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50KW cheater reaches WA!! 10/6/19 early morning hours

C

crainbebo

I should have posted this tip earlier, but thank goodness some stations forget to turn off their day pattern once in a great while. Did not expect this.

640 - WCRV TN, Collierville; English talk, Rel type content under KFI at 0055 PT 10/6, then a very weak ID at end of promo around 0059.10 PT, 'on Bott Radio Network' still buried under KFI. Possible R Progreso also mixed in. Out of nowhere, I'd say! NEW #785, cheating on 50,000 watts at 1,787 miles. This is Tennessee #2, the first was WSM-650 logged about 3 or 4 years ago.
Hopefully this season will continue to blossom!

This 640 has been heard all over the east and Midwest tonight, was heard in Minnesota. Now reaching the west!
 
crainbebo said:
I should have posted this tip earlier, but thank goodness some stations forget to turn off their day pattern once in a great while. Did not expect this.

640 - WCRV TN, Collierville; English talk, Rel type content under KFI at 0055 PT 10/6, then a very weak ID at end of promo around 0059.10 PT, 'on Bott Radio Network' still buried under KFI. Possible R Progreso also mixed in. Out of nowhere, I'd say! NEW #785, cheating on 50,000 watts at 1,787 miles. This is Tennessee #2, the first was WSM-650 logged about 3 or 4 years ago.
Hopefully this season will continue to blossom!

This 640 has been heard all over the east and Midwest tonight, was heard in Minnesota. Now reaching the west!
Click to expand...


They blew the doors off right before sunset here in Laramie, WY
 
Not nice really. The FCC has been gutted as far a regulating broadcasters. Why not just let everyone run daytime power and say the h*** with it.
 
Let's imagine for a moment the year is 1979 and WCRV had stayed on day power all night. What does the not-yet-gutted FCC do?

Do they have agents around the country listening to the AM band for unusual catches? Do they deputize crainbebo and other DXers?
 
A not-gutted FCC has time and manpower to monitor the frequency, or send a nice' note to the station that would get their attention, or check the logs next time they are out in the area. Now I suspect it is none of the above.
 
As much as it is illegal for stations to leave day power on at night, there's a benefit. These stations that leave 50, 25 or 10kw on all night are basically unexpected DX tests in itself. WWBA 820 FL was on 50KW last week and was heard all the way up to OR and BC. (I couldn't get it...darn.) There was a time a while back when KUYO-830 WY was on all night, and wouldn't you know it they were destroying KNCO and WCCO. Probably isn't fun for the engineer who finally realizes he broke the law accidentally, but for the DXer it is. It's something new to the AM dial that usually has the same jumbles of stations each night.
 
You can file a consumer complaint online with the FCC if a station broadcasts at daytime power during the evening and blocks reception of a clear channel AM station you normally listen to. I've gotten the FCC to respond and investigate in the past. I would only do this if the station continues to run daytime power at night for several weeks.
 
WWBA still on 50 kw

crainbebo said:
As much as it is illegal for stations to leave day power on at night, there's a benefit. These stations that leave 50, 25 or 10kw on all night are basically unexpected DX tests in itself. WWBA 820 FL was on 50KW last week and was heard all the way up to OR and BC. (I couldn't get it...darn.) There was a time a while back when KUYO-830 WY was on all night, and wouldn't you know it they were destroying KNCO and WCCO. Probably isn't fun for the engineer who finally realizes he broke the law accidentally, but for the DXer it is. It's something new to the AM dial that usually has the same jumbles of stations each night.
Click to expand...

WWBA was “loud and proud” AGAIN the last couple of nights as monitored here in Central KY. WBAP can only be heard when rotating my small loop antenna to null WWBA.
 
FCC rules permit stations to operate with daytime power after midnight for equipment testing/measurements but they may not have any commercial activity while running in that mode.
Back in 1980, on a Sunday overnight, I powered up the WGTO 50kw transmitter so that DX club members could listen for it. The station operated at 540kHz.
Even with the daytime directional pattern (protecting Canada and Mexico), the signal was heard in every one of the 48 continental states. I sent out over a hundred QSL cards.
This is one of them.
WGTO QS.jpg
 
I snagged what I presume was WWBA this morning around 4:30am local time (1030 UTC),

I stayed on 820 for about 20 minutes, and was hearing three stations. WBAP, WCPT, and a third that I'm guessing was WWBA. Normally, only WBAP and WCPT are present...usually at about equal strength. Null one and hear the other. But in this case, if I nulled WBAP, two stations were still present. And if nulled WCPT, only WBAP remained.

The "mystery station" was airing a talk format and mostly under WCPT with some moderate fading. So everything I was hearing...including WCPT and WWBA being on a straight line for me fits, but I still didn't catch an ID. I'll keep trying.
 
I believe WWBA was heard by a few DXers in the SE U.S. with conservative talk a couple days ago, not the classic country that was heard last week.
 
crainbebo said:
I should have posted this tip earlier, but thank goodness some stations forget to turn off their day pattern once in a great while. Did not expect this.

640 - WCRV TN, Collierville; English talk, Rel type content under KFI at 0055 PT 10/6, then a very weak ID at end of promo around 0059.10 PT, 'on Bott Radio Network' still buried under KFI. Possible R Progreso also mixed in. Out of nowhere, I'd say! NEW #785, cheating on 50,000 watts at 1,787 miles. This is Tennessee #2, the first was WSM-650 logged about 3 or 4 years ago.
Hopefully this season will continue to blossom!

This 640 has been heard all over the east and Midwest tonight, was heard in Minnesota. Now reaching the west!
Click to expand...


The remote control at WCRV Failed, causing the station to not switch from its 50kw ND Da to 480W/2 tower night pattern. They've already heard from a few Dx'ers, including one in Norway.
 
It never ceases to amaze me how MW DXers will refer to such stations as "cheaters", yet they will love the fact they received that station.

Nothing against Crainbebo or anyone here, it's just a trend I've seen on every MW forum I've been to. Refer to the station running day-power at night as a "cheater", but gladly throw the station in the log.

Mistakes happen. As long as it isn't trouncing your local MW station on the frequency, why should DXers disparage stations that are day power at night by accident, or incidentally?

PS -- nice catch. Something out of the ordinary on 640 is always cool.
 
boombox4 said:
It never ceases to amaze me how MW DXers will refer to such stations as "cheaters", yet they will love the fact they received that station.

Nothing against Crainbebo or anyone here, it's just a trend I've seen on every MW forum I've been to. Refer to the station running day-power at night as a "cheater", but gladly throw the station in the log.

Mistakes happen. As long as it isn't trouncing your local MW station on the frequency, why should DXers disparage stations that are day power at night by accident, or incidentally?

PS -- nice catch. Something out of the ordinary on 640 is always cool.
Click to expand...

And the minute the station cheating is no longer needed, they wanna throw it under the bus and get them hung by their toenails

ive also seen when dx'ers cant prove its cheating but still say it anyways. not that its ever good to say it, but....
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
The remote control at WCRV Failed, causing the station to not switch from its 50kw ND Da to 480W/2 tower night pattern. They've already heard from a few Dx'ers, including one in Norway.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. WCRV owner, Bott Broadcasting, isn't known for breaking the rules. IME, WCRV barely covers its own market (Memphis) at night.
 
Next time I'll say 'accidentally left 50kw on the air'. They 'cheat' if they continue this trend for multiple days, weeks or even years (see WMOB, Mobile AL!)
 
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