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AM Frequency of the Week: 590

cyberdad

cyberdad

Sorry I'm a little late to our party this week. Anyway, here's my look at 590....

Current: Daytime it's WKZO (Kalamazoo). Very weak, but reliable and listenable. Southwest Michigan has large areas of very sandy soil, and WKZO's signal has to traverse that before it can reach and cross Lake Michigan. Conditions are much better on this side of the lake, but by the time WKZO reaches here, it's pretty much spent.

Night: KXSP (Omaha) is the most likely station to be on top. During its days as WOW, this station was both reliable and listenable around here. Not so much anymore. I'm not sure if the signal is simply weaker, or if this is due to the channel being more occupied. Or more likely both. I also hear WVLK (Lexington, KY) in the mix from time to time.

Retro: I've heard Cuba's R. Nacional a few times, but not recently. I checked 590 last night in anticipation of launching this thread, and thought I may have heard a few whiffs of it. But I'm a long way from being able to claim or confirm that.
 
Near north Chicago suburbs WKZO fair/good during the day. At night it's usually Omaha, but sometimes WKZO is in there, but very weak. During the WOW days Omaha was a nice listen at night.
 
NIGHTTIME: KXSP Omaha, consistently. It's not listenable due to the presence of local WMT on 600, but relies on nulling WMT to hear it. I suspect that WKZO might be in the mix sometimes, but if so, probably underneath KXSP and hard to sort out of the pile of it and WMT.
DAYTIME: KXSP is there, but completely swallowed up or obscured by WMT.

RETRO: WMT would sometimes (perhaps regularly) sign off 600 on Sunday nights/Monday mornings, and a Cuban station would come rolling in. I'm pretty sure one of those occasions was the first time I was able to catch a Cuban station, and it was pretty exciting!!! (I don't know if that was on 590 or 600, however.)
 
radioman148 said:
Near north Chicago suburbs WKZO fair/good during the day. At night it's usually Omaha, but sometimes WKZO is in there, but very weak. During the WOW days Omaha was a nice listen at night.
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I'm a little surprised that WKZO is that strong where you are. Out here in the McHenry County boondocks 25-30 miles west of you, it's pretty weak. Although....yesterday, I had the backyard grill fired up with my trusty Supe-2 by my side. Just checking out the lower end of the dial, and there was a perfectly listenable Detroit Tigers baseball game via WKZO.
 
cyberdad said:
I'm a little surprised that WKZO is that strong where you are. Out here in the McHenry County boondocks 25-30 miles west of you, it's pretty weak. Although....yesterday, I had the backyard grill fired up with my trusty Supe-2 by my side. Just checking out the lower end of the dial, and there was a perfectly listenable Detroit Tigers baseball game via WKZO.
Click to expand...

It's a decent signal during the day, definitely not weak. Sometimes in the car it can vary, but around here it's not weak during the day. I think they've always carried the Tigers. I remember listening to the games on WKZO years ago.
 
North Of Atlantya, day, WDWD. Night WDWD. I have heard WVLK under WDWD on a few occasions.
 
John E. Fetzer used to own both WKZO and the Detroit Tigers. So it's somewhat of a legacy that the broadcasts continue on WKZO, although both have new owners.

WKZO had one of its four self supporting towers from 1942 collapse in a storm a few years ago. The tower has recently been replaced with a guyed one. They operated 5 kW Day/1.25 kW Night Nondirectional on STA for a couple of years. If you look at the History Card, you'll see that WKZO operated with its 5 kW DA-N facilities from 6 PM to 10 AM, covering until Omaha sunrise and the morning critical hours of WOW even during the Winter, for many years. This had the effect of improving the signal in Grand Rapids during all morning drive hours, in addition to protecting WOW.
 
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Cañon City CO day and night, KCSJ Pueblo.

Retro: Daytime...WOW Omaha from near Ottumwa with monkey chatter from 600 WMT Cedar Rapids. Radios with the ol ferrite rod did better than car radios. In the early 70s WOW wasn't afraid to play a late 50s/early 60s selection once an hour along with what was probably a slightly older skewing top 40. I was the throwback kid, my older brothers and sisters hated anything pre=Beatle. Night-time, still WOW, which might have been 5 kW ND 24 hours a day, but the Cubans didn't care about WOW's senior position on 590.
 
