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AM frequency of the week - 860

cyberdad

cyberdad

What's the result when your radio is tuned to 860?

Here in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago daytime, it's splatter from local WAIT (850). Less than 3 miles away, with 2.5kw aimed right at me. When they're off, I get a weak WNOV from Milwaukee....assuming they're not off themselves! (They've been known to have "issues." :) )

Nights it's CJBC. Usually alone with a solid....if unspectacular...signal. For whatever reason, usually not quite as good as diplexed CFZM.

Sometimes KKOW (Pittsburg, KS) sneaks in at sunset if WCPT signs off while KKOW is still on their 10kw ND Day pattern.
 
In Houston, day or night, next door neighbor 850 KEYH puts out enough to stop most anything making its way onto 860.

In Bellville, 860 is most often KONO San Antonio, which until a couple of months ago was classic Top 40 hits "Kono 101" with its FM sister simulcasting it. It is now sports, as "CBS Sports Radio 860", using the national feed. The signal is fair to good during the day, a little weaker at night.

Honorable mention goes to XENL Monterey, Nuevo Leon, which tends to be underneath KONO from time to time, and has been known to overtake it in these parts, from time to time.
 
In the near north Chicago suburbs it's a weak WNOV during the day and a fairly strong CJBC at night, but not quite as good as it used to be.
 
Around Columbus, Ohio, nothing daytime and a usually strong CJBC at night.
CJBC can be heard daytime in far northeast Ohio, east and north of Cleveland.
 
purpledevil said:
In Houston, day or night, next door neighbor 850 KEYH puts out enough to stop most anything making its way onto 860.

In Bellville, 860 is most often KONO San Antonio, which until a couple of months ago was classic Top 40 hits "Kono 101" with its FM sister simulcasting it. It is now sports, as "CBS Sports Radio 860", using the national feed. The signal is fair to good during the day, a little weaker at night.

Honorable mention goes to XENL Monterey, Nuevo Leon, which tends to be underneath KONO from time to time, and has been known to overtake it in these parts, from time to time.
Click to expand...

I used to be very good at nulling KEYH from my location on Fry road in Houston. Now that KONO is no longer oldies - I don't care.
 
rbrucecarter5 said:
I used to be very good at nulling KEYH from my location on Fry road in Houston. Now that KONO is no longer oldies - I don't care.
Click to expand...

I presume KONO is still doing the oldies/classic hits on 101.1 FM....is that right? I don't remember ever hearing KONO-AM in Houston (probably because I never tried for it). I do, however, remember hearing KONO-AM in Austin with a fair daytime signal. Disappeared at night, however. That would make sense, since I seem to remember that they went to an east-west pattern and 1kw.
 
Daytime it's WWDB out of Philadelphia*, despite my being pretty much in a severe null.

Nighttime it's CJBC.
I did hear English way under them one night (3-16-99) and managed a really effective null with the GE Superduperadio and its own loopstick, plus the 4-foot box loop right next to it. CJBC was nulled completely. Despite it being a null to the NW and *somewhat* co-linear with the target station, it had little effect on the catch, WAMO from Pittsburgh.

Sunset catches have been WBGH MD (4-25-95) and WACB from NC (1-12-96)

* I don't know of a similarly-sized market with so many daytimers that had to protect huge Canadian signals by signing off at sundown. Going from what would have been the old radio 'listening lists' from the newspapers, Philly had 690, 740, 800, 860 and 900. Plus, the old WIBG 990 even had to pull it away from Canada at night.
New York for example, had 1010 and 1050, but no daytimers.
Boston, another example, had just two daytimers (740 and 1550).
 
Daytime it is WMRI in Marion IN, a little over 100 miles away.

Nights, CJBC usually rules with a strong signal.

Nights, I've also heard WLBG Laurens SC. Only once, so I'd say they were running their 1 KW day power. (Non directional)

Transition times I've heard Pittsburg KS & a couple of others.

Surprisingly, I've never heard WOAY in Oak Hill WV, only 200 miles away. They are non directional 10 KW days, though they do run 5 KW critical hours.
 
cyberdad said:
I presume KONO is still doing the oldies/classic hits on 101.1 FM....is that right? I don't remember ever hearing KONO-AM in Houston (probably because I never tried for it). I do, however, remember hearing KONO-AM in Austin with a fair daytime signal. Disappeared at night, however. That would make sense, since I seem to remember that they went to an east-west pattern and 1kw.
Click to expand...

