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WBAP in Central VA

N

nocomradio

Guest
Pulling in WBAP loud and clear tonight in Central VA from 9PM EST to just a shade before 11PM. Some skywave fade, but overall very, very clear. I don't think I've ever really heard them here for that long before. Wonder if they forgot to power down?
 
WBAP is 50KW ND full time.
 
Have they always been? I only ask because I've never heard them like that before. They literally sounded like a local for 2 hours and were still loud and clear after midnight. Most of the time I can't hear them at all, and when I have its under all the hash.
 
They have as long as most (not all) posters have been alive.
I've heard WBAP strong at night in many parts of Ohio. Of course, I have to be out of WVSG's (ex-WOSU) main lobe to do that, but it happens. About eight years ago, it was strong enough one night for me to hear it simply by turning a cheap clock radio 90 degrees. I was in the northwest suburbs of Columbus in area where I could hear both WOSU and WBAP clearly and they were easy to null.
 
Its possible they read the posts on the Dallas board and realized they had some sort of problem. When 570 and 820 are equal in strength in Houston, something is definitely wrong with WBAP. They had some real coverage issues a few years back when they were using HD. They dumped HD and got their coverage back, it was amazing again. As of late, they have had problems. Nice to know that - maybe - they have fixed it.
 
nocomradio said:
Have they always been?
Click to expand...

They have been 50 kw non-directional since the 30's. They were on 800 until the frequency shifts of early 1941, and on 820 as a 50 kw 1-A clear channel since then.

They were a share time station, being WFAA part of the day and WBAP the other parts for many years until finally WBAP kept 820 and WFAA kept 570.

There is a reasonably good history of the station here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBAP_(AM)
 
Thank you all for the replies!

Nice to hear some of those far away stations again.
 
rbrucecarter5 said:
Its possible they read the posts on the Dallas board and realized they had some sort of problem. When 570 and 820 are equal in strength in Houston, something is definitely wrong with WBAP. They had some real coverage issues a few years back when they were using HD. They dumped HD and got their coverage back, it was amazing again. As of late, they have had problems. Nice to know that - maybe - they have fixed it.
Click to expand...

I can definitely confirm something is better with WBAP, they are much stronger today on my car radio in Houston, and on an SRF-59.
 
I've pulled WBAP in here, on a number occasions. It's one of the few North American stations (if not the only one), which I've gotten here in eastern Ontario, as well as from Vancouver BC. 8)

~BG
 
When I was a kid I used to be able to hear WBAP from time to time on my transistor radio. When KGNW Seattle went 24 hours, it took care of that DX.

I can sometimes hear bits and pieces of WBAP's audio when KGNW is weakened / partially 'nulled'.
 
Somewhere about 1983 or so, another station in the Virginia, WV, MD, etc area was authorized on 820.

It was new to me, and I was on a drive to Baltimore late at night. The pipsqueak signal could not be listened to, due
to the massive sky wave from WBAP, but WBAP was just as trashed. It was also a country format at the time, and they
were playing music that was hardlly worth being on the air to trash WBAP with.

I was driving along the Maryland panhandle on I-70/US40.

This was 29 years ago, and one of my earlier "ARGGGHHH!" moments related to a disrespect of the nature of MW by the FCC.
 
Tom, Western Maryland is a mixed bag, even to this day. With the huge changes in elevation and odd signals bouncing around out there now, its a really hard place to DX in. I travel out there quite a bit and always tote along a radio and you never know what you will or won't hear.
 
No opportunity to hear WBAP clearly here in VA at nights recently. Last night, the 820 frequency was a mix of weak WBAP, a Cuban 820 and considerably loud IBOC.
@Mario, if you meant how far WBAP reaches west at nights, probably roughly along I-15 corridor. Read boombox's post.
@Tom, the 820 in MD used to be a classic country station a long, long time ago, didn't remember the call letters at that time.
 
820 on the NC-VA line on I 95 Fri morning (1/2 hr or so before sunrise) was a total mish mash of IBOC and very weak stations. OTOH had WCCO Minn on 830 with a listenable signal.
 
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