WDSL 1520 on ALL Night . . .

[KR4BD]

I was scanning the AM band early this morning and heard a "killer" signal on 1520 carrying Coast to Coast. It was IDing on the breaks as WSIC-1400 in Statesville, NC. It was solid on my clock radio from 1 AM to past 3 AM when I finally tuned out. I am guessing that WDSL in Mocksville, NC carrys WSIC during the day, but someone forgot to shut 1520 down at sunset.... Anyone else hear this?

 

[nd2023]

Another daytimer broadcasting away into the night. The FCC could care less.

 

[gr8oldies]

If they were testing between midnight and 5am it falls in the "experimental period" and is perfectly legal. They should not be running ads though

 

[KR4BD]

And....let's not forget they must use their ID, not the station they are rebroadcasting.....

 

[KE4KLS_Radio]

Heard them Friday night in North Alabama at 10CT with station ID of WSIC, Statesville, etc.simulcast... they have PRSA and PSSA, but real low power. Must have been running the full 5kw signal to hear it as far and through all the noise... seems like there have been more and more Daytimers pushing the envelope...

 

[BobOnTheJob]

Heard them Friday night in North Alabama at 10CT with station ID of WSIC, Statesville, etc.simulcast... they have PRSA and PSSA, but real low power. Must have been running the full 5kw signal to hear it as far and through all the noise... seems like there have been more and more Daytimers pushing the envelope...

I'm not sure how many are doing it on purpose & how many have equipment issues. Today, almost all AM's that switch power have automated the process. One of the most popular units that perform this function is the Sine Systems RFC-1/B remote control. It's a great unit, but if it loses AC power, the clock must be reset for it to work. The ones I install for AM's are all set to turn the transmitter on at the lowest authorized power to make sure an FCC violation can not occur--this is not the default mode for the unit...it required some specific, although relatively simple, programming which must be set up in-house. Sadly, I've seen stations operate at the low power for weeks after an outage...operators indeed pay that little attention to the AM's. If the station in question doesn't have the expertise available to program the unit to offer this protection, it's equally possible that the station will operate on daytime power until someone discovers the problem. It's not a huge surprise that a DXer would discover it before the local staff does. I may be naive, but I hope that no one would purposely operate their AM station with daytime facilities & no legal ID at night.