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Best locations for AM radio reception.

Chris, you've really done your homework! Let me add my experience to what you've said. I used to live in that area (not to far north of Englewood which you mentioned) up until 2004.

I'm not too sure what 740 sounds like in Englewood. I know WQTM is listenable down to at least Sarasota. Below that it may be Cuban.

As for trying to get KLVI 560, forget about it. I know for a fact that WQAM blankets the area, I used to listen to Neil Rogers on WQAM every day in Venice on my SuperRadio (and my car radio too) with no problem. WQAM's signal even carries up into Bradenton where it eventually becomes nothing but bleedover from 570 WTBN.

As for 850, that may be your best shot. WFTL from West Palm Beach, even though its 50kw, is directional away from the Gulf Coast and can not be heard at all (at least in Venice)

Hope I helped,
Rich
 
I'm curious to hear of any daytime salt-water DX reports from Key West. Surrounded by salt water on all sides and with Cuba only 90 or so miles distant, that would have to be interesting reading and listening one way or the other. If I ever go to Key West, I will definitely radio geek it up a bit in that department. :D
On KTRH-seeking there, I have to think it's possible. It's probably south of their null toward Orlando, and even though the main lobe shoots down toward Mexico I think it could be heard in the Keys. The land the signal would have to cross in that direction seems negligible as far as weakening the signal.
 
I can tell you I heard a 500 watt Key west station(I think on 1600) in Sarasota every day while I was there in 1980..that was a bit of a haul.
 
1600 brings up the idea of trying for KLEB in Golden Meadow, Louisiana. The Key West station might overpower it in Englewood. But KLEB's (5KW?) stick is in the river delta with open water basically on three sides of it. They pump a hell of a daytime signal into the gulf, and I'm thinking there might even be some juice left on the West Coast of Fla. You'll know if you've got it....not a lot of stations out there playing Cajun/swamp rock!
 
Len14043 said:
I lived in Utah for a few years and was amazed at how well daytime AM signals propagate. FM is also great. For instance, KSL puts a city grade signal into Wendover NV which is 130 miles west of SLC. This is due to a path over the Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats. If fact, most of SLCs AM stations can be heard well in Wendover - even the graveyards at 1230 and 1490! FM is also aided because most of the antennas are located in the Oquirre Mountains at about 10000 feet, which is about 5000 feet above the valley floor. KSL's signal is enhanced because their tower is located in the salty marshes of the Great Salt Lake making for an excellent ground.
Click to expand...

All true. Most AM stations from Salt Lake have their tx on the Salt Lake valley floor, yet they do just fine in penetrating the Oquirrh Mountains (and the Stansbury Mtns too) to reach the Salt Flats. KSL has an incredible signal - day or night - from their transmitter site near the Great Salt Lake in NW Salt Lake County. Awesome ground conductivity from that spot!

During the day, they are easily listenable in the Cedar City area - some 240 miles to the south. A good radio can even catch a bit of KSL in St. George during the day - 300 miles distant. At night, they have one of the best of the former "clear channel" signals.

The FM stations that transmit from the Oquirrhs do sail across the GSL desert to Wendover, as do stations from the Ogden area - even those that come in poorly in Salt Lake itself. It seems odd that they do better going 120 miles west than they do 30 miles to the south - but that's terrain for you!
 
All true. Most AM stations from Salt Lake have their tx on the Salt Lake valley floor, yet they do just fine in penetrating the Oquirrh Mountains (and the Stansbury Mtns too) to reach the Salt Flats. KSL has an incredible signal - day or night - from their transmitter site near the Great Salt Lake in NW Salt Lake County. Awesome ground conductivity from that spot!

During the day, they are easily listenable in the Cedar City area - some 240 miles to the south. A good radio can even catch a bit of KSL in St. George during the day - 300 miles distant. At night, they have one of the best of the former "clear channel" signals.



[/quote]
KSL has a daytime signal as good as some of the great Midwest stations such as WJR, WGN and WLW. KALL at 700 should be SLCs best daytime signal at 50,000 watts, but KSL is somewhat better. Perhaps KALL doesn't have a half wave tower, or may not be in a location as favorable as KSLs. With all things being equal, KALL should have a daytime signal about double that of KSL in terms of distance. In fact, if KALLs signal was optimized, they could possibly be one of the nations best AM daytime signals.
 
[

[/quote]
KSL has a daytime signal as good as some of the great Midwest stations such as WJR, WGN and WLW. KALL at 700 should be SLCs best daytime signal at 50,000 watts, but KSL is somewhat better. Perhaps KALL doesn't have a half wave tower, or may not be in a location as favorable as KSLs. With all things being equal, KALL should have a daytime signal about double that of KSL in terms of distance. In fact, if KALLs signal was optimized, they could possibly be one of the nations best AM daytime signals.
[/quote]


Among other things, KALL uses a directional antenna. If radio-locator is correct, then KALL does indeed have a superior daytime signal to the south versus KSL. KSL, however, has as good or better signal in other directions. I also agree that KSL has a blowtorch signal just about anywhere west of the Mississippi at night
 
> compare it with KXXX in Colby, KS. 5KW non-directional on 790, with a daytime signal extending from The Texas panhandle nearly to South Dakota.

