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Best AM Signals in Oklahoma

Bob Oshea said:
Yes.....When I was at KCCO we were rockin'. I left for T-Town in the summer 0f '74. Ron was the PD, Morning Guy and Sales guru. He later went to KSWO as GM and Morning guy. He was terrific on the air. I was also on KRLG. If you know anymore than that.....run for your life. :eek:
O'Shea
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I fondly remember listening to KSWO, KLAW 101 (before they switched to country) and G-98 every time I visited my grandmother. Not much to do so I sat around listening to the radio during those hot summers. 3 Top 40's in one town, and thats not counting KNIN 990 in Wichita Falls along with WKY and KOMA. AM radio in Oklahoma didn't suck then, especially for a 12-15 year old...

I even remember visiting the tiny KCCO trailer and getting a sticker, and I also remember a KLAW remote in front of Anthonys in 1975, both jocks were playing records. I can date the KLAW remote because it was the first time I heard Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" on a promo Columbia 45.

And back to the subject, I caught KYAL Sulpulpa tonight.. how did 40 watts make it to East Texas??!
 
I remember the KCCO trailer. I met Ron Kirby at a remote. Don't remember getting a sticker, but I did get a free coke and hot dog. As far as the original topic, not Oklahoma stations, but KNIN 990 and KTRN 1290 came in loud and clear in Southern Oklahoma. Hard to believe 990 AM moved to the Dallas area. Also KFRM 550 in Salina Kansas covers a good part of Norhern Oklahoma.
 
johnfox said:
I remember the KCCO trailer. I met Ron Kirby at a remote. Don't remember getting a sticker, but I did get a free coke and hot dog. As far as the original topic, not Oklahoma stations, but KNIN 990 and KTRN 1290 came in loud and clear in Southern Oklahoma. Hard to believe 990 AM moved to the Dallas area. Also KFRM 550 in Salina Kansas covers a good part of Norhern Oklahoma.
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After KNIN moved their Top 40 format to the FM in the early 80's, 990 went through a bunch of different formats (oldies, classic rock, simulcast with the FM for many years, southern gospel, sports) and nothing seemed to click locally. And both 990 and also 620's DFW signals pale to the giant signals they used to have in Wichita Falls. Sad that 1290 is the only Wichita Falls AM left there.

I grew up in Bartlesville and KFRM always had a monster signal.. and for a few years in the mid 80's they simulcasted T-95 (KICT) in Wichita. Strange to hear AOR on the AM.
 
johnfox said:
I remember the KCCO trailer. I met Ron Kirby at a remote. Don't remember getting a sticker, but I did get a free coke and hot dog. As far as the original topic, not Oklahoma stations, but KNIN 990 and KTRN 1290 came in loud and clear in Southern Oklahoma. Hard to believe 990 AM moved to the Dallas area. Also KFRM 550 in Salina Kansas covers a good part of Norhern Oklahoma.
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My first day on the air was in that damned remote trailer that I now look back on with a smile. We had a studio set up with turntables and the whole 9 yards. I remember taking over when Ron finished his shift (remotes lasted all day in those days from sign on to sign off) and when the remote was over, I shut her down, threw the 45 record rack in the back seat of my '68 Caprice and drove off into the hot summer weekend. Come monday morning there is an urgent call from none other than Ron Kirby, wondering where the records were. Ron was such a cool guy, but that morning he was in a very controlled rage. I raced to the station as fast as I could drive, rushed in with the record rack only to discover that the heat had warped every record in the rack. Looking back it is one of the funniest stories I can tell about my early days in the biz. Ron's forehead was fire engine red. Boy he was one mad guy that morning but he had such a kind heart. I know Ron's doin' fine in Oklahoma. I love the crazy bastard and hope he lives to be 100, ski boatin' naked with bow legged women!

Bob "Wrong Way" O'Shea
 
How about the old KAAY? It boomed into Tulsa and sometimes OKC. Bleeker (sp?) Street was done from the transmitter site and the music bed under the jock was there to cover the blower noise from the transmitter.
 
I hear from time to time KGYN on 1210 AM. But when you turn the antenna a little bit from time to time I can hear WPHT on the same frequency out of Philly. You know when it is KGYN with the same old country format that they used for decades. As for KRMG I hear that from time to time. You get a better signal when you go into North Mississippi. Both KTRH and KRMG I can get from time to time. As for KVOO the last time I heard them was doing talk radio. A far cry from the day when they did their country format and their time checks as "KVOO Tulsa Time". As for the old KOMA, I used to hear them at night in Salt Lake City. And I hear that Jackson, Mississippi's WOKJ could be heard loud and clear in some parts of Oklahoma.
 
LOL! Just not this week! In fact they are pretty weak right now because their old transmitter needs a tweek. They are just humming right along at low power, uh.. litterly. Now would be a good time for anyone that wants to hear some DX from Buffalo at 1530 or some other adjacent to have a listen while the blowtorch of Oklahoma is more like the Pilotlight of Oklahoma.
 
From what I understand that red Oklahoma earth makes for a great ground plain for AM stations.

The best engineers that I have known have said there are six elements that make for tremendous AM propogation: an good transmitter, a great low loss cable system, 1/2 wave antenna, low frequency, high power, a highly maintained ground plain. All were just as important.

Any thoughts?
 
Agreed... The FCC these days would make a station with an over-efficent stick like a 1/2 or 5/8 wave tower turn the power down to compensate for the extra signal. Stations like KOMA and KFAQ(KVOO) are 1/2 wave and are more powerful really than the standard 1/4 most stations have. WKY is a Franklin co-linear which makes their daytime coverage in excess of what a 10kw station would be. Most of the OKC area has great ground conductivity. Where KOMA, KTOK and WWLS transmit from is some of the best out there. If a ground system isn't in good shape a station won't get out nearly as good as it should. That's a given. Also the dampness of a ground makes a difference too. Little stations near creeks and other wet land will improve the situation greatly in most cases. The idea thing would be to find river-bottom land where it has flooded in the past and build there (on pilons!). Lower frequencies work great for regional coverage. Higher frequencies tend to take on more of a short-wave effect and skip like hell. There is less noise in general at the top of the band too. It used to be that most would prefer a 5kw at the low end over a 50k at the top. Since there is soooo much electrical noise and man made noise being generated these days I'd have to re-think that thought process.
 
Having received the 1520 from OKC a number of times over a numbr of years in Englewood FL, 80 mi S of Tampa and having received the same station while on vacation on the outskirts of San Diego, CA, I'd have to cast by ballot (or hanging chad) for AM 1520.
 
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