They need to fix their AM!!! and quit chewing up FM spectrum...I am NOT a fan of translators that donot TRANSLATE.....most are repeaters or in AM case, LPFMs......
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AM Frequency of the week: 990 KHZ
- Thread starter cyberdad
- Start date
Similar situation with KCBR 1040 Colorado Springs 15 kW D, 2 kW CH. It seems like since "Tailgate 98.5" started, KCBR seems weaker. Suspect they stay at 2 kW all day. Why waste an extra 13 kW when when the goal is just to get an AM signal to go out 25 miles.
I live in Southington, Connecticut. The studios and antennas for WXCT Southington are located on Old Tunrpike Road in the Plantsville section of town. Obviously no problem getting them during the day. At night when they cut to 80 watts I get them mixed with other stations. Monday-Friday WXCT is Spanish/Tropical POWER 990 simulcast with WSPR Springfield. (That stopped for a while, but it's back to simulcast WSPR). 6AM Saturday-8:30AM Sunday and Sunday 3PM-6AM Monday They are Spanish Religious Radio Cantico Nuevo, though sister Ana Vazquez who has a show on Saturdays calls it Cantico 990. Sister Ana Vasquez hosts "Something to Think About" and she will do the show in Spanish one week and in English the next week. Sundays programming features an Italian Show 8:30AM-1PM, The Immanuel Lutheran Church Mass 1PM-2PM (though they cut it off at 1:57 usually), and The Just Friends Polka Show 2PM-3PM. It's done from the Bristol Polish American Citizen's Club and it comes in over the phone somehow and it sounds like crap. You can also hear the sound of a dial up modem or maybe a fax machine during the first 5-10 mins of the show. An Italian Show has been on WXCT since it signed on in 1969 as WNTY. The Lutheran Mass has been on 990 since 1993 when the Bristol station went Spanish. The Polka Show has bee on more than 20 years and was originally Patti Ann's Polka Happiness Show hosted by Patti Ann Jakubiak from the Polka group "Patti and the Guys". Patti Ann passed away in October 2011.
Format History:
1969-1999 Hyper local. Although some of the programming was bird-fed. At one time in the 80s they carried Play-By-Play of The New York Mets Baseball team and Hartford Whaler's Hockey. (Now The Carolina Hurricanes)
Summer of 1999-Seprember 15, 2000 Spanish Tropical Plus ethnic programming on Sundays
September 15-September 29, 2000 Dark. Station was unable to operate due to vandalism.
September 29, 2000-October 23, 2000 Test Programming including the regular Sunday Ethnic Programming and Southington High School Football.
October 23, 2000-Thanksgiving 2001 Hip-Hop/Reggae plus the Ethnic Programming on Sunday.
Thanksgiving 2001-February 2002 FOX News Channel Simulcast except for NCAA Sports on Saturday and Ethnic Programming on Sundays.
February 2002-May 2004 Talk. Ethnic Programming on Sundays. Programming also included the 2002 Winter Olympics. (Call letters changed to WXCT in 2003).
May 2004-July 2005 Spanish AC with Ethnic Programming on Sundays.
July 2005-October 2005 Spanish Tropical with Ethnic Programming on Sundays.
October 2005-May 2007 Talk. With Ethnic Programming on Sundays.
May 2007-January 2012 Spanish Religious with Ethnic Programming on Sundays.
January 2012-March 2015 Spanish Tropical Simulcast with WSPR Springfield Monday-Friday. Spanish Religious Saturdays. Spanish Religious and other ethnic programming on Sundays.
March 2015-June 2015. Spanish Tropical Monday-Friday. Spanish Religious Saturdays. Spanish Religious and other ethnic programming on Sundays.
As of June 2015 They are simulcast with WSPR once again. Spanish Religious Saturdays. Spanish Religious and other ethnic programming on Sundays.
Format History:
1969-1999 Hyper local. Although some of the programming was bird-fed. At one time in the 80s they carried Play-By-Play of The New York Mets Baseball team and Hartford Whaler's Hockey. (Now The Carolina Hurricanes)
Summer of 1999-Seprember 15, 2000 Spanish Tropical Plus ethnic programming on Sundays
September 15-September 29, 2000 Dark. Station was unable to operate due to vandalism.
