Week in Houston & a day on the TX Gulf.

[Icangelp]

Actually, I heard KVNS on the trip back from Galveston & after a very long stop at the mall near League City TX. (It wasn't my idea to stop, but I did pick up a nice pair of khakis.)

It was an overcast day & had to be somewhere around 5 PM. No doubt it was sunset skip time. Should have clarified that.

My wife gets very nervous (and sometimes very vocal) when I DX while driving, and rightly so. With that in mind, I was lucky to have heard KVNS that day. I just happend on it as I quickly tuned the AM before we left the mall.

Now that I am back safe and sound, I can tell you I was DXing while driving solo the whole way down from Cincy to Houston. Don't tell my wife.

Took a side trip to West Helena Arkansas, the home of Delta Blues, the mighty 1360/KFFA and the home of Sonny Payne who has hosted the King Biscuit Hour on KFFA since 1942. That is right, 68 years!!! I forget how old Sonny is, but he has to be well into his 80s. I've wanted to do that for 45 years, but never got the opportunity. I am very glad I did. One off the bucket list.

 

[gar hi]

It was an overcast day & had to be somewhere around 5 PM. No doubt it was sunset skip time. Should have clarified that.

5pm this time of year is a lot different than it was in December and the sun is also higher up that far south.

I guess some skip could have begun at that time but I also don't think the cloud cover has any effect on AM.

I also asked because someone else here (forget exactly who it was) said they got the station mid day around the Galveston area.

 

[schmave]

It was an overcast day & had to be somewhere around 5 PM. No doubt it was sunset skip time. Should have clarified that.

5pm this time of year is a lot different than it was in December and the sun is also higher up that far south.

I guess some skip could have begun at that time but I also don't think the cloud cover has any effect on AM.

I also asked because someone else here (forget exactly who it was) said they got the station mid day around the Galveston area.

That might have been me. That reception was aided by the salt-water path when I got it, but I also got it about 10 miles inland around 5:30 p.m. last Memorial Day, a few hours before sunset.
I remember getting KVNS around 3:30 p.m. in February or March 2009 in the parking lot of a Kroger not far from where Icangelp was (at Baybrook Mall I am guessing). That signal gets in early.

 

[Sgeirk]

I was just in the Dominican Republic for a week, the only two US stations I could get with any clarity at night were WCBS, and, believe it or not...good old WLS!

 

[gar hi]

That might have been me. That reception was aided by the salt-water path when I got it, but I also got it about 10 miles inland around 5:30 p.m. last Memorial Day, a few hours before sunset.
I remember getting KVNS around 3:30 p.m. in February or March 2009 in the parking lot of a Kroger not far from where Icangelp was (at Baybrook Mall I am guessing). That signal gets in early.

I was driving around town this afternoon and I checked to see if there was anything I could get on the X band at 4:30 and I could hear some of the French station WJCC from Soiuth Florida on 1700 and WCNZ Marco Island on 1660, so that had to be a skywave already.

I've checked many times during mid day and the X band is empty with not a trace of any signal except for the local info station from TIA on 1600 and some other local thong on 1690.

A while back, I did a bandscan report of what I could pick up during the day from Tampa and it included the X banders mentioned above and a couple others too but I now see that was done in the morning so it didn't give an actual indication of real day time reception.

Schmave, I don't know if it was you or someone else but I thought someone said they got KVNS all day in Galveston.

I'm getting at something here because according to the Radio Locator maps, their signal should be heard in Galveston and maybe beyond.

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KVNS&service=AM&status=L&hours=D

Though the area shown doesn't include that far north, you can pretty much tell by where the blue "fringe" line goes that it should include that area and it's been my experience that their fringe estimates are conservative when it comes to some stations I've heard myself.

The two times I went over to the Gulf to check out daytime reception possibilities mid day, 1700 was not completely empty like it is here in Tampa mid day. There was "something" there but nothing that could be made out.

So considering how far KVNS gets out on land and saltwater (according to the Radio Info map) for that high a frequency station, I can't help but wonder if that was what I was maybe hearing at the Gulf. Based on the fact the South Florida station is absent here in Tampa mid day and the next nearest station in Huntsville, Alabama would have to travel over so much land, what could I have been hearing?

Now that I have the Terk loop antenna, I will have to go to the Gulf again when I can and see what I get. Sounds like wishful thinking but if I can hear more than I did the last time, it will be real interesting.

 

[radioman148]

I was just in the Dominican Republic for a week, the only two US stations I could get with any clarity at night were WCBS, and, believe it or not...good old WLS!

