660 KTNN WINDOW ROCK, AZ

[gar hi]

I still haven't had any luck hearing KTNN since what I thought I heard the first night but I've started listening again for KNBR.

I don't know why I didn't do this before because the frequency is pretty crowded but last night I went to their site and listened to the online stream thinking maybe that could help me sort them out in the mix.

I was listening between 9 and 10 pm and KNBR had a local show on about the Giants so I figured that was good because it wasn't the ESPN network programing and it could make it easier to make a match to the voice online and one of the many I hear on 680 here even if there's a delay.

While I got no KNBR ID, a couple of times during the hour I'm certain I got a voice match in the mix on 680 to what I was hearing from my computer. It was weak when it came in and still no match for the other stations such as the one from Memphis I think which had some game on and then some country station kept taking over too.

Fortunately, the best null of our local on 680 is in just the right direction too.

I guess I can't call it an official catch until I hear the ID myself and I shouldn't make a video until what I think is KNBR dominates the rest.
Hopefully that may happen soon.

 

[Bongwater]

Could it be the only station in the US carrying native-language programming? Some of their speech programming (news, etc.) is in Navajo.

These stations carry at least some Navajo programming:
KABR 1500
KTDB 89.7
KNDN 960
KGAK 1330
KGLP 880
KHAC 89.7
KRMH

KUYI 88.1 out of Hotevilla, AZ runs Hopi language programming

http://www.kuyi.net/

 

[Darth_vader]

I'm listening to the Indians chanting and playing the drum right now on 660, through my new XDR-F1HD that just came today. You sure don't hear that kind of stuff locally on the radio around the Northwest, and I've always thought that rather odd. Now they are playing some country songs. Very interesting.

By the way, the XDR-F1HD is pulling in 660 like a semi-local here in my apartment, using an air-core aerial that I fabricated out of some wire and an empty CD-R cakebox. In a side by side comparison my old Yacht Boy 400PE seems to be almost completely deaf to its signal. Guess I now know what my new MW DXing rig is........

 

[asugeorge1]

I'm listening to the Indians chanting and playing the drum right now on 660, through my new XDR-F1HD that just came today. You sure don't hear that kind of stuff locally on the radio around the Northwest, and I've always thought that rather odd. Now they are playing some country songs. Very interesting.

By the way, the XDR-F1HD is pulling in 660 like a semi-local here in my apartment, using an air-core aerial that I fabricated out of some wire and an empty CD-R cakebox. In a side by side comparison my old Yacht Boy 400PE seems to be almost completely deaf to its signal. Guess I now know what my new MW DXing rig is........

It's really good to hear that you're picking up 660 AM all the way up there in Vancouver! I was listening to 660 as well this evening and may have heard some of the same chants, but at a much better advantage point driving back to Phoenix from Tucson via the I-10. 660 KTNN has a pretty monster signal and is Arizona's only 50kw station. Sometimes in Phoenix, you can pick it up during the day as well.

As a side note to our friends to the North, I have been able to hear Vancouver's monster signal down here in Phoenix, News 1130, but not with the quality that you're hearing 660. You must have a good set up!

 

[pianoplayer88key]

In case you've forgotten, 1580-KMIK in Tempe, AZ (Phoenix area) is also 50kW, running Radio Disney. At my location near El Cajon / La Mesa, CA, they usually have a monster signal at night, sometimes pegging the meter on my Tecsun PL-380.
KTNN may be able to be heard with a fairly good signal, but KMIK is usually much stronger here. In fact, that blowtorch will sometimes eclipse the strength of some of my locals, including a few less than 10 miles from here that run 1 kW or more.
Here, 1580 sometimes matches or beats the strength of a 5kW (day - different pattern @ night) station 9 miles away, a 2.9kW (night - 50kW day) station at the former's site, and two 5kW stations (one is 1kW night) 8 miles away (across a highway from each other). Often, if it wasn't for its own IBOC, as well as QRM from co-channel 50kW KBLA Santa Monica, KMIK would be booming in like a noise-free local, even on pocket portables using only the built-in loopsticks.

I seem to remember there are also other 50kW AZ stations, but I'm not sure which ones, if any, run 50kW at night. I'm guessing KTNN and KMIK are the only two.
As for that station on 1130, it's impossible for me to hear it, due to a 10kW co-channel local about 6 miles north of me, which is at least 10dB stronger than KMIK during peak propagation.

 

[gar hi]

I've made some attempts to hear 1580 KMIK here in Florida for that short period of time when it would be dusk in Arizona and they are still running 50 kw non directional daytime pattern but haven't heard anything yet that sounds like the programming they have.

Seems it should be not too difficult with the high dial position.

 

[Darth_vader]

I have tried pulling in KMIK here more than a few times, but there's just too damn much intermod from nearby KKAD (only about 30 kHz to the left) to make it doable. I've copied it down in Pendleton a few times, but here in KVUOland, forget it.

"As a side note to our friends to the North, I have been able to hear Vancouver's monster signal down here in Phoenix, News 1130, but not with the quality that you're hearing 660. You must have a good set up!"

