How far do your local AMs go?

[K4WRF]

Cyberdad,

I stand corrected on that station, it was indeed the Joliet 1510 operation. The local FCC refused to do anything about at the time and the owner told me flat out "it was unfair he had day-time status only." That was back when I was at WLAC long ago and they use to beat the hell out of WLAC in the early morning at my home in Franklin at the time about 25 miles south of the transmitter.

Thanks for the WSM report, I took early retirement from them back in June. I still help out when their contract engineer is out of town.

The Nashville 1160 1kW night directional was not working properly for a long time. In fact, I could hear them in Chicago under WJJD when they were at lower power. The new ownership (Bott) has corrected that problem.

The WNSR 560 covers about half of the city daytime from downtown out to the east, west of I-65 it is really poor. This is due inpart to the very poor array effeciency and the very deep and wide null structure towards WHBQ in Memphis and some degree first adjacent in Paducah, Ky at 570, one of the worst I have ever seen and I have seen quite a few. The bulk of the power goes towards the southeast, Nashville gets part of a minor lobe. The night time class "D" 75 watts is operated non-d on the 760 (WENO) Trevecca University campus tower on the southeast near side of downtown and does remarkably well over Davidson county and beyond. I can hear it all the way down here near Spring Hill at night. 560 is about to loose their day site and is asking for STA there for 500 watts, we'll see what happens. When they are off the air, you can indeed hear WHBQ all the way over here.

Thanks,

w/

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Thanks for the WSM report, I took early retirement from them back in June. I still help out when their contract engineer is out of town.

I received WSM in the daytime in Lubbock, TX, with a 5 foot loop and GE SR-3. This was reliable and repeatable at different times of the year and different times of the day. Like all thousand mile daytime reception, it is subject to deep fades lasting several minutes - I suspect residual atmospherics are somehow at play and it is a skywave - not groundwave phenomenon.

WSM was also a daytime regular in Daytona Beach Shores, FL (a barrier island). I suspect that was a groundwave effect as ground conductivity of salty sand is very high.

 

[cyberdad]

Watt....

Thanks for the update.....and belated congratulations on your retirement. I'm retired from one company myself (but working for another)! ;D

I had forgotten about the station on 760. Relative newcomer with a fairly respectable signal.

 

[icybluelake]

600 WMT -- powerful 5,000 watt station that can be easily heard in Chicago and even points east during the daytime. I've listened to it at least 250 miles away during the day.

1600 KCRG -- 5,000 watts and a definite contrast to WMT's coverage -- probably reaches 60 or 70 miles out of town during the days. However, this is a station that DXers mention hearing far away at night on occasion, although its nighttime signal usually doesn't reliably reach farther than its daytime signal, and probably not as far.

A couple of 1000 watt stations in town, 1360 and 1450, that are probably good for 50 miles out of town. The 1450 signal I have heard as far as 80 miles away on one occasion years ago (faintly).

910 WSUI Iowa City, 5kW -- good coverage in eastern and central Iowa and into western Illinois.

800 KXIC Iowa City, 1kW daytime -- Decent signal that's usually good for up to 80 to 100 miles out of town.

1630 KCJJ Iowa City -- 10kW days, 1kW nights -- an x-bander with predictably unpredictable results. Usually audible up to about 80 miles away during the daytime, but always shows up in unexpected faraway places both day and night.

 

[mimo]

600 WMT -- powerful 5,000 watt station that can be easily heard in Chicago and even points east during the daytime. I've listened to it at least 250 miles away during the day.

1600 KCRG -- 5,000 watts and a definite contrast to WMT's coverage -- probably reaches 60 or 70 miles out of town during the days. However, this is a station that DXers mention hearing far away at night on occasion, although its nighttime signal usually doesn't reliably reach farther than its daytime signal, and probably not as far.

A couple of 1000 watt stations in town, 1360 and 1450, that are probably good for 50 miles out of town. The 1450 signal I have heard as far as 80 miles away on one occasion years ago (faintly).

910 WSUI Iowa City, 5kW -- good coverage in eastern and central Iowa and into western Illinois.

800 KXIC Iowa City, 1kW daytime -- Decent signal that's usually good for up to 80 to 100 miles out of town.

1630 KCJJ Iowa City -- 10kW days, 1kW nights -- an x-bander with predictably unpredictable results. Usually audible up to about 80 miles away during the daytime, but always shows up in unexpected faraway places both day and night.

I know the Cedar Rapids radio dial very well. I lived for a very long time in southeast Iowa, my results are a bit better than what you have listed.

WMT can be heard here in Ottawa on occasion and I've even heard it as far as Pennsylvania.
KCRG can be heard in northeast Missouri in the day and in parts of western Illinois, it's night signal can't be heard much at all in Iowa City.
I heard WSUI in Springfield, Illinois every time I went there.
1360 is directional to the north and west. It comes in in Waterlo0, but not much south of Iowa City. 1450 can be heard 90 miles out.
KXIC makes it about a half hour south of Macomb, Illinois, and KCJJ can be heard almost to Aurora Illinois, much of northern Missouri, up to the Minnesota border. At night it's been heard as far as Italy, although reliably it covers much of north America. It's day signal is go0d on a car radio for 170 miles.

