Farthest you have ever heard WSM and Former X-Rock 80...XEROCK 800 Mexico

[franksandhotdogs]

I get Canadians here at night.. CKLW on 800 and 740 in Toronto are very loud and clear,,, , I used to get 640 from Toronto back when they were CHR-Dance as The Beat of toronto,,, But they went directional north since then, so I cant hear the news format on 640 Toronto these days.. But back on the subject of the station I was hearing on 1200 back in 92 with a CHR-Dance format,,, one poster says it was from Ottawa,,, I looked up the history of the station and it matched his descriton,, It was a 50kw station, but it has highly directional North to protect San Antonio,,, so I have it very amazing that I was ever able to hear this station in Indiana,,, Of course this was in early December 92 and very cold, but around 7 PM,,, Ottawa is very far away from here,, at least 1000 miles and if the station is still on air with a sports format,,, why was i only able to hear it that one time 15 yrs ago,, and never heard anything except San Antonio since then.. Am Skywave propogation works in mysterious ways, so maybe it was just a once in a lifetime catch,, the station only stayed in about 12 minutes and always seemed to fade right when they IDed the station,, So I was SOL until I found this group of fellow AM Fm Dxers..   Their night and day pattern both neither even seem to make it into upstate New York or Vermont,, so how the heck did I hear it in Indiana on a cheap 20 dollar boombox?????  But if Beave got a DX report from Swedon with 440 watts I guess anything is possible on AM,, Like the one poster who says he received WLS and WBBM in Hawaii,,, Which in 1978 would have been possible since both stations were protected then.. Ever since WLS moved to Tinley park its been a tough catch on car radios for me day and night,, even though they are about 40 miles closer than they used to be....ODD... I guess its the groundwave-Skywave cancellation mixed with electronic noise from the car,, I have no trouble day or night picking up the Chicago AMs on an old panasonic boombox if I take the radio to the garage away from Computer RF noise.

740 is CFZM I believe (used to be CHWO)...here in southern MN I get KVOX 740 out of Fargo, ND (sports) during the day and at night it's CFZM (standards).

Can you get WCCO (830)/Mpls. in Indy? I doubt you can get KSTP (1500) since they go directional at night. I get both of them day and night, but that's because I'm 3 hours from there.

 

[gr8oldies]

CKLW blasted in during the day in the St. Marys area, and WOWO was a 24/7 blaster. That area was a great place to DX from, but like everywhere else teh dial's it's filling up fast. In the 70s before everyone was 24/7 and all the 80/90s got built up, hearing most of the Detroit FM stations as well as lots of interesting late night DX was pretty common.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

I actually get 830 WCCO pretty well most nights,,, I dont pick up much but garbled mixed signals above 1400 at night hear, so I dont know for sure about the 1500 your talking about... Also,,, Ive never ever in my life ever been Able to DX detroit FMs here in Indy,,, stations like 93.1 WDRQ, and 95.5 KQKI Channel 95.5, and the 99.5 country station, and also 105.1 and 96.3 are all used by locals here so its not possible.. Chicago DX is possible,,, but fairly rare other than 99.9,, which is more of a Kankakee station than Chicago,, I have picked up Q101 Chicago,, the ALT Rock station a few times, and once I got WIND 100.3,, but only one time.

 

[mimo]

I'm still convinced you heard what was then Energy 1200. I lived in southeast Iowa all the time and used to listen to what was then WOPA in the late afterno0ns, and sometimes energy 1200 would come in and wipe it right out. Ottawa isn't all that far from Indy at all compared to Iowa.

 

[cyberdad]

I was in Indy, Columbus, and Cincinnati late last week and over the weekend. WCCO was moderate to strong nights on my sony walkman at all three locastions.

WLS "moving" to Tinley Park? They've been using the same stick since 1938! The consensus seems to be that any degrading of thier signal has to do with deterioration of their ground system and/or commercial and residential development around the stick during the past several years. They still pack a pretty decent wallop....but clearly not what they were in their "musicradio" days.

 

[mimo]

I Meant I lived in southeast Iowa AT THE time, not all the time as I said in my previous post.

 

[David67]

I've heard 800 am from Mexico City while driving at night to work in Chattanooga,Tennessee! Nice catch ;D

 

[radioman148]

I've heard 800 am from Mexico City while driving at night to work in Chattanooga,Tennessee! Nice catch ;D

I assume you mean across the river from El Paso instead of Mexico City.

