First Road trip of the year

[crainbebo]

Tanner, it's now WTAM.

-crainbebo

 

[radioman148]

Tanner, it's now WTAM.

-crainbebo

When I first heard it in the early 60s it was KYW ;D

 

[KR4BD]

Tanner, it's now WTAM.

-crainbebo

When I first heard it in the early 60s it was KYW ;D

By the mid-60's, it was WKYC for many years until WWWE came along... More recently it reclaimed WTAM which it had used prior to the KYW days...

 

[Icangelp]

1100/WKYC, was for a short time (as were so many other stations), the home of Jackson W. Armstrong 8), AKA 'Big Jack Your Leader'.

 

[radioman148]

I think it was in 1965 that KYW moved to Philadelphia replacing WRCV and 1100 in Cleveland became WKYC.
Originally waaaay back KYW started in Chicago before it started moving east.

 

[cyberdad]

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.

I was thinking the same thing about KNX and KFI.  In Thousand Oaks, I was hearing a reasonably good daytime signal on 1240... presumably KNSN.  Don't recall anything on 1040 there, but the 1030 from Tijuana was doing fairly well.  in fact, at Laguna 1030 was splattering over KTNQ.

Here in the desert last night, several stations that had been absent or very weak turned up. KBOI and KALL among the most prominent.  Farther east, KOMA, KRVN, and KOA were all good. KSL was monster. To the south, XEX was good, XEW fair.

The big surprise came from the north. CBK strong and all over XEWA and/or the Tijuana 540....here 70 miles east of LA! KOMO was weak and CKWX absent last night, but both were strong at dawn today (possibly on day patterns).

Finally, I tried 930 for WKY. No luck. KHJ doesn't exactly have a good signal out here, but it's still pretty much alone on the channel.  BTW, of the L.A. signals here, KFI and KLAA are the best. 710, 870, 980, 1110 all largely missing at night.  Others are basically fair....790 and 570 probably the best of this group.

 

[Icangelp]

....
Finally, I tried 930 for WKY. No luck. KHJ doesn't exactly have a good signal out here, but it's still pretty much alone on the channel. BTW, of the L.A. signals here, KFI and KLAA are the best. 710, 870, 980, 1110 all largely missing at night. Others are basically fair....790 and 570 probably the best of this group.

What about KNX at night?

I always wondered why way back when coverage was a thing to be boast about, KFI never went directional, like WBZ and WWL back east.

 

[radioman148]

....
Finally, I tried 930 for WKY. No luck. KHJ doesn't exactly have a good signal out here, but it's still pretty much alone on the channel. BTW, of the L.A. signals here, KFI and KLAA are the best. 710, 870, 980, 1110 all largely missing at night. Others are basically fair....790 and 570 probably the best of this group.

What about KNX at night?

I always wondered why way back when coverage was a thing to be boast about, KFI never went directional, like WBZ and WWL back east.

I've thought about that too. I have no idea what the reasons really are, but I'll speculate:

1--They never thought about it
2--Expense--cheaper to put up one tower instead of a directional array
3--No place close enough to the ocean to locate their towers
4--Being directional may have hurt their signal in some primary coverage areas due to the mountains & canyons
5--Didn't want to lose that valuable Catalina Island audience ;D

 

[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.

I was thinking the same thing about KNX and KFI. In Thousand Oaks, I was hearing a reasonably good daytime signal on 1240... presumably KNSN. Don't recall anything on 1040 there, but the 1030 from Tijuana was doing fairly well. in fact, at Laguna 1030 was splattering over KTNQ.

Interesting.. I wonder why 104 didn't get up there.... They share the same stick with 1240 right by the I-5 & CA-15 (it's I-15 N of I-8) interchange, and is 360 watts (61 nighttime) to 1240's 550. Both are fairly reliable 24/7 signals here 11.2 mi E/NE of their stick, with 1240 being several dB stronger daytime and a dozen or so dB stronger (due to 1040's sunset drop) nighttime.
Not surprised about 1030. They run non-directional as far as I know, unless their engineer has figured out how to directionalize with only 1 tower hosting 2 stations (they also have 620 XESS).

Here in the desert last night, several stations that had been absent or very weak turned up. KBOI and KALL among the most prominent. Farther east, KOMA, KRVN, and KOA were all good. KSL was monster. To the south, XEX was good, XEW fair.

KBOI is absent here thanks to KIRN Simi Valley. (They used to be a regular before they changed their night pattern. I suppose I may be able to get them around grayline time on day pattern though.) KALL is a nighttime regular, and can occasionally be heard during the day next to Tijuana's 690.
Sounds like you got some nice FM skip to get OK City's 92.5 FM there!
As for AM 1520, KOKC is probably my most distant reliable signal to the east. Recently I've been getting KSTP quite a bit as well. KRVN has a lot of co-channel QRM, but KOA is fairly good. KSL is also good but competes with adjacent local 1170 KCBQ, as well as 1160 XEQIN around sunrise/sunset (which can be heard in the daytime if KCBQ is off). I've never identified XEX due to an Ensenada signal, XEEBC. XEW is heard here in 910 KECR's null.

