-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
A FEW RECENT DX CATCHES ON AM
- Thread starter stormy01
- Start date
I was up in central Wisconsin this week, about 200 miles north of Chicago. I noticed that Chicago's best nighttime signal is WYLL 1160. They blast in with that new night DA. It used to be that I couldn't even hear them up there at night.
radioman148 said:
The old WYLL DA-N with 5kW was almost the same direction (SE) as the current daytime DA (Ballard Rd./I-294 Des Plaines site) but with deeper nulls at night to protect Salt Lake City, Detroit, Cincinnati, Indiana(PA), etc. The WYLL signal was horrible to the N/NW/W at night, even only 15 miles away from the towers in those directions.
On another note - It's too bad that little 950 in Sheboygan is operating at night, that's probably part of the reason that WNTD (Avenue 950) cannot relax its tight DA to the north/northwest. If WNTD could work out a deal with WCLB (950 in Sheboygan) and move it to another frequency that would be great. If Avenue 950 could change its pattern and/or up its power and we could hear it better in the north/northwest suburbs. Then it might even boom into Milwaukee with its 5kW. For a station with such a long history it ought to have a metro coverage signal!
stormy01 said:
I heard WNTD at night in central Wisconsin, but it was very tough in the clutter. I don't know how much they could relax that DA because they must protect WWJ.
radioman148 said:
It doesn't seem too far-fetched that some really good engineering could cram co- and adjacent-channel stations in really tight. For instance, look on a map how 1040-1050-1060 are crammed in between NYC, NJ and Philly (less than 100 miles from each other) and many of us have heard of the four 1520's in No. Ohio (2 near Toledo and 2 near Akron-Canton) I say Ave. 950 could restrict the signal to all directions except north and northwest, however I have no idea how many towers that would take! (hopefully not the 12 towers that 1190 in Dallas has!)
stormy01 said:
You're right it could be done, but would they be willing to spend the money to do it?
I've heard KWTO under WIND and also have heard KLZ Denver a few times in the past.
stormy01 said:
The situation with the stations on 1520 in the Toledo area is a little different, although it still took a lot of creative engineering to do it. The stations are roughly 50 miles apart with WNWT Rossford/Toledo having brutal nulls to the west to protect WQCT Bryan, which happens to be non-directional.
As for the Kent and Canton stations, it's really messy. It was discussed a few years ago on the Ohio board, although I can't seem to find it in the archives; seems there was a battle between two applicants and the FCC allowed them both to be licensed if they accepted mutual interference, and there's plenty of that. Check the patterns and the overlap between these 1K daytimers:
www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WJMP&service=AM&status=L&hours=D (6 tower)
www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WINW&service=AM&status=L&hours=D (4 towers) BTW, those transmitter sites are a mere 22 miles apart. I've never heard of any other co-channel AM's anywhere near that close.
stormy01 said:
There are plenty of stations that are low powered or daytime that have even longer histories... WHA in Madison comes to mind... but because of regulation, legislation or simple inertia just never got better facilities.
Sheboygan has very little good local service... only 3 FMs (other than a variety of translators) have a 64 dbu or better signal over the "downtown" ZIP code of the city, and only three AMs have good day and night signals (one is from Milwaukee) and another nearby station one has a fair signal. By the standards of most of the US, Sheboygan is rather underserved (which is why there are all those translators).
Sacrificing a local service in a smaller, underserved area so that Chicago, which badly does not need another deficient AM in an era when AM is dying, can get another bad signaled facility just does not calculate.
Moving a directional AM to another channel today is nearly impossible. The expense of designing and building a new directional antenna is horrendous, without even considering the NIMBY and zoning issues. There are probably no available frequenies, or someone would have filed for them eons ago.
stormy01 said:
I have never heard WEBC or WFIL here. I have heard WIP on 610 from Philly.
WEBC sends most of their signal north. That would be a tough catch.
stormy01 said:
I have also heard 950 out of Denver in the Chicago area.
DavidEduardo said:
It's a shame back in the day when WAAF was broadcasting they had no desire for nighttime operation. That's when they could have gotten a better signal. They must have 'called it a day', had their fill and went home when it got dark out. Maybe it was almost an entertainment hobby for them, not a real business. Figured people would watch TV in the evening anyway.
Therefore, Avenue 950 should be on in the daytime, when almost the entire metro can hear it, and put that "Relevant" Radio on at night when nobody is also listening to that god-speak and the signal sux outside the Chicago city limits and maybe the near north shore - lame for a 5kW signal. Almost nobody is listening to that god-speak during the day on 950. Sovereign City would make a LOT more money with Avenue 950 than "Relevant" Radio does.
stormy01 said:
Even if WAAF had wanted nighttime authorization they probably wouldn't have gotten it in the 60s.
Deregulation occurred later.
I do agree it would be nice to be able to hear Avenue 950 better.
cyberdad said:
I've never heard WHBQ. That's got to be a pretty good catch since they beam south with 1KW at night.
stormy01 said:
From my location near Brockville ON (44°35N 75°41W), I'm catching snippets of WFIL right now, fading in and out, but got a positive station ID. Conversation with man and woman, regarding divorce and the Bible. CFOS is underneath and at times breaking on top, slowly winning out...
BG
Tincap said:
I go through Brockville a couple of times each year on my runs between Montreal and either Toronto or upstate New York. Once in a while I stop for the night. If I'm not trying to get some work done in my room, or over at Kelsey's parked behind a cold Alexander Keith's, at some point I'm usually sampling the DX. My experience with 560 has been pretty much the same as yours....CFOS, WFIL, and maybe WGAN or WCKL (if they're even still on). I also seem to remember French from somewhere in Quebec, although I may be thinking of Three Rivers, QC on 550.
- Status