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AM Frequency of the Week: 1530

cyberdad

cyberdad

40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago.....

Days: WCKG. Fair at best. I'm unclear whether or not they're running their former 760 watts or with their CP for 4kw. They've tried other power increases in the past, but those haven't accomplished very much. Either way there's a null to protect WCKY. And WCKY, of course, is the problem. Even though I'm in the opposite direction from the null, WCKY frequently overrides WCKG here for an hour or two after sunrise and before sunset. In winter, WCKY can sometimes even be audible (if not on top) all day.

Nights: WCKY is golden for the first two hours after sunset. The DA doesn't kick in until sunset in Sacramento, CA. With the DA in operation, WCKY is weaker but still good..

Other Location: As posted in Steve's thread a few weeks back, KFBK and KGBT have been wanted for me for a long, long time. I've never heard either one here, but I have heard KFBK at night up and down the entire West Coast from Vancouver to San Diego county.
 
Near north Chicago suburbs WCKG decent during the day, but during the winter months WCKY often overrides them with daytime sky wave. WCKY is very good here at night. I’ve never heard KFBK in the Midwest but I’ve tried.
 
Knoxville/Sevierville TN: Daytime-WCKY is my number one indicator of winter daytime skip. If it's in during the daytime, chances are there are others as well. My closest daytime station is WTTI, Dalton GA which also makes it in at times. I've caught the late, great WASC, Anderson SC a time or two.

Dayton, OH: A surprisingly weak WCKY, with interference drom WCKG around sunset.

WCKY's signal skips all over, but the daytime signal isn't that great. It's not uncommon to see WCKY in as early as 2pm (sometimes never leaving). There were lots of reports, especially when the station was oldies as WSAI. Lafayette, IN....WCKY was audible most days.
 
Chicago near the lakeshore:

Basically like the others from the area. A not-too-strong but listenable WCKG during the day and a reasonably consistent and strong WCKY at night.

It's funny though.. I started AM DXing around here about a year ago and at first I didn't realize that there were two separate stations that I was hearing. Because of the time of year when I was starting, I assumed when I was hearing WCKG it was just daytime skywave from WCKY. The call letters are almost the same and they're both sports stations after all. It was only when I realized WCKG was coming in too well for that that I checked into the matter and realized that it was a different station.

I remember KFBK Sacramento growing up in the Bay Area in the 80s. It was 50KW and had the same call letters even back then. You could hear it well day and night if I remember correctly.
 
MichaelTheZ said:
Chicago near the lakeshore:
I remember KFBK Sacramento growing up in the Bay Area in the 80s. It was 50KW and had the same call letters even back then. You could hear it well day and night if I remember correctly.
Click to expand...

I used to be in the Bay area several times every year on my business trips. And yes, KFBK was listenable pretty much throughout the region 24/7. At least on a good radio in a noise-free location.

I've told the following story before, but @Michael, probably before you joined us here. So here's the short version....

WCKG used to be WJJG, owned by Joe Gentile. Barrington car dealer and Loyola University benefactor. Also WJJG morning man (and a hoot to listen to)! Anyway, when i wasn't traveling or working from home, my daily commute on Northwest Highway took me right by the car dealership. It must have driven Joe nuts that....at least during winter months....more often than not his station twenty miles away from his dealership was routinely getting blown out by WSAI/WCKY.
 
cyberdad said:
I used to be in the Bay area several times every year on my business trips. And yes, KFBK was listenable pretty much throughout the region 24/7. At least on a good radio in a noise-free location.

I've told the following story before, but @Michael, probably before you joined us here. So here's the short version....

WCKG used to be WJJG, owned by Joe Gentile. Barrington car dealer and Loyola University benefactor. Also WJJG morning man (and a hoot to listen to)! Anyway, when i wasn't traveling or working from home, my daily commute on Northwest Highway took me right by the car dealership. It must have driven Joe nuts that....at least during winter months....more often than not his station twenty miles away from his dealership was routinely getting blown out by WSAI/WCKY.
Click to expand...

That is a funny story. I am not surprised though given how strong WCKY can be even well after sunrise and before sunset. Recently I've been commuting on Lake Shore Drive around 900 AM, so 2 1/2 hours after sunrise, and I've heard WCKY over WCKG at that time. I believe there has also been a third station in the background playing country music but I have no idea what it is.
 
Ellensburg WA

Day (winter)/night (all the time) KFBK Sacramento (News/Talk) - I have heard them booming in with Rush Limbaugh at 11 in the morning in dead of winter. S9 to boot.

WCKY Cincinnati (ESPN) is sometimes heard in winter. I have KGBT Harlingen TX (TUDN/Univision Deportes) also in the logbook from a couple of loggings recently, along with KQSC Colorado Springs (logged as KCMN during a sunset skip session in the winter of 2014).
 
WTHM...WLCO Lapeer, MI is a short distance 5 kW "day skipper" on 1530. I've heard it all over the "LP" over WCKY, which is too far to day skip. Near WLCO though, WCKY will day skip, resulting in WLCO signing off early during parts of its history after it got an FM on 103.1, now WQUS.
 
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Orange County, TX -Days a very weak KGBT Harlingen, TX. Nights a mix of KGBT, KZNX Creedmoor, TX and WCKY. Both KGBT and KZNX are Spanish programmed, KGBT being Religious and KZNX Spanish talk and to my ears I have only ID'd them by their TOH ID's. Each of them are beamed away from my QTH at night, but lately have been very strong fighting with and overtaking WCKY.
 