The big surprise came from the north. CBK strong and all over XEWA and/or the Tijuana 540....here 70 miles east of LA! KOMO was weak and CKWX absent last night, but both were strong at dawn today (possibly on day patterns).

Wow! I doubt I have any chance at CBK though due to my proximity to the Tijuana 540 (which has one of the longest callsigns I'm aware of for a station that doesn't have numbers in its call - "XESURF" although there are a few other Mexicans with 6-letter calls). KOMO can often be heard mixing with KCEO Vista at night, and CKWX is impossible thanks to my local 1130 unless it's off (I heard them a few weeks ago).

Finally, I tried 930 for WKY. No luck. KHJ doesn't exactly have a good signal out here, but it's still pretty much alone on the channel. BTW, of the L.A. signals here, KFI and KLAA are the best. 710, 870, 980, 1110 all largely missing at night. Others are basically fair....790 and 570 probably the best of this group.

KLAA is probably good there because their sticks are in the area bounded by I-15, CA-60, CA-71 and CA-91.
All of those are regulars here in El Cajon where I live (actually a mile or two south of town). They can also be heard during the day, with 870, 980 & 1110 being the toughest (870 for weakness & adjacent semi-local 860, 980 for its weak signal, 1110 for proximity to local 10kW 1130 whose sticks are in Santee). Daytime here KNX & KBRT fight for dominance, followed by KFI, KLAA, a near tie between 570 & 710, then 790 of the above stations.
KFAB does sometimes compete with KDIS, also I've heard WWL on 870 a few times and WCCO 830 at least once. The other stations' competitors are mostly Spanish/Mexican (yes, that includes KFI). Daytime with a good radio, XESU Mexicali can be heard under 790 KABC.
Chances are at some time of the day or night, I've heard almost every single L.A. signal here.

As for the 50kW LA's going directional, it was before my time but apparently KNX tried it for a while and gave up on it. They still have the 2nd tower which I understand is now a backup. Maybe DavidEduardo knows more about this?

 

[jd]

As for the 50kW LA's going directional, it was before my time but apparently KNX tried it for a while and gave up on it. They still have the 2nd tower which I understand is now a backup.

I vaguely recalled hearing something about that, and in checking the KNX Facebook page I found that they display an article from Wikipedia. It reads, in part: "An experiment in the 1960s which utilized these antennae in a directional setup during the daytime, only, was abandoned and the emergency antenna was later relocated when much of the site was dedicated as a park. The residential area to the immediate south of the main antenna was formerly the site of the emergency antenna."

 

[cyberdad]

I'll try to take 'em one at a time.

First, KNX.  The area where I was is basically in a nighttime convergence zone.  The day signal is pretty good.  Night signal is definitely listenable, but fades from time to time.   KFI and KLAA do better.

KIRN:  Was city grade in Thousand Oaks.  But pretty much absent in the high desert (and for that matter in Nor-Cal.

CBK:  I still can't believe how steady it was.  The 540 in Tijuana has a rather puny signal...unlike when it was simulcasting 1260 from the valley.

870:  I think I was hearing WWL (it wouldn't be the first time), but I couldn't ID it.

1520:  KOKC....my bad.  But still KOMA in my brain.  Actually, the 1520 in Ventura/Oxnard was doing pretty well in Nor-Cal, but absent at night in Thousand Oaks as well as in the high desert.

1500:  I was trying for KSTP all week....without success.

1040:  I was pretty surprised to not hear it in Thousand Oaks.  And equally surprised to hear it getting beat up in Laguna Beach.  The Tijuana 1030 was kicking sand...at least on KTNQ  ;D.

CKWX:  It was fairly regular all week regardless of where I was.  The San Diego 1130 was weak in So-Cal daytime.  A non-factor at night.  1170 was better. (I miss what KCBQ used to be)

790:  Yes, I've heard the Mexican 790 under KABC before, but not this time.  I was actually a little surprised at how well KABC was getting out.  I heard them also in Nor-Cal.

Tonight I'm in Albuquerque.  As always I'll post anything of note.

Also a heads-up.  Next road trip isn't definite yet for late February, but about 90% likely.  It will be Carolinas, Florida, and a few days on a (docked) yacht in Key West.  Assuming it comes off, I can't wait to hear what turns up there!  I'm guessing the boat will be fairly noise-free. Stay tuned!

 

[radioman148]

Be curious to know whether you can get anything from Chicago in Albuquerque.

 

[cyberdad]

Be curious to know whether you can get anything from Chicago in Albuquerque.

Hotel structure blocked everything. I made a quick try this morning in the car before sunrise, but nothing from Chicago. Once again, KSL was the "stud".