Over-Powered Mexican AM Stations

[Gregg]

A handful of Mexican AM stations operate over the 50,000 watt maximum that U.S. and Canadian stations observe (except for 1180 Radio Marti). I suppose Mexico was allowed exemptions for a few of its Class I-A stations when the North American radio treaties were signed.

Several Mexican stations operate with more than 50,000 watts by day, including 690 XEXX Rosarita-Tijuana, which sends 77,000 watts by day over Southern California and Baja California Norte. But I believe only three Mexican AMs run higher power at night:

730 XEX Mexico City...100,000 watts day and night
900 XEW Mexico City...250,000 watts day and night
1220 XEB Mexico City...100,000 watts day and night

At one time, I think 800 XEROK Ciudad Juarez ran higher power at night, in the days when Wolfman Jack and other legendary programs could be heard throughout the West after sunset. However, according to the most recent info, XEROK operates at 100,000 watts by day but powers down to 50,000 watts at night.

Are these three Mexico City stations heard much north of the Rio Grande, due to their higher power? David Eduardo tells us AM listening is declining quickly in Mexico City, perhaps faster than in large U.S. cities. I wonder if some of these stations might no longer run the higher wattage at night to save money and not notify anyone. Is anyone on this board picking up these stations?


Gregg
[email protected]

 

[cd637299]

I am sure that Mr. Eduardo will chime in here, but until then....

I tend to think that XERF in Cd. Acuna may still be running at least 100,000w at night.....I get it here, albeit poorly, in south FL. Of course, they used to be a 250,000w monster.

As to XEW/XEX/XEB, seemingly I never hear these anymore here. Possibly there was a pattern adjustment, or, co-channel Cuban AM's killing the frequencies......but one would think I could *at least* get XEW, as I have no knowledge of it powering down from 250k.

As an aside, I *did* hear 1590 Mex City 2 weeks ago, and I'm not sure they even run more'n 10k at night.

I plan to check again later on, with my Select-a-Tenna pointed toward Mex City.

Oh, and hasn't their 1110 increased power to 100k? (maybe only daytime)

cd

 

[FreddyE1977]

XEX is pretty commonly heard here in Pittsburgh in the latter part of the evening underneath
local WPIT-AM. WPIT is dialed down to 24 watts at night. They get a lot out of that little
signal, but it is very vulnerable to disruption (lately I have been having early evening issues with
WTNT in Washington, DC, which has not apparently been powering down on time)

 

[cd637299]

XEX is pretty commonly heard here in Pittsburgh in the latter part of the evening underneath
local WPIT-AM. WPIT is dialed down to 24 watts at night. They get a lot out of that little
signal, but it is very vulnerable to disruption (lately I have been having early evening issues with
WTNT in Washington, DC, which has not apparently been powering down on time)

That reminds me....I was in Toronto in 1999 or 2000, and did hear 50k XEQ 940 there....it was quite the shock to me!

We have a local on 940, so I sure won't hear XEQ unless it's online!

cd

 

[davideduardo]

A handful of Mexican AM stations operate over the 50,000 watt maximum that U.S. and Canadian stations observe (except for 1180 Radio Marti). I suppose Mexico was allowed exemptions for a few of its Class I-A stations when the North American radio treaties were signed.

Several Mexican stations operate with more than 50,000 watts by day, including 690 XEXX Rosarita-Tijuana, which sends 77,000 watts by day over Southern California and Baja California Norte. But I believe only three Mexican AMs run higher power at night:

730 XEX Mexico City...100,000 watts day and night
900 XEW Mexico City...250,000 watts day and night
1220 XEB Mexico City...100,000 watts day and night

At one time, I think 800 XEROK Ciudad Juarez ran higher power at night, in the days when Wolfman Jack and other legendary programs could be heard throughout the West after sunset. However, according to the most recent info, XEROK operates at 100,000 watts by day but powers down to 50,000 watts at night.

Are these three Mexico City stations heard much north of the Rio Grande, due to their higher power? David Eduardo tells us AM listening is declining quickly in Mexico City, perhaps faster than in large U.S. cities. I wonder if some of these stations might no longer run the higher wattage at night to save money and not notify anyone. Is anyone on this board picking up these stations?

NARBA allowed for discretion in the power on the clear channels, so stations like XEW were entirely legal in going to 250 kw. However, the XEW site has been built up all around it, and even on top of it (Televisa's soccer club... one of them.... trains there and has gymns and buildings).

XEROK, for a while, did not even operate daytime. No economic reason to do so. It now runs 50 kw day and night, as the power grid will not handle 150 kw any more due to growth in Cd Juárez. And the 50 kw is run at more like 25 to save money.

Running over 50 kw at night are XEG, XEB, XERF (when the transmitter, a full 100 kw works... which is not often), XEX, XEW, XEWA. Daytime, Mexico City on 690, 730, 1220, 1110, 900, 830 are at 100 kw .

Those big AMs have little audience, but should be left on AM as there is no place for the Mexico City, GDL and Monterrey stations to migrate too on FM. 65% to 75% of Mexican AMs are moving off AM. In many states, every AM is going to disappear.