 

[cyberdad]

It's day signal is go0d on a car radio for 170 miles.

Respectfully beg to differ. The x-banders behave a little differently and sometimes skywave is present during the daytime in this part of the spectrum. I live about 160 miles northeast of Iowa City. KCJJ sometimes is present here during the day, but not usually. WMT, of course, is a regular, while WSUI and KXIC are tough....but doable daytime catches. At night, KCJJ is the second most reliable eastern Iowa signal (after KXEL), while WMT usually gets lost in the slop. WSUI and KXIC are absent, but KCRG shows up on a semi-regular basis.

 

[radioman148]

I live about 25 miles north of Chicago and KCJJ is the best night time Iowa City signal here. Sometime I can hear it during the middle of the day, but only rarely and only in winter.
Years ago before 1030AM in Vernon Hills,Il signed on I could hear WHO in Des Moines during the day and that's a 300 mile haul.

 

[icybluelake]

Actually, 1600 is now KGYM, no longer KCRG. Has been for a couple years now. Old habits die hard!

I think the point about KCJJ is it's a rather unpredictable signal for reasons explained above, both day and night, like its very unusual format. Wacky might be a better word for its programming. I encourage anyone who catches it to listen for a while. It can be kind of a trip.

However, in my experience, I do not agree that it's a reliable nighttime catch around North America. It's a crapshoot, interesting DX results notwithstanding.

 

[gar hi]

Talk about bad luck. I'm borrowing a friend's camera tonight that makes 60 second videos as well and I'm attempting to do a little AM bandscan video of the usual New York, Philly, and other stations that come in here at night on my little Sony Walkman so I can put it on You Tube.
Wouldn't you know it, the Spanish stations are dominating all the frequencies right now. My little walkman is what I've been using to do my latest dxing since I rediscovered it after all these years. It's what I use to pick up KOA on a regular nightly basis.

 

[tomservo]

Well phooey. There's only ony locally licensed AM station in my town and it's been off air (though not, according to the FCC) for the two+ years I've been here.

The nearest AM signals originate from Greenwood, Mississippi. I'll use it as my "AM home town".

All three of Greenwood's AMs are under 1,000 watts day and significantly less at night.

960 - WABG - The best coverage of the Greenwood AMs, if only their transmitter plant was up to snuff. Despite their troubles, it's strong enough to trip the scan feature of my radio up in Alligator, MS, over 47 miles away. The Mississippi Delta is a wonderful place for AM because of great ground conductivity! I've heard this one during the day as far south as Yazoo City, about another 40 miles out.

1240 - WGRM - Best real world coverage, with about a 25-30 mile range. I think it's 980 watts days. Gospel and pretty well processed. Can't say the same for the programming. Lots of issues.

1540 - WKXG - 20-30 mile range. A whopping 2 watts at night. Sat in the parking lot at the TX site and could hear other stations in the background.

Get out from under the power lines and out of the town and the AM band can come alive. 540 from Monroe, LA is a regular, as are 560, 600, 640, 680, 790, 1030, 1070 and 1600 from Memphis. Jackson's 620, 730, 1120 and 1180 are strong, too. Delta stations like 1330 and 1450 are almost locals despite being 30-50 miles away.

On cloudy days, the Monroe 540 and an X-band there are like locals at 126 miles out. And just out of town and under 960's hash, the 950 from Forrest City, AR is a boomer. 110 miles.

 

[ALRocker]

Zach- I can hear WABG here at night sometimes. I'm 48 miles north of Birmingham. Maybe someone isn't powering down. I rarely hear ERC at night. 960 is just a big mess most of the time.

 

[tomservo]

Zach- I can hear WABG here at night sometimes. I'm 48 miles north of Birmingham. Maybe someone isn't powering down. I rarely hear ERC at night. 960 is just a big mess most of the time.

WABG throws most of its signal towards the south at night, but there's a smaller lobe aimed right towards Hartselle, so if you're near that I could see (in rare cases) you getting them even with the nighttime pattern. WERC directs most of their energy south at night as well.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if they don't power down at night - the station's about the awfulest sounding thing on the dial. Shame, too, I love me some blues music and they play a good selection.

 

[radioman522]

I picked up 5,000 watt WRGA 1470 AM out of Rome, Ga on Saint Sioms Island, GA (360 miles away) at 5AM on a Sunday morning in summer of 2008.

 

[thathoustonradiogeek]

Any reception of Puerto Rican stations on the East Coast?

I think the most likely candidates are WPAB 550 and WKAQ 580 due to their dial location, and WKVM 810 which is 50K watt, although directional to protect WGY.