This time of year with a early sunrise that station literally pops on the air at 5am CT, no ID just whatever the FM is playing at the time. Early Saturday I listen to WBBM on the way to work and can't wait until next month when perhaps they will sign on later.
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780 AM
- Thread starter flytrap
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I was in New Orleans earlier this year as well and WBBM was booming in just fine. No sign of the Jackson, MS 780. In addition, 720 WGN came in fairly strong down in the Big Easy.
Speaking of picking up 780 WBBM on the West Coast, here in Phoenix, AZ, every now and then you can get lucky and pick-up WBBM. Most of the time, you have to null out KKOH from Reno, which is pretty easy considering how far away to the northwest it is from Phoenix. KAZM from Sedona, for whatever reason, is almost never picked up down here in Phoenix at night. KAZM must have a favorable antenna pattern away from the city. Even with these favorable conditions, it's still hard to pick-up WBBM. The main culprit being adjacent channel interference from 770 KKOB, which, along with WBBM, is directly northeast from here. But, if KKOH is weak enough and KKOB is not booming in like it usually does, you got a good shot at picking up WBBM. Sometimes I've been really surprised to hear it coming in fairly strong on a normal car radio. Usually the best time to pick up WBBM in Phoenix is in the wintertime.
Regarding 720 WGN, you can also pick that up here in Phoenix if you're lucky. Reception of WGN really depends on how strong 720 KDWN is coming in from Las Vegas. Lucky for us, most of those Nevada stations with signals on the Chicago clear channel frequencies (KDWN and KKOB), point most of their power to the west and away from Phoenix. Being southeast from KKOH, KDWN and KDXU give us a fighting chance to pick-up Chicago clear-channel stations. On the other hand, if you're in California trying to pick-up Chicago stations, you're pretty much out of luck. Every time I go to L.A., KDWN is blasting in on 720 AM, KKOB comes in surprisingly well from Reno and KDXU owns 890 from St. George, Utah. In my experience, the strongest station from the east that you can pick-up in L.A. is 850 KOA from Denver.
Speaking of picking up 780 WBBM on the West Coast, here in Phoenix, AZ, every now and then you can get lucky and pick-up WBBM. Most of the time, you have to null out KKOH from Reno, which is pretty easy considering how far away to the northwest it is from Phoenix. KAZM from Sedona, for whatever reason, is almost never picked up down here in Phoenix at night. KAZM must have a favorable antenna pattern away from the city. Even with these favorable conditions, it's still hard to pick-up WBBM. The main culprit being adjacent channel interference from 770 KKOB, which, along with WBBM, is directly northeast from here. But, if KKOH is weak enough and KKOB is not booming in like it usually does, you got a good shot at picking up WBBM. Sometimes I've been really surprised to hear it coming in fairly strong on a normal car radio. Usually the best time to pick up WBBM in Phoenix is in the wintertime.
Regarding 720 WGN, you can also pick that up here in Phoenix if you're lucky. Reception of WGN really depends on how strong 720 KDWN is coming in from Las Vegas. Lucky for us, most of those Nevada stations with signals on the Chicago clear channel frequencies (KDWN and KKOB), point most of their power to the west and away from Phoenix. Being southeast from KKOH, KDWN and KDXU give us a fighting chance to pick-up Chicago clear-channel stations. On the other hand, if you're in California trying to pick-up Chicago stations, you're pretty much out of luck. Every time I go to L.A., KDWN is blasting in on 720 AM, KKOB comes in surprisingly well from Reno and KDXU owns 890 from St. George, Utah. In my experience, the strongest station from the east that you can pick-up in L.A. is 850 KOA from Denver.
About 2 years ago, I posted a reception report here that I received 780 Chicago in Issaquah, (15 mi E of Seattle) WA on my Radio-Shack Headset Radio. It battled with Reno, which is the normal nightime signal that we receive here.
asugeorge1 said:
Can you still get WLS in Phoenix on occasion?
KeithE4 said:
WSCR is impossible whenever I'm out west with KBOI, The one in Colorado, Vegas, & Simi Valley.
KeithE4 said:
I second that, WLS is almost impossible to pick-up in Phoenix. The last time I heard WLS down here was about five years ago in the middle of winter, but it was barely audible. You have a much better chance catching WBBM or WGN. Last time I heard WBBM was earlier this year sometime in February.
R. Fry said:
I'm kind of surprised you don't hear high angle radiation from WYLL. When they extended daylight savings time during the 1970s energy crisis, some daytime stations like WJJD without PSRA were allowed to operate presunrise with 50 watts. WLIB was the only station who got authorization to operate with more, and that was only allowed 100 watts. I heard WJJD in SE Michigan with just 50 watts, and it faded in and out with KSL with about the same signal strength.
I assume WOI Ames, IA wipes out KFI.
cyberdad said:
I can't get KMOX out west. KPNW covers it up. I can get KFAB in the Southern California desert.
radioman148 said:
I get KFAB here in El Cajon mixing with KDIS, although I have to null the latter to hear them. Most of the time KDIS is on top.
On 1110 from Vallejo, CA
Day - KLIB, Night KLIB/KDIS weak..
Edit: I just turned on my Walkman on AM1110..I'm hearing a weak KFAB under KLIB if I null out KDIS
Day - KLIB, Night KLIB/KDIS weak..
Edit: I just turned on my Walkman on AM1110..I'm hearing a weak KFAB under KLIB if I null out KDIS
WIIN 780 country music is mixing with WBBM here in the Kansas City area this morning. Using 96.3 FM ID (simulcast). Thanks for the tip. Not easy to get Mississippi AM stations up here.
Schroedingers Cat said:
I am listening at a location about 213 miles from WYLL on their 238 degree bearing. Their nighttime groundwave radiation to me is about 21.4 dB below their r.m.s. value. I didn't bother to look at their elevation pattern gain toward me, but the single-skip angle reaching me for a skywave reflecting from the ionosphere at a height of 100 km is about 40 degrees. Probably the WYLL elevation pattern is down another 4-5 dB at that angle.
At about 05:15 CDT here I checked 1160 kHz using my Tecsun PL-310. By nulling its loopstick pattern toward WYLL I can hear a mix of several stations with some intercarrier beating. I couldn't really identify KSL in there, but I have heard their TOH ID here before. I gave up trying for tonight.
This morning, orienting my PL-310 with 8 kHz r-f bandwidth for max pickup toward KFI, I got a mix of low-level stuff I couldn't identify. Rotating the radio 90 degrees produced a dominant signal having Spanish language programming.
Kansas Guy said:
WBBM streams their AM program on the Internet. Even though they have a noisy daytime groundwave and usually a good nighttime signal at my location, I usually listen to them using my VTech IS9181 WiFi radio.
It is a pleasure to hear them (and other stations all over the world) on the WiFi setup, with better audio bandwidth and no skywave fades and/or lightning crashes.
the Spanish language station on 640 was probably WMFN.
R. Fry said:
Agree that WMFN is your most likely suspect. Cuba's powerful 640 might also be a longshot possibility. Although that signal is often pretty well spent by the time it gets past the Ohio River.
As for WOI, they're usually do-able here were I am northwest of Chicago, but the signal is hardly impressive. They get clobbered regularly at night. Daytime, I can sometimes hear them under WMFN.
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