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AM Frequency of the Week: 1610

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cyberdad

cyberdad

(For those who may be new to this forum, for the next ten weeks, we're moving on to a new series covering the X band, Following that, we will go back to the bottom of the dial start covering what were formerly known as the I-A and II-A clear channels. Assuming, of course that the majority here wish to contine on that path)....

40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago,,,,

Days: Normally 1610 is empty. At one time, there was a Chicago freeway TIS operating on the channel, but I'm not sure if it's still operating. Otherwise, CHHA from Toronto sometimes sneaks in on daytime skywave during winter.

Nights: CHHA with a favorable pattern aimed in my direction. The result is a fair-good signal.

Other Location: Here on the gulf near Pensacola, I seem to be hearing a weak signal, or even signals, at night on 1610, But wh atevr it is is barely audible, and I'm nowhere near being able to ID it. CHHA would be a nice catch if I can pull it off. So, I'll keep trying! :)
 
My vote is to keep doing FoTW as we have been. I'm thinking for the next round of "adopting" an SDR that is reliably there and learning the band, in addition to reporting my locals.

As far as 1610 is concerned, really nothing but CHHA, although the Knoxville/Oak Ridge SDR picks up a pirate or part 15 that runs old time radio shows and PSAs (including Conelrad!). I've never picked it up in my car so I suspect it comes from the same place as the SDR.

I've gotten CHHA as early as 3pm. Up north in the winter it can be in all day.
 
I agree that we should keep it going if there's interest. I have gotten some tips in posts from others in my region, plus it's an incentive to check frequencies that I haven't in a while.

Regarding 1610, there are supposedly some TIS stations in the Houston metro, but I have never logged anything from my house.
I've logged CHHA a few times, most recently about a month ago but it's usually too weak to positively ID. Back in January 2018 I heard XEUACH from the Mexico City area before they closed down in late 2018. FYI, they operator got a new concession and signed on XECHAP 1130. That's it for 1610 from me.

cyberdad, from my experience here, I wouldn't be surprised if you caught CHHA over in Pensacola when conditions are decent.
 
From the southwest suburbs of Chicago ...

Cyberdad remembers the Chicago freeway TIS stations correctly. There were usually a couple coming in an any one time, so I just logged them as "syncros" on 3/7/1991 and let it go at that. The MWLIST notes a few still around, but the closest to me, on the Dan Ryan Expressway on the south side, isn't audible here.

That leaves CHHA Toronto and its 10 kW power (first heard with 6.5 kW evening power) as the only station on 1610 audible here. It's a regular at night.
 
1610 - Anguilla - The Caribbean Beacon - University Network - 2016
This carried the broadcasts of the late Dr. Gene Scott
Broadcasts no longer heard (victim of hurricane?)

1610 - WPRF526 - Melbourne Beach FL - Town of Melbourne Beach - NOAA Weather - 2010 (off the air now)

Nothing recently

kw - Melbourne FL
 
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: used to get a solid KNIG426 TIS from Addison, IL (only 1.5 miles from me located at Bloomingdale Rd and I290). They used to get out quite well, but for at least 1 year now they appear to be off the air. Even driving by their stick on Bloomingdale Road does not produce any hint of a signal. The only TIS heard recently was one in Naperville, IL while driving in that town. Their call letters are WQTW786.

Nighttime: CHHA Toronto alone with fairly good signal, but sometimes CHRN (Radio Humsafar) from Montreal can be heard.

DX/RETRO: Caribbean Beacon from Anguilla used to be a common station heard on 1610. They are no longer on the air. Another station that I heard as recently as 2018 was XEUACH from Mexico City, but they must have left 1610 as well. Back in 2000 when the expanded band was just starting to open up, KALT from Atlanta, TX operated briefly on 1610 kHz and used to be easily heard in Chicago, but their license was cancelled by FCC in January 2001, but I remember they remained on the air until sometimes in 2003, when they went silent.
 
