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AM Frequency of the Week 540

cyberdad

cyberdad

40 miles Northwest of downtown Chicago....

Days: WAUK, A Milwaukee rimshot with only 400 watts, but with a favorable pattern for my direction. The result is a fair signal. Format is political talk.

Nights. WAUK. Still 400 watts with a pattern that favors me. CBK sometimes mixes with it Or even occasionally overtakes it. I've also heard XEWA from Mexico and WDAK from Columbus, GA. But not recently.

Other location: At our beach place on the Gulf, it's a very weak WFLF by day. Nights are usually a jumble with KNOE most likely to rise to the top, WFLF less likely.
 
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: WAUK with good signal. KWMT also heard in the past.
Nighttime: normally WAUK but CBK also

DX/RETRO: others heard in the past include KWMT (Ft. Dodge, IA), KNOE (W. Monroe, LA), WEIZ (Columbus, GA), KNMX (Las Vegas, NM), WGTO (Cypress Garden, FL). Several other Canadians besides CBK received are CBEF (Windsor, ON) and CJSB (Ottawa, ON) heard back in 1980's, but they are no longer on the air. Also heard CBT (Grand Falls, Newfoundland) heard twice. Not an easy catch in Chicago area, but possible. XEWA used to be quite common back in the days thanks to their 150 kW transmitter, but it's been a while since I heard them. I am pretty sure they are no longer using the 150 kW blow torch. Another foreign one heard is Radio Corporacion, Managua, Nicaragua back in 1983. The most recent new logs on this frequency are WKFN (Clarksville, TN) in 2021 and WASG (Daphne, AL) in 2022.
 
East Tennessee: Daytime: Weak WRGC, Silva NC. Night: Mostly a hodge-podge, WDAK often before sunset. I've not managed to catch WFLF, though WOKV on 690 is a sunrise/sunset regular.

Retro/other/SDR: I have had CBEF when it was on 540 a time or two in Western Ohio. I may have had it somewhat South of Columbus....definitely something in French but it was a summer mid-day. I don't know if anyone has info on its former power.

Central Indiana SDR: Daytime is WKFN, Clarksville TN with WAUK underneath
I sat on 540 for an hour and managed a clear ID on WAUK, Jackson WI along with an unidentified station carrying "Somewhere in Time" with Art Bell. I'm not sure about WFLF making it to Indiana but I suppose it's possible. WWCS briefly faded up with Brother Stair. Also on this rig I've had KWMT when it was on daytime power at night (wasn't able to get it simultaneously in Knoxville).'
I can't not mention the late WGTO. Heading to Sarasota in 1980 I was able to get it near sunset in Macon, GA.
 
CADXER said:
DX/RETRO: others heard in the past include KWMT (Ft. Dodge, IA)....
Click to expand...
A few years ago, KWMT was running day power at night (or some sort of STA IIRC. Perhaps you remember when that was going on. It only was for about a week or two, but it was a nightime regular for me during that short period. II also have heard KWMT on a couple occasions during daytime under WAUK on a good car radio.

As for XEWA, I had heard them only a few times at my home location before they went dark. But I didn't have to travel very far west or south for it to become a relatively easy catch.
 
Lean 540 loggings here in PA, compared to those from last century back in Queens NYC.
Faint daytime regular before all the daytime racket began was WWCS from Perry Comosburg PA., SW of Pittsburgh.
CJSB was a nighttime log.
Another nighttime log was a goodie -- my first full-time radio gig when it was Beautiful Music daytimer WLIX, from Islip Long Island. (That's said 'ICE-lip', for those unsure ;) )
Am sort of surprised not to've seen them listed elsewhere here so far. I once caught them on a Buick car radio on the Delaware Memorial Bridge, back when they were 250 watts omni. No doubt the recepion was assisted by some water-path, but only partly. And a good portion of the signal had to navigate the vast Pine Barrens of NJ.
After their sunrise, they send a good deal of their 10000 watts toward the upper midwest.

Retro : KWMT in Iowa could be a loud, clear sign-off at times back in Queens.
 
CBK comes in at night here to the greater Seattle metro and sometimes into the morning, if conditions are OK. In the 1990s and 2000s they were regional level signals on a regular basis, even though they are over 800 miles away from here. During the last solar minimum they were MIA. They began to return about 8 months ago or so, with varying levels of signal.

Beneath CBK and to the opposite bearing XESURF often can be heard, and about six months ago there was a TIS that was running at high speed, audible every now and then, sounding like a woman talking on helium. Haven't heard that one in quite some time, though.
 
Daytime is KWMT Fort Dodge, IA. Nighttime, usually nothing audible. KWMT appeared to be off the air yesterday or the day before when I checked. They are back on now.
 
