AM Frequency of the Week - 1030 kHz

[dave73]

I have heard WNVR on night power. It's a pretty lousy signal, and basically aimed away from the areas they're trying to cover (so they can protect WBZ). I'm pretty comfortable in saying their night signal comes nowhere near their COL, Vernon Hills. Let alone Chicago. I can hear WBZ under it, and I'm two miles from the stick, west of Crystal Lake.

But the fact of the matter is they're almost always off at night. I'm not sure what the deal is with that. Perhaps someone else here would know.

Here's what I found: WNVR filed an STA request last month so they could repair some damage done by "a series of storms": https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/w...xt=25&appn=101559719&formid=911&fac_num=52910

Apparently they're still operating non-directional with 25% of their licensed power for each level---day, critical hours and night.

Based on the STA that Polnet is requesting for WNVR, they haven't increased their day & nighttime power yet. They're still at 10kw days, & 120 watts at night.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Back in the 1960s, I had a Remco Caravelle. I used to "broadcast" on 1030, as there were no nearby stations except 20 kHz away or more in the daytime. The Caravelle drifted a lot, and even people 100 feet away said they couldn't hear it, as it would drift up to near 1050 kHz, where WPAG had a signal in the 1 mV/m range.

Most people will tell you that if they had a Caravelle, it was almost impossible to increase the efficiency, even under Part 15. It seems like anything you did reduced the efficiency. It rarely got out more than 300 feet even on the best vacant freqeuncies. I kept looking at a graph that claimed that you could get an efficiency of 100 mV/m at 1 mile at 1 kW with an antenna that complied with Part 15, meaning that 100 mW would put an inverse field of 1 mV/m at 1 mile. The Caravelle never even came close to that. But it was a fun gift to have received, and I never thought of it as just a toy.

 

[rfry]

Back in the 1960s, I had a Remco Caravelle. I used to "broadcast" on 1030 ... It rarely got out more than 300 feet even on the best vacant frequencies.

The field strength limit for unlicensed AM systems using 1030 kHz permitted under FCC §15.209 is 23.3 µV/m at a distance of 30 meters from the transmit antenna. That Remco system might have been compliant with §15.209, or ~close to it.

Nowadays the FCC has §15.209 AND an alternate rule (§15.219) allowing 100 mW of d-c input power to the final r-f stage, and an antenna system with a total radiating length of 3 meters, including the conductor to r-f ground.

After §15.219 was added, some people began adding a loading coil at the base of a ~3-meter whip, to resonate the whip and improve the radiation efficiency of that antenna system.

Still later such systems were installed on elevated, grounded structures when it became apparent that the useful coverage areas of such elevated systems were enhanced. The reason for that was not the greater elevation of the 3-m whip, but the increased radiation from the r-f current flowing along that elevated mounting structure or other conductors connected between the transmitter chassis and a true r-f ground (conductors buried in the earth).

But even a system in functional compliance with §15.219 and mounted outdoors with the base of the 3-m whip just a few inches above the earth can produce groundwave fields considerably higher than permitted by §15.209.

Below is a link to a comparison of the fields produced by some of these configurations.

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h85/rfry-100/150_microvolt_per_meterRadius_Part_.gif

 

[benale]

I was on a bus from Cleveland to Pittsburgh a few months ago listening at about 10PM. I noticed a sign indicating Pittsburgh was 30 miles away. I was picking up WBZ loud and clear over KDKA.

 

[cyberdad]

Here's what I found: WNVR filed an STA request last month so they could repair some damage done by "a series of storms": https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/w...xt=25&appn=101559719&formid=911&fac_num=52910

Apparently they're still operating non-directional with 25% of their licensed power for each level---day, critical hours and night.

I hadn't heard about this, but it makes perfect sense. I've lived in the same house for 33 years, and a little less than three weeks ago, we had some of the worst storms during my time here. It happened the first night I was away on my road trip, and since I returned last weekend, I've been involved in cleanup. Fortunately my homeowners insurance covers it.

