Question about XMTR sites

[DavidKaye]

I've picked up KGO from Santa Barbara clear up to near the Oregon border. That's a HUGE signal......

That's a huge signal north and south, but not so well in Stockton or Manteca, just 80 miles to the east.

 

[SCV_Ears]

I've picked up KGO from Santa Barbara clear up to near the Oregon border. That's a HUGE signal......

That's a huge signal north and south, but not so well in Stockton or Manteca, just 80 miles to the east.

I've heard KGO disappear off my dial crossing Highway 99 in Merced County.

 

[semoochie]

Before the talk show revolution, KGO had a 26 share at night in Portland! They even had some local spots.

 

[DavidKaye]

Before the talk show revolution, KGO had a 26 share at night in Portland! They even had some local spots.

And that was with KPDQ on 800 in Portland -- THAT is how much people liked to listen to KGO's live 'n' local talk at night.

 

[semoochie]

This was before they broke up the Mexican clears. KPDQ was still a daytimer.

 

[DavidKaye]

This was before they broke up the Mexican clears. KPDQ was still a daytimer.

Oh. I always remember KPDQ as a fulltimer with a signal that required me to drive toward Gresham in order to pull in KGO better.

(By the way, the callsign KPDQ referred to the PDQ oil company which once owned it. And that acronym stood for "pretty damned quick", which originally was a reference to a lady of the evening. "Quick" meant licentious. Thus, a Christian station with the callsign "PDQ" is a cute joke.

 

[Merfelberf]

I've picked up KGO from Santa Barbara clear up to near the Oregon border. That's a HUGE signal......

A few years back, I was awake at 4 am on a Monday morning in the West Palm Beach, Florida area, killing time by DX'ing with my little portable Aiwa radio before getting ready to head to the airport. When I landed on 680 and got a station ID, it was KNBR. As strong as KGO is in many places on the West Coast, you've gotta admit that's some signal -- the southeast coast of Florida is easily 2500 miles from Redwood Shores, and it's not a water path.

 

[DanStrassberg]

A few years back, I was awake at 4 am on a Monday morning in the West Palm Beach, Florida area, killing time by DX'ing with my little portable Aiwa radio before getting ready to head to the airport. When I landed on 680 and got a station ID, it was KNBR. As strong as KGO is in many places on the West Coast, you've gotta admit that's some signal -- the southeast coast of Florida is easily 2500 miles from Redwood Shores, and it's not a water path.

Conceivably two-hop skywave, with the first hop touching down in Kansas or Nebraska, where the excellent ground conductivity would facilitate the second hop. Somebody more knowledgeable than I am about such things would have to comment on the likelihood of such conditions; my explanation is pure speculation.

 

[semoochie]

Before KPDQ went Religious in 1959, their on air slogan was "pretty darn quick". While not completely before my time, I turned 6 that year and it wasn't a station I frequented. It's also on the other side of town.

 

[LKellerIII]

This was before they broke up the Mexican clears. KPDQ was still a daytimer.

Oh. I always remember KPDQ as a fulltimer with a signal that required me to drive toward Gresham in order to pull in KGO better.

(By the way, the callsign KPDQ referred to the PDQ oil company which once owned it. And that acronym stood for "pretty damned quick", which originally was a reference to a lady of the evening. "Quick" meant licentious. Thus, a Christian station with the callsign "PDQ" is a cute joke.

Interesting take on the origin of 'PDQ.' I had never heard that. According to what I've found (internet research), 'PDQ' was originated and popularized by American playwright Benjamin E. Woolf. In his 1875 play, The Mighty Dollar, the main character was a greedy money-grubbing judge who liked to talk in abbreviations, including "TTT" ("tip-top-time") "GIC" (as in "his goose is cooked"), and "PDQ" for "pretty darned quick.' But it just meant - he wanted something done quickly. It had no sexual connotation. Perhaps that came later.

 

[rricci]

KGO 810, probably the strongest AM signal in the Bay Area...

Stronger than 50kW ND KNBR, Llew? Stronger than 50kW ND KTRB during days?

OK - maybe you got me there, DJ. Note that I did say "probably."

