Little Blowtorches

[cyberdad]

Pianoplayer's thread about stations other than "class 1" dominating their channels got me thinking....

What about "little blowtorches"? I mean stations with 1kw or less that are (or were) still heard via skywave across large areas at night.

Off the top of my head, I can think of two of these.....both 1kw directional.....

KSTT in Davenport Iowa. 1170 parked nicely in the WWVA and KVOO nulls. Tough catch here in the Chicago area, but a solid nighttime signal in northern and western Wisconsin and most of Minnesota. Now as KJOC, it's more do-able than back-in-the-day in the Chicago area at night, which I attribute to Cumulus being less assiduous about maintaining the pattern than KSTT owner Fred Epstein had been.

WDXR in Paducah, KY. 1560 Regularly obliterated New York around here. Eventually they went to 5kw and continued to wipe out New York in its WQEW days.

 

[radioman148]

Pianoplayer's thread about stations other than "class 1" dominating their channels got me thinking....

What about "little blowtorches"? I mean stations with 1kw or less that are (or were) still heard via skywave across large areas at night.

Off the top of my head, I can think of two of these.....both 1kw directional.....

KSTT in Davenport Iowa. 1170 parked nicely in the WWVA and KVOO nulls. Tough catch here in the Chicago area, but a solid nighttime signal in northern and western Wisconsin and most of Minnesota. Now as KJOC, it's more do-able than back-in-the-day in the Chicago area at night, which I attribute to Cumulus being less assiduous about maintaining the pattern than KSTT owner Fred Epstein had been.

WDXR in Paducah, KY. 1560 Regularly obliterated New York around here. Eventually they went to 5kw and continued to wipe out New York in its WQEW days.

I remember back in the day WDXR usually bumping WQXR out also when I listened in the Chicago area. I also used to get WAKR well in the 60s, but I think they were 5KW not 1KW.

 

[Icangelp]

Here in Southwest Ohio

680/WCTT in Corbin KY - For me, the only one that legitimately qualifies. They are 800 watts directional.
1560/WDLR Deleware OH - Haven't checked lately, but (I assume) they stayed on day power & were present almost every night.

The old days...in Indianapolis

640 WHLO Akron - On till KFI local sunset, with a reliable signal until shutdown.
910 KGLC Miami OK - Only 1 KW directional.
1560 WDXR Paducah KY - 1 KW directional.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Three stations I recall from the mid-Sixties were helped greatly by water-path, so I don't know if that qualifies. They might fit in to things by their powers, though.

In their Beautiful Music years, WIOD 610 from Miami used to give WIP fits all the way up into eastern Queens in NYC at night. And years later, when they actually carried Islanders Hockey games, they were pretty solid on a car radio at night. WIP was a tough station to null, and has a great signal. But WIOD's 1000-watt omni signal, helped by several billion acres of salt water, was a regular even with no help from the occasional Aurora, at times overriding WIP's signal.

Again, being water-path, plus being omni, plus being on 540 certainly didn't hurt WLIX from Islip Long Island, either. I once heard them and their wee 250 watts on the Delaware Memorial Bridge one August afternoon around 1PM. They've been fooling with the directional stuff and power raises for several years now. But with the fading popularity of AM (which for that dial's Beautiful Music stations began around 1970) few people lately have been marvelling at their signal.
In their 'day', however, WLIX and its Sunday Italian hours were on radios in Brooklyn. That's not water path.

Many will remember the days when the old Class IV stations were given the go-ahead for 1000 watts day and 250 night back in the late Sixties. For a few weeks around that time, little omni WCMC 1230 from Wildwood N.J. was doing some form of overnight programming, perhaps for the beach season. Naturally, they sailed up the ocean to our neck of the woods near Kennedy Airport very well, almost alone, overnight for the duration.
In fact, even during the day, WCMC was audible, IDable and solid, under the closer WFAS from inland White Plains NY.
The kicker is : WCMC not only hadn't upgraded yet ; they were running just 100 watts day and night.

 

[gar hi]

In their Beautiful Music years, WIOD 610 from Miami used to give WIP fits all the way up into eastern Queens in NYC at night. And years later, when they actually carried Islanders Hockey games, they were pretty solid on a car radio at night. WIP was a tough station to null, and has a great signal. But WIOD's 1000-watt omni signal, helped by several billion acres of salt water, was a regular even with no help from the occasional Aurora, at times overriding WIP's signal.

