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AM Frequency of the week: 1600:

cyberdad

cyberdad

40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago.....

Days: 1600 is now usually empty, save for some minor splatter from WCGO, Chicago (1590). I do, however, occasionally hear daytime skywave from KGYM (Ex-KCRG), Cedar Rapids, IA.

Nights: Usully KGYM on top with a fair signal. Sometimes WAAM from Ann Arbor, MI sneaks im. I've also heard KATZ from St. Louis a couple of times (after years of trying).

Retro: 1600 here for many years was a fair-good signal from WMCW, a 500-watt non-directional daytimer with studio and transmitter about 20 miles northwest of me. WMCW was a family run operation with a small, but loyal following in what was sort of a "no-man's land" sandwiched between four markets....Chicago, Milwauke, Madison, and Rockford. That all ended, as discussed last week, when Frank Kovas bought WMCW and two other adjacent channel stations in order to upgrade WCGO to 10kw daytime on 1590. Today, the WMCW tower is long-gone, but the former farmhouse that contained the studio and transmitter remains.
 
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: nothing these days.
Nightime: WAAM most likely station to be heard at night.

DX/RETRO: over 20 different stations heard on this frequency in the past including WTRU (Muskegon, MI), WARU (Peru, IN), WSTL Eminence, KY), WNST (Milton, WV), WINX (Rockville, MD), WWRL (NY, NY) WAOS (Austell, GA), CHNR (Simcoe, ON), KCRG (Cedar Rapids, IA), KCGS (Marshall, AR)

WMCW (Harvard, IL) and WCGO (Chicago Heights, IL) used to be heard at daytime before they went off the air in 2008 and 2009 respectively in order to allow the current WCGO AM 1590 to increase power.

Here are pics of WMCW and WCGO from my archives:
 

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In the near north Chicago suburbs: primarily WCGO splatter during the day. At night KGYM and sometimes WAAM are heard most often.

Retro: I used to hear WWRL from time to time at night, but haven't heard them in awhile.
 
Chicago by the lakeshore:

Daytime: Right on the lake I'm on the edge of being able to hear WAAM Ann Arbor, MI. So it will fade in at certain locations then fade away as I drive off.

Nighttime: It's a typical mix of numerous signals, but sometimes KGYM in Cedar Rapids, IA rises to the top.

Critical Hours: Along with KGYM, sometimes the oldies station WARU in Peru, Indiana can be heard. I also once picked up KATZ in St Louis.
 
From the southwest suburbs of Chicago:

Days, zilch in the post-WCGO era.

Nights, seven stations over the years, notably WWRL New York, which was the easiest catch and a great music listen. Others: KCRG (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), WFRC (Reidsville, N.C.), WLRC (Whitehall, Mich.), WDHB (Harriman, Tenn., a daytimer before signoff), KATZ (St. Louis, when it was a National Black Network affiliate), and most recently, WAOS (Austell, Ga., in the wee hours of March 7, 2019 with 667 watts).

WCGO was a regular days, very weak nights as I was on the edge of their tight pattern. I guested on a show once in the 1980s, and the studio in a South Chicago Heights strip mall was a relic of the 1950s, right to the desks. The transmitter was a couple of miles away.

I never caught WMCW, the little station that tried and could. It was even an NBC affiliate in the Westwood One era of NBC Radio.
 
1600 is a very interesting frequency.

East Tennessee: Daytime---various signals (including WAOS. Austell GA) popping in depending on conditions but mostly WTZQ, Hendersonville NC.

Sunrise/sunset--or winter daytime skip: WTZQ, WHIY (Huntsville AL), WAOS. WZZW, Milton WV. Also sunset reception of WZNZ, Atlantic Beach FL.

Night---often a loud WAOS, sometimes WZZW
During auroral conditions, I can count on KLEB near New Orleans.

Retro/other: I worked at 1600 in Springfield, Ohio (WULM, then oldies/classic hits, now Radio Maria.). That didn't mean there wasn't DX, especially with the 34 watt night signal. WAOS was a constant presence. We would do a sports show at a remote location once a week. At the studio, WAOS made us sound like we were broadcasting from a Mexican restaurant. I don't know if this is still true, but for a time Radio Maria was feeding the FM translator with the 34 watt AM signal. WAOS was blasting it's format on FM while a man droned on in the background on the evils of birth control. Other stations heard from there included WWRL (on my way to work for the morning show), and KATZ, St. Louis. and WMQM, Lakeland (Memphis) TN. Further north in Ohio in the early 80s, I remember WEUP being a frequent sunset visitor.
 
