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Regional (5kw, 10kw) powerhouses

C

charlestondxman

I live in a good part of the South, near the coast, and as you know, you can get most of the 50kw clears from around the East Coast almost anywhere east of the Mississippi and beyond.

However, there are many smaller stations that can come in with such clarity at night that you may think they are your clear channels.

Where I live, there are several major ones which merit mention. WMAC in Macon, GA, even though they are 50kw (one of the worst signals for a 50kw), has the Braves, and for many people around the rural parts of the SE, they are your only station to hear Skip Caray, Pete Van Wieren, and the team.

WDMG 860 from Douglas, GA also has a strong signal, 5kw day and night, and I can often hear them in the Charleston area, with their boring news-talk format. They do have some good local news, and serve a hole in an under-radioed area.

WBMQ in Savannah (630) also used to be reliable day and night between Charleston and Jacksonville, and up the coast, but when they dropped their night signal to under fifty watts, they lost thousands of potential listeners. They are still the station to listen to for the Georgia Bulldogs in our part of SC (probably the third most popular major college football team after Clemson and South Carolina), so thousands of people still tune them in to hear Larry Munson (sad that he may leave soon) :'(

WHKY (1290) in Hickory, NC is also a big signal, carrying NASCAR races to a large portion of the Carolinas. The sad thing is that they forget to drop their power at night, and that frequency is overloaded with them at sunset even down into SE Georgia, as heard on this board.

What are your regional powerhouses (no 50kw signals)?
 
Two come that come to mind in here Northern Illinois are WIRL 1290 and WMBD 1470 from Peoria. 5kw...short skip. WONE in Dayton, OH is another 5kw station that skips in here fairly well on 980. Then there's the 5kw Radio Disney from Belleville, IL (St. Louis metro). These stations used to come in just like the clears at night...now they're less listenable but still usually dominant as the channels have gotten more crowded.
 
cyberdad said:
Two come that come to mind in here Northern Illinois are WIRL 1290 and WMBD 1470 from Peoria. 5kw...short skip. WONE in Dayton, OH is another 5kw station that skips in here fairly well on 980. Then there's the 5kw Radio Disney from Belleville, IL (St. Louis metro). These stations used to come in just like the clears at night...now they're less listenable but still usually dominant as the channels have gotten more crowded.
Click to expand...

5kW Radio Disney in Dallas, KMKI 620 has a daytime footprint of half a million square miles. I've heard them easily 400 miles away - when they were C-Quam I could get them static free stereo 300 miles out. As impressive as that is - there is a 20 kW 660 that does even better, and KLIF 570 does as well or better. WBAP 820 had a legendary daytime footprint out to Roswell, NM - before they went HD and it hobbled their coverage.
 
I forgot to mention 10 kW KGNC Amarillo, which is receivable 360 miles away in Plano, TX - almost equal to KEEL Shreveport which is 50 kW and much stronger. Null KEEL and you have KGNC very listenable.
 
If we're talking daytime signals, its tough to top KFYR and WNAX, two 5kw "monsters" in the Dakotas at 550 and 570 respectively. Its been years since I've attempted it, but I used to be able to pick up WNAX on the upper Mississippi River on the Illinois side daytimes....under whatever splatter there was from WIND and/or WILL.

Also, back to nighttime, I lived in Western Wisconsin in the early 70s where 5kw WHB from Kansas City boomed in on 710, and highly directional 1kw KSTT from Davenport, IA on 1170 was right up there with the big boys in terms of nighttime signal strength.
 
Lets not forget the monster day signals of 5000 watters KWMT Fort Dodge Iowa, or 600 WMT Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Both travel forever, and 640 WOI Ames covers the entire state of Iowa and beyond.
 
I don't know if it qualifies as a powerhouse but 620 out of St. Pete can be easily received all up and down the Gulf Coast and Panhandle coast. Inland the signal deteriorates but you have mostly gators, snakes, and a much smaller population.
AM 630 Savannah can be received pretty far up and down I-95 N or S of Savannah.
I remember receiving several KC 5kw AM's out in Western KS at 300 mi+ and the Fort Dodge IA station faintly at 400+ miles.
 
Yep, WBMQ has a huge signal during the day, as I could pick it up clear in the Jacksonville area, and through most of the Charleston area, up to Myrtle Beach, usually.

Living on the Carolina coast makes it easy for stations to become popular on the coast, even with as little as 1000 watts. WMOG in Brunswick, GA (1490) has a big signal for a graveyard, as it overpowers the Beaufort station on 1490 down on the coast, and when the local 1480 is off the air, it is a clear signal even up in Charleston.

Radio Disney in Jacksonville (600) also used to have a great signal, rivaling 690's up the coast in Charleston, as for a brief time, they simulcasted Kool 96.9 (when that was still oldies), and it was popular for the month or so that they simulcasted.

Of course, the Orlando stations can be heard all throughout Central Florida, and 540/580 can be heard up into the Myrtle Beach area on a good day because of the water path.
 
XEPE 1700 Tecate/San Diego (10 kW, DA-N) is audible in Phoenix until about 1 1/2 hours after local sunrise.

