Treasure Island/Saint Pete Beach

[TerryKay]

From central Pinellas (not directly on the beach), daytime regulars are:

590 is Musical Nacional, power varies as with many Cubans
600 is Rebelde
720 WRZN, Hernando
800 is WSHO + WPLK Palatka (usually gone by mid-morning)
1070 is WFR Tallahassee (Christian)
1370 last night 7 pm+ was a strong WTAB, Tabor City, NC which apparently isn't powering down to 109 watts from daytime 5000 (Country/Bluegrass flavored gospel, live old jock)
1390 last night 8 pm+ was WAJD, Gainesville (Soul/Gospel, canned IDs) 5000 day, 51 watts night if really powered down, WCOA co-channel
1600 is WKWF Key West, always copyable daytime, fair nights
1620 WNRP is audible if Rebelde is semi-nulled especially daytime
1700 is WJCC Miami Springs daytime, almost always in Haitian kreyol, some brokered Spanish

 

[cd637299]

^ Sure thing....

There is WORL on 660 in Altamonte Springs (Orlando area), and I believe there is a R Progreso as well.

As to a jumble on 1070, well.....welcome to FL! There are jumbles on dozens of frequencies down here....all the more reason that I'm more into FM/TV DX now.

cd

 

[cd637299]

@TerryKay,

I started a thread about WTAB a few months ago. And interesting that WRXB doesn't pound your WKWF reception....

My wife and I were going down I-75 a few summers ago, and I wanted to hear an afternoon Marlins game. Natch, WKWF was the only audible affiliate (this was around Port Charlotte or so).

cd

 

[cyberdad]

I've heard WKWF south of here....Sarasota area and beyond on I-75, IIRC. But not at my current location. Lots of splatter here from the local 1590. I've been doing most of my DXing on an open balcony, but the next step will be to go about 60 yards to my west and try directly on the beach.

I'm curious if you guys in the Tampa Bay area have ever snagged KLEB here on 1600 during the daytime. They're in the swamps south of New Orleans, and used to put a killer signal into the gulf. They were almost like a local at the Pensacola beaches. But as I alluded to yesterday, I think they might either be on STA low power, if not off the air completely. With cajun music and "swamp pop", KLEB was also easy to identify.

 

[TerryKay]

WKWF is the dominant daytime and night for me. I do get weak WLAA, Winter Garden if I point that way. At night or critical hours I've also heard WHTY Riviera Beach and WZNZ Atlantic Beach (so that's all the FL 1600 stations, isn't it?). Nights used to bring WKZK North Augusta, SC pretty well and they were slightly off-frequency for ages (high side IIRC). Haven't noticed them for awhile, but I haven't really sat on the channel much for a long time to confirm. 1590 isn't a problem for me in central Pinellas. I'm sure it is along the coast, for certain it is when remote listening on portables at Ft DeSoto. I don't recall ever hearing the Louisiana station.

 

[drt]

just took my Sangean outside , away from electrical interference and no luck with receiving anything on 1600 except splatter from WRXB 1590; also checked out 1370 and 1390 and I couldn't even null out the IBOC noise on either of those frequencies.

This was checked at 3PM.

drt

 

[drt]

Alright I'm a little slow on the uptake, but after my last post yesterday, I went to the Gateway Mall area of St. Petersburg and on the way there the splatter from WRXB was less and less of a problem once I got north of 70th Ave N and after leaving Target there, on 1600 (this was around two minutes past 5 PM) was an oldies format fading in and out, "Pretty Woman" - Roy Orbison, followed by "Listen to the Music" - Doobie Brothers, followed by a Rolling Stones song, was never able to i.d. the station though, I did hear "the beach" several times, whether or not, that's part of their i.d. or they were maybe mentioning events at or near the beach I don't know.

My first thought was the maybe the 1600 in Mayport/Jax may be oldies now, but they do not have a website or stream so I could not confirm that. Underneath that were two talk stations one was plainly English, the other was so weak, so I really couldn't determine whether it was English or Spanish.

As I got back south of 70th Ave N, the 1590 splatter started to take over again.
-------------
As a side note, at least from my location near the bayfront in downtown St. Petersburg (4 blocks from Tampa Bay) I had to make a trip to the downtown Publix and on 570; although the local WTBN has authorization to double their power at night to combat the Cuban interference, Radio Reloj was still plainly heard in the background and at some intersections on the way home, Radio Reloj would briefly take over for a few seconds and of course on a car radio , you can't null out a signal and basically Cuba and WTBN's towers just north of Land o Lakes are north and Cuba south, so even at home, it's difficult to null out one for the other.
-------------------
Around noon today I was in the Pinellas Point area of St. Petersburg, which sits on Tampa Bay and is as far south as one can get in St. Petersburg, w/o going over the Sunshine Skyway (excepting Tierre Verde) and the splatter from WRXB still preventing me from receiving anything on 1580 or 1600 and further down the dial, the IBOC noise was still in place on 1370 and 1390.

