While noodling around the internet checked out KGB-AM wattage and was surprised to see it was 5,000 watts daytime & 50,000 watts night. Usually it's the reverse, higher power daytime and lower at night. Never stumbled across another station like that, anyone know if there are others? And why would they want the KGB call letters since its also what the old Soviet Union called their version of the CIA.
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KGB
- Thread starter Yabadabado1
- Start date
Heritage calls in San Diego.
And the station was moved from 540 to 760 in the 60's to comply with Mexican channel allocations, and they gave the station (KFMB) a second best channel with power that would not be given to them in a "regular" situation.
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According to the Wikipedia (with all the grains of salt it comes with).
“This is because of the close proximity of KBRT (740 AM) in Costa Mesa, California. KBRT, which once had been a daytimerstation, currently goes from 50,000 watts by day to only 190 watts at night. That allows KGB to increase its nighttime power. KGB's signal is non-directional during the day, but at night, it operates on a three”
“This is because of the close proximity of KBRT (740 AM) in Costa Mesa, California. KBRT, which once had been a daytimerstation, currently goes from 50,000 watts by day to only 190 watts at night. That allows KGB to increase its nighttime power. KGB's signal is non-directional during the day, but at night, it operates on a three”
And the use of the letters as initials for the Soviet agency goes back only to the 1950s.
1928 K(G)eorge(B)owles, AM 1330/1360. I noticed 760 was oper @ nighttime pwr Tuesday during the day. Much stronger than usual signal in L.A.
Yes- famous San Diego station
KGB AM 760 hasn't been operating at 50kw nights for many months, and nobody seems to know why. I brought this up several times on the San Diego board.
Back in the 1970s and 80s, when 760 was KFMB, the nighttime signal was astonishing. It'd come in like a local in Ukiah---650 miles north.
It's interesting to mention that KBRT 740, being only one of two remaining LA Area AM stations broadcasting in HD Digital, filters out their upper digital side band to reduce interference to KGB 760 on wide band receivers. They've been doing this for a long time now.
I would guess that since they are now di-plexing with KOGO 600, it would certainly be possible that this project is yet to be completely finished.
1190 WLIB New York runs 10,000 watts by day and 30,000 watts at night, another example of a station that significantly increases its power at night. Why is that?
1190 had once been a clear channel frequency reserved for WOWO Fort Wayne, which used to run 50,000 watts around the clock, while WLIB had to go off the air at night to avoid interference. Inner City, which owned WLIB, bought WOWO and reduced its nighttime power to 9,800 watts.
So in the daytime, WLIB has to limit its power to 10,000 watts due to 1190 WTSD in the Washington area, as well as WOWO, both running 50,000 watts days. But at night, WOWO cuts its power to 9,800 watts and WTSD reduces to 1,200 watts. That allows WLIB to run 30,000 watts at night.
1190 had once been a clear channel frequency reserved for WOWO Fort Wayne, which used to run 50,000 watts around the clock, while WLIB had to go off the air at night to avoid interference. Inner City, which owned WLIB, bought WOWO and reduced its nighttime power to 9,800 watts.
So in the daytime, WLIB has to limit its power to 10,000 watts due to 1190 WTSD in the Washington area, as well as WOWO, both running 50,000 watts days. But at night, WOWO cuts its power to 9,800 watts and WTSD reduces to 1,200 watts. That allows WLIB to run 30,000 watts at night.
In the 60's, I heard it often in Quito on 540 until it moved. Then, after the move, I got it less frequently but it still came in after the co-channel stations in Central America "went to bed" and my local ion 760 signed off.
I was able to listen to San Diego Padres games clear as a bell at night in the IE during the KFMB years.
When the Padres were on the Mighty 1090, at night you could hear Ted and Jerry call the balls and strikes almost everywhere in the western half of this continent! Those were the DX days!
Yeah surely they cared about call letters in the 1950s. I’m surprised they weren’t changed by the government
I got them clear as night in Culver City as a kid. I would flip between Vin and the Padres crew - and Angels, but when they were good
There was never any suspicion that the radio station was a communist front. Did Joe McCarthy ever go before the Un-American Affairs Committee waving a sheet of paper and proclaiming, "In my hand I have a list of radio stations ..."?
Idk.
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