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AM Frequency of the Week: 530 KHz

P

pianoplayer88key

My turn now. :)  Ok, now let's look toward the bottom end of the band.  What do you hear on this frequency?  I'll start...

Day: mix of (at least) two TIS stations...
KNNN867 Descanso, CA - 32 miles @ 130°
WNHV296 LAX Airport, CA - 93 miles @ 300°  (A few years ago, this station used to have the frequency all to itself in the daytime.)
Reception on my PL-606 using only its built-in ferrite loopstick is basically carrier only, and that's if I have a local on 540 nulled.
With the Select-A-Tenna, both are identifiable, but being at close to the same signal strength (and with 540 right next door) makes it difficult.  WNHV296 is a little easier with the music they play as a background to their announcements, though.

Night: basically same as above.  I have yet to get confirmed reception any of the Caribbean area stations on this frequency, if there are any (Cuba, for example).
Update before post: I'm hearing music on 530 with my radio aimed southeast, but the splatter from 540 is committing signalcide, even though the offending station is nulled.  It wasn't WNHV296, as the music was different.  A voice announcement was too weak to identify through the interference (adj- and co-channel & local RFI/QRN), but sounded based on the cadence like it could have been in Spanish.  Is it possible I've logged Cuba, or are there Mexicans on 530?

If I aim my radios southwest, I get splatter from 540 XESURF Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

P.S. Depending on what I hear when/if I monitor some TP frequencies over the next several days / weeks or so, my next "AM Frequency of the Week" topic that I post (whenever I get around to it - I'll likely let someone else have a go at it next week) may mention a frequency that doesn't end in "0". ;)  (Or, I may just pick a strong TP I've received more than once, even if my last reception was a few months ago, and use their frequency in a thread.  :D I already have one in mind, but don't want to spoil any potential surprise. :p )
 
I receive a weak "Radio Marti" at 530 playing elevator music most nights in Houston. There isn't a station at 530 within a thousand miles of here, so this Cuban station is all I have ever found.
 
Northern VA,

On days, nothing.

Nights, I get the elevator music station from Cuba (I think it's called Radio Enciclopedia) with the Canadian 530 underneath.

During the daytime, I have used the 530 frequency to hear distant to semilocal lightning static crashes especially during the summer since I was a kid, since I have always hear no station on this frequency on days, and I do that to find out how close the thunderstorms are.
 
530 is indeed Radio Enciclopedia. Radio Marti used 530 a few years ago, but it might be gone now. Cuba likely put something on 530* to jam it.

Enciclopedia is here all day and night.

In 1987, from south FL, strange as it seems, the best chance to catch a Canadian on AM was the former CJFT (relaying CJRN Niagara Falls). Glenn Hauser said they ran 250 watts at night! I did hear it occasionally. It's now CIAO Brampton ON, of course.

*In Havana, Enciclo used to be on AM 1260---no sign of it there anymore....530 is the new home. They might have been experimenting which station to put on 530; Radio Cadena Habana was on 530 briefly.

cd
 
All CIAO, unsurprisingly, here in Rochester NY by day. At night, Enciclopedia sneaks in on occasion.

I remember listening to CJFT here when it signed on in the mid-80s. They were doing their own format, separate from CJRN, and in AM stereo no less. Then CJFT moved to FM (101.1) and CIAO in Brampton moved from 790 to 530, with a signal that was never as good here as CJFT used to be.
 
530 kHz From Lexington, KY:

Daytime:

Used to hear a TIS station from Frankfort, KY, but it's been gone for some time.

Nighttime:

-Usually a rather strong Radio Encyclopedia from Havana with easy listening music
-CIAO can often be heard under the above
 
Here in East Texas, there's nothing during the day. At night it's Havana with virtually no fading, but with that aircraft navigation beacon on 529 in the background.
 
Far northwest suburban Chicago....

Days: Empty

Nights: Radio Encyclopedia. Weak-fair, CIAO underneath....

For the next week I'm in our usual getaway spot, Perdido Key, Florida. 23 Miles southwest of Pensacola on the AL-FL state line. Here it's Radio Encyclopedia alone on the channel day and night. Weak (but very listenable) day, fair at night.
 
