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Has Any A.M. Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

Perhaps WLW in the 1930s when it was known as "The Nation's Station".

WLW received "special authority" for six years to operate with 500,000 watts.

Ultimately, in March 1939, the FCC ordered WLW to return to 50,000 watts ending the experiment.

Check Google for information about WLW's history.
 
> Perhaps WLW in the 1930s when it was known as "The Nation's
> Station".
>
> WLW received "special authority" for six years to operate
> with 500,000 watts.
>
> Ultimately, in March 1939, the FCC ordered WLW to return to
> 50,000 watts ending the experiment.
>
> Check Google for information about WLW's history.
>

I would assume that back in the day you could get WHO in all 48 states. I've also heard an aircheck of WBZ in Boston recieving calls from Florida and Seattle. And this was in 1973.
 
In the 40's, Broadcasting Magazine was filled with station ads showing mail pull in every state. Stations like WSM, WLS, WBAP and others bragged about listeners in every state, and many regional stations were frequently DXed in every state when there were still thousands of DXers active. On the other side, many DXers, thfrough the 60's, logged all states... I had all 50 from Ohio between '59 and '63.
>
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

> I would assume that back in the day you could get WHO in all
> 48 states. I've also heard an aircheck of WBZ in Boston
> recieving calls from Florida and Seattle. And this was in
> 1973.
>

A few years back, WBZ-AM 1030 of Boston had a early morning talk show with the late Norm Nathan. A line in the show's opening theme song had the singer boast that they were heard in 38 states.
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

> > I would assume that back in the day you could get WHO in
> all
> > 48 states. I've also heard an aircheck of WBZ in Boston
> > recieving calls from Florida and Seattle. And this was in
> > 1973.
> >
>
> A few years back, WBZ-AM 1030 of Boston had a early morning
> talk show with the late Norm Nathan. A line in the show's
> opening theme song had the singer boast that they were heard
> in 38 states.

A lot of 50kW stations have boasted their "38 states" coverage. I'm sure that among everyone on this board, we could list them all in a short amount of time. In fact, I know that's come up here before.

Post 930 dedicated to WBCK, Battle Creek, which I can just barely make out in the noise every once in a while.<P ID="signature">______________
"Get educated. Read stuff on the web and believe all of it."
-- Phil Hendrie
http://theradioblog.blogspot.com</P>
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

> > > I would assume that back in the day you could get WHO in
>
> > all
> > > 48 states. I've also heard an aircheck of WBZ in Boston
> > > recieving calls from Florida and Seattle. And this was
> in
> > > 1973.
> > >
> >
> > A few years back, WBZ-AM 1030 of Boston had a early
> morning
> > talk show with the late Norm Nathan. A line in the show's
> > opening theme song had the singer boast that they were
> heard
> > in 38 states.
>
> A lot of 50kW stations have boasted their "38 states"
> coverage. I'm sure that among everyone on this board, we
> could list them all in a short amount of time. In fact, I
> know that's come up here before.
>
> Post 930 dedicated to WBCK, Battle Creek, which I can just
> barely make out in the noise every once in a while.
>

I've heard WWL claim 40 states quite a bit, I'm also curious how AM sounds in Hawaii, if it's noisy like everywhere else or not<P ID="signature">______________


<div align="center"><a href="http://wrcf.tk">
wolf_logo3a.png
</P></span></P></span>
http://dingo100.tk
http://wrcf.tk</P>
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

Through the 60s, I wouldn't doubt that WLW, WHO, WLS, WGN and several others made it into all 48 (maybe even 50). Since the noise floor increased, the clears were broken up, and Latin American interference increased, its doubtful any station has been recieved in all 48.<P ID="signature">______________
Greetings from Ohio-where the governor wants everyone to know he's sorry.</P>
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

>
> I've heard WWL claim 40 states quite a bit, I'm also curious
> how AM sounds in Hawaii, if it's noisy like everywhere else
> or not
>

Honolulu and most of Oahu have high noise levels, like other big cities. The stations have poor transmitter sites, on areas with not too good conductivity and nearly every station is diplexed or triplexed. Still, since they have fairly good power and are non-directional, they do not do badly where there is not noise.
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

