Do you think it's possible to hear KSL 1160 in Eastern PA?

[SweetJumper]

KSL 1160 in Salt Lake City, UT is a station I would like to get here in Pennsylvania but so far, no luck. I'm using a Sony ICF-24 portable radio with only the internal ferrite bar antenna. Usually what I get on 1160 is WCCS in Homer City, PA, WOBM in Lakewood Township, NJ, and WYLL Chicago. All three come in at once when I point my radio toward Salt Lake. There is also IBOC hash on 1160 that can be really annoying. Do you think receiving KSL in Pennsylvania is a possibility? That would be a 1,862 mile catch for me.

 

[gar hi]

There's no doubt the signal could reach you but the other stations on the same frequency make it too hard to hear.

I'd say be patient as conditions vary from night to night or even within one night, as we know.

There are many distant stations I can only hear some nights but not others.

Only recently, I got my first real catch of WBZ 1030 down here where I could ID it as most nights the Spanish stations rule the frequency completely.

 

[Icangelp]

850/KOA in Denver usually is strongest for me early morning during sunrise skip, although lately it has been a more reliable signal during other times of the night. Based on that, I'd answer yes.

There may be a best time of year for reception, although others will have to inform you about that. Winter?

I have a local (WQRT) on 1160, and KSL is not much of a possibility from my location.

When 1160 in Chicago was WJJD and a limited time operation, and when the frequency was less crowed, KSL was a nightly for most of us in the midwest and east.

 

[vibe]

With a lesser receiver, a Bose Wave radio I've gotten KSL from Englewood FL on 3 occasions; must be in the 1800-2000 mi range as well as getting KFI-LA in eastern IN again a 2000 mi (give or take) catch in a motel room.
It seems the band is hotter than usual on some nights.
You've posted some real good catches on other frequencies so it's a matter of time..

 

[wbz1030]

Having grown up in eastern PA (Hazleton, actually), the only station at night I would get on 1160 was then WJJD in Chicago (now WYLL). WYLL on 1160 is directional north/south with 50kW from Chicago. I still would think WYLL would dominate too much on that frequency in eastern PA and you wouldn't quite be able to null it out as it is coming from the same general direction as KSL. There is also WBYN on 1160 from Lehighton, PA with 1000 watts (directional north/south) at night.

KSL on 1160 would be a challenge in eastern PA.

 

[BRNout]

Yeah, the only way would be if WYLL was off the air late on a winter night. And then only if you had good atmospheric conditions for east-west propagation and you had a good enough radio (and are far enough from them) to null out WBYN and to not be stepped on by strong (at night) first-adjacent WWVA. Hopefully WWVA still hasn't put an IBlock Jammer on line. Isn't there another 1160 from New Jersey near you too? In other words, the crowding of the band has made such a catch pretty close to impossible at this point in time.

My catches of KOA from outside of Philly (there were 2 brief ones, despite the presence of WKNR Cleveland) were at 10-11 pm during January and February - which leads me to believe that winter would be the theoretical time to try such a thing.

Thanks to WYLL, picking up KSL from even the midwest is tough to impossible. Farthest east locations from which I've been able to get KSL were Jacksonville and Moline, Illinois - both in the null of WYLL....which still interferes somewhat. I'll tell you this: KSL did boom an amazingly strong night signal into Sioux Falls, SD and was actually stronger there than KOA (at least when I was there in August). This indicates to me that KSL certainly could have done quite a bit farther east had the FCC not decided otherwise.

Unbelieveably, they've also shoehorned nighttime signals on 1160 into MI (WCXI Fenton), MO (KCTO Cleveland), TN (WCRT Donelson), and a couple of stations in Texas! All are places where KSL would certainly come in audibly at night. Short-sightedness on the part of the FCC which has led to an AM dial that so crowded with interference as to be unlistenable in many areas. And, it's sped up the demise of the band.

Could you have done it back in the old days? Probably, but it wouldn't have been easy. Nowadays, you need a heck of a lot of help. Pretty close to impossible at this point.

 

[DX]

I used to pick up KSL fairly regularly from west Tennessee.

But as others have noted, KSL represents a very difficult - but theoretically not impossible target -- in much of the East, because of the old WJJD.

I still would recommend trying repeatedly at dawn in the winter, because that's been best for receiving KOA/Denver from Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Contacting WYLL and trying to ascertain any down times in the winter would also help!

 

[BRNout]

I used to pick up KSL fairly regularly from west Tennessee.

