Does anybody know how much power KAAY-1090 is running? There's no way it can be running the full 50,000 watts with the daytime coverage area being so poor. I figure they are running an old transmitter at a lower level. One would hope that such a heritage station with a giant clear-channel coverage area would keep their equipment up to date. But, then again, Citadel Broadcasting is near bankruptcy, and 50,000 watt AM transmitters aren't cheap.
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1090-KAAY Signal
- Thread starter wpiv926
- Start date
wpiv926 said:
I think you are onto something. I live in the midwest & KAAY used to blast in here at night. Now they can barely be heard.
A couple of friends of mine assisted with a studio project for for Citadel a number of years ago. KAAY retired their antique RCA 50kw rig before that. Last I heard they were running a Harris MW50. While not the cutting edge, the MW50 is still a formidable and reliable box. Not sure where either of you are.....I'm in the midwest and their night signal has never been strong here. You know, a quick call to them during business hours might answer your question.radioman148 said:
I live about 80 miles as the crow flies from the KAAY transmitter. During the day, the signal is very weak. (I live in a null at night, so I never have been able to pick it up then.) By comparison, I live almost the same distance from the transmitter site of KWKH-1130 AM in Shreveport. It comes in quite well during the day. I also live in a null for the nighttime pattern of KWKH.
Maybe the ground system is shot at KAAY. I have heard that KWKH has done extensive work over several years on their site, but ground system and transmission, so that might explain it.
Maybe the ground system is shot at KAAY. I have heard that KWKH has done extensive work over several years on their site, but ground system and transmission, so that might explain it.
Did this happen all of a sudden, or incrementally? I ask, because ground systems go bad over a number of years. Ours was nearly 30 years old when we had it re-done. Maybe you are on to something about a TX problem. The last time I had any contact with someone who had been out at Wrightsville was about 8 years ago. You would think they would have a standby of some sort. Hope they aren’t running the old RCA at low power. Those either run well at 50k or sound like crap when throttled back.wpiv926 said:
Anyone give them a call??
It's SO simple to find the answers. Get off your xxx/keyboard and call them or sit there and do some research.
Took 30 seconds to find this.
Exhibit 34
Description: EXPLANATION OF STA EXTENSION REQUEST
KAAY IS A CLEAR CHANNEL AM STATION OPERATING ON 1090 KHZ FROM WRIGHTSVILLE, ARKANSAS. AS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED TO THE FCC, A NEW POWER SUBSTATION IN WRIGHTSVILL HAS BEEN CONTRIBUTING TO IRREGULAR MONITOR POINT READINGS. WORKING WITH THE POWER COMPANY AND CONTRACT ENGINEERS, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE POWER COMPANY NEEDED TO CHANGE THE LOCATIONS WHERE POWER LINE SHIELD WIRES CONNECT TO THE GROUND, AND KAAY OBTAINED AN STA TO OPERATE DURING NIGHTTIME HOURS WITH PARAMETERS AT VARIANCE AND AT REDUCED POWER WHILE MAINTAINING MONITOR POINTS WITHIN LICENSED LIMITS.
SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE SINCE THE EXISTING STA WAS GRANTED. THE SAMPLING SYSTEM IS COMPLETE, AND THE ARRAY IS CURRENTLY UNDER ADJUSTMENT. THE STATION IS MAINTAINING MONITOR POINTS WITHIN LIMITS AT NIGHT (DIRECTIONAL MODE) WITH 40KW.
CITADEL REQUESTS AN EXTENSION OF ITS EXISTING STA TO CONTINUE TO OPERATE KAAY DURING NIGHTTIME HOURS AT REDUCED POWER, PENDING THE COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT.
Took 30 seconds to find this.
