670

[cyberdad]

I'm in Lafayette, IN tonight. 120 miles southeast of Chicago. WSCR is getting trashed tonight by the Cubans. Cubans on top more often than not. Yikes!

Last night I was in Indy....55 miles southeast of here. WSCR on top, but Cuba clearly audible underneath.

I suspect convergence has something to do with what's going on here. But again...yikes!

 

[boiseengineer]

In Boise, Cuba's under KBOI (nulled) almost every night.

 

[gar hi]

You wanna talk about WSCR being trashed by the Cubans, try to hear it here in Florida.

I remember when WLS used to be THE big station from not only Chicago but all of the north to hear loud and clear at night. (especially on AM stereo in those days)

Not anymore, thanks to the Cuban station.

Same thing happened with other stations like WFAN and KYW.

How many stations does that small country need?

 

[RyanHoward]

Warminster PA(Philly suburbs):

WSCR almost every night.

 

[BRNout]

I'm in Lafayette, IN tonight. 120 miles southeast of Chicago. WSCR is getting trashed tonight by the Cubans. Cubans on top more often than not. Yikes!

Last night I was in Indy....55 miles southeast of here. WSCR on top, but Cuba clearly audible underneath.

I suspect convergence has something to do with what's going on here. But again...yikes!

Lafayette is probably within WSCR's cancellation zone, which doesn't help one bit. I noticed that WSCR's nighttime signal wasn't great around Springfield, IL either for that reason. This allows the Cubans to poke through. That said, it's still a long haul for the Cuban.

As far as night reception of Chicago 50 kw'ers (aside from 1000), the higher the frequency, the better the signal. Those cornfields south of Chicago are where WLS' signal is king. North of Chicago, that's not the case at all and I am hearing Spanish behind WLS, starting around 6:30 pm.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Between the Cubans and the fact that there is almost always a thunderstorm happening
somewhere within a 20 mile radius, I have learned sadly that an AM radio is a pretty
useless device in Florida.

 

[ddsparxx]

Central FL is likely to get more thunderstorms than anywhere else in the US. As for the Cuban, it often dominates the 670 frequency at night here in VA over WSCR.

 

[jd]

Here in East Texas all the heritage "clears" have interference problems, and 670 is absolutely the worst. The Cuban station mauls WSCR consistently; as for WGN and WBBM it comes and goes but even at its worst on 720 or 780 it's usually not close to the amount of interference on 670. On 890 it's an entirely different scenario, with the Cuban station coming in second to domestic interference. KVOZ from Texas has been reported far and wide for years, operating with what's suspected to be their 10,000 watt daytime power. At my location WLS is virtually unlistenable most of the time.

 

[schmave]

I know I've mentioned before elsewhere on here, but about 15-20 years ago 670 used to get clobbered by a Spanish-language station, probably the same one you mention (I think it's from suburban Havana). It was so loud that if the Cuban was coming in, then-WMAQ was absolutely nowhere to be found. Nowhere.
720, 780 and 1000 usually blast in here at night, and 890 does more than it used to. I haven't heard the Cuban giving WSCR major problems here in Ohio for a while, and if it's there one turn on the radio usually takes care of things.
I've also noticed that the cancellation zone for 670, 720 and 780 really comes into play about 130-140 miles out. On my drives to Ohio, it becomes a big pest around Lafayette or Fort Wayne, depending on which route I take. You can hear crosstalk under WMVP right around Valparaiso on 30. Can't speak too much for WLS since I don't listen to them much.

 

[swfl]

Between the Cubans and the fact that there is almost always a thunderstorm happening
somewhere within a 20 mile radius, I have learned sadly that an AM radio is a pretty
useless device in Florida.

I can agree with you on that! Especially in southern Florida. The Cubans have pretty much taken over the AM band down here and as you say with all the humidity and thunderstorms the AM band is almost worthless any more. During the winter months you can get some DX'ing in at night but even then it's not all that great.

 

[MarioMania]

How much Power does Cuba a little country need??

There's interference problems every where

 

[gar hi]

Between the Cubans and the fact that there is almost always a thunderstorm happening
somewhere within a 20 mile radius, I have learned sadly that an AM radio is a pretty
useless device in Florida.

I can agree with you on that! Especially in southern Florida. The Cubans have pretty much taken over the AM band down here and as you say with all the humidity and thunderstorms the AM band is almost worthless any more. During the winter months you can get some DX'ing in at night but even then it's not all that great.

I disagree that Florida is one of the worst places for AM DXIng.

In fact, I'd say it's one of the better places.

Lightning is an issue during the summer but then you have the rest of the year. The summer isn't so good for nighttime DXing anyway so it's not like you're missing much.

While I agree the Cuban stations have made it hard to hear certain northern stations, there are many more frequencies not affected and because of our location, we are have a much better shot at a large part of the US at night than so many other locations.

And of course there's daytime AM DXing which makes the coasts of Florida a bonanza for hearing stations from across the Gulf and up the east coast.