From DFW, Texas

Daytime: Local KDFT Ferris, TX with Spanish Christian programming.
Nights: KDFT with XEWA SLP easily heard in null, although, missing as of late.
One time heard: KMLB Monroe, LA heard clearly at sunrise, when KDFT was running an open carrier. CBK Watrous, SK overnight with CBC program in KDFT null.
 
Tyler, TX:

I am right in the deepest part of KDFT's eastern null, so it is quite a chore to pick it up here. Then there's KNOE in Monroe, LA which is directional away from me. Daytime is a whole lot of nothing for me in the daylight hours.

Nighttime, more often than not, it is "Los 40" XEWA from San Luis Potosi, MX. Not the best reception, but it's almost always there.
 
15 miles south of Orlando

WFLF strong both day and night.

Retro nighttime only - WFLF used to be strong towards Tampa at night but the changed their nighttime pattern away from Tampa and are quite weak to the west of Orlando.
 
From west Houston TX

Daytime, I've heard KMLB Monroe LA once or twice in midwinter but usually nothing. At sunset, XEWA comes up (at least before they went silent) and I've also heard KMLB, KDFT, and KWMT. Nights, XEWA is (was) dominant, now it's a jumble.

Retro, Tulsa in the early 70's, it was XEWA and KNOE (now KMLB) running top 40 music (co-owned w/WNOE New Orleans). Overnights, CBK was usually listenable.
 
From the southwest suburbs of Chicago ...

In the beginning, there was WYLO, Jackson, Wis., with 250 watts. It's a booming 400 as WAUK now.

That's just enough more power to inflict harm on the 50 kW of CBK Watrous, Sask., at night. Once reliable, now one must set the antenna just so to knock WAUK down, and it isn't always a success.

Others heard on 640: KNOE Monroe, La.; XEWA San Luis Potosi, Mex. (in its 150 kW glory days) and most recently, WBWD Islip, N.Y. on 9/1/2021, with Spanish music instead of reports on Figure-8 demolition derbies.
 
From my DX days in Phoenix in the earlier 70's, I had frequent reception of the 540's from Guayaquil, Bogotá and Santo Dominto, DR.

The DR station was 5 kw at the time, and both of the others were 10 kw.

The 540's in Managua and David, Panamá were far less frequent visitors.
 
tvnut said:
From the southwest suburbs of Chicago ...

In the beginning, there was WYLO, Jackson, Wis., with 250 watts. It's a booming 400 as WAUK now.

That's just enough more power to inflict harm on the 50 kW of CBK Watrous, Sask., at night. Once reliable, now one must set the antenna just so to knock WAUK down, and it isn't always a success.
Click to expand...
Similar to my experiences. All 400 of those mighty watts from the WAUK night pattern aimed right at us!
 
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gr8oldies said:
In the WYLO days, those 250 watts made it to Central Indiana days.
Click to expand...
The Chicago American used to have a very complete listing of radio stations heard in the Chicago Area. When WYLO 540 came on the air, when we were visiting our relatives in the NWC/ORD area, I saw it listed. I found a radio and tuned in right away. I was surprised when I found out that it was only 250 watts. I can't remember if I heard it in West Central Michigan when I had a 20 foot vertical antenna connected to a tuned preamp and inductively coupled to an excellent Sony Portable radio and cassette recorder. But CBEF 540 was weak there due to it's DA pattern toward Canada. I got WKTS 950 Sheboygan, WI across the Lake with it, not WWJ 950 or WGRT/WJPC 950, so it's possible I heard it. In those days, you couldn't put more than 5 microvolts per meter Daytime at any point on the Canadian border, and no Night service.
 
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From NW San Antonio:

Day: Just heavy splatter from local 550 KTSA.

Sunset: Sometimes I'll hear KMLB in Monroe, LA, in/out amidst the splatter. A few times I've heard XEWF "La Bestia Grupera" in Tlalmanalco.

Night: The KTSA splatter is slightly reduced. To the NE/SW, XEWA "Los 40" in San Luis Potosi usually dominates. On occasions when propagation is really strong, I'll hear a weak KMLB underneath. Aiming NW/SE, it's XETX "La Ranchera de Paquimé" in Nuevas Casas Grandes. Sometimes it overtakes XEWA. Occasionally I've heard XEHS "La Mejor" in Los Mochis, but not recently.

Sunrise: Similar to nighttime.

DX: One night in September 2017 I heard both WASG in Daphne, AL, and WFLF in Pine Hills, FL, when they were on day power during Hurricane Irma (WFLF was providing storm coverage). Other one-time loggings include CBK (nighttime) and KWMT (sunset).

Retro: XEWA had a second transmitter in Monterrey until 2020. It was weak but audible in the KTSA splatter during daytime.
 
Here in SF East Bay, there's not much of anything on 540 except noise day and night, though I haven't checked in awhile.

And of course, the low end of the dial is kind of noisy here, which somewhat complicates DXing on these frequencies....

c
 
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