I remember, back in the late 90's-early 00's, doing some DX'ing, in Carrollton, MO, & seeing a weak TV signal somewhere between Ch. 51-69 that was showing a test pattern, I think that it might have been on Ch. 68 (There was, at the time, a LPTV in Overland Park, KS, on that channel with the callsign K68DK, which rebroadcast KUJH-LP, Lawrence, KS.). I also remember seeing the words "Tiger Eye Broadcasting" (A company that only owned LPTV stations.), possibly on another channel, onscreen. Would the FCC still have records of LPTV from around that time? What DX'ing mysteries do you all have?
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DX'ing Mysteries
- Thread starter Route66Fan
- Start date
Based on some research that I've done, the LPTV station that I saw the words "Tiger Eye Broadcasting" on was likely KCHM-LP, Ch. 59 in Oklahoma City, OK (Now KUOK-CD, Ch. 36.).
This is a radio reception mystery. I was working for KYND AM 1520 in Cypress/Houston, Texas. It is a weekday evening near sunset in one of the summer months in 1994. We had taken KYND off the air at 6pm that evening. I think sunset was 8:15. I had taken off for dinner and on my return on my car radio at 1520 AM I am hearing marimba music (not the tunes on every Marimba album for Americans to buy but rather tunes I was not familiar with) with very little pause (1/2 to 1 second) between tracks. I gather the station may be automated or similar to some Mexican FMs on the border where a jock sat there playing wall to wall music with commercial breaks and liners on cart but no microphone in the studio). There are no liners or commercials aired. I listen in my car about 10 minutes and then back at the station I tune it in on a portable radio (don't recall the brand but it had SW and NOAA Weather Radio with AM & FM & TV...known as good but not stellar). It seems going in to the station I managed to miss any half hour ID, had there been one. I listen uninterrupted (yes a little fading here and there) and at 8pm I hear "Estes es XE" and at that very second the engineer fired up the KYND transmitter. I was two call letters and city of license away from knowing. I got him to turn it off right as a second of silence and another marimba song began. By sunset the station faded away as darkness took over.
The opportunity never afforded a listen again and I always wondered what Mexican station it could have been. I was so close to a clear ID if only another second or two had passed before the engineer fired up the transmitter. I'm thinking a station from near the coast, perhaps in Veracruz. With KYND's plant only about 45 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico, I figured everything had to be just right for reception on pretty much ordinary radios. I'm not calling it a skip but I guess that is a possibility.
That was just under 30 years ago but that one still haunts me.
Can anybody help me solve this one?
The opportunity never afforded a listen again and I always wondered what Mexican station it could have been. I was so close to a clear ID if only another second or two had passed before the engineer fired up the transmitter. I'm thinking a station from near the coast, perhaps in Veracruz. With KYND's plant only about 45 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico, I figured everything had to be just right for reception on pretty much ordinary radios. I'm not calling it a skip but I guess that is a possibility.
That was just under 30 years ago but that one still haunts me.
Can anybody help me solve this one?
Based on some Wikipedia searches, I was able to find, so far at least, 2 AM stations that are\were on 1520AM in Mexico: XEATL 1520AM in Atlacomulco, Mexico, Mexico (Now XHATL 105.5FM), in central Mexico & XEEH 1520AM in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, Mexico, right across the border from San Luis, Arizona. A deeper search on the American Radio History site did bring up some more AM stations on that frequency in Mexico.
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I've solved a couple that I had, but I'm wondering if 1190 in Kansas City aired a Beautiful Music format in the mid-80s. I believe I had it in Frankfort IN in 1986 or 86 after WOWO had switched to night pattern. I believe I had it again during the day once I moved to Quincy, IL and worked in Hannibal MO. I'm not sure what the power was. If not them, who on 1190 would have been doing Beautiful Music around that time?
An old logbook here, Gr8, has a KAYQ licensed to 1190. I see it licensed as a 250-watt daytimer, omni day, and 250 directional at night. (I think that's what the U2 designation means.)
I need some mystery help myself, too. It's a lot like a how-catch-em mystery like Columbo was.
I CAUGHT the station but don't know how, or whet it even is.
Dunno how to post an mP3 here. Anyone know how ?
I need some mystery help myself, too. It's a lot like a how-catch-em mystery like Columbo was.
I CAUGHT the station but don't know how, or whet it even is.
Dunno how to post an mP3 here. Anyone know how ?
Here's an AM mystery from three decades ago that I still wonder about. I was listening to the weekly live Jamboree show on WWVA (1170) one Saturday night in 1991. Conditions weren't perfect, so there was a bit of fading. During a couple of the deeper fades, I could hear a repeating announcement announcing when the USA Radio Network's coverage of the Clarence Thomas hearing would continue. This obviously wasn't supposed to air, but some station must have been running on autopilot on weekends and nobody cared enough to come in and put some real programming on the air. I suppose this mystery will remain unsolved -- sure do wish the interwebs were around back then!
Thanks! I don't think we can upload MP3's directly here.
Another mystery was at Clingman's Dome, on the TN/NC border.
Having WSPA-FM on 98.9 solidly, we turned into the parking lot and heard a religious station or program, hosted by a female, with soft music, apparently called "Melodies from _____________" something
Back in 2014, I was working an E-skip opening towards CO and NM. I logged KSLV 96.5 Del Norte with only 930 watts, then clicked down to 92.3 to find a station running the end of 'The Gospel Greats' and a support message for a business with a 719 area code. Thing is: There's NO full-power 92.3 in that area code, and no translators with religious programming! I researched this UNID station for a year or so, then quit because I couldn't find any references.
It wasn't KIJN Farwell TX either, an E-skip regular, on the Kingdom Keys Network based at KJRT/Amarillo TX.