 

[schmave]

In Chattanooga? That's not bad at all ... probably 1,200-1,300 miles anyway, and it's made all the better by XEROK being 50K nowadays as opposed to the 150K it used to be.
I hardly ever hear it in Houston; it's the one borderblaster (and I use that term loosely) I've had a tough time hearing. It's been that way ever since I've visited Houston (10 years or so now) and it's not because of the splatter from local KBME 790, which doesn't splatter much at my house 25 miles south of downtown. Just now turning my antenna to null Houston ... nothing. It's weird.
Speaking of Mexico City, 730 and 900 barrel into Houston at night. I'm sure those two can be heard well into the Great Plains.

 

[David67]

In Chattanooga? That's not bad at all ... probably 1,200-1,300 miles anyway, and it's made all the better by XEROK being 50K nowadays as opposed to the 150K it used to be.
I hardly ever hear it in Houston; it's the one borderblaster (and I use that term loosely) I've had a tough time hearing. It's been that way ever since I've visited Houston (10 years or so now) and it's not because of the splatter from local KBME 790, which doesn't splatter much at my house 25 miles south of downtown. Just now turning my antenna to null Houston ... nothing. It's weird.
Speaking of Mexico City, 730 and 900 barrel into Houston at night. I'm sure those two can be heard well into the Great Plains.

I couldn't believe I caught that and It was clear enough to where I could easily hear the ID

 

[radioman148]

In Chattanooga? That's not bad at all ... probably 1,200-1,300 miles anyway, and it's made all the better by XEROK being 50K nowadays as opposed to the 150K it used to be.
I hardly ever hear it in Houston; it's the one borderblaster (and I use that term loosely) I've had a tough time hearing. It's been that way ever since I've visited Houston (10 years or so now) and it's not because of the splatter from local KBME 790, which doesn't splatter much at my house 25 miles south of downtown. Just now turning my antenna to null Houston ... nothing. It's weird.
Speaking of Mexico City, 730 and 900 barrel into Houston at night. I'm sure those two can be heard well into the Great Plains.

I couldn't believe I caught that and It was clear enough to where I could easily hear the ID

Years ago XEROK was an easy catch up & down the west coast, but tough in the midwest even when they ran higher power.

 

[David67]

In Chattanooga? That's not bad at all ... probably 1,200-1,300 miles anyway, and it's made all the better by XEROK being 50K nowadays as opposed to the 150K it used to be.
I hardly ever hear it in Houston; it's the one borderblaster (and I use that term loosely) I've had a tough time hearing. It's been that way ever since I've visited Houston (10 years or so now) and it's not because of the splatter from local KBME 790, which doesn't splatter much at my house 25 miles south of downtown. Just now turning my antenna to null Houston ... nothing. It's weird.
Speaking of Mexico City, 730 and 900 barrel into Houston at night. I'm sure those two can be heard well into the Great Plains.

I couldn't believe I caught that and It was clear enough to where I could easily hear the ID

Years ago XEROK was an easy catch up & down the west coast, but tough in the midwest even when they ran higher power.

900 AM in Mexico is another station I can catch Here(Around Chattanooga)with relative regularity.

 

[mimo]

Speaking of Mexico City, 730 and 900 barrel into Houston at night. I'm sure those two can be heard well into the Great Plains.

I can confirm both stations making it regularly into southeast Iowa at night. XEX 730 is actually the stronger of the 2. XEROK was a regular when I lived there as well, stronger than either station.

I caught a hint of XEROK a couple of days ago, around 4:50 in the morning here in Ottawa. Sometimes I've also heard hints of XEG 1050 Monterrey. I've heard both for a few seconds but I knew it was them. XEW 900 is the most regular of Mexican stations here in Ottawa.

 

[David67]

Speaking of Mexico City, 730 and 900 barrel into Houston at night. I'm sure those two can be heard well into the Great Plains.

I can confirm both stations making it regularly into southeast Iowa at night. XEX 730 is actually the stronger of the 2. XEROK was a regular when I lived there as well, stronger than either station.

I caught a hint of XEROK a couple of days ago, around 4:50 in the morning here in Ottawa. Sometimes I've also heard hints of XEG 1050 Monterrey. I've heard both for a few seconds but I knew it was them. XEW 900 is the most regular of Mexican stations here in Ottawa.

