Daytime AM Band Scan from Tampa

[gar hi]

Here's a daytime bandscan using my Sangean PR-D5.

I left out the local Tampa/St. Pete stations and near by frequencies because of IBOC noise or plain splatter.

The unlisted frequencies either had something too weak or had multiple stations that couldn't be sorted out.

530 - Cuban good signal

540 - WFLF Pine Hills, Fl

550 - Spanish

560 - WQAM Miami

640 - Spanish

670 - Spanish

690 - WOKV Jacksonville

710 - WAQI Miami / Other Spanish station when radio is turned the other way

720 - WRZN Hernando

730 - Religious

740 - WQTM Orlando

790 - WLBE Leesburg, Fl / Radio Reloj

850 - WRUF Gainesville, Fl

870 - WWL New Orleans good signal

900 - WMOP Ocala, Fl

1060 - WLNO New Orleans / Spanish station

1530 - WYMM Jacksonville

1610 - Tampa Intl. Airport Info.

1620 - WNRP Pensacola, Fl

1640 - Probably WTNI Biloxi, Miss

1660 - It's from Marco island, Fl

1670 - Some talk station but very weak

1680 - May be the one from Winter Garden, Fl

1700 - South Florida

 

[kc0ltv]

Nice.

I'll do one from inside my house on my XDR-F1HD.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

It was quite a few years ago, Gar, but on a substandard AM portable, me DXing in Clearwater, WJOE 1080 from Port St. Joe across the Gulf was a daytime regular. Are they still on the air and if so, are they audible by you?

(In a few months I hope to be down there in that glorious state to see the Folks. Somewhere around I have a few casettes of previous DX from there, but I'll do a bandscan for ya too. They live in Lady Lake, north-central FL, between Leesburg and Ocala. It'll be the GE SR II type of DX).

 

[gar hi]

Hi Steve. It looks like the station you mention doesn't exist anymore.

I went over to the Gulf last spring to see how the reception was and I got a lot more stations than I can get inland here in Tampa. I'll have to try it with my new radio sometime.

Now that I've seen the reception on the Sangean PR-D5, I'm once again planning a trip over to the east coast of Florida to see if I can get any of the New York stations during the day. A couple of people here said they've done it. I originally wanted to go to Melbourne Beach but there's a highly directional station on 660 in central Florida aimed in that direction and it also may be too close to the South Florida station on 880 too. I think I'll go to Daytona Beach instead. There's a little more land between there and NYC but it's mostly low level wetlands in eastern North Carolina, so I hope that won't make too much of a difference. If WWL comes in as good as it does at 500 miles and I'm 20 to 25 miles inland, I have to think that WFAN or WCBS from New York could still have a weak signal at about 1000 miles over mostly salt water.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

There was an odd -- but somewhat logical -- readout after I got back from work and punched up 'Port Saint Joe' on Radio-Locator to see what came in there.

No WJOE 1080. There is a nearby 1070, non-D. When I'd heard WJOE it was a 1000-watt omni daytimer.

Odd thing was, many of the AM stations listed by Radio-Locator as audible in PSJoe are from a hundred and even two hundred miles away from the place! No doubt, along the Gulf Coast there are numerous cities with a simlarly distant list of available AM signals. Port Saint Joe was the first I'd seen with that kind of menu, though.

Good luck with the Gulf Coast excursion. The stretch of 19-A from Clearwater to New Port Richey has to provide a terrific ear for DX purposes (along with it being perhaps the loveliest stretch of road this snowbird ever saw).

 

[gar hi]

Here's a little video I made this afternoon demonstrating daytime AM reception from about 500 miles away.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydgQETYahbg

 

[radioman148]

Hi Steve. It looks like the station you mention doesn't exist anymore.

I went over to the Gulf last spring to see how the reception was and I got a lot more stations than I can get inland here in Tampa. I'll have to try it with my new radio sometime.

