AM Frequency of the Week - 990 kHz

[charlestondxman]

In Charleston, 990 is usually WDYZ Orlando on a good radio. Nighttime, WNML is the station that comes in the most.

 

[Hotseat]

From Alabama, Knoxville always came in pretty good. Used to be WNOX.

 

[crainbebo]

Wow I am late to this...Bellevue, WA

Days-nothing, mostly KOMO splatter and KIXI spurs

Night-CBW Winnipeg, MB [CBC Radio One].

Also have gotten KATD Pittsburg, CA-and KTHH Albany, OR 250w, been trying for KTMS for a couple years now with no success.

-crainbebo

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Springfield, IL:

Daytime: WCAZ Carthage, IL

Night: CBW Winnipeg

Plus a few traces of WCAZ and WNML Knoxville, TN at night on 990 here in the Springfield area on a car radio.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

S of El Cajon, CA:

Day: a weak XECL Mexicali, Baja Norte, with an even weaker KTMS Santa Barbara underneath. (KTMS requires an external antenna - portable radios' built-in loopsticks generally aren't good enough.)

XECL is 5 kW ND @ 84 mi, 96°
KTMS is 5 kW DA (ERP 10.65 watts) @ 197 mi, 308°

Night: Haven't paid much attention to this frequency.


Some video and audio clips below...

video:

Tecsun PL-398mp vs Sony SRF-M37W in my backyard - 2012-06-08 somewhat after 3pm.

Tecsun PL-606 comparing stock loopstick, Select-A-Tenna & SAT + utility groundwire in front of my house - 2012-01-20 2;42pm PST

audio:

Sony SRF-59 - barefoot, then with Select-A-Tenna in my backyard - 2011-07-13 12:52pm PDT

Tecsun PL-606 - barefoot near 33°19'45"N 117°0'3"W - 2010-10-05 around midday / early afternoon

Panasonic RQ-SW20 - barefoot in my backyard - 2009-07-24. This is the radio I've had for several years, before I got my Sonys, Tecsuns, GE SR3, etc. I've also had a Zenith Royal 705 for several years as well, but am not finding any clips of 990 recorded with that radio - probably due to selectivity issues with semi-local 1000 KCEO from Vista, CA, and possibly not being sensitive enough? There are stations that I can get well enough to listen to on the Sonys (disclaimer: the SRF-M37W has an improved after-market AM filter) that are but a carrier wisp if that on the Zenith. Could that indicate the Z is in dire need of realignment?

Sangean DT-210 barefoot in my backyard - 2009-07-24. I only briefly had this radio while comparing several radios to replace my above-mentioned Panasonic RQ-SW20 - primarily was looking for better selectivity & sensitivity in a comparable size or smaller package. I've found some improvements, but haven't yet found the one that will get many of the stations I want to hear at midday well enough to listen to them. (I'll spare the details from this post.)

Sony SRF-M37W barefoot stock (no modified AM filter) in my backyard - 2009-07-24. Briefly had this one - same reason as DT-210 mentioned above.

Last but not least...

Sony SRF-59 then Tecsun PL-606, both barefoot at 32°47'41.5"N 117°15'22.7"W - 2011-12-23 1:45pm PST. KTMS has 16.4 watts ERP toward there at a distance of 291.33 km (181 mi) at an azimuth toward KTMS of 310.42° (KTMS to my QTH was 129.08°).
So who here can beat that for relatively low-power groundwave reception over a long distance? No cheating by using a lower frequency, a more sensitive radio or an external antenna. Use of a path of which a higher percentage of it is saltwater is permitted, but not expressly encouraged.

 

[Tim L]

Local 990 is WTIG in Massillon. Ohio ESPN 990-When it would go off the air at night (It's 24/7 anymore) I used to get CBW Winnipeg..

 

[BigDave]

At twilight and a lot of the Night I can hear 990 the sports animal out of Knoxville,Tennessee. Daytime I hear nothing on 990.

 

[Icangelp]

SW Ohio

Day
Nothing

Sunset
WITZ Jasper Indiana - I've only logged them a couple of times. WITZ & its FM counterpart have served the Jasper community well over many years. I remember them as a top notch small town broadcaster as far back as the 1950's.

Night
WNML Knoxville TN - The most regular, but they throw very little my way so the signal is not reliable.
CBW Winnipeg MB - Also during sunrise during parts of the year.

 

[MarcB]

Bristol, CT

Day: Local POWER 990 WXCT Southington - Spanish Tropical//WSPR 1270 Springfield, MA. Their 2500 watt daytime signal gets out good. It can be heard as far north as Northampton, Mass (tho one summer I got it at 630 in the morning in Brattleboro, VT) and the signal can be heard as far Northwest as the suburbs of Albany mixing with WOFX 980. And when I was with WXCT in the early part of the last decade we got a call from a listener who was listening to the station in Chappequa, NY. (Sic). The town The Clinton's were living in when she was a senator.

Night: Mess. WXCT is only 80 watts at night and the signal doesn't get out too far.

 

[radioman148]

Bristol, CT

Day: Local POWER 990 WXCT Southington - Spanish Tropical//WSPR 1270 Springfield, MA. Their 2500 watt daytime signal gets out good. It can be heard as far north as Northampton, Mass (tho one summer I got it at 630 in the morning in Brattleboro, VT) and the signal can be heard as far Northwest as the suburbs of Albany mixing with WOFX 980. And when I was with WXCT in the early part of the last decade we got a call from a listener who was listening to the station in Chappequa, NY. (Sic). The town The Clinton's were living in when she was a senator.

Night: Mess. WXCT is only 80 watts at night and the signal doesn't get out too far.

Pretty strange that this station is on the same frequency as WALE in Rhode Island, a 50KW station only 77 miles away.
I'd expect something like this on one of the high graveyard frequencies, but it's unusual on a frequency like 990.

 

[Fenway1912]

I am in Cambridge, MA.

I believe WALE is still silent.

At night for the past year CKGM Montreal comes in like a local ( I suspect that hey do not switch to night pattern )

Bristol, CT

Day: Local POWER 990 WXCT Southington - Spanish Tropical//WSPR 1270 Springfield, MA. Their 2500 watt daytime signal gets out good. It can be heard as far north as Northampton, Mass (tho one summer I got it at 630 in the morning in Brattleboro, VT) and the signal can be heard as far Northwest as the suburbs of Albany mixing with WOFX 980. And when I was with WXCT in the early part of the last decade we got a call from a listener who was listening to the station in Chappequa, NY. (Sic). The town The Clinton's were living in when she was a senator.

Night: Mess. WXCT is only 80 watts at night and the signal doesn't get out too far.

Pretty strange that this station is on the same frequency as WALE in Rhode Island, a 50KW station only 77 miles away.
I'd expect something like this on one of the high graveyard frequencies, but it's unusual on a frequency like 990.