KXEL Waterloo Reception?

[memoriesradio]

Good afternoon all,
I am curious as to how well KXEL 1540 is received throughout the US & Canada. We are producing a Christmas program and am looking for clear channel stations with available times. Any help is appreciated! Also, any clear channel AM stations on the west coast that broker time would be welcome. I am looking for any suggestions.

Jay Daniels
JOY FM (WTTX-FM 107.1)

 

[cyberdad]

KXEL's nighttime signal is usually excellent where I am northwest of Chicago.

Basically at night, their coverage is good in the upper midwest/plains states and adjacent areas of Canada. Roughly from the northern Rockies to the Great Lakes. They don't send as much signal to the south, southeast, or southwest.

 

[cd637299]

Amazingly, I have never heard KXEL here in south Florida. Much if that is due to ZNS in Nassau dominating....but even in the month or two that they were off the air (copper thieves), no KXEL for me.

However, I believe that KXEL dominates much of mid-America & parts of the Northeast.

There might be a small issue with CHIN, the multilingual Toronto station. (BTW didn't the 1540 in Albany NY go bye bye?)

cd

 

[cyberdad]

Amazingly, I have never heard KXEL here in south Florida. Much if that is due to ZNS in Nassau dominating....but even in the month or two that they were off the air (copper thieves), no KXEL for me.

However, I believe that KXEL dominates much of mid-America & parts of the Northeast.

There might be a small issue with CHIN, the multilingual Toronto station. (BTW didn't the 1540 in Albany NY go bye bye?)

cd

KXEL throws a null right at you. I don't recall ever hearing it anywhere in Florida.

CHIN can become a bit of a pest once you get into the eastern Great Lakes on the U.S. side of the border. But most of the juice is aimed into Canada. I'm pretty sure they're also planning to go "bye bye" and migrate to FM. (Perhaps Tincap, Yeziknoradio, Mimo, or one of the other Canadians can shed some light on this).

I'm unclear to what extent...if any...this would help KXEL's effective nighttime coverage.

 

[cd637299]

CHIN already has a major FM at 100.7. They have a translator at 101.3 I think.

 

[w9wi]

I'm pretty sure they're also planning to go "bye bye" and migrate to FM. (Perhaps Tincap, Yeziknoradio, Mimo, or one of the other Canadians can shed some light on this).

I don't know of any plans for CHIN to move to FM.

As Chris says, they have a full-power FM on 100.7 (separate programming) and a low-power FM on 91.9. (moved from 101.3; 91.9 indeed relays the AM) Normally the CRTC only allows two FMs in the same market for the same owner. I'm not sure a low-powered relay like 91.9 counts against that total.

If 91.9 *doesn't* count against the limit... CHIN just had a golden opportunity to move, to the old CKLN frequency 88.1. They didn't take it.

 

[KR4BD]

KXEL used to be strong and "in-the-clear" at night in Central KY.....until CHIN juiced up. Now, it's a nightly battle between the two.

 

[memoriesradio]

Thanks for all of the replies! I truly appreciate them. Tonight, on the way home in central Virginia, I managed to KXEL with Mark Levin. As many of you mentioned, CHIN was right there with it. It still never ceases to amaze me how distant of stations you can hear after sunset. The trouble is.... for most listeners, what is the draw of AM radio these days? Most all play some form of news/talk. Very few (AM 740 being one) play a format unique to their station. 'Tis a shame.

 

[cd637299]

What's funny is that at one time, not only was Toronto's 1540 only a daytimer, but used 680 for nighttime use, if I recall reading correctly.

So what made the difference, that Toronto's 1540 could go 24 hours now, when they could not back in the 60s? (And where was the outcry from KXEL & WDCD?)

<shrug>

cd

 

[mimo]

WDCD I believe is either daytime only now or on severely reduced night time power. Here in Ottawa CHIN is the dominant station although it is very possible to hear KXEL if you have the radio pointed the right way. I believe the nested repeater actually counts as a separate station from the AM so there is no way they can flip it to FM, plus as pointed earlier...they had an opportunity to file for 88.1 but didn't take it, and that may be because of the repeater.

 

[foreverchanges1975]

In Memphis you can only really get KXEL around sunset in the winter. Then the pattern changes and it's gone.

 

[jd]

So what made the difference, that Toronto's 1540 could go 24 hours now, when they could not back in the 60s? (And where was the outcry from KXEL & WDCD?)

The difference is that CHIN's transmitter site was moved from Mississauga (southwest of Toronto) to Centre (Toronto) Island in the mid-80's. So far as the outcry over CHIN being allowed to operate at night, I recall opposition at the time from WPTR, although I don't remember hearing anything similar from KXEL. The agreement between Canada and the U.S. was eventually approved after CHIN's plan to run 50kW at night was scaled back to 30kW.

