50,000 Watt Stations on North American Clear Channel Frequencies

[cyberdad]

And WTMJ itself sounds like crap now; used to be a semi-local here.

Definitely sounded like crap last night when I was listening to the Packers-Falcons Audio. WJHX (Alabama) was being a major pest. All 99 watts of it! Huh? Another case of "forgetting" to power down?

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

There are so many people now, even in radio, who don't understand skywave. There's always the sales and sports guys whose response to inquiries about the "Friday Night Lights STAs" is, "I don't know we could possibly interfere with a station hundreds of miles away. I can barely get the station at my house." In the old days, the sports guys were often avid DXers, trying to get the baseball games from every city they could at night.

And it's not just radio. Back during the "nightlight" period when many stations were still operating on Channels 2-6 in analog, informing viewers of how to get their new UHF power and terrain challenged digital facilities off air, I was getting Sporadic E from a station 1000 miles or so away. The chief engineer asked me what Sporadic E was. It is true, these guys, even the AM ones, especially HD, have to be so knowlegeable about everything computer related to run everything, that the radio basics have been lost.

 

[K4WRF]

It is true, these guys, even the AM ones, especially HD, have to be so knowlegeable about everything computer related to run everything, that the radio basics have been lost.

Summary statement fits the category of "striking the nail right on the head"!

Best regards,
w/

 

[BRNout]

And WTMJ itself sounds like crap now; used to be a semi-local here.

Definitely sounded like crap last night when I was listening to the Packers-Falcons Audio. WJHX (Alabama) was being a major pest. All 99 watts of it! Huh? Another case of "forgetting" to power down?

That's interesting because I live east of you (just W of I-94) and WTMJ is very strong during the day and still quite strong at night. Strong enough that it's not easy to null with your average portable radio. I listened to some of the game after dark last night and didn't notice any undue interference from here. I will agree that their audio sounds like crap - but the signal is fine here.

As an aside, WTMJ is significantly stronger than WLS here during the day and is quite a bit better even at night too. All winter, WLS' signal has been being interfered with by (what I guess is) an adult contemporary formatted station from Mexico that I can't ID. Nor can I null it because it comes from about the same angle as WLS does. It's usually audible in the background and I surmise it's Mexican because it plays English a/c gold hits yet the announcers are in Spanish. Spanish formatted stations in the US never do that, nor would a Cuban.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Didn't WADO 1280 NYC have a format with Top 40 English Records and Spanish speaking announcers back in the early 1970s, at least in certain dayparts? I remember hearing a station that played "Maggie May", a current at the time, and hearing the DJ in Spanish. Can anyone think of another station that it could have been?

 

[davideduardo]

Didn't WADO 1280 NYC have a format with Top 40 English Records and Spanish speaking announcers back in the early 1970s, at least in certain dayparts? I remember hearing a station that played "Maggie May", a current at the time, and hearing the DJ in Spanish. Can anyone think of another station that it could have been?

WADO transitioned from being about 1/4 Italian, 1/3 Black and the rest Spanish language to all Spanish by about 1968.

WADO, when it was full time Spanish, was still block programmed, starting with a full news block in the mornings and all kinds of music shows. It is indeed possible that they had a show with some English music and Spanish language jocks. There is nobody there in programming who was there in 1970-71, the time fram you are referencing, so it's difficult to guess. On the other hand, in PR at the time, stations like WKAQ and WUNO (tied for #1 in 1971) were both mixed English and Spanish language music (that I am sure of as I managed one of them and competed with the other)... and WADO was about 100% Puerto Rican focused then.

 

[davideduardo]

All winter, WLS' signal has been being interfered with by (what I guess is) an adult contemporary formatted station from Mexico that I can't ID. Nor can I null it because it comes from about the same angle as WLS does. It's usually audible in the background and I surmise it's Mexican because it plays English a/c gold hits yet the announcers are in Spanish. Spanish formatted stations in the US never do that, nor would a Cuban.

Where are you located?

Unless you are really close to Mexico, I'd suspect a Venezuelan or Colombian.

