WIIN Jackson, MS recently signed back on after being off the air for nearly a year in order to keep their license from being deleted. It runs 5,000 watts daytime. A few nights ago they forgot to turn off the transmitter and it was on the air all night. Which they have done quite often over the years. I was wondering if anyone outside of central Mississippi may have heard the station from what location you picked it up. It is currently simulcasting country music with its sister station US96.3 WUSJ. 5000 watts would likely cause havock with WBBM in Chicago. And totally obliterates it around Jackson, MS.
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- Thread starter flytrap
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flytrap said:
I wonder if WBBM knows? They wouldn't be happy.
radioman148 said:
I doubt WBBM knows, unless it affects the Chicago market, and all points beyond where there are some listeners (like Rockford, Milwaukee, Madison or Peoria) However, some die-hard listener to Newsradio 780 in the interference zone created by the Jackson, MS station might complain, and that's when WBBM might become aware of it. The FCC does not make it easy to report an interference complaint directly from the public. Rather, listeners would need to complain, so then the station engineer would be notified, and in a larger organization, management would decide whether or not to report the interference to the FCC. If the interference is well outside their primary or secondary service area, the station may not even bother reporting it. Depends on the station. Now if the interference was to WLW and the overnight truckers show, that might be more crucial since there are likely to be many more listeners at DX distances to WLW than WBBM.
The larger question, is: Do the daytimer's tech people make certain that their station is really off the air for the night? It only takes a few seconds to turn their radio on and tune in. Plus, they aren't making any money on the daytimer being on at night when they can't charge for advertising time since the station is supposed to be off the air. So that's a nice electric bill for how many hours they're on and not supposed to be. Better to review the automation system that controls the TX Sign-on/off and make sure it's right. Beats getting an FCC fine!
Unfortunately, I will never hear the Jackson station, unless WBBM is off the air (very rare with 2 backups and a generator set that I believe can power either of the two 50kW transmitters or the 10kW unit). I'm less than 25 miles as the crow flies to their TX, but starting at 100-150 miles out DXers could try to null them out (unless you're N/NNW/NNE of the WBBM "stick") I did hear Reno (KCRL?) a long, long time ago (in the 70's) when WBBM was off and on the air for testing overnight on Sunday night/Monday morning way back when...
Can WIIN even reach Chicago??
and how far does WBBM go to the south??
and how far does WBBM go to the south??
At 750 miles, a 5 kW omni station would increase the effective NIF of a Class A station to about 5 mVm groundwave. Normal protection would beto the 0.5 mV/m skywave at night. At 250 miles from the 5 kW omni, the NIF would be about 24 mV/m. So it really messes it up beyond the immediate groundwave service area of a Class A.
flytrap said:
I'm just back from two weeks in the South. Atlanta, Pensacola, New Orleans, and Memphis in that order. I didn't hear WIIN (or country music on 780) in any of those places. I did, however, hear WBBM in each of them.
On Monday afternoon, I drove through Jackson on the run from New Orleans to Memphis, but I was mostly listening to online streaming audio with an occasional flip to WJDX. No "dial spinning". So I didn't check out 780 (or anything else other than 'JDX on 620).
I used to have a major customer in Jackson and would typically get into town 2-3 times most years. My recall was that 780 had a pretty good signal....as did the now-also-defunct 5kw signal on 720. I also recall that one of those two had really lousy audio, but forget which one. (As for 'JDX "back in the day"....great signal, great audio, great station.)
MarioMania said:
I've heard WBBM in Southern Mexico & Puerto Rico.
How far can KKOH be heard in the east right before WBBM takes over??
C
cd637299
Guest
MarioMania said:
Probably no farther than central Nevada! As they have to protect WBBM, which is non-directional, they have to send their signal toward the Pacific. I have to look again, but I think I heard KKOH in Alaska when I was stationed there 1978-80 (but no Chicago stations at all, in my 2 years of trying).
There *is* the 780 in Sedona AZ which also has to protect WBBM....because *it* is out West too, you can see that KKOH cannot leave a large footprint.
cd
Have anyone tried WBBM is CA??
I'm trying like nulling KKOH out, not working
I'm trying like nulling KKOH out, not working
MarioMania said:
These days it would be tough getting WBBM in the far west. However, in the 60s, 70s, & 80s, WBBM & WLS came in very well in the west--especially WLS. In fact in 1978 I heard both WLS & WBBM in Hawaii.
radioman148 said:
From Utah, I would routinely get KAZM Sedona after dark as the dominant with a faint KKOH in the background (after sunset in Reno). Prior to sunset in Reno, KKOH booms in for a time. Now, a few miles to the northeast in SW WY - east of the Wasatch Mountains - I have gotten WBBM at night, along with KAZM. They would fight it out and WBBM would usually win. Something about those mountains seems to block out signals from the east while enhancing those from the west. And yes, I know the signal characteristics of the MW band.
Either way, it would be almost impossible to get WBBM in California at night with the way things are now. You'd need several different radio stations to go off the air AND excellent atmospheric conditions for it to happen. Same is true of the other Chicago 50 kw signals. It's quite unfortunate because I know that it was possible in the past.
BRNout said:
Not only was it possible in the past, it was normal. I've picked up the four Chicago ND clears from Seattle to San Diego in the good ole days.
WLS was especially strong in Southern California almost nightly in the 70s & 80s on a car radio. From my experience WLS was the last one to be heard on a regular basis into the mid 80s when KDXU would signoff at midnight.
When living in Riverside, CA in the early 60's, WLS was a regular for me. I particularly enjoyed listening to Clark Webber's Silver Dollar Survey after 10 PM Pacific Time each night. Of all the "big four" in Chicago, WLS was the strongest and most dependable signal for me, followed by WGN and WBBM.
KR4BD said:
WLS was the only one that I couldn't get from Evanston, WY. On the other hand, WGN came in VERY well, WBBM was okay, WSCR was weak and WLS did not exist. 890 was KDXU St George, UT and a weak KJME from Fountain, CO.
In contemporary times, I have never picked up anything from Chicago when on the west coast.
BRNout said:
The last time I picked up anything from Chicago on the west coast was WLS in the late 80s when KDXU was still signing off at midnight. On a related note I heard WCBS several times on the west coast in the 80s when KRVN went off at midnight CST.
I heard WBBM briefly under KKOH in Napa Valley 2-3 years ago. Offhand, I don't remember if I had KKOH nulled or if perhaps that might be a KKOH nighttime convergence zone.
Also to expand on my earlier post..... I did hear WBBM in my New Orleans hotel room this past weekend. One of the few skywave signals strong enough to penetrate the high rise building.
Also to expand on my earlier post..... I did hear WBBM in my New Orleans hotel room this past weekend. One of the few skywave signals strong enough to penetrate the high rise building.
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