I-5 Vallejo to L.A

[MarioMania]

I got back 2 weeks ago from L.A & My brother was snanning though the FM Band .. I forgot where

The funniest part was everytime he turns on the radio to scan near Bakersfeild, Fresno & other small city's on I-5, He would hit like everyother station like there was translaters, repeaters & stations on every frequency - Well not every frequency

Is there a way I could find out if there's any repeaters & translaters?? ..

 

[K6JHU]

Don't think ther are a lot of repeaters or tanslators. The valley is flat with a lot of cities and the I-5 is genrally on the high side (at the upper end particularly). Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto, Stockton, Sacramento, plus all the small cities manage to fill the band.

If you use Radio-Locator and do it a city at a time, it will show you the translators and LP stations. BTW, if you do the trip a lot, copy and paste into Excel and you can print a list to take with you.

 

[gar hi]

Mario, did you get to check out the AM radio reception such as how far north you could hear LA stations like KFI during the day or how far south you could hear the SF stations during the day?

 

[MarioMania]

from where the Grapevine??

I have to check when I go again, We only came for a day..

 

[kenrayc]

Being from Fresno County, I know there are very few translator in the San Joaquin County, most being K-LOVE, Most transmitters in The Valley are in the Sierra Nevada mountains, most big antenna farms in Fresno, Visalia, Merced and Bakersfield are over 4000 ft above the valley floor, then including the Central Coast Stations, you will here a station on almost every "channel" on the dial driving I-5 and (99) throughout the valley.

 

[K6JHU]

Just before starting up the Grapevine I used to try to get LA on AM (KNX and KFWB) for a traffic report so I would know what I was getting myself into. Very difficult to get an AM signal there.

 

[cyberdad]

Mario, did you get to check out the AM radio reception such as how far north you could hear LA stations like KFI during the day or how far south you could hear the SF stations during the day?

I'm making this drive next Monday (21st). Opposite direction....LA (actually inland empire) to Vallejo. I'll report any "highlights" on the AM dial. I last did this run a little over a year ago, and don't remember anything remarkable.

For the last ten years I've driven from L.A. to San Jose a couple of times a year. Usually on 101 because I have customers in Santa Barbara, Buellton, and Morgan Hill. The basics on that rpite is that the major L.A. stations are audible to about Santa Maria. There or a little beyond is where the San Francisco stations start showing up. From about Pismo Beach north, the major San Francisco stations are pretty reliable. The major San Diego AMs make it to Santa Barbara, but fade quickly when 101 turns away from the coast about 25 miles northwest of there.

Let me know if you have specific questions or anything you're curious about that I could check out.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

How far south do you think you'll get the San Francisco AMs?  This afternoon at around 1 to 1:30 I was hearing 680 KNBR and 810 KGO at home just south of El Cajon, CA, and I think I could just barely detect a hint of possible KCBS underneath KBRT on 740 in between words/sentences from the preacher.  (I think It was too faint to hear what the voices were saying, or even if it was actual speech, and when the preacher on KBRT was talking there was no chance of hearing anything underneath.  Also I could only occasionally hear something underneath, not every time the preacher temporarily shut up.  Also the occasional noise fade-ups are my failed attempts to reposition the antenna to reduce the KBRT to KCBS signal strength ratio without completely burying any possible trace of KCBS in the noise.) Also I just remembered that someone has heard a few of the San Francisco AMs (680 KNBR, 740 KCBS, 810 KGO) in Quartzsite, AZ, using a 150-foot longwire antenna and Eton E1.
Also I heard 700 KALL North Salt Lake City, but that's not SF.  Any chance you might hear that one, though?  BTW I was using the Tecsun PL-606 and Select-A-Tenna to pull these in.  Also, on the 2nd this month for several minutes in the early afternoon, 1170 KCBQ (and 910 KECR whose transmitter site KCBQ shares) were both off the air, making reception of 1180 KERN Wasco-Greenacres, CA, a little easier.  I could even hear it using only the PL-606's built-in ferrite, which is impossible on this radio when KCBQ's 50,000 watts is blasting at me from 9 miles away, although 1130 KSDO's 10kW from 6 miles north of me did pose a significant challenge with desense/blocking.  Any idea how far out you'd hear that one?

