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AM Frequency of the Week: 1660

cyberdad

cyberdad

40-ish Miles NW of downtown Chicago.

Days: Most of the time 1660 is blank, but occasionally WQLR from Kalamazoo, MI on daytime skywave. More comon at this time of year.

Nights: Battle of three weak signals., WQLR, KQWB (Fargo, ND. and KWOD from Kansas City. This is a little odd in and of itself, and particularly so, given that IME, the most likely of the trio to rise to the top is KQWB. I'd expect it to be WQLR, which is the closest, and the one that's most likely to turn up on daytime skywave.

KWOD is a story all it's own. It began as a classical music station, put on the air by Clear Channel, as part of an arrangement to acquire (then 1250) WREN in Topeka, move it to Kansas City, and raise the daytime power tp 25KW (and aim the signal back towards Topeka. At least that's how I understand and remember it. DXBob can probably fill in any details, and correct any part of the story that I may have gotten wrong.
 
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In the near north Chicago suburbs it's a very weak WQLR during the day. As cyberdad stated mostly during the winter months.
At night pretty much the same battle of the three stations. I hear KQWB most often, but any of these three are likely to show up at one time or another.
 
Chicago by the lakeshore:

The default is WQLR both day and night, but it's not too strong during the day. I haven't explored this frequency too much, but one day I went to the lakeshore pretty late in the evening (probably not totally safe but anyhow...) and I got both WWRU in Jersey City and KWOD in Kansas City. I haven't heard the North Dakota station.
 
I heard it before Radiosoft's Peter Moncure! Quite by accident, I heard it within a day after WJDM went on with it's Classic Rare Oldies format. Most analog AM radios went up to about 1670, including Sony, Panasonic, and even cheap "shower" radios. So I was scraping the top of the dial one night, and heard a format I liked.
 
Schroedingers Cat said:
I heard it before Radiosoft's Peter Moncure! Quite by accident, I heard it within a day after WJDM went on with it's Classic Rare Oldies format. Most analog AM radios went up to about 1670, including Sony, Panasonic, and even cheap "shower" radios. So I was scraping the top of the dial one night, and heard a format I liked.
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Well that post definitely jogs my memory.

I did hear WJDM several times when it first came on. But speaking of classic oldies, 1660 was also home to KXOL in Salt Lake City (long gone). KXOL had a deep oldies library and was a nighttime regular on my west coast biz trips. Then one morning, to my surprise, I heard it at sunrise one morning in my room when I was staying at the Oak Lawn (IL) Hilton,
 
From the southwest suburbs of Chicago:

I've gotten three stations on 1660. WBCN Charlotte was the first, in the middle of the night in November 2015, interesting because that call sign was used in the early 1920s here in Chicago by a newspaper I long worked at decades later. We had a framed copy of the front page touting its sign-on in the lobby.

More recently, I've heard KQWB West Fargo, N.D. during sunrise skip and WQLR Kalamazoo, Mich., which is a semi-regular, and atop a jumble on the frequency right now. Sounds like two others nipping at it. I've not IDed Kansas City in my time on 1660.

At the top of the hour (10 p.m. CT), a mention of Fargo fades up, so one of the others tonight is KQWB.

And at 10:22, there's a mention of "your radio home for the Kansas City Chiefs," which I take as KWOD though there's no mention of the station on the Chiefs' list of radio affiliates. It'll be No. 493 once I get a firmer fix on identity.
 
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East Tennessee: Daytime (usually takes some winter skip), WBCN, Charlotte NC (those famous calls parked there). They also had a rock format for awhile, which made them easy to pick out. Otherwise, WQLR, Kalamazoo. Nights--a hodge podge of several of them

Retro/other: WJDM, Elizabeth City NJ was the first X-band station I had ever heard, and it seemed to be playing A/C. I remember the Radio Aahs years right after that until the network folded.
 
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: local TIS's from Palatine, Skokie or Lisle are possible at my location. Sometimes WQLR during daytime as well.
Nightime: WQLR or KQWB

DX/RETRO: as mention by radioman148 WJDM used to rule the frequency. They are now WWRU, but not longer very common. KXTR (Kansas City, KS) used to be an interesting catch with classical music programming before switching to sports. Also heard KXOL (Brigham City, UT), KRZI (ex-KAXY - Waco, TX), WFNA (Charlotte, NC). WMIB (Marco Island, FL) logged thanks to a specially arranged DX test in 2001. Also in 1999 WD2X experimental station in Cincinnati, OH was received in the Chicago area. Have been trying for WGIT Casanovas, Puerto Rico, but no luck yet. Another target is KBRE Merced, CA but that's probably not very likely to be heard in Chicago. hear them on the Arctic SDR though.
 