From Carrollton, MO:
Daytime: A very weak KTTN-AM, Trenton, MO (500 watts daytime power. I remember seeing ads in the yellow pages, back in the 1990's, saying that this station broadcasted in stereo. I don't know if they still do.).
Nighttime: ??
 
The reason WAAM is mainly heard during CH on Day Pattern, is that there are large lobes to the East and West.

am_pattern.php


The IDF maxima to the East and West are 903 mV/m @ 1 km, equivalent to 10.25 kW equivalent based on the legacy Class B minimum efficiency of 282 mV/m @ 1 km for 1 kW.
 
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In south Phoenix, during the day I can pick up KYBC (Cottonwood, AZ) rather faintly. That’s it apart from static.
In the pre-dawn hours I hear a mixture that swings back and forth from one station to another. I think it includes KXEW (Tucson) because of the Mexican music format, and a sports-talk station. Unless I’m dreaming, which happens, I’ve heard the ESPN radio tones on that freq when it has swung to sports-talk. I think that makes it KEPN out of Lakewood, CO, but I haven’t been able to hear it during ToH station ID yet. There seems to possibly be a third station in the mix sometimes, but I’m not quite certain.
 
sox fan matt said:
I miss 1600 WMCW ~ Great community radio station. In the home of the "Harvard Milk Days"
Click to expand...

Me too, actually. WMCW....in the "Milk Center of the World". Hence the call letters.

They tried very hard, and succeded more often than not. Original owner Esther Blodgett put her heart and soul into serving her community. When she retired and sold the station, around the early 70s IIRC, the new owners tried to keep going what she had started, and for a time, it seemed to be working. But eventually, "the little stztion that could found itself in too much of an uphill struggle".

One thing I remember about WMCW was that for a time in the early and mid 1960s they had a Saturday afternoon top 40 show, and published their own two-color survey sheet that they distributed via various local retailers.

As I said, WMCW tried very hard! RIP Esther and her beloved little radio station.
 
Picayune, MS:

Daytime: KLEB Golden Meadow, LA (Swamp pop, Cajun)
Night: WAOS Austell, GA (regional Mexican), KRVA Cockrell Hill, TX (Vietnamese), WUCT Algood, TN (news/talk)
 
Orange County, TX - KOGT Orange all the time. When they sign off at midnight KATZ St. Louis and at times KOKE Pflugerville, Austin Market, and KRVA Cockrell Hills, Dallas market pop up. Would still like to catch KLEB Golden Meadow, LA.
 
West Central Georgia:

Day: WAOS Austell/Atlanta GA 20000/67 Spanish programming - weak signal

Nights: A mess

Critical Hours: WHIY Huntsville AL 5000/500 Urban oldies and blues (cool station)
WUCT Cookeville TN 2500/20 News/talk
 
Schroedingers Cat said:
The reason WAAM is mainly heard during CH on Day Pattern, is that there are large lobes to the East and West.

am_pattern.php


The IDF maxima to the East and West are 903 mV/m @ 1 km, equivalent to 10.25 kW equivalent based on the legacy Class B minimum efficiency of 282 mV/m @ 1 km for 1 kW.
Click to expand...

this would apply mainly to MORNING CH only?

In the evening, WAAM would go to night time pattern earlier than Chicago (and its night time patters in more restricted to the north as I recall) -

Maybe at the very early end of evening CH in Chicago, WAAM might be on day pattern right before switchover.

I am assuming more people are DX'ing evening CH than morning CH (though I certainly could be wrong)
 
Between CH and the difference between SR/SS 15 minute time tiers, there are a lot of times where WAAM could be on Day Pattern and could be heard.

One of the things I've noticed during the recent (last few years) strange solar activity is that Daytime skywave can happen far outside CH, at least at the high frequency end of the dial, and at least several months around December.

The other thing is that the further it is from Sunrise or Sunset, the closer stations within 250 miles or so are greatly favored due to lower E layer height.

I noticed this since WLCO 1530 came back on simulcasting 103.1 WQUS Classic Rock and frequently IDed. The maximum occurs between 2 and 1 hour before SS, and then WCKY takes over 1 hour before SS. I would expect the SR pattern to mirror that, one hour after SR.
 
thank you for the follow up - I am in western wayne county, (Westland) which community are you in? you are very knowledgable about the SE Michigan stuff
 
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