Now that I've seen the reception on the Sangean PR-D5, I'm once again planning a trip over to the east coast of Florida to see if I can get any of the New York stations during the day. A couple of people here said they've done it. I originally wanted to go to Melbourne Beach but there's a highly directional station on 660 in central Florida aimed in that direction and it also may be too close to the South Florida station on 880 too. I think I'll go to Daytona Beach instead. There's a little more land between there and NYC but it's mostly low level wetlands in eastern North Carolina, so I hope that won't make too much of a difference. If WWL comes in as good as it does at 500 miles and I'm 20 to 25 miles inland, I have to think that WFAN or WCBS from New York could still have a weak signal at about 1000 miles over mostly salt water.

If you make that trip to the east coast of Florida to try for NYC daytime reception I would suggest you try it in the late fall or winter. Lower sun & less static crashes.

 

[gar hi]

I've considered the lightning aspect and it hasn't been too bad lately and chances are, the storms will be over on the west coast in the afternoon.

As far as the daylight goes, that's the whole reason I want to do this.

Like I said, if New Orleans comes in as good as it does, I think New York is a possibility.

 

[radioman148]

I've considered the lightning aspect and it hasn't been too bad lately and chances are, the storms will be over on the west coast in the afternoon.

As far as the daylight goes, that's the whole reason I want to do this.

Like I said, if New Orleans comes in as good as it does, I think New York is a possibility.

Good luck.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Norfolk isn't exactly Florida in terms of distance -- heck, in NYC's case it isn't even halfway to Florida. But the only NYC station I remember getting in Norfolk, on a GE radio like that atop the Happy Days kitchen fridge, broad daylight, no external antenna, was WOR 710.

A lot of the Norfolk DX from the north was enhanced by Chesapeake Bay, naturally. For instance, WSID 1010 Baltimore came in steadily on the same radio, and they were 1000 watts. That listening session, me as a kid in 1962, was from maybe two miles inland from the bottom of Chesapeake Bay.

If there's no co-channel 710 station in the way, WOR might be a better bet than the 50K omnis from NYC. WBBR 1130 and WQEW 1560 might be possible, too.

Long Island might be a nice target as well. Possibilities include WHLI 1100 (which shows in some coastal New Jersey ratings despite being directional east), WLIM 1580 (which sends their critical-hours power south anyway) and maybe even WALK 1370 (from its tower right at the bayfront).

 

[gar hi]

Norfolk isn't exactly Florida in terms of distance -- heck, in NYC's case it isn't even halfway to Florida. But the only NYC station I remember getting in Norfolk, on a GE radio like that atop the Happy Days kitchen fridge, broad daylight, no external antenna, was WOR 710.

A lot of the Norfolk DX from the north was enhanced by Chesapeake Bay, naturally. For instance, WSID 1010 Baltimore came in steadily on the same radio, and they were 1000 watts. That listening session, me as a kid in 1962, was from maybe two miles inland from the bottom of Chesapeake Bay.

If there's no co-channel 710 station in the way, WOR might be a better bet than the 50K omnis from NYC. WBBR 1130 and WQEW 1560 might be possible, too.

Long Island might be a nice target as well. Possibilities include WHLI 1100 (which shows in some coastal New Jersey ratings despite being directional east), WLIM 1580 (which sends their critical-hours power south anyway) and maybe even WALK 1370 (from its tower right at the bayfront).

If you look at the map, there's a lot of land between Norfolk and New York but if you go just a little to the east, there's hardly any land in between. Cape Hatteras is even more far south and there are numerous DX reports from there where the New York stations come in real good during the day along with some Miami stations too.

There are even reports of hearing New York stations in Bermuda in the daytime and that's almost 800 miles from New York.

I wish I could remember who it was but someone here said more than once that when they lived in Daytona Beach, some of the New York stations were regulars all day every day, though probably not too strong I would imagine.

I think WFAN and WCBS are probably the best chances because their sticks are out on Long Island and if you look at them on the Radio Locator map, their signal shoots south along the coast way down below where the bottom of the page is.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Now that I've seen the reception on the Sangean PR-D5, I'm once again planning a trip over to the east coast of Florida to see if I can get any of the New York stations during the day. A couple of people here said they've done it. I originally wanted to go to Melbourne Beach but there's a highly directional station on 660 in central Florida aimed in that direction and it also may be too close to the South Florida station on 880 too. I think I'll go to Daytona Beach instead.

