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AM Frequency of the Week: 640

wildthangjim said:
One possibility is Radio Progreso in Cuba. They sometimes play English-language music and are often strong over here in Houston.
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Likely the source.
Wish there was a website that shows the coverage patterns of the Mexican stations.

Google "XXX frequency AM radio" and wiki lists all the stations of different countries broadcasting on the frequency. But, not familiar with most Mexican cities, hard to tell where the stations I'm hearing are originating.

Last night, Mexican stations were all over the Chicago & Nebraska clears. Could hardly hear 780, the others were nothing.
 
Clifton, New Jersey

Days: I get a weak signal of WWJZ "Relevant Radio" Mount Holly, NJ. It airs Catholic talk programming.

Nights: It depends on propagation. I have received WWJZ Mount Holly, NJ, WHLO Akron, OH, WMFN, Peotone, IL, CFIQ Richmond Hill, ON and Radio Progreso from Cuba.
 
Dondd said:
Likely the source.
Wish there was a website that shows the coverage patterns of the Mexican stations.

Google "XXX frequency AM radio" and wiki lists all the stations of different countries broadcasting on the frequency. But, not familiar with most Mexican cities, hard to tell where the stations I'm hearing are originating.

Last night, Mexican stations were all over the Chicago & Nebraska clears. Could hardly hear 780, the others were nothing.
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Go the IRCA, International Radio Club of America, and download the free 2024 Mexican station log. It is very up to date and has data on formats and programming, too. https://www.ircaonline.org/editor_upload/File/2024-25_IRCA_Mexican_Log.pdf

And remember that not all "foreign" stations heard are just in Cuba or Mexico. There are plenty of Central American, Venezuelan and Colombian AMs that make it into most parts of the US under the right conditions.
 
That's a help, David. Thank you very much.
 
Here in the far PNW, it is KFI all night long. Nothing at all during the daytime but a little slop from 630 KCIS Edmonds WA and 650 CISL Richmond BC. Nights both of those operations power down considerably and go directional away form me, so it is pretty smooth sailing for KFI. KFI is the "closest" 640 to me at over 1000 miles away. Bethel AK is over 1700 miles away, and Moore OK is over 1500 away. Ames IA is 1450 away. It is a very "lonely" frequency from my outpost in Bellingham WA!
 
Central Kentucky:
Days: Splatter from local WLAP

Nights: Most often WBIN Atlanta, or WHLO Akron.

Caught KFI ONCE. New Years Eve 2011 8 PM TOH ID.
"KFI Los Angeles/Orange County. (Guitar riff) KFI News" then it was gone. Have tried but have never heard since. Only other 640 I've heard here is Mt Holly NJ.
 
North Iowa:
Nothing but WOI/Ames. Have never been able to null it out to pull anything else in.

Central Kansas:
Mostly an audible yet hard to receive KWPN/Moore, but WOI also comes in the mix. I haven’t done any AM listening at night for awhile because of life and location, but will have the chance to do some later this month.
 
Dondd said:
I would love to hear it here on the east side of Austin, but have never heard it.
I may have heard it when I was a teen in central KS. The nighttime map shows KS and almost to I-35 in TX receiving it.
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Funny KFI in Austin story; a friend of mine who lives in Lakeway inherited a 67 Mustang from his Father in Law; the Mustang had the original AM only radio. One morning before he left for work, he started up the Mustang and tried the radio, not only did it work, but KFI came on the radio with an ok signal. My friend knew nothing about DXing, but thought the car was haunted, because his Father in law listened to KFI.

So yes, KFI can be heard in Austin.
 
dlf1 said:
Funny KFI in Austin story; a friend of mine who lives in Lakeway inherited a 67 Mustang from his Father in Law; the Mustang had the original AM only radio. One morning before he left for work, he started up the Mustang and tried the radio, not only did it work, but KFI came on the radio with an ok signal. My friend knew nothing about DXing, but thought the car was haunted, because his Father in law listened to KFI.

So yes, KFI can be heard in Austin.
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That must've been an exception, because the many times I've DX'd here in the Hutto area NE of Austin, I've never caught KFI, but wish I could. Will keep trying.

All I can get on 640 KWPN Moore (Oklahoma City), but it's usually weak, as is anything else nulled.

