Gatlinburg,TN or attn K-Mart shoppers and Radioman 148

[drt]

This year my reunion will be in Gatlinburg,TN; last year it was in Albany and it was so good NOT to hear Cuban stations day and night. (in fact the only Cuban I heard was the one jamming radio Marti at 1180 AM).

At any rate in Gatlinburg, I'm sure I will hear the Cubans at night, just not as loudly as here in St. Pete.

I won't have much time to dx, but I will sure try for all the Chicago stations (720, 780, 890, and 1000); here I can only receive WBBM 780 most of the time; WLS 890 is completely over run by the Cuban station on 890 and last year in Albany there was a local 900 AM, whose tower was less than 3 miles away, and in the same direcstion as Chicago, so 890 was mostly splatter last year.

I will try for KOA and also even though I will be in the nulls of both WBT and KFAB, I will see if it's even possible to hear KFAB 1110 under WBT or under the Spanish station on 1110.

Any other suggestions or possibilities?

I may be lucky to have an hour to dx on some evenings and I won't have the loop with me, but will have the Grundig 750 Satelite as well as the Sangean PR-D5.

Had to cut back on the number of shirts I was taking and cutting back on the other things to fit the bulky Grundig, but it's selectivity is better than the Sangean on the FM band plus it has shortwave.

drt
st. pete today
greater metro Gatlinburg (population 3,600) tomorrow!

 

[gar hi]

How about KSL 1160?

Unless there's a strong station near by on the same frequency or splatter from a local, that should be interesting.

Also, I wonder what's heard on 610 and if you can get WIOD Miami or possibly WIP from Philadelphia.

And see if you can still get KVNS on 1700. It may at least be in the background of the much closer Alabama station.

 

[radioman148]

This year my reunion will be in Gatlinburg,TN; last year it was in Albany and it was so good NOT to hear Cuban stations day and night. (in fact the only Cuban I heard was the one jamming radio Marti at 1180 AM).

At any rate in Gatlinburg, I'm sure I will hear the Cubans at night, just not as loudly as here in St. Pete.

I won't have much time to dx, but I will sure try for all the Chicago stations (720, 780, 890, and 1000); here I can only receive WBBM 780 most of the time; WLS 890 is completely over run by the Cuban station on 890 and last year in Albany there was a local 900 AM, whose tower was less than 3 miles away, and in the same direcstion as Chicago, so 890 was mostly splatter last year.

I will try for KOA and also even though I will be in the nulls of both WBT and KFAB, I will see if it's even possible to hear KFAB 1110 under WBT or under the Spanish station on 1110.

Any other suggestions or possibilities?

I may be lucky to have an hour to dx on some evenings and I won't have the loop with me, but will have the Grundig 750 Satelite as well as the Sangean PR-D5.

Had to cut back on the number of shirts I was taking and cutting back on the other things to fit the bulky Grundig, but it's selectivity is better than the Sangean on the FM band plus it has shortwave.

drt
st. pete today
greater metro Gatlinburg (population 3,600) tomorrow!

Hey DRT, thanks for the shout out. I'm sure you'll get all the Chicago 50KWs in Gatlinburg. You might even hear WYLL on 1160 while you're trying for KSL--a real possibility there.
I'll be looking forward to your reports.

 

[cd637299]

WYLL would have to be "got" prior to Chicago sunset, no? They are super directional to the north at night.

cd

 

[radioman148]

WYLL would have to be "got" prior to Chicago sunset, no? They are super directional to the north at night.

cd

They are directional to the north, but have been heard by many on the east coast. Tennessee is possible although the signal would probably be weak.

 

[w9wi]

WYLL would have to be "got" prior to Chicago sunset, no? They are super directional to the north at night.

WYLL is usually the dominant signal on 1160 at night here, about 200 miles west of Gatlinburg.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

WYLL (as WJJD) had applied for fulltime facilities years before they allowed the clear channels to be duplicated. As I recall, in dismissing their applications, the FCC allowed them first priority on 1160 if the clear channels ever were duplicated. As a result, WJJD was allowed ~5 kW night from Des Plaines with a four tower parallelogram arrangement which protected KSL and a Canadian allotment to the north. They were directed SE. When other stations were allowed on 1160, they already interfered with them. When they applied for 50 kW from the Lockport/Joliet location, they were only required to reduce interference 10% toward stations which they interefered with most, called the "ratchet clause". While the ratchet clause appeared to be in the interest of reducing interference, what it really allowed is a lot of interference from stations that already had a lot of power and less restrictive patterns. The "unconventional" dogleg arrays that have been being built allow the maximum permissible radiation in most directions. This is why the historic former Regional 5 kW III-A stations have benefitted most from allowing up to 50 kW on Regional Channels. Though on a clear channel, Class B WYLL already interferered with many stations, and only had to cut that interference by 10%. That is why you can still hear WYLL to the southeast when most power is to the north.

