I live in Rhose Island. I like listening to WLS Chicago. Also just discovered KMOX St. Louis tonight. Both over 1,000 miles away. So I'm assuming that they reach 1,000 miles in the other direction too. This got me thinking. Is there any radio station out there that can reach all 48 continental US states? I can faintly pick up WHO Des Moines on occasion. So I'm thinking if there is a station capable of reaching 48 states it would be them.
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Is there any radio station that reaches all lower 48 states at night?
- Thread starter Skynet74
- Start date
Once upon a time, there were plenty of stations that could do it. I think you're right that WHO might be the last possibility, since it's not duplicated by any really high-power 1040s anywhere else at night. Before stations like WCRN and KLAA came on the air, WCCO might have been possible, too - and maybe WBAP as well.
Here in California
WLS: Covered by KDXU
KMOX:Covered by KPNW
I always thought KOA hit the lower 48
WLS: Covered by KDXU
KMOX:Covered by KPNW
I always thought KOA hit the lower 48
WLW used to say they were heard in 38 states a few years back.
They probably reached all 48 when they were 500,000 watts for a while.
It seems like WLS had some contest and got letters from 44 states years back.
But I doubt with all the shifting and new stations and equipment deterioration and electrical noise that any stations today could come close to that on any regular basis.
They probably reached all 48 when they were 500,000 watts for a while.
It seems like WLS had some contest and got letters from 44 states years back.
But I doubt with all the shifting and new stations and equipment deterioration and electrical noise that any stations today could come close to that on any regular basis.
quadraphonic said:
If you look through the online issues of Broadcasting Magazine from the 1945 to 1949 period you will see quite a few ads from the clear channel stations mentioning mail pull from many states. WSM had one they ran a number of times that showed letters from all 48 states, in fact.
travisl5678 said:
KOA never hit all states... it's not what was designated as a 1-A clear channel. There have been stations on 850 in places like Boston, Muskegon, Cleveland, Gainesville, Raleigh, Tacoma, as well as a number of Canadian markets (although some of these are now gone) and Ft. Lauderdale making 850 a very congested channel going back 60 or more years.
WOAI?
1200 was the last truly clear channel -- the last one to have only one station operating at night in North America. It's been a LONG time (20 years) since I've listened from California but back then WOAI and WBAP were the only two stations heard that I've also heard on the East Coast.
Probably the last station to be audible in all 48 states on ordinary equipment would have been on the expanded band. Because really, 1kw non-directional is enough in a quiet location -- the problem is interference. I might guess the "winner" would have been now-defunct KALT-1610 Atlanta, Texas. It was the only full-power station ever assigned to that frequency.
I would suggest there are any number of stations that could be heard **by DXers with large antennas** in all 48 states -- however, the days in which stations could be heard in all 48 with ordinary equipment are gone.
1200 was the last truly clear channel -- the last one to have only one station operating at night in North America. It's been a LONG time (20 years) since I've listened from California but back then WOAI and WBAP were the only two stations heard that I've also heard on the East Coast.
Probably the last station to be audible in all 48 states on ordinary equipment would have been on the expanded band. Because really, 1kw non-directional is enough in a quiet location -- the problem is interference. I might guess the "winner" would have been now-defunct KALT-1610 Atlanta, Texas. It was the only full-power station ever assigned to that frequency.
I would suggest there are any number of stations that could be heard **by DXers with large antennas** in all 48 states -- however, the days in which stations could be heard in all 48 with ordinary equipment are gone.
1200 is now covered up in the west by KYAA 1200 in Soquel, south of San Francisco
kc1ih said:
I posted the original question. Yes... as long as the signal can be heard in some part of the State I would count it. Looks like WHO Radio in Des Moines might be the only station that can reach the lower 48 states. They are smack dab in the middle of the country. I would love to hear from people on the West Coast if they can pick it up. It's AM 1040 on the dial.
Skynet74 said:
In my locations, LA metro, Palm Springs area and Prescott, AZ I tend to get a variety of the 8 or 9 Mexican AMs on 1040. But, as Mexico reduces the number of AMs to perhaps less than 100 in the next few years, WHO will again be possible... I occasionaly hear bits of it in AZ, so it is definitely going to be an easy catch once most of the Mexican AMs are gone.
...in his (or actually Dan Jedlicka's, heh heh) book Superjock, Larry Lujack claimed that WCFL/1000 Chicago was jammed by the Soviets because it could reach over the Arctic Circle into the USSR. Of course, nowadays, partly because ABC's been maintaining the transmitter in hideous condition over the last few years, WMVP/1000 barely makes it to La Crosse, Wisconsin ;-( ...
Ultimajock said:
That sure sounds like DJ hyperbole, since 'CFL was... And is... Directional at night and has nulls towards Seattle and Oklahoma/Mexico City. Were the story true, we could also hear Russian or former Soviet stations in Chicago or Detroit or Ludington...
Similarly, La Crosse is inside the Seattle null so you would not expect much of a night signal there if the directional is working properly.