MichaelTheZ said:
That is a funny story. I am not surprised though given how strong WCKY can be even well after sunrise and before sunset. Recently I've been commuting on Lake Shore Drive around 900 AM, so 2 1/2 hours after sunrise, and I've heard WCKY over WCKG at that time. I believe there has also been a third station in the background playing country music but I have no idea what it is.
Click to expand...

The third 1530 with country music is likely WYGR Wyoming, MI (500W daytimer), which brands as Jethro FM (it has two translators: 94.9 in Grand Rapids and 99.5 in Lowell)
 
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: WCKG with good signal since I am just 6 miles from their 2-tower array. WCKY heard during daytime when WCKG was off air.
Nightime: WCKY with good signal

Retro/DX: as far as I know WCKG is still using only 760 Watts. The 4kW power increase is still in CP stage. Their original 4kW CP expired earlier this year, but they re-applied despite the objections from WLAK. KGBT (Harlingen, TX) used to be heard frequently with Spanish language programming and most likely using their daytime facilities. Managed to hear KFBK (Sacramento, CA) way back in 1987, but not since. Others heard on this frequency include KQNK (Norton, KS), KTCR (Wagoner, OK - DX test), KXRQ (Trumann, AR), KVDW (England, AR), WMBE (Chilton, WI), WYEZ (North East, PA), WLSP (Lapeer, MI) and WLIQ (Quincy, IL). Still shooting for Voice of America, Sao Tome during their sign on time of 03:00 UTC.
 
WCJ said:
Orange County, TX -Days a very weak KGBT Harlingen, TX. Nights a mix of KGBT, KZNX Creedmoor, TX and WCKY. Both KGBT and KZNX are Spanish programmed, KGBT being Religious and KZNX Spanish talk and to my ears I have only ID'd them by their TOH ID's. Each of them are beamed away from my QTH at night, but lately have been very strong fighting with and overtaking WCKY.
Click to expand...

In west Houston, a very similar story with KGBT typically strong at night WCKY in second place. I have also heard KZNX and occasionally XEUR "Extasis" from Mexico DF with EE classic hits.
 
WCJ said:
Orange County, TX -Days a very weak KGBT Harlingen, TX. Nights a mix of KGBT, KZNX Creedmoor, TX and WCKY. Both KGBT and KZNX are Spanish programmed, KGBT being Religious and KZNX Spanish talk and to my ears I have only ID'd them by their TOH ID's. Each of them are beamed away from my QTH at night, but lately have been very strong fighting with and overtaking WCKY.
Click to expand...

In west Houston, a very similar story with KGBT typically strong at night WCKY in second place. I have also heard KZNX and occasionally XEUR "Extasis" from Mexico DF.
 
West Central Georgia

Day: WTTI Dalton GA 10kW Day/Critical - Christian Music

Night: Very strong WCKY Cincinnati OH 50kW - ESPN 1530

Critical Hours: Have heard KGBT Harlingen TX 50kw Day/Critical 10kW Night - Spanish

If WCKY went off the air at night for maintenance, I wonder if those of us in the Southeast might catch KFBK Sacramento CA?
KGBT in Harlingen TX 10 kW at night would probably block it.
 
KGBT gets out very well for some reason. I've heard them a few times under KFBK. When eastern propagation makes it possible, WCKY also makes it in.
 
From NW San Antonio:

Daytime: Splatter from local 1540 KEDA and a very weak KZNX "La Palabra" in Creedmoor.

Sunset: KGBT in Harlingen comes up fairly strong. KVDW in England, AR, can often be heard underneath or mixing in. XEUR "Éxtasis Digital" in Mexico City and KNZX are sometimes there underneath as well but weaker.

Night: The KEDA splatter is gone, and KGBT dominates. XEUR is still underneath but stronger. KZNX is only heard rarely.

Sunrise: Similar to sunset. KGBT hangs around for a good while after sunrise before just KZNX remains.

DX/Retro: I logged daytimer KXTD "Que Buena" in Wagoner, OK, once at sunset a few years ago. Also, I used to hear XESD in Silao at night, but I assume it has been retired.

I used to hear a weak WCKY occasionally at sunset and less so at night, but I haven't heard it in quite a while. Also, KGBT seems stronger these days, so I wonder if something changed slightly in one or both of their directional patterns that would account for it.
 
For the longest while after I moved here to NE PA, super-local daytimer WMBT from Shenandoah was a close-by, very nice Oldies station. I joked once that at sunset, with the long shadows, if the tower fell its tower would hit my chimney.
WMBT began, iIrc, as a 250 watter in the 60's. At SSS's near JFK Airport it was a veritable regular. They later went to 2500 watts.
During the big blizzard of January '96 (95?) they were off the air all day and I got some neat 1520 DX.
WMBT went dark over ten years ago. So the -- pun intended -- cornucopia on 1530 has been somewhat barren but oddly rewarding.
Daytime -- nothing*
One sunset -- WRTP from North Carolia
Nights -- WCKY.
*One afternoon, though, some station programming what seemed like a 2-hour long infomercial for Vitaim E was solid and steady. It turned out as WVBF from Marlborough Center Mass. It had to be via the daytime-skip anomaly. That place is over 300 miles from here.
 
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