"New" Regulars

[cyberdad]

I had a thought this morning....

DXing the AM band has changed quite a bit over the past few years. And one of the more obvious changes are stations operating at night on day power. Or, if not day power, then higher power or different patterns than previously. The result, of course, is that in some cases, stations that we never heard are now present on a frequent basis.

So without getting into "which ones might be legal and which ones might not", my question is which stations have become regular catches for you g that you never used to hear. I'll go first with a couple that I'm hearing almost daily of late, that I never (or almost never) used to hear before....

610: KDAL, Duluth, MN. I tried for it for years, then one morning before sunrise a couple of years ago, there it was. Now I hear it just about every time I land on 610. Usually with a good signal. KDAL has replaced KCSP as the usual occupant of 610 at my location

680: CJOB, Winnipeg, MB 680 historically here has been splatter from local 670 WMAQ/WSCR. Since the 1960s, I heard CJOB at my home location only once or twice. Usually, if anything was able to break through the splatter from 670, it would be little WCTT/680 from Corbin, KY....or KNBR once in a great while back in the day. But recently, CJOB has been present more often than not. Fair at best, but strong enough to break through.

Those two are off the top of my head. If/when others come to mind, I'll post them.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

lol

1107 Magic Talk Tauranga, NZ at 5kw..... knowing what to look for and when, I hear it way more often then you'd think.

 

[cyberdad]

lol

1107 Magic Talk Tauranga, NZ at 5kw..... knowing what to look for and when, I hear it way more often then you'd think.

That's certainly a nice one for a regular. Have you ever snagged 2CH from Sydney Australia? 5kw on 1170. I guess that would not qualify as a regular, and I'd also suspect that KJNP would be a major pest. But my understanding is that other DXers around the pacific rim have heard it. I've tried for it on the Hawaii SDRs without success.

 

[ZantennaG1]

Day: I didn't discover several stations until this year, but 730 KXXX and 970 KJLT have become more common

Night: I never really used to grab WCKY Cincinnati (1,075 mi), usually it was too faint and KXEL splatter hurt it quite a bit, but this year it has been in nice and strong almost every night, allowing several chances to identify it (which I did get a video of), and for the fun of it I would flip back and forth between KSTP and WCKY since they are both ESPN. Good times!

Also, Canadians like CKDM, CKJH and CBW have made their presence known this summer.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

That's certainly a nice one for a regular. Have you ever snagged 2CH from Sydney Australia? 5kw on 1170. I guess that would not qualify as a regular, and I'd also suspect that KJNP would be a major pest. But my understanding is that other DXers around the pacific rim have heard it. I've tried for it on the Hawaii SDRs without success.

I have not.. its either KJNP or the megawatt plus from south korea on 1170

 

[icybluelake]

I had a thought this morning....

DXing the AM band has changed quite a bit over the past few years. And one of the more obvious changes are stations operating at night on day power. Or, if not day power, then higher power or different patterns than previously. The result, of course, is that in some cases, stations that we never heard are now present on a frequent basis.

So without getting into "which ones might be legal and which ones might not", my question is which stations have become regular catches for you g that you never used to hear. I'll go first with a couple that I'm hearing almost daily of late, that I never (or almost never) used to hear before....

610: KDAL, Duluth, MN. I tried for it for years, then one morning before sunrise a couple of years ago, there it was. Now I hear it just about every time I land on 610. Usually with a good signal. KDAL has replaced KCSP as the usual occupant of 610 at my location

680: CJOB, Winnipeg, MB 680 historically here has been splatter from local 670 WMAQ/WSCR. Since the 1960s, I heard CJOB at my home location only once or twice. Usually, if anything was able to break through the splatter from 670, it would be little WCTT/680 from Corbin, KY....or KNBR once in a great while back in the day. But recently, CJOB has been present more often than not. Fair at best, but strong enough to break through.

Those two are off the top of my head. If/when others come to mind, I'll post them.

