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

[cyberdad]

I remember the XERF (Wolfman Jack) signal during the late 60s in Northern Illinois as being so-so. David Eduardo....who's certainly a more reliable source for this stuff than me....reports in another thread, however, that the signal a few hundred miles east of here in Cleveland was strong. The other thing I remember about XERF signal in the Chicago area was that both CFOR and CHLO (St. Thomas, ON) were usually audible underneath and occasionally one or the other would ride on top. (Assuming David's correct, I'd presume XERF probably gave both CFOR and CHLO plenty of trouble in their respective local service areas)

Of course, in Iowa where I was going to college, XERF had a great signal.

 

[radioman148]

I remember the XERF (Wolfman Jack) signal during the late 60s in Northern Illinois as being so-so. David Eduardo....who's certainly a more reliable source for this stuff than me....reports in another thread, however, that the signal a few hundred miles east of here in Cleveland was strong. The other thing I remember about XERF signal in the Chicago area was that both CFOR and CHLO (St. Thomas, ON) were usually audible underneath and occasionally one or the other would ride on top. (Assuming David's correct, I'd presume XERF probably gave both CFOR and CHLO plenty of trouble in their respective local service areas)

Of course, in Iowa where I was going to college, XERF had a great signal.

XERF was tough in the Chicago area, but it could be heard on from time to time.

 

[stormy01]

Did y'all know the O'Hare and Midway TIS for Parking Lots, etc. have been on 1630?
Good luck getting these though if you're in the Chicago 'burbs, there are several Metra TIS also on 1630.

There's one on 1620 also on the north side.

The 1620's (at least in Lake County) are operated as part of the Lake County DOT/Passage Program...The Lake Zurich 1620 TX (believe it's at Rand and Ela) carries real well into Crystal Lake, there is also another 1620 TX right next to the NB off ramp at SR22 and the TriState Tollway (I-94). I read somewhere online that the Scandinavian DXers with their beverage long wire antennas have heard the LCDOT transmitters in Norway! (Not bad for 10 watts!)

 

[davideduardo]

I would think there'd have been a lot of listeners well into South America, too. Maybe Australia if conditions were right.

No, it did not even do well south of Mexico. The main reason is that there were plenty of local signals on 1570 from Guatemala on south. In the 60's, Colombia alone had about a dozen 1 kw stations on 1570, effectively blocking XERF... and the same thing applied in every nation. DXers would occasionally hear it, but I never managed to get it in Ecuador during the mid to late 60's, as 1570 was a very busy channel.

 

[davideduardo]

250 KW at 1570 ... a DXers dream. Hell, I'm sure the groundwave was impressive enough (for that spot on the dial). I can't imagine how far that signal spread on skywave.

The groundwave was horrible. The conductivity around Del Rio / Villa Acuña is on the low side, and the station is at the top of the dial. And that is why it ran nights only, no daytime operation at all.

The primary coverage area was roughly an arc from AZ up to KS and down to Alabama. While it got out farther, the signal was not consistent and it did not get good mail pull from other areas for the resurrection plant, the prayer table cloth or the live baby chicks.

 

[davideduardo]

That's not too big a stretch distance-wise, but someone here (I think David Eduardo) said XEROK has used as little as 500-1,000 watts daytime in recent years because of power grid issues near the transmitter. That's not to mention that all the extra juice serves mostly desert since El Paso is nowhere near any other major metro areas.

For a time, the power was about 10 kw following the decline and fall of the 150 kw transmitter. It was replaced with a 50 kw transmitter, one of two intended to run in parallel... but the power grid had become so overloaded, it could not sustain both 50s on the air... so 50 kw it has been for about a decade.

 

[schmave]

Thanks for those answers, David. Taught me a few things I didn't know! And I can't say I'm surprised about the groundwave out in that part of Texas; conductivity is very, very good over here near Houston and up near Dallas, but I can see where it'd be worse over there.

