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AM Frequency of the week: 1110
- Thread starter cyberdad
- Start date
In a market like LA, 20 kw on 1110 is not a powerhouse. And the night signal is very directional to the southwest, with nearly nok signal to the east, norrtheast, north and south. It misses a big part of the San Fernando Valley, and only covers the NW corner of Orange County at night.
It has a better night signal in Hawaii than in Redlands or Victorville.
The station is very directional to protect other stations on 1110 which have priority.
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Actually there is a station in Hawaii on 1110 now that mostly blocks this signal, but your point is well taken as the fish in the Pacific have a better chance to hear this station than most people in the San Fernando Valley at night.
However, back in the 60s when this frequency was the original KRLA they did put a little bit more signal to the north as I heard them fairly well in the Bay area at night.
Given the terrain on Maui and the station's transmitter location, I wonder if LA's 1110 might be the better signal on the NE shore of the island of Hawai'i.
KTNQ in LA, another of the "you can't hear it 10 miles east of the transmitter" California directionals, used to get frequent calls from all over the islands for its talk format in the late 90's.
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Indeed KTNQ comes in very well in Hawaii. One of the best mainland signals. Regarding 1110, If Gar reads this he can fill us in if KRDC can be heard there. I know when I was on Oahu 8 years ago I heard the Maui station. However, 40 years ago I heard KRLA out there before the Maui station was on.
Not trying to be a jerk here, but why isn't 20KW a powerhouse? if 50KW is a blowtorch, why can't 20KW be a powerhouse. Considering most modest AM stations are either 5-10KW at night, while the heavy hitters are 50KW. You don't see many AM stations in the 20-45KW range at night. This is why I said powerhouse. I know there are a few other stations in the LA area that are 35KW-45KW, and those are certainly powerhouse's as well. I have seen the pattern at radio locator, and I still think its a waste.
When you say "protect other stations on 1110 which have priority", what stations are we talking about? KEJL out of New Mexico? KLIB out of Roseville, Ca? These stations are to far away, and fine in their local regional markets with there rated effected power output. I can't even pick up KLIB, even though its beam pattern is almost facing me. I doubt KRDC would effect KILB in Sacramento if the pattern was shifted a bit more north and south, but the FCC figures otherwise.
No doubt Hawaii probably gets it better than I do at night. BTW, I'm aware of KAOI on the island. If there was a priority, KAOI would be it, as most of that 20KW is headed toward Hawaii anyways.
20 kw in the higher part of the AM band is not a particularly great facility. "hen it is both highly directional out over the ocean and located in the lower ground conductivity area of the market, it is even less a facility of note.
By world standards, 50 kw is medium power at best. And not all 50 kw stations are "blowtorch" facilities; I'd rather have 5 kw on 570 in LA than 50 kw at 1110 and, even worse, 50 kw on 1540 or 1580.
The reason for that is the FCC had rigid power levels of 250 watts, 500 watts, 1 kw, 5 kw, 10 kw, and 50 kw for decades. They allowed 25 kw as an intermediate level, but more recently. Then they decided that any power that met protection requirements and the limits on each class of channel could be applied for. So levels like 20 kw were not even available to AM stations until some time in, IIRC, the 80's.
At night, prinicpally, KFAB in Omaha, the former 1-B clear on the channel. It must be severely protected out 600 miles from Omaha, so only a tiny amount of power can be radiated in that direction (Meaning no signal from KRDC can overlap the night signal of KFAB in its protected contour meaning nearly no power towards Nebraska) . The secondary protection is to XERED in Mexico City, a 100 kw day / 50 kw night allocation; that's why the signal towards the SE is limited (there is a null right over Riverside).
And while it is no longer on the air, they protect the allocation of what was CHQT in Edmonton, Alberta.
They also have to protect adjacent channels.
My understanding is that, with the very tough protections at night, the station was designed in part to put as much signal over the LA basin in the daytime so as not to have separately shaped coverage day and night.
KAOI is a recent allocation; 1110 in LA does not protect it.
My wife's brother lives in the high desert about 75 miles east of downtown L.A. Out where he is, KFAB at night routinely mixes with if not overpowers the Pasadena on a frequent basis. Before he moved out there, he lived near the Ontario airport, where KFAB was a frequent intruder on what was then KRLA's nighttime signal.
And to another of David's points. During my college days in Southeastern Iowa, 50kw KFAB was/is absent during the daylight hours with its non-directional signal. Meanwhile, (then) WOW with a 5kw non-directional signal on 590 was perfectly listenable during the day. (The distance involved was about 260 miles.)
Yes, those low frequencies make a big difference in groundwave reception. In Galena, Il I heard WNAX Yankton, SD midday at about 350 miles. Not a strong signal, but definitely listenable.
I have been told that in the 40's and 50's WNAX was one of America's highest billing radio stations, based on the large amount of agribusiness accounts it carried due to its wide reach across some of the country's richest farmland.
Keep asking questions. That is one of the purposes of these boards.
Another old thread I never participated in. D'oh.
Mine's easy. Here in central Baldwin Co., Alabama it's Buddy Tucker's "Tower of Faith" WTOF in Bay Minette all day. It's 2.5 kW daytime only* about 30 miles north of me.
At night it's more often than not KFAB, with WBT making just one lone appearance in the last few years.
* - IIRC this was one of our area stations that was widely known for years to be running all night when it shouldn't have been, along with Tucker's 1360 WMOB staying on their daytime pattern at night. Both being heard regularly a long way off where they shouldn't be!
Mine's easy. Here in central Baldwin Co., Alabama it's Buddy Tucker's "Tower of Faith" WTOF in Bay Minette all day. It's 2.5 kW daytime only* about 30 miles north of me.
At night it's more often than not KFAB, with WBT making just one lone appearance in the last few years.
* - IIRC this was one of our area stations that was widely known for years to be running all night when it shouldn't have been, along with Tucker's 1360 WMOB staying on their daytime pattern at night. Both being heard regularly a long way off where they shouldn't be!
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:
Daytime: WMBI, the closest AM station to my location only 2.5 miles away, but thanfully they are only a daytimer
Nightime: WBT or KFAB
DX/RETRO: my best catch on this frequency is WHIM (East Providence, RI) making it my only station heard from this state. Others include KTE (Alvin, TX), WUNN (Mason, MI), WJML (Petoskey, MI), WKRA (Holly Spring, MS), WKDZ (Cadiz, KY) and WBCA (Bay Mitette, AL) during an emergency broadcast. YVQT, Venezueka and XERED, Mexico City my two foreign catches.
Daytime: WMBI, the closest AM station to my location only 2.5 miles away, but thanfully they are only a daytimer
Nightime: WBT or KFAB
DX/RETRO: my best catch on this frequency is WHIM (East Providence, RI) making it my only station heard from this state. Others include KTE (Alvin, TX), WUNN (Mason, MI), WJML (Petoskey, MI), WKRA (Holly Spring, MS), WKDZ (Cadiz, KY) and WBCA (Bay Mitette, AL) during an emergency broadcast. YVQT, Venezueka and XERED, Mexico City my two foreign catches.
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