AM Frequency of the week: 800

[cyberdad]

I've tried twice to post here, but can't get through the security gate. So....I'll let you guys start the thread with what you're hearing on 800. I'll jump in later!

 

[schmave]

I will say this constant "just a moment ..." thing every time I log on to this forum is getting annoying. I get it happening occasionally, not every time.
Nonetheless ...
Very little around Columbus, Ohio day or night. If anything, an extremely weak CKLW might pop up. They never send much signal in this direction.
Less than 100 miles north, it's all CKLW, and along the Lake Erie shoreline, they dominate even in their nulls. It is one of the strongest AM stations in Toledo at all hours (despite the nighttime null toward XEROK, it's still solid), much weaker to the east, and then quite strong again in Cleveland and along the Lake Erie shoreline. It comes in very well at my in-laws' home in Conneaut, Ohio, 70 miles northeast of Cleveland.

 

[crainbebo]

Another one who hates the 'just a moment' message.

Yakima WA
800 daytime is a very weak KPDQ Portland (Christian Talk) and/or CKOR Penticton BC (Adult Contemporary) but they are more noticeable in winter. You have to be away from the RFI to hear those.
At night, CKOR dominates with CHAB Moose Jaw SK (Classic Hits) underneath, sometimes over CKOR, and there's the 500 watts of KPDQ. XEROK Ciudad Juarez (Regional Mexican) is also often heard in the jumble.
Other logs include KBRV Soda Springs ID (Classic Country, occasionally at sunset), KBFP Bakersfield CA (Comedy, heard once in aurora), XESPN Tijuana (Spanish News/Talk, on aurora with only 250 watts), and KINY Juneau AK (Full-Service).

Not much wanted here. Everything is too far and too weak - 1KW daytime on KXIC for example. CKLW would be nice but I'll probably never hear them on 50KW.

 

[radioman148]

In the near north Chicago suburbs during the day not much. Maybe a very weak KXIC. Sometime I've heard a very weak CKLW, but that hasn't happened in a long time. WBBM's IBOC splatters on this frequency.

Retro: Many years ago when they were Top 40 I could hear a weak CKLW during the day even during the summer months. At night it was a usually a weak CKLW on top, alternating with PJB and sometimes XEROK during it's Top 40 days.

 

[davideduardo]

I've tried twice to post here, but can't get through the security gate. So....I'll let you guys start the thread with what you're hearing on 800. I'll jump in later!

What browser do you use? This might be browser of browser version related.

 

[cyberdad]

What browser do you use? This might be browser of browser version related.

Chrome. For the most part, it's only been a minor annoyance, but today I couldn't get my thread-starting post to get through. Only my short two-liner note explaining the situation. Thanks, guys, for getting things going this week.

Back OT....

Far Northwest Suburban Chicago,,,,

Days: Usually a very weak KXIC (1kw from Iowa City). Rarely an even weaker CKLW. Even more rarely, WDUX from Waupaca, WI,

Nights: CKLW is normally....but not always...on top. Sometimes its an unidentifiable mess, and sometimes XEROK breaks through. I've heard what's probably the new incarnation of PJB from Bonaire a couple of times but haven't been able to positively ID it. The "original" PJB was a more frequent visitor.

 

[gr8oldies]

East Tennessee (Knoxville/Sevierville):
Days, WDEH, Sweetwater, TN.

Before sunset: CKLW, WVHU and others

Night: Graveyard channel-style mess with some signs of PJB/Trans World Radio. TWR seems to be a much better neighbor with its focused directional signal to Cuba than in the 60s, 70s and 80s, when it ran roughshod over everyone on 800.

Retro/other: I've written some of this before in other 800 threads. I grew up near Celina, Ohio, and our big top 40 station was The Big 8, CKLW. It was played at our local park and pool. It was a blaster in the daytime, but, with with sunset came pattern change (at least most of the time, but we were happy when they "forgot") we were in the null toward XEROK. Add in all 525,000 watts of PJB and there was no Big 8 for us. Usually you could hear them in the background. Just after sunrise and before sunset, WKEE, Huntington WV would fade up and WAKY would splatter in from 790. When we went on vacation in Fremont, Michigan, I had only enough daytime signal to know CKLW was there, but it blasted in at night---the opposite of my home situation. I got to hear the night jocks I usually didn't hear at home.

