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AM bandscan, Spring/north Houston (09-13-13)

P

purpledevil

Guest
Bandscans from way down here seemingly are rare so thought I'd document a whirl of the dial for everyone. Short on time as i was killing time before i headed to work,ki so its only a partial. Signals originate from Texas unless otherwise noted. Scan done at 7:00 am.

550 KTSA-San Antonio (newstalk) fair
560 KLVI-Beaumont (newstalk) good
570 KLIF-Dallas (newstalk) fair
580 KJMJ-Alexandria, LA (religious) weak
590 KLBJ-Austin (newstalk) good
600 KTBB-Tyler (newstalk) weak
610 KILT-Houston (sports) local
630 KSLR-San Antonio (religious) weak
650 KIKK-Pasadena (sports) good
660 KSKY-Balch Springs (talk) weak
680 KKYX-San Antonio (country) fair
690 WQNO-New Orleans, LA (religious) weak
700 KSEV-Tomball (talk) local
710 KEEL-Shreveport, LA (newstalk) weak, it gets hammered by KSEV.
720 KSAH-Universal City (regional Mexican) good, constant & reliable signal from S.A. area.
740 KTRH-Houston (newstalk) local
760 KTKR-San Antonio (sports) fair
790 KBME-Houston (sports) local
810 UNID very weak, may be XERI-Reynosa,TA but it is not AC music.
820 WBAP-Fort Worth (newstalk) fair
850 KEYH-Houston (ranchera) good but a trace of KOA was still underneath it at 7.
860 KONO-San Antonio (country) weak
870 WWL-New Orleans, LA. fair, noticeably weaker than at night.
880 KJOZ-Conroe (religious) local
900 KREH-Pecan Grove (Asain) good
920 KYST-Texas City (newstalk in Spanish) fair /good
930 KLUP-Terrell Hills (newstalk) weak, but there
950 KPRC-Houston (talk) local
970 XEO-Matamoros, TA this is a new log for me. 1kW from just on the other side of the border. Weak, but clearly heard "Radio Gallito" imaging.
980 KQUE-Rosenberg (religious) good
1010 KLAT-Houston (newstalk in Spanish) local
1030 KCTA-Corpus Christi (religious) good
1050 KCHN-Brookshire (brokered) weak, XEG Monterrey, NL stepping all over it.
1070 KNTH-Houston (newstalk) local
1080 KRLD-Dallas (newstalk) fair
1090 KULF-Bellville (brokered) local
1110 KVTT-Mineral Wells (brokered) good, no sign of semi local KTEK-Alvin.
1120 KMOX-Saint Louis, MO. fair. surprised me that it was still there after all the daytime sign ons.
1130 KWKH -Shreveport, LA (sports) fair, I still find it odd not to hear country at 1130.
1140 KYOK-Conroe (Gospel) apparently, it's back on the air. Local.
1150 KZNE-College Station (sports) fair
1170- unID playing nortenos. This one stumps me.
1180 KGOL-Humble (sports in Spanish) local
1200 WOAI-San Antonio (newstalk) good
1230 KCOH-Houston (urban oldies) fair,certainly not the signal it used to have.
1250 KDEI-Port Arthur (religious) fair
1260 unID Regional Mexican, maybe Elgin
1270 KFLC -Fort Worth (Regional Mexican) weak
1280 KWHI-Brenham (news) fair
...and this is where I had to stop as the Mrs. was ready to go. Will finish tomorrow at the same time. Gotta remember to log XEO!
 
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I left out KAAM Garland at 770, (standards) fair signal.
 
Good stuff. Thanks for posting. Last time I was in Houston (two years ago), one of the better skywave signals was from XERF (1570), which has become all but invisible here in the Midwest.
 