I can absolutely verify that. But you have to be right on the barrier island - Daytona Beach proper has no extraordinary DX. I rented a house right on the intercoastal waterway in Daytona Beach shores, and had a GE SR-2. AM DX was phenomenal - all times of the day and all times of the year. NYC stations were easily receivable mid day. The Atlantic, by, the way, was two blocks away, the barrier island was very narrow where I was.

 

[gar hi]

Thanks for verifying that!

I'm looking at getting a hotel right on the beach, as there are many available. I found one with a nice balcony too. I want to go right out on the beach with the radio and also try it on the car radio in that section where the cars drive up and down the beach.

Also, I'll be looking to see if I can get anything from Puerto Rico, as there's a strong non directional station in San Juan on 810.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Gar -- I got some audio you might get a kick out of. But an eMail didn't go through; it bounced back. Gimme an eHoller at [email protected] if you want some 1970 and 1980 Tampa Bay radio, oke?

 

[gar hi]

I'd really like to hear that! Thanks.

I moved down here in the sumer of 84 and remember the Q Morning Zoo was big at the time.

I'll send you an e mail.


I've made the hotel reservation in Daytona Beach this Saturday for my DXpedition. My girlfriend is happy just to be going to Daytona Beach, as we haven't gone away for so long.

If by chance there's too much lightning static that afternoon, I'll still have until noon the next day to try again.

Here in Florida in the summer if it's stormy in the afternoon, the first part of the next day is nice and vice versa.

I'm also wondering what other stations I could look for from places up the coast too.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Thanks for verifying that!

I'm looking at getting a hotel right on the beach, as there are many available. I found one with a nice balcony too. I want to go right out on the beach with the radio and also try it on the car radio in that section where the cars drive up and down the beach.

Also, I'll be looking to see if I can get anything from Puerto Rico, as there's a strong non directional station in San Juan on 810.

One thing that you might run into is height off the ground. My ex-house was one story - I don't know if you would get the effect on an upper floor. Of course there is always the beach. I haven't done it yet here in Galveston - but I may see how running a ground wire directly into the seawater works.

 

[radioboy]

Steve,

I can verify that WJOE 1080 in Port St. Joe is silent, and has been for a number of years now.

When I was growing up, I listened to that station every year. I just loved it for whatever reason.
Later met Beth Adkins, now residing in Franklin, NC, who managed the station for many years. She
was there in the late 60s through part of the 70s.

It went silent under Asterisk Broadcasting's ownership..it's probably been close to 10 years now.

 

[radioman148]

I'd really like to hear that! Thanks.

I moved down here in the sumer of 84 and remember the Q Morning Zoo was big at the time.

I'll send you an e mail.


I've made the hotel reservation in Daytona Beach this Saturday for my DXpedition. My girlfriend is happy just to be going to Daytona Beach, as we haven't gone away for so long.

If by chance there's too much lightning static that afternoon, I'll still have until noon the next day to try again.

Here in Florida in the summer if it's stormy in the afternoon, the first part of the next day is nice and vice versa.

I'm also wondering what other stations I could look for from places up the coast too.

I'll be looking forward to your reports.

 

[jd]

I haven't done it yet here in Galveston - but I may see how running a ground wire directly into the seawater works.

Seawall Boulevard is a great place to hear stations all the way from New Orleans (WWL) to Harlingen (KGBT) and a lot more from across the border (like Rio Bravo, Reynosa and Matamoros), all in the range of 275 to 350 miles away. BTW, for help in ID'ing stations you could print out a list of Mexican AM's, available on Fred Cantu's site www.mexicoradiotv.com/ by clicking on "AM" near the top of the page. Salt water ground, eh? Go ahead, surprise all of us!

 

[gar hi]

Thanks for posting that list. Back before I went over to the Gulf that time to see what I could get, I was looking for a list like that of Mexican stations but couldn't anything with many stations or details. Now I'm wondering how many unidentified Spanish speaking stations heard here on the west coast of Florida during the day could be from Mexico.

I had really expected to hear 740 KTRH from Houston right at the Gulf but the Orlando station and some other unidentified station ruled the frequency, plus the car radio was non directional. The same thing happened when I looked for 1030 KCTA from Corpus Christi. Maybe I'd have a better shot at hearing something from Texas with the radio I have now.