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AM Frequency of the Week: 620

M

MarioMania

Carmichael, CA

Daytime: Nothing
Nighttime: Nothing

Vallejo, CA

Daytime: Splatter from 610 KEAR San Francisco, CA
Nighttime: Nothing
 
From west Houston TX

Daytime, slop from local KILT-610. As I mentioned in the 610 thread, it's stronger and sloppier here since moving transmitter location. I used to occasionally hear XEGH "La Lupe 89.1" from Rio Bravo down on the border, but not for a long while
Sunset, a mix of KTNO in DFW, XEGH, and XENK from Mexico DF.
Night, mostly KTNO and XENK. I have also heard Radio Rebelde, WDAE sports from St Petersburg FL, and WJDX talk from Jackson MS.
Sunrise, KTNO, XENK, and XEGH.

XEGH was, I believe, silent for a while, but they're definitely on now.

DXing from Tulsa OK in the early 70's early on Monday morning, 620 was mostly clear and CKCK Regina Sask was usually on top until WDAE signed on.
 
Central Kentucky:
Days: WAKY Louisville (it's fun to hear WAKY on AM again.)
Nights: Most often it's WRJZ Knoxville with other un-Id stuff underneath but WRJZ always on top. I remember when it was WATE doing oldies in the 80s
 
Denver, CO - Spillover from local 630 KHOW.

From previous locations: most places I've lived have had powerhouse local stations on either 610 or 630, so not much of a chance there. When I lived in Chicago, WTMJ blasted in day and night from Milwaukee. The big exception was central Missouri, where in the early 1980s, catches included: KMNS Sioux City, IA; KTMT Louisville, KY; WRJZ Knoxville, TN; KWFT Wichita Falls, TX; WTMJ Milwaukee, WI. My notes from the early and mid 1970s have only one catch, the Knoxville station, which was WATE at that time.
 
Here in Wood Dale, IL (near NW suburb of Chicago):

Daytime: WTMJ
Nighttime: WTMJ

DX/Retro: In the old days WTMJ was fairly easy to null at night producing some nice DX catches. In 1980's/1990's this frequency was the best bet to hear the state of Vermont on AM here in Chicago area. Heard WVMT (Burlington, VT) few times in those days. Other catches include WSUN (St. Petersburg, FL), WSKQ (Newark, NJ), WHEN (Syracuse, NY), WRJZ (Knoxville, TN), KWFT (Wichita Falls, TX), WAKY (Louisville, KY), WFMV (Cayce, SC), CFCL (Timmins, ON - no longer on the air), CKRM (Regina, SK). Another common station in those days with WTMJ nulled used to be Radio Rebelde from Cuba. I also have several tentative logs of La Voz de Nicaragua back in 1980's, but I could never get a positive ID, so I am not counting it. Once WTMJ increased their power and started using IBOC it became difficult to DX 620 kHz. They stopped using IBOC eventually, but it is still difficult to null them. The most recent catch on this frequency is WJDX (Jackson, MS) in 2023.
 
Onliest 620 daytime logging since moving to here was from a weak WHJB out near Pittsburgh. They sent some of their 2500 watts causally east-west. Never heard them at night.
The dark-out stations were there from Syracuse, Newark NJ and Knoxville.
620 looms as a pretty decent SSS frequency. I may even take up drinking again -- not much, just a tot in the thermos -- and do some overnight 620 DXing at a picnic table near the quiet BPO Lodge this January.

@CADXER :
Back in Queens -- way WAY back -- WVNJ Newark NJ was a local, a Beautiful Music station. I remember them being off every early on Monday (school) mornings. The most frequent 620 occupant at those hours, almost like some Gulf foghorn, was a faint but steady WSUN St. Pete. Spring, summer, etc.
And one of the buddies, a non-addicted DXer who liked jazz and classical rather than 60's pop, bought one of those wide multi-band Grundig (?) rigs, with the ivory-key controls. He grumpily described what turned out to be his milestone catch: 'Some thing with a bunch of T's and J's in it'.
He never had a station-list logbook. Some are just not born to DX.
 