And I guess I was remembering that my mother used to listen to KGO at night when I was a kid in the 60s...in Los Angeles. I used to DX San Francisco stations at night, too - and never recall hearing KNBR...but perhaps I did tune in 680, and was bored by an Andy Williams record, and moved down the dial to 610/KFRC.

I remember bacl in 1974, we were in Palm Springs. I wa 11 years old. We were in the car. At that time, I didn't know much about how radio signals worked. I do recall being amazed that I was able to pick up KFRC from down there.

 

[DavidKaye]

I remember back in 1974, we were in Palm Springs. I wa 11 years old. We were in the car. At that time, I didn't know much about how radio signals worked. I do recall being amazed that I was able to pick up KFRC from down there.

The former KFRC at 610 had a phenomenal signal using 5kw. They're diplexed onto the KVTO tower at 601 Ashby in Berkeley. That's the single tower you see from the I-80 freeway at the Ashby Avenue exit. The tower is on the bay itself. That was the reason CBS had to get rid of 610 -- they had to lessen their radio penetration into Sacramento. Sac is within the city grade contour of 610, even though it's 80 miles away!

 

[fybush]

Stockton, actually. The FCC's rules about radio/TV ownership caps are weird: radio ownership is determined entirely by Arbitron market lines, so 610 never factored against CBS ownership in Sacramento or Stockton. But when a company owns both radio and TV stations, there's another set of ownership caps that comes into play, determined by signal overlap over the city of license of each TV station. CBS already owned Sacramento-licensed KMAX-TV 31, but when it bought Stockton-licensed KOVR-TV 13, the FCC had to look at which CBS-owned radio stations put a city-grade contour over Stockton city limits, and the combination of Sacramento/Stockton stations and 610 would have put CBS one station over the limit there.

 

[recto101]

95.3 FM and 1190 am are behind the arby's and Vallejo Nissan on Sonoma Boulevard. The question is where is Ozcat's Xmtr at?

 

[Lou_S]

KUIC is actually on Mt. Vaca, what's on the old 1190 tower is an on channel booster to improve 95.3's Vallejo coverage.

I say "old" tower because 1190 is now diplexed with 3.5 Kw from a 4 tower array shared with 1640. It's south of Highway 37 near Sears Point Raceway. Look closely because it's a mile or two south of the highway and the towers are unpainted.

BTW ... when the expanded band stations were allocated, they were given to existing licensees, not new applicants. Then the stations they replaced (1190 in this case) were supposed to go away 5 years later to lessen band congestion. Obviously this didn't happen, since 1190 is not only still on the air but using more power now than it had then. What happened?

 

[Lou_S]

Almost forgot... Ozcat is on a hilltop south of Hiddenbrooke Parkway with 7 watts and a directional antenna with a big null to the southeast. Their transmitter site and 60 dbu contour are shown here.

 

[DavidKaye]

BTW ... when the expanded band stations were allocated, they were given to existing licensees, not new applicants. Then the stations they replaced (1190 in this case) were supposed to go away 5 years later to lessen band congestion. Obviously this didn't happen, since 1190 is not only still on the air but using more power now than it had then. What happened?

I guess what happened is that AM went to hell in the interim. What daytimer can survive with any format but brokered foreign language or religion? And even that can be touch and go.

 

[semoochie]

Portland's 1290AM was the recipient of (I believe)the second expanded band station awarded. The idea was to give up either the original or expanded band station 5 years after the latter was licensed. This process took several years but the stations were finally licensed. 1290 and 1640 were sold to Disney and the former was leased back to Crawford Broadcasting(the previous owner), with the understanding that it would have to go dark at the end of the 5 years and that's exactly what happened. Soon after that, stations started complaining to the FCC about having to give back one of their frequencies and that's the last I heard about it, except that many of them are still on the air.

 

[DaveBayArea]

that's the last I heard about it, except that many of them are still on the air.

In fact, your example in Portland is the only one I've heard of that's NOT on the air. Although there must be others.

Dave B.

 

[recto101]

Almost forgot... Ozcat is on a hilltop south of Hiddenbrooke Parkway with 7 watts and a directional antenna with a big null to the southeast. Their transmitter site and 60 dbu contour are shown here.

I always wondered if 89.5 fm transmitter was at hiddenbrooke.