CTListener - Sounds like one of those daytimers who accidentally left power on at night, and they left the box on USA Radio Network's audio subcarrier (which was Spacenet 3, 13) as there was no programming scheduled after power-down. I've noticed that with "CBS Radio Networks (beep) CBS Radio Networks (beep)" in the past on KGA-1510 and other stations. CKST-1040 Vancouver (pre-comedy) accidentally ran a test channel once from Westwood One with tones on the left and right channels and an announcer stating which tones were being heard. "The following tone is on the left channel only. (BEEEEEPPPPP)"
The best example was hearing WDAY-970 Fargo one Sunday night on an Alberta SDR (it hasn't been heard here) with generic smooth jazz music mixed with KBUL and KTTO. It was after a switch back to standard time, and they were running NFL that ran over if I recall...they were supposed to air Leo Laporte's weekend show afterward but never did, and the computer didn't switch them to the feed for Red Eye Radio later that night. This wasn't Boney James and David Benoit - it was very generic music, think Killer Tracks/Network Music-type. I was told that Premiere Networks has a 'test channel' that plays this music. No announcements either. I'll take it over an hour of political talk. (In fact I taped a little bit of the WDAY webstream that night because of that anomaly).
It wasn't KIJN Farwell TX either, an E-skip regular, on the Kingdom Keys Network based at KJRT/Amarillo TX.
CTListener - Sounds like one of those daytimers who accidentally left power on at night, and they left the box on USA Radio Network's audio subcarrier (which was Spacenet 3, 13) as there was no programming scheduled after power-down. I've noticed that with "CBS Radio Networks (beep) CBS Radio Networks (beep)" in the past on KGA-1510 and other stations. CKST-1040 Vancouver (pre-comedy) accidentally ran a test channel once from Westwood One with tones on the left and right channels and an announcer stating which tones were being heard. "The following tone is on the left channel only. (BEEEEEPPPPP)"
The best example was hearing WDAY-970 Fargo one Sunday night on an Alberta SDR (it hasn't been heard here) with generic smooth jazz music mixed with KBUL and KTTO. It was after a switch back to standard time, and they were running NFL that ran over if I recall...they were supposed to air Leo Laporte's weekend show afterward but never did, and the computer didn't switch them to the feed for Red Eye Radio later that night. This wasn't Boney James and David Benoit - it was very generic music, think Killer Tracks/Network Music-type. I was told that Premiere Networks has a 'test channel' that plays this music. No announcements either. I'll take it over an hour of political talk. (In fact I taped a little bit of the WDAY webstream that night because of that anomaly).
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Contact the gospel greats, i bet they would tell you if they have any affiliates on 92.3 Plus, that ad... couldve been an ad within the program itself and not a local ad
WHYN (560) Springfield, MA, once let a looped announcement run for at least 15 minutes one Sunday afternoon. This was when WHYN was on the Red Sox network, and they were scheduled to play a spring training game in Florida. But when I tuned in, I heard a message from the flagship station advising that the game had been rained out, and giving a phone number for affiliates to call for further information!
Marimba is not really native to Mexico except to parts of Yucatán and the Guatemalan border, so think del southern Mexico, from Veracruz and Tabasco to Oaxaca and Chiapas
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Frank mentioned some time ago that they don't permit uploading MP3s directly to this forum for a few reasons, including the fact that it eats up space on the server and it risked exposing the site to copyright violations. You can, however, upload your audio file to another site, then post the link here.
By the time gr8oldies had received 1190AM, Kansas City, they had already changed callsigns from KAYQ to KJLA (In 1978). They had also gone to a Beautiful Music format (From the Music of Your Life.) in 1981. They carried that format until 1997. The station is now religious KDMR.
A recording that I found of KJLA, Kansas City, MO, from September 1989.
Wikipedia article for KDMR 1190AM, Kansas City, MO.
Interesting topic. Here is one I'd love to have solved.
In 1989 I was living in Bradenton, FL and made it a personal goal to log 1180 WHAM from Rochester, NY. Back then Cuba's 1180 wasn't as strong so all we got on 1180 was a weak signal with some noise (heterodyne perhaps?). Anyway, I tried to get WHAM every day for months. Finally in late 1989, around sunset, I heard a few minutes of a song by Don Henley "The End Of The Innocence". It faded before the song finished. Could this have been WHAM? In 1989, Billboard listed them as "AC", which I interpreted as Full Service (mostly talk with a little music). Anyone know for sure if WHAM was still playing any music in 1989 or thoughts on what else this could have been?
In 1989 I was living in Bradenton, FL and made it a personal goal to log 1180 WHAM from Rochester, NY. Back then Cuba's 1180 wasn't as strong so all we got on 1180 was a weak signal with some noise (heterodyne perhaps?). Anyway, I tried to get WHAM every day for months. Finally in late 1989, around sunset, I heard a few minutes of a song by Don Henley "The End Of The Innocence". It faded before the song finished. Could this have been WHAM? In 1989, Billboard listed them as "AC", which I interpreted as Full Service (mostly talk with a little music). Anyone know for sure if WHAM was still playing any music in 1989 or thoughts on what else this could have been?
AC is not MOR. MOR was traditional adult music, not adult-friendly current hits and gold... which is AC. I do not know what version of AC WHAM was back then, but the late 80's was before lots of AM AC stations moved towards talk. Perhaps there is a Rochester native (Scott?) who remembers what flavor of AC WHAM was doing back then.
Where die RMarino mention MOR?
"The End of the Innocence" was an AC staple in 1989, and if WHAM was running an AC format -- or full service with AC music -- that likely was the 1180 he heard.
I'm going to go with the Henley song as a possibility of it being WHAM, as long as they were still playing music.
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