September 29, 2000-October 23, 2000 Test Programming including the regular Sunday Ethnic Programming and Southington High School Football.
October 23, 2000-Thanksgiving 2001 Hip-Hop/Reggae plus the Ethnic Programming on Sunday.
Thanksgiving 2001-February 2002 FOX News Channel Simulcast except for NCAA Sports on Saturday and Ethnic Programming on Sundays.
February 2002-May 2004 Talk. Ethnic Programming on Sundays. Programming also included the 2002 Winter Olympics. (Call letters changed to WXCT in 2003).
May 2004-July 2005 Spanish AC with Ethnic Programming on Sundays.
July 2005-October 2005 Spanish Tropical with Ethnic Programming on Sundays.
October 2005-May 2007 Talk. With Ethnic Programming on Sundays.
May 2007-January 2012 Spanish Religious with Ethnic Programming on Sundays.
January 2012-March 2015 Spanish Tropical Simulcast with WSPR Springfield Monday-Friday. Spanish Religious Saturdays. Spanish Religious and other ethnic programming on Sundays.
March 2015-June 2015. Spanish Tropical Monday-Friday. Spanish Religious Saturdays. Spanish Religious and other ethnic programming on Sundays.
As of June 2015 They are simulcast with WSPR once again. Spanish Religious Saturdays. Spanish Religious and other ethnic programming on Sundays.
Now they have switched from simulcasting WSPR to simulcasting WACM 1490 instead.
My favorite WCAZ memory from my college days in southeast Iowa: WCAZ in those days did an hour of top 40 before signing off at 5pm. One afternoon, they introduced as song as being by "MISTER Jefferson Airplane". Hilarious in and of itself. But even more so given that it was "Somebody to Love" with vocal by Grace Slick!
BTW, Mimo, what's up with what used to be CIGM 990 in Montreal? Is the frequency silent? Are there any plans for some other broadcaster to make a comeback. The day signal, at least, used to be clearly audible in Ottawa during the days when I used to get into town 2-3 times every year.
(BTW, belated Canada Day wishes! )
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My favorite WCAZ memory from my college days in southeast Iowa: WCAZ in those days did an hour of top 40 before signing off at 5pm. One afternoon, they introduced as song as being by "MISTER Jefferson Airplane". Hilarious in and of itself. But even more so given that it was "Somebody to Love" with vocal by Grace Slick!
BTW, Mimo, what's up with what used to be CIGM 990 in Montreal? Is the frequency silent? Are there any plans for some other broadcaster to make a comeback. The day signal, at least, used to be clearly audible in Ottawa during the days when I used to get into town 2-3 times every year.
(BTW, belated Canada Day wishes! )
That frequency was granted to CHRF, which decided to apply to change the frequency to 980. As you probably know, 980 was CKGM's former frequency, but enough stations abandoned the frequency, that it was a much more attractive option than 990 was. With CHRF now broadcasting, 990 won't be used any time soon. One of the reasons CKGM moved to 690 was because they had to protect CBW and the CBC affiliate in Corner Brook Newfoundland so they were pulling the signal in so tight that areas of the city that were Anglo were not hearing them. Too much of an audience loss. Originally CHRF was willing to put up with it when they applied for the license, but found going to 980 they could keep the same local coverage day and night, even on reduced power. 980 does pull the signal away from Ottawa slightly, but it still comes in quite well here. Better than I thought they would, but the heat of summer does make the signal very weak. Not as bad as CKAC, but a close second. The signal is in the mix here at night, but not dominant, as I expected.
Happy 4th of July wishes to you as well
As of about an hour ago, WCAZ Carthage, IL is no more. Its license had been cancelled by the FCC in April for failure to pay past FCC non-renewal fees (from what I understand), but was somehow able to stay on the air until noon this afternoon. IMO very easily avoidable--even though IMO it was probably a matter of time with the continued rural economy and AM radio decline before they either went dark entirely or was sold to a religious broadcaster.
A HUGE void on 990 (other than slop) in most of Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri (and sometimes even beyond those states). And a sad day for fans of local radio in the Midwest.
But a huge chance at some new DX/skywave openings in most of the Midwest (plus the Quincy/Macomb area might finally get a chance to hear WMVP during the day).
I didn't tape it but I was able to catch the final sign-off from my Grundig G5 in my apartment in Chatham, IL (SW of Springfield and about 110 miles southeast of Carthage), after returning home from church.