 

[K4WRF]

WJJD 1160 was indeed a unique situation. They signed off local sunset time Salt lake and were 50kW up until that time. I think as a result of being granted 5kW night, they had to eventually forfeit that privilege but they fought to retain it. Up until then, they always had an excellent signal down here right up to sign-off. I see where they have application on file to operate day-time at the night site. I am about 45 miles south of W9WI and all I get is WYLL after sunset. During critical hours, you can hear them fighting it our with the local 1160 WCRT until they switch to night pattern. Over in East Tennessee that might not be the case, I think I was getting a mix of WKCM in Hawesville Ky and what was WDJO (whatever it is now) in Florence Ky, but its been several years ago. FWIW, in the 35 years I have lived in this area (middle Tennessee), I have only once received KSL and that was about a year ago.

Best regards,

w/

 

[radioman148]

I had a feeling that WYLL could be heard down there. Especially since so many people reported hearing them in the east even with the current directional pattern.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

WJJD 1160 was indeed a unique situation. They signed off local sunset time Salt lake and were 50kW up until that time. I think as a result of being granted 5kW night, they had to eventually forfeit that privilege but they fought to retain it. Up until then, they always had an excellent signal down here right up to sign-off. I see where they have application on file to operate day-time at the night site. I am about 45 miles south of W9WI and all I get is WYLL after sunset. During critical hours, you can hear them fighting it our with the local 1160 WCRT until they switch to night pattern. Over in East Tennessee that might not be the case, I think I was getting a mix of WKCM in Hawesville Ky and what was WDJO (whatever it is now) in Florence Ky, but its been several years ago. FWIW, in the 35 years I have lived in this area (middle Tennessee), I have only once received KSL and that was about a year ago.

Best regards,

w/

I looked at AM Query, and WYLL has an auxiliary for 15 kW daytime from the night site, and had an STA for 50 kW daytime from the night site. I'm not sure it would be such a good idea to leave the day site, as it puts a much better signal over the north part of Chicago Metro, and much of the City of Chicago.

 

[drt]

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions, especially about 1160 AM, probably won't be doing an radio listening tonight, it's now 4PM EDT and I was expecting to be in Gatlinburg by 4, for a 5pm Welcome Dinner, but I'm now flying standby and am in Jacksonville FL/GA.

Don't know if I will have time to dx from the airport, right now had to grab a bite to eat, because of air turbulance, the usual SW Airline snacks and drinks weren't served........... sort of goes with how the rest of the day has been going!

drt,
on the way to Gatlinburg.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

Must do....assuming FM interests you....drive south of Gatlinburg to the NC border and then drive up to the Clingman's Dome parking area. You haven't FM DXed until you've parked well north of 6000'. Be sure to move the car a few feet for a whole different set of stations!

 

[KR4BD]

Must do....assuming FM interests you....drive south of Gatlinburg to the NC border and then drive up to the Clingman's Dome parking area. You haven't FM DXed until you've parked well north of 6000'. Be sure to move the car a few feet for a whole different set of stations!

I've done this! I hope you have a selective FM car radio because there are signals on EVERY frequency at Clingmans Dome. It's also a GREAT place for hams to work distant DX on 2 Meters and 70 Centimeters! I've worked stations from my parked car that were 300-400 miles away and I am SURE many have better stories than mine operating from there!

 

[drt]

Travel tip: If you are having trouble printing your boarding pass, don't spend 45 minutes - to an hour trying to fix the problem.......... you might miss you plane as I did yesterday!

That aside my dx'ing schedule, sleep schedule are all out of whack and not too much dx'ing has been done so far.

In Jacksonville, I had a 2.5 hour layover (of course it was only supposed to be 2 hours), so I took my Sangean PR-D5 and put it right against the window in of the secured terminal and basically even with the radio by the window, with all the electrical interference, all I could get was 690 and even that wasn't good.

I arrived in Nashville about dark and by the time airport security had found my lost checked in bag, it was dark, anyway here I what I received in my rental Corolla between Nashville and Gatlinburg..............

1160 was a local Nashville station, but around 30 miles east of Nashville I was picking up bit and pieces of the Chicago 1160; meanwhile all the Chicago 50,000 watters 720, 780, 890 and 1000 were coming in like locals on the drive.