From Albuquerque NM
1610? Nothing day or night.
However, used to live in Denton County, TX and it had a very weak NOAA weather radio. Not sure if this was a TIS station from Flower Mound or Lewisville or some other community in the area.
 
'Seconded' here for Cyberdad's FOTW and Gr8Oldies' SDR service road (we don't have an SDR thing in this area. Nearest one is outside of Scranton, with none of our 'Skook' county locals or cx really that evident.
* * * * * * *
Two 1610 stations have been logged here, both at night. One was a talking house* on a street in Pottsville. CHHA is the other, the loudest X-bander in the evening.
* * * * * * *
* We put together a goof tape for a student in an electronics course to play as a use for a small transmitter on a final show-and-tell exam. The thing not only had to be wired and soldered but using the stock project board was disallowed ; students had to etch their own boards.
One of the xmtr uses was a talking house. I did the original message, and mentioned about litter from 'the drunk who lives back of me'. At that point, the drunk turned on HIS talking house xmtr and hollered, saying 'I wouldn;t drink so much of that sl*t next door to you kept her shades down at night'. Whereupon the gal next door turned on HER talking house and zazzed him back ..... etc.
Well, we got the student a 97 for the exam, anyway.
 
Thamnks, guys fo your votes to keesp FOTW going on the path it's been on. Unless a serious round of objections surfaces that's what we'll do when we finish off the X band. probably in mid to late April. i also think incorporating the SDRs into the discussions by those so inclined is an interesting idea that has merit. Count me in as among those willing to go forward.

I also agree with wildthangjim that CHHA probably will be doable for me at some point here in the Pensacola area, so I;ll keep going after it.
 
Chicago by the lakeshore:

CHHA Toronto is a regular at night, and is one of the first stations you'll hear when daytime skywave rears its head. I've often hoped to log the Montreal station, but I never hear anything more than faint background music.

I don't really hear much in the way of TIS stations either. On Lake Shore Drive there's a sign proclaiming that on 1650 AM you can hear traveler information, but it's never there. I think I did once get the Evanston one on 1650, but never anything on 1610.
 
CHHA 1610 has been heard frequently on the Haida Gwaii SDR. Not terribly strong, but seemingly alone on the frequency. Easy to get a streaming // to confirm. CHHA is 10kW DA-2. Toronto is 2436 mi/3920 km from Masset, BC.

I've never heard CFZM-740 or CJBC-860 on that SDR, but CHHA comes in quite often to represent for Toronto.

I've been keeping a Haida Gwaii SDR logbook for about a year now. I'm up to ~365 domestic stations. Tons of Asian stations come in closer to Masset sunrise, and sometimes for an hour or two after. A few DUs, too. I really haven't been keeping logs of those, but I suppose one day I'll wish I had. Thank god for SDRs, since the local noise level here (SF Bay Area) makes MW DX nearly impossible. I suppose I'm DXing vicariously via SDR, if you will. Maybe one day I'll post a Masset SDR band scan.
 
Local WSDOT TIS here, WQBV569. Transmitter is at the WSDOT building in Union Gap. CHHA Toronto is heard once in a while underneath at night.

AM DX is about the last thing I am doing right now with substitute teaching, a second job at a pizza restaurant on weekends, and various church-related things. Plus, my noise level is terrible since I'm back in Yakima. I've only heard two new stations (1380-KVSM CA and 860-KKAT UT) this season. In terms of DX, I am waiting patiently for the late spring blooms and the E skip season to begin on FM. At least I can use my car radio for that (it's totally deaf on AM, can't even get locals...but FM is excellent, RDS pops up quickly).

My Select-a-Tenna is also in storage from the move out of Ellensburg and I have no idea which box I put it in, nor where in the unit it's located (it could be 5-10 boxes in for all I know). Until spring, when I can finally get my own place somewhere, I can't access the S-A-T.
 