But here it was midday and in Pinellas Point and up to downtown, I could still hear Radio Reloy in the background of WTBN 570; just not as strong in the background as it is at night.

I have to agree with CD, between electrical interference and the Cuban stations plus just being this far away from the big 50,000 flame throwers makes medium wave dx'ing a real challenge here in most locations.

I have more or less shifted to FM dx'ing and HD2 dx'ing to see what I can pull in.

drt,
st. petersburg,fl

btw- hope Mr. Cyberdad has not been kidnapped by a band of roving gypsies......... he seems to be MIA!

 

[cyberdad]

just took my Sangean outside , away from electrical interference and no luck with receiving anything on 1600 except splatter from WRXB 1590; also checked out 1370 and 1390 and I couldn't even null out the IBOC noise on either of those frequencies.

This was checked at 3PM.

drt

Exactly what I've been running into. The 1380 IBOC was turned off for a while the other day, but it didn't seem to help matters. If radio-locator is accurate, there's a lot of juice aimed right at me. I also appreciate your notes (as well as Terry's, cd's and others) regarding what you're getting elsewhere around the local area and wider region.

And no....the gypsies/pirates or whatever haven't gotten to me or forced me to go MIA. However, my sister and brother-in-law have been here for the past couple of days and kept us rather busy. They leave tomorrow, so I should have more time to DX (and enjoy the fabulous weather)!

 

[radioman148]

just took my Sangean outside , away from electrical interference and no luck with receiving anything on 1600 except splatter from WRXB 1590; also checked out 1370 and 1390 and I couldn't even null out the IBOC noise on either of those frequencies.

This was checked at 3PM.

drt

Exactly what I've been running into. The 1380 IBOC was turned off for a while the other day, but it didn't seem to help matters. If radio-locator is accurate, there's a lot of juice aimed right at me. I also appreciate your notes (as well as Terry's, cd's and others) regarding what you're getting elsewhere around the local area and wider region.

And no....the gypsies/pirates or whatever haven't gotten to me or forced me to go MIA. However, my sister and brother-in-law have been here for the past couple of days and kept us rather busy. They leave tomorrow, so I should have more time to DX (and enjoy the fabulous weather)!

Cyberdad,

Be glad you're not up here. It's been very cold. Today we got up to 25--highest temp this week.
Enjoy the warmth while you're there!

 

[cyberdad]

Cyberdad,

Be glad you're not up here. It's been very cold. Today we got up to 25--highest temp this week.
Enjoy the warmth while you're there!

Yeah....my middle son told me he spent the morning shoveling his driveway (in Carol Stream).

Back on topic, FYI, the path to Chicago this morning was a little better before dawn this morning that it had been. WGN still the best Chicago signal....weak but steady. WBBM not quite as good, but better than it's been. WLS in the background (briefly) of Cuba. Cuba ruled 670, 1000 was (seemingly) XEOY, but I did hear stuff in the background.

 

[cyberdad]

Sunday evening update....

I was finally able to get out directly on the beach this afternoon about 1pm EDT with a good radio. My trusty DX-375. The good news is that it brought in more/stronger signals. The bad news is that it also made the local pests stronger. The worse news is that many of the locals are adjacent to the locals that I'm trying to snag!

"Curses, foiled again"! Wel,l not totally....here are a few highlights...

550: R. Rebelde comes up. Religion in English underneath, presumably Jacksonville
560: WQAM with a fair signal under local 570. As for the 570, R. Reloj stronger underneath
590: Brings up a reasonably audible WDIZ under Cuba
600: Cuba on top, but something that sounds like English underneath. Could be WBOB, but my guess is WVOG. Will try to establish which.
710: WAQI joins the party with the "Cuban Chorus"
740: Trying for KRTH. I think I'm hearing it under or Orlando. Pretty much same as previous, but both stronger
800: WSHO (N'Awlins) stronger, but still weak
940: WINZ surfaces between the splatter from the Sarasota 930 and R. Reloj on 950.
980: Sports talk here, which rules out WRNE unless they flipped. WFLA IBOC from 970 is really tough
1030: I'm hearing Orlando here, not KCTA. The local 1040 is really strong, but no IBOC
1060: I think WLNO, but can't confirm yet
1190: Looking for Gulfport, MS, but I think what I'm getting is Orlando.
1380: The local...complete with IBOC...is way too strong to give me much hope for WCOA on 1370 or WROA on 1390.
1600: Despite the local 1590 being a complete pest, I was able to null it and get WKWF
1620: WNRP strong enough to trash R. Rebelde. Easily listenable with Rebelde nulled
1700: Very faint signal here. Seems to be something other than English, which would mean Miami and not KVNS.