 

[4dude]

WSM used to come in GOOD here (Before 660 started thier IBOC crap that is)

 

[cyberdad]

The primary coverage area was roughly an arc from AZ up to KS and down to Alabama. While it got out farther, the signal was not consistent and it did not get good mail pull from other areas for the resurrection plant, the prayer table cloth or the live baby chicks.

On my drives from school (Iowa) to home (Chicago area) in the late 60s, I remember XERF as being pretty inconsistent once I got east of the river. (Roughly the same as KOMA). And yes, I remember all the goofy stuff that was being pitched. In the case of Wolfman, I seem to recall that it was R&B record collections via mail.

 

[radioman148]

The primary coverage area was roughly an arc from AZ up to KS and down to Alabama. While it got out farther, the signal was not consistent and it did not get good mail pull from other areas for the resurrection plant, the prayer table cloth or the live baby chicks.

On my drives from school (Iowa) to home (Chicago area) in the late 60s, I remember XERF as being pretty inconsistent once I got east of the river. (Roughly the same as KOMA). And yes, I remember all the goofy stuff that was being pitched. In the case of Wolfman, I seem to recall that it was R&B record collections via mail.

Regarding KOMA I used to get it fairly well in the Chicago area in the 60s. Hardly ever heard WKBW.

 

[elchupacabras]

I remember getting X-Rock 80 in the early 80's from Idaho! I pulled it in a couple times in the late afternoon, but had problems picking it up reliably due to a station from SLC, UT.

 

[radioman148]

I remember getting X-Rock 80 in the early 80's from Idaho! I pulled it in a couple times in the late afternoon, but had problems picking it up reliably due to a station from SLC, UT.

I heard XEROK in the pacific northwest in the late 70s.

 

[BRNout]

I remember getting X-Rock 80 in the early 80's from Idaho! I pulled it in a couple times in the late afternoon, but had problems picking it up reliably due to a station from SLC, UT.

Are you thinking of KSOS Brigham City, UT? It just has 1,000 watts during the day and a whopping 8 watts at night. Perhaps it had more juice years ago, but I don't recall that and tend to doubt it because KUTR (licensed to Taylorsville) has had 820 for a lot of years and I don't see the FCC allotting another strong signal at 800 - there would be spacing issues.

When I was in Salt Lake last month, XEROK actually boomed in at night.

 

[elchupacabras]

I remember getting X-Rock 80 in the early 80's from Idaho! I pulled it in a couple times in the late afternoon, but had problems picking it up reliably due to a station from SLC, UT.

Are you thinking of KSOS Brigham City, UT? It just has 1,000 watts during the day and a whopping 8 watts at night. Perhaps it had more juice years ago, but I don't recall that and tend to doubt it because KUTR (licensed to Taylorsville) has had 820 for a lot of years and I don't see the FCC allotting another strong signal at 800 - there would be spacing issues.

When I was in Salt Lake last month, XEROK actually boomed in at night.

I should have specified that XEROK came in great at night, but during 4-7 pm period in the winter time, I would pick up KSOS. KSOS has since gone dark.

 

[radioman148]

I remember getting X-Rock 80 in the early 80's from Idaho! I pulled it in a couple times in the late afternoon, but had problems picking it up reliably due to a station from SLC, UT.

Are you thinking of KSOS Brigham City, UT? It just has 1,000 watts during the day and a whopping 8 watts at night. Perhaps it had more juice years ago, but I don't recall that and tend to doubt it because KUTR (licensed to Taylorsville) has had 820 for a lot of years and I don't see the FCC allotting another strong signal at 800 - there would be spacing issues.

When I was in Salt Lake last month, XEROK actually boomed in at night.

I should have specified that XEROK came in great at night, but during 4-7 pm period in the winter time, I would pick up KSOS. KSOS has since gone dark.

I spent some time in Southern California in the late 70s and in the winter months XEROK used to be the first station coming in via skywave before California sunset.