First Road trip of the year

[radioman148]

I still refer to XEPRS as XERB too. Anyway, Wolfman would be proud of you.
Keep those reports coming. As for me I'm going back to listen to WCFL, er, I mean WMVP. ;D

 

[gar hi]

Surprise: KCBS is terrible here tonight. On previous trips....and just last night in Santa Rosa...it's been rock solid. Curious if Mario or anyone else has noticed anything unusual with them lately.

When I was in Santa Cruz last September I noticed that, at night, even though KCBS and KGO seemed to have about the same overall signal strength in terms of loudness, KCBS had constant cycles of multipath scrambling while KGO remained pretty much steady.

Maybe it's because KCBS concentrates it's power mostly to the SE at night whereas KGO goes in more of a north/south direction?

 

[cyberdad]

Surprise: KCBS is terrible here tonight. On previous trips....and just last night in Santa Rosa...it's been rock solid. Curious if Mario or anyone else has noticed anything unusual with them lately.

When I was in Santa Cruz last September I noticed that, at night, even though KCBS and KGO seemed to have about the same overall signal strength in terms of loudness, KCBS had constant cycles of multipath scrambling while KGO remained pretty much steady.

Maybe it's because KCBS concentrates it's power mostly to the SE at night whereas KGO goes in more of a north/south direction?

KGO is definitely better here than KCBS in Napa tonight, which was not the case in Sonoma last night. KCBS was stronger there...even though Sonoma valley is farther west than where I am now. Of course, a very tall mountain range separates the two! Actually, KGO is about the same in both locations....good but not great. The difference is with KCBS which was stronger on the other side of the hill.

Could be I'm in some quirky mini convergence zone with the DA. I've stayed at this place more than a dozen times...but it's not a regular hotel. It's a complex of villas/cottages spread around a "campus-like" setting. (Very nice....one of our favorite getaway spots).

And Radioman.... Yes my bad about XERB/XEPRS. And that reminds me....the second best SF nighttime signal here after KNBR is KFRC. KABL is also good. Er....I mean KEAR, KKGN. ;D

Seriously, KSFO and KFAX also do well up here, as does KLOK from San Jose. (Hope I've got those right!)

 

[kenglish]

Many years ago, I stayed in the older, wooden-structure part of a motel in Grass Valley, California. Great reception with just a short wire antenna (one of those Radio Shack branded attachment antennas from Grundig or somebody). I was about 50 feet from the freeway, but still had great reception, including KSL.

I wonder what the place sounds like nowadays, with "Big-Scream" TV's, "Wi-Fry", and those new light bulbs.

 

[kenglish]

BTW....
KSL still QSL's. Just not for in-town listening ;D .
Let us know how the signal is, on the road.

 

[cyberdad]

BTW....
KSL still QSL's. Just not for in-town listening  ;D .
Let us know how the signal is, on the road.

KSL was so-so last night.  Usually it's one of the better skywave signals, but perhaps was having an off night.  Adjacent KLOK on 1170 was doing better.

Was going to do some additional DX last night, but I wussed out and fell asleep. 

This morning around dawn, conditions up and down the coast were pretty decent.... 

For openers, Canada finally showed up with CBU (good and all alone next to KNBR) and CKWX (weak, but on top).  Seattle represented by KOMO (very good) and KIXI (weak...mixing with religion).  KPOJ, KXL and KEX were in from Portland...all fair.  But KPNW again was the strongest Oregon signal.  From Nevada....KKOH and KDWN were both kickin' butt.  I think I also had the Vegas 840 but I'm not sure.  KFI, KNX, and KTLK all fair from So-Cal.  And finally, XEPRS and XEPN were both fair-good from Tijuana.  Tried KFMB, but 760 was pretty empty  Have to say I'm impressed with XEPN's nighttime signal.

One more thing....

KCBS was fine again this morning just before dawn.  Either they were already on day pattern, or perhaps last night there was just some local noise issue screwing things up.

 

[kenglish]

I have a bad SMPS in my Ten-Tec, so I rigged up an external DC supply to it. Last night, there were some really good conditions on the AM BCB. I heard some stations that I have never heard a peep out of previously.
Maybe the better power supply helped, maybe it was just the Gods.

 

[crainbebo]

BTW....
KSL still QSL's. Just not for in-town listening ;D .
Let us know how the signal is, on the road.

KSL was so-so last night. Usually it's one of the better skywave signals, but perhaps was having an off night. Adjacent KLOK on 1170 was doing better.

Was going to do some additional DX last night, but I wussed out and fell asleep.

This morning around dawn, conditions up and down the coast were pretty decent....

