Was in the car just before 10am and tuned to 790...it appeared KBME was off the air. I heard faint talk programming on the frequency, so I figured I was getting residual skywave from somewhere...but a break came up and it turns out it actually was KBME, running at extremely low power. I'm only five miles from their transmitter, so it sounds like they were on their exciter, perhaps running only a few watts, if even that.
A later check around 11:30am found KBME back to full power. Seems their transmitter kicks off the air quite a bit, not a good thing when battling format leader KILT 610. Old unit in need of replacement?
KBME's virtual absence did allow me to snag a midday rarity: XESFT 780 in San Fernando, Tamaulipas. Very good signal, 5kw (according to the 2006 WRTH) some 390 miles from my location. Kudos to the XESFT engineer(s) as the station had very nice full-bodied audio, the sort that was much more common on AM decades ago.
A later check around 11:30am found KBME back to full power. Seems their transmitter kicks off the air quite a bit, not a good thing when battling format leader KILT 610. Old unit in need of replacement?
KBME's virtual absence did allow me to snag a midday rarity: XESFT 780 in San Fernando, Tamaulipas. Very good signal, 5kw (according to the 2006 WRTH) some 390 miles from my location. Kudos to the XESFT engineer(s) as the station had very nice full-bodied audio, the sort that was much more common on AM decades ago.