Very interesting daytime situation in Houston. The frequency is dominated by KLBJ Austin, but XEFD is in the background. it is possible to null KLBJ and get an almost clear signal from XEFD. Neither station even attempts to throw a null to protect the other.
 
rbrucecarter5 said:
Very interesting daytime situation in Houston. The frequency is dominated by KLBJ Austin, but XEFD is in the background. it is possible to null KLBJ and get an almost clear signal from XEFD. Neither station even attempts to throw a null to protect the other.
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When I lived in League City, it was quite the opposite situation. XEFD was on top and you might hear KLBJ every so often. At my office off Gessner and Westheimer, 590 was as you describe.
Although it makes for interesting listening for people like us, this should have been solved decades ago. XEFD came on the air 14 years after KLBJ yet is allowed to walk all over its signal across south Texas. Considering that XEFD is on the northern border of Mexico, they should have a northerly null that is shallow enough to allow the nearby audience on the American side, as in McAllen and vicinity, to hear the signal well, yet deep enough that the signal dies well before it impacts areas where KLBJ otherwise would be crystal clear.
As for the frequency here in Columbus, Ohio ... nothing, day or night.
 
590 in Charleston is usually a pretty empty frequency during the daytime. Down by the beach, WAFC Clewiston, FL with their true oldies comes in weakly. During critical hours though, any time an hour or even two before sunset, Atlanta comes in (Salem talk). They are usually the dominant at night over whatever else is on the frequency.

One time though about a year or two ago I heard a surprise in late October. Way in the background I heard a mention of "Toronto Maple Leafs." It had to be CJCL from Toronto. Given that they point most of their signal to the north from their transmitter site south of Toronto, it ws a real surprise to hear them.
 
East Tennessee: A weak WVLK day and night.
Edinburgh, IN SDR: Mostly WKZO, sometimes WVLK day; frequently WAKM, Franklin TN at night.
 
charlestondxman said:
One time though about a year or two ago I heard a surprise in late October. Way in the background I heard a mention of "Toronto Maple Leafs." It had to be CJCL from Toronto. Given that they point most of their signal to the north from their transmitter site south of Toronto, it ws a real surprise to hear them.
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That IS a surprise....and a very nice catch! CJCL is indeed very directional.

I can tell you from my biz trips to Toronto that CJCL certainly doesn't go east or west very well....let alone south. 50kw on 590 in an area with relatively decent ground conductivity, and you still lose it within two hours or less if you're on the 401 freeway. OTOH, drive a couple hours north into the Muskoka "cottage country", and the signal is terrific...even though the ground conductivity towards that direction is markedly worse!
 
Here in Cincinnati. There might be a fringe 590 WVLK signal that is not talking but it has this weird tone that is really has a "buzz tone" of some fringe signals.
and at night There's a scrambled up mess of small am radio stations.
Daytime : WVLK (Really weak and replaced with "Buzz Tone" all day everyday. What's causing the "buzz tone" effect?
Nighttime : Mixed.
 
Recent days here in PA (since 1993) : A weak WARM Scranton. The way I get it, they have to pull in their signal from this direction to protect the omni WHP on 580. As is the case with too many former AM market leaders, it's heartbreaking to see and hear what 'The Mighty 5-90' has become.

Nighttimes here, not much. That is one noisy part of the dial. I do have a question, though. I have a 'tentative' dot in the log from December 1997. My notes say 'The Lake' and WLQE (the calls are with a question mark). Any help with that one, folks?

* * * * * * *

Retro years, near JFK Airport:
Daytimes actually could be a weak mix of WARM, WROW Albany, and WEEI Boston. Our crew used some decent radios, so local NYC's WMCA was a minimal problem. If you tuned to 590 and turned the loop, all three of those signals were ID-able.

Sunsets escorted in WGTM from NC.

At night, WARM, CKEY Toronto, Cuba, WKZO MI, WPLO Atlanta and even WOW Omaha were loggings. Some of those regional channels -- even in crowded-dial NYC -- could provide some good stuff. And when the NYC-licensed regionals were off (570, 930, 1380, 1430, 1600, etc) some swell stuff could make it through. But those other regionals are for other Frequency Of The Week questionnaires, hi.
 
In NW San Antonio:

Daytime: KLBJ has a moderately strong signal, but like Bruce in Houston, I can usually hear XEFD underneath.
Night: XEFD becomes the most dominant, mixing with KLBJ, which sometimes takes over. I heard a weak R. Musical Nacional once a couple of years ago in March.
Sunrise: XEPH in Mexico City often dominates with a moderate signal until KLBJ goes to day power.


This past week I was in Greenbelt MD. 590 there was filled with RFI, except for a weak image of WFED 1500. I'll be posting a full AM bandscan from Greenbelt in a day or two.
 
In Pittsburgh it's WMBS, Uniontown, PA, which is a fringe local for me.
At night it is underlaid by a Mexican or Cuban station (I don't speak Spanish so I couldn't ID)
 
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