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Daytimer 840 KWDF Alexandria, LA, broadcasting at night

D

Dondd

Scanning the frequencies tonight in the Austin, Texas, area, picked up Erwin Lutzer, a Christian teacher on 840 AM.
Didn't think this was WCKY in Louisville, so checked their stream.

After a web search for the speaker's name and 840 AM, found 840 KWDF Alexandria, LA, an 8,000 watts daytimer broadcasting at night.

The signal came in only momentarily, then disappeared, with Louisville not coming in.

The Spanish Christian KVJY Pharr, TX, came in better. Turning the radio brings the Louisiana station, which fades completely, then returns. KVJY seems stronger, though not big and strong.

This is your standard, run of the mill Christian teaching station with the typical mostly male speakers.

Here's the station's daytime signal:

1735360962272.png
 
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Am not reporting them to the authorities, they may have some temporary authorization.
Wanted to alert people, as their signal may travel far at night.
It was very clear here in central TX and heard it again last night.
 
Dondd said:
Am not reporting them to the authorities, they may have some temporary authorization.
Wanted to alert people, as their signal may travel far at night.
It was very clear here in central TX and heard it again last night.
Click to expand...
no temporary authorization.. and the suggestion was to contact KWDF, [email protected] to let them know the4ir station is on after dark.

I've reported some of their other stations to them for being on after dark when remote controls failed

how do they not know?

I dont believe many of their stations have local staff or studios anymore... and if no local stgaff are listening and theres no out of tolerance setting on the remote control to call out, they wouldnt know. (engineers.. can a remote control call out if an am hasnt signed off like it should.. is there a setting that can detect that?)
 
schmave said:
Knocking out WHAS @Dondd? I remember WHAS being one of the best skywave signals from up north when I lived in Houston despite the distance.
Click to expand...
This is surprising to me, too, @schmave. 84 WHAS is a regular here in the piney woods of ETX on a nighttime band scan. I'm obviously familiar with KWDF, as my wife's family resides in Pineville. Bob Wilkins, the owner of 840 Ball, passed away either last year or the year prior. The license has been controlled by the company's CFO since.

This station is one of those way late to the game start-up CPs that hopeful operators snatched up in the 80"s, I guess, praying that the AM band would see a resurgence that never came. It didn't exist until 1986, and hasn't done a whole lot of anything memorable in Cenla during that nearly 40 year span. It has a translator, I want to say 99.7 without actually looking it up, so there is a little bait on the line for some fish to bite.

Why it's running at night, only they know, but it may be as simple as a malfunction at the TX site. As a DXer, I certainly appreciate the heads-up on it from @Dondd. Thank you, greetings and a happy 2025 to you, and I'll make sure to be on 840 tonight to see if it is there for another midnight oil burn.
 
Check of 840 last night netted the usual WHAS coming into Tyler, for what it's worth.
 
(engineers.. can a remote control call out if an am hasnt signed off like it should.. is there a setting that can detect that?)
Click to expand...

SMOP (simply a matter of programming.) Depending on the remote control used just have it check for RF output at a specific time. If there is RF, have the remote set an alarm condition. However, if the remote has locked up, it's not going to do any of this. Some remotes are bare bones (especially for a non-D AM) and don't offer much in the way of user programming.

Also, these days, who's the remote going to call?
 
I picked up the station around 8 a.m. CT. Was coming in clearly for a while, then faded.
 
yep. heard them too…
KWDF 840 Ball-Alexandria, LA 7:35a CT 1335 UTC Relig. ✓ webstream 2/14/25
…however, this was after sunrise, their local time, drowning out WHAS…
 
IMHO: The only reason this AM exists is to legally "feed" their 99.7 translater. Depending on the manufacturer of the remote controller, the time and date function can get messed up about every decade.

If you are DXing late at night and pick up a daytimer do the owner a favor, and EMail or call them during business hours. 99% or the operators will be grateful for not wasting electricity, much less the potential dealing with the FCC.
 
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