Anyway, I'm now just about finished with the cleanup/repair stuff. So as I travel around locally during the next couple of weeks, I'll try to get a feel for how well WNVR is doing on STA. I doubt that I'll notice anything here at home since I'm so close to their towers.

 

[Time Traveler]

In Saratoga Springs NY...It is WBZ 24/7....with some interference from WWGB around sunset and sunrise....

 

[stormy01]

But the fact of the matter is they're almost always off at night. I'm not sure what the deal is with that. Perhaps someone else here would know.

As cyberdad and radioman have noted, the WNVR night signal is almost never on, and I agree with them, except to satisfy the FCC requirements to be on "once a year" at the night authorization! That night signal is quite useless more than about 5 miles west and about 2 miles east of the towers and maybe good for up to 7-8 miles north or south of the towers! Clobbered by WBZ! Recall someone saying elsewhere that the newer class D stations were authorized the lower night power, whether stations wanted to operate at night at the lower power was their choice. WNVR first broadcast in 1988. Possibly, if WNVR kept their daytime site in Vernon Hills near U.S. Rte. 45 and Butterfield Rd., and added a tower, they might have been able to operate at night and would have been able to cover more population. A two site operation. I don't recall exactly when 1030 moved to the Mount Thabor and State Rte. 176 site, possibly the early to mid-90's? It is not known if WNVR ever explored the option to get a night site closer to the city. Back in 1988, I don't think Polnet yet owned 1330 in Northbrook, so diplexing that site wouldn't have been an option at that time. From Northbrook, they could possibly have had enough signal to reach Chicago proper, assuming they could operate at 120 watts like they could from Crystal Lake (Woodstock) 210 watts would be the new night power level when the 27kW daytime/8kW critical hours signal is started...

 

[Lewtheprof]

Here in SW Florida, there is absolutely nothing to hear on 1030 KHz during the daylight hours.

Just before the sunset hours I can begin to clearly hear a US Government broadcast (Call letters "JTF-Haiti") I think out of the Homestead Radio Facility (100 miles distant) the broadcast of which is supposedly directed toward Haiti. It is in Creole but the program I heard was an announcer with excellent Creole and English skills giving English lessons, starting with what the English alphabet was and how to pronounce each letter.

Next, some minutes before sunset, At 155 miles distant, the Oviedo, Fl station (WONQ) briefly comes blasting in to the exclusion of all else (the JTF-Haiti station is gone), probably squeaking through just before they switch to their night time pattern and more significantly, drop down from 45 KW to 1.7 KW. It is a Spanish only station, catering to the local Hispanic population.

Right around sunset, WONQ suddenly disappears, giving way to yet another station with a Creole speaker, this time coming from straight south or perhaps north of here (the JTF-Haiti station is from SW). It's unidentified, as I never heard (or understood) an ID. By 45 minutes after sunset though, it's on and off, nothing but a noisy jumble, with the Creole programming station still fighting the good fight to stay on top. An hour after sunset it finally firms up to become mostly strong and steady. The only thing straight south of here is Marathon Key, Havana Cuba, then Nueva Gerona (Cuba) and finally, the Cayman Islands, none of which are Creole speaking to any extent. I am really scratching my head about this one.

 

[jd]

For what's it worth, I was able to locate this item about JTF Haiti radio: http://mediumwave.info/newsarchive_h.html

As you can see the info is from 2010, but maybe the station is still on.

 

[robotique]

Very interesting info about JTF Haiti. what a catch too!

Here just minutes west of Boston (and 18 miles from their xmtr), it's WBZ all day and all night. Although the IBOC noise is there, I am still able to log the adjacent frequencies with multiple receivers no problem. KDKA 1020, WHO 1140, WNJE 1040 (//WCHR), and even a new logging last week CJMS 1040!