1090 signal coverage to the north?

[pianoplayer88key]

I went to Sacramento with my parents today, and going up I-5, I could hear 1090 in the daytime to about Tracy, CA, west of Modesto and about 10-15 miles south/southwest of Stockton. Going down 99, though, on the way home, the signal wasn't as good, generally not coming in till somewhere farther south around Madera/Fresno, then quickly getting hammered by a station on 1100 in the south San Joaquin valley.

I was using a Panasonic RQ-SW20 and a Select-A-Tenna. The signal up there was barely readable, but I could make out enough to tell who the host(s) was(were) and much of what they were talking about (it was a baseball game btw on Friday afternoon - the first few innings or so.)


So what is XEPRS's field strength at the I-5 and I-580 interchange a few miles south of Tracy, CA? I don't think it could be more than about 12500mV/m, but what is it? Is it maybe something like 2.5uV/m? If I had had a field strength meter with me, I would have measured it myself.

 

[davideduardo]

>
> So what is XEPRS's field strength at the I-5 and I-580
> interchange a few miles south of Tracy, CA?

Somewhere between 0.1 and 0.5 mv/m. It is ultra fringe.

 

[rickity]

> >
> > So what is XEPRS's field strength at the I-5 and I-580
> > interchange a few miles south of Tracy, CA?
>
> Somewhere between 0.1 and 0.5 mv/m. It is ultra fringe.
>

In the summers I guide on rafts on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon - for those of you who don't know, that's in Northern AZ - I always take a little Radio Shack AM_FM_SW down there.

XPRS on 1700 comes in good enough to listen to the Padres regularly.

Lot's of Mexican AM's and KNX, KNBR and KCBS come in clearly.

So does the late great KOMA/KOKC - when the oldies went off 1580 AM, no more music in the canyon at night. Bummer, just George Noory, the trucker show, the news and Mexi-radio.

Fun listening to the traffic on KNX at the bottom of the Canyon.

Thought the DX'er TFCWings would find the above interesting. By the way, Wings, XPRS comes in great at my condo in San Carlos, Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico from sundown till about 8 AM in the winter.

Rickity

 

[awj223]

> >
> > So what is XEPRS's field strength at the I-5 and I-580
> > interchange a few miles south of Tracy, CA?
>
> Somewhere between 0.1 and 0.5 mv/m. It is ultra fringe.
>

How much ERP does 1090 send to the north-northwest? Tracy seems quite far to be hearing a station from Mexico on anything but the lowest end of the dial.

Also, the original post mentioned that the signal on 1090 was better on I-5 than on CA-99. Is this because of a difference in ground conductivity between the western and eastern ends of the Central Valley? I've noticed that most of the high powered AMs from the south quickly fade out as you head toward the coast ranges on CA-152. Heading for the San Luis Res. up the hill, both XEPRS and KFI fade out fast. Ground conductivity again? Likewise, KNBR 680 comes in well all the way to Grapevine (what is its approximate field strength here?) but I am surprised at how fast it fades out as you head up the hill toward Lebec and Frazier Park. I'm guessing, again, that there must be some dramatic change in ground conductivity as one crosses the Grapevine exit.

 

[awj223]

I thought it was fun listening to "midnight baseball" on KNBR at 9 PM from the Hawaiian Islands. I also caught LA traffic reports on KNX from there, as well as XPRS on 1700, which was a surprise considering how weak that transmitter is. KFI was predictably weaker than it was a year ago. There was not a trace of highly directional signals like 1090 and KGO 810. This was all at night, of course.

I had hoped to get KFMB, which has a heck of a signal toward the Islands, but KGU was killing it.

And getting a little offtopic: I heard some stations on 1143 and 1242 kHz before sunrise. They were obviously not US stations because of both the frequencies used and the languages being spoken. How do DXers ID stations in languages they don't speak?