For openers, Canada finally showed up with CBU (good and all alone next to KNBR) and CKWX (weak, but on top). Seattle represented by KOMO (very good) and KIXI (weak...mixing with religion). KPOJ, KXL and KEX were in from Portland...all fair. But KPNW again was the strongest Oregon signal. From Nevada....KKOH and KDWN were both kickin' butt. I think I also had the Vegas 840 but I'm not sure. KFI, KNX, and KTLK all fair from So-Cal. And finally, XEPRS and XEPN were both fair-good from Tijuana. Tried KFMB, but 760 was pretty empty Have to say I'm impressed with XEPN's nighttime signal.

One more thing....

KCBS was fine again this morning just before dawn. Either they were already on day pattern, or perhaps last night there was just some local noise issue screwing things up.

Religion on 880 is KKMC Gonzales, CA cyberdad.

-crainbebo

 

[cyberdad]

Religion on 880 is KKMC Gonzales, CA cyberdad.

-crainbebo

Thanks....I was/am too lazy to look it up! BTW, this morning KOMO was all gloom and doom about 7-10 inches of snow. Hard for me to imagine Seattle getting pounded with that/dealing with that. Hope you and everyone else up there is coping OK.

 

[crainbebo]

Religion on 880 is KKMC Gonzales, CA cyberdad.

-crainbebo

Thanks....I was/am too lazy to look it up! BTW, this morning KOMO was all gloom and doom about 7-10 inches of snow. Hard for me to imagine Seattle getting pounded with that/dealing with that. Hope you and everyone else up there is coping OK.

We only got about 1 1/2 inches Sunday, a trace Mon. and about 1/4 inch today. The north sound and S of Tacoma really got hit HARD (11 inches in Arlington). Tonight, a massive storm is coming in with even more snow. South Sound getting up to a foot, Seattle/Bellevue getting 4-6'', mostly starting around 12am or so. Tonight conditions are down your way pretty good too. Had KFRN 1280 LA coming in good earlier.

-crainbebo

 

[cyberdad]

Tonight conditions are down your way pretty good too. Had KFRN 1280 LA coming in good earlier.

-crainbebo

Two way street apparently. Heard all about the storm "fizzle so far, but worst yet to come" about an hour ago on KOMO, which is so-so tonight in Napa Valley. Oregon, however is "off the charts" especially KPNW and KEX which sound like locals. Easily the strongest signals of any type on the dial tonight. KPOJ and KXL are also present along with a good signal on 970 from Portland. Farther north, CBU is in once again, but no CKWX. I was trying for KIRO and may have heard it under semi-local KFIA on 710.....but I'm not at all sure about that. KIXI seems to be missing from 880, with the Gonzales religious station on top...KRVN underneath.

To the south, KNX, XEPRS, and XEPN are the strongest signals once again. So far from the east, it's KSL as top dog. Also getting KBOI, KDWN, KDXU, and KTWO. I thought I'd be hearing KFAB here, but KBND is really blasting and has 1110 all to itself.

 

[radioman148]

Tonight conditions are down your way pretty good too. Had KFRN 1280 LA coming in good earlier.

-crainbebo

Two way street apparently. Heard all about the storm "fizzle so far, but worst yet to come" about an hour ago on KOMO, which is so-so tonight in Napa Valley. Oregon, however is "off the charts" especially KPNW and KEX which sound like locals. Easily the strongest signals of any type on the dial tonight. KPOJ and KXL are also present along with a good signal on 970 from Portland. Farther north, CBU is in once again, but no CKWX. I was trying for KIRO and may have heard it under semi-local KFIA on 710.....but I'm not at all sure about that. KIXI seems to be missing from 880, with the Gonzales religious station on top...KRVN underneath.

To the south, KNX, XEPRS, and XEPN are the strongest signals once again. So far from the east, it's KSL as top dog. Also getting KBOI, KDWN, KDXU, and KTWO. I thought I'd be hearing KFAB here, but KBND is really blasting and has 1110 all to itself.

KBND can be a pest in Northern California I've found. I've had much better success in the past getting KFAB in Southern Cal--as long as you're far enough east of LA.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

Or south. I was getting on I-8 at its far western terminus in Ocean Beach (San Diego) maybe a mile from the coast, and KFAB was actually slightly on top of KDIS.

Interesting thing about KFRN 1280 vs FR's San Diego affiliate 910 KECR.... in rural southeast San Diego county (Tecate area), KFRN is actually better there in the daytime than KECR. KECR may have a lower dial position (910 vs 1280), higher transmit power (5kW vs 1kW) and be much closer, but their directional antenna has a deep null, allowing XEAO Mexicali to have the channel almost all to itself. (Sometimes KECR can be faintly heard way in the back behind XEAO.)