 

[cyberdad]

tfcwings....

I'm actually starting my trip next Monday from Hesperia. That's actually northeast of the inland empire in the high desert. (brother in law lives in the area). So I'm not sure when I'll start picking up SF. On 101, I usually start hearing a weak KNBR around Santa Barbara. There's a local 670 south of there which covers up what's left of KNBR in that direction. KCBS is next up, slogging it out with KBRT.

I'll take a stab at KALL, but there's a 700 in in the Bay area, which probably minimizes my chances. OTOH, I'll be well inland, so who knows.

A lot will depend on how good my rental car radio is.

 

[gar hi]

I'm making this drive next Monday (21st). Opposite direction....LA (actually inland empire) to Vallejo. I'll report any "highlights" on the AM dial. I last did this run a little over a year ago, and don't remember anything remarkable.

For the last ten years I've driven from L.A. to San Jose a couple of times a year. Usually on 101 because I have customers in Santa Barbara, Buellton, and Morgan Hill. The basics on that rpite is that the major L.A. stations are audible to about Santa Maria. There or a little beyond is where the San Francisco stations start showing up. From about Pismo Beach north, the major San Francisco stations are pretty reliable. The major San Diego AMs make it to Santa Barbara, but fade quickly when 101 turns away from the coast about 25 miles northwest of there.

Let me know if you have specific questions or anything you're curious about that I could check out.

The reason I'm curious is because I'll always remember the summer of 77 when I was staying with my brother in Vacaville and we went on a trip to Los Angeles via the central valley. After we crossed over from 101 in Gilroy into the valley to pick up I-5, I remember being able to hear KFI with a listenable signal and that was close to noon.

I'm wondering how much more north KFI could be heard than that. Back then, I had no awareness as to the potential of daytime groundwaves as I do now so I never made any real concerted effort to hear KFI during the day in Vacaville. Of course, it seemed like a local at night there but I assumed it could never be heard in the day. Years later when I was in Santa Cruz, I did attempt to hear KFI during the day but heard nothing but Santa Cruz is about as far north as that point on I-5 in the valley where KFI could easily be heard in the day.

How far south do you think you'll get the San Francisco AMs? This afternoon at around 1 to 1:30 I was hearing 680 KNBR and 810 KGO at home just south of El Cajon, CA, and I think I could just barely detect a hint of possible KCBS underneath KBRT on 740 in between words/sentences from the preacher.

Oh yeah, I remember hearing some of your recordings of a couple of San Francisco AM stations during the day and it's amazing due to your unique location with a lot of ocean between you and SF.

What I was specifically wondering about was the land only path driving down through the valley from the Bay area to the LA area. I took that trip once years ago as I just mentioned but I was so impressed with how far north we could first hear KFI that I didn't wonder about how far south the SF stations could be heard.

 

[asugeorge1]

Don't know much about the strength of L.A. AM stations driving north to San Francisco, but driving east toward Phoenix, the winner is KFI. Driving middle of the day from L.A. to Phoenix last year in October with a very good car radio, I was able to pick-up KFI via groundwave all the way to just west of Phoenix around Buckeye. It actually might be possible to get KFI via groundwave in other parts of Phoenix if it weren't for the massive strength of 620 KTAR spilling over to 640. KNX is not as strong as KFI and starts to fade around the ZIP gas station off exit 45 on I-10. It disappears completely around Tonopah, but that's mostly due to adjacent channel interference from Phoenix station KDUS 1060. Those L.A. 50,000 watt AM stations are pretty impressive!

 

[cyberdad]

IME on the 101....just about entirely daytime driving....most of the L.A. AM stations are pretty well spent by Buellton/Solvang. KFI, however, is an exception. I want to say it hangs on past Santa Maria to about SLO/Atascadero.

I can also tell you from personal experience, that going northeast on the 15, KFI is audible daytime all the way to Vegas.

 

[gar hi]

IME on the 101....just about entirely daytime driving....most of the L.A. AM stations are pretty well spent by Buellton/Solvang. KFI, however, is an exception. I want to say it hangs on past Santa Maria to about SLO/Atascadero.

Wow. Interesting.