CKLW's signal was and is strong heading south until about the I-75-I-70 junction; until just north of Columbus, and between Akron and Canton was the fade point in that direction.

 

[WCJ]

Orange County, TX days nothing, nights a weak but steady CKLW most of the time with Spanish breaking through.

 

[CADXER]

Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: nothing except WBBM iboc hash, WKZI (Casey, IL) heard few times in the past (before WBBM iboc)
Nightime: usualy CKLW or TWR Bonaire

DX/RETRO: TWR makes it these days with their new transmitter, but not as strong as they used to be in the past. Same goes for XEROK. Used to more common in the past. Others heard on this frequency include KXIC (Iowa City, IA), KWCV (Oklahoma City, OK). Also the Chicago O'Hare and Midway Airports TIS's were common before they moved to the present 1630 kHz.

 

[DXBob]

Did we decide to skip 790 kHz or have I missed that thread?

From far south suburban Kansas City:

Day: Nothing but splatter from 50kW WHB on 810 kHz.

Critical Hours: Occasionally, XEROK - Ciudad Juárez, Mx. and on very rare occasion, CKLW - Windsor, Ont.

Night: XEROK - Ciudad Juárez, Mx. but their signal is now weaker and less reliable since they reduced power from 150 kW to 50 kW. Just last week, I heard the reincarnated, PJB - Bonaire. No other signals identified as yet.

Bob

 

[cyberdad]

Did we decide to skip 790 kHz or have I missed that thread?Bob

We cycled through the "regional", "local". and x-band channels until autumn of last year. Then had a discussion of what should come next, and decided we'd go through the two different types of clear channels. (The ones that...theoretically...have one dominant station at night, and the others that have two.). As you may already know 790 is a former "regional" channel, so we're not including it in this go-round. We'll have the opposite in a couple of months with 940 "surrounded" by regional channels....920-980...which we visited last year.

 

[DXBob]

We cycled through the "regional", "local". and x-band channels until autumn of last year. Then had a discussion of what should come next, and decided we'd go through the two different types of clear channels. (The ones that...theoretically...have one dominant station at night, and the others that have two.). As you may already know 790 is a former "regional" channel, so we're not including it in this go-round. We'll have the opposite in a couple of months with 940 "surrounded" by regional channels....920-980...which we visited last year.

Got it and thank you!

Bob

 

[wildthangjim]

From west Houston, I hear CKLW often, and have heard XEROK and PJB. I also heard WSHO New Orleans, Sonshine Radio religious programming, last month at midnight. Listed at 233 watts at night.

Retro from Tulsa in the early 70's, KQCV Oklahoma City with religion during the day. At night, XEROK, PJB, and CKLW fought it out, with PJB and XEROK usually strongest. Before X-rock 80, I QSL'ed XELO with mostly religious programming. They stunted for what seemed like weeks before the X-rock programming started.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

In the day sometimes, it's WCHA Chambersburg PA. Really faint.

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WCHA&service=AM&h=D

We live near the lower left green 'listen now' button

Nights belong to CKLW.

* * * * * * *

From the 'good ol days in Queens NYC (in retrospect, those days are becoming more 'magnificent' than just 'good', eh?) there seemed to be directional stations on 800 in Quebec every 50 feet nearing sunset and often at night. Through nearly total ignorance of my partial ancestry I know very little French. But I was able to ID three of them.

* * * * * * *

Does CKLW still have to steer their nighttime signal away from that thing in Bonaire/Antilles?

 

[gr8oldies]

That's a persistent myth. CKLW has never, EVER, had to protect PJB. Ever. CKLW was there first, and PJB is for all intents and purposes a pirate (the Netherlands Antilles never signed NARBA). PJB wreaked havoc on CKLW's coverage (even in the Windsor/Detroit area), as well as the coverage of every 800, 810 and 790 in the Western Hemisphere. CKLW did and does go directional to protect XEROK (I lived right in that null)and Quebec City, among others.

In the day sometimes, it's WCHA Chambersburg PA. Really faint.

https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WCHA&service=AM&h=D

We live near the lower left green 'listen now' button

Nights belong to CKLW.

* * * * * * *

From the 'good ol days in Queens NYC (in retrospect, those days are becoming more 'magnificent' than just 'good', eh?) there seemed to be directional stations on 800 in Quebec every 50 feet nearing sunset and often at night. Through nearly total ignorance of my partial ancestry I
know very little French. But I was able to ID three of them.