Back to KDIS and KFAB.... one of these days I'm hoping to make a recording that punctuates a line in a song. (Their Day/Night power/pattern change power difference at my home QTH is 80kW vs 2kW or so.) There's a song that NBT Season 4 winner Shealeigh sings (she's 13) called "What Can I Say" - has a line "when all you do is push me away" and also "we're slowly fading away". I'd like to record it off the air so that right after she sings "push me away", KDIS shuts off their 50kW day transmitter, and before the 20kW night transmitter comes back up I hear the callsigns from KFAB and local 2nd-adjacent 1130 KSDO splatter, "pushing KDIS away" temporarily. I've come close, but there was no sign of KFAB that time and it was at "we're slowly fading away".

 

[crainbebo]

I just received KMYC 1410 in Marysville, CA with a TOH ID under CFTE...conditions to the S are good tonight.

-crainbebo

 

[cyberdad]

I'm now in So-Cal. Thousand Oaks tonight (about 40 miles northwest of downtown L.A)

First some unfinished biz from Napa. I had neglected to mention that KTNQ was a regular every night up there. Weak, but alone on 1020. Also KFI was a nightly visitor (as opposed to occasional). Signal was weaker than KNX, but generally still pretty good.

Now some preliminary nighttime observations from 400 miles down the coast...

580: KMJ was strong day/night in Napa valley...not all that different here!
660: KTNN is very good here tonight
690: Tijuana strong. CBU absent
720: I was hearing something english under KDWN (WGN?)
740: KCBS has a better signal here than in Napa!
810: KGO is another SF monster
850: KOA good here....pretty much absent up north
880: KRVN on top. No KIXI. Religious station (from Gonzales, CA presumably) beneath
1000: KOMO very weak
1040: WHO very weak
1110: KFAB weak, but on top of the semi-local Disney station. No KBND
1120: KPNW weak
1130: CKWX good....better than anything else from Pacific Northwest. Go figure.
1530: KFBK like it was coming from across the street.
1700: XEPN Good day and night. Wow!

 

[radioman148]

I'm now in So-Cal. Thousand Oaks tonight (about 40 miles northwest of downtown L.A)

First some unfinished biz from Napa. I had neglected to mention that KTNQ was a regular every night up there. Weak, but alone on 1020. Also KFI was a nightly visitor (as opposed to occasional). Signal was weaker than KNX, but generally still pretty good.

Now some preliminary nighttime observations from 400 miles down the coast...

580: KMJ was strong day/night in Napa valley...not all that different here!
660: KTNN is very good here tonight
690: Tijuana strong. CBU absent
720: I was hearing something english under KDWN (WGN?)
740: KCBS has a better signal here than in Napa!
810: KGO is another SF monster
850: KOA good here....pretty much absent up north
880: KRVN on top. No KIXI. Religious station (from Gonzales, CA presumably) beneath
1000: KOMO very weak
1040: WHO very weak
1110: KFAB weak, but on top of the semi-local Disney station. No KBND
1120: KPNW weak
1130: CKWX good....better than anything else from Pacific Northwest. Go figure.
1530: KFBK like it was coming from across the street.
1700: XEPN Good day and night. Wow!

I've always found KCBS and especially KGO to be monsters in Southern Cal at night. In fact one time in the late 70s I heard them both during the day around 1PM near the ocean at Laguna Beach. This was in February. KFBK is also a gangbuster.

Thanks for the reports Cyberdad.

 

[cyberdad]

Not much to update today from Laguna area.  Hotel is on a great location across the road from beach/marina, but the structure blocks much of the incoming signals.  Also the location/setup favors San Diego/Tijuana over L.A.

For whatever reason, however, KNX is every bit as strong as the biggest San Diego sticks (KFI is closer, but significantly weaker).  As for skywaves, KSL was the strongest last night. KTNN, KNBR, KDWN, KCBS, KGO, and KFBK also breaking through.  No surprises in that group.

Next two nights in the desert. We'll see what turns up there.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

The night reports are interesting. I'm also wondering though... what is being heard at midday, especially the smaller stations that hug the coast / come in over saltwater? In Thousand Oaks, for example, did you hear 1040 KURS and/or 1240 KNSN from San Diego? Also how are the big sticks during the day? BTW I suspect KNX is stronger than KFI because of a saltwater path that KFI doesn't have.

 

[tanner]

1100 WWWE Cleveland booming into Orlando tonight around 6:30. Usually totally absent.

 

[tanner]

oops last post should have been new thread.