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AM Frequency of the Week: 590

cyberdad

cyberdad

Crystal Lake, IL....

Days: A very weak WKZO from Kalamazoo, MI. The sand dunes on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan really take a bite out of the 5kw ND signal. On top of that, the signal seems to have degraded somewhat from what it was in the 60s and 70s,

Nights: WKZO disappears and KXSP (EX-WOW) from Omaha typically is on top of the channel. I've also heard WVLK from Lexington, KY and WJMS from Ironwood, MI a few times but not recently. (Last I heard WJMS had a CP to drop night power from 1kw to 113 watts....which would probably explain it,)

Other Location: At our beach getaway location near Pensacola R. Nacional from Cuba is usually audible 24/7 with WDIZ (Panama City, FL) nulled.

Which brings me to sidebar personal note. Normally We'd be leaving this week for our month of February on the beach. BUT unfortunately, this year, I'm recovering from some rather significant foot surgery. I'm now feeling fine. My recovery is going well, but it's a slow process, and I'm not cleared to travel yet. So...probabably no reports from P-cola this year. Although there's a slim chance I might be able to salvage a week in the second half of February. So...as always....stay tuned.
 
cyberdad said:
Crystal Lake, IL....

Days: A very weak WKZO from Kalamazoo, MI. The sand dunes on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan really take a bite out of the 5kw ND signal. On top of that, the signal seems to have degraded somewhat from what it was in the 60s and 70s,

Nights: WKZO disappears and KXSP (EX-WOW) from Omaha typically is on top of the channel. I've also heard WVLK from Lexington, KY and WJMS from Ironwood, MI a few times but not recently. (Last I heard WJMS had a CP to drop night power from 1kw to 113 watts....which would probably explain it,)

Other Location: At our beach getaway location near Pensacola R. Nacional from Cuba is usually audible 24/7 with WDIZ (Panama City, FL) nulled.

Which brings me to sidebar personal note. Normally We'd be leaving this week for our month of February on the beach. BUT unfortunately, this year, I'm recovering from some rather significant foot surgery. I'm now feeling fine. My recovery is going well, but it's a slow process, and I'm not cleared to travel yet. So...probabably no reports from P-cola this year. Although there's a slim chance I might be able to salvage a week in the second half of February. So...as always....stay tuned.
Click to expand...

I hope you are feeling better soon!

Here in the far south Kansas City metro, KXSP is listenable days but only in the winter. In the summer during the day they are very weak, essentially unlistenable at my location. At night, it is either KXSP or Cuba. No other stations have been logged. It is interesting to note that KXSP is 5 kW, non-directional 24/7.

Bob
 
In the near north Chicago suburbs WKZO has a fair day signal. As cyberdad stated it's not as good as it used to be. At night it's usually KXSP Omaha. A few times I've heard WVLK. Where I'm spending some winter time in Southern California 590 daytime is a weak KTIE San Bernardino. This station used to have a better signal.

Glad to hear you're feeling better cyberdad. Hope your recovery continues to go well.
 
East Tennessee: WLAP, Lexington dominates days, but not enough for casual listening. Nights is a hodgepodge with nothing really dominating. Sometimes Radio Musical Nacional, Cuba will come up.

Retro/other: Dayton, Ohio area was either a weak WLAP or sometimes WKZO during the day. Night would be KXSP (WOW) or WKZO.
Western Ohio where I grew up, it was mostly WKZO with no sign of WVLK. On the Central Indiana SDR just now, I'm getting WROW, Albany NY probably later than I should (5:45-6:10pm.)
 
Childhood vacation memory: We would vacation in Fremont, Michigan, 50 or so miles north of Grand Rapids. On the way home I remember a billboard that said "For the next 300 miles....59 WKZO".
radioman148 said:
In the near north Chicago suburbs WKZO has a fair day signal. As cyberdad stated it's not as good as it used to be. At night it's usually KXSP Omaha. A few times I've heard WVLK. Where I'm spending some winter time in Southern California 590 daytime is a weak KTIE San Bernardino. This station used to have a better signal.

Glad to hear you're feeling better cyberdad. Hope your recovery continues to go well.
Click to expand...
 
West central Georgia:

Day: WDWD Atlanta 12000/4500 Fair reception

Night: Usually Radio Musical National Cuba - nice to hear classical music on the AM dial
Occasionally WVLK Louisville KY 5000/1000 comes to visit
 
WKZO had a tower collapse and was running 1 kW nondirectional at Night for a while. It has been replaced.

Until the early 1960s or so, WKZO was required to stay on DA Night pattern until 10:00 AM to protect WOW during morning Critical Hours. WOW was never happy about WKZO going to 5 kW Night. WKZO wasn't that unhappy about it because it doubled their morning drive signal in Grand Rapids. In those days the nulls in the Night pattern didn't go into very populated areas. Like most DAs, the nulls now go into populated areas at Night. So their was an upside to running 1 kW nondirectional.
 
