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AM Frequency of the Week: 1590:

cyberdad

cyberdad

(Busy travel day this Sunday, so I'm posting on Saturday night.....)

40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago....

Days: 1590 is WCGO which operates with 10kw ND out of near north suburban, Evanston, IL. Signal at my location is fair at best. WCGO is notable for ownership having bought and then shut down stations operating on 580 and 1600 so as to clear the path for their power increase to 10 kw.

Night: WCGO drops to 2.5kw directional to the north-northeast. This causes it to disappear where I am. 1590 is thus invisible to me with WAKR most likdly to be on top. Back in thew 60s, before 1590 got crowded, WAKR was a reliable regular with a well-executed top 40 format.
 
From the icy southwest suburbs of Chicago ...

Once upon a time, 1590 meant WLTD Evanston, a 1 kW local that just made it here. Later it was WNMP, then WONX. Under Frank Kovas' ownership, as Cyberdad noted, he bought a 1580 (WKKD / WVFR Aurora) and a 1600 (the original WCGO Chicago Heights) to give 1590 elbow room for 10 kW.

Today's WCGO 1590 has rather cruddy audio to my ears, but the signal is there daytime. Less so after the power and directional change at dark, but still enough to make DXing tough.

Before 1590 went 24/7, catches were WNTS Indianapolis; WAKR Akron, Ohio; and WTVB Coldwater, Mich. Since then catches are WAIK Galesburg, Ill. (silent as of 1/14/2019) and most recently WCSL Cherryville, N.C., on 10 kW day power after sunset 2/3/2021. I should try for WAKR again.
 
East Tennessee: Knoxville/Sevierville. Daytime: NADA. Sunset: Strongest is semi-local WBHN, Bryson City NC. I caught it over and under the din the other day, and even got a remnant signal after they went to night flea power. Otherwise, WABV, Abbeville SC, and sometimes WAKR and I've heard WCGO and WNTS, Indianapolis. I caught WTVB, Coldwater, Michigan a couple of hours before sunset.

Night: Mostly a mess. I sat on the frequency for a little bit and there were several signals but none rose to the top in an identifiable way. I've had WAIK, Galesburg IL when it was on the air.
Retro/other: WAKR seems to go everywhere, throughout Western Ohio and even Lafayette IN. Dayton, Ohio was usually WNTS or WSRW Hillsboro OH during the day.
 
1590 is a nothing frequency around Columbus, pretty much just slop from local WVKO on 1580.
I heard WSRW on a work trip to Dayton last spring, one of my few experiences getting anything on that channel.
 
West side of Houston Texas: local KMIC 24/7. They supposedly switched to Radio Dabang south Asian programming, but I still hear a good bit of Spanish religion. I've only heard two other stations on the frequency, both when KMIC was off, KIKR in Mexia TX and KGAS in Carthage TX.
 
Wilmington Delaware

Local WPWA (Chester PA) with Spanish Christian programming. It is 10 miles to my NE so I hear it day and night despite different antenna configurations. Back in the day when Country was a popular format it was known as 'Your Country Cousin - WCZN'.
 
Such a weird one here in Rochester NY. There's a local 1590 within the county, WRSB Brockport, but it's 20 miles west of me, has a DA pattern aimed entirely west, and probably hasn't been at full power or full modulation at all this century. It only still exists to feed a high power translator on 97.5 in downtown Rochester.

If anything pokes out through the noise here, it's WAUB Auburn, 45 miles east of me, but that's rare too.

At night it's mostly WAKR, though it's also common to hear Maugansville MD quite well at sunrise and sunset.
 
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: WCGO with good signal from their 4-tower array on McCormick Blvd. in Skokie, IL. The W240EH (FM 95.9) translator is located on one of the towers.
Nighttime: weak WCGO with WAKR or WNTS sometimes making it through. WCGO at night can be nulled to produce some DX.

