Interesting! Do you know how far XEWA got out back when it was 150,000 watts? I bet you could easily pick it up throughout the southern half of the US and down into Latin America!
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The Tucson Blowtorch
- Thread starter DrAkbar
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Interesting! Do you know how far XEWA got out back when it was 150,000 watts? I bet you could easily pick it up throughout the southern half of the US and down into Latin America!
In the 60's and 70's, it could be heard fairly well in Texas, but CBK blocked it elsewhere. The terrain around SLP is not good, and the station never seemed to get out all that well.
In Latin America, it was blocked by stations in a number of Central American countries on 540, so it's southern reach was likely just the south of Mexico at night. I never heard it on several occasions when DXing in Guatemala City. Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Venezuela all had 10 kw and above stations on 540, particularly 30 kw Horizonte in Bogotá, so the station was hemmed in.
It was a relay of XEW, and intended to fill in between Mexico City and Veracruz and Guadalajara only. It did that well.
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XEWA actually had a blowtorch night signal into both Austin and DFW in the 60's and 70's, and a fair signal in the Texas Panhandle. It was a relay of XEW; however the audio had more of a "network" quality at the time (longtime radio listeners will know what that means!)
During the mid 80's it seemed XEWA was at greatly reduced power. It didn't come into Amarillo at all, which left the frequency clear for decent reception of CBK.
Nowadays XEWA is still audible here in Houston, but is obviously running only a fraction of its former 150kw. And there are several other stations audible underneath.
Thank you David (and all the rest). Much appreciated. That Orlando market station sure covers a lot of empty salt water!
I know the low band AMs sure can get out- KVI 570 in Seattle is only 5kW but due to dial position and the fact that the tower is essentially IN Puget Sound it really gets out. As long as you are near or in salt water. Back in the day the fishing fleet in northern British Columbia regularly called in and were definitely listening during the day. My dad picked them up one day in the 70s in Ketchikan. Ground conductivity generally sucks in the PacNW, but salt water conductivity is pretty darned good!
BTW Vancouver BC is getting a 50kW/ 20kW at 600 here shortly. Don't know if it will get to AZ, but if you hear Punjab programming, that's likely it.
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Yes! It was linked via the shortwave transmitters of XEW.
When does the Vancouver AM 600 come back on the air? That station has been silent for nearly 11 years now!
And it will have, in its resurrection, the same or greater protection requirements than the prior Vancouver occupant of 600. It's not going to be an easy catch, outside of the Pacific Northwest.
Yeah, true. The only Vancouver station I can consistently pick-up in Phoenix, AZ (if I’m patient enough) is CKWX News 1130. Not too shocking since it is a Class A Clear Channel station with 50,000 watts, but it is not non-directional to protect KWKH from Shreveport, Louisiana. Surprisingly, if I travel just a little more north of Phoenix driving between Phoenix and Las Vegas, there is a stretch on US 93 where CKWX actually comes in pretty well! The rest of the Vancouver AM stations, however, I have not been able to log.
Of course, the best out of the Pacific Northwest bunch to come in fairly decently on a nightly basis is KOMO AM 1000 from Seattle. Again, not non-directional, but it’s pattern throws a lot of power south down the coast and into the InterMountain western states of Nevada, Utah and Arizona. I am shocked how well it comes in on a nightly basis in LA and Orange County!
CKWX isnt a clear channel, KWKH and WBBR own 1130.
Most of the AM's in Canada are quite direcitonal so no surprise you cant log them
Another factor is that XEWA really only exists for that continuity obligation. Televisa Radio/Radiópolis/check back and see if they found a buyer that can actually get the financing for the radio division may own the stick, but it's been a while since they've taken full and direct operation of it. Especially since migration, it's become a local station for San Luis Potos?* that is LMA'd out to whoever has the Televisa Radio partnership in SLP (and that's been three or four different groups in the last decade).
Long, long time ago I use to hear Tempe's 1580 just after sunset in Cincinnati. 1580 was KYND back then. Also heard Tucson's 1550 (KFIF) once or twice.
1580, in the early 70's when still a daytimer, had the nasty habit of staying on the air for hours after sunset.
Once I called to tell them they had "forgotten" to turn the AM transmitter off and got a "Oh, you are one of those people" angry response. But within seconds, the transmitter was shut off.
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Speaking of Mexican blowtorches...the "border blaster" signal that use to pound into Cincinnati at night was 1570 - XERF. We would often listen to Wolfman Jack on a transistor radio. XERF was purported to be 250kw at the time.
I can hear that one up in Wyoming at night.. usually starts being listenable 30-45 minutes before Laramie sunset.. 100kw now
Those who saw it in that era can testify to the RCA 250 kw transmitter that lived in Villa Acuña, complete with its own power generation plant. The manager told me that as part of their "deal" with the town, they provided electricity for the village street lights!
Speaking of Tucson blowtorches, KDRI AM 830 is definitely up to something because I am driving back to Phoenix from Los Angeles and right now in Indio, KDRI is booming in with their soft AC format and ads playing for someone’s son running as Tucson mayor. I heard it start to come in by Riverside on the 60, but here in Indio, KDRI is dominant and sounds like it might be running on it’s daytime 50,000 watt nondirectional signal. David, you could probably vouch for this since you live in the Indio area. Doubt that Angels radio, AM 830 KLAA, would be too happy about this since it definitely is encroaching on their nighttime signal!
I tried in the car radio in the garage (I don't have a working radio in the house any longer), but the noise level is too high to hear anything on 830. I'd have gone out to a road with less noise (in our development they did very noisy all-LED lighting of the streets, the planting and the like so most local AMs don't come in). Tomorrow, if they are still on, I will try in the early evening in an undeveloped area about a half-mile away.
Sounds good David! It’s definitely there and rises to the top over the slop and KLAA from time to time. Not sure if it is the full 50,000 watts of daytime power, but it’s definitely not the night-time directional 1,000 watt authorization as there is a serious null toward Los Angeles to protect KLAA. I am traveling on the I-10 and stopped for a break. It’s still there and I have logged a positive TOH ID. Hopefully they are still there for you tomorrow. Back on the road!
That's what I was talking about in my previous post. They could be running 50 kW at night (after all, they're running out of a makeshift studio in downtown Tucson for the time being, and someone could have disconnected the transmitter remote control), but all the florescent/LED interference could make it sound like only 5,000 watts from 70 miles away.
Where the studio is or that its "make shift" would have nothing to do with the transmitter remote control or someone disconnecting it.. that's a pretty abhorrent, uneducated amatuer, incorrect connection to make.
ALL KINDS of things can cause a remote control to malfunction... most often times its a power outage or even what i call a power burp.. just enough to cause power to flicker and make sensitive electronics reset to "0"......and sometimes things just get a mind of their own. i worked for an AM who was 1kw day 100w night and once in awhile the thing wouldnt power down.... remote control hadnt gone stupid and lost senses as to what time it was or anything, no power outage.. it just happened.
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