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AM frequency of the week - 1590 kHZ

J

jd

What do you hear on this almost short-wave frequency?

Daytime here in East Texas, near Tyler, it's a weak KGAS in Carthage TX. (It took the place of similarly weak KLRK Mexia, now silent while they're upgrading it to serve Waco.) Around sunrise and sunset KMIC Houston is there, often with a fairly good signal.

At night KMIC comes and goes; the most dependable station is KVGB from Great Bend, Kansas, over 450 miles away.
 
For me in northern VA,
WHGT Chambersburg, PA, near the MD border with a somewhat weak signal during the day, with a religious programming with hymns and inspirational music. At night, it's a mess with WAKR Akron, OH on top.
 
You wonder, particularly in years past before digital, etc., how a station with this high of a frequency would try and advertise and sway listeners to tune down that far on the dial?
 
I'm only 17 miles or so from a "local" station on 1590, WASB Brockport, but it's so directional (and its facility is so deteriorated) that it simply doesn't exist at all, even as a DX catch, on my dial here in Rochester's southeastern suburbs. I hear WAUB Auburn here during the day, and WAKR Akron at night.
 
From Coldwater, MI-

Very local 5kw/1kw WTVB with an oldies format. Their facilities are south of Coldwater and they not surprisingly throw a lobe right at the city, making it impossible to hear anything else on 1590 during daytime hours and very difficult, but not impossible, at night. But when AM conditions are just right, it's not impossible to hear WAKR- Akron and an unID sports station trying to step on WTVB in the overnight hours.
 
1590 Reception from Lexington, KY:

Daytime

WLBN Lebanon, KY (In VERY HEAVY slop from local WGVN-1580)

Nighttime

WAKR Akron, OH
WNTS Beech Grove, IN
 
Location: near Crystal Lake, IL

Daytime: WCGO Evanston, IL (TX: Skokie - right across the boundary with Evanston!) [Former WNMP/WLTD/WONX]

Nighttime: Sloppy mess: usually WAKR and WTVB. WCGO usually not audible, except when there is strong auroral activity.

WAKR Akron, OH (used to boom in here with a steady signal, in the 60's-80's)
WAIK Galesburg, IL
WIXK New Richmond, WI
WPVL Platteville, WI (former WSWW)
WTVB Coldwater, MI
WVNA Tuscumbia, AL
WHLX Marine City, MI
WNTS Beach Grove, IN
 
This is an interesting frequency here. I can pick up the 1000 watt religious station from Daytona usually daytime, but I just got a new station yesterday, WPSL from Port St. Lucie, 5kw.

At night, it's usually WKTP Jonesborough, TN with 5kw. Other stations also come in, and I've heard WAKR Akron, OH a couple times.
 
When I moved here to NE PA 18 years ago, WMIM Mt. Carmel was atop the frequency during the day. They were one of the closest AMers. At night they were really low wattage. Their omni tower is across the road from the Mount Carmel High school, at the western boundary of the boro.

But they've been on and off the air a few times since then. Now they've been silent for several years. Varying formats didn't do much to halt the erosion. When WMIM was broadcasting, though, they had a pretty good daytime signal into the fringe of Hazleton.

Nighttimes here, it's been WAKR on the occasions I tune in. But one of those rare tune-in occasions was a morning this past December, broad daylight, and 1590 from Glen Burnie MD was coming in well with a great mix of older r&b.

A weak WPWA from Chester is atop 1590 midday here. WAKR never had the huge dominant/regional signal toward this latitude (or to that of the old DX days on Long Island) as, say, 1250 Pittsburgh did. Most likely the signal was to protect Waterbury CT in mutual agreement.
 
NE North Carolina
Days: nothing - I am about 70 miles South of Richmond, VA but cannot hear 1590 WFTH, 5 kW.
Just after sunrise heard WFBR Glen Burnie, MD.
Nights, 1590 sounds like graveyard freq. Could not ID anyone.
 
from the downtown, ST. Petersburg,FL area, 1590 is WRXB; a gospel format 24 hours a day, licensed to St. Pete Beach, but directional towers (5k day and 1K night) are in St. Petersburg about 3 miles s.w. of my location and it's one of the stronger AM signals, so that's all I get day and night.

but at another listening post, in the Webster/Ridge Manor East, FL area(about 50 miles due west of Orlando), during the day it is a very weak WRXB from St. Petersburg.

critical hours: WPSL, Port St. Lucie,FL will usually over-ride the weak WRXB signal and sometimes WPUL from Daytona Beach comes in as well during critical hours.

within 15- 30 minutes of sunset: WALG, Albany, GA

30 minutes or so after sunset to sunrise: sounds like a graveyard channel; difficult to pull in any station to i.d.

drt,
st. petersburg,fl
 
Vermilion, OH:

1590 during the day is WAKR/Akron "Sports Oldies" with a halfway decent signal. (Radio-locator has them listed as a talk station). At night, it is a mish-mash of stations, sounding like a graveyard channel, as someone previously mentioned. Around sunrise today, I was hearing a mix of WAKR and another station playing church hymns.
 
SW Ohio

Daytime
WSRW Hillsboro OH - Very weak or not there at my west of Cincinnati location.

Sunrise/Sunset
WVNA Tuscumbia AL
WGYJ Artmore AL - Now silent.
WCGO Evanston IL
WTVB Coldwater MI
WAKR Akron OH
KVGB Great Bend KS - Only once.

Night
WAIK Galesburg IL - Weak and in-and-out, but often there.
WAKR Akron OH - Only when conditions are right...In the 1960's, WAKR was a solid nighttime signal in Indy where I grew up, and executed (at night anyway) Top 40 radio very well.
 
Far Northwest Suburban Chicago....

Day: WCGO, weak. Hard to believe a couple of 1600s and a 1580 were shut down to make room for this. (But then again, what was shut down was marginal to say the least)

Night: Mess with WAKR sometimes on top. In the '60s, WAKR owned the channel every night, and as Icangelp pointed out, was a fine example of top 40 radio.
 
I also had the pleasure of hearing WAKR in the 60s when it was a fine Top 40 station.
I could hear it almost every night in the Chicago area.
 
The oft-mentioned WAKR/Akron here, of course, day and night.

WAKR is actually a locally-programmed oldies/news/sports mix, with a news/talk morning show, local live and VTed oldies shifts with local personalities, frequent news updates and all the sports PBP you can handle.

It's the Akron affiliate of the major Cleveland pro teams and Ohio State, and in just a few hours, will air a local HS basketball championship game featuring one of the big area parochial sports powers (same place a certain guy who Took His Talents to South Beach played as a HSer)...
 
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