740 KTRH Houston to have some damn good range to the south & south west @ 50k watts 10 to 15 years or more they use to get some range but not any more. I remember back like 10 years ago I was in midlad Tx about 400 miles away from Houston I got 740 KTRH with a little static & night. I have heard report of people down in south america gettin 740 KTRH that like 1500 to 2000 miles away so I am guessing like many states have been able to pick 740 ktrh.<P ID="signature">______________
Radio Pirates Forum http://www.phpbbforfree.com/forums/index.php?mforum=radiopirates Phat Beats Radio http://209.82.178.23:9000/listen.pls 128kbps http://209.82.178.23:9100/listen.pls 56kbps</P>
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

> 740 KTRH Houston to have some damn good range to the south &
> south west @ 50k watts 10 to 15 years or more they use to
> get some range but not any more. I remember back like 10
> years ago I was in midlad Tx about 400 miles away from
> Houston I got 740 KTRH with a little static & night. I have
> heard report of people down in south america gettin 740 KTRH
> that like 1500 to 2000 miles away so I am guessing like many
> states have been able to pick 740 ktrh.

My guess is you can get KTRH in only six or seven states at night - Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and New Mexico - and only south of a certain line at that. To suppress skywave towards Canada (where 740 is a clear channel) and interference with co-channels in Tulsa and Texarkana among other places, KTRH's pattern is dramatically skewered south. You can hear KTRH like a regular 50K in the southern half of Texas and right along the Gulf Coast from probably Tallahassee westward but few other places.
I imagine it blasts into Mexico and South America as well at night.
 
I heard WHO in Redlands, CA, a few months ago. I think every other state in the 48 is as close or closer to Iowa than California.

What other stations have been heard in the lower 48 within the past, say, 5 years? Oh, and the two TIS's at DFW airport in the expanded band before the channels had other stations sign on do NOT count. :)
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

> My guess is you can get KTRH in only six or seven states at
> night - Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and
> New Mexico - and only south of a certain line at that.

KTRH's night signal makes it into Louisiana quite well, but
it's a reach to say they're all that listenable all the way into
Florida. Likewise New Mexico gets very little signal since the
main lobe runs southwest from their site, which is northeast of
Houston. The station is Carlsbad NM, BTW, is a full-timer.

> To suppress skywave towards Canada (where 740 is a clear
> channel) and interference with co-channels in Tulsa and
> Texarkana among other places, KTRH's pattern is dramatically
> skewered south.

Every U.S. station on 740 protects Canadian stations at night.
KRMG Tulsa runs basically east-west, and KCMC Texarkana has a
very tight east-west pattern with their 1000 watts. So far as
affording protection to Texarkana, both KTRH and KRMG were on
740 long before KCMC changed frequency around 40 years ago. They
just found a gap between the bigger stations and took advantage,
switching from their previous "graveyard" channel, 1230.
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

> > My guess is you can get KTRH in only six or seven states
> at
> > night - Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida
> and
> > New Mexico - and only south of a certain line at that.
>
> KTRH's night signal makes it into Louisiana quite well, but
>
> it's a reach to say they're all that listenable all the way
> into
> Florida. Likewise New Mexico gets very little signal since
> the
> main lobe runs southwest from their site, which is northeast
> of
> Houston. The station is Carlsbad NM, BTW, is a full-timer.
>
> > To suppress skywave towards Canada (where 740 is a clear
> > channel) and interference with co-channels in Tulsa and
> > Texarkana among other places, KTRH's pattern is
> dramatically
> > skewered south.
>
> Every U.S. station on 740 protects Canadian stations at
> night.
> KRMG Tulsa runs basically east-west, and KCMC Texarkana has
> a
> very tight east-west pattern with their 1000 watts. So far
> as
> affording protection to Texarkana, both KTRH and KRMG were
> on
> 740 long before KCMC changed frequency around 40 years ago.
> They
> just found a gap between the bigger stations and took
> advantage,
> switching from their previous "graveyard" channel, 1230.

Did not know those things about Texarkana.
As far as my guess at the nighttime listening range, I was going by both my personal experience and accounts from this board. I probably should have said KTRH is listenable in the panhandle of Florida, which it is in places. I've also read where it's been heard in New Mexico, hence that estimation.
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

> Honolulu and most of Oahu have high noise levels, like other
> big cities. The stations have poor transmitter sites, on
> areas with not too good conductivity and nearly every
> station is diplexed or triplexed. Still, since they have
> fairly good power and are non-directional, they do not do
> badly where there is not noise.

