AM Frequency of the Week: 1280

[cyberdad]

What are you guys hearing on 1280?

I thought of 1280 following an unexpected experience while I was on the beach southwest of Pensacola earlier this month. I was doing a daytime bandscan with the Sangean ATS-505, and as expected I heard New Orleans, the usual occupant of 1280 at that location. But I also heard something unexpected underneath....WTMY from Sarasota. No mistaking it. Old school big band nostalgia. A 300-watt pipsqueak making a more than 400-mile hop across the gulf! New Orleans (150 miles away) was comfortably on top, but WTMY was perfectly audible. So that was a definite DX highlight for my trip.

But closer to home, and back to the main topic at hand.... Daytime here in the far northwest Chicago burbs, its a fair signal from semi-local WBIG from Aurora, IL. Nights, it's usually a mess. Nothing on top on a regular basis. Evansville, Indiana used to be the most likely candidate to break through, but it was/is still fairly rare. WWTC from Minneapolis, even more rare. WNAM from Neenah, WI rarer still.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Daytime here in NEPA, semi-local Berwick 1280 is loud enough to be a 4th or 5th button choice. They used to be Oldies back in the early 90's, and had a nice playlist.

Toward sunset, they'd invariably get shouldered around quite a bit by WADO NYC. WADO is the big signal at night (although I * did * hear the then-WFBS WAYYY under them one night).

Nighttimes have been curious here, even with WADO on full-steam. There's a log (and tape) from WWOK in Indiana. Five years later I logged WFYC from Alma Michigan after dark, with some local sports event. The logbooks and Radio Locator all say that WFYC is 1000 watts omni day and 56 whole watts omni at night.
Ohhhh-kayyyy......

Just checked : Yup. 12-3-99 was a Friday night -- prime time high school football broadcast time.
Heck, I don't care if they went 56,000 watts omni for a HS FB broadcast. Or if any other station did/does that. A new log is a new log.


WFBS, WADO, WWOK IN (11-23-94t), WFYC MI (12-3-99),

 

[crainbebo]

1280 day/night - KIT Yakima (local News/Talk)
VERY rare in null of KIT N-S - KFRN Los Angeles CA (Family Rdio)

In the Seattle area, 1280 was usually KLDY Lacey WA (was ESPN Deportes), very very weak. Also KIT Yakima, especially on winter days.
Nights brought in KIT mostly, with some KRVM Eugene OR mixed in (Jefferson PR) and sometimes KFRN and KLDY.
Also caught - KZNS Salt Lake City UT (sunset only), KDOX Henderson NV (one-time only, with TOH ID and Fox News) and CJSL Estevan SK (also a one-time only catch, country music and now on 1150 khz), as well as KZFS Spokane (in the KPTQ days, quite rare).

Would like, but haven't gotten yet - KWSX Stockton CA (News/Talk) and KXTK Arroyo Grande CA (ESPN). If KIT is ever off the air, KBNO Denver.

 

[radioman148]

In the near north Chicago suburbs it's a fair WMRO--I mean WBIG during the day and at night a mess of stations. Years ago I used to occasionally hear Evansville & Minneapolis in the clutter.

 

[cyberdad]

In the Seattle area, 1280 was usually KLDY Lacey WA (was ESPN Deportes), very very weak.

Ten or so years ago when I was regularly in the area on biz trips, KLDY was classical music and co-owned with the "always interesting" KBRD/680. When did they flip? I presume they're under new ownership. I had noticed recently that there's no mention of KLDY on the K-Bird website.

 

[JackDaily]

Here in southern York county,Pa- WHVR 1280 in Hanover emits an excellent daytime 5Kw ,directional signal.They change patterns at night with reduced power of 500 watts directional.Some early morning interference with WEDO in New York, I believe.This station has been around a long time and it is maintained quite well.Format is "Real Country" with local morning personalities.

 

[jim-satx]

Daytime in S.A. is a moderate-strength KMFR "No Bull Radio" in Pearsall, TX, a classic country station with a lot of local flavor.

Around sunset XEAW in Monterrey comes up fairly strong, and KMFR disappears (they drop to 190 watts). Also, WODT "Fox Sports" in New Orleans starts coming in fairly well in XEAW's partial null. KWHI in Brenham sometimes mixes with WODT for a while, and KSLI in Abilene, another country station, sometimes pops up briefly under and over XEAW.