* * * * * * *

Does CKLW still have to steer their nighttime signal away from that thing in Bonaire/Antilles?

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Lol Gr8 ! You sounded like Jimmy Cagney with that 'Nevah, evvah, evvah, misstah ....' stuff. Thatnks for t he info and 73!

 

[schmave]

From west Houston, I hear CKLW often, and have heard XEROK and PJB. I also heard WSHO New Orleans, Sonshine Radio religious programming, last month at midnight. Listed at 233 watts at night.

Retro from Tulsa in the early 70's, KQCV Oklahoma City with religion during the day. At night, XEROK, PJB, and CKLW fought it out, with PJB and XEROK usually strongest. Before X-rock 80, I QSL'ed XELO with mostly religious programming. They stunted for what seemed like weeks before the X-rock programming started.

How in the world do you get CKLW in Houston? That shocks me. It certainly shouldn't be happening as, umm, focused as the CRTC is on keeping that signal out of this part of the U.S. let alone any other. A heck of a feat in any case.
When I lived there, it was weak KBME slop, an even weaker XEROK long past its glory days, or nothing.

 

[davideduardo]

That's a persistent myth. CKLW has never, EVER, had to protect PJB. Ever. CKLW was there first, and PJB is for all intents and purposes a pirate (the Netherlands Antilles never signed NARBA). PJB wreaked havoc on CKLW's coverage (even in the Windsor/Detroit area), as well as the coverage of every 800, 810 and 790 in the Western Hemisphere. CKLW did and does go directional to protect XEROK (I lived right in that null)and Quebec City, among others.

I have two stories about PJB.

First, I owned HCFV1 in Quito. It was licensed to 805 kHz in the somewhat odd Ecuadorian system of putting stations on 5 kHz increments. At night, the PJB signal would heterodyne with my station and reduce its fringe coverage drastically. I ended up moving to 810, without the government even noticing!.

A friend, Jaime Solórzano, owed Radio Bucaramanga on 800 in the Colombian city of the same name. Despite his nice 10 kw operation, PJB just destroyed his signal, as Bonaire was just a few hundred miles away. He ended up selling to a national network, which increased power and, of course, wiped a lot of PJB coverage out.

Aris de Icaza, owner of La Exitosa in Panama City, a near 100% salt water path to Bonaire, was similarly affected. He went from 1 kw to 10 kw and pretty much destroyed PJB in much of Central America.

Worst was the 800 AM station in Maracaibo, just a hop from Bonaire. It had to go off the air, eventually buying another station on a much inferior channel.

The PJB people did not care. They arrogantly took a frequency that was in use in multiple locations in the region, and took it over.

While I really liked the nice folks at HCJB in Quito... good radio "neighbors" and kind people who would help another broadcaster in an emergency... I found the TWR organization disrespectful and condescending. Protests by me and by the owners of the other stations mentioned via each nation's state department got a response back that our stations were not properly notified to the ITU and that THEY were the legitimate users of 800. Certainly not a ministry of love.

I agree: they were essentially a pirate.

 

[cyberdad]

Got it and thank you!

Bob

@Bob.... I had a coupe of thoughts after your post. First, if you have something to post specific to 790 (or any other channel), you can always bump up an existing old thread. Just do a quick search and "fire away". Others here do it from time to time, and those posts are always welcome. Sometimes they even bring about a more complete and lively discussion than first time around.

Secondly, thanks to CADXER's excellent "post your latest DX here" thread idea, we now have a "catch all" place that's particularly good for posting new developments on any channel, any band, any time.

So, post away, and I'm comfortable in saying we'll all look forward to your contributions.

 

[gr8oldies]

CKLW seems to be having frequent pattern problems that are keeping them on day pattern 24/7. (The CRTC isn't focused on keeping the pattern out of the U.S. They may have slightly tweaked the night pattern but I can't find solid evidence). Texas should be in the null toward XEROK though

How in the world do you get CKLW in Houston? That shocks me. It certainly shouldn't be happening as, umm, focused as the CRTC is on keeping that signal out of this part of the U.S. let alone any other. A heck of a feat in any case.
When I lived there, it was weak KBME slop, an even weaker XEROK long past its glory days, or nothing.