As hard as I've tried, I have never been able to pick up anything from either Hawaii or Alaska from anywhere in California (I'm near San Francisco, but have tried all over the state). I have been able to pick up west coast stations from Hawaii, just not the other way around. Has anyone had better luck than I have?
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Anyone ever catch Hawaiian or Alaskan AM stations from the west coast?
- Thread starter woody1394
- Start date
I actually picked up KGU/760 from Hawaii back in 1971. I was able to notch out WJR for a brief moment while vacationing in New Hampshire. During a selective fade, I got a legal ID from KGU. Timing was just right, just before 2:00 AM local. In 1978, I got KFI in Los Angeles just before sunrise. They were running Top-40 at the time. As for Alaska...... well..... no dice. And now with IBOC, it's nearly impossible. I'm glad I had the opportunity to hear the west coast, way up here on the east coast (in New England). 73.
-Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts
-Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts
I was able to catch KNBR San Francisco in Kentucky (Lexington and Owensboro) a couple of times back in the 90's. Always tried to catch KFI but was never successful, thus far.
Tried many times for Alaska/Hawaii on the west coast....no luck.
As for "the other way around".....I've caught KNX and KFI both in Hawaii and here in Northern Illinois.
In Hawaii, I've also logged KTNQ, KGO, KCBS, KEX, along with my "prize catches" WBAP and WLS (Oahu North Shore...1965). I've also logged KNBR here in Illinois a few times, and might have also logged them in Hawaii if not for splatter from Honolulu 690.
As for "the other way around".....I've caught KNX and KFI both in Hawaii and here in Northern Illinois.
In Hawaii, I've also logged KTNQ, KGO, KCBS, KEX, along with my "prize catches" WBAP and WLS (Oahu North Shore...1965). I've also logged KNBR here in Illinois a few times, and might have also logged them in Hawaii if not for splatter from Honolulu 690.
vibe said:
Hawaiians fairly easily heard in the Eastern US in the 60's:
650, 760, 830 (250 watts), 870, 1040, 1270. Somewhat harder were 1380, 690, 1210.
DavidEduardo said:
1270 surprises me. Aside from the relatively crowded North America channel, James Ownsby (if I remember the gentleman's name correctly) who ran the place, basically kept things going with "chewing gum and bailing wire". This was in the mid-60s when I went to high school there. The signal was crap even in the Honolulu COL. I'd have guessed 1380, a similar channel, would've been easier. They (K-POI) had a good signal throughout the islands....especially for 5kw. (And of course, it overloaded every radio I owned, since I lived three blocks from their stick).
Glad to hear I'm not the only one with bad luck. I caught plenty of stations from Hawaii and even west of there (when I was in the navy), but not the other way around. Maybe I'll try again from the Antelope Valley in SoCal (Mojave, Lancaster, etc); I got my best catches ever there- including WWL recently. Not sure what it is about the high desert and good DX catches, maybe lack of relative interference and advantageous terrain, I guess.
cyberdad said:
1270 was a totally empty channel after midnight PST on Monday mornings in the early 60's... after Twin Falls, ID went off and the less intrusive Pacific Coast stations signed off, KNDI was alone until the 4 AM sign on of the then-allowed daytimers on some channels in the East. K-POI was much harder, as some of the 1380's did not go off till 1AM which was when WGUS in North Agusta, SC signed on. Interestingly, 35 years later I worked with two of the Poi Boys, Ron Jacobs an Tom Rounds...
cyberdad said:
I'm having lunch with TR tomorrow and will mention that!
David...
The apartment complex in question was the Tradewinds Apartments, 1720 Ala Moana Boulevard. It was (& I believe still is) two high rise buildings along with about 8-10 two story units containing several apartments each.
I lived there my junior year in high school.....1964-65. Steve Nicolet was the jock who had an apartment near me (he did evenings,as I recall), and I believe a couple of other "Poi Boys" also lived in the complex. It seems as though Rounds was one of them, or perhaps it was Dave "The Moose" Donnelly or possibly someone else, or maybe one or more of the news/sales guys. The only other jock I remember offhand was Bob "The Wierd Beard" Lowrey, and he definitely did not live in the complex. He also hosted a TV show and definitely would've been hard to miss. ("Beard's weird Movie"....Saturday night horror flick).
The Tradewinds was located about 3-4 blocks from the station. I used to catch my city bus for school (McKinley High School) on Kalakaua Avenue where it intersected the Ali Wai canal....basically kitty-corner from the station.
I remember K-POI as considerably more "together" than its two main competitors. KORL (650) didn't have an appreciably better signal despite having 10kw. The audio tended to sound a bit "muddy" and the jocks somwhat lacked the enthusiasm of the "Poi Boys" (although they did have a couple of talented guys). The other competitor, KUMU, had an inferior signal (1kw at 1500khz) and an undistinguished airstaff. It was basically what you tuned to if 1380 and 650 both happened to be playing something you didn't like.
Cheers!
Jack
The apartment complex in question was the Tradewinds Apartments, 1720 Ala Moana Boulevard. It was (& I believe still is) two high rise buildings along with about 8-10 two story units containing several apartments each.
I lived there my junior year in high school.....1964-65. Steve Nicolet was the jock who had an apartment near me (he did evenings,as I recall), and I believe a couple of other "Poi Boys" also lived in the complex. It seems as though Rounds was one of them, or perhaps it was Dave "The Moose" Donnelly or possibly someone else, or maybe one or more of the news/sales guys. The only other jock I remember offhand was Bob "The Wierd Beard" Lowrey, and he definitely did not live in the complex. He also hosted a TV show and definitely would've been hard to miss. ("Beard's weird Movie"....Saturday night horror flick).
The Tradewinds was located about 3-4 blocks from the station. I used to catch my city bus for school (McKinley High School) on Kalakaua Avenue where it intersected the Ali Wai canal....basically kitty-corner from the station.
I remember K-POI as considerably more "together" than its two main competitors. KORL (650) didn't have an appreciably better signal despite having 10kw. The audio tended to sound a bit "muddy" and the jocks somwhat lacked the enthusiasm of the "Poi Boys" (although they did have a couple of talented guys). The other competitor, KUMU, had an inferior signal (1kw at 1500khz) and an undistinguished airstaff. It was basically what you tuned to if 1380 and 650 both happened to be playing something you didn't like.
Cheers!
Jack
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