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AM Frequency of the week: 1620:

cyberdad

cyberdad

Far Northwestern suburb of Chicago.....

Days: 1620 is all but empty. Sometimes a very weak TIS signal. Most likely from adjacent Lake County, IL. I'm not sure where the transmitter is, but the signal used to be stronger. Perhaps they moved it. CADXER is more knowledgeable about this one than I am.

Nights: Also basically empty. There used to be a 1620 in the South Bend, Indiana area that put in a fair signal, but I think that one is long gone. From time to time, I've tried for WNRP from Pensacola and R. Rebelde from Cuba. No real success. No recognizable trace of WNRP as of yet. As fior Rebelde, I've heard some brief, faint signals in what sounds like it could be Spanish, but too weak to ID.

Other location: At our beach vacation location, 23 miles southwest of Pensacola, WNRP has a fair daytime signal via what's almost entirely a land path with terrible conductivity. I can usually hear Rebelde underneath WNRP. Or underneath with WNRP nulled. At night when WNRP powers down, it's a battle between the two.

On St. Petersburg beach, where we've also stayed a few times. WNRP makes the hop across the Gulf 24/7, but Rebelde is dominant during both day and night.
 
Chicago by the lakeshore:

Daytime: Nada

Nighttime: KOZN in Omaha is the most common but it is often not there. Right on the lake there is often good reception on the X-band and I've heard some interesting things. On 1620 I've gotten WDHP in the US Virgin Islands a few times.

Critical Hours: One time near an overpass I distinctly heard "Newsradio 1620" which could only be WNRP in Pensacola. I've wondered if a nearby overpass can somehow amplify signals because I've had a few incidents like that.
 
From the southwest suburbs of Chicago (thus hitting for the Chicago grand slam to start us off):

1620 is a radio quiet zone during the day in the post-WDND South Bend era. It was first logged on Nov. 25, 2015 in morning drive.

WDND was the second South Bend AM station owned by Artistic Media Partners to close, following the 1490 station bought from Notre Dame (WNDU-AM), closed when the university, still owning the tower, decided to knock it down to make room for a hockey arena south of the Joyce Athletic and Convocation Center. Artistic had played ping-pong with formats on 1490 and 1620 and couldn't make a go of a simulcast of an FM on 1620, so turned that license back to the FCC as well.

The lone catch in recent years is KOZN Omaha, at daybreak on Nov. 10.

Way back in 1987, before the expanded band was created, I heard a pirate on 1620 calling itself "Radio New York International" one evening, playing music and asking for engineering help. I have no idea where it was located, but it had a New York PO box.
 
tvnut said:
WDND was the second South Bend AM station owned by Artistic Media Partners to close, following the 1490 station bought from Notre Dame (WNDU-AM), closed when the university, still owning the tower, decided to knock it down to make room for a hockey arena south of the Joyce Athletic and Convocation Center. Artistic had played ping-pong with formats on 1490 and 1620 and couldn't make a go of a simulcast of an FM on 1620, so turned that license back to the FCC as well.
Click to expand...

I looked on Google Earth an the 1620 South Bend tower has been dismantled in the last couple of years, but the property has not been repurposed. Kind of odd.
 
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: WQVU501 the TIS from Bensenville, IL being just 1 mile from me dominates the frequency. I can null it out and occasionally get a weak signal from one of the five Lake County TIS's (WQBR256). Most likely the Lincolnshire, IL one.
Nightime: the Bensenville TIS makes DXing this frequency tough. Nulling them out produces KOZN and sometime WTAW. Radio Rebelde from Cuba also makes an appearance once in a while.

DX/RETRO: WDND before going silent used to be common. I did hear WDHP from Fredrikstad, US Virgin Islands on my car radio about 5 miles from my home thanks to the pesky Bensenville TIS not being audible. And then of course there was Radio New York International (RNI), the pirate that was broadcasting from the international waters off the coast of Long Island, NY back in July of 1987. They were on the air for few days on this frequency and on shortwave (6240 kHz) before being busted. The station was also announcing a Long Wave frequency (190 kHz) as well as FM, but I am not sure if they were actually using those. The AM and the shortwave broadcasts were heard easily in the Chicago area. Allen Wiener who was behind RNI those is these days legally running WBCQ shortwave.