As far as 1110 goes from Nashville to just before Knoxville, 1110 was nothing, not a hint of WBT or KFAB, but around Knoxville and points east a weak WBT was coming in.

Also was picking up 730- WLAP out of Kentucky pretty well (Lexington?), of the NYC stations, 770 wasn't coming in as well as I would have thought and WCBS 880 had some bleed over from WWL 870 but the further east I got that was less of a problem.

As far as FM dx'ing the rate things are going, don't know that I will have time to go to that place in NC; although I have dx'd FM from the parking lot at Mount Mitchell park before.

Radioman 148,
inside my hotel room (I'm on the 5th floor) with my Sangean at or near the window 670, 720, 780, 890 and 1000 are all coming in, 780 seems to be the strongest and 670 and 890 are listenable but don't seem to be as strong.

It is so nice to hear something on the AM band other than Cuba, and there's less Cuban interference here than I thought, even though I could hear Radio Reloj in the background of 570 (among a jumble of other stations).


On 860 here, it's the French CBC and I couldn't even hear Radio Reloj in the background. (back in St. Pete, 860 is a local and I can hear Radio Reloj in the background)

As far as 1160 goes in the Gatlinburg area, it pretty much sounded like a graveyard frequency last night in the car and tonight in the motel room. There was one station that seemed a little dominant, but not strong enough where I could hear enough to i.d. it.

I may not get to any serious dx'ing until Wednesday evening and that's iffy.

drt,
live (sort of) from Glenstone Lodge, Gatlinburg TN

 

[cyberdad]

drt....

Thanks for the great reports. Don't get me started on the massive hassle flying has become. I absolutely hate it. People have asked me if I've considered seeing a hypnotist or shrink, but I always tell them that the part of air travel that involves actually being up in the air isn't what bothers me (unless it's an extreme cattle car).

Safe travels and here's also wishing you more great DX. Keep those reports coming!

 

[drt]

drt....

Thanks for the great reports. Don't get me started on the massive hassle flying has become. I absolutely hate it. People have asked me if I've considered seeing a hypnotist or shrink, but I always tell them that the part of air travel that involves actually being up in the air isn't what bothers me (unless it's an extreme cattle car).

Safe travels and here's also wishing you more great DX. Keep those reports coming!

These reunions don't allow for much free time and when you arrive nearly 10 hours later than you had planned things become more hectic.

I have to agree with the flying situation; the inflight part of it, can be somewhat relaxing, the rest is stressful to the max, at least for me.

The worst part was having to fill out a baggage claim check and then being told that Fed Ex (if and when the bag) was found would deliver the bag in a day or two....... and of course, I was more concerned about whether I would ever see my Grundig Satelite 750, which was in the checked in bag.

 

[radioman148]

drt,

Thanks for the reports on the Chicago stations. Really appreciated!

 

[crainbebo]

I would rather drive through South Dakota listening to distant signals like CBK, KFYR, CKLQ and others rather than flying. All the "pat-downs" and pages of rules didn't start until after 9/11. Forget bringing a radio on a plane now :-[

-crainbebo

 

[gar hi]

drt, it's interesting to hear about your DXing experience from a more northern location different than from where we live.

The Cuban interference here can really be annoying. But I do recall one time back in the early 80s I think it was when I was still living in New Jersey and one night WCBS was actually being slightly dominated by a Cuban station for a couple of minutes. I was 80 miles from New York too.

I would rather drive through South Dakota listening to distant signals like CBK, KFYR, CKLQ and others rather than flying. All the "pat-downs" and pages of rules didn't start until after 9/11. Forget bringing a radio on a plane now :-[

-crainbebo

I hear that. I swore I'd never fly again because of all that stuff but I really wanted my vacation too.
One reason I didn't think of bringing my loop antenna along is because it probably would have looked like some 'suspicious device'
in my suitcase.

I also ended up getting a pat down too because I forgot to remove something in my pants pocket when I was chosen to go in that special scanner where you put your hands in the air.

Since I had to get a pat down, at least it should have been done by some nice looking woman. ;D

 

[Bongwater]

1150 when I was growing up in Puget Sound in the '80s was country KAYO, then nostalgia, later CHR KSPL. Then religious KGNW and New Age later turned business news KEZX (AM). 1150 was (and still IS) a difficult frequency in Puget Sound, because the sheer BLAST of KSL 1160. When KSL tried HD on AM a few years ago, it rendered KKNW (the station now on 1150 kHz in Seattle) absolutely USELESS in the Arbitron rich prized northern Seattle suburbs of Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Edmonds (and I'm very sure a few other less prized areas south and west of the current Eastside Hellevue Bellevue area transmitter of 1150 AM.......)