Far Northwest Suburbs of Chicago, near Crystal Lake

Daytime:
Weak TIS based in or near Chicago (weaker than in previous years; must be losing transmitting efficiency?)*

Nighttime:
CIAO Brampton, ON (usually has South Asian [Indian/Malay] programming)
Radio Enciclopedia, Havana, Cuba (usually heard best after midnight CT)**
*** Whatever happened to the Turks & Caicos station (Radio Vision Cristiana International)? ***
Their website still lists the station: http://radiovision.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=7
Occasionally hear the beacon LYQ on 529 kHz from Manchester, Tennessee.

* http://www.angelfire.com/wi/Page3/TIStargets.html
** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beautiful_music

"In Cuba, the national Radio Enciclopedia network features a mixture of beautiful music, classical and jazz, all of Cuban origin or recorded by Cuban performers; Radio Enciclopedia's signal at 530 kHz on the AM dial can be heard across much of the United States at night and is reportedly becoming a cult favorite among American listeners." This is Radio Enciclopedia's website, uncertain if they stream: http://www.radioenciclopedia.cu/ Thought I may have heard it on one of my streaming apps on my cellphone before...
 
From Durham, North Carolina:

During the daytime, 530 kHz has been empty, save for some first-adjacent interference from 540 WETC Wendell-Zebulon, since the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau moved the I-40 half of their two-TIS network WPIZ-762 to 1220 AM in the mid-to-late 1990s (where it died from a combination of vandalism and obsolescence in 2004..I'm guessing the latter, plus neglect, killed the I-85 half, 650 AM, in 2008 or 2009).

At night, it's all Cuba, all the time.
 
Bothell, WA

530 day and night is mostly TIS stations. When on, KNEZ390 Lynnwood, WA and WPVW628 Bothell, WA if the Traffic Advisory signs are flashing. Sometimes will get KNEZ390 Factoria/Coal Creek, and a couple times got KNEZ390 NE 45th St, Seattle WA. If no KNEZ390 stations are on, KNCL518 Tukwilla, WA (Sea-Tac Airport) and the Hood Canal Bridge TIS will come in. Once caught a TIS from up near Snoqualmie Pass once as well.

-crainbebo
 
Day: Usually the TIS station WPGH710 from Portland International Airport.

Night: Depending on whether I have my radio pointed N-S or NW-SE, I either get WPHG710 or a robotic-sounding WSDOT-operated TIS on I-5 near Ridgefield, whose call letters I forget (has the suffix -690, if that helps.)

Once in a great long while, during the winter I'll also pull in a fairly weak snow advisory TIS for eastbound I-84, which I think comes from either Troutdale or Gresham, OR (both are north-east of Portland, along the river.) Driving in the Gorge can be hectic enough when it's 80 degrees and sunny, let alone snowing!
 
From St. Petersburg,FL, it's a decent strong signal from Havana, day and night; A friend has described 530 as "Relaxing with Raul"! :)

drt,
st. petersburg,fl
 
stormy01 said:
Far Northwest Suburbs of Chicago, near Crystal Lake

This is Radio Enciclopedia's website, uncertain if they stream: http://www.radioenciclopedia.cu/ Thought I may have heard it on one of my streaming apps on my cellphone before...
Click to expand...

Stormy.....

Interesting, you and I are neighbors in Mc Henry County, but you're mostly hearing CIAO on top of the channel, and I'm more commonly hearing Cuba on top. According to FM scan, the Cubans are now at 25kw, whereas earlier I think that they were at 10kw. Indeed, had the question come up a few months ago, I'd have said CIAO. Also, you pointed out that Cuba does better after midnight. I mostly listen pre-dawn, which may also explain why I'm getting a slightly different result than you.

I'd also say that daytime reception of Havana here where I am this week near Pensacola is slightly...but noticeably...better than on past trips....although that might be explained by having a better car radio.

Anyway, yes, the Cuban station does stream. But the last few times I've tried it, it was slow to connect and then there was also a very pronounced hum...so I didn't really stick around to listen very long.

Gotta say it's odd hearing elevator music on AM. Relaxing with Raul indeed!
 
While on the subject of 530/Radio Enciclopedia, I read something from I believe a Cuban news release, implying Ra En has a growing cult of listenership among American youth. ::)

Yeah, right.
 
@Stormy: As to what happened to Turks, Hurricane Ike (I believe) in 2008 damaged their 50kW transmitter. I have heard it u/Enciclo, but very very faintly. No idea how much power they are running at this time.

I was told that Enciclo is running 50k now.....

cd
 
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