That's much more south than my experience on I-5 many years ago. Looks like there has to be a big difference in ground conductivity between the coast ranges and the valley.

 

[radioman148]

On the other hand I've heard KNBR, KGO, & KCBS in Laguna Beach by the water at mid day. I guess if you're near the water everything changes.

 

[cyberdad]

That's much more south than my experience on I-5 many years ago. Looks like there has to be a big difference in ground conductivity between the coast ranges and the valley.

I think proximity to the salt water has more to do with it than anything. When 101 makes the right turn away from the coast about 20-25 miles from Santa Barbara, you go through a short tunnel and after that, the San Diego stations "drop off like flies". Most of the L.A. stations don't do much better.

To be honest, I don't remember my last I-5 run all that well. I think I was streaming a Cubs game/listening to iPod and not DXing.

 

[gar hi]

On the other hand I've heard KNBR, KGO, & KCBS in Laguna Beach by the water at mid day. I guess if you're near the water everything changes.

And I bet that wasn't even in the winter either, as one of our posters near San Diego has posted recordings of SF stations heard there midday.

The confusing part is that the signals still have to pass over miles and miles of the coast ranges to make it to Laguna Beach where you can hear them and that only reinforces my theory that saltwater is not only a great path for signals that pass completely over it with no land but that it can also enhance reception of AM signals that cross the land and otherwise are weaker or couldn't be heard at all on some points along the same path where they can be heard out on the water.

As I've mentioned in the past, there are Miami and Orlando stations that come in much better along the beaches here than they do inland in Tampa, such as WYGM Orlando and WQAM Miami.

It also makes me think that New York stations like WCBS and WFAN should still have some signal left even on the central Florida east coast daytime even though they pass over land from New Jersey to North Carolina, much of which is a lot of bays and saltwater estuaries and then there's more than 400 miles of nothing but ocean with little signal loss.

 

[jd]

On the other hand I've heard KNBR, KGO, & KCBS in Laguna Beach by the water at mid day. I guess if you're near the water everything changes.

Those are impressive catches, but I'm wondering about KBRT. Were they on the air when you heard KCBS?

 

[vibe]

gar- your theory (or actual experiences) that the salt/sand enhances reception from stations that go primarily over all land is exactly what I experienced in many places-from Englewood Fl a lot of good daytime catches have been to the N and NE way beyond the RL contours. Same situation at St. Simons Is-I don't keep a log as I should...
I imagine it's the same in the Republic of CA.

 

[BRNout]

gar- your theory (or actual experiences) that the salt/sand enhances reception from stations that go primarily over all land is exactly what I experienced in many places-from Englewood Fl a lot of good daytime catches have been to the N and NE way beyond the RL contours. Same situation at St. Simons Is-I don't keep a log as I should...
I imagine it's the same in the Republic of CA.

The concept is indeed the same. But the geography is different in that you have some significant mountain ranges to get through between, say, San Francisco and San Diego. Draw a line between them and see that 90+% of your path is over land (granted a nice piece conveniently follows the Salinas Valley). On the other hand, the east coast (in the southeast) is low lying with Florida able to be the recipient of signals that come a long way across mostly coastal waters from distant cities.

That effect will absolutely be enhanced on east coast beaches that are geographically sited to receive signals that mostly cross salt water. Famously, Cape Hatteras is one of these. But so are the south coasts of Long Island, Cape Cod and the Islands, and most barrier islands in Florida. And the Gulf Coast? Well, it should feature pretty awesome groundwave reception too.

So yes, on the beach is better than inland in most cases, but your results will probably not be as impressive as what you experience in a place like Florida.

 

[travisl5678]

tfcwings....

I'm actually starting my trip next Monday from Hesperia. That's actually northeast of the inland empire in the high desert. (brother in law lives in the area). So I'm not sure when I'll start picking up SF. On 101, I usually start hearing a weak KNBR around Santa Barbara. There's a local 670 south of there which covers up what's left of KNBR in that direction. KCBS is next up, slogging it out with KBRT.

I'll take a stab at KALL, but there's a 700 in in the Bay area, which probably minimizes my chances. OTOH, I'll be well inland, so who knows.

A lot will depend on how good my rental car radio is.

There's no 700 in the Bay Area, but there is a 710 in Sacramento