On the other hand, quite a few Mexican AMs are starting to simulcast FMs, as they wait to migrate to FM and close the AM down. English language music in Mexico is mostly an FM format, so it could be one of these cases. Don't look for English music in Mexico or any other Latin American country in anything but larger cities, though, unless it's a network repeater.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Didn't WADO 1280 NYC have a format with Top 40 English Records and Spanish speaking announcers back in the early 1970s, at least in certain dayparts? I remember hearing a station that played "Maggie May", a current at the time, and hearing the DJ in Spanish. Can anyone think of another station that it could have been?

WADO transitioned from being about 1/4 Italian, 1/3 Black and the rest Spanish language to all Spanish by about 1968.

WADO, when it was full time Spanish, was still block programmed, starting with a full news block in the mornings and all kinds of music shows. It is indeed possible that they had a show with some English music and Spanish language jocks. There is nobody there in programming who was there in 1970-71, the time fram you are referencing, so it's difficult to guess. On the other hand, in PR at the time, stations like WKAQ and WUNO (tied for #1 in 1971) were both mixed English and Spanish language music (that I am sure of as I managed one of them and competed with the other)... and WADO was about 100% Puerto Rican focused then.

Thanks David. Bartell owned the station then, as it did WDRQ, WOKY, and KCBQ. It wouldn't have been much of a stretch for Bartell to try that with a Top 40 Format.

Speaking of old directional patterns, I think WADO when it was 5 kW DA-1 had a pattern that had nulls that were at the former 1 kW omni radiated level. I was off the back of the patterns in Michigan, but I heard WADO and WWRL occasionally.

 

[cyberdad]

There are so many people now, even in radio, who don't understand skywave. There's always the sales and sports guys whose response to inquiries about the "Friday Night Lights STAs" is, "I don't know we could possibly interfere with a station hundreds of miles away. I can barely get the station at my house."

In the case of WJHX being a pest for WTMJ last night, it's the first time I've heard the station under WTMJ's nighttime signal. I presume that's because they normally run 99 watts as authorized, but last night (1/15) they seemed to be on 5KW day power for whatever reason. Initially I thought I might have been hearing Mexico, but then I heard a legal ID.

Where I am....about 44 miles northwest of Chicago...WTMJ daytime is stronger than WIND, WLS, WMVP, and WYLL. At night, the signal is significantly weaker....but still listenable. Usually with stuff underneath. All (until last night) in English, as far as I can tell, and most notably CKRM. Per what I recall from having looked it up on FM Scan....WTMJ's day pattern throws about 8kw at me, but less than 400 watts at night. I'm about 35 miles from the stick, so the results are about what I'd expect. The point of my earlier post wasn't about the difference in WTMJ's day and night signal strength. I knew all about that and why. I was surprised to find a strong Spanish signal in the mix for the first time, and more surprised when I discovered the station I was hearing was supposed to be just 99 watts ND. Thus I assumed WJHX was on 5kw ND day power, which would perfectly explain what I was hearing, given the roughly 500-mile hop.

As for the Spanish on 890 under WLS, I've heard that too. I'm about 65 miles northwest of WLS' Tinley Park stick. The signal underneath is faint, but audible, and IME most pronounced just before sunrise. I haven't been able to identify it either, but the snatches I've heard lead me to believe that it's not Cuba.

 

[w9wi]

ered the station I was hearing was supposed to be just 99 watts ND. Thus I assumed WJHX was on 5kw ND day power, which would perfectly explain what I was hearing, given the roughly 500-mile hop.

As for the Spanish on 890 under WLS, I've heard that too. I'm about 65 miles northwest of WLS' Tinley Park stick. The signal underneath is faint, but audible, and IME most pronounced just before sunrise. I haven't been able to identify it either, but the snatches I've heard lead me to believe that it's not Cuba.

I'm pretty sure WJHX is usually compliant with their license -- they're usually audible up here in the Nashville area during the day, but at night 620 is a kind of no-man's land. I have heard WTMJ here at night, albeit VERY weakly & in the mess with everything else.