That's amazing considering all the interference on 890 in the carribean.

 

[BRNout]

I was just in the Dominican Republic for a week, the only two US stations I could get with any clarity at night were WCBS, and, believe it or not...good old WLS!

Yep, I've gotten WCBS fairly frequently from the DR and Puerto Rico; WLS was a great catch though! Got WLS and WBBM on one great night from Puerto Rico and never got them from the DR. For some reason, WCBS does better than any of the other NY 50,000 watters (perhaps it's because of the higher frequency).

As for WLS, perhaps was the same thing (higher freq) that enabled you to get them and not WSCR/WBBM/WGN. In the continental US, WLS is an underperformer these days.

 

[radioman148]

I was just in the Dominican Republic for a week, the only two US stations I could get with any clarity at night were WCBS, and, believe it or not...good old WLS!

Yep, I've gotten WCBS fairly frequently from the DR and Puerto Rico; WLS was a great catch though! Got WLS and WBBM on one great night from Puerto Rico and never got them from the DR. For some reason, WCBS does better than any of the other NY 50,000 watters (perhaps it's because of the higher frequency).

As for WLS, perhaps was the same thing (higher freq) that enabled you to get them and not WSCR/WBBM/WGN. In the continental US, WLS is an underperformer these days.

I picked up WLS & WBBM in Hawaii in 1978. Since then I've made several trips back, but have never been able to repeat the feat.
Lots more stations on 780 & 890 plus more interference. However, I will try it again when I go back there soon.

 

[cyberdad]

I'm just back (in Illinois) after eight days at the beach condo we stay at on Perdido Key (FL-AL state line near Pensacola). Mrs. Cyberdad is there until Easter, so I'll basically be going back and forth between now and then.

Anyway, when I got around to firing up the ol' Eton E-10, I was surprised to find WLS giving the Cuban on 890 a surprisingly good fight....on top as often as not. WBBM was strong and all alone. WGN...which had been strong at our stop in Birmingham on the drive down...was back to being its puny self, but still audible. WSCR, meanwhile, was really getting trashed by the Cuban...along with another Spanish station (YVLL?). Also tried WMVP, but XEOY was blasting in and alone on the channel.

Big surprise was KMOX...or the lack of it! Usually one of the stronger nighttime signals on the Gulf Coast,this time it was all but absent.

Also....to my continuing amazement....WWL has its usual awsome day/night signal, but still not strong enough (at night) to keep R. Reloj from being clearly audible underneath.

 

[purpledevil]

gar fla: I can guarantee you that KVNS is there all day and all night in Galveston. It's signal is an all nighter here in Houston, and during the daytime it is usually the only game in town on 1700 although it does get interference by KKLF/Richardson during the mornings. Daytime is much fainter than nighttime, but some nights KVNS is stronger than some of our locals. It's remarkable that it travels that far at such a high dial setting, but our 1560 KGOW has been reported in Illinois so it's not the only one.

I have tried for the old XEROK 800 quite a few times over the past few years, and they just aren't here anymore on the upper Texas coast. XEW, XEG, and 1570 are nightly. 1050 destroys the local KCHN from west of Houston in Brookshire to the point where KCHN had to increase its nighttime power. It hasn't helped. KCHN is still no where to be found except in West Houston closest to the transmitter site. WWL is always here overnight, I have caught that Radio Disney station from Florida at 1380 consistently for the past year. It's faint, but it's Radio Disney.

KMOX is not the powerhouse it once was here either. It shows up, but not consistently like it used to. 1130 KWKH/Shreveport is a nightly visitor and now that co channel KTMR/Edna moved to San Antonio it is audible here in the daytime on most days.

 

[gar hi]

gar fla: I can guarantee you that KVNS is there all day and all night in Galveston. It's signal is an all nighter here in Houston, and during the daytime it is usually the only game in town on 1700 although it does get interference by KKLF/Richardson during the mornings. Daytime is much fainter than nighttime, but some nights KVNS is stronger than some of our locals. It's remarkable that it travels that far at such a high dial setting, but our 1560 KGOW has been reported in Illinois so it's not the only one.

So you are saying KVNS can be heard even in Houston all day?

That wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Icangelp]

gar fla: I can guarantee you that KVNS is there all day and all night in Galveston. It's signal is an all nighter here in Houston, and during the daytime it is usually the only game in town on 1700 although it does get interference by KKLF/Richardson during the mornings. Daytime is much fainter than nighttime, but some nights KVNS is stronger than some of our locals. It's remarkable that it travels that far at such a high dial setting, but our 1560 KGOW has been reported in Illinois so it's not the only one.