Exhibit 34
Description: EXPLANATION OF STA EXTENSION REQUEST
KAAY IS A CLEAR CHANNEL AM STATION OPERATING ON 1090 KHZ FROM WRIGHTSVILLE, ARKANSAS. AS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED TO THE FCC, A NEW POWER SUBSTATION IN WRIGHTSVILL HAS BEEN CONTRIBUTING TO IRREGULAR MONITOR POINT READINGS. WORKING WITH THE POWER COMPANY AND CONTRACT ENGINEERS, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE POWER COMPANY NEEDED TO CHANGE THE LOCATIONS WHERE POWER LINE SHIELD WIRES CONNECT TO THE GROUND, AND KAAY OBTAINED AN STA TO OPERATE DURING NIGHTTIME HOURS WITH PARAMETERS AT VARIANCE AND AT REDUCED POWER WHILE MAINTAINING MONITOR POINTS WITHIN LICENSED LIMITS.
SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE SINCE THE EXISTING STA WAS GRANTED. THE SAMPLING SYSTEM IS COMPLETE, AND THE ARRAY IS CURRENTLY UNDER ADJUSTMENT. THE STATION IS MAINTAINING MONITOR POINTS WITHIN LIMITS AT NIGHT (DIRECTIONAL MODE) WITH 40KW.
CITADEL REQUESTS AN EXTENSION OF ITS EXISTING STA TO CONTINUE TO OPERATE KAAY DURING NIGHTTIME HOURS AT REDUCED POWER, PENDING THE COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT.
boiseengineer said:
Thanks for the info.
boiseengineer said:
Not to question your obviously superior technical and research knowledge, but I do believe the original post referenced the daytime signal.
Hey, but what do I know?
But, when I (ahem) worked on that plant in the late 1980s, the radials were beginning to show signs of deterioration. Since most AMs are not very well maintained due to budget or lack of interest I would assume the deterioration may have continued. Shame too, because KAAY’s radials are above ground (on all three towers if memory serves) and would be easily repaired.
I am curious how much "adjustment" they had to do...too much and it will be expensive. KAAY's array has no phasing cabinet.
w9wi said:
Last time I was at KAAY about 3 years ago, the above ground radials looked to be in decent shape. Phasing is done in the houses at the base of each tower, if I recall correctly. There isn't a phasing cabinet per-se, but all the expected components for phasing are there based on my understanding of the process.
I helped the Chief there do monitor points at one time when a cell tower sprung up nearby and had to detune their tower. The substation, a new tower for KLAL and a cell tower nearby are certainly not helping the signal of KAAY. I know that the KLAL tower was detuned properly, but I can't be so sure about the others.
The MW-50 was still on the air then and in as reliable of condition as could be expected from a 25 year old transmitter. They do not have a full power backup, just a Harris 5kw.. maybe 10kw. Interesting to note, though... I had the standby on one night while doing maintenance and a buddy called from Indiana to ask if I had bumped it up to 50KW! Apparently it was a great signal there at about 10pm. Sadly now, I live in a null and can't hear the station at night either.
I miss that Transmitter site. The old RCA is an awe inspiring site.
I helped the Chief there do monitor points at one time when a cell tower sprung up nearby and had to detune their tower. The substation, a new tower for KLAL and a cell tower nearby are certainly not helping the signal of KAAY. I know that the KLAL tower was detuned properly, but I can't be so sure about the others.
The MW-50 was still on the air then and in as reliable of condition as could be expected from a 25 year old transmitter. They do not have a full power backup, just a Harris 5kw.. maybe 10kw. Interesting to note, though... I had the standby on one night while doing maintenance and a buddy called from Indiana to ask if I had bumped it up to 50KW! Apparently it was a great signal there at about 10pm. Sadly now, I live in a null and can't hear the station at night either.
I miss that Transmitter site. The old RCA is an awe inspiring site.
bdcast_tech said:
Yes, it is. I still have pics form the days the RCA still worked. When you hit "Plate ON" you knew you had done something. The whole building shook.
