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How far did/does 77 WABC go?

B

BMR

I've become a bit obsessed with this 60s/70s powerhouse of pop. How far did its signal go? The official coverage map is here

http://www.musicradio77.com/map.html

But I suspect it went a bit further than that. Did it make Albany? Boston? Washington or even further south?

Fascinating stuff, and so very different to British radio of the period (pirate stations excepted)
 
BMR said:
I've become a bit obsessed with this 60s/70s powerhouse of pop. How far did its signal go? The official coverage map is here

http://www.musicradio77.com/map.html

But I suspect it went a bit further than that. Did it make Albany? Boston? Washington or even further south?

Fascinating stuff, and so very different to British radio of the period (pirate stations excepted)
Click to expand...

I would say if you draw a 700 mile circle around WABC's Lodi, NJ transmitter site, that would about be the night coverage give or take.

Like most AMs, I am sure that they got out better years ago when there was less interference on 770, there was less electrical interference and the radios were better.
 
Their signal was reasonably listenable even at the edges of the contour on that coverage map. As you guessed, they could be heard far beyond that range during the day, naturally with diminished strength. The station could certainly be heard in the Boston and Washington metro areas. And they boasted of being heard in over 40 states at night. I remember turning on my cheap little transistor radio while traveling with my family and hearing WABC in South Carolina at night with no problem.
 
HHH said:
Like most AMs, I am sure that they got out better years ago when there was less interference on 770, there was less electrical interference and the radios were better.
Click to expand...

And when the AM bands were clearer of course. There is talk in the UK of a final 'golden age' of DX as many local AM stations get switched off. But in most cities and even towns and villages, the electrical noise looks sure to kill it.

Some winters when the transatlantic path was in darkness 77 was heard in the UK at night, although only occasionally and obviously only very weakly
 
I lived in Miami, Fla. in the mid-1960s and listened to WABC clearly on most winter nights. It was also an easy catch on trips to Boston, and Washington DC. And surprisingly listenable in Montreal and Toronto, Canada at night.

But, since many similar AM stations as far away as Chicago, Iowa, Minneapolis, Cleveland and New Orleans were also easily heard in the NYC and Jersey suburbs, not far from the WABC Lodi transmitter, one can probably assume that omni-directional WABC's skywaves were reflected in the other direction to those places.

During the day, WABC was very listenable to the west in places like Allentown, PA, and Philadelphia, where it showed up in the local ratings. And to the north, you could also hear it in the electrically quiet Adirondack Mountains north of Albany NY.
 
Until you go through the cities in between -in which you can still hear them - the New York blasters can be heard as far south as Petersburg, Virginia during the day. Electrical interference notwithstanding.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
I live in the northern burbs of Atlanta, GA

There are times I can pick up WABC out of NY, as well as WCBS-AM. They both come in at sporadic times, but when they do, they are clearer than some far away Atlanta stations.

I am in the mountains, which adds to the suspense. I would think the signals would be blocked, but I am not an engineer, so maybe this is possible (??)
 
Back around 1970 those Scout camping trips could be rough when sleeping on the ground. An AM radio made some of those nights a little more tolerable. My Sears Walkie-Talkie Base Station had both a CB tuner and an AM tuner in it, and introduced me to lots of interesting stuff in the tent, and fortunately my camping buddy liked radio too so he didn't get annoyed at the late-night sounds.

On those trips, I heard stations from all over...dulcet-voiced announcers from WCCO in Minneapolis...Herb Jepko (don't know if it was on Mutual or direct from KSL...no light in the dial, the Dolly Holiday Show with music 'til Dawn from WBT, Country music on WSM and WWL, and of course Charlie Greer advertising Dennison's Clothiers on WABC (and spinning a record or two).

Two things on overnight radio struck me as odd: 1) Canadian stations didn't stay on overnight, and you would hear their fine National Anthem kick up about 2 in the morning as they turned it in. 2) All of those long-distance stations would somehow fade into oblivion right after the 5:55 (or for some, 6:00am) news, but about 10 minutes later you would hear the US National Anthem hit the airwaves as daytimers would sign on.

It would only be about four years after that 'til the radio bug hit and I contributed to the mayhem and discord that happens when a trainee hits the air on the weekend shift on a daytimer. 29 years after that, the infection turned into a TV bug and I'm still at it, managing two low-power TV stations about 100 miles from where I grew up. I haven't made loads of money since those days with the little Sears Radio, but I have had loads of FUN!!

