneyland with my girlfriend. (She arrived the previous day.) Had a nice time at the park, but I wish I could've spent a few of those 12+ hours DXing.

Also, I wasn’t prepared for how early the sun rises in California! The daytime power-ups and diminishing skywave were already happening before 6 a.m. there.

 

[dlf1]

670 KBOI used to get into Orange County fairly regularly. There's a 670 in Simi Valley now and I read somewhere that KBOI altered their night pattern to make the 670 Simi Valley possible (or power increase possible)?

KSL is another one that I remember coming in well. The upgrade at 1150 may make KSL more challenging.

WBAP, WOAI, and KOA were fairly common as I recall.

 

[cyberdad]

670 KBOI used to get into Orange County fairly regularly. There's a 670 in Simi Valley now and I read somewhere that KBOI altered their night pattern to make the 670 Simi Valley possible (or power increase possible)?

KSL is another one that I remember coming in well. The upgrade at 1150 may make KSL more challenging.

WBAP, WOAI, and KOA were fairly common as I recall.

That's basically in line with my experiences. The 670 in Simi Valley was never much of an issue, and KBOI was usually an easy catch. I also used to hear KOFI (Kalispel, MT) fairly regularly on 1180. in Orange County. Unless I was in close proximity of the aforementioned local pest on 1190.

 

[davideduardo]

670 KBOI used to get into Orange County fairly regularly. There's a 670 in Simi Valley now and I read somewhere that KBOI altered their night pattern to make the 670 Simi Valley possible (or power increase possible)?

Lotus paid KBOI to change the directional so that KIRN could move to Little Rock and shoot 50 kw over LA. After doing some studies of how signals behave over a major faultline, KIRN gave up the project.

KSL is another one that I remember coming in well. The upgrade at 1150 may make KSL more challenging.

1150 has a very directional night pattern, and puts very little signal towards OC.

WBAP, WOAI, and KOA were fairly common as I recall.

And still are, with WOAI being the least reliable.

 

[davideduardo]

The fact that there was an Anaheim local on 1190 didn't help matters. I think that transmitter has subsequently been moved.

Anaheim moved decades ago to a site near Pathfinder and the 57 Fwy, just south of the 60. It has made modifications, all at that site, a couple of times since.

I'd also be a little surprised if KFI wasn't something of a pest. Their stick is not very far up the I-5 from Anaheim in Montebello.

Montebello is east of East LA and surrounded in part by Pico Rivera. I think you mean Buena Park, where the KFI tower is just to the east of the 5 Fwy.

 

[davideduardo]

That 690 from over the border used to be a real interesting AM DX target, I remember them making it to within 100 miles of San Francisco in the 60's. One of the few super power Mexican stations that is near the border.

690 in the 60's was definitely not "superpower". Just a normal 1-B 50 kw directional clear, protecting XEN to the southeast and Canada to the north.

Only more recently was it granted 77 kw day, remaining at 50 kw at night. And the 77 kw was justified as being needed to preserve the Tijuana coverage when they moved the site to the Rosarito location. 77 kw is hardly "superpower"

There are nearly no superpower stations left in Mexico. XERF and XEROK are running a reported 50 kw each, and XERF-1570 is slated to retire after moving to FM. XEG-1050 is reported to be running 50 kw. XEWA-540 is moving to FM. That is all of the ones outside of Mexico City. In the capital, XEW-900 is measured as running 100 kw, so there is nothing truly superpower there either. The only others running 100 kw at night are XEX, XEQ and XEB. With the current state of AM in Mexico (nearly 900 stations down to about 200), lots of the higher power operations are not running full power.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

690 in the 60's was definitely not "superpower". Just a normal 1-B 50 kw directional clear, protecting XEN to the southeast and Canada to the north.

Only more recently was it granted 77 kw day, remaining at 50 kw at night. And the 77 kw was justified as being needed to preserve the Tijuana coverage when they moved the site to the Rosarito location. 77 kw is hardly "superpower"

There are nearly no superpower stations left in Mexico. XERF and XEROK are running a reported 50 kw each, and XERF-1570 is slated to retire after moving to FM. XEG-1050 is reported to be running 50 kw. XEWA-540 is moving to FM. That is all of the ones outside of Mexico City. In the capital, XEW-900 is measured as running 100 kw, so there is nothing truly superpower there either. The only others running 100 kw at night are XEX, XEQ and XEB. With the current state of AM in Mexico (nearly 900 stations down to about 200), lots of the higher power operations are not running full power.