XEX 730 is pretty much drowned out by 730 AM out of Memphis,but sometimes it creeps in.

 

[radioman148]

I caught 730 Mexico City in Hawaii a few months back. Here in the Chicago area it's alot tougher because of WGN, but I have heard it in the past along with XEW 900.

 

[BRNout]

Speaking of Mexico City, 730 and 900 barrel into Houston at night. I'm sure those two can be heard well into the Great Plains.

I can confirm both stations making it regularly into southeast Iowa at night. XEX 730 is actually the stronger of the 2. XEROK was a regular when I lived there as well, stronger than either station.

I caught a hint of XEROK a couple of days ago, around 4:50 in the morning here in Ottawa. Sometimes I've also heard hints of XEG 1050 Monterrey. I've heard both for a few seconds but I knew it was them. XEW 900 is the most regular of Mexican stations here in Ottawa.

Interesting observations. My little one-time dxing exercise from Davenport, IA about a week ago had CKLW as the only station I could hear at 800 from there. It didn't come in that well, but it was still dominant. No sign of Spanish on the frequency - at least that night. Didn't spend any time at 730, though it seemed to be dominated by splatter from WGN - as was 710.

 

[schmave]

In Chattanooga? That's not bad at all ... probably 1,200-1,300 miles anyway, and it's made all the better by XEROK being 50K nowadays as opposed to the 150K it used to be.
I hardly ever hear it in Houston; it's the one borderblaster (and I use that term loosely) I've had a tough time hearing. It's been that way ever since I've visited Houston (10 years or so now) and it's not because of the splatter from local KBME 790, which doesn't splatter much at my house 25 miles south of downtown. Just now turning my antenna to null Houston ... nothing. It's weird.
Speaking of Mexico City, 730 and 900 barrel into Houston at night. I'm sure those two can be heard well into the Great Plains.

I couldn't believe I caught that and It was clear enough to where I could easily hear the ID

Years ago XEROK was an easy catch up & down the west coast, but tough in the midwest even when they ran higher power.

I remember reading in John Long's detailed story of his radio career (one-time PD of XEROK) that the DJs used to dot a map with pins to represent every reported catch of their station. He said the catches used to drop off around St. Louis, they believed because of CKLW. I've heard reports of XEROK being picked up in Michigan and Dayton as well as in Hawaii.

 

[mimo]

Speaking of Mexico City, 730 and 900 barrel into Houston at night. I'm sure those two can be heard well into the Great Plains.

I can confirm both stations making it regularly into southeast Iowa at night. XEX 730 is actually the stronger of the 2. XEROK was a regular when I lived there as well, stronger than either station.

I caught a hint of XEROK a couple of days ago, around 4:50 in the morning here in Ottawa. Sometimes I've also heard hints of XEG 1050 Monterrey. I've heard both for a few seconds but I knew it was them. XEW 900 is the most regular of Mexican stations here in Ottawa.

Interesting observations. My little one-time dxing exercise from Davenport, IA about a week ago had CKLW as the only station I could hear at 800 from there. It didn't come in that well, but it was still dominant. No sign of Spanish on the frequency - at least that night. Didn't spend any time at 730, though it seemed to be dominated by splatter from WGN - as was 710.

Davenport was about 90 or so miles northeast of where I was. The reception of Mexican radio takes a steep decline about 40 to 50 miles north of highway 34. In Iowa City you have local KXIC on 800 so the knocks XEROK off the dial. My experience with AM 800 in Davenport always matched yours. WGN is practically a local in Davenport, it even shows up in the ratings.

 

[BRNout]

Davenport was about 90 or so miles northeast of where I was. The reception of Mexican radio takes a steep decline about 40 to 50 miles north of highway 34. In Iowa City you have local KXIC on 800 so the knocks XEROK off the dial. My experience with AM 800 in Davenport always matched yours. WGN is practically a local in Davenport, it even shows up in the ratings.

The fun one I caught from that area (East Moline actually) was WNAX Yankton, SD - at about 4 pm! It was weak but quite audible.

 

[analog420]

The map with pins which John Long mentions became much fuller over the ensuing couple years that X-ROK remained in the format. Listener reports were received from every continent with the exception of Antarctica. Frequent mail from Australia and New Zealand, South Africa and India. Much less correspondence from non-English speaking countries, especially the (then) Communist bloc.