KZQZ

[cyberdad]

This station....KZQZ/1430 from St. Louis....has been discussed from time to time briefly in other threads. The main question being whether they are up and running at 50kw (daytime power/directional). In case the question hasn't been answered, I'll settle it here. Indeed they are at 50kw...and the signal is pretty impressive.

I spent parts of yesterday and today in Southern Illinois and spent last night in St. Louis. Yesterday, I had an 11am appointment in Effingham, IL....100 miles east of St. Louis...and the signal was still strong enough to trip the "scan" button in my rental car. I had come from Indianapolis, and was hearing KZQZ start to mix with the Indy (5kw) 1430 as I approached the Illinois-Indiana state line on I-70. Effingham was still more than 50 miles away. Today, driving northeast towards home from St. Louis on I-55, I also had a good signal for a little over 100 miles, past Springfield, IL.

Just in case I couldn't figure out on my own that the station had powered up....references to "50 thousand watts" were being made several times an hour.

I believe the night pattern is the same as before the daytime upgrade....5kw figure eight with the bigger lobe to the north-northwest. I stayed at a hotel west of downtown and there were a few holes in the signal where I was.

As impressive as the day signal was, the audio was so-so at best. Then there's the matter of the voice-tracked morning jock today. What was running was yesterday's show. Complete with references to "Tuesday" and yesterdays weather forecast. On top of that, the songs being played weren't the ones being announced. Neil Diamond's "Song Sung Blue" was announced....Elton John's "Crockodile Rock" then subsequently played. Oops! This went on all morning.

A better listen...and a good signal in its own right...was when I got a little further up I-55 and caught WIRL (1290) out of Peoria. Not exactly a re-creation of WIRL's days as a local top-40 legend. But a live jock, good oldies mix, and a number of vintage WIRL jingles mixed in. Great fun! I hope it lasts...and I hope they get their stream back up and running.

 

[audioguy]

I get these guys mixed up with KQQZ, which is also audible in a large part of Illinois, including where I live. I normally can't hear KZQZ because of a local foreign language station on the same frequency.

 

[Tincap]

I just love those call letters, but only in the American pronunciation, Kay-Zee Cue-Zee. Our pronunciation, Kay-Zed Cue-Zed, just wouldn't cut it.

~BG

 

[Icangelp]

I have heard them in Southwest Ohio, but mostly during the transition hours.

It seems to me their signal has to interfere with WXNT in Indianapolis, at least during sunset hours.

Anyone know the story why they received authorization for 50 KW?

 

[cyberdad]

I just love those call letters, but only in the American pronunciation, Kay-Zee Cue-Zee. Our pronunciation, Kay-Zed Cue-Zed, just wouldn't cut it.

~BG

I was actually thinking yesterday that Kay-Zed Cue-Zed wouldn't have quite the same ring to it. As for Icangelp's wondering about them interfering with WXNT in Indianapolis.... I can see where that might be an issue during critical hours. But I spent Monday night in Indianapolis, and didn't hear a trace of them. In the hotel or in the car....but then again, I had a local-grade signal on WXNT. Tuesday morning, driving west on I-70, I didn't start hearing KZQZ in the background until I was well beyond the range that I would think WXNT would consider to be of interest to them. According to Radio-Locator, KZQZ's main daytime lobe is actually aimed somewhat to the north of Indianapolis....although Indy is far from situated in the main daytime null (which is to the southeast).

FWIW at night here in the Chicago area, Indy and St. Louis more or less take turns being on top, which has been the case for as long as I can remember...going back to the WIRE/WIL days. The foreign language station audioguy mentioned throws most of its juice over Lake Michigan (IIRC), so it's not much of a pest in most locations.