What is interesting to me is how a few miles makes a tremendous difference on some frequencies. From my west Houston location - longenbaugh and Fry on the border between Katy and Cypress, I have the following differences:

580 is all XEMU. Not a trace of Alexandria
590 gets serious interference from XEFD
620 XEGH is weak, but there. No trace of Dallas powerhouse KMKI except at night.
780 is receivable with Spanish language and music.

WWL, KRLD, KAAM are much weaker at this location.
 
I have logged XEMU before, Bruce, but you are right. Those few miles must make a difference as I don't receive it with any consistency. Cyberdad, you are spot on. Like XEG, XERF is another absolute blaster here. All night, every night, and even into the early hours after sunrise 1570 is right there. As promised, AM bandscan part II starting at 7:20am, 09-14-13.

1290 Can't confirm it, but it is Spanish Christian music this morning which would be KRGE Weslaco. weak.
1300 KVET Austin (sports) fair
1310 Thought I had KTCK Dallas until I heard a spot for a business in Lake Charles. Lo and behold it's KEZM Sulphur LA (sports) weak.
1320 KXYZ Houston (brokered) local.
1340 KVNN Victoria (newstalk) weak
1360 KWWJ Baytown (Gospel) fair
1370 KJCE Rollingwood (talk) fair/weak
1380 KRCM Shenandoah (religious) local.
1390 KULP El Campo (country) weak and splattered on by KRCM.
1400 KHCB League City (religious) weak
1410 KHCH Huntsville (religious) weak
1430 KSHJ Houston (religious) local. Note: La Promesa put some time and $ into 1430. Signal had really deteriorated under KCOH management. Signal is amazing these days.
1450 KIKR Beaumont (sports) fair
1460 KBRZ Missouri City (brokered) good. Recently signed on an FM translator at 95.1 resulting them abandoning the 1460 image.
1470 KLCL Lake Charles, LA (Cajun) very weak but you can't mistake that sound. Swamp music is like nothing else.
1480 KLVL Pasadena (brokered) good.
1490 KHVL Huntsville (oldies) weak. IDing as 104.9 now. Wonder when that happened?
1510 KBED Nederland (sports) simulcast of KIKR. Very weak and interference from KYND.
1520 KYND Cypress (brokered) local.
1530 KGBT Harlingen (newstalk in Spanish) fair/weak it too takes a wallop from KYND.
1540 KGBC Galveston (brokered) weak
1560 KGOW Bellaire (sports) good
1570 XERF Ciudad Acuna (regional Mexican) 250kW and they are getting every bit out of it.
1590 KMIC Houston (Radio Disney) local.
1580/1600 are obsolete due to KMIC'S sideband interference here.
1620 WTAW College Station (newstalk) fair.
1660 KRZI Waco (sports) fair
1700 KVNS Brownsville (sports) fair/good. I've noticed 1700 doesn't seem as strong as before and is fighting with the Richardson station more often now.
 
In the mornings and evenings, it's there. In the middle of the day, there's only a faint signal from KVNS. I can hear it, but it's not what it was only a year ago. Something has changed, gar Fla. It didn't used to matter what time of day I checked the dial position, 1700 was there and it was playing oldies. Now, the signal seems to have issues just making it this far inland during the day. At night, KKLF gives it trouble, and that didn't used to be the case.

What about you? KVNS used to clear the Gulf and land on your doorstep all the time from your reports. Have you noticed a decline in 1700's reach?
 
I haven't listened to KVNS ever since the switch to sports. Their top 40 format was the last reminder on the AM dial of what it used to be like DXing in the old days.

As far as your reception being weaker than in the past, the same thing seemed to happen here with WWL. When I first got my Sangean PR-D5 I could get a good listenable signal here in Tampa all day with little WGUL splatter. Then it got weaker and now I can barely hear it in the daytime.

I'm wondering if it has something to do with a change in the salinity of the Gulf? Maybe the time I heard WWL so good daytime all the way inland here was because the salt content of the Gulf was higher than average. It is normal to have seasonal changes in salinity and it could possibly be more extreme at times than normal. The same thing could possibly account for your no longer hearing KVNS as well.
 