 

[cyberdad]

Conditions changed as the night progressed. After my original post, I checked out 670 again in the hotel room (SRF37 Walkman) Cubans on top more often than not and plenty of splatter from WFAN and WPTF...the latter being a bit of a surprise with a very good signal.

Checked out 670 again at about 5am (Eastern). Cubans still there, but WSCR on top WPTF was now absent (or lost in the slop). Later in the car at around 7:30am...just before sunrise. WSCR and the three other Chicago "1-As" had the Chicago stations comfortably on top, but with stuff audible underneath on all of them.

Gar fla....I agree with your take. Florida is a great DX spot. For all the reasons you listed. And while summer may be lousy for AM, it's great for tropo. Also, Florida is a great place to DX the tropical bands on shortwave.

Also, We spend anywhere from 2-6 weeks a year at a condo on Perdido Key (Pensacola area), and are very familiar with 670 and numerous other channels being "owned" by the Cubans. But there are plenty of others left and some nice opportunities to hear Mexico and Latin America.

Schmave: The convergence zone experience you describe pretty much is the same as mine.

Boise engineer: Amazing about hearing Cuba there under KBOI. As discussed in another thread, I've heard Cuba on 710 in western Onario....over 100 miles from the U.S. border. Haven't heard them there on 670, but WSCR is strong enough to overcome everything else at that location under "normal" circumstances.

 

[radioman148]

When I was in Puerto Rico last March I heard WGN, WBBM, & WLS at various times, but never did I hear WSCR. In fact when I tuned into 670 at night
I heard many Spanish language stations not just Cuba. 670 is very crowded in the Caribbean.

 

[swfl]

Between the Cubans and the fact that there is almost always a thunderstorm happening
somewhere within a 20 mile radius, I have learned sadly that an AM radio is a pretty
useless device in Florida.

I can agree with you on that! Especially in southern Florida. The Cubans have pretty much taken over the AM band down here and as you say with all the humidity and thunderstorms the AM band is almost worthless any more. During the winter months you can get some DX'ing in at night but even then it's not all that great.

I disagree that Florida is one of the worst places for AM DXIng.

In fact, I'd say it's one of the better places.

Lightning is an issue during the summer but then you have the rest of the year. The summer isn't so good for nighttime DXing anyway so it's not like you're missing much.

While I agree the Cuban stations have made it hard to hear certain northern stations, there are many more frequencies not affected and because of our location, we are have a much better shot at a large part of the US at night than so many other locations.

And of course there's daytime AM DXing which makes the coasts of Florida a bonanza for hearing stations from across the Gulf and up the east coast.

Perhaps certain places in Florida are decent for DX'ing. I have had pretty good luck in the northern areas of the state. But here in SW Florida the AM dial is pretty cluttered with Cuban interference most nights. We can at times pick up WBT, WSM, KWKH and WWL but you cannot count on catching them all the time. During the day WWL does come in pretty well along the coast but that's about it most days. We don't have the DX of the east coast where they can pick up the NYC stations.

 

[cyberdad]

670 is very crowded in the Caribbean.

I'm pretty sure I've snagged YVLL from Venezuela on my stays in Pensacola, but I've never positively ID-ed it. They have...or used to have...a unique news sounder which would make it easy enough to pick out of the slop. I've heard that when they were on shortwave, but haven't been able to "seal the deal" with that on 670.

 

[radioman148]

670 is very crowded in the Caribbean.

I'm pretty sure I've snagged YVLL from Venezuela on my stays in Pensacola, but I've never positively ID-ed it. They have...or used to have...a unique news sounder which would make it easy enough to pick out of the slop. I've heard that when they were on shortwave, but haven't been able to "seal the deal" with that on 670.

That had to be at least one of the many stations I heard on 670 while down there.

 

[gar hi]

Swfl. I'm wondering since you're more south than I am, what do you hear on 740 at night?

I'm figuring you don't hear WYGM as strong as I do up here and maybe have a better chance to hear other stations mixed with KTRH.

I ask because I mentioned in the other thread about listening for KCBS and being you are more south, more of their signal should go that way.

 

[stormy01]

One night late last winter or early spring, WSCR was off the air for a few hours around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. for maintenance and 670 from Cuba was very listenable here in Northern, Illinois...incredibly clear...clearer than 600, 640 or 590 ever was in the old days (60's, 70's) ...like the ham radio guys say: "Armchair Copy"

 

[Icangelp]

We are heading away from a period of low sunspot distubances, to increasing sunspot activity.

I don't know the technical reasons, but high sunspot activity brings more opportunities for Southern reception, and that includes Cuban station interference.

Many years ago, this would also mean lots of Caribbean, Central American and South American stations in the old log book, but the majority of those stations have shut down or migrated to FM...leaving Cuba to rule the AM band.

At least Cuba plays some music these days. It used to be Castro speech after Castro speech, with some Radio Moscow and ancient music thrown in.