AM Frequency of the Week: 1040

[radiofan2023]

Here in Kansas, days nothing, nights sometimes WHO

 

[schmave]

Nothing daytime in suburban Columbus, Ohio, and a solid WHO every night.

 

[icybluelake]

East central Iowa. It probably comes as no great shock that I hear WHO 24/7/365. However, it's not a blowtorch here, and I'm usually able to hear stations on 1030 and 1050 pretty clearly. But I've never been able to pick up anything other than WHO on 1040.

 

[salemjedi54]

That's when Jack Mortensen bought it, changing the calla to KGGR. Said to stand for "Great Gospel Radio". As I'm sure you know, the facility itself dates back to the late 1940s.

of course. I used to work for KGGR when Brother Al was the GM.

 

[charlestondxman]

1040 here is nothing daytime in Charleston, SC. Closest station is I think the one in the Tampa Bay area. Nothing in SC. The station in Atlanta’s metro I’ve never heard.

WHO is there at night a surprising amount. Maybe the most wide-spread clear channel around anymore. I’ve heard it as far as Manasquan, NJ at night and also into Florida. And of course it has a reach through the whole Midwest and into the Pacific Time Zone at times.

 

[CurtisNEPA]

In Wilkes-Barre(Northeast PA), during the daytime it's WCHR, a religious station from Flemington, NJ with a decent signal. Best heard with a loop antenna pointed in the SE direction. When I first heard this station, they were playing adult contemporary music. Nights, it's mostly WHO from Des Moines.

 

[jim-satx]

From NW San Antonio:

Day: blank

Sunset: WHO starts to come up. Later KGGR starts to mix in and occasionally dominates.

Night: WHO is strong. At rare times XEBBB in Zapopan is heard weakly underneath with Spanish-language Catholic programming. Aiming NW/SE I get a partial null of WHO, and Radio Mayabeque in Güines, Cuba will sometimes pop up for brief bits.

If I aim the radio any direction other than NE, I sometimes hear a het, and if I aim NW/SE, there's occasionally a weird warbling sound.

Sunrise: When XEBBB goes to day power, it is heard more often under WHO and every now and then will dominate for a bit. KGGR mixes in when it signs on for the day and takes turns dominating with WHO. Depending on propagation, WHO sometimes outlasts KGGR before skywave is gone.

DX/Retro: Before they were retired, I heard XESAG "Radio Lobo" in Salamanca, XECH "Radio Capital" in Toluca, and XEGYS "La Que Manda" in Guaymas a few times each at night.

 

[KD4YQR]

Central Kentucky:

Days: "Daytimer" WLCR Mt. Washington. (Louisville )

Their 1500 watts does not stop the scan at 45 miles away.

Nights: WHO Des Moines with a stellar signal, most nights.

 

[kevtronics]

Here in NJ there's 1040 WCHR (originally WJHR), shoehorned in next to 50 kW 1050 WEPN. Originally applied to the FCC in 1985, CP first granted in 1987, but didn't actually get on the air until January 1998, well after new AM stations had any chance of success. And I believe by then, the adjacent-channel interference rules were tightened enough to make the station impossible under the current regulations, but since the CP was so old, it was grandfathered in.

In 1998-1999 they had a CHR/Top 40 music format (!) in AM Stereo, but not surprisingly, that didn't last. From 2008-2012 they simulcast WEPN, and now have a religious format.

 

[billmich]

Here in NJ there's 1040 WCHR (originally WJHR), shoehorned in next to 50 kW 1050 WEPN. Originally applied to the FCC in 1985, CP first granted in 1987, but didn't actually get on the air until January 1998, well after new AM stations had any chance of success. And I believe by then, the adjacent-channel interference rules were tightened enough to make the station impossible under the current regulations, but since the CP was so old, it was grandfathered in.

In 1998-1999 they had a CHR/Top 40 music format (!) in AM Stereo, but not surprisingly, that didn't last. From 2008-2012 they simulcast WEPN, and now have a religious format.

are they located on the null of WEPN's signal?

 

[kevtronics]

are they located on the null of WEPN's signal?

Not quite. They're a bit north of it. And WCHR's original nighttime pattern (before they added another tower and upgraded to 15 kW daytime) was sharply directional towards the East, away from WHO and directly at WEPN.

Nonetheless, on 1040 at night I hear more of WHO from 1000+ miles away than WCHR from 20 miles away.

 

[MichaelD1972]

Here in NJ there's 1040 WCHR (originally WJHR), shoehorned in next to 50 kW 1050 WEPN. Originally applied to the FCC in 1985, CP first granted in 1987, but didn't actually get on the air until January 1998, well after new AM stations had any chance of success. And I believe by then, the adjacent-channel interference rules were tightened enough to make the station impossible under the current regulations, but since the CP was so old, it was grandfathered in.

In 1998-1999 they had a CHR/Top 40 music format (!) in AM Stereo, but not surprisingly, that didn't last. From 2008-2012 they simulcast WEPN, and now have a religious format.

I wish I was able to get WCHR, especially when they were Top 40/CHR, but too much splatter from WEPN prevents it from happening. I'm surprised WHO even makes it through some of the splatter.

 

[CTListener]

Hartland, VT, and Meriden, CT:

Nothing days or in gray-line hours, WHO Des Moines at night.