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AM BAND SCAN FROM ROATAN HONDURAS

E

everydayguy

On a short winter vacation on Roatan island just off the Honduras coast, I found some time last night to fire up my little Kaito 1103 portable radio to see what I could get on the AM band from the U-S mainland. I used the built in loop antenna.

TIME: 10:20 pm Central Time
DATE: January 2, 2013

Observations:

1. Amazingly crowded band with very few clear channels -- mostly overlapping Spanish-language radio stations at every dial position.

2. Was able to receive 8 English stations from the U-S with only one of them consistently breaking through the co-channel noise.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE STATIONS RECEIVED:

680 -- Heard a classic country song almost all the way through before being swamped by Spanish station. Never heard ID. Could it be KKYX San Antonio at 10kw DA?

740 -- Confirmed KTRH Houston ID -- mostly buried by a very loud Spanish language station.

790 -- Heard Sports talk KBME from Houston enough to ID Houston commercials. Fought it out with several stations including the Cuban "time" station.

820 -- WBAP from Fort Worth -- clear but faint -- long enough to hear positive station ID.

1080 - Possibly KRLD Dallas - much interference -- no ID.

1250 - fairly loud English langauge station with political talk -- never heard ID -- ???

1560 - consistenly loud and clear Yahoo Sports Network
station- had to leave before I got an ID but I'm just about positive it was Houston's KGOW.

Seems like Texas stations are most likely to be heard here at night...would have liked to ID the Spanish language stations, but my Spanish speaking skills not so good.

everydayguy
 
Could be WHNZ in Tampa, FL with News/Talk. Nice catches however! That area is gorgeous, not so much on the AM dial with all the Spanish stuff overlapping.

-crainbebo
 
Go ahead and confirm the 1560 as KGOW. It's the flagship station for Yahoo Sports and the night pattern is favorable for reception in parts of Central America, along with cruise ships in the Gulf Of Mexico!
 
I have clearly heard KGOW at night while in Cartagena, Colombia. They were a "standout" in terms of being an easy U.S. station to catch in that area.

In a few weeks, I will be in Honduras and Belize and hope to give my Tecsun PL-606 a good workout while there.
 
No surprise on KTRH as I've heard them many times in Southern Mexico in the past.
They send a good signal southward.
Good catches!
 
everydayguy said:
On a short winter vacation on Roatan island just off the Honduras coast, I found some time last night to fire up my little Kaito 1103 portable radio to see what I could get on the AM band from the U-S mainland. I used the built in loop antenna.

TIME: 10:20 pm Central Time
DATE: January 2, 2013

Observations:

1. Amazingly crowded band with very few clear channels -- mostly overlapping Spanish-language radio stations at every dial position.

2. Was able to receive 8 English stations from the U-S with only one of them consistently breaking through the co-channel noise.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE STATIONS RECEIVED:

680 -- Heard a classic country song almost all the way through before being swamped by Spanish station. Never heard ID. Could it be KKYX San Antonio at 10kw DA?

740 -- Confirmed KTRH Houston ID -- mostly buried by a very loud Spanish language station.

790 -- Heard Sports talk KBME from Houston enough to ID Houston commercials. Fought it out with several stations including the Cuban "time" station.

820 -- WBAP from Fort Worth -- clear but faint -- long enough to hear positive station ID.

1080 - Possibly KRLD Dallas - much interference -- no ID.

1250 - fairly loud English langauge station with political talk -- never heard ID -- ???

1560 - consistenly loud and clear Yahoo Sports Network
station- had to leave before I got an ID but I'm just about positive it was Houston's KGOW.

Seems like Texas stations are most likely to be heard here at night...would have liked to ID the Spanish language stations, but my Spanish speaking skills not so good.

everydayguy
Click to expand...

Any sign of WWL 870 or WOAI 1200?

KKYX sounds right for 680. They are the only country station I could find on that frequency and the pattern favors the SE.
 
I don't know if it's still possible, but I've heard that WROA in Gulfport, MS could once be heard in Honduras. I've also heard that banana boat crew members would sometimes pick up WROA bumper stickers. They ran 5000 watts directional with most of signal directed out over the Gulf of Mexico.
 
Good catch with KTRH, whose pattern does not favor that direction. Many other Houston stations do, though. They just slap signal over the city and beyond from their transmitters north of town (or, in KGOW's case, west).
 
To the OP: I believe there is a local English station on 101.1 FM, correct? If so, what is their specialty?

Also.....this will be a very difficult catch, but WKWF 1600 Key West (sports talk, mostly network I believe) really gets out, even with only 500 watts (nondirectional). Give 1600 a try!

cd
 
I'm also curious about WWL.

I think with their nulls to the southeast and southwest, they could be a tough catch. To my surprise, I never heard them during my three-day visit to Key West last February. (Although DX conditions where I was were generally pretty lousy).
 
Just a quick follow-up to my Roatan, Honduras AM band scan report from earlier this week.

To answer your questions since my original post:

1. I tried 1600 after your suggestion here, but I never could get WKWF in Key West...two Spanish-language stations were fading in and out at 1600.

2. Yes I did listen to FM there -- and 101.1 was English...seemed to be playing reggae-style music.

3. Yes, getting KTRH at night surprised me a lot given their night pattern. That was totally unexpected -- it was a faint signal that was fading in and out, but it was still clear enough to hear a KTRH ID.

4. Never heard WROA myself, but a 5kw night with a signal over the Gulf, it doesn't surpise me that it can be caught -- just not on the night I had the little Kaito out.

5. No WWL in sight -- tried hard for that one -- only Spanish radio was heard at 870. Also, 1200 WOAI was missing in action -- odd that I caught some KKYX in San Antonio, but not WOAI.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions!
 
I'd love to hear more about FM. I'm betting there'd be some pretty decent tropospheric propagation there from time to time, quite possibly to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Or is the band too crowded for anything outside the area to make it through?
 
It doesn't surprise me that KTRH gets into Central America. Back in the 70s & 80s when I visited southern Mexico, KTRH had the most dependable signal from the US.
 
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