KDAL and CJOB for me, too. Those were the first two that came to mind. I’d add KGOW 1560 from Houston, which has been a regular for a little longer but still kind of a new regular.

 

[cyberdad]

Day: I didn't discover several stations until this year, but 730 KXXX and 970 KJLT have become more common

Night: I never really used to grab WCKY Cincinnati (1,075 mi), usually it was too faint and KXEL splatter hurt it quite a bit, but this year it has been in nice and strong almost every night, allowing several chances to identify it (which I did get a video of), and for the fun of it I would flip back and forth between KSTP and WCKY since they are both ESPN. Good times!

Also, Canadians like CKDM, CKJH and CBW have made their presence known this summer.

KXXX is on 790. They have a (heck) of a day signal, but I've never heard them at night around here. Same goes for KJLT on 970. CKDM on 730 has been a a longtime occasional visitor for me, but they've definitely been more common lately. KSTP also is more common at my location than it used to be. (1500 actually be pretty empty "back in the day" or "night") WCKY is definitely weaker here when they go to night pattern...which is usually about two hours after sunset here in the Chicago area.

KDAL and CJOB for me, too. Those were the first two that came to mind. I’d add KGOW 1560 from Houston, which has been a regular for a little longer but still kind of a new regular.

I used to hear KGOW a few years back when they powered up in the morning. Haven't heard them lately, however.

 

[crainbebo]

CJOB here too, they are pesty under KNBR most nights when the east is open. I would also pick KIGS 620 Hanford CA with their Punjabi format...way more common nowadays than CKRM, the old regular under KPOJ. And XEABCA 820 Mexicali, very common, sometimes more than WBAP.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

KXXX is on 790. They have a (heck) of a day signal, but I've never heard them at night around here. Same goes for KJLT on 970. CKDM on 730 has been a a longtime occasional visitor for me, but they've definitely been more common lately. KSTP also is more common at my location than it used to be. (1500 actually be pretty empty "back in the day" or "night") WCKY is definitely weaker here when they go to night pattern...which is usually about two hours after sunset here in the Chicago area.


I used to hear KGOW a few years back when they powered up in the morning. Haven't heard them lately, however.

CKDM would POUND in right before sunset in the winter in Laramie, WY.

KXX was heard often before sunset.. im on "farm n country 790" overnights 11pm-5am 7 days a week.

KJLT was a semi regular sunrise and sunset visitor too, and quite strong in WY

 

[ZantennaG1]

KXXX is on 790. They have a (heck) of a day signal, but I've never heard them at night around here. Same goes for KJLT on 970. CKDM on 730 has been a a longtime occasional visitor for me, but they've definitely been more common lately. KSTP also is more common at my location than it used to be. (1500 actually be pretty empty "back in the day" or "night") WCKY is definitely weaker here when they go to night pattern...which is usually about two hours after sunset here in the Chicago area.


I used to hear KGOW a few years back when they powered up in the morning. Haven't heard them lately, however.

Yep I meant 790 not 730! I have to say KGOW is more common here this year as well with its distinctive Vietnamese.

 

[K8PLW]

CMHW from Cuba on 840 khz. While they may have been on the frequency for decades, something changed about 3 years ago. They're in nearly every night now. More of a pest, as WHAS is a DX station that i actually enjoy listening to in the evening.

 

[cyberdad]

Yep I meant 790 not 730! I have to say KGOW is more common here this year as well with its distinctive Vietnamese.

Actually, if KXXX is running day power at night on 790, it's a target that I'll definitely go after. Fortunately for me at my location, nulling WBBM should line up pretty well with northwest Kansas, and make the task easier. 790 has been a relatively open channel around here ever since CKSO (Sudbury, ON) migrated to FM a number of years ago. CKSO used to break through WBBM splatter on a fairly frequent basis.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Actually, if KXXX is running day power at night on 790, it's a target that I'll definitely go after. Fortunately for me at my location, nulling WBBM should line up pretty well with northwest Kansas, and make the task easier. 790 has been a relatively open channel around here ever since CKSO (Sudbury, ON) migrated to FM a number of years ago. CKSO used to break through WBBM splatter on a fairly frequent basis.