Yes, but that's a totally different dxing environment than eastern PA. You're several hundred miles west of eastern PA with a lot fewer miles and potential 'spoilers' between you and Salt Lake City. Basically as far west as central IL.

I tried doing some AM dxing from Memphis a couple of years ago, but was too close to some of the tx sites and got a lot of interference. Didn't pull in KSL, but did get KOA quite well. From farther outside the city, I'd imagine the west coast is a possibility, isn't it?

 

[FreddyE1977]

WWVA is still running their IBOC jammer. It makes them virtually impossible to listen to them, and I'm only about 75 miles from their tower.
Can only imagine how that sounds at night on skywave.

 

[pqgeorge]

WWVA is still running their IBOC jammer. It makes them virtually impossible to listen to them, and I'm only about 75 miles from their tower.
Can only imagine how that sounds at night on skywave.

Before the break up the Clears, KSL/1160 was a regular here in the Boston area once WJJD/Chicago would shutdown at Salt Lake sunset. The signal here was very strong, considering that signal is travelling over 2000+ miles away. I sent a QSL to KSL in 1979 and got a card (that I will always treasure) signed by John Dehnel, Chief Engineer of the KSL stations division of Bonneville. In my QSL letter I asked Mr. Dehnel if KSL is owned by the Mormon Church. He replied.... "In answer to your question, YES, KSL is owned by the LDS church........ but you can listen anyway!" Sounds like my kind of Chief Engineer! 30 years later, I actually had an opportunity to visit Salt Lake City. What a great city! Hope to visit it again sometime soon.

 

[cyberdad]

It may take a while but, I think KSL should be doable where you are. Perhaps this winter when the nights are longer and the noise level is theoretically lower. Back in the days when WJJD was the only other thing on the channel, KSL was fairly regular after 'JD went off at my location in Northern Illinois. Their signal still packs quite a punch, so one of these nights it ought to be somewhere in the mix, if not on top of it.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

I can get KOA usually best after 3am to about sunrise in Hillsville virginia,,, In indiana I can get KOA pretty much all night after about 10 pm,,, though oddly enough,, the signal seems stronger and louder during the brief time reception is possible in virginia.......... I sometimes get cleveland and chicago mixing and sometimes slopping all over KOA in Indiana, but sometimes KOA will even blink the HD light in Indiana...... It varys, and Winter is best, especially with snow on the ground between the transmitter and antenna, I beleive snow is a good ground conductor...

 

[BobOnTheJob]

Could you have done it back in the old days? Probably, but it wouldn't have been easy.

It was easy 1 state west of PA in the 60's. At sunset in Salt Lake City, WJJD signed off & KSL was into Ohio almost every night...never strong, but it was a regular on a then 12 year old's Zenith console radio with the tuning eye tube and 100' of a long wire antenna about 25' off the ground. I grew up at a good time...

 

[BRNout]

Could you have done it back in the old days? Probably, but it wouldn't have been easy.

It was easy 1 state west of PA in the 60's. At sunset in Salt Lake City, WJJD signed off & KSL was into Ohio almost every night...never strong, but it was a regular on a then 12 year old's Zenith console radio with the tuning eye tube and 100' of a long wire antenna about 25' off the ground. I grew up at a good time...

That must have been fun! I was too little to do any real dxing back then, aside from looking for big, famous Top 40 stations of the era. Wish I would have had better equipment.....

The thing is, eastern PA is in a different world than Ohio when it comes to MW reception. A lot of things are possible west of the Appalachians that are difficult east of them. When you're in eastern PA, you're in an area that has a lot more in common with New York and Washington; western PA is more like Cleveland and Columbus. Even the climate is different.

That long drive on the PA Turnpike makes a big difference. Not to say that reception of KSL was impossible back then (I'm sure it even reached the east coast at times), but it would have usually been a faint signal after 2,000 miles. Which is why I maintain that it will now be as hard to pick up from that area as a trans-Atlantic European.

 

[schmave]

Could you have done it back in the old days? Probably, but it wouldn't have been easy.

It was easy 1 state west of PA in the 60's. At sunset in Salt Lake City, WJJD signed off & KSL was into Ohio almost every night...never strong, but it was a regular on a then 12 year old's Zenith console radio with the tuning eye tube and 100' of a long wire antenna about 25' off the ground. I grew up at a good time...

That must have been fun! I was too little to do any real dxing back then, aside from looking for big, famous Top 40 stations of the era. Wish I would have had better equipment.....

