Week in Houston & a day on the TX Gulf.

[cyberdad]

Tried KGOW again this morning around 5am (here northwest of Chicago). This time it was either absent entirely or lost in the slop.

 

[purpledevil]

noticed this too, cyberdad. 1560 early yesterday and this morning was very weak on the way to work. I assume they were using 100 watts these last 2 nights. They may have had some maintenance issues with the new rig. I'll be checking it tonight when the power is dropped to see what happens.

 

[purpledevil]

1560 was back to full form last night and this morning, obviously back on the 15kw array. See what you've got at 1560 tonight, cyberdad, should be a good dose of Houston sports coming your way.

 

[cyberdad]

Instead of being home in the Chicago area, I've joined Mrs. Cyberdad for a long weekend at the place where we stay on the Gulf outside Pensacola. Actually I did try 1560 before sunrise this morning. "Nobody Home". At least no trace of KGOW. That said, I was inside the building, where reception is a bit compromised. However a number of the "usual suspects" were blasting in (WOAI, XEEP, XEOY, WBBM, WLW, WLAC, and the regular Cubans to name a few).

 

[gar hi]

Hey, could you try for some midday catchs too, like KCTA 1030 Corpus Christi WCNZ 1660 Marco Island, Fl, any Houston stations, and it would be interesting to hear what's on 1700 too.

 

[cyberdad]

Hey, could you try for some midday catchs too, like KCTA 1030 Corpus Christi WCNZ 1660 Marco Island, Fl, any Houston stations, and it would be interesting to hear what's on 1700 too.

I've tried these on a casual basis and pretty much came up empty. Time permitting, I'll make a more serious attempt in the morning before I head back to the Chicago area for the next ten days. (Then I'm back on the gulf until Easter).

I haven't had much daytime luck