Outer islands are a different story, however. You can regularly and reliably hear the west coast clear channels on Maui. The lack of local stations on most channels, since Hawaii is a rather small market, helps out too. It's well over 2000 miles to the mainland, yet you can hear KFI, KNBR, and KNX easily.

I tried getting these stations from Illinois, but I could not pick anything out over the noise. Why not? It's closer to California than Hawaii. It was a very rural area (freeway through farm land), so noise leaking from appliances and such was not an issue. Sure there's some co-channel interference, but I know what the voices on those stations sound like, so even if it was one of 3 stations I was receiving I would have been able to tell without hearing the calls. Does the signal make multiple skips before reaching the Islands, and does having water instead of land at the surface for it to skip off of make that much of a difference?
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

> > > My guess is you can get KTRH in only six or seven states
>
> > at
> > > night - Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida
> > and
> > > New Mexico - and only south of a certain line at that.
> >
> > KTRH's night signal makes it into Louisiana quite well,
> but
> >
> > it's a reach to say they're all that listenable all the
> way
> > into
> > Florida. Likewise New Mexico gets very little signal since
>
> > the
> > main lobe runs southwest from their site, which is
> northeast
> > of
> > Houston. The station is Carlsbad NM, BTW, is a full-timer.
>
> >
> > > To suppress skywave towards Canada (where 740 is a clear
>
> > > channel) and interference with co-channels in Tulsa and
> > > Texarkana among other places, KTRH's pattern is
> > dramatically
> > > skewered south.
> >
> > Every U.S. station on 740 protects Canadian stations at
> > night.
> > KRMG Tulsa runs basically east-west, and KCMC Texarkana
> has
> > a
> > very tight east-west pattern with their 1000 watts. So
> far
> > as
> > affording protection to Texarkana, both KTRH and KRMG were
>
> > on
> > 740 long before KCMC changed frequency around 40 years
> ago.
> > They
> > just found a gap between the bigger stations and took
> > advantage,
> > switching from their previous "graveyard" channel, 1230.
>
> Did not know those things about Texarkana.
> As far as my guess at the nighttime listening range, I was
> going by both my personal experience and accounts from this
> board. I probably should have said KTRH is listenable in the
> panhandle of Florida, which it is in places. I've also read
> where it's been heard in New Mexico, hence that estimation.
>
Here in California, 740 is ownwed by the blowtorch KCBS from SF. I've never heard anything else on 740 in most west coast states (including Washington)other than KCBS.

The only station I can think of that I've heard in much of the country is KRVN (880, Nebraska), but that station is stepped on by WCBS (NY) in the New England area. I've heard KRVN in California, Washington and Texas though I can't say I had stellar reception.

I guess the main question is this: Is there a 50KW station anywhere in the lower 48 that has no other 50KW competition on its respective frequency?

<P ID="signature">______________
Woody in the East Bay</P>
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

WLW is the only 50kW on 700 and probably is the clearest of the clears. <P ID="signature">______________
Greetings from Ohio-where the governor wants everyone to know he's sorry.</P>
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

> I guess the main question is this: Is there a 50KW station
> anywhere in the lower 48 that has no other 50KW competition
> on its respective frequency?

How about WBZ Boston 1030 AM???<P ID="signature">______________
It's not the size of the tower.....
It's how you use it.</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Paul Van The Oldies Man on 09/20/05 08:48 AM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

> WLW is the only 50kW on 700 and probably is the clearest of
> the clears.

Perhaps WBAP 820 or WOAI 1200. They used to be pretty clear, but both may have a tougn time in New England or the far Northwest.
 
Re: Has Any AM Station Been Heard In All The Lower 48?

> Perhaps WBAP-AM 820 (Dallas)or WOAI-AM 1200 (San Antonio). They used to be pretty
> clear, but both may have a tough time in New England or the
> far Northwest.
>

I've only picked up WOAI-AM 1200 once here in New Britain, CT (southwest of Hartford). As for WBAP-AM, that won't happen here. You've got WNYC-AM 820 of New York City to deal with. There's also adjacent interference from WGY-AM 810 of Schenectady, NY.

My question: How far out does WTIC-AM 1080 of Hartford, CT get? They're nulled to the southwest to protect the night signal of KRLD-AM 1080 of Dallas.
 
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