AM Frequency of The Week: 1440

[crainbebo]

What do you get on 1440?

For me, I've gotten these three
KMED Medford, OR, news/talk
CKJR Wetaskiwin, AB, oldies
KODL The Dalles, OR, nostalgia

-crainbebo

 

[vibe]

WE have a local 1440 sports radio (WVEI?) about 15 mi away. OK day-weak at night. I generally listen to the same programming on sister station out of Southern RI that comes in much better from 60 mi.
QTH- 15 mi S of Worcester MA

 

[ddsparxx]

In northern VA,

Nothing during the day, pretty much a mess at night. I once heard WCDL 1440 in Carbondale, PA (near Scranton) during mid-morning shortly after sunrise a couple of years ago.

 

[MarioMania]

In Vallejo KVON Napa, CA

 

[KR4BD]

1440 From Lexington, KY:

Daytime:

WYGH Paris, KY

Night-time, Sunrise/Sunset DX

WZYX Cowan, TN
WROK Rockford, IL
WHIS Bluefield, WV
WAJR Morgantown, WV
WLWI Montgomery, AL

 

[radioman148]

From Chicago area WROK Rockford, Il

 

[ddsparxx]

Update on my reply #2,

I can hear WHKZ 1440 Warren, OH (near Youngstown) at night with religious teaching.

 

[cyberdad]

Far northwest suburbs of Chicago...

Day: WROK (fair) I'm about 35 miles east of their stick. 5kw aimed pretty much away from me, but not a severe null.
Night: Mess (WROK disappears when power drops to 500 watts ND...or at least that's what it used to be)

Last month in when I was in (southern) Germany, 1440 was home to a monster nighttime signal from Luxembourg. What used to be R. Luxembourg (and perhaps still is) is now basically a brokered blowtorch signal. Channel was empty in the daytime, however.

 

[gar hi]

Wow! This is interesting because there are frequencies I don't pay that much attention to.

So it's near 10 pm and I tuned to 1440. According to the AM logbook, I expected to maybe hear the Spanish station WPRD from Winter Park near Orlando (1 kw) at 80 miles but no.

What I hear is WGIG from Brunswick, Georgia (1 kw) at 230 miles!

The signal fades in and out but easily comes in strong enough to ID.

It will be interesting to hear what I get in the day. I bet it's WPRD.

 

[radioman148]

Far northwest suburbs of Chicago...

Day: WROK (fair) I'm about 35 miles east of their stick. 5kw aimed pretty much away from me, but not a severe null.
Night: Mess (WROK disappears when power drops to 500 watts ND...or at least that's what it used to be)

Last month in when I was in (southern) Germany, 1440 was home to a monster nighttime signal from Luxembourg. What used to be R. Luxembourg (and perhaps still is) is now basically a brokered blowtorch signal. Channel was empty in the daytime, however.

Speaking of Radio Luxembourg on 1440, when I was in London in the 70s they would blast in like a local at night. They had more listeners than any of the UK Rock stations.

 

[asugeorge1]

This is a really good frequency topic for us listeners here in Phoenix. On the Phoenix board lies the largest thread of any radio-info discussion post topic on a frequency station that lies on 1440 AM here in Phoenix. That is the infamous 1440 AM KAZG out of Scottsdale. You can find this discussion topic here called, "A Day in the Life of a Lamptimer": http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=113344.850

What's so funny about the local 1440 here in Phoenix is that KAZG is home to Phoenix's only real oldies station (KOOL FM is more classic hits than anything else). Problem is, even though they are authorized to broadcast at night with 52 watts, they choose not to. Well, that is except for one weekend in April every two years when there is no top of the hour ID and no commercials! It is a very interesting station and one that is well-loved on the radio-info boards. There are never any DJ's and very few commercials. Many of us on the Phoenix board have questioned why Sandusky (the owners of 1440) don't broadcast KAZG at night. The running theory is that it just doesn't pay to broadcast an oldies station at night with only 52 watts. In addition, KAZG seems to be a favorite station for someone over at Sandusky and is run as such with Frank Sinatra music mixed in.

So when 1440 KAZG abruptly powers off at night, which in December is 5:15 P.M., I have heard many 1440's from around the region. This includes all-comedy radio 1440, KFNY, out of Riverside, California; KUHL out of Santa Maria, California; sometimes KPUR out of Amarillo, Texas and, recently, I have heard more from KRDZ out of Wray, Colorado. KRDZ is a pretty good DX catch on the 1440 dial at a distance of 996 miles and with a supposed night-time power of only 212 watts. Wonder if they are using more than they should be up there in Wray? ;D

 

[musicman3355]

In the LA area:

Day: nothing, but rarely a very faint KFNY Riverside, CA
Night: Huge mess of unknown stations

 

[Darth_vader]

Day: static

"Night: Huge mess of unknown stations"
Same here.

 

[fangio28]

Only the first two you mention: KMED Medford, dominant and CKJR, AB
second best here in Coeur d'Alene, ID Latter runs SS programming part
of the time on weekends...fooled me at first!

 

[pianoplayer88key]

At home - El Cajon, CA...