I didn't know WIOD was a nighttime regular where you are.

Since I grew up not far from WIP's stick, I could never DX for WIOD or KFRC which was on my DX wish list for years but I'll never forget the one time I heard WIOD on top of WIP up in Bethlehem, Pa (about 50 miles north of Philly) back in early '81.

I was in my college dorm alone late at night and I was DXing with my stereo system (one of those with the record player and built in cassette player) and I was moving the unit to null out WIP to see if I could possibly hear KFRC because I had just gotten back from visiting California.

So I knew hearing a 5kw station like KFRC would be a real long shot but I tried anyway and that's when I heard WIOD take over WIP when I nulled it out with a good signal too which was a nice unexpected surprise I always wanted to hear a Miami AM station up north years earlier after we vacationed in Miami.

So I listened again the next couple of nights and I couldn't hear it at all.

 

[crainbebo]

A few times each winter I can get KHAT 1210 in Laramie, WY. 1kw at 900 miles from Bellevue, WA (regular FM Es distance!)

-crainbebo

 

[charlestondxman]

730 KQPN, one of the sports stations in the Memphis area (West Memphis, AR). Only has a highly directional 1kw at night, unheard 15 miles from transmitter, but frequently comes in all throughout the Southeast. Heard very frequently in Charleston, SC area while local 730 was off the air.

WGVL 1440 Greenville, SC. Very average daytime signal, needs a simulcast in Upstate, but nighttime can be heard with 5kw on high frequency most places in SC except for spots where there's a station next to it.

1280 WANS Anderson. 1kw, tight lobe, but frequently heard along SC and GA coast at night.

Our local 910, WTMZ. 500 watts from a marsh in North Charleston; 2 towers, but has huge strength. I've heard it in Asheville and Gainesville, FL at night, and Athens, GA during critical hours.

 

[crainbebo]

Updated - since I wanted to add a couple

KEYF 1050 Dishman, WA 260W and 230 miles away from Marysville, WA - in almost every night, ON TOP!
KRVM 1280 Eugene OR 1.5KW 270mi - usually strong to the south at night competing with KIT. Didn't used to hear it a lot at night.
CFLD 760 Burns Lake BC 500W - usually in, weakly, but about every night.

-crainbebo

 

[cyberdad]

Since we're bumping up the thread, I'll take a moment and "second" what Icangelp said several weeks ago about WCTT from Corbin, KY on 680. Here northwest of Chicago, it's hard to pull anything out from under WSCR's massive signal on 670...especially now with the iboc turned back on.

But...if you null WSCR just right and go to 680...WCTT sneaks through as likely as not. Doubly surprising, given that there are a number of higher-powered 680s in the eastern U.S.

 

[purpledevil]

I'll nominate K double AM from Garland. Don't know how far it reaches up north of the Red River but to the south it is audible here in Houston pretty much every evening. 770 runs 1 kilowatt at night.

 

[crainbebo]

I'll also nominate...
700 KXLX Airway Heights WA (600W night) always in there mixing with KGRV. Never a time that I can try for The Big WLW...
1440 KMED Medford OR (1KW) always on top at night, 365 nights a year.
1360 KFIV Modesto CA (950W) I don't know if they are running 950W at night or the full 4KW, but I can get them almost every night now right under KKMO.

-crainbebo

 

[gr8oldies]

WAKR-1590 comes to mind. I've heard it frequently in Indiana, western Ohio and even here in Tennessee. I remember back in the day getting the old WCSC, Charleston on 1390 mixed with others but sometimes on top - even though the pattern didn't favor Ohio. Same with WLCY-1380 in Tampa, back in the 70s.

 

[gar hi]

WQAM Miami reduces their power to 1kw at night and is still a regular here 200 miles away.

The signal is often a lot better at night than it is in the day and becomes strong for periods of time unless the Cuban (?) on 560 dominates as it has been a lot tonight.

 

[JeffM]

Near Duluth, MN; I can sometimes pick up WNWI from Oak Lawn IL, even though they're often swamped by KRLD from Dallas. (You ain't lived till you've heard rap in Serbian...)