As for nighttime, conditions have generally been rather lousy....especially to the north, as discussed in another thread. However, WCBS, KMOX, and KWKH turned up for the first time during my stay. And back to 1700....we seem to have a "tag team". Last two nights were KVNS on top instead of Miami, which had been there for several nights previously.

 

[drt]

Congratulations on some great catches, under adverse conditions! Between the Cuban stations and IBOC and WRXB 1590 splatter, the southern quarter of the Pinellas peninsula is not dx-friendly for the AM dx'er.

I hope you told Mr. Cyberdad Jr (greater metro Carol Stream) that you had the unpleasant task of shoveling sand to clear a path to your dx'ing spot on the beach!

I have failed to be able to receive 1600 out of Key West at both Passe-a-Grille (southern tip of St. Pete Beach) and at Fort DeSoto as well; will have to try Sunset Beach and then maybe take the bulky Grundig Satellit 750 instead of the Sangean. The Grundig's selectivity is better and if push comes to shove, it also has a narrow bandwidth switch.

Thanks for the update, it certainly shows what dedication and a good radio can do. (what company produces or produced the dx-375, is that a Radio Shack house brand?)

drt,
on the southeastern edge of st. pete

 

[cyberdad]

Congratulations on some great catches, under adverse conditions!  Between the Cuban stations and IBOC and WRXB 1590 splatter, the southern quarter of the Pinellas peninsula is not dx-friendly for the AM dx'er.

I hope you told Mr. Cyberdad Jr (greater metro Carol Stream) that you had the unpleasant task of shoveling sand to clear a path to your dx'ing spot on the beach!

I have failed to be able to receive 1600 out of Key West at both Passe-a-Grille (southern tip of St. Pete Beach) and at Fort DeSoto as well; will have to try Sunset Beach and then maybe take the bulky Grundig Satellit 750 instead of the Sangean.  The Grundig's selectivity is better and if push comes to shove, it also has a narrow bandwidth switch.

Thanks for the update, it certainly shows what dedication and a good radio can do. (what company produces or produced the dx-375, is that a Radio Shack house brand?)

drt,
on the southeastern edge of st. pete

Well, yes....I just so happened that I did mention the local wx when my son called me today.   ;D

As for the Key West 1600, it was pretty easy with the local 1590 nulled on the beach.  It may be that here in the condo, the building blocks some of the signals before they get to the west-facing balcony. 

As for the DX-375, it's a Sangean radio.  I think I got it at some point during the mid-80s.  It's quite an old war-horse.  Nothing works properly on it but the AM radio.  The FM whip antenna/connections are missing.  The speaker doesn't work. Tuning can be a little "funky".

But it's still a champ on AM. I had been out earlier with the Eton E-10.  Everything on that radio works, and it has  lots more "bells and whistles," but it didn't do nearly as well on AMl as the DX-375. Not even close.

As it was, even with no whip antenna, and even after I accidentally dropped it the other day, the DX-375 was having no problem pulling in a crystal clear signal on R. Rebelde on 5025 shortwave this afternoon.  Not to mention all the local FM signals with perfect no-hiss stereo.

 

[radioman148]

We're having an ice storm today in the "Greater Carol Stream Metro area" ;D
DX conditions have been lousy at night here too and in fact last night I could hardly hear usually loud WCCO.
It's hurting DX everywhere as the Northern Ireland node on Global Tuners has been shut down for several nights.

 

[gar hi]

Cyberdad, you were hearing KTRH for sure under WYGM.

1060 was WLNO for sure too.

On 1700, was the signal fluttering depending on which way you turned the radio?

Daytime AM DXing is nice on the Gulf coast here, isn't it?


If you are able to make it to Honeymoon Island, you should have even more to hear.

For example, 1640 from Biloxi has a pretty good signal there all day.

WLNO sounds almost like a local as well as WWL (except for the splatter from the very close 860).

Those are only some to mention and there is a noticeable difference between DXIng there and when I was at Clearwater Beach.

 

[cyberdad]

Hi Gar....

Thanks for jumping in. First of all, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it to Honeymoon Island. Wish I could, but Mrs. Cyberdad has the car spoken for just about every day before we leave at the end of the week. DXing notwithstanding, that's fine with me. I'll sit under the palm tree in front of the place we're in and try to console myself.

Yes, I was pretty sure I had WLNO and KRTH. I did positively ID KRTH under Orlando a couple of nights ago, but wasn't able to identify it or WLNO yet to this point.