Oh yes - it did a good job of making it to Houston. The signal was even weaker than Austin, of course, but about the same as 760 from San Antonio. KEYH interference is severe, and even nulling was not enough in some cases when they played some overmodulated thing with a lot of high frequency content. 860 makes it into Houston at night, of course there is a lot of other stuff mixing with it. I used to go to Austin a couple of times a year - 860 was disappointing at best. I actually had more luck with 101.1, but WRR and occasionally Houston make a hatchet job of it in Cedar Park where I usually go. Fortunately - Austin still have KLBJ FM, and I seldom tune off it when I am up there.
 
Daytime, the one and only KWPC Muscatine, IA. Nighttime, always CJBC Toronto -- sometimes strong, sometimes not. Agree with cyberdad that it's considerably weaker than CFZM 740.
 
icybluelake said:
Daytime, the one and only KWPC Muscatine, IA.
Click to expand...

You got that right!

I worked at KWPC for several months in the early '70s. Interesting place to say the least. In addition to the board, the on-air studio also contained the transmitter. One of the numerous other quirky things I remember about the place was that whenever he carried high school or University of Iowa football, rather than invest in any type of pre-game show, we simply had to play cuts from a stack of marching band recordings.

Then there was the time I had to do a RADIO broadcast of the Miss Iowa beauty pageant, which was being held in Muscatine.

Yet despite all the peculiarities....thanks to the fabulous ground conductivity in eastern Iowa....the 250-watts produced a great signal. 100 miles or so in all directions.
 
cyberdad said:
You got that right!

I worked at KWPC for several months in the early '70s. Interesting place to say the least. In addition to the board, the on-air studio also contained the transmitter. One of the numerous other quirky things I remember about the place was that whenever he carried high school or University of Iowa football, rather than invest in any type of pre-game show, we simply had to play cuts from a stack of marching band recordings.

Then there was the time I had to do a RADIO broadcast of the Miss Iowa beauty pageant, which was being held in Muscatine.

Yet despite all the peculiarities....thanks to the fabulous ground conductivity in eastern Iowa....the 250-watts produced a great signal. 100 miles or so in all directions.
Click to expand...

Yes they do! That signal is probably just as good as 250 KBOE 740 in Oskaloosa. What a great signal KWPC had. They sounded great when they were in AM stereo.

For my location it's CJBC weak days (only on the best of radios) and strong at night.
 
Here in W Washington state it's static by day, KPAM Portland / CFPR Prince Rupert at night with sometimes KTRB San Francisco with Deportes. On rare occasions, CBKF-2 from Saskatoon makes it through.
 
I'll pitch in.

860 here is KPAM Troutdale very weak in the daytime.
Nights - mainly KPAM, but also mixing with CFPR Prince Rupert, BC and KTRB SF. Once I heard CBKF-2 Saskatoon, SK with FF (no it wasn't CJBC).

-crainbebo
 
I should give honorable mention to KFST Ft. Stockton, which does a remarkably good job of making it into Midland, TX.
 
^ now there's a place with very little to choose from on the dial. One of those out in the middle of nowhere parts of west Texas.
 
Lol -- Just before, one of the first things I checked in this new house we bought was (really) a Hamilton Beach AM/FM/Weather radio and *can opener*. It hangs under one of the cabinets above the sink counter.

CJBC was there, atop 860 as usual, and we listened for a while, around 11:15PM. And for the duration of our quick drop-off visit and separating His and Hers cardboard boxes, a station *under* CJBC was playing 'Cristo Redentor' by Donald Byrd and (iIrc) McCoyTyner.

That song, of course, is way too long for a quick parcel dropoff, so we had to scoot, and leave the station unID.

It's nice to know, though, that some good DX comes into the place on a flippin Hamilton Beach can opener -- and with the flourescent kitchen light on.
 
The other day I noticed that the local K-Mart was selling Sony SRF-59 radios for 13 bucks. Maybe I should check out the electric can openers first before I buy one! :)
 
Steve.

Enjoy your 1985 appliance of the future!

This from the NYT "Business Day" section, dated December 25, 1985.

The article is dated December 22, and the title is:
HOT-SELLING SMALL APPLIANCES

...And Hamilton Beach joined in with, among other things, its can opener-radio and can opener-pencil sharpener.

''Every kitchen has a can opener; every kitchen has a radio,'' Hamilton Beach's Mr. Miller said. ''We thought it would be good to put the two together.''...

By the way, Mr. Miller left the company two years later. I wonder why.

What will they think of next? A toilet that automatically lifts its lid, and talks?
 
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