They usually dont... i lived in Laramie for 2 years.. and never once heard them after dark, it was always KGHL Billings, MT which has 1KW or mroe at night, non directional, as i recall.

 

[cyberdad]

CKDM would POUND in right before sunset in the winter in Laramie, WY.

Back in the 80s and 90s, I used to be in the Twin Cities about every 6-8 weeks. I was usually still working until around sundown, but they were an easy catch there after dark. Ditto for northern Wisconsin.

 

[cyberdad]

CJOB here too, they are pesty under KNBR most nights when the east is open. I would also pick KIGS 620 Hanford CA with their Punjabi format...way more common nowadays than CKRM, the old regular under KPOJ. And XEABCA 820 Mexicali, very common, sometimes more than WBAP.

Last couple of times I was in Seattle-Vancouver (BC), I was hearing Punjabi and thinking it was from somewhere in Canada. I thinj the 620 from Hanford is KNGS....at least that's what I think I remember them as. (Kings county, California). I also seem to remember them as country. Maybe they flipped call letters and format. I never DXed them. Just heard them on daytime drives up 101 from Santa Barbara to San Jose.

CKCK/CKRM has been a longtime pest around here for WTMJ at night. At least when they were CKCK and interrupted my listening to Packers football broadcasts, they had the decency to do it with oldies.

 

[gr8oldies]

One obvious one, in Knoxville and Indianapolis, CHOK and WCSZ on 1070 (in Knoxville and on the Edinburgh IN SDR in the absence of WFNI.
CKLW (especially on the Edinburgh SDR) at night. From that and other reports, the formerly Big 8 seems to be on day power/pattern 24/7 (I'll be happy to be proven wrong).
Also on Edinburgh, KHOW Clinton, IL on 1520 in place of a local that appears to be off the air or running just enough for the translator.

 

[ZantennaG1]

One obvious one, in Knoxville and Indianapolis, CHOK and WCSZ on 1070 (in Knoxville and on the Edinburgh IN SDR in the absence of WFNI.
CKLW (especially on the Edinburgh SDR) at night. From that and other reports, the formerly Big 8 seems to be on day power/pattern 24/7 (I'll be happy to be proven wrong).
Also on Edinburgh, KHOW Clinton, IL on 1520 in place of a local that appears to be off the air or running just enough for the translator.

At just 250 watts day, and turning off at night, WHOW would be a dream catch from here for sure! Yeah "K"HOW is a lot easier though

 

[boombox4]

Lately it's been the ranchero station on 1330, I think it's the Spokane station, KYOZ (which used to be rock, and now is Regional Mexican music). It used to be just KKPZ Portland (religion) and CJYM Rosetown, Saskatchewan (classic hits) mixing, and the Spokane station would appear around 5-6 a.m., depending on sunrise, and depending on conditions. But since they've gone ranchero, KYOZ often dominate the frequency, and did actually dominate it when KKPZ was off the air for a few months.

Another notable change is CHED 630 (Edmonton AB). Often it's been S3-S4, and I usually hear them on the channel on the nights they're not dominating the channel. When I was younger I never heard them, except maybe once, on a fluke reception of them.

There are a few others, but those are the notable ones.

 

[cyberdad]

At just 250 watts day, and turning off at night, WHOW would be a dream catch from here for sure! Yeah "K"HOW is a lot easier though

I thought (?)-HOW...of Illinois on 1520....used to be 5kw during daytime. Maybe I'm thinking of something else.

 

[MichaelTheZ]

I haven't been DXing long enough to have any really good examples of this. The only thing that comes to mind is recently WLOI 1540 in La Porte, Indiana started coming in a lot better for me in Chicago when they switched formats a couple of years back. I'm pretty sure it was a 250 W daytimer both before and after the change, but before I could barely hear it, while now it's a weak but listenable station when it's on. Maybe they changed the transmitting pattern when they did the format change.