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Far Away AM and FM

C

Circus_Monkey

Guest
I was wondering what the farthest away Am and Fm station someone has picked up from Mesa or surrounding area ? Just the other night at around 1:30am I was able to pick up 2 am stations from Calif. One from San Fransico and the other from Bakersfield.
 
> I was wondering what the farthest away Am and Fm station
> someone has picked up from Mesa or surrounding area ? Just
> the other night at around 1:30am I was able to pick up 2 am
> stations from Calif. One from San Fransico and the other
> from Bakersfield.

Scottsdale count? My best AMs were, among others, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, 1475 kHz. 250 watt WRSJ 1560 in Puerto Rico, Brazil on 1000, Algeria on 1251.
 
> > I was wondering what the farthest away Am and Fm station
> > someone has picked up from Mesa or surrounding area ? Just
>
> > the other night at around 1:30am I was able to pick up 2
> am
> > stations from Calif. One from San Fransico and the other
> > from Bakersfield.
>
> Scottsdale count? My best AMs were, among others, Kota
> Kinabalu, Malaysia, 1475 kHz. 250 watt WRSJ 1560 in Puerto
> Rico, Brazil on 1000, Algeria on 1251.
>

250 watts out of Puerto Rico??? YIKES! About what year did you hear them, David?

Must've been before the AM dial filled up and got noiser...
 
> > > I was wondering what the farthest away Am and Fm station
>
> > > someone has picked up from Mesa or surrounding area ?
> Just
> >
> > > the other night at around 1:30am I was able to pick up 2
>
> > am
> > > stations from Calif. One from San Fransico and the other
>
> > > from Bakersfield.
> >
> > Scottsdale count? My best AMs were, among others, Kota
> > Kinabalu, Malaysia, 1475 kHz. 250 watt WRSJ 1560 in Puerto
>
> > Rico, Brazil on 1000, Algeria on 1251.
> >
>
> 250 watts out of Puerto Rico??? YIKES! About what year did
> you hear them, David?
>
> Must've been before the AM dial filled up and got noiser...
>
Iv'e gotten WBBM from Chicago in the West Valley during the 80s..the colder the night, the better the distant AM protection.
 
> Iv'e gotten WBBM from Chicago in the West Valley during the
> 80s..the colder the night, the better the distant AM
> protection.

Three Chicago stations (WGN 720, WBBM 780, WLS 890) used to be audible in Phoenix in the early '70s, at least during the winter. Of course, this was before KDWN Las Vegas, KKOH Reno, and KDXU St. George came on the air. Then-WMAQ was blocked by KBOI from Boise, which put a good signal into Phoenix until just a few years ago.

Since then, I've heard WBBM only on rare occasion. WGN and WLS don't come in at all anymore.

I've never heard any FM DX and only occasional E-Skip on TV since I moved to Ahwahtukee. I'm too close to South Mountain to anything on those bands.
 
> > > I was wondering what the farthest away Am and Fm station
>
> > > someone has picked up from Mesa or surrounding area ?
> Just
> >
> > > the other night at around 1:30am I was able to pick up 2
>
> > am
> > > stations from Calif. One from San Fransico and the other
>
> > > from Bakersfield.
> >
> > Scottsdale count? My best AMs were, among others, Kota
> > Kinabalu, Malaysia, 1475 kHz. 250 watt WRSJ 1560 in Puerto
>
> > Rico, Brazil on 1000, Algeria on 1251.
> >
>
> 250 watts out of Puerto Rico??? YIKES! About what year did
> you hear them, David?

1974 from a condo in Scottsdale a block or two from the long-gone Los Arcos Mall.
>
> Must've been before the AM dial filled up and got noiser...

Yep.
>
 
Got something in Wichita a few years back, and I think one from Dallas, KFI still booms in at 640, and KGO comes in from San Fran.

Gotta fire up my SW, used to be fun to hear S. Africa, Cuba, Australia and New Zealand coming in clear, then trying for more obscure stuff like Mongolia or Albania. Used to get some good music out of African SW stations, fun to listen to, but you need a good antenna and a booster antenna.

Of course having a nice Drake SW would make it all the more easier than my Sangean 909 and 40 ft of wire on the roof!
 
In 1979 I was working in radio at KROP in Brawley, California. I signed off the station one night at 2 a.m. While driving home to my apartment near El Centro, California, I picked up WHAM in Rochester, New York. They were doing their morning drive farm report at the time.
 
> Since then, I've heard WBBM only on rare occasion. WGN and
> WLS don't come in at all anymore.

KDWN nulls strongly toward Chicago and sounds like crap in a lot of Arizona at night. I was driving to Las Vegas a few weeks ago and while KXNT came in well pretty much all the way from downtown Phoenix, KDWN came in poorly on all but a short section of 40-W around Kingman.
 
> I was wondering what the farthest away Am and Fm station
> someone has picked up from Mesa or surrounding area ? Just
> the other night at around 1:30am I was able to pick up 2 am
> stations from Calif. One from San Fransico and the other
> from Bakersfield.
>

One late morning in 1986 I picked up country KYKZ 96.1 out of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Best FM E-skip I ever got! I called the station and told 'em about it. The last song I heard before they faded out was "Oceanfront Property In Arizona" (no kidding!)

I've also picked up KOA 850 Denver at night in the valley, booming in like a local. Pretty good trick considering it's right next to KMVP.

In SoCal I used to get KOMO 1000 Seattle quite a bit. Best AM e-skips I got out there were WWL New Orleans, and WLS after a storm one night in 1978 which knocked out our power at Carl's Jr. and had us cleaning up in the dark.
 
On the flip side of the question, I use to occasionally hear Tempe's 1580 just after sunset in Cincinnati, Ohio back in the 1960's. Call letters at the time were KYND and they were a day-timer playing country music. Some of their slogans were "Country Kind", "Shotgun in Tempe", and "Voice of the Great Southwest".
 
> On the flip side of the question, I use to occasionally hear
> Tempe's 1580 just after sunset in Cincinnati, Ohio back in
> the 1960's. Call letters at the time were KYND and they
> were a day-timer playing country music. Some of their
> slogans were "Country Kind", "Shotgun in Tempe", and "Voice
> of the Great Southwest".
>
I think they became KTUF and were combined with KNIX-FM when Buck Owens bought them...later to become KNIX AM-FM
 
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