C
cd637299
Guest
Take away the west coast & New England, and KMOX has a heck of a signal....I was listening in my car radio near Ft. Lauderdale this morning, around 7:45am! (Gone by 8 )
cd
cd
On occassion in New Hampshire, I've heard 1040 WHO Des Moines and 1120 KMOX St. Louis on an old tube radio. I suppose if they can be heard sometimes in NH, you probably can get both these stations at times in the other East Coast states. If they also can be heard in sections of California, Oregan and Washington State, you can say they can hit all 48 contiguous states.
700 WLW Cincinnatti and 870 WWL New Orleans might also qualify since they can be heard on the East Coast and don't have much competition in the West, just as long as they can hit at least one part of Washington State, Oregon and California. Maybe the same is true for 860 CJBC Toronto and 890 WLS Chicago, if they're not too far east. Yes, there are West Coast stations on 860 and 890 but the contest is to hit at least one rural place in California, be it Fort Bidwell (Northeast CA) or Blythe (Southeast CA), and you likely can do the same in all the Western states.
820 WBAP gets blocked in CT and RI by WNYC New York. 830 WCCO Minneapolis has tp deal with WCRN, a fulltime 50 kw station that went on the air in Worcester-Boston a few years ago. And 1200 WOAI San Antonio has WXKS Medford-Boston on its channel, also running 50 kw full time now, ruiining its chances of hitting all six New England states.
How about Mid West Canadian stations? 990 CBW Winnipeg has a 5000 watt station on its channel at night in Providence RI to deal with. And in NH I sometimes hear Rochester NY if I hear anything on 990. 540 CBK Watrous-Regina is said to have a monster signal but there are several fulltime 540 stations on the East Coast. I've never heard CBK in New Hampshire.
So I'd say it's likely for WHO and KMOX... and maybe WLW, WWL, CJBC and/or WLS.
Craig
[email protected]
700 WLW Cincinnatti and 870 WWL New Orleans might also qualify since they can be heard on the East Coast and don't have much competition in the West, just as long as they can hit at least one part of Washington State, Oregon and California. Maybe the same is true for 860 CJBC Toronto and 890 WLS Chicago, if they're not too far east. Yes, there are West Coast stations on 860 and 890 but the contest is to hit at least one rural place in California, be it Fort Bidwell (Northeast CA) or Blythe (Southeast CA), and you likely can do the same in all the Western states.
820 WBAP gets blocked in CT and RI by WNYC New York. 830 WCCO Minneapolis has tp deal with WCRN, a fulltime 50 kw station that went on the air in Worcester-Boston a few years ago. And 1200 WOAI San Antonio has WXKS Medford-Boston on its channel, also running 50 kw full time now, ruiining its chances of hitting all six New England states.
How about Mid West Canadian stations? 990 CBW Winnipeg has a 5000 watt station on its channel at night in Providence RI to deal with. And in NH I sometimes hear Rochester NY if I hear anything on 990. 540 CBK Watrous-Regina is said to have a monster signal but there are several fulltime 540 stations on the East Coast. I've never heard CBK in New Hampshire.
So I'd say it's likely for WHO and KMOX... and maybe WLW, WWL, CJBC and/or WLS.
Craig
[email protected]
Gregg said:
860 was never one of the original 1-A clear channels. There are now 19 stations in the US with 100 watts at night, and they go up to 50 kw. Plus, there is a 50 kw station in Mexico City, and several other big signals on 860 througout Mexico, including 5 kw non-directional XEMO in Tijuana.
990 was also never a 1-A, and it has stations ranging from Philadelphia, PA to Pittsburg, CA on it, 20 in total with 100 watts or more, plus a 50 kw station in NE Mexico.
The primary occupant of 540 is XEWA in Mexico with 150,000 watts day and night. That station eliminates CBW in much of the Southwest, and the Canadian co-channel in Newfoundland makes it tough in the upper NE US.
If the clear channels were actually clear everywhere in the country and we didn't have IBOC it would sure be a lot easier. I can get a good signal from WWL here in upstate NY, but with WCBS IBOC and WHCU 870 interference theres not much left.
KMOX comes in pretty well, but their is some Spanish station that likes to interfere with it. Im not sure if its a Cuban or WBBF not signing off. The signal has been too weak to determine and not knowing Spanish doesn't help.
KMOX comes in pretty well, but their is some Spanish station that likes to interfere with it. Im not sure if its a Cuban or WBBF not signing off. The signal has been too weak to determine and not knowing Spanish doesn't help.
spunker88 said:
All Spanish language stations are not in Cuba. Both the Buffalo, NY, and Maryville, TN, stations in 1120 are reported as Spanish language. There is also a fulltime Spanish language station outside Arecibo, PR, that might come in. Generally, the big signal on 1120 has been YVMF from Maracaibo, but there are quite a few others with significant power in the Caribbean Basin that could interfere so far from KMOX.
C
cd637299
Guest
As far as 1120 in Cuba, there *was* a Radio Cadena Habana affiliate on 1120, but it's been gone for months, hence my good KMOX reception recently....I think the only one on AM that I hear is on 1080.
Isn't 1120 in DC Espanol?
cd
Isn't 1120 in DC Espanol?
cd
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