Looking at KFI's estimated signal, I-35, which I live east of on the northeast side of Austin, near Hutto, is the edge. The OKC station appears dominant east of I-35.

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Tonight, trying to get KFI, am receiving KWPN/Moore very weakly.
When I null, I get Spanish music on Radio Progreso from Cuba, confirmed with streams. A first for me in central Texas.
 
From the southwest suburbs of Chicago ...

KFI Los Angeles, though not for 20-plus years; CMQ Havana, likewise not for ages (you could pick between the two by nulling one in favor of the other, great fr listening to Dodgers games many nights before new owner Cox dumped them after the 1974 season); WHLO Akron, Ohio; WOI Ames, Iowa; WWLS / KWPN Norman / Moore, Okla; WCRV Memphis / Collierville, Tenn. (2/2/2017); and the one that wiped out DX on 640 in Chicago, WMFN Peotone, the 4.4 kW blowtorch. KWPN was heard on 3/5/2021 when WMFN had an open carrier.
 
FINALLY!!
I received KFI here in central Texas in a northeast Austin suburb.
This a.m., in the pre-dawn dark, I heard a woman and a man talking. It didn't sound like the sports talk on 640 out of Oklahoma City I normally receive (weakly).

Checked KFI's webstream. It was George Noory interviewing a pyschic or fortune teller or something at 4 a.m. PT.

1,216 miles away !!
 
Dondd said:
Likely the source.
Wish there was a website that shows the coverage patterns of the Mexican stations.
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The IFT was working on having a database similar to the FCC, which included coverage patterns. But unfortunately I live in a bananero republic and the politicians eliminated the organization.
 
I see I'm on the very edge of KFI's guestimated coverage.

The signal was very weak, buried under static, not a competing station. Though I could tell it was a man and woman talking, I couldn't clearly hear what they were saying. It was like trying to eavesdrop/ hear a conversation through a wall. The signal was that weak/faint.

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I'm a handful of miles E of KFI's limit.

Am glad I captured it, faint and unintelligible as it was. It's a signal have been wanting for a long time.


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Dondd said:
I see I'm on the very edge of KFI's guestimated coverage.
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That is not "estimated coverage". It is related to the protected contour, and the degree of protection depends on the class of the station.
Dondd said:
I'm a handful of miles E of KFI's limit.
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That is not a "limit". You can hear KFI in South America, Oceania, Europe under the right conditions and situations.
 
Here in Houston, there’s a “sweet spot” when I’ve heard KFI a couple of times. It’s early in the morning, after Havana sunrise and before OKC sunrise.
 
In Queens NYC back in the 60's -- that's the 1960's, hi -- we each had the divvil of a time hearing KFI. We didn't know of loops, and were still fuzzy on any 'directional' stations. The White's Radio Station guides in the monthly Radio-TV Experimenter magazine were all we had.
It did seem odd that a few of us logged KNX before we nabbed KFI -- moreso because, well, both turned out to be 50K omnis '24/7. And near JFK Airport* the nighttime 640 spot was fun WHLO Akron that signed off at L.A. sunset ; then the occasional 10,000 omni CBN from Newfoundland and CMQ from Cuba. That was the lot. By comparison, 1070 then had over a dozen full-time US stations on it.
So, am wondering if some form of atmospheric effects -- Aurora or lack of it -- was a factor with KFI. Really, back then when the dial was so less crowded there was no reason why a 50,000 watt omni had trouble making it at least occasionally across the country.
Would enjoy reading some exploits from West Coast DXers from that era, vis-a-vis reception of East Coast 50,000-watt omnis like WGY 810, WHAM 1180, KDKA 1020, WNBC 660, WCBS 880, etc ........ how it was before KOB 770, KDWN 720, KTWO 1030, KOFI 1180 et al got assigned to do their things.


* When we started DXing, the thing was called 'Idlewild International'
 
Early this morning, just before 7:00 a.m. CT here in the northeast Austin, TX, suburbs, I picked up 640 WCRV, Collierville (Memphis), TN.
I've picked it up before, but only once, so it's a rare catch here.
It was coming in strong carrying Bott Radio Network brokered religious programming.

I understand the station is 50,000 watts days, 5 watts nights.

Am assuming it was on day power.

Looking at this map, it would seem Texas is way out of the station's guesstimated range.

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