KRLD gets mauled (in Texas!)

[jd]

I had noticed this a few times in the past, but never so bad as the other night. I got a positive ID on XETUL 1080, about 80 miles southeast of Dallas on a car radio. From what I can gather it's promoted as a Mexico City station, but the transmitter supposedly is located to the north of D.F. in Tultitlan, in the state of Mexico. I couldn't tell you much about the format, other than it's kind of eclectic, with pop songs, jazz and who knows what else.

XETUL was battling it out with KRLD late in the evening and once more when I checked in the middle of the night. According to Fred Cantu's Mexican Radio-TV site the station is 5,000 watts daytime/250 night. I'm unable to call up the "official" SCT data on it right now, but the FCC shows XETUL is directional (same pattern day and night) from a three-tower array with a really nasty null to the north. That's basically toward KRLD. Has anyone else heard this one?

 

[Triple Fake Jerry]

I noticed a weaker signal from KRLD the other night as well. Couldn't ID the station(s) underneath but they were definitely there and this was in Collin County, where KRLD usually booms.

 

[ropertex]

August 8, 2012 in the 3 am to 4 am period I was around Granbury, Texas some 70 miles southwest of KRLD's 50,000 watt nitetime transmitter. Barely listenable with heavy fading and a Mexican station in the background on a Pioneer Supertuner 3 car radio, standard fender-mount antenna. Maybe one day they will figure out what their problem is...

 

[jd]

Barely listenable with heavy fading and a Mexican station in the background on a Pioneer Supertuner 3 car radio, standard fender-mount antenna.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, but considering that you were "in the lobe" there should be plenty of signal strength in Granbury. Occasionally KRLD gets interference here in near East Texas on a car radio from daytimers to the east staying up past their bedtime, but generally their biggest problem remains XETUL.

Maybe one day they will figure out what their problem is...

I'd like to know what's up, too. The signal here not only is noticeably weaker than the other powerful stations in D/FW but it's prone to the heavy fading like you experienced. It shouldn't be a skywave/groundwave cancellation issue; KRLD's site is about 82 miles away from here. With KLIF (102 miles) and WBAP (97 miles) there's usually no fading at all.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Might it be a matter of XETUL failing to power down, to the required level of 1/20th their daytime signal?

Perhaps Auroral conditions? Texas has seen some extreme weather recently.

Or maybe a matter of both factors?

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I don't know - I haven't tried for KRLD in a while, but a year ago or so they could be heard in NW Houston if you nulled 1070 - although they were weak. I did try again a few months later and they were absent. Is it possible they are fooling around with HD radio? That is a power vampire - really destroys analog coverage.

I always assumed they would throw a null South towards Houston to protect the 1070 here. So it was surprising to me that I could get them in Cypress (NW side of Houston).

In the mid 00's, I heard them almost like a local in Conroe on a GE SR3.

 

[schmave]

I don't know - I haven't tried for KRLD in a while, but a year ago or so they could be heard in NW Houston if you nulled 1070 - although they were weak. I did try again a few months later and they were absent. Is it possible they are fooling around with HD radio? That is a power vampire - really destroys analog coverage.

I always assumed they would throw a null South towards Houston to protect the 1070 here. So it was surprising to me that I could get them in Cypress (NW side of Houston).

In the mid 00's, I heard them almost like a local in Conroe on a GE SR3.

I thought 1070 threw a null north to protect KRLD.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

As of 4 PM today, they are back to being receivable in Cypress, just NW of Houston.

KNTH 1070 has no null towards Dallas during the day, but a huge directional lobe over the Gulf at night. There is an incredible daytime null going SW from their site, probably explains why I can get KRLD in Cypress. That daytime null seems to be to protect a station near Corpus Christi.

KRLD seems to have a virtually circular pattern day and night. Not a lot of accommodation for KAAY or KNTH, which surprises me. They also don't protect WTIC, which also surprises me.

No mention of HD radio on the KRLD website - but just their heritage DX status!

Something must have been wrong, they must have had a main transmitter failure and were on backup.

 

[jd]

KNTH 1070 has no null towards Dallas during the day, but a huge directional lobe over the Gulf at night. DX status!

While it doesn't appear to be a null in the true sense, the KNTH daytime signal is greatly suppressed in the direction of Dallas as compared to the opposite direction, with the majority of the power going directly over Houston.

http://transition.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/AM_DA_patterns/58118-6865.pdf

There is an incredible daytime null going SW from their site, probably explains why I can get KRLD in Cypress. That daytime null seems to be to protect a station near Corpus Christi.

That's right; it's because of KOPY in Alice, which preceded the Houston station. KNTH (originally known as KENR) was a relatively late arrival on 1070, signing on in 1968.

KRLD seems to have a virtually circular pattern day and night. Not a lot of accommodation for KAAY or KNTH, which surprises me. They also don't protect WTIC, which also surprises me.

That's not correct. While KRLD is non-directional daytime, they do indeed protect another station, but it's not KAAY. WTIC is in the direction of a major null. KAAY came along after KRLD and they have to protect KRLD. KNTH receives no protection whatsoever from KRLD, so it's the other way around in that case as well.

http://transition.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/AM_DA_patterns/158701-74350.pdf

No mention of HD radio on the KRLD website - but just their heritage DX status!

That's right, but the last time I checked they were still running HD during the day.

 

[jd]

Just checked 1080 a little while ago and KRLD was unlistenable here due to heavy interference. This time the culprit was a Cuban, Radio Cadena Habana, with a signal that was equal to or stronger than KRLD (and there was no trace of XETUL).