I had this old green book in the late 60's that listed all US, Canada, and Mexico stations. There was also a magazine that came out periodically with a list. Something I read gave the Tijuana station a power of 500kW - so I was really anxious to see how far that would go. Perhaps it was a typo. It is even more remarkable that I was getting them within 100 miles of San Francisco if they were on 50 kW at the time. I remember they listed several Mexican stations at 250 kW, and 730 Mexico City and the Tijuana station as 500,000. I think they listed XEROK as 150kW - which we know isn't right, and 1050 and 1570 as 150,000. 1050 had a silly preacher on at night - I remember I had some friends over and we were laughing at a service where he claimed to raise somebody from the dead! Those border blasters were a lot of fun - the stuff of urban legends, like the guy who could lightly hold a pair of pliers on a barbed wire fence and here a border blaster.

 

[cyberdad]

Anaheim moved decades ago to a site near Pathfinder and the 57 Fwy, just south of the 60. It has made modifications, all at that site, a couple of times since.



Montebello is east of East LA and surrounded in part by Pico Rivera. I think you mean Buena Park, where the KFI tower is just to the east of the 5 Fwy.

Thanks, David. Most of my visits to Anaheim were in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. I still get out to Orange county from time to time, but mostly to points south of the John Wayne airport. So I stand corrected. I remember driving by the KFI tower on the 5, and I had a customer in Montebello (TEAC...remember them?), so maybe I was "mixing" the two. As for 1190, I do remember them blasting into my room at hotels where I stayed, usually on Katella, somehwere near the convention center. So I presume the original stick was very near to that location. There was also a strong local signal on 1480 (KWIZ?). It's probably been 10-12 years at least since I've stayed at any of those convention center area hotels. I think the nearest I've been more recently was probably the Irvine Marriott. Not exactly a place conducive to DX.

t

 

[davideduardo]

I had this old green book in the late 60's that listed all US, Canada, and Mexico stations. There was also a magazine that came out periodically with a list. Something I read gave the Tijuana station a power of 500kW - so I was really anxious to see how far that would go. Perhaps it was a typo. It is even more remarkable that I was getting them within 100 miles of San Francisco if they were on 50 kW at the time. I remember they listed several Mexican stations at 250 kW, and 730 Mexico City and the Tijuana station as 500,000. I think they listed XEROK as 150kW - which we know isn't right, and 1050 and 1570 as 150,000. 1050 had a silly preacher on at night - I remember I had some friends over and we were laughing at a service where he claimed to raise somebody from the dead! Those border blasters were a lot of fun - the stuff of urban legends, like the guy who could lightly hold a pair of pliers on a barbed wire fence and here a border blaster.

No Tijuana station ever had 500 kw. Neither did any Mexico City station, ever.

In the 60's and 70's the only stations above 100 kw were:

XERF-1570 250 kw RCA transmitter.
XELO / XEROK-800 150 kw home made transmitter
XEG 1050 150 kw.
XEWA-540 150 kw.
XEW-900 250 kw.

 

[Mediafrog+]

In the 60's and 70's the only stations above 100 kw were:

XERF-1570 250 kw RCA transmitter.
XELO / XEROK-800 150 kw home made transmitter
XEG 1050 150 kw.
XEWA-540 150 kw.
XEW-900 250 kw.

All correct, except XEG was 100kw. They even had a singing jingle during their nighttime English programming that included the power: "100 thousand watts that covers the nation! X-E-G, ten-fifty!"

XEB 1220 was also 100kw.

Front row seat on Mexican DX growing up in Central Texas in the 1960's.

 

[davideduardo]

All correct, except XEG was 100kw. They even had a singing jingle during their nighttime English programming that included the power: "100 thousand watts that covers the nation! X-E-G, ten-fifty!"

They actually ran, and were licensed for, 150 kw during much of the 70's and 80's, dropping back to 100 later as 150 kw was no longer a standard transmitter size. They currently are licensed at 100 kw, but I'm told the transmitter is running at a lower power setting.

XEB 1220 was also 100kw.

As was XEQ for a while. So was XEX, and still is. I listed those above 100 kw.

Front row seat on Mexican DX growing up in Central Texas in the 1960's.

Front row seat working in radio in Mexico City in the 60's! (And a DXer before then)

Interestingly, XEROK attempted to go back to 150 kw about a decade ago, using 3 x 50 kw, but the power grid could not take the load so they dropped to 50 kw and are currently running well below that. The old 150 kw, built on site, stopped working at full power sometime in the 80's.