I have a gut feeling (and it's only a gut feeling) the 890 in Spanish is Laredo, Texas. Whoever they are, they're frequently heard here -- but usually not completely dominant over WLS. Since I can't stand WLS's programming I've never listened long enough to identify the Spanish-language station.

 

[davideduardo]

I have a gut feeling (and it's only a gut feeling) the 890 in Spanish is Laredo, Texas. Whoever they are, they're frequently heard here -- but usually not completely dominant over WLS. Since I can't stand WLS's programming I've never listened long enough to identify the Spanish-language station.

In past years, the Laredo station was rather frequently reported in the AM DX club bulletins when it was obviously on with day power at night.

However, BRN mentioned an AC type format, while KVOZ is a religious station and the music tends to be more tejano and regional Mexican... although some of the songs in the rather eclectic mix can be on the pop side.

Given that the station has a tradition of being on at night, and its strange mix, you are probably right if the music is consistently AC / pop in nature.

 

[jd]

In past years, the Laredo station was rather frequently reported in the AM DX club bulletins when it was obviously on with day power at night.

Here in East Texas KVOZ rips WLS apart quite often. The signal strength varies somewhat, but somehow I'm not convinced that they're consistently on with the full 10kW daytime power at night. It might be the 1kW nighttime rig running non-directional.

KVOZ is a religious station and the music tends to be more Tejano and regional Mexican... although some of the songs in the rather eclectic mix can be on the pop side.

You're right about the KVOZ format being somewhat eclectic (maybe not as much so as XEMR Monterrey, but nevertheless a pretty weird format). As a number of posters already know, KVOZ is part of a whole network of stations in the southern part of Texas. Hence their ID is rather lengthy, if that might help anyone having trouble confirming what they're hearing.

 

[BRNout]

All winter, WLS' signal has been being interfered with by (what I guess is) an adult contemporary formatted station from Mexico that I can't ID. Nor can I null it because it comes from about the same angle as WLS does. It's usually audible in the background and I surmise it's Mexican because it plays English a/c gold hits yet the announcers are in Spanish. Spanish formatted stations in the US never do that, nor would a Cuban.

Where are you located?

Unless you are really close to Mexico, I'd suspect a Venezuelan or Colombian.

On the other hand, quite a few Mexican AMs are starting to simulcast FMs, as they wait to migrate to FM and close the AM down. English language music in Mexico is mostly an FM format, so it could be one of these cases. Don't look for English music in Mexico or any other Latin American country in anything but larger cities, though, unless it's a network repeater.

I'm about 40 miles NNW of Chicago. You're probably right because this signal is at it's strongest with a north-south orientation of the ferrite bar (just as WLS is).

In looking through the various databases, I didn't see any high powered Mexican AMs on 890 which added to the mystery. Yes, there is a 50 kw signal on 890 from Valencia, VE - but our 'friend' Hugo Chavez has placed strict limits on foreign content, so the airing of a lot of a/c music that has it's origins in a foreign country is a no-no now. I'll say that - at times - the station sounds a lot like an a/c FM station that you'd hear in a larger Latin American city. Other times, I hear talk and that's odd. Yet I can never get enough signal out of it to understand what is being said. However, I could certainly discern songs from the likes of The Eagles, Elton John and a couple of other pop acts, with intro/outros in Spanish. I have never heard a format quite like this from a US based Spanish station.

If it's roughly south of here, most of Mexico will be too far off-angle (aside from the Yucatan peninsula and far southern Mexico). Likewise, Texas is too far west and I'd have improved reception by turning the radio at a 30-45 degree angle. That doesn't work; if it did, I could probably ID this station.

So, my guess is it's either somewhere in Central America (not very likely) or Columbia.

 

[cyberdad]

I'm pretty sure WJHX is usually compliant with their license -- they're usually audible up here in the Nashville area during the day, but at night 620 is a kind of no-man's land.

I agree that they're likely compliant with their license. That would explain why I've never heard them here until Saturday night. And I haven't heard them since. I know they have a good daytime signal. When I used to travel the area frequently on business, I routinely had them on a car radio pretty much the entire drive on I-65 from Nashville to just north of Birmingham (when the local 610 would overtake them). Back in those days they were sports talk.