The Out-Of-Area Little Pistol Where You Are

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Days in Springfield, IL (AM)--a few examples:

530--St. Louis area TIS station
540--KWMT Fort Dodge, IA (5kw)
600--WMT Cedar Rapids, IA (5kw)
990--WCAZ Carthage, IL (1kw)
1590--WAIK Galesburg, IL (5kw)

 

[BMR]

In Derby, central England..

Spectrum 558 AM, a 1kw ethnic broadcaster from London (113 miles away) comes in very well, night and day, despite the fact it is supposed to be a local station.

Gold 603AM, only 100 watts from Kent (140 miles away) comes in great during the day, but drowns in continental mush after sun down.

 

[cyberdad]

In Derby, central England..

Spectrum 558 AM, a 1kw ethnic broadcaster from London (113 miles away) comes in very well, night and day, despite the fact it is supposed to be a local station.

Gold 603AM, only 100 watts from Kent (140 miles away) comes in great during the day, but drowns in continental mush after sun down.

IME, in and around London (daughter lived there for ten years, and her husband is from Essex), Spectrum 558 has s really good signal. Cuts through the noise in Central London as well as any of the other signals. Gold 603 is weaker, but still audible at night...although other signals can be heard in the background. 828 from Luton is another "little pistol" easily audible in Central London. Also with an oldies format, but I believe relays Capital Gold (London 1548).

 

[kilokat7]

With my setup, I pull in little KKDA on 730 running 500w almost nightly at 928 miles out. Hearing them right now in fact...

 

[BMR]

In Derby, central England..

Spectrum 558 AM, a 1kw ethnic broadcaster from London (113 miles away) comes in very well, night and day, despite the fact it is supposed to be a local station.

IME, in and around London (daughter lived there for ten years, and her husband is from Essex), Spectrum 558 has s really good signal. Cuts through the noise in Central London as well as any of the other signals

For some reason (It could just be the long wavelength) 558 seems to be a really good frequency in the UK. Before Spectrum, legendary pirate Radio Caroline used it, blasting a signal across most of England from a boat off the Essex Coast

. Gold 603 is weaker, but still audible at night...although other signals can be heard in the background. 828 from Luton is another "little pistol" easily audible in Central London. Also with an oldies format, but I believe relays Capital Gold (London 1548).

Yes many British AM stations now relay Gold from London. In fact following a series of mergers and takeovers, many UK stations are now relaying Heart, Capital, Smooth or Gold from London with local news and advertising- but that is going off topic for this forum.

 

[cyberdad]

For some reason (It could just be the long wavelength) 558 seems to be a really good frequency in the UK. Before Spectrum, legendary pirate Radio Caroline used it, blasting a signal across most of England from a boat off the Essex Coast

It's a good frequency here in North America too. Or, in this case, the closest counterpart, 560. Numerous stations with large coverage areas...mostly 5kw. Fitting that R. Caroline would be on 558. Over here 560 was also home to some legendary rock and pop radio stations. Most notably WHBQ in Memphis, WQAM in Miami, WFIL in Philadelphia, and...at least to some extent....WIND here in Chicago.

 

[charlestondxman]

Another little pistol signal; 760 WEFL Tequesta, FL. Just 3kw daytime, needs an FM repeater in the West Palm Beach area, but almost always audible around Charleston daytime at about 420 miles or so. They have decent programming too; they carry Miami Heat games, and other sports from Miami.

I believe it can be heard in Myrtle Beach too.

 

[ftballfan]

Another little pistol signal; 760 WEFL Tequesta, FL. Just 3kw daytime, needs an FM repeater in the West Palm Beach area, but almost always audible around Charleston daytime at about 420 miles or so. They have decent programming too; they carry Miami Heat games, and other sports from Miami.

I believe it can be heard in Myrtle Beach too.

I bet they can be heard in parts of the Bahamas 24/7 as they send all 1.5kW of night power that way.

Another litle signal that gets out: 104.1 WRLU Algoma, WI, only 2400 watts, can be heard most summer days (with RDS) in Manistee, MI, 62 miles away. Its sister station, 105.1 WSBW Sister Bay, WI, can make it in with similar strength despite being only 3400 watts and 78 miles from Manistee.

 

[davideduardo]

One would think KCTA could go DA-N with more towers, beaming out info the gulf, but perhaps there are Cubans of Mexicans (particularly on the Yucatan peninsula) that they would not be able to protect.

More than likely that it has not been worth the cost for some time. While the daytime signal covers a lot of counties, a directional at night would have offered just minimal coverage of the Corpus area and I don't think that such an endeavor would have fit the business model of that station.

At one point, 1030 had to be protected in all the "lower 48" so night operation was impossible. By the time the more severe night restrictions on the 1-A clear channels were changed, AM was in decline.

The Cubans abrogated NARBA in the 1960's, so that's not a real issue. Mexico, to the best of my knowledge, has never had an AM on 1030 in the Yucatan Peninsula or Campeche, so likely that was not an issue.

 

[jd]

More than likely that it has not been worth the cost for some time. While the daytime signal covers a lot of counties, a directional at night would have offered just minimal coverage of the Corpus area and I don't think that such an endeavor would have fit the business model of that station.

As I understand it, that's pretty much what happened; they looked at cost versus benefit and elected not to pursue it. The proposed directional array---just two towers---would have allowed them to operate with 1,000 watts at night. The pattern afforded protection toward WBZ and XEQR as well as TGUX in Guatemala, but like you said, it would have been an inadequate signal in Corpus Christi itself.

At one time KCTA had special authority to sign on at Boston sunrise with the full 50kW, but I can't recall if they have done that in recent years or whether that authority is still on the books. (Their website, for what it's worth, lists a show running at 5:30 in the morning.) The station was granted both pre- and post-sunset authority a number of years ago which allows them to sign on year round at 6:00AM and operate in the evening for two hours past sunset with between 200 and 250 watts.

The last time I checked KCTA seemed to be using the PSA but not the PSSA; perhaps clouseau could provide more information. Considering the format I'd think that some of their listeners may get up really early but most of them probably don't stay up very late!

 

[purpledevil]

Oh yes, jd, KCTA comes on before sunrise. I've heard it on before 6 for certain.