As for 1700, I didn't hear any fluttering in the daytime. One signal, very weak, and only present when I turned the radio to the southeast. At night it's been more of a case of "who's on top". Whichever one was pretty much owned the channel.

I've heard traces of something daytime on 1640...as well as 1660. I assumed 1660 was Marco (or whatever), but didn't know about 1640. I'll see if I can snag a more useable signal.

860 is definitely yet another pest, but at least they're not running IBOC. Indeed, WWL has a good signal with 860 nulled. I can also hear talk on 850, which I'm guessing is WFTL if not Gainesville.

 

[drt]

I've heard traces of something daytime on 1640...as well as 1660. I assumed 1660 was Marco (or whatever), but didn't know about 1640. I'll see if I can snag a more useable signal.WF

860 is definitely yet another pest, but at least they're not running IBOC. Indeed, WWL has a good signal with 860 nulled. I can also hear talk on 850, which I'm guessing is WFTL if not Gainesville.

Several notes that might be helpful (or make you wish I hadn't posted this!)........On some portable and car radios including my last car,820 will also come in on 1640; weaker in south Pinellas than in mid Pinellas county. (800's tower is in Largo and they are 50,000 watts day).

As far as 850, I suspect that's more likely to be WFTL- WPB especially early mornings and late afternoons, WRUF 850 (owned and operated by University of Florida) has lost Rush and it's other conservative talk show hosts and now their programming is mostly UF sports and Gainesville and UF news and events as well as many weather updates for Gainesville (conservative talk in Gainesville/Ocala market has moved to WSKY 97.3 FM)

At any rate with their dial postition and 5,000 watts non-directional, one would think they would have a much better signal than they do, but that's not the case. When I'm in n.e. Hernando county near Webster, the WRUF signal is just barely detectable and in a car it fades quickly south of Ocala.-and WGUL is not a factor in n.e. Hernando county as they also just barely come in.

Last night, while still in n.e. Hernando county I was able to pick up WGN better than usual, better than WBBM, of course they rest of the Chicago flame torches were MIA; couldn't even hear anything on 890 other than the Cuban station, same for 670.

Enjoy sitting under the palms and relaxing.

drt,
st. petersburg,fl

 

[gar hi]

For the first time in I don't know how many years, I got WSCR.

It was a little after sunrise (around 8:00) and I had gotten in my car and was tuning around on AM since I hadn't listened that time of day in a long time.

I could hear it behind the Cuban station but it was not too strong yet strong enough to know it was them. Maybe it's there a lot at that specific time and I never noticed.

 

[cd637299]

For the first time in I don't know how many years, I got WSCR.

It was a little after sunrise (around 8:00) and I had gotten in my car and was tuning around on AM since I hadn't listened that time of day in a long time.

I could hear it behind the Cuban station but it was not too strong yet strong enough to know it was them. Maybe it's there a lot at that specific time and I never noticed.

Even when I started DXn as a 14-year-old in 1974, it might have taken me almost a year to get any sound of Chicago (then WMAQ) on 670---Miami had no 670 at that time. The Cuban even back then was strong.

cd

 

[cyberdad]

Another early afternoon directly on the beach with the DX-375. New Highlights....

610: I was able to null WDAE and expected WIOD. Instead I got Spanish.
630: Presumably Cuba
690: English talk....either Jacksonville or New Orleans. Will investigate further.
800: Confirmed WSHO....an odd mix of conservative mostly religious programming, colon blow, and other "snake oil" ads.
980: Confirmed WRNE....actually a good signal from Pensacola, under WFLA's noisemaker.
1260: Confirmed WFTW from Ft. Walton Beach underneath the local on 1250. Nice little cross-gulf hop
1370: Was finally able to null the strong local on 1380. Heard something very weak. Might have been WCOA but too weak to ID
1390: No trace of WROA in the IBOC hash
1600: Confirmed WKWF with 1590 splatter nulled
1640: Something here, but barely audible. Don't want to hazard a guess that it might have been Biloxi area.
1700: Now you see it, now you don't. Week before last, I thought I might have had KVNS. Yesterday I was almost positive I had Miami. Today I had absolutely nothing! Is daytime skywave the explanation? Aren't I a little far south for that?

Pre-sunrise conditions were somewhat better today. WSM, which has been curiously absent, finally showed up. KRLD was in with a nice signal. And two Chicagoans were back....WGN and WBBM. On 670 I could hear something trying to break through the Cubans, but I couldn't ID it. At the time I thought it might be just Miami going to day power.

So my hat's off to Gar for accomplishing the seemingly impossible...pulling out WSCR from the Cuba-Miami slop on 670 around here. Nicely done, sir! I can fully appreciate what an impressive catch that is.