That seems a logical explanation to me. Of course, those of us over here in the armpit of the Gulf tend to worry more about the levels of oil than salt in the water. Lol. Sad, but true. KVNS really hasn't lost much at night. I'll get KKLF breaking through sometimes, but KVNS comes back on top pretty quickly. Once in a while, the two signals will wave back and forth with each other.
 
purpledevil. Thanks for the thorough bandscan. I'll put it to good use on my next visit with my daughter who lives in Houston. She lives west, not far off the Katy freeway.
 
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As far as KVNS, when I lived out in League City in 2008 and 2009, I don't recall hearing it during the day. On Memorial Day 2009, I took a little DXpedition to Galveston and it was a blaster throughout town. I'm sure my reception report from that day still can be found somewhere around here. I specifically remember carrying the signal about 10 miles inland on 45 before it faded.
Given that it's up at 1700, KVNS usually was one of the first stations to come in at critical hours and one of the last to leave in the morning.
I'll second the earlier comments about how a short distance makes a huge difference in reception down there. All the directional signals day and night really help make things fascinating (certainly including the AM 1010 conundrum, where in the far-flung reaches of the metro Houston's own 1010 is pretty much wiped out by Waco). My regrets as far as that's concerned are I never got to do a bandscan from the far northern suburbs at night (talking Conroe and The Woodlands), nor did I ever get to travel back behind KTRH's pattern at night to hear the difference between being in their null and hearing them from in front of the monster lobe they throw over Houston itself.
 
XERF hasn't run 250KW in ages. The claim by those more knowledgeable than I am is that it's 50KW on a good day/night.
They're still heard here in Dallas at night.
 
XERF may not be at the 250kW they're licensed for, but it shoots enough this way to block anything else from overtaking 1570 from it. It, like XEG, is a monster. Now that you've got me curious, I wonder what would happen here if XERF powered up to the full 250kW? That'd have to spell trouble for the local adjacent KGOW at night.

Schmave: next time I drive up to Conroe, I'd be happy to jot down a scan and pm it to you. The null of KTRH is pretty severe, especially at night. Having done many jobs in The Woodlands, I can verify that KTRH's signal struggles in the township. I imagine by the time it reaches Conroe it's pretty well gone. I can pick up KTRH pretty well at the house in Bellville, but that's with the receiver hooked to a 30 foot outdoor antenna. A normal set up would more than likely have issues with KTRH.

You hit the nail on the head with KLAT. When it drops off, it drops off like a lead weight. In Bellville, it's completely KBBW Waco @ 1010. I don't listen to either station, but it seems like it's around Cypress/Hockley when Houston's 1010 starts showing. Going west towards Katy, I'd imagine you lose it sometime around the Katy Mills Mall, if even that far.
 
Regarding KWKH; I once heard it here in VA at night when the station had transmitter issues; the station had a classic country format at that time. I remember hearing Charlie Daniels' "In American" at that time. From what I've heard the station no longer plays country. I've heard KVNS too when it played a Bee Gees song when it was an oldies station.
 
purpledevil said:
My pleasure, icangelp. Depending on how far down the Katy Freeway your daughter lives, I'd like to recommend 1390 from El Campo. The further west you are, the better the signal will be. Its 500w during the day and a mere 180w at night. If you're interested in a good, homegrown, mom & pop sound station, this is the little gem for you.

www.kulpradio.com

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KULP&service=AM&status=L&hours=D
Click to expand...

I just read your reply.

My daughter lives just south of the Katy near the Sam Houston Freeway. Somewhere between 50 - 60 miles away from the KULP towers.

Might be a stretch even in day time, but I'll give it a shot.

Love the KULP website, although I would dispute that the Polka Party is the longest running show on radio.

As I recall, the King Biscuit Time show on KFFA in Helena AR has been on since 1941 with the same host doing the show since 1942. Sonny Payne?
 
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