WDCD I believe is either daytime only now or on severely reduced night time power.

Actually they're off the air. Here's a letter requesting authority to remain silent: http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=32941

 

[Bongwater]

No dice on the West Coast for KXEL as far as I know. But I once picked up KISA (now KREA) Honolulu in Mount Vernon, WA several years ago. Got a TOH ID.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

So what made the difference, that Toronto's 1540 could go 24 hours now, when they could not back in the 60s? (And where was the outcry from KXEL & WDCD?)

The difference is that CHIN's transmitter site was moved from Mississauga (southwest of Toronto) to Centre (Toronto) Island in the mid-80's. So far as the outcry over CHIN being allowed to operate at night, I recall opposition at the time from WPTR, although I don't remember hearing anything similar from KXEL. The agreement between Canada and the U.S. was eventually approved after CHIN's plan to run 50kW at night was scaled back to 30kW.

I'm surprised they allowed them on Toronto Island. I think I read that there are all kinds of restricitions on private ownership on those islands and the land use agreements eventually expire. How long has the 1430 array been there? Seems that the six 1430 towers are old as I think they are self supporting. CHIN's are guyed. Four in a row and a fifth for the day pattern.

They would have had to protect WPTR/WDCD in the night pattern from the old site I believe, and the nulls would have been over Toronto. Kind of like the WQEW night null toward KNZR and Manhattan but a lot worse.

1430 and 1540 are overwhelming in central Toronto. They overpower all noise in most locations, and are heard well on the cheapest receivers.

 

[schmave]

KXEL comes in well here in central Ohio most nights. We must be a little north of the southeast-bound null.

 

[fybush]

What's funny is that at one time, not only was Toronto's 1540 only a daytimer, but used 680 for nighttime use, if I recall reading correctly.

From 1963 to 1966, yes...but this wasn't CHIN. This was a different 1540, the old CHFI, and it was a transitional step along the way to CHFI's move to full-time operation on 680, where it eventually became today's CFTR.

As other posters have noted, CHFI's transmitter was out in Mississauga, west of Toronto, where nighttime operation on 1540 with nulls protecting KXEL, WPTR and most especially ZNS (remember, 1540 is actually the Bahamas' clear channel) would have sent the signal due north into what was then sparsely-populated suburbia without providing useful service to the core of the market's population.

I believe the rules have changed since then, as well, allowing greater use of another country's clear channels at night so long as signals are protected at the border. In the case of CHIN on Toronto Island, that's easy - it's all aimed north with a very deep null over the lake toward the US. When the CHIN array is operating properly, it's almost impossible to hear CHIN in Rochester, 80 miles or so to the southeast. In recent years, I've heard CHIN much better than it used to come in, which suggests to me that the array may not be tuned up, not at all unusual for a Canadian DA.

 

[cd637299]

^ Back around maybe 1992 from South Florida, I may have actually caught CHIN, even with the null....but I will never be able to say for sure. I thought I heard the words "Broadcast News," which is/was a Canadian radio network.

All this talk of 1540, and otherwise all I get is ZNS. In the FL Keys, there is a Cuban as well, throwing a monkey wrench into everything.

During the copper thievery of ZNS, I caught one or two US stations on 1540 at night, stations which shall be nameless....they are supposed to run daytime only.....I think one of them is on tape, and I seriously doubt it was a DX test.

And don't PM me about it....

cd

 

[dave73]

KXEL comes in real clear after local sunset, once WLOI LaPorte, IN signs off. That's the only time I get KXEL in Gary, IN, since WLOI is heard very well for a 250 watt station during daytime hours.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

After analyzing the nighttime applications of hundreds stations, I have come to realize that protecting a fairly low NIF Class B station that is within 500 miles or so is almost as difficult, if not more difficult, than protecting a Class A station 1500 or more miles away. Stations applying for high power are often submitting clipping studies for the protected night groundwave contour points of Class B stations, as well as the points along the nighttime skywave contours of Class A stations. For example, WCXI 1160 is much more limited by Class B WYLL than Class A KSL. Changes in the way skywave is computed for domestic stations do not apply to treaty considerations in the the Atlantic Ocean, and Central and South America. I don't think ZNS is protected to its whole skywave contour over the ocean though. There is a zone surrounding and including the islands that is protected as I recall.

 

[cd637299]

1540 is Bahamas clear....as I understand it, they can go non-directional, but I believe they choose to direct their signal to cover whatever islands they can.

cd