Well, almost :)

KXXX does make it into the northern TX Panhandle, but it suffers co-channel interference from KFYO/Lubbock in that area.

To the east, I have received KXXX while travelling I-29 near the IA/MO border. As you go north, it gives way to KFGO/Fargo!
 
Since Florida is in the Eastern Time Zone and Texas is in the Central, wouldn't it seem logical to go for the TX/DX during the PM critical hour between the FL and TX stations reducing power?
 
I'm not much for math but wouldn't that mean I would be DX ing from the Fl coast during twilight but just after sunset? If so wouldn't there be a lot more interference from eastern time zone AM's?
 
//I'm not much for math but wouldn't that mean I would be DX ing from the Fl coast during twilight but just after sunset? If so wouldn't there be a lot more interference from eastern time zone AM's?//

Most AM stations either sign off, reduce power, change directional patterns or switch to a directional pattern at a certain time (see chart below). A lot drop power AND switch patterns. The clears don't; most are feeding 50kw-U, 24 hrs. a day.

If you want the GROUNDwave (or "gulfwave") of the Texas stations, try DXing them after the Eastern time zone (Florida) stations change and before the Central time zone (Texas) stations change. If you get them, compare their signal before they change transmission to their signal after they change. This is also the time when any skywave interference from the Eastern clears is the least noticable.

You can pick up some surprising stuff during the AM & PM twilight "critical hours".

-----
AM radio stations "Daytime" hours. This is when a station is at its highest power.
(These are all in Standard Time, so add an hour during Daylight Saving Time.)

Jan 7:45a - 5:45p
Feb 7:30a - 6:15p
March 6:45a - 6:45p
April 6:15a - 7:15p
May 5:30a - 7:30p
June 5:30a - 7:45p
July 5:30a - 7:45p
Aug 6:00a - 7:30p
Sept 6:15a - 6:45p
Oct 6:45a - 6:00p
Nov 7:15a - 5:30p
Dec 7:30a - 5:30p
 
trusty said:
You can pick up some surprising stuff during the AM & PM twilight "critical hours".
Click to expand...

Those "critical hours" are 2 hours after local sunrise and 2 hours before local sunset.

trusty said:
Most AM stations either sign off, reduce power, change directional patterns or switch to a directional pattern at a certain time ... The clears don't; most are feeding 50kw-U, 24 hrs. a day.
Click to expand...

Many 50 kw AM stations are DA-N or DA-1. A good number are DA-2.

Also, the FCC broke up the clears in the 1980s. The only "clear channel" out there now is a media conglomerate by that name.
 
CYBERDAD WROTE: Among other things, KALL uses a directional antenna. If radio-locator is correct, then KALL does indeed have a superior daytime signal to the south versus KSL. KSL, however, has as good or better signal in other directions. I also agree that KSL has a blowtorch signal just about anywhere west of the Mississippi at night

I forgot to mention KNRS at 570. Despite the fact they are directional and only 5000 watts, their signal blankets Utah, can be heard well into Idaho, and touches Arizona. I remember traveling north and south of SLC and hearing them when KSL was no longer audible. Check out their pattern at the link below:

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KNRS&service=AM&status=L&hours=U
 
PaulBWalkerJr said:
I think KFYR or WNAX would win
Click to expand...

Agree. KNRS's footprint is impressive, but too many nulls to label it "biggest". The mountains to the east obviously don't help, either. Personally, I'd give it to KFYR for the U.S.....and CBK for all North America. WNAX, as I recall, gets just a tad degraded when the signal hits the Sand Hills region of northern Nebraska.
 
Vibe:

You're in Massachusetts right? Wanna join me up on a Great FM DX hill here in the Dover area? I can show you an AM site in the process ...

Email me, the address is on my website....
 
trusty said:
Since Florida is in the Eastern Time Zone and Texas is in the Central, wouldn't it seem logical to go for the TX/DX during the PM critical hour between the FL and TX stations reducing power?
Click to expand...

Yes! I totally forgot about that. Back when I lived on the West Coast of Florida I remember around sunset receiving 1190 KLIF (I know the calls have changed since then.)
 
Paul B- cannot send you a direct e-mail-I get an error message "cannot send mail. no mail program is set upto send mail using internet shortcuts".
Re; last post of getting KLIF 1190 from West Coast of FLA during the day- where was approx location?
I've been researching this Texas to Fla AM daytime reception thing and plan to stop at a small island about 1.5 hrs N of Tampa (Cedar Key) to see if it is the "hot spot" I think it is for over the Gulf propogation. It looks as if it is almost due E of the Houston-Beaumont Galveston area. I can still take a shot from the Englewood area as well. Should be fun trying..
 
vibe...

my email is walkerbroadcasting (at) gmail dot com remove the obvious..

The FM hill is pretty cool and I ca nshow you a tower/studio stie for a local AM

paul
 
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