South Mississippi:

Day: good signal on WDAE St. Petersburg, FL (sports) on the coast, very weak WJDX Jackson, MS (News/Talk/Sports) inland
Night: mix of KTNO Plano - Radio Luz Dallas, XENK Mexico City - Radio La Guadalupana, WDAE, and other stations
 
From NW San Antonio:

Day: Just heavy slop from my local on 630, KSLR.

Sunset: KTNO "Radio Luz" in Plano, TX (formerly KMKI "Radio Disney"), can be heard coming up through the splatter.

Night: The slop is reduced a bit and can be mitigated somewhat by off-tuning and using a tight bandwidth filter. Aiming NE/SW, I can hear KTNO and XENK "La Guadalupana" (formerly Radio 6.20") in Mexico City mixing with each other, the former being dominant most often. At rare times, XEGH "La Lupe" in Rio Bravo will mix in weakly.

Sunrise: XEGH is stronger and often takes over at day power. Later, XENK usually becomes dominant when it goes to day power/pattern. Eventually KTNO comes back and is the last station standing until it's overwhelmed by KSLR's increased daytime slop.

DX/Retro: A very weak KTAR in Phoenix can be heard with sports programming at sunrise and occasionally briefly at night if I aim E/W (there's more KSLR slop in that direction). Also, I've heard WJDX in Jackson, MS, just once - during a sunrise in 2015. In addition, I used to hear XEBU "La Norteñita" in Chihuahua somewhat regularly by aiming E/W at night before it was retired.
 
Here in Central and DownEast Maine it's Stephen King's WZON 620 Bangor; "Z-62 Retro Radio". Good solid signal from Augusta north into Aroostook Country and all along the Down East coast to the Canadian border.
 
In Charleston, SC 620 is usually either a weak WFMV Cayce, SC or a very weak WDAE depending on where you are. It used to be a lot of slop before WBMQ Savannah GA signed off on 630 about 7-8 years ago.

WRJZ or Radio Rebelde often comes in at night. I’ve heard WJDX a couple times if WDAE is not in.
 
Hartland, VT:

WVMT Burlington, 24/7, with news, talk and University of Vermont sports.

Meriden, CT:

Nothing days, never was able to pick any one station out from the noise-floor rumbling on this frequency. I remember being able to hear WHEN Syracuse occasionally from suburban Boston back in the '70s.
 
East central Iowa:
Daytime: WTMJ Milwaukee
Nighttime: KMNS Sioux City or WRJZ Knoxville. Have also caught CKRM Regina, KTNO Dallas and WTMJ at night.
 
Around Columbus, Ohio, nothing daytime next to local blaster WTVN on 610.
At night, if you are outside their primary northbound lobe WRJZ can be heard, sometimes easily. I've heard it driving toward Columbus at night, even within sight of the WTVN tower farm. Granted that was across flat land from 10 miles or so out, but WRJZ was there.
I will be driving to Chicago overnight Friday into Saturday to watch Ohio State play at Wrigley Field, and if I remember I will see where I can pick up WTMJ. I've never really had that chance at night up there.
 
Clifton, New Jersey

Days/Nights: I get WSNR "Davidzon Radio 620 AM" Jersey City, NJ. It airs Russian language programming during the daytime hours. Nights and weekends consists of brokered programming.

Retro: It was first known as WVNJ from 1948 until 1983. Then, it aired Spanish-language programming as WSKQ (1983-95) and WXLX (1995-97). Other history includes WJWR (1997-2001) and WSNR (2001-present).
 
From northern Los Angeles -

Daytime - KIGS Hanford occasionally when noise level is low

Nighttime - KTAR Phoenix

Retro- "Where ever you are, dial K-T-A-R Phoenix"
 
KTNO comes in here in the Austin, TX, area very weakly on my Grundig Yachboy. Lots of static but maybe that's because it's sandwiched between 610-Houston and 630-San Antonio, which also aren't strong.

When I lived in Tampa, 620 WDAE was gigantic, very strong in many places I drove to.
 
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