I had to check to be sure...I've been at a lot of tower sites over the years, but all KAAY's towers are fed in phase. Still working from memory but what is in the doghouses is probably a standard Tee matching network / power divider.
If you say the the radials are in good shape, I guess cell tower and substation encroachment is the culprit.
What with the relaxation and non-enforcement of nearby tower apps and power line interference rules, it's a wonder we can hear any AM's nowadays.
sadly they had decommissioned the old RCA before I started there, and I never saw her powered on.
The substation was wreaking havoc on the signal and was the main reason they were running (IIRC) about 17Kw at night.
The substation was wreaking havoc on the signal and was the main reason they were running (IIRC) about 17Kw at night.
I remember back around 1980 when they fired up the stereo capable RCA transmitter... they had Felix MacDonald on the weekend news magazine "Arkansas USA" and he talked about the engineering of the station, how the studios were wired for stereo, due to having KLPQ, they just wired both studios the same. They talked about how at night the signal had been heard in New Zealand. He also talked about how Charlie Daniels had been out to the transmitter in Wrightsville late one night and played for them out there. Remember the show used to originate at the transmitter due to they wouldn't pay an engineer and a dj for overnights back in the Beaker Street days... too bad I was too young to really enjoy their powerhouse days...
kevinkelly said:
In northern Illinois KAAY had one of the strongest signals at night in the 60s. I used to listen regularly to their rock & roll music. These days we can hardly hear it up here.
The RCA 50F was one of the best sounding 50KW transmitters made. The audio quality and IM distortion is superior to the Harris/Gates MW50. Only the solid state rigs these days sound better.
The MW50 has a very bad reputation of catching fire, the one at the old 810 KCMO almost burned the transmitter building to the ground, and ironically burned the paint off the KCMO RCA 50F. However the 50F kept on working, bad paint and all. There is documented at least 6 fires caused by the MW50!
Radio buffs can recall the great audio of Detroit's CKLW at 800. Yes that rig was the RCA 50F
The MW50 has a very bad reputation of catching fire, the one at the old 810 KCMO almost burned the transmitter building to the ground, and ironically burned the paint off the KCMO RCA 50F. However the 50F kept on working, bad paint and all. There is documented at least 6 fires caused by the MW50!
Radio buffs can recall the great audio of Detroit's CKLW at 800. Yes that rig was the RCA 50F
I didn't realize that cell towers nearby could affect an AM stations signal. I've been by the tower of 850-KOA in Parker/Denver, CO many times. It sits directly behind a big shopping center. In fact, the highest northern facing guy wires come down into the back parking lot of the center. I can't remember if any cell towers are nearby though. But that signal sure gets out there.
1120 KMOX in Pontoon Beach, Illinois (St. Louis) has an almost new tower with strobes. A shorter aux. tower is nearby. That site has 3 different 3 phase power feeds, all coming from different directions with a transfer switch. Also, it has a big UPS and a generator.
2 towers, 3 power feeds, a UPS, a generator, 2 STLs, and more than likely a back-up transmitter. I bet KMOX never goes off the air. That signal really gets out there too.
1120 KMOX in Pontoon Beach, Illinois (St. Louis) has an almost new tower with strobes. A shorter aux. tower is nearby. That site has 3 different 3 phase power feeds, all coming from different directions with a transfer switch. Also, it has a big UPS and a generator.
2 towers, 3 power feeds, a UPS, a generator, 2 STLs, and more than likely a back-up transmitter. I bet KMOX never goes off the air. That signal really gets out there too.
But..... HD/IBOC has screwed up our skywave on KMOX... You can be between 100 and 250 miles from their blowtourch and sideband garbage from left and right knock them out silly! When Mizzou and Kansas were undefeated two football seasons back, my Dad and I were on the way back from doing a division II basketball broacast in Fayette, Iowa (Upper Iowa playing Oakland City) and we tuned in around the "Quad Cities" and down thru Peoria and Bloomington... Barely making out the audio play by play.. Peeved me to no end.....
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