Hmmmmm.....have you ever tried pulling in Vancouver's monster Music Of Your Life signal on 1550 down there in Phoenix? ;o)

(F.Y.I., I live fairly close to the KKAD/KPAM sticks. 1550 and 860 tend to horrendously overload the XDR-F1HD within about 20 kHz of the centre frequency!)

At the current moment my setup consists of an XDR-F1HD connected to the line-in of a vintage-1981 Panasonic RX-5030 boombox, with Sony MDR-V150 earphones for monitoring.

Aerials are the stock twin-lead VHF dipole that came packed in with the receiver and the aforementioned highly directional cakebox MW aerial (about 30' of the wires out of a former 10' USB cable, joined end to end and wound around an empty CD-R box, and attached to a tabletop camera tripod for a stand.)

The stock VHF dipole is simply draped over a curtain rod in my apartment, which is about 80' above sea level (plus two storeys above the ground.) KXXO really screams on this unit, whereas it barely came in on my Grampa's Pioneer stereo and my Marantz QR-450 quad receiver.

This is all setting on a table consisting of three two-by-fours and a sheet of T1-11 stretched across two sawhorses; the room that it is in faces directly south toward Portland.

Quite a modest setup, really.

 

[asugeorge1]

I have tried pulling in KMIK here more than a few times, but there's just too damn much intermod from nearby KKAD (only about 30 kHz to the left) to make it doable. I've copied it down in Pendleton a few times, but here in KVUOland, forget it.

"As a side note to our friends to the North, I have been able to hear Vancouver's monster signal down here in Phoenix, News 1130, but not with the quality that you're hearing 660. You must have a good set up!"

Hmmmmm.....have you ever tried pulling in Vancouver's monster Music Of Your Life signal on 1550 down there in Phoenix? ;o)

(F.Y.I., I live fairly close to the KKAD/KPAM sticks. 1550 and 860 tend to horrendously overload the XDR-F1HD within about 20 kHz of the centre frequency!)

At the current moment my setup consists of an XDR-F1HD connected to the line-in of a vintage-1981 Panasonic RX-5030 boombox, with Sony MDR-V150 earphones for monitoring.

Aerials are the stock twin-lead VHF dipole that came packed in with the receiver and the aforementioned highly directional cakebox MW aerial (about 30' of the wires out of a former 10' USB cable, joined end to end and wound around an empty CD-R box, and attached to a tabletop camera tripod for a stand.)

The stock VHF dipole is simply draped over a curtain rod in my apartment, which is about 80' above sea level (plus two storeys above the ground.) KXXO really screams on this unit, whereas it barely came in on my Grampa's Pioneer stereo and my Marantz QR-450 quad receiver.

This is all setting on a table consisting of three two-by-fours and a sheet of T1-11 stretched across two sawhorses; the room that it is in faces directly south toward Portland.

Quite a modest setup, really.

If 1550 KKAD were any stronger, I may be able to pull it in down here in Phoenix. Similar to you, I live far too close to the KMIK transmitter site in nearby Mesa. Combine that with the fact that KMIK runs IBOC, and it makes 1550 barely listenable for DXing purposes.

As far as KPAM is concerned, we have a station on 860 AM, KMVP, that plays gospel music so I won’t ever be able to pick-up KPAM unless KMVP goes dark. I would prefer KMVP go dark since they also run that horrible IBOC and it makes 850 KOA out of Denver barely audible. The KMVP IBOC also spills over to 880 AM and ruins the monster signal of KRVN out of Lexington, Nebraska. Shows you how strong both the KOA and KRVN signals are when you can still pick them up even when a station runs IBOC!

Also, while KMIK is a 50,000 watt night-time station, it suffers from a severe directional pattern that favors for, whatever reason, the southwest. That means that if you’re in the middle of nowhere southwestern Arizona (i.e. Ajo and Gila Bend), Yuma, San Diego and the Pacific Ocean, you’re in luck! If you happen to be in North Scottsdale or North Phoenix, you may have to try to pull in AM 1690 from Denver for your Radio Disney listening enjoyment! The night-time pattern sort of favors the Northwest as well, but it would still be difficult to pick-up in Washington state. KMIK has apparently been picked up as far away as Australia thanks to that highly favorable southwest directional pattern.

That is quite a modest set-up, but it definitely works its magic. I don’t have the right skills or tools to put something like that together, but I’ll try and continue to use my car radio and Sony Liv Radio for DXing purposes.

Besides KKAD and KPAM, are there any other Portland or southern Washington stations I may be able to pick-up down here in Phoenix? The closest two are NEWS 1130 out of Vancouver, CANADA and KOMO 1000 News Radio. I always love hearing those AAA traffic updates on the 4’s!

 

[Darth_vader]

Well, if you can null out KNUV, you might try for KEX on the same frequency (1190). They, too, are a day/night IBACker, but you might be able to pull it in at night when KNUV drops its power level. KPOJ (620) is another possibility if you can null out KTAR (I don't know how directional either of those stations are, however.)

You might also try to hit KXL on 750.

CKWX (1130) does come in down here occasionally, but it's usually pretty drifty, even with the Selectatenna. Meanwhile, further to the east, CKMX in Calgary (1060) often blows in here nice and hot during the evening hours. I used to listen to that one all the time when I was in High School and I'd be doing my homework. They were still running soft rock/AC format at that time (late 90s-early 2000s.)