@ kevtronics : F a b u l o u s show-and-tell there ! Very well done.
(I detected NJ reception and a mild NJ accent on your presentation. The 1040 station signal gave it all away, hi)
Just this weekend out this way, we had a reunion of four pals from the old Queens NYC area -- school buddies. Three DXers, 2 guys who wound up as DJs, and all four who'd had some fun playing around with PT-15 transmitters, ham talk, and even toy walkie talkies into our Thirties.
I brought along a wee FM transmitter on Friday afternoon, the size of a 100 mm cigarette pack, and we kept the faith, checking its 'coverage'.
In any case, I'll be surfing the trades and obits for a Wild Planet DJ toy very soon. And thanx once more for that lucid step-by-step tutorial!
 
cyberdad said:
(For those who may be new to this forum, for the next ten weeks, we're moving on to a new series covering the X band, Following that, we will go back to the bottom of the dial start covering what were formerly known as the I-A and II-A clear channels. Assuming, of course that the majority here wish to contine on that path)....

40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago,,,,

Days: Normally 1610 is empty. At one time, there was a Chicago freeway TIS operating on the channel, but I'm not sure if it's still operating. Otherwise, CHHA from Toronto sometimes sneaks in on daytime skywave during winter.

Nights: CHHA with a favorable pattern aimed in my direction. The result is a fair-good signal.

Other Location: Here on the gulf near Pensacola, I seem to be hearing a weak signal, or even signals, at night on 1610, But wh atevr it is is barely audible, and I'm nowhere near being able to ID it. CHHA would be a nice catch if I can pull it off. So, I'll keep trying! :)
Click to expand...
Absolutely let's continue into the expanded band!

Cheyenne, WY
Days: Nothing on my own, but a nearby SDR will pick up a Loveland TIS.
Nights: I have occasionally heard CHHA Toronto very faintly.
 
@NoMoreLurking Yes, the AM band gets pretty cluttered here at night (I'm not sure where you are, but I'm over in the east bay past the tunnel, so perhaps it's somewhat quieter there than it would be closer to the bay because I can pick up some things from SoCal, Nevada, Utah, and Washington fairly regularly).

<plug>
I'm running some Part 15 experiments on 1610, so it would be interesting if anyone can DX it (for testing, I can dial the transmitter output to 600mW (up from the proper 100mW) and feed it into my 50 foot long wire antenna for a DX test, but I only do that for a few minutes or maybe an hour or so at most, for obvious reasons; that said, I can coordinate one for a specific time for anyone interested in participating).
</plug>

As far as any DX logs of anything on 1610, there isn't much. It's silent in the daytime and a noisy mashup at night, with some slop from stations on 1600 and 1620 being most apparent.

c
 
From NW San Antonio:

Day/Sunset: blank

Night: A weak CHHA is usually there. When propagation is very good, it can have a somewhat listenable signal. Aiming NW/SE I sometimes hear a TIS station in Indianola, TX, in the coastal bend that IDs as K-YAK (like "kayak"). It runs looped recordings about the area's history, wildlife, fishing, etc.

Sunrise: K-YAK is sometimes in but weaker. In past years I've occasionally heard WPEZ840, a TIS station in Buchanan Dam, TX, that relays NOAA weather radio info for the Austin area.

DX/Retro: I used to hear a weak Caribbean Beacon on my sensitive radios before it went off the air, and XEUACH "Radio Chapingo" was an occasional night visitor before it was retired. Also, before sunrise I used to hear a weak TIS station to my NW/SE that I was never able to ID. It had references to Highway 54 and possibly US 86. I haven't heard it in the last year.
 
Days or nights, 1610 yields absolutely nothing here in Tyler, Texas.

Why? Because someone was so short sighted, that the one and only facility on 1610 down here, licensed to Atlanta, was surrendered. It was 10kW, and standing alone on the channel certainly helped its cause. Originally the X band assignment given to 900 KPYN, operating at 10kW/1kW. I would not be surprised at all to read that @wildthangjim and @jim-satx both have a confirmation of KALT in their respective logs.
 
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