I have tried for the old XEROK 800 quite a few times over the past few years, and they just aren't here anymore on the upper Texas coast. XEW, XEG, and 1570 are nightly. 1050 destroys the local KCHN from west of Houston in Brookshire to the point where KCHN had to increase its nighttime power. It hasn't helped. KCHN is still no where to be found except in West Houston closest to the transmitter site. WWL is always here overnight, I have caught that Radio Disney station from Florida at 1380 consistently for the past year. It's faint, but it's Radio Disney.

KMOX is not the powerhouse it once was here either. It shows up, but not consistently like it used to. 1130 KWKH/Shreveport is a nightly visitor and now that co channel KTMR/Edna moved to San Antonio it is audible here in the daytime on most days.

 

[Icangelp]

To augment my post of nothing, I heard KGOW a several days in a row last year late evening while they were either testing, or forgot to switch to the night power/pattern. Since their 15KW night pattern is very narrow and aimed SSE, I would guess any midwest reception would be during sunrise or sunset skip when they were on day power/pattern.

As I wrote previously, one thing that surprised me was the strong signal from 810/WHB in Kansas City. For obvious reasons, we seldom hear them in Cincinnati even though we are 100 miles closer than the Houston area.

 

[purpledevil]

gar fla: I can guarantee you that KVNS is there all day and all night in Galveston. It's signal is an all nighter here in Houston, and during the daytime it is usually the only game in town on 1700 although it does get interference by KKLF/Richardson during the mornings. Daytime is much fainter than nighttime, but some nights KVNS is stronger than some of our locals. It's remarkable that it travels that far at such a high dial setting, but our 1560 KGOW has been reported in Illinois so it's not the only one.

So you are saying KVNS can be heard even in Houston all day?

That wouldn't surprise me.

Heard yes, clearly no. Lots of static, drop outs and the like but KVNS is audible throughout the day. Of course, the closer to the coast you go the better the reception.

 

[purpledevil]

To augment my post of nothing, I heard KGOW a several days in a row last year late evening while they were either testing, or forgot to switch to the night power/pattern. Since their 15KW night pattern is very narrow and aimed SSE, I would guess any midwest reception would be during sunrise or sunset skip when they were on day power/pattern.

As I wrote previously, one thing that surprised me was the strong signal from 810/WHB in Kansas City. For obvious reasons, we seldom hear them in Cincinnati even though we are 100 miles closer than the Houston area.

The nighttime power is new. They were running a measly 100 watts at night before the upgrade to 15kw. Sunset would be the best time, I would think. 1560 seems to be at its strongest output right before the sun goes down around SE Texas. Whoever took this daytimer from the sticks and moved it to market 5 with 50kw/15kw, was an absolute genius.

 

[cyberdad]

KGOW was smokin' here in the Chicago suburbs just before sunrise this past weekend. 1560 is usually pretty much a mess here, but KGOW was on top of everything else. First time I've heard Houston in quite a while.

 

[LibertyNT]

Most Afternoons in Dallas KGOW is Booming in strong enough to be heard in a Sky Scraper surrounded by computers. In Fact it was coming in better than Local sports on 1310.

 

[tanner]

can you get 540 WFLF?

 

[gar hi]

Heard yes, clearly no. Lots of static, drop outs and the like but KVNS is audible throughout the day. Of course, the closer to the coast you go the better the reception.

Thanks for that report.

Amazing it gets that far for such a high frequency station broadcasting at only 8.8 kw.

I got WTNI Biloxi from the Gulf in central Florida mid day and that's 400 miles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIkADiprmco


I know that high frequency AM stations are not supposed to have nearly as strong a ground wave as the low frequency ones but our observations suggest maybe other factors could come in to play?

Maybe there's not much of a difference if it's saltwater?

 

[BRNout]

KGOW was smokin' here in the Chicago suburbs just before sunrise this past weekend. 1560 is usually pretty much a mess here, but KGOW was on top of everything else. First time I've heard Houston in quite a while.

Amazing new signal they have, given that they were audible every night down in San Jose, CR - sometimes strongly.

As for KVNS, not only did I hear them every night in Costa Rica, but I've been hearing them up here in Chicagoland too (with some talk competition occasionally butting in).

In both cases, those are impressive signals - especially when you consider that neither is anywhere close to 50 kw; yet you can hear them at both ends of what would be a 7 hour nonstop flight! And perhaps beyond.....