 

[cyberdad]

Shortly after this thread started, I checked out the XERF website, which has an interesting....if incomplete...history of the station. According to the site, a major rebuild/upgrade/restoration (whatever you want to call it) of the facilities was done just a few years ago.

Perhaps. Perhaps not. In my own experience, I haven't heard this once common station in the Midwest for quite some time. In fact, I haven't heard it in the Southeast for quite some time. I'm not sure whether this has to do with reduced power, the far more crowded channel, or some combination of both.

730 and 900 are relatively uncrowded around here, so those are the higher-power stations I hear locally most often. But just as common here is XEOY on 1000 at 50kw....fairly regular under local WMVP. Further south, where we frequently spend a few weeks each year, XEB has a fabulous nighttime signal on 1220. It's not unheard of here in the Chicago area, but typically succumbs to WKNR and the rest of the slop on the channel.

 

[mimo]

XEWA 540 in San Luis Potosi for most of existance was a repeater of the much more powerful XEW 900 in Mexico City, except for in the 90's. It runs 150,000 watts and just bangs into everywhere that CBK doesn't at night. When I lived in southeast Iowa, it was practically a local at night.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

Less than a half hour ago, I recorded the TOH for what I was hearing on 900 - "Doble-U Radio". There's QRM from 910 KECR about 9.3 miles away that I wasn't able to completely eliminate, though. I used a Tecsun PL-606 set to "1 khz" audio bandwidth (IF BW would be 2 kHz), tuned to 899 kHz, with a Select-A-Tenna as an aid.

I don't specifically remember hearing "equis e doble-u", but I do remember something like "doscientos cincuenta mil watts" (IIRC - QRM made it tough) and I think I could catch "transmitiendo de ciudad mexico" or something like that.

A couple minutes later I tuned over to 730, and found a spanish music that was considerably stronger. It's not in the recording, though, and I didn't stick around long enough for any type of ID. Would that have been XEX possibly, or something else? I'm tentatively ruling out XEEBC Ensenada, as this music got nulled when I tried to aim toward Ensenada, and something else came up, although very faint.

 

[davideduardo]

Less than a half hour ago, I recorded the TOH for what I was hearing on 900 - "Doble-U Radio". There's QRM from 910 KECR about 9.3 miles away that I wasn't able to completely eliminate, though. I used a Tecsun PL-606 set to "1 khz" audio bandwidth (IF BW would be 2 kHz), tuned to 899 kHz, with a Select-A-Tenna as an aid.

I don't specifically remember hearing "equis e doble-u", but I do remember something like "doscientos cincuenta mil watts" (IIRC - QRM made it tough) and I think I could catch "transmitiendo de ciudad mexico" or something like that.

A couple minutes later I tuned over to 730, and found a spanish music that was considerably stronger. It's not in the recording, though, and I didn't stick around long enough for any type of ID. Would that have been XEX possibly, or something else? I'm tentatively ruling out XEEBC Ensenada, as this music got nulled when I tried to aim toward Ensenada, and something else came up, although very faint.

XEW only IDs by calls in the legal ID. The rest of the time it is W Radio as it is a net with about 40 affiliates... if you believe their press releases. And there are W Radio nets in Colombia, Chile, etc. All owned by Prisa from Spain.

XEX is sports. I don't think they have music segments, but they might still have some. There are quite a few 730s now, and I'd suspect Ensenada or something closer than Mexico city if the format was music.

 

[davideduardo]

Further south, where we frequently spend a few weeks each year, XEB has a fabulous nighttime signal on 1220. It's not unheard of here in the Chicago area, but typically succumbs to WKNR and the rest of the slop on the channel.

After the WGAR sign off in the early 60's I would often listen to XEB in Cleveland, and frequently convinced my mom to allow me to call in requests. i was fond of the big tropical band called the Sonora Santanera then, and after a while the DJ got to know the gringo kid from the northern US who called and asked for La Boa or something like that. I got put on the air fairly often, which was a trip for a 14 year old.

XEB had a solid signal most nights. In 1963 I visited them and got to meet the voices I heard on the air. Another thrill, to be sure.

Ah, and forgot to mention... two more Mexico City stations with over fifty kw by day. 770 XEABC has 70 kw and 1060 has 100 kw.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

It's funny, but with all of these powerful Mexican stations, I hear very little Spanish-speaking on AM at night than compared to the 1950's when I first became aware of long-distance radio signals. Maybe it's because there are more AM stations in the U.S. now and those AM stations stay on after sundown. It may be my location in Ohio, but in the 1950's much more Spanish speaking was heard on radio here at night including one night when I pcked up some kind of live comedy show that was complete with laughter from the audience.

 

[FreddyE1977]

NARBA allowed for discretion in the power on the clear channels, so stations like XEW were entirely legal in going to 250 kw.

Unless I am mistaken, NARBA required the signatories to license clear channel stations at a minimum power of 50kW.
They were free to go higher if they chose. Here in the US the FCC decided to adopt that 50kW number as the maximum
wattage as a matter of policy, in the wake of all of the backsniping over the WLW 500kW experiement.

