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"Scan Button Bingo"

cyberdad

cyberdad

I had a little idea that might be something stupid or something fun. Or both....

When you hit the scan button on your car radio, how many stops does it make? AM daytime or FM. What is the lowest station the dial? What is the highest? What is the greatest distance? What is the stop you least expected (if there is one)?

Being primarily an AM guy, I'll start with that band, but if you guys decide to "play along", I'll come back and do FM later.

At my location here 40 miles northwest of Chicago....

AM band daytime scan button stops: 23
Lowest channel: 540 (WAUK)
Highest channel: 1410 (WRMN)
Farthest distance: 140 ,miles (580-WILL)
Biggest surprise: 1330 (WKTA and WNTA fighting it out. Thus making the point that two weak signals are better than one for stopping the scan function.)
Radio: Standard stock GM Delco with shark fin antenna
 
Another category: Most conspicuous by its absence.....

1690: WVON 10kw fron 47 miles away in an area with mostly good ground conductivity. Definitely listenable, but not strong enough to trip the scan function.
1130: WISN 50kw from 36 miles away. Directional to the north, but still normally a very good day signal here. Maybe some pattern or transmitter issues going on here.
 
I'm not sure how many stops the scan button makes, but I'll try some of these:

From the near north Chicago suburbs:

Lowest channel: 560 (WIND)
Highest channel: 1590 (WCGO)
Farthest distance: 580 (WILL) about 140 miles

I'll add one more if Cyberdad doesn't mind, not including your scan button what is the farthest station you can hear on your car radio during daytime groundwave?
In my case the answer is: 550 (KTRS) beats WLW by less than 5 miles.
 
Well, this is weird, but I'm in…

AM band scan from Elberta, Alabama. Or rather, several miles outside of town in the country, where the noise is lower. Elberta is about 20 miles west of Pensacola and 40 miles east of Mobile.

AM band daytime scan button stops: 17
Lowest channel: 540 (WASG Daphne)
Highest channel: 1620 (WNRP Pensacola)
Farthest distance: ~160 miles (870 WWL New Orleans) — groundwave over salt water
Biggest surprise: That WWL still trips the scan this far inland
Most conspicuous absence: Several of the bigger Pensacola signals didn't trigger the scan, including WVTJ, WPNN and WRNE, even though they sounded OK when tuned manually
Radio: Stock VW Monsoon with amplified rooftop antenna. It's a replacement antenna/base and it picks up a lot more noise than the original one that came with the car. That original one went dead about eight years ago, leaving the radio almost totally deaf on FM and completely deaf on AM.
 
radioman148 said:
I'm not sure how many stops the scan button makes, but I'll try some of these:

From the near north Chicago suburbs:

Lowest channel: 560 (WIND)
Highest channel: 1590 (WCGO)
Farthest distance: 580 (WILL) about 140 miles

I'll add one more if Cyberdad doesn't mind, not including your scan button what is the farthest station you can hear on your car radio during daytime groundwave?
In my case the answer is: 550 (KTRS) beats WLW by less than 5 miles
In my case counting all the stops took about a minute and a half. I think for you, it would take at least a little bit longer, since you're in closer proximity to more suburban signals.

Also, I like your addition to my "weird" thread. That's Tomservo's word and probably the word I should've used in the first place. LOL. Anyway, Farthest I can hear in the car. At least reliably on AM during daytime. Probably WMT (600). That's roughly 180 miles. I can usually also hear WSUI (Iowa City 910). That's a little farther than WMT, but it's not always reliable. I also can usually hear KWMT in the car if I run into a weak or dead spot in WAUK's signal on 540. That's about 300 miles, but under "normal" circumstances KWMT isn't audible in the car. Not even in the background.

Finally, there's WOI, which used to be regularly audible on a good car radio daytime in these parts on 640. Also around 300 miles. But 640 changed when WMFN moved from Michigan and set up shop in Peotone, IL. Far south suburban Chicago. WMFN now trips the scan button
and blocks out what little is left of WOI.

As for KTRS....Too much splatter from WIND for me to hear it in the car. However, I can null WIND at home and hear it on my Superadio II, WLW is tougher but do-able from time to time. My dad's '66 Ford Galaxy had an awesome radio and was able to routinely snag "The Big One" WLW.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Knoxville, TN around 10am

AM band daytime scan button stops: 15
Lowest channel: 620 WRJZ
Highest channel: 1490 WITA
Farthest distance: 730 WLIL 23.5 miles
Biggest surprise: Nothing came in from out of town strong enough. No, the radio isn’t deaf, the ground conductivity sucks that bad. Someone could be surprised that WSM doesn’t stop the scan, but it’s pretty weak during the day, and WLAC is a no-show at 159 miles.
Conspicuous by absence: WCRK, Morristown TN on 1150
Radio: Stock Pioneer for Scion, shark fin antenna

Had I done this test in Dayton, Ohio, I’m assuming results would have been much different. WTVN, Columbus would have certainly stopped the scan. When I lived in Lafayette IN, WLS was the only Chicago station that stopped the scan.
 
gr8oldies said:
Knoxville, TN around 10am
.....WLAC is a no-show at 159 miles.
.
Click to expand...