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Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: WKZO
Nightime: usually KXSP

DX/RETRO: some of the DX catches include KBHS (Hot Springs, AR), KLBJ (Austin, TX), WRTH (Wood River, IL), WJMS (Ironwood, MI), WEEI (Boston, MA), CKEY (Toronto, ON), CKRS (Junguiere (PQ). On the foreign front the frequency used to be dominated by Cuba at night, but not as much these days. Did hear two different Mexicans (XEFD, XEXA), as well as Radio Nacional, Costa Rica (TIRN). Also, Dominica used to be received on the split frequency of 595 kHz back in the 80's in the Chicago area.
 
If you want to see how controversial it was for WKZO to upgrade to 5 kW Night, google "WOW vs. WKZO". The hearings and filings go on and on. But when WTAC 600 (now WSNL) wanted to upgrade and fill in nulls, the consultant claimed that WKZO's service contour went to just 2 miles from their transmitter and there was nothing they could do. The only way that could have been is if WKZO was measured during Daytime skywave. WTAC/WSNL's 0.5 mV/m barely reached the end of the 9/27 runway at Bishop Airport about 6 miles away. They eventually relocated the TL, but they had to reduce Day power to just 440 watts. I guess that advertising clients asked to listen to the station when they were picked up at the airport, and the signal near the airport was embarrassing to station managers.

WKZO History Card shows that the directional during morning drive use persisted until 1968!

http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=62704
 
In the daytime, I hear a cacophony of Radio Musical Nacional and a very slow heterodyne from WAFC.
I really wish that one of the two station engineers would tweak their oscillator just a tad and sync them.
 
Gr8 stuff, Gr8Oldies, vis-a-vis that '300 miles -- WKZO' sign.

* * * * * * *

Here in the 'new' digs den of NE PA, daytimes always have provided a weak-ish WARM Scranton. I believe they have to protect adjacent omni WHP Harrisburg, and perhaps the more distant WCHS from WV, plus co-channel WROW Albany NY.
(Back in 'the day' -- the 60's, on a good radio in Queens NYC -- 590 actually was a mix of WARM, WROW and WEEI Boston, depending on which way The Loop Turned. Wow, were things quieter then on the dial.)

* * * * * * *

Nighttime here on 590 in NE PA I have *very* tentatively logged, so I'm not counting it, a 'WLQE, the Lake'. Could someone help with this one?
 
Orange County, TX Post sunrise and pre sunset for an hour or so a strong KLBJ Austin, TX, days nothing.
 
Little to nothing to report around Columbus, Ohio. I don't remember ever hearing WKZO here.
WCJ mentioned KLBJ, and that is part of one of the more interesting co-channel battles you'll find. XEFD, based just across the Mexican border from McAllen, runs 5,000 watts omnidirectional ... as does KLBJ, and the two stations are roughly 300 miles apart. These two shred each other across a decent portion of south Texas, including as far east as parts of the Houston area. XEFD rules along the Gulf up that way.
I've read reports that XEFD starts interfering with KLBJ as close as 60 miles from Austin but can't substantiate that from my own experience.
 
From NW San Antonio:

I'm 75 miles SW of the KLBJ transmitter. It puts in a fairly strong signal here during the day. On my sensitive radios, if I aim the antenna N-NW, I can hear a very weak XEFD underneath.

At sunset, XEFD comes up a lot stronger and starts taking out KLBJ.

At night 590 becomes a mess, with XEDF and XEPH "Sabrosita" in Mexico City taking turns being most dominant. KLBJ is a lot weaker and is usually gone when I aim NW/SE. In that direction KCSJ in Pueblo, CO, can sometimes be heard. Also, a weak Radio Musical Nacional will peek through on rare occasions. Even more rarely, when I aim N/S, KXSP in Omaha can be heard very weakly for brief bits underneath the mess.
 
You can hear XEFD under KLBJ 60 miles south, but only during pauses. KLBJ is dominant until Three Rivers (half way between San Antonio and Corpus, although XEFD is more consistent). Just south of George West, XEFD is on top and by Alice, it’s all XEFD.

Last spring, I was in McAllen and XEFD was off the air for a couple of days; KLBJ made it to McAllen with no trouble.
 
Wow. I can't say I'm surprised with that low frequency and the conductivity, but that is something else that you could hear KLBJ that far south. Seems from your description as well that XEFD is atop the frequency closer to Austin than KLBJ is to the border.
It still amazes me that this situation was allowed to happen in the first place, that one or both of these stations do not protect the other. But hey, it makes for interesting observations!
 
A little bit of two stations duking it out at that frequency here in Portland, OR. KID in Pocatello Idaho and KQNT from Spokane
 
dlf1 said:
You can hear XEFD under KLBJ 60 miles south, but only during pauses. KLBJ is dominant until Three Rivers (half way between San Antonio and Corpus, although XEFD is more consistent). Just south of George West, XEFD is on top and by Alice, it’s all XEFD.

Last spring, I was in McAllen and XEFD was off the air for a couple of days; KLBJ made it to McAllen with no trouble.
Click to expand...

Over here in Houston, during the day KLBJ is dominant, but you can hear a very weak XEFD underneath. At night it's a pretty even fight with both stations on top at times. A second Spanish station can be heard, must be Mexico City, but haven't caught an ID.
 
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