Matt Smith
WGSR-LD Reidsville, NC
WMDV-LD Danville, VA
"The Star News Corporation"
 
Like TimeIsTight, I live today near Miami.

Back when I started DXn as a teen or even earlier, WABC was a nightly presence. I don't know if I caught any other 770 for at least a year. Maybe I heard the former one in Jamaica (West Indies, that is) in 1975 or 1976.

In the mid 80s, another 770 came on in southwest FL. It is known today as WWCN, sports talk. However, their night signal does not go my way.

Now there is another Radio Rebelde outlet from Cuba using 770. It seems like a tug o' war between Rebelde & WABC.

Add the buzz from power lines, crackle from lightning, what have you.....it's a far cry from the 70s.

cd
 
In the 1960's and 70's WABC could be heard in north and central Texas if you could null out co-channel KOB in Albuquerque.

WCBS also made it to Texas in the 60's, but the arrival of KRVN Lexington, Nebraska on 880 at the end of the decade made things more difficult.

Never had any luck pulling in WNBC in Austin in the 60's; a Mexico City station (then XERM) tended to dominate 660. Oddly, WBZ in Boston was an easier catch than any of the NYC 50kw's.

Heard WQXR in Houston a few times in the late 80's and early 90's.

WABC sibling/format partner WLS was a favorite of mine during its Top 40 heyday. All the Chicago 50kw's put good signals into Austin.
 
Seattle was lost to WABC because of KVI. But WCBS and (at the time) WNBC were an easy catch from across the Sound in Bremerton in 1976.

I suspect, WCBS is probably gone because of KRVN.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
cd637299 said:
You mean KXA/KTTH on 770; KVI is 570.

cd
Click to expand...
Yes, I stand corrected. KXA, at the time was 770 blocking WABC.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
I got it quite a few times in San Diego when KOB in Albuquerque was off the air. Also got WCBS, but never WNBC or any other New York stations.
 
HippieGuy said:
I live in the northern burbs of Atlanta, GA

There are times I can pick up WABC out of NY, as well as WCBS-AM. They both come in at sporadic times, but when they do, they are clearer than some far away Atlanta stations.

I am in the mountains, which adds to the suspense. I would think the signals would be blocked, but I am not an engineer, so maybe this is possible (??)
Click to expand...

Most of the daytime AM listening is via the "ground wave". The soil "conducts" the signal. North Georgia has terrible "ground conductivity" and the Atlanta stations' signals suffer during the day going north, barely going 80 or 90 miles north during the day. All of the Atlanta stations except 750 WSB are directional away from the North GA mountains or operate at greatly reduced power at night.

At night the ozone layer (several miles up) comes closer closer to the earth due to atmospheric cooling. Some of AM signal is reflected or refracted off this layer and come back down hundreds of mile away (skywave). During the day the angle is too sharp for most of the "skywave" to be reflected and come back to earth. I would think the mountains being more rural and having fewer electrical sources of interference would be ideal for AM at night. I live north of Jasper GA and at night the car radio's AM scan almost always stops at WSM, 650, 1530 Cincinnati at night. 880 seems to come in better than 770 or 660 from New York at night.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
In the 1960's and 70's WABC could be heard in north and central Texas if you could null out co-channel KOB in Albuquerque.

WCBS also made it to Texas in the 60's, but the arrival of KRVN Lexington, Nebraska on 880 at the end of the decade made things more difficult.

Never had any luck pulling in WNBC in Austin in the 60's; a Mexico City station (then XERM) tended to dominate 660. Oddly, WBZ in Boston was an easier catch than any of the NYC 50kw's.

Heard WQXR in Houston a few times in the late 80's and early 90's.

WABC sibling/format partner WLS was a favorite of mine during its Top 40 heyday. All the Chicago 50kw's put good signals into Austin.
Click to expand...

My experience was similar to Mediafrog+ in Texas listening. When I was listening in the 60's from Wichita, Kansas. If I could null out KOB Albuquerque I could occasionally receive WABC.

Now with the band hammered with drop-ins, and noise I was lucky to hear 1020 KDKA Pittsburgh the other night while doing a little "dashboard DXing" from the car at my location North of Dallas TX...

WABC was the only NYC AM station I ever caught back in the 60's from my old location in the flat grassland pararies of Kansas.
 
An often cited line from Dan Ingram: "Well, the ratings are in and WABC is only seventh...in Pittsburgh." And we did listen in Western PA from dusk til dawn.
 
I've heard it solidly (during the daytime) driving from NJ down Rt. 13 in DelMarVa and over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Getting into VA it gets overwhelmed with noise.
 
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