Any Chicago 50Kw still possible in the far west?

[radioman148]

As a life long Chicagoan I know that it used to be possible to receive the Chicago 50Kws on the west coast in the 60s & 70s easily. 670, 720, 780, & 890 all came in well in those days. In fact in the 70s I was able to hear WLS & WBBM in Hawaii.
As late as the 80s I was still able to hear WLS in southern California.
I know the frequencies have become very crowded over the years, but I wonder if it's still ever possible to hear any of these stations far west?
Not just California, but how about, Co, Nev, NM, AZ, Ut, Wy, etc. How about western Canada?
Anybody out that way still have any luck with any of these?

 

[KeithE4]

As a life long Chicagoan I know that it used to be possible to receive the Chicago 50Kws on the west coast in the 60s & 70s easily. 670, 720, 780, & 890 all came in well in those days. In fact in the 70s I was able to hear WLS & WBBM in Hawaii.
As late as the 80s I was still able to hear WLS in southern California.
I know the frequencies have become very crowded over the years, but I wonder if it's still ever possible to hear any of these stations far west?
Not just California, but how about, Co, Nev, NM, AZ, Ut, Wy, etc. How about western Canada?
Anybody out that way still have any luck with any of these?

I can hear WBBM occasionally in Phoenix during the winter, although Sedona's KAZM and Reno's KKOH are more regular. But as for 670, 720, and 890...

670 was occupied by KBOI Boise until it eliminated its signal to the south. Now, it's usually KLTT Denver. I've never heard The Score in Phoenix. I don't remember WMAQ ever being received here, due to KBOI.

720 has been KDWN Las Vegas and 890 has been KDXU St. George UT since they signed on in the '70s. Before that, WGN and WLS were regular catches here.

The days of nationwide coverage by 50 kW stations are long past. Since they don't serve folks outside their own markets, the stations probably don't care anyway. It's better to listen to them online.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

About ten years ago I was in the middle of Kansas and thought id see what I could hear on AM,, I was actually able to get WLS and WMAQ clear as bell with hardly any crackle at all, and this was during the summer, but really late at night and foggy,, Thats weird because even though im only 150 miles from the WLS Transmitter, WLS is very hard to receive during the day or night,, and actually it gets worse at night now, and I think thats because im where the ground wave and sky wave meet and they cancell each other out,, Same goes for 700 WLW and 840 WHAS, both are 50kw torches that cover a large chunk of the south, Midwest and eastern Shore. Im only 100 miles away from wlw, but their signal is horrible here day and night, very noisy and crackly, but I can drive 6 hrs west between Saint Louis and Kansas City and pick up WLW just fine ,, I think the stations that I can here during the day and night are mostly propogating over the top of me at night time.

Oddly enough, every single night I can get 850 KOA 1200 plus miles away clear as bell almost, especially during very cold winter nights, and with alot of snow on the ground between here and Colorado, I think Snow and lack lack of Suns Radiation Noise is why AM works so much better the colder and snowier it gets. Since snow is moisture, its kinda like the signal is going over water.