@cyberdad, the Lake County TIS (WQBR256) uses 5 transmitters. They are located in Lincolnshire, Libertyville, Lindenhurst, Round Lake Beach and Lake Zurich. I would assume you ere hearing the Lake Zurich transmitter i Crystal Lake.
 
East Tennessee: With 1620 being the home of the Tennessee Department of Transportation's TIS network, there's not much other than that during the day. Sometimes Rebelde will pop in under them at night.

Retro/other: WDND (or whatever they were at the time) would make it to the Dayton, OH area like all of the other midwest X-banders, and in winter sometimes all day.
 
KOZN in Bellevue, NE is a regular daytime visitor here during the colder weather months and during critical hours but, not at night. No other signals received so far.

Bob
 
This spot is occupied by WNRP news/talk format out of Pensacola, FLA. at night. Ocassionally there is a Cuban interloper over them.
Days its usually empty, but in the winter, I can hear them to about 9AM.
Its a Fox news affiliate and is privately owned.
 
Orange County, TX, usually WTAW, College Station, TX. However when checking around 5:30 AM CST heard an unknown station ID that sounded like WF?C or WS?C then went into "KICKS" by Paul Revere & the Raiders. they then faded and WTAW took back over. Can find nothing close to the calls I heard. Now & 5:35 AM WNRP Pensacola is on top. Anyone have an idea about the mystery station?
 
Might be the 3rd harmonic of a station on 540 or the 2nd harmonic of a station on 810. Often when a transmitter sustains a lightning strike some damage might occur to the L-C networks that form the 2nd and 3rd harmonic filters.
So, after the CE gets the station back on the air, he tells the GM it needs some parts in the output circuits. And the GM, of the negative ca$h flow station, will probably say its sounding pretty good for now, lets not waste any more money on it.
Its all part of the new world order for AM.
 
In west Houston, days it's WTAW (75 miles from here). At sunset, WTAW often mixes with Radio Rebelde and sometimes WNRP. Nights, it's Rebelde and WTAW.
 
Picayune, MS:

Day: nothing
Night: Radio Rebelde is strongest, WNRP Pensacola (news/talk), WTAW College Station, TX is rarely heard but it's HD sidebands are often detected.
 
kf4rca said:
WCJ, maybe you heard the second harmonic of this one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSJC
Click to expand...

I thought about that, but with an oldies song I would not think that a religious station would be playing that. At this time, 0456 CST, I am getting a religious program with preaching in the background with WNRP dominating. WSJC would not be out of the question with them only a little more that 300 miles with their major lobe coming my way.
 
WCJ said:
I thought about that, but with an oldies song I would not think that a religious station would be playing that. At this time, 0456 CST, I am getting a religious program with preaching in the background with WNRP dominating. WSJC would not be out of the question with them only a little more that 300 miles with their major lobe coming my way.
Click to expand...

Have you tried to see if it is WDHP in the US Virgin Islands? I've even picked that up in Chicago, and since you're on the Gulf Coast you have a pretty unimpeded path to them. They do play a lot of gospel music and religious programming, and I've heard other kinds of music as well.
 
From NW San Antonio:

Day: Nothing normally, but WTAW (159 miles to my northeast) is common during winter daytime skywave.

Sunset: WTAW is a regular with KOZN in Bellevue, NE, usually underneath or mixing in for a bit. To the southeast, R. Rebelde starts coming up.

Night: After dropping to night power, WTAW is weaker and KOZN is rarely heard. Radio Rebelde is stronger, and at times I've heard the chorus of multiple Rebelde transmitters.

Sunrise: KOZN is stronger under WTAW. Also, WNRP in Pensacola can usually be heard weakly when I aim to the east.

DX/RETRO: I've heard KSMH in West Sacramento, CA, a few times at sunrise. Also, once at night I logged a weak XECSCGU in Guachochi, Chihuahua.

On my HD radios, WTAW often triggers the flashing HD indicator at sunset/sunrise when it's at day power; however, the station has never fully decoded into HD for me.
 
MichaelTheZ said:
Have you tried to see if it is WDHP in the US Virgin Islands? I've even picked that up in Chicago, and since you're on the Gulf Coast you have a pretty unimpeded path to them. They do play a lot of gospel music and religious programming, and I've heard other kinds of music as well.
Click to expand...

Been camped out on 1620 for about am hour and this morning it sounds more like a GY freq. with nothing coming out on top.
 
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