KAVL 610 Lancaster CA (4900w D, 4000w N, DA-2) is usually quite good during the day in the AZ/CA/NV desert areas. Most of their signal is beamed east. I tune them in when I drive (or should I say, "drove" before gas hit $4 a gallon. ;D ) to Las Vegas. They don't make it to Phoenix, though - too much KTAR.

Local KFYI 550 (5 kW D, 1 kW N, ND) and KTAR 620 (5 kW, DA-N) are usually good out to about 200 miles during the day.
 
I think the King of the regionals has to be KFRM/550 Salina, KS. Yikes, look at their coverage -- low on the band, and fabulous ground conductivity.

Heck. The signal is so good that the transmitter is 40 miles from town.

DE
 
DeadElvis said:
I think the King of the regionals has to be KFRM/550 Salina, KS. Yikes, look at their coverage -- low on the band, and fabulous ground conductivity.

Heck. The signal is so good that the transmitter is 40 miles from town.

DE
Click to expand...

Judging from that null they have to throw toward St. Louis, I can see why they transmit so far from their COL. The lobe they throw at Salina appears massive.
WTVN/Columbus is a nice 5K powerhouse in Ohio; it's easily heard in every adjacent state during the day ... makes it 200-250 miles in every direction with no problem. Nighttime is a different story with deep nulls to the east and west, but it blasts north well into Michigan and Canada.
 
KeithE4 said:
Local KFYI 550 (5 kW D, 1 kW N, ND) and KTAR 620 (5 kW, DA-N) are usually good out to about 200 miles during the day.
Click to expand...

And don't forget the Giant 580--KSAZ "Marana/Tucson/Phoenix"
(no Queen Creek...yet ;D)--with 5000/390, DA-N.

Their local disco polka host claims KSAZ is "heard all over Arizona"
(the 5000, not the 390), but it's probably a bit of a stretch.

I know one thing, you drive into east-central PHX near the KTAR
sticks and 580 gets whomped by 620 and 620's I-CRAP as well as
the usual in-town noise. I imagine being close to the KFYI stick
in south PHX would get the same result, especially with 550's
second adjacent I-CRAP being one freq closer.
 
KTLK in St. Louis is pretty massive at least in places I've been. It blasts into the Hannibal/Quincy area and does real well in northern and Western Indiana (better than KMOX). It doesn't start running into WKRC until around Indianapolis.
 
schmave said:
Judging from that null they have to throw toward St. Louis, I can see why they transmit so far from their COL. The lobe they throw at Salina appears massive.
WTVN/Columbus is a nice 5K powerhouse in Ohio; it's easily heard in every adjacent state during the day ... makes it 200-250 miles in every direction with no problem. Nighttime is a different story with deep nulls to the east and west, but it blasts north well into Michigan and Canada.
Click to expand...

A few years back when I lived in Manteno, IL (45 miles SSW of Chicago) I was able to get 610 WTVN daytime, on two different receivers. Now, there is too much noise from IBOC that I can't null out -- I get it from one direction from 600 WMT Cedar Rapids (I think it's from WMT, anyway), and at a 90° differential from 620 WTMJ Milwaukee. If I null out one buzzsaw, the other takes over.
 
I remember back in the late 80's while above Wilmington NC on the coast, I could receive stations like WDBO Orlando, WIOD 610 Miami and 690 out of Jacksonville FL. On the FM Side, especially during the summer months, I could easily pick up Charleston Stations like 95SX, 96 Wave, and even 99.7 out of Port Royal SC.
 


Hiya,

KAFF-AM (930) Flagstaff Class D 5kW nd day all over I-40 and northern AZ (one twr)

KAZM-AM (780) Sedona Class B? 5kW nd day all over northern/central AZ including cottonwood at night

KVNA-AM (600) Flag Class D 1kW day nd is on STA with low power but when they're at 1,000watts nd they go everywhere

KYET-AM (1190) Williams, AZ Class D 10kW day nd is on STA but when they're at 10kW they go everywhere






 
rbrucecarter5 said:
cyberdad said:
Two come that come to mind in here Northern Illinois are WIRL 1290 and WMBD 1470 from Peoria. 5kw...short skip. WONE in Dayton, OH is another 5kw station that skips in here fairly well on 980. Then there's the 5kw Radio Disney from Belleville, IL (St. Louis metro). These stations used to come in just like the clears at night...now they're less listenable but still usually dominant as the channels have gotten more crowded.
Click to expand...

5kW Radio Disney in Dallas, KMKI 620 has a daytime footprint of half a million square miles. I've heard them easily 400 miles away - when they were C-Quam I could get them static free stereo 300 miles out. As impressive as that is - there is a 20 kW 660 that does even better, and KLIF 570 does as well or better. WBAP 820 had a legendary daytime footprint out to Roswell, NM - before they went HD and it hobbled their coverage.
Click to expand...



another 620 of record,
620 KGW (now KPOJ, portland) is 25kW day /10kW night (DA-2) can be heard all the way from washington state to sacramento, california...

another 570 of record is the world famous KVI Seattle 5kW nd I've heard them in vegas

 


another class D is 1550 KKJY albuquerque 5kW nd day

and yet another class D is 1600 KRKE albuquerque 10kW nd day

both heard all the way to santa fe, both owned by Don Davis through Vanguaard media

 
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