The thing is, eastern PA is in a different world than Ohio when it comes to MW reception. A lot of things are possible west of the Appalachians that are difficult east of them. When you're in eastern PA, you're in an area that has a lot more in common with New York and Washington; western PA is more like Cleveland and Columbus. Even the climate is different.

That long drive on the PA Turnpike makes a big difference. Not to say that reception of KSL was impossible back then (I'm sure it even reached the east coast at times), but it would have usually been a faint signal after 2,000 miles. Which is why I maintain that it will now be as hard to pick up from that area as a trans-Atlantic European.

Very interesting observation on the Appalachian divide. What in your experience is easy to get west of it that you can't east, and vice-versa?

 

[BRNout]

Very interesting observation on the Appalachian divide. What in your experience is easy to get west of it that you can't east, and vice-versa?

At least in the northeastern US, it does seem to make a lot of difference - day and night. For one thing, when you're on the east side, you not only get all of those big east coast 50 kw signals, but a lot of smaller suburban and small city AMs that are located in eastern states and nulled to the west. Great example is WCCO 830 versus the fairly potent WEEU Reading, PA. No way to receive WCCO clearly in the mid-Atlantic region with WEEU on.

Others that seem to be tougher to the east of the mountains than west of them are WBAP, KOA (Ohio excepted thanks to the FCC and WKNR); basically anything from west of the Mississippi is tough that far east. And a lot of signals that are super-strong in the midwest (like KMOX and WHO) are degraded significantly by the time they get to the east side of the Appalachians.

Is it the mountains? Probably only somewhat. Distance and settlement patterns are a bigger factor, IMO. We tend to think of things in terms of states and the fact is that communities in western PA, western NY (around Buffalo), western VA, etc., are hundreds of miles west of the populated areas where most of each state's population resides. And, they're also west of a lot of directional signals that ruin reception of stations that folks in a place like Erie or Buffalo may take for granted. Lets just say that you can dx a lot of signals from the central US in Buffalo that you would rarely hear in a place like Poughkeepsie.

 

[vibe]

I get all the Chicago clears, Alt (750), N.O.(870) St Louis (1120) and Des Moines (1040) on many nights here in Central Mass on a Bose Wave. The noise seems to be a lot lesson 1020 and 1040 on many nites than others.
I'm trying for 850 Denver (despite a semi local 850 Bos) and for KSL but no luck YET.

 

[BRNout]

I get all the Chicago clears, Alt (750), N.O.(870) St Louis (1120) and Des Moines (1040) on many nights here in Central Mass on a Bose Wave. The noise seems to be a lot lesson 1020 and 1040 on many nites than others.
I'm trying for 850 Denver (despite a semi local 850 Bos) and for KSL but no luck YET.

Doesn't WBZ's IBlOCk interfere with KDKA and WHO? It sure did in NH and it sure does in western NY. Not to mention that there are other stations on 1040 in the northeast, including WYSL in Avon, NY and WNJE Flemington, NJ which complicate reception of WHO at times.

I've heard stories of people catching KOA in western New England, but I never did myself. Usually WKNR and WEEI are present with just enough strength to raise the noise floor and scotch any possibility of pulling in KOA. I've even pulled in WTAR from Norfolk, VA in PA and CT on 850. That would be a tough catch at this point in time. As for KSL - good luck....you'll need it!

 

[sash]

When the clear channels used to be clear, at my former location in Queens, NY, it was WJJD(WYLL) owning 1160 from pre-sunset to sunset Chicago. After JJD signoff, it was Radio Americas on 1165 khz, a US-govt operated Spanish station broadcasting from a ship in the Carribean and presumably beamed toward Cuba; yet they had a booming signal in the northeast. Americas went dark sometime in the late 60s. After that, on 1160 most late nights, KSL would appear at around 0300 hrs; weak signal, but readable and clear. The signal would gain strength very gradually as the morning went on until local sunrise and then disappear. This was using an RCA "All American" 5 type table radio. Fast forward to today, and 1160 is really a regional channel in the east, and is a veritable jumble of signals at night in the northeast. With each signal present reducing the potential of breakthrough from almost 2,000 miles away, I would say chances for KSL in PA are pretty slim.

 

[vibe]

In reply to BRNout's post about WBZ's IBLOCK affecting adjacents 1020 Pitts and 1040 Des Moines-the noise threshold varies dramatically from night to night. But sometimes the signals on those frequencies are much stronger than usual to break through the hiss. On those nights. It seems the west to east path varies dramatically and it is possible to pull out KSL or to a lesser extent KOA on one of those good nights here in the Northeast.