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AM Frequency of the Week: 1620

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cyberdad

cyberdad

40 Miles NW of downtown Chicago....

Days Usually a fair- weak TIS signal intended to cover the next county east of us.

Nights: If anything, 1620 is usually occupied by a jumble of weak signals. I try from time to catch WNTP from Pensacola. FL. I'm pretty sure I've heard it, but I haven't been able to positively ID it. R. Rebelde from Cuba sometimes comes through, but it's pretty rare....Although I suspect they're running more than 1kw at night.

Other Location: I'm currently spending the month at a location about 12 miles from the WNTP transmitter. Via a land path with horrible ground conductivity, (.05). The result...despite WNTP's 10kw day power...is not much better than fair. At night, when WNTP drops to 1kw, Rebelde takes over, although WNTP is still audible.

Retro: At my home location, I used to be able to occasionally hear the now-defunct WDND from Elkhart, Indiana. Either by daytime skywave or via skywave at night.
 
East Tennessee---1620 is where a series of TISs are around me run by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Depending on where I am, I might get more than one. That nixes most reception of anything else, but I do hear signals underneath them, likely Rebelde at night.

Retro/other: Dayton, Ohio area would be WDND (WHLY, whatever else) when it was on the air, and like the X-banders from that region, it could be all day in the winter.
 
From the southwest suburbs of Chicago ...

1620 is quiet days, especially since WDND South Bend went silent. First heard them during morning drive on 11/25/2015.

Otherwise, it's a mixed bag of DX: The curious "Radio New York International" with an ID and asking for engineering help from NYC on 7/27/1987; KOZN Omaha on morning drive on 11/10/2020; and WNRP Gulf Breeze, Fla. (serving Cyberdad's vacation haven) at 5 a.m. CT, guessing at the switch to day power, on 12/31/2020. Were they WNTP at one time?
 
Some much-anticipated TEST from, I believe, somewhere in downstate PA was heard nicely on my birthday overnight in 1994. The station called itself KA2XAU, and its audio is on a :60 cassette here somewhere. But I never heard much about its aftermath. S'sposedly it was FCC-approved. Someone here might remember the event, and maybe the wattage used, and other minor details, such as the location. IIrc, the TEST used various transmitter powers. But that was almost 30 years ago.
Compromised memory suggests KA2XAU was a why-not, indifferent FCC foot-in-the-door for X-Band consideration and wisdom. Did anyone else here hear them?

WJVA in IN was logged, also taped, 5 years later.
 
Currently

1620 - CMBA - Cuba – 6 transmitters - Radio Rebelde - Cadena Nacional

Past

1620 - WPHG - Atmore, AL - Christian/patriot talk – USA news - 2004

1620 - WDHP - Fredricksted, St. Croix - USVI - 1620 AM - The Caribbean Powerhouse – BBC news - 2004 (Hurricane Jeanne)

1620 - WTAW - College Station-Bryan TX - Newstalk 1620 CBS (//Sportsradio 1150) - 2001

kw - Melbourne FL
 
Steve Green NEPA said:
Some much-anticipated TEST from, I believe, somewhere in downstate PA was heard nicely on my birthday overnight in 1994. The station called itself KA2XAU, and its audio is on a :60 cassette here somewhere. But I never heard much about its aftermath. S'sposedly it was FCC-approved. Someone here might remember the event, and maybe the wattage used, and other minor details, such as the location. IIrc, the TEST used various transmitter powers. But that was almost 30 years ago.
Compromised memory suggests KA2XAU was a why-not, indifferent FCC foot-in-the-door for X-Band consideration and wisdom. Did anyone else here hear them?
Click to expand...
When you find that cassette, Steve, here's a little something to pair with it.
 

Attachments

  • Heinen-PA-KA2XAU_1620.pdf
    1.6 MB · Views: 6
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: for the longest of time the TIS from Bensenville, IL just 1.5 miles away was the only thing heard during daytime. However they have disappeared from the airwaves leaving the Lake County Passage HAR (5 different stations) wide open with decent signal.
Nighttime: with the Bensenville TIS off, KOZN and Radio Rebelde from Cuba are the two most common to be heard.

DX/RETRO: WDND (South Bend, IN) before going silent used to be common and possible during daytime. I did hear WDHP from Fredrikstad, US Virgin Islands back in 2002 on my car radio about 5 miles from my home thanks to the pesky Bensenville TIS not being audible. Heard them several time since on DX set up at home as well. 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 running WBCQ shortwave. Others heard on 1620 include WNRP (Gulf Breeze, FL), WTAW (College station, TX), the now defunct WPHG (Atmore, AL), Radio Rebelde, Cuba as well as several local TIS station (WNWZ910/WQVU501 Bensenville, WNYB218 Glen Ellyn, WPZK948 (Chicago-White Sox Parking Info), and WQBR256 the Lak County Passage stations, which get out quite well, as they have been heard as far as Finland and Sweden.
 
Radio Rebelde is in now (12:33 a.m. CT on Tue 2/21/2023), matched to its website and running up-tempo instrumentals. Call it bright easy listening. I heard this on my car radio Sunday night and wondered what it could be. Rebelde, presumably the 5 kw out of Guanabacoa, is mixing with 1 kw WNRP Gulf Breeze, Fla. Caught on the Sony ICF-2010 with a Tecsun AN-200 loop.
 
I've noticed the instrumentals on R. Rebelde. R. Progreso seems to have upped their music content as well, But they've always programmed moew music than Rebelde. At least in my memory.
 
From DFW, Texas:

1620 WTAW TX College Station 11/11/2021 1500 News and ID
1620 R. Rebelde Cuba Havana 11/19/2021 2300 Radio Rebelde ID standards/variety music mixing with WTAW
1620 KOZN NE Bellevue 12/6/2021 2125 Fox Sports Radio // stream, mixing with Cuba and WTAW
1620 WNRP FL Gulf Breeze 12/6/2021 2130 Fox News, Pensacola ad // stream, mixing with Cuba and WTAW
 
A few evenings ago, I briefly heard what seemed to be either Middle Eastern or Asian Subcontinent music on 1620 here in Vermont. No ID heard, and the station did a quick fade after about 10 minutes of listening. Any ideas?
 
South Mississippi:

Day: WNRP Gulf Breeze, FL - NewsRadio 92.3 FM/1620 AM
Night: mostly Radio Rebelde along with weaker WNRP, and
WTAW is very rare but sometimes makes the HD indicator blink
 
From NW San Antonio:

Day: Normally blank, but when there's daytime skywave, WTAW in College Station, TX, is usually there.

Sunset: WTAW comes up with a fairly good signal.

Night: To the N-NE, WTAW is dominant; sometimes there's splatter from 1630 KKGM in Ft. Worth. Occasionally KOZN in Bellevue, NE, will pop up and mix in. Less often, WNRP in Gulf Breeze, FL, will pop up. To the SE, it's Radio Rebelde in Cuba. A few times I've heard a second R. Rebelde with a slight delay.

Sunrise: KOZN mixes in more often. WTAW has a stonger signal when it goes to day power.

DX/Retro: One-time catches include the now-defunct WDND in South Bend, IA (sunrise); XECSCGU in Guachochi (sunset); and KSMH in West Sacramento, CA (sunrise).
 
From west Houston TX, daytime I hear WTAW from College Station (~75 miles NW of me). WTAW is still there at sunset/night, but often mixing with Radio Rebelde. I also hear WNRP sometimes at night.
 
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