DX/RETRO: other catches include WAWA (West Allis, WI), WIXK (New Richmond, WI), WSWW (Plateville, WI), WGBW (Denmark, WI), WCCL (Jackson, MS), WAIK (Galesburg, IL), WTVB (Coldwater, MI), WJSO (Johnson City TN), WALG (Albany, GA). Most recent log on this frequency is WCSL from Cherryville, North Carolina just few days ago.
 
When I moved out here, WMIM Mt. Carmel, ~ 10 air miles away, was the daytime regular. Nice music selection, A/C Oldies, local talk. Nice signal all the way up to Hazleton on I-81. They acquired a generous nighttime license, 17 watts, and would get chewed apart at night by things like WAKR. WMIM went off for good around 1999.
The aforementioned WHGT from MD is the faint daytime regular now. I have them and WCBG Chambersburg PA listed as two separate stations. I remember seeing two different patterns from two different locations. Someone here might be able to help me out there (Dave Williams, maybe ?)
Mostly sunset catches for 1590 ..... WJRO Glen Burnie MD (formerly WISZ), WARV Rhode Island (the old WYNG), WGGO Salamanca NY, WPWA Chester PA (ex-WEEZ), and the big signalled WFTH Richmond. That last one used to bomb up into NJ at times, after directional WERA Plainfield signed off, and even before WERA left for the day.
All the PA DX was off a Lafayette HA600a and a four-foot NRC loop.
 
I have a powerful local on 1600 whose transmitter is about 5 miles away, so I can usually only hear that on 1590. When they were off the air a few years ago after a big storm, I heard mostly a jumble on 1590, but surprisingly (to me anyway) WCGO often rose to the top.
 
Waking up early on a cold Chicago morning pays off: clear WAKR ID into sports at 5:56 a.m. CT today, climbing above mostly-nulled WCGO for a couple of minutes.
 
South Mississippi:

Day: KKAY White Castle, LA (urban gospel) can be heard near the coast, inland there's nothing.
Night: KMIC Houston
WHOT Palm River-Clair Mel, FL (Haitian Creole) comes in sometimes around sunset.
 
From NW San Antonio:

Day: Normally blank. I've heard country stations KEKR in Mexia, TX, and KWEY in Weatherford, OK, via winter daytime skywave.

Sunset: Spanish-language Christian KMIC in Houston comes up with a fairly good signal. (I'm surprised I've never heard it via daytime skywave.) Also KGAS "ESPN Radio" in Carthage, TX is usually pretty strong as well. KEKR and KWEY mix in at times with weaker signals. Occasionally KELP (another Spanish-language Christian station) in El Paso will come up.

Night: KGAS and KMIC both have fairly strong signals with occasional fades.

Sunrise: It's more of a mess at this time, with the previously mentioned stations coming up and mixing with KMIC and KGAS as they go to day power/pattern. KELP is often steady underneath KMIC, and I usually hear XEVOZ when it goes to day power. A few times I've heard KVGB in Great Bend, KS.

DX/Retro: One-time loggings include KDAE "Radio Libertad" in Sinton, TX, regional Mexican music station KDAV in Lubbock, TX, and KKAY in White Castle, LA.
 
fybush said:
Such a weird one here in Rochester NY. There's a local 1590 within the county, WRSB Brockport, but it's 20 miles west of me, has a DA pattern aimed entirely west, and probably hasn't been at full power or full modulation at all this century. It only still exists to feed a high power translator on 97.5 in downtown Rochester.
Click to expand...
I see this one has a CP to move to 1600 with non-directional operation. Interesting. Not a lot of frequency changes on the AM band these days.

Near Owensboro KY: 1590 is essentially blank during the day. Sometimes I'll get WPIW/Mt. Vernon, IN weakly. Nights is a jumble with rarely anything being identifiable.
 
From DFW, Texas:

1590 KMIC TX Houston 11/7/2021 2330 Radio Aleluya ID.
1590 KEKR TX Mexia 11/19/2021 1533 Classic country Merle Haggard // stream weak
1590 KGAS TX Carthage 11/22/2021 2017 Fair with fading local Carthage ads
1590 KVGB KS Great Bend 11/30/2022 0650 Call letter ID and local weather mixing with KMIC
 
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