CADXER said:
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: local TIS's from Palatine, Skokie or Lisle are possible at my location. Sometimes WQLR during daytime as well.
Nightime: WQLR or KQWB

DX/RETRO: as mention by radioman148 WJDM used to rule the frequency. They are now WWRU, but not longer very common. KXTR (Kansas City, KS) used to be an interesting catch with classical music programming before switching to sports. Also heard KXOL (Brigham City, UT), KRZI (ex-KAXY - Waco, TX), WFNA (Charlotte, NC). WMIB (Marco Island, FL) logged thanks to a specially arranged DX test in 2001. Also in 1999 WD2X experimental station in Cincinnati, OH was received in the Chicago area. Have been trying for WGIT Casanovas, Puerto Rico, but no luck yet. Another target is KBRE Merced, CA but that's probably not very likely to be heard in Chicago. hear them on the Arctic SDR though.
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Come to think of it I once logged WGIT on the Eschende, Netherlands SDR but never domestically
 
Here in Atlanta it's WBCN winter days and all year nights. They are a Fox sports station now. At one time they rebroadcast an oldies station called "the smoke". Before that they were an all news format. No telling what they'll be next. Latino rap?
 
cyberdad said:
KWOD is a story all it's own. It began as a classical music station, put on the air by Clear Channel, as part of an arrangement to acquire (then 1250) WREN in Topeka, move it to Kansas City, and raise the daytime power tp 25KW (and aim the signal back towards Topeka. At least that's how I understand and remember it. DXBob can probably fill in any details, and correct any part of the story that I may have gotten wrong.
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This account is correct! Now owned by Entercom, the former WREN is now KYYS with a 25 kW signal broadcast from a 4-tower array east of Kansas City, Missouri aimed due west toward the city and Topeka with a near city grade signal there. At night, the same pattern but at a reduced power of 3.7 kW. At my location in far south Overland Park [24 miles from the transmitter site], the daytime signal is strong but at night there is heavy skywave interference. The format is Regional Mexican.

The KWOD [also owned by Entercom] transmitter is just 12 miles north of my location. The 10 kW daytime power produces a strong signal. However, when the station powers down to 1 kW, the station is essentially unlistenable due to heavy skywave interference after critical hours. The format is now Sports. Kansas City Chiefs games are not broadcast on this station.

Bob
 
DXBob said:
This account is correct! Now owned by Entercom, the former WREN is now KYYS with a 25 kW signal broadcast from a 4-tower array east of Kansas City, Missouri aimed due west toward the city and Topeka with a near city grade signal there. At night, the same pattern but at a reduced power of 3.7 kW. At my location in far south Overland Park [24 miles from the transmitter site], the daytime signal is strong but at night there is heavy skywave interference. The format is Regional Mexican.

The KWOD [also owned by Entercom] transmitter is just 12 miles north of my location. The 10 kW daytime power produces a strong signal. However, when the station powers down to 1 kW, the station is essentially unlistenable due to heavy skywave interference after critical hours. The format is now Sports. Kansas City Chiefs games are not broadcast on this station.

Bob
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Thanks Bob, I always stand to be corrected, but I was pretty sure I was right about the basics on this one. I used to be in town every November for an event for my wife at the Overland Park convention center. Stayed at the Marriott Courtyard across the street. Not a bad spot for DX, and one of the things I noticed was that the 1660 signal was noticeably weaker at night (although still listenable). And indeed I'd hear something unidentifiable faintly underneath,

Veering off topic. Apologies in advance..... Overland Park Marriott Courtyard. Walking back to our room on a Saturday afternoon, I found $81 in the bushes next to the front door. I told the front desk what I had found and said if anyone came to them to inform them of their loss, let me know and I'd return it. No one did, and when we left Monday morning, I had what turned out to be "beer money" for the rest of the year! :)
 
cyberdad said:
Thanks Bob, I always stand to be corrected, but I was pretty sure I was right about the basics on this one. I used to be in town every November for an event for my wife at the Overland Park convention center. Stayed at the Marriott Courtyard across the street. Not a bad spot for DX, and one of the things I noticed was that the 1660 signal was noticeably weaker at night (although still listenable). And indeed I'd hear something unidentifiable faintly underneath,

Veering off topic. Apologies in advance..... Overland Park Marriott Courtyard. Walking back to our room on a Saturday afternoon, I found $81 in the bushes next to the front door. I told the front desk what I had found and said if anyone came to them to inform them of their loss, let me know and I'd return it. No one did, and when we left Monday morning, I had what turned out to be "beer money" for the rest of the year! :)
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My pleasure! I am located 4 miles due south of that hotel where the KWOD signal is even weaker at night. Great story on the money find.

Bob
 
Daytime: Static.
Nighttime: generally a grainy KBRE Merced w/ rock; sometimes KQWB Fargo shows up with talk. Last decade it was wall-to-wall KXOL in Utah most nights, before that station got yanked off the airwaves.
 
In west Houston, it's mostly KRZI with ESPN and Baylor sports, regularly on top at night and sometimes during the day in the wintertime. I've also heard KWOD Kansas City at sunset/sunrise.
 
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