For anyone who might not understand exactly how critical ground conductivity is to a day signal, take a look at what you can do on a similar frequency with just a killowatt if you're in an area with great conductivity. In this case, KSIB/1520 in Clarinda, Iowa. https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KSIB&service=AM&h=D

Arguably as good, if not better, than WLAC's 50KW daytime signal.
 
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Scan Button Bingo in Laramie Wyoming on a good night

lowest channel, Radio Enciclopedia 530 cuba
highest channel, XEPE 1700 Tecate, KKLF Richardson TX,
 
Scan Button Bingo on FM from Manistee, MI!
Radio: Tecsun PL-390 with included whip
# of stations that triggered the PL-390's ETM: 58 (!!)
Lowest channel: 88.1 (WHID Green Bay, WI)
Highest channel: 107.7 (W299CB Manistee, MI)
Farthest distance: 97.1 (WGLQ Escanaba, MI - 134 miles)
Also over 100 miles: 95.3 (WWSS Tuscorora Township, MI - 115 miles); 102.7 (WRVM Suring, WI - 114 miles); 93.5 (WGEE New London, WI - 112 miles)
 
Great topic!

Location: Canyon Lake, Texas

Number of AM Stops 21
Lowest dial position: 550 KTSA San Antonio
Highest dial position: 1580 KWED Seguin, Texas
Farthest : KNAF 910 Fredericksburg, TX (60 road miles). KLBJ 590 or 970 KIXL Austin (circa 45 air miles, but 67 road miles)
Most surprising: 970 out of Austin or 910 out of Fredericksburg (both 1KW)
 
When I lived briefly in the Hannibal-Quincy area, there were limitless 250 watters coming in, advertising themselves as "Regional Radio"
cyberdad said:
For anyone who might not understand exactly how critical ground conductivity is to a day signal, take a look at what you can do on a similar frequency with just a killowatt if you're in an area with great conductivity. In this case, KSIB/1520 in Clarinda, Iowa. https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KSIB&service=AM&h=D

Arguably as good, if not better, than WLAC's 50KW daytime signal.
Click to expand...
 
FM edition from Knoxville, TN:
FM band scan button stops: 48
Lowest channel: 88.3 WYLV
Highest channel: 107.7 WIVK
Farthest distance: 99.9 WKSF 76 miles
Biggest surprise: That anything from out of town comes in at all. Things would be much different without the proliferation of translators.
 
AM from NW San Antonio, TX, at 10 a.m. this morning, parked on the street to avoid household RFI.

Number of scan button stops: 27
Lowest channel: 550 (KTSA - San Antonio)
Highest channel: 1580 (KWED - Seguin)
Farthest distance: 147 miles (890 KVOZ - Del Mar Hills - 10 kW)
Biggest surprise: (see next line)
Conspicuous by absence: 590 KLBJ, which sends 5 kW my way from just 75 miles. It might be because of its proximity on the dial to 580 XELRDA (formerly XEMU) in Piedras Negras, which does stop the scan, although it's 129 miles away (and 5 kW as well).
Farthest I can hear in the car: 540 XEWA "Los 40 Principales" in Monterrey at 289 miles and 1.5 kW. Reception is compromised by KTSA splatter, though.
Radio: 2014 Honda Accord stock radio with windshield antenna
 
@Jim....Interesting post. I didn't realize XEWA is down to 1.5 KW. Which would explain why I haven't heard it here in Northern Illinois for a while!
 
cyberdad said:
@Jim....Interesting post. I didn't realize XEWA is down to 1.5 KW. Which would explain why I haven't heard it here in Northern Illinois for a while!
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There are two XEWA's in Mexico, both on 540. They simulcast for decades, but now they are separate "Los 40 Principales" stations (the SLP 540 is still 150kW while the Monterrey 540 is 1.5kW)
 
ftballfan said:
There are two XEWA's in Mexico, both on 540. They simulcast for decades, but now they are separate "Los 40 Principales" stations (the SLP 540 is still 150kW while the Monterrey 540 is 1.5kW)
Click to expand...

Thanks, Ftballfan. I was going to mention to Cyberdad that I've tried to see if I can hear both the Monterrey and San Luis Potosi (530 miles from me) XEWA's at the same time around sunset; however, the heavy splatter from KTSA makes that effort practically impossible. The SLP station must completely overtake the Monterrey station at night because I've only ever heard one Los 40 Principales station mixing with the other Mexican stations.
 
From Charleston, SC:

Number of AM stops: 9...
Lowest channel: 600 WBOB (Jacksonville)
Highest channel: 1450
Farthest distance: 570 CMCA from Santa Clara, Cuba (about 710 miles as the crow flies)
WBOB and WOKV on 690 trip the scan at 200 miles. Inland, only 7 AMs trip the scan (one is off air, 1480).
Biggest surprise: No real surprises, except for the usual of WBT being so weak, WPTF not coming in at all due to WOKV, and no WSB.

A whopping 43 FMs tripped the scan. Only 4 were from out of town (four Savannah/Hilton Head stations). It’s harder to do this time of year because so many stations skip up the coast. There are times when 50 stations trip the scan as Savannah comes in clear, Myrtle Beach, sometimes even Jacksonville stations trip the scan.
 
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