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AM Frequency of the Week: 690

cyberdad

cyberdad

Moving right along....

One more tick up the dial this week, and we stop at 690. What are you guys hearing there these days....

Here northwest of Chicago daytime, it's mostly iboc splatter from WSCR 670 in the daytime. With the iboc turned off and as was the case back in the day, with a really good radio, more often than not you could catch at least a whiff of the 250-watt 690 from Oshkosh, WI. 250 watts from about 150 miles away, but aimed in my direction via a path with good ground conductivity.

At night, Montreal...as CBF...was reliable with a fair-good signal. The subsequent Montreal stations on the channel have been nowhere near as dependable, and the WSCR iboc doesn't help matters. Also pre-iboc, WTIX would sometimes sneak in at night as did Cuba, while KGGF was also a fairly regular visitor on day pattern around sunset. I've also heard WJOX and WAPE (or whatever) on day power around sunset.
 
In the near north Chicago burbs I don't ever remember hearing much on 690 during the day.
At night CBF was a monster back in the day. If I oriented the radio right I could sometimes hear WTIX.
WJOX would come in well back in the day before sunset, especially in the fall.
 
It's obvious who we hear in Ottawa 24 hours a day with a signal that is local strength. So strong that I've run into people who did not know that it was a Montreal radio station. They honestly thought it was local.
 
Warminster PA(Philly 'burbs):

Daytime: WPHE Phoenixville PA(Spanish, formerly WYIS)
Night: mostly CBF from Montreal(French)
 
North of Atlanta is WJOX 50kW day/500 watts night from Birmingham AL day and night. Winter nights brings a lot of KGGF, and New Orleans in. Suprisingly, not a lot of WOKV here. In its previous life I heard 690 Alabama as WVOK back in the 70's in Northern MI, during a late night equipment test.
 
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Reynoldsburg, Ohio ...
Next to nothing day or night on 690. There might be some slop from WLW as it has a decently strong signal in Columbus, but nowhere near the slop we get on 710. Back when WLW ran IBOC, 690 was a lost cause.
A few yeas ago when I lived in Thornville, Ohio, about 25 miles east of where I am now, I heard WELD from Fisher, W. Va. when WLW's IBOC was off. Fisher is about 200 miles east-southeast of me, give or take a few miles. But I remember hearing the ID and there's no other 690 even remotely close that could get here during the day without skywave help.
 
Central AR:

Occasionally can pick up the semi-local KAFN in Benton, AR before dark. It's always weak though.

I caught a couple of innings of a Royals game earlier this summer on KGGF in Coffeyville, KS (about 220 miles away) right after sunset.

I am pretty sure I picked up WOKV in Jacksonville one time, but couldn't hold the signal long enough to positively ID it.
 
690 here is always WOKV during the daytime. One of the strongest signals on the dial, as strong as a couple of the locals. However, when they were doing maintenance a few weeks ago and were briefly on their nighttime transmitter during the daytime, almost no signal came in.

Birmingham comes in here during critical hours.
 
RyanHoward said:
Warminster PA(Philly 'burbs):

Daytime: WPHE Phoenixville PA(Spanish, formerly WYIS)
Night: mostly CBF from Montreal(French)
Click to expand...

CBF moved to 95.1 FM around 2000. 690 is now occupied by an English language sports station and has been since 2012.
 
I should be hearing KWRP Pueblo CO on 690. But as often is the case, as long as its FM translator is running, getting the old AM back on its feet is fairly low priority for management.
 
charlestondxman said:
690 here is always WOKV during the daytime.
One of the strongest signals on the dial, as strong as a couple of the locals...
Click to expand...
I remember what was then "The Ape" mentioning the temperatures for Savannah and Charleston.
I'll bet their signal goes way down really fast as you go inland to the northwest.
 
Daytime in East Tennessee, by day it's southern gospel and preaching WZAP, Bristol TN/VA. Toward sunset, WOKV makes it in, and later, Birmingham.
 
ai4i said:
I remember what was then "The Ape" mentioning the temperatures for Savannah and Charleston.
I'll bet their signal goes way down really fast as you go inland to the northwest.
Click to expand...

Yep. WOKV can be heard anywhere within about 10 miles of the coast in SC with a very good signal, but once you get in the fast growing suburban areas like Goose Creek and Summerville, the signal gets fuzzy. I-95's junction with I-26 is about 55 miles inland; usually you can barely get WOKV there.

It booms up the coast though. You can hear it in Wilmington, NC daytime, and up to Cape Hatteras. A good radio under the right conditions could maybe get it as far as Virginia Beach in the daytime.
 
WOKV (which was using the WPDQ calls with an oldies format at the time) was widely heard during Hurricane Hugo when they stayed on high power to serve Charleston SC. All of Charleston's radio and TV was off the air.
 
Daytime here is just heavy splatter from 50 kW local 680 KKYX, which is 15 miles from me.

At night when KKYX drops to 10 kW, the splatter is somewhat reduced. XEN “La 69” in Mexico City usually dominates with news and sometimes classical music. XEMA “La Mejor” in Fresnillo can be heard underneath, and it sometimes bubbles up to the top. Also, XERG “La Deportiva” in Monterrey can occasionally be heard mixing in.

Around sunrise these same stations are present, with XERG usually stronger than at night. Also, KGGF can be heard at this time, and it sometimes comes to the fore for a while. When there are good propagation conditions at sunrise in the winter, I can occasionally hear a very weak WQNO in New Orleans.
 
Jim....Have you ever heard WQNO (ex WTIX, WIST) from New Orleans? Even with the local 680 in your back yard. IIRC their night pattern is east-west, so if that's true, I think the pattern (or maybe now the former 5kw pattern) would favor you. I'd also think you might be able to hear R. Progreso from Cuba once in a while.
 
cyberdad said:
Jim....Have you ever heard WQNO (ex WTIX, WIST) from New Orleans? Even with the local 680 in your back yard. IIRC their night pattern is east-west, so if that's true, I think the pattern (or maybe now the former 5kw pattern) would favor you. I'd also think you might be able to hear R. Progreso from Cuba once in a while.
Click to expand...

Hey, Cyberdad. I've received WQNO but only a few times briefly around sunrise aiming E/W during very good propagation. That direction brings in more KKYX splatter, even when off-tuned. Also, the other stations I listed can still be heard in that orientation when their signals are strong.

I've yet to hear R. Progreso on 690 bit will have to try for it. Thanks.
 
YAKIMA, WA
Daytime - a very weak mix of CBU Vancouver (CBC Radio 1) and KRCO Prineville, OR (Classic Country). More noticeable on the loop pointed N-S.
Nights - CBU, XEWW Tijuana (Spanish) and more often than not, CBKF-1 Gravelbourg, SK (Radio-Canada French).

Not a lot on the wishlist, a lot of stations <1500 miles are lp day/night. KRGS CO (900w day) is on the wishlist. And for gosh sake, when will I ever confirm KEII Blackfoot ID? 1KW day should be easy at sunrise. I get their sister KEIR 1260 all the time at sunrise!
 
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