Day: Usually nothing with a pocket radio's stock antenna. (Less selective radios may have slop from 1420-XEXX Tijuana or 1450-KFSD Escondido.) Using a Select-A-Tenna may bring in a faint signal from KFNY Riverside, CA.
Night: mix of stations. I think I'm hearing KFNY, and maybe also KUHL Santa Maria, CA.

At grandma's house - San Gabriel, CA..
24/7: nothing but slop from 1430-KMRB, whose 50kW/9.8kW DA-2 transmitter is 1/3 mile to the northwest. (Would a better radio than something like a Tecsun PL-380 be able to dig out KUHL and/or KDIF in the daytime without any splatter or desensitization/blocking from KMRB?)

 

[fybush]

From Rochester NY, 1440 is largely lost in the hash under local WHIC, but daytime is often nearby WJJL Niagara Falls or WSGO Oswego. At night, WHKW Warren OH dominates, except when WJJL is running day power at night.

 

[Icangelp]

SW Ohio

1440 KHZ

Not a must check frequency for me.

Days
Nothing

Sunrise/Sunset
WYGH Paris KY
WZYX Cowan TN
WPRS Paris IL
WAJR Morgantown WV

Night
Never really tried.

 

[cyberdad]

Last month in when I was in (southern) Germany, 1440 was home to a monster nighttime signal from Luxembourg.  What used to be R. Luxembourg (and perhaps still is) is now basically a brokered blowtorch signal.  Channel was empty in the daytime, however.

Speaking of Radio Luxembourg on 1440, when I was in London in the 70s they would blast in like a local at night. They had more listeners than any of the UK Rock stations.

Knowing that, I've always been "on the lookout" for R. Luxembourg on my trips to London.  During the daytime, whatever signal there is is quite weak in Central London.  At night, 1440 is rather clearly audible, but it doesn't exactly blast in.  It's tough to identify, because apparently what's happening (and I stand to be corrected) is that R. Luxembourg is doing what goes on quite a bit in shortwave broadcasting.  That is, leasing their facilities in blocks to other countries' international broadcasting operations. 

There are also two other possibilities that may explain why R. Luxembourg (or whatever this is on 1440) doesn't come roaring in as might be expected at night and is all but invisible during the day....

First, London has its own local blowtorch on second-adjacent 1458.  300kw if memory serves, and it does splatter.  I'm unclear to what extent the overall effect is on 1440 in southeast England.  Secondly....I'm wondering if R. Luxembourg is using a different DA than in its days as a top 40 powerhouse in the '60s.  The UK may have been the target then, but the continent might be more desirable for them now.  Also, I'm wondering if London's 1458....a commercial operation....even existed "back in the day".

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

So when 1440 KAZG abruptly powers off at night, which in December is 5:15 P.M.,

Anyone who knows the beloved Lamptimer knows that any times are approximate, and subject to drift.

Here, we're not close enough to get WHKZ/1440 Warren ("The Word" in the Youngstown market days, used to be WHKW until Salem appropriated those calls for 1220 Cleveland, when the WHK calls moved to conservatalker 1420) either day or night. That 1420 is probably the reason that 1440 gets nothing over here.

Last time I checked, 1440 is a mess at night here.

 

[Icangelp]

Knowing that, I've always been "on the lookout" for R. Luxembourg on my trips to London. During the daytime, whatever signal there is is quite weak in Central London. At night, 1440 is rather clearly audible, but it doesn't exactly blast in. It's tough to identify, because apparently what's happening (and I stand to be corrected) is that R. Luxembourg is doing what goes on quite a bit in shortwave broadcasting. That is, leasing their facilities in blocks to other countries' international broadcasting operations.

There are also two other possibilities that may explain why R. Luxembourg (or whatever this is on 1440) doesn't come roaring in as might be expected at night and is all but invisible during the day....

First, London has its own local blowtorch on second-adjacent 1458. 300kw if memory serves, and it does splatter. I'm unclear to what extent the overall effect is on 1440 in southeast England. Secondly....I'm wondering if R. Luxembourg is using a different DA than in its days as a top 40 powerhouse in the '60s. The UK may have been the target then, but the continent might be more desirable for them now. Also, I'm wondering if London's 1458....a commercial operation....even existed "back in the day".

T.M.I. follows.

Back in the good old days of Top 40 radio, Great Britain did not allow private broadcasters. It was the BBC or nothing. They did offer rock & roll music, but the presenters were nothing like our disc jockeys here in America.

The same was true in France and most of Europe.

This created a huge opportunity.

Radio Luxembourg (RTL) began broadcasting Top 40 in English on 1439 KHZ sometime in the 60’s. Early on, programming began at 18:00 and ended at 2:00. The 1439 frequency was 350KW, but I don’t know if they used directional antenna array. I would bet that it was omnidirectional, since the rest of the day their broadcasting was in Dutch and German.

Of course, in due time RTL found itself competing with the famous ship based pirate stations, and eventually private broadcasters in the UK.

RTL did/does have a longwave station, which was then on 233 KHZ, using a 600KW transmitter and broadcasting in French. I assume at one point they also went Top 40.

France’s teens were also served by another commercial station, Europe No. 1 on 182KHZ & 600/1000KW. Europe 1’s transmitter was/is located in Germany and beamed directionally towards Paris. As I recall, Europe 1 was owned by the French government, but operated out of Germany to get around the legal issues.