 

[cd637299]

It's funny, but with all of these powerful Mexican stations, I hear very little Spanish-speaking on AM at night than compared to the 1950's when I first became aware of long-distance radio signals. Maybe it's because there are more AM stations in the U.S. now and those AM stations stay on after sundown. It may be my location in Ohio, but in the 1950's much more Spanish speaking was heard on radio here at night including one night when I pcked up some kind of live comedy show that was complete with laughter from the audience.

I would say that the deregulation of the Mexican clears (730/800/900/1050/1220/1570), to where US stations can run power at night, would explain the lack of espanol.

As I said, even from here in south FL, I sure don't hear these border blasters like I did 35 years ago.

cd

 

[davideduardo]

Unless I am mistaken, NARBA required the signatories to license clear channel stations at a minimum power of 50kW.
They were free to go higher if they chose. Here in the US the FCC decided to adopt that 50kW number as the maximum
wattage as a matter of policy, in the wake of all of the backsniping over the WLW 500kW experiement.

The text of NARBA is at http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB-FCC-Rules/1940-rules.pdf to check out.

I think the 1 A clear were 50 kw minimum, but as stations like KPMC and ZNS illustrated, that was not the limit for 1-B's.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Thanks! I was going on memories out of a textbook from a long time ago.

 

[cyberdad]

As I said, even from here in south FL, I sure don't hear these border blasters like I did 35 years ago.

cd

I'm going to be in Texas next week. Dallas, Houston, and mostly Austin. I'll make it a point to check out the border blasters (and the DX scene in general). At least to the extent that I can in hotel rooms. I'll report anything of note. Before I get to Texas, I've got a weekend in Kansas City, but based on past experience, I doubt anything other than local signals will penetrate my hotel there.

 

[gar hi]

I don't know if it was from Mexico or Cuba but some station was completely blowing away 540 from Orlando for a while tonight here in Tampa.

It was completely dominating the frequency for a time and that's a first from what I've seen anyway.

 

[Gregg]

I'm not sure if that is a Cuban or perhaps 540 XEWA San Luis Potosi, which we now know runs 150,000 watts day and night.

So here is the revised list of Mexican stations that run more than 50,000 watts at night...

540 XEWA San Luis Potosi...150,000 watts
730 XEX Mexico City...100,000 watts
900 XEW Mexico CIty...250,000 watts
1050 XEG Monterrey...100,000 watts
1220 XEB Mexico City...100,000 watts
1570 XERF Ciudad Acuna...100,000 watts

It's odd how different sources conflict... www.radio-locator.com has 1570 XERF at 250,000 watts at all times. But Fred Cantu's website, mexicoradiotv.com, lists it at 100 kw, and David concurs. I also checked www.radiostationworld.com but sometimes all three sources are in conflict. I realize that, while radio-locator is very reliable for U.S. stations, it really isn't up-to-date on Mexican and Canadian stations.

So now I'm wondering how 540 XEWA and CBK co-exist. XEWA is 150,000 watts non-directional and CBK Watrous-Regina is 50,000 watts non-directional. I think that's worth a separate thread.

Gregg
[email protected]

 

[jd]

I realize that, while radio-locator is very reliable for U.S. stations, it really isn't up-to-date on Mexican and Canadian stations.

I'd say that Radio-Locator is generally a reliable source for the U.S., but often they are slow to react, be it with new stations or changes to existing ones. If you've ever submitted a change you may find that it isn't reflected within a reasonable length of time, if at all.

For stations in Canada and Mexico it appears that R-I's sole source for information might be the FCC database, which contains listings for many stations that haven't existed for years. Many of those stations were "notified" (and in most cases "approved") at one time, meaning that the particular allocation required concurrence from other countries, e.g., the U.S. The problem is that the information isn't updated; entries for stations still appear in the official record regardless of their status for many years. It doesn't stop with just the listings, however, as discussed here in the past. The U.S. is still obligated to afford protection to the coverage areas of "phantom stations," and even with vast numbers of Canadian and Mexican stations continuing to move to FM, it won't have any affect in this country in the foreseeable future.

 

[davideduardo]

So now I'm wondering how 540 XEWA and CBK co-exist. XEWA is 150,000 watts non-directional and CBK Watrous-Regina is 50,000 watts non-directional. I think that's worth a separate thread.

540 was made into a joint Mexican and Canadian clear in the 50's to satisfy the complaints that Mexico had been shortchanged in NARBA. There were many complaints, including one regarding previously licensed US stations that dumped signal over Mexico at night... Mexico got 540, and Canada, rather than losing clears based on population to an insistent Mexico.

Of course, there is not much different in PJB with 500 kw on 800 with XELO running 150 kw on the same channel. The difference is that Mexico, Canada and the US were bound by treaty, while the Netherlands Antilles and Mexico weren't.

Or Caracas with 100 kw on 750 with WSB on the same channel... HRVW in San Pedro Sula on 650 with 50 kw and WSM there as well.