Here in the Springfield area, our best chance of a 990 daytime alternative (other than slop from local WMAY-970) might be a weak WITZ-AM Jasper, IN:
https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=WITZ-AM&h=D
Related stories on the WCAZ closure:
http://www.pjstar.com/news/20171228...dio-station-wcaz-am-to-end-95-year-run-sunday
http://www.wgem.com/story/37119033/carthage-radio-station-ordered-to-stop-operations
http://khqa.com/sports/content/last-call-phelps-delivers-wcazs-sportscasting-swan-song
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When WCAZ was first deleted back about 6 months ago, I assumed that the station would go dark immediately. I posted something on my personal Facebook page about the WCAZ deletion, as I have family that live nearby. When I heard the station was staying on the air, I deleted my post. I had hoped the owners of WCAZ might get their affairs in order with the FCC.
I never Updated dated my reply. Just a days after I posted about 990 Southington, CT in June 2015 they flipped to Oldies. New owners bought the place in 2016, replaced the transmitter and now their night time 80 watt signal gets out much father than it used to. Calls flipped back to WNTY. Added a translator in 2016 too.
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:
Daytime: WMVP splatter makes things impossible to hear anything
Nightime: After nulling the WMVP splatter it's usually CBW from Winnipeg
DX catches: KNIN (Wichita Falls, TX), KRKS (Denver, CO) during a scheduled DX test, WNOX (Knoxville, TN), WNYR (Rochester, NY), WABX (Clare, MI), WYAT (new Orleans, LA), and one foreign one: XET (Monterey, Mexico). Most of these were logged in 1980's except for the KRKS DX test (2001).
Other notes: Never was able to positively hear and identify WCAZ (Carthage, IL) despite trying until the end.
Daytime: WMVP splatter makes things impossible to hear anything
Nightime: After nulling the WMVP splatter it's usually CBW from Winnipeg
DX catches: KNIN (Wichita Falls, TX), KRKS (Denver, CO) during a scheduled DX test, WNOX (Knoxville, TN), WNYR (Rochester, NY), WABX (Clare, MI), WYAT (new Orleans, LA), and one foreign one: XET (Monterey, Mexico). Most of these were logged in 1980's except for the KRKS DX test (2001).
Other notes: Never was able to positively hear and identify WCAZ (Carthage, IL) despite trying until the end.
Some nice stuff there, CADXER. Where I am northwest of you in Crystal Lake on some nights, CBW is the "splatter-er" and WMVP is the "splatter-ee". LOL
WYAT is a station i miss. It was only around for a few years, and was oldies with a strong infusion of local New Orleans music. Their stick was mounted on top of a high rise downtown office building. I'm not sure if the current New Orleans 990 occupant uses the same setup, but it does get out pretty well. Daytime on the gulf near Pensacola, 990 clearly audible despite a neaarby local on 980. I've never heard it there at night....let alone in the Chicago area.
CBW has always been the dominant station on 990 for me in the near north Chicago suburbs. However, there was a time 50 plus years ago when I used to try very often to hear a legendary Top 40 station out of Philadelphia--WIBG. Cyberdad and a few other "oldtimers" like me will know what I'm talking about. In the early 60s when I was young I knew that "Wibbage" was a great station. I also knew that it was 50KW (during the day). What I didn't know was that they lowered their power at night *and* I knew very little about directional antennas.
Growing up under the many 50KW stations in the Chicago area I was under the mistaken impression that I could hear anything at night that was 50KW, or so I thought.
Oh to be young again!
Growing up under the many 50KW stations in the Chicago area I was under the mistaken impression that I could hear anything at night that was 50KW, or so I thought.
Oh to be young again!
Now that you mention it, I tried to hear WIBG back in the day (70s, maybe early 80s) but never picked it up. A friend of mine who was a sports fan told me that he was able to hear Philly games (I think 76ers, since he was a big basketball fan, but it may have been Flyers or Phillies) on that station. I expected to be able to catch it sometime but never did.
Here in Altamonte Springs FL just outside of Orlando it's 990 wdyz all the time. It was radio disney but now it's spanish Christian owned by salem media.
WNML out of Knoxville is reliable in Alabama at night. Not booming in but consistent.
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