As the night goes on, XEAW dominates even more, with WODT more or less hanging in there in the partial null. The other two make only an occasional brief appearance.

Around sunrise XEAW still dominates, but KMFR returns once it goes to daytime power. As XEAW fades, KSLI (to my N-NW) makes a more steady, albeit pretty weak, showing until skywave is gone.

 

[schmave]

This is a pretty quiet frequency around Columbus, Ohio, at least on the times I've stopped to listen.
One night many years ago, and I am talking 20 or more years ago, I remember an Atlanta Braves game coming through faintly on 1280, although I don't remember hearing an ID. Either I didn't stick around for one or the station faded.

 

[boombox4]

Ten or so years ago when I was regularly in the area on biz trips, KLDY was classical music and co-owned with the "always interesting" KBRD/680. When did they flip? I presume they're under new ownership. I had noticed recently that there's no mention of KLDY on the K-Bird website.

I don't know when they flipped to Deportes, but they recently went dark and then were sold to La Estacion De La Familia, a local Spanish speaking religious network.

 

[boombox4]

Located in Western WA...

Here at my location I usually hear on 1280 khz a mix of KIT Yakima (news talk, usually C2C at night) and KRVM Eugene OR (Jefferson Public Radio). When KLDY is on the air, I'll hear them also. On rare occasions I've heard KTLK Denver (no idea what the call sign is now), KQLL Las Vegas (earlier this year) and KZFS Spokane (also last DX season).

 

[joebtsflk1]

I never heard myself talk on WWTC 1280 Minneapolis, though I worked there for several months for the ill-fated Catholic Family Radio in 1999, before we all started bailing like rats from a sinking ship. That's another not terribly interesting story. WWTC needed a better night pattern. It covered Minneapolis and the northern suburbs well. St. Paul and the rest of the metro was fair to mediocre. Having a transmitter location WEST of Minneapolis in St. Louis Park basically doomed WWTC to a perpetual also-ran status over the years, I suspect. Had it been south of the 494 loop, say in the Minnesota River valley to the west of Bloomington, it would have a better shot at covering more of the metro. Then, they could have used basically the current night pattern 24 hours a day.

Too late for all of that now. Today it's likely more about Salem milking what revenue they can with the facilities it has. By the way, Radio-Locator shows WNAM Neenah-Menasha with a CP expiring next month for 50 kW day. Did that ever get built?

 

[crainbebo]

KLDY flipped to ESPN Deportes several years ago. Now "La Familia", SS religion and // KLSY-93.7.
Denver is now KBNO.

 

[cyberdad]

. WWTC needed a better night pattern. It covered Minneapolis and the northern suburbs well. St. Paul and the rest of the metro was fair to mediocre. Having a transmitter location WEST of Minneapolis in St. Louis Park basically doomed WWTC to a perpetual also-ran status over the years, I suspect. Did that ever get built?

In the 1980s, I used to get into the Twin Cities about every 6-8 weeks. I'd almost always stay at one of the hotels on the 494 strip by the airport (and later the Mall of America). WWTC was solid day/night out there. Stronger, actually, than WCCO...which has it's stick rather far to the northwest in Anoka. Not as strong, however, as the two local monsters in the area, which were WAYL (980) and WDGY (1130). I'm not sure what's up with 980 these days, but I know WDGY...later KFAN, eventually moved from their old Burnsville site.

 

[joebtsflk1]

When I was working there in 1999, I'd drive home the seven or so miles from WWTC's St. Louis Park studio location, south and east towards home in Richfield. Guess it didn't help that I was driving into one of the nulls on the back side of the pattern. Areas along 494 to the east and especially west of Richfield would have gotten a better night signal on 1280, judging from the contours on Radio-Locator. Meanwhile, 1130 had by then moved south of Burnsville and set up their 9 tower DA . I can only imagine the night signal w/ 25 kW & 9 towers from Burnsvile, because 1130 was still the strongest signal in Richfield and could be heard 40 kHz up and down from center on the craptastic Sony compact stereo we had then.