> In the summers I guide on rafts on the Colorado River in the
> Grand Canyon - for those of you who don't know, that's in
> Northern AZ - I always take a little Radio Shack AM_FM_SW
> down there.
>
> XPRS on 1700 comes in good enough to listen to the Padres
> regularly.
>
> Lot's of Mexican AM's and KNX, KNBR and KCBS come in
> clearly.
>
> So does the late great KOMA/KOKC - when the oldies went off
> 1580 AM, no more music in the canyon at night. Bummer, just
> George Noory, the trucker show, the news and Mexi-radio.
>
> Fun listening to the traffic on KNX at the bottom of the
> Canyon.
>
> Thought the DX'er TFCWings would find the above interesting.
> By the way, Wings, XPRS comes in great at my condo in San
> Carlos, Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico from sundown till about 8 AM
> in the winter.
>
> Rickity
>

 

[davideduardo]

> And getting a little offtopic: I heard some stations on 1143
> and 1242 kHz before sunrise. They were obviously not US
> stations because of both the frequencies used and the
> languages being spoken. How do DXers ID stations in
> languages they don't speak?

Most DXers develop an ear for langauge, and, along with some phrasebooks or whatever are able to match the language withthe most likely station.

1143 was the VOA Poro Point, Philippines, relay last time I did some coastal DX from CA. I am not sure now, that was 4 years ago... they were running a megawatt, too, but aimed at China, mostly.

Per WRTVH, there is a 2 megawatt Vietnamese station on 1242.

 

[k9ez]

> > And getting a little offtopic: I heard some stations on
> 1143
> > and 1242 kHz before sunrise. They were obviously not US
> > stations because of both the frequencies used and the
> > languages being spoken. How do DXers ID stations in
> > languages they don't speak?
>
> Most DXers develop an ear for langauge, and, along with some
> phrasebooks or whatever are able to match the language
> withthe most likely station.
>
> 1143 was the VOA Poro Point, Philippines, relay last time I
> did some coastal DX from CA. I am not sure now, that was 4
> years ago... they were running a megawatt, too, but aimed at
> China, mostly.
>
> Per WRTVH, there is a 2 megawatt Vietnamese station on 1242.
>

Nothing like a 2 MILLION watt graveyarder.... well almost. ;-)

 

[ticoSD]

> > >
> > > So what is XEPRS's field strength at the I-5 and I-580
> > > interchange a few miles south of Tracy, CA?
> >
> > Somewhere between 0.1 and 0.5 mv/m. It is ultra fringe.
> >
>
> How much ERP does 1090 send to the north-northwest? Tracy
> seems quite far to be hearing a station from Mexico on
> anything but the lowest end of the dial.
>
> Also, the original post mentioned that the signal on 1090
> was better on I-5 than on CA-99. Is this because of a
> difference in ground conductivity between the western and
> eastern ends of the Central Valley? I've noticed that most
> of the high powered AMs from the south quickly fade out as
> you head toward the coast ranges on CA-152. Heading for the
> San Luis Res. up the hill, both XEPRS and KFI fade out fast.
> Ground conductivity again? Likewise, KNBR 680 comes in
> well all the way to Grapevine (what is its approximate field
> strength here?) but I am surprised at how fast it fades out
> as you head up the hill toward Lebec and Frazier Park. I'm
> guessing, again, that there must be some dramatic change in
> ground conductivity as one crosses the Grapevine exit.
>

I once heard Coach John Kentera say that the signal has been heard in the daytime as far north as Pittsburg (near Oakland) and Sacramento.<P ID="signature">______________
"...and the countdown continues until the neanderthals that govern college football do something about their pathetic postseason."--Tim Brando, Sporting News Radio</P>

 

[impala88]

> > >
>
> I once heard Coach John Kentera say that the signal has been
> heard in the daytime as far north as Pittsburg (near
> Oakland) and Sacramento.
>
Quite probable. I have received KNX and KSPN good enough to understand what was going on as far north as Merced.