AM Frequency of the Week: 800

[davideduardo]

Not only PJB's 450kW signal (close to the 525kW they had in the 60s through the 80s) but zeroing in on Cuba almost guarantees Cuba starts another "Cuban chorus" on 800 to jam the Bonaire signal.

I agree with Ai4i that a TWR power increase back to its original level will fit in Cuba's "we couldn't care less" category. Religion is not proscribed in Cuba, and that is all TWR focuses on these days.

Besides that, the TWR promotional / fundraising video suffers from extreme hyperbole. They talk about "one million" people listening each evening in Cuba. That would be over 10% of the adult population, and the equivalent of about 40% to 50% of typical Latin American evening radio listening. It ain't so.

The daytime signal will not be usable in most or all or all of Cuba. When TWR was at 500 kw, it put a nice secondary signal over the very south coast of Puerto Rico, but did not get inland in the daytime. The proposed new signal will not be useful in any significant part of Cuba.

And the idea that it will have audience in Colombia and Venezuela is naive... both nations have local stations on 800 AM, so at night all there will be is interference.

 

[davideduardo]

This[/url][/b] could be a game changer on 800 if they get their $3.8 million and if it happens.

I am wondering if they will go through with this project. Usage of AM in the area they would cover has declined perhaps more than it has in the US, with any remaining listening among the older portion of the population.

 

[Ai4i]

As far as nocturnal signal strength goes, 450KW into a four element array not optimized for but electrically steered to hit Cuba and the Gulf coast of Mexico could still be equivalent to their old half megawatt signal plus maybe 10db, like maybe 5 megawatts ERP.
I remember when I was a child on Miami Beach, I could turn my radio one way and get a very clean signal from WFUN on 790 in southwest Dade County, turn it 90º and get an equally interferrence-free signal from what was always my favorite international broadcaster from the same Bonnair facility.
RNW.NL was actually the reason I bought my first worldband receiver.

 

[gr8oldies]

I remember RNW leasing time on the 800 facility, including a bilingual version of "Happy Station" on Sundays.

As far as nocturnal signal strength goes, 450KW into a four element array not optimized for but electrically steered to hit Cuba and the Gulf coast of Mexico could still be equivalent to their old half megawatt signal plus maybe 10db, like maybe 5 megawatts ERP.
I remember when I was a child on Miami Beach, I could turn my radio one way and get a very clean signal from WFUN on 790 in southwest Dade County, turn it 90º and get an equally interferrence-free signal from what was always my favorite international broadcaster from the same Bonnair facility.
RNW.NL was actually the reason I bought my first worldband receiver.

 

[gr8oldies]

It seems there would be a better way to spend $3.8 million.

I am wondering if they will go through with this project. Usage of AM in the area they would cover has declined perhaps more than it has in the US, with any remaining listening among the older portion of the population.

 

[gr8oldies]

I could be wrong, but I didn't think PJB even broadcast during the day in their 525kW era. It would have been covering a lot of fish.

I agree with Ai4i that a TWR power increase back to its original level will fit in Cuba's "we couldn't care less" category. Religion is not proscribed in Cuba, and that is all TWR focuses on these days.

Besides that, the TWR promotional / fundraising video suffers from extreme hyperbole. They talk about "one million" people listening each evening in Cuba. That would be over 10% of the adult population, and the equivalent of about 40% to 50% of typical Latin American evening radio listening. It ain't so.

The daytime signal will not be usable in most or all or all of Cuba. When TWR was at 500 kw, it put a nice secondary signal over the very south coast of Puerto Rico, but did not get inland in the daytime. The proposed new signal will not be useful in any significant part of Cuba.

And the idea that it will have audience in Colombia and Venezuela is naive... both nations have local stations on 800 AM, so at night all there will be is interference.

 

[davideduardo]

I could be wrong, but I didn't think PJB even broadcast during the day in their 525kW era. It would have been covering a lot of fish.

The transmitter was a 500 kw unit, which I saw in the late 60's. It ran daytime for the Spanish speaking areas, mostly (in their mind) Colombia, Panamá and Venezuela.

I regularly heard it during the daytime in Puerto Rico during the 70s and 80s whenever I was on the south coast of the Island. It was "hearable" but not very "listenable" due to man-made noise and, in many areas, splatter from WKVM on 810.

 

[HGR1290]

David: Do you have a sense of the AM/FM listenership in Cuba? I would imagine that FM is dominate---like everywhere, but Cuba has a large supply of AM stations, so obviously they view AM with quite a bit of importance.

Regarding PJB's video. I saw a few shots of the modulation....they need to crank that up. I saw the meter loafing along at 90 percent. Not sure what type of transmitter they are running, so they may have valid reasons for keeping it low, but if they would be better off if they simply modulated the thing a bit.

 

[davideduardo]

David: Do you have a sense of the AM/FM listenership in Cuba? I would imagine that FM is dominate---like everywhere, but Cuba has a large supply of AM stations, so obviously they view AM with quite a bit of importance.

The issue in Cuba is the cost and availability of FM radios. With an average monthly salary in Cuba below $50 USD, imported FM radios are a luxury. So AM is still the very dominant band. Cuba has gradually been building the FM infrastructure, there is less unique FM only content than in, I believe, any other significant country in the Hemisphere.

In a nation where "different" behavior often subjects a person to scrutiny, listening to evangelical messages from half way across the Caribbean may not be a popular thing to do.

Regarding PJB's video. I saw a few shots of the modulation....they need to crank that up. I saw the meter loafing along at 90 percent. Not sure what type of transmitter they are running, so they may have valid reasons for keeping it low, but if they would be better off if they simply modulated the thing a bit.

I think TWR has the modulation attitude that comes from shortwave broadcasters who traditionally did not process excessively. One of the reasons I heard voiced by some long-ago friends at HCJB was that, since much of the programming was spoken, they did not want the background noise "sucked up" by aggressive processing. I think that is a moot point today, but the thinking is likely ingrained.

 

[NoMoreLurking]

SF Bay Area: The only thing I've heard on 800 is XEROK, Radio Cañon and a cheating KBRV from Idaho. I've tried but failed to hear Bakersfield, and the BCN station which may or may not still be on the air.

That's because I'm about ten miles from the now irrelevant but still RF-spewing KGO towers. (More on that when 810 is the AM Frequency of the Week!)

 

[Ai4i]

(More on that when 810 is the AM Frequency of the Week!)

Hint, hint!

 

[Mr Tony]

south of Minnesota River (suburban Minneapolis)

Daytime - WVAL Sauk Rapids/St Cloud, MN (classic country)

Nightime - Usually WVAL too (even at 850 watts)

 

[Schlep82]

Here in Cincinnati I able to receive CKLW really weak in the daytime.
In the nightime CKLW will appear strong in all nights. Same as 760 WJR.

Daytime - 800 CKLW Really Weak

Nighttime - 800 CKLW Strong

That what I hear in My area.

 

[schmave]

Interesting, Schlep82 (and welcome!). I have heard CKLW in Auglaize County at night, not far south of Lima, but it's never all that strong and certainly nothing close to WJR. If you get it well down in Cincinnati, more power to you, but that is an interesting catch considering their pattern and other DX reports.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

There have been reports here that have suggested that CKLW Day and Night patterns are being heard at other times. The huge lobe to the SW is supposed to disappear at Night. Otherwise, most directions other than NNE and ESE at Night are around the Nondirectional equivalent of 5000 watts, which it used to be years ago.

https://transition.fcc.gov/Bureaus/MB/Databases/AM_DA_patterns/305450-55064.pdf

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Not in before the edit time limit.

https://transition.fcc.gov/Bureaus/MB/Databases/AM_DA_patterns/305450-55065.pdf

 

[schmave]

5,000 watts for CKLW in its nulls at night jibes with what I remember. I could hear it well in Toledo even after the pattern change (roughly 35 miles SSW of the tower) but as I remember, some faint crosstalk was audible if you listened close enough.
It's still a blaster in Conneaut, Ohio, the very northeast corner of the state. Pretty much crystal-clear at night, as is WJR.

 

[cyberdad]

CKLW doesn't sound like 5,000 watts in my direction (basically west). It's usually there at night, but even on a night when conditions are good, I'd describe the signal as fair at best.

 

[radioman148]

CKLW doesn't sound like 5,000 watts in my direction (basically west). It's usually there at night, but even on a night when conditions are good, I'd describe the signal as fair at best.

Same here in the near north Chicago suburbs, but back in the 70s Sometimes I could here CKLW during the day, faint, but in there.

 

[gr8oldies]

I grew up with CKLW in Mercer County, Ohio during their top 40 heyday. Unless CKLW is on day pattern at night, there's absolutely no way you are getting them strong in Cincinnati. Maybe someone close by can confirm if CKLW's been having pattern issues. I remember trying to catch part of The Big 8 Reunion back in 2002, from one of Dayton's South suburbs I couldn't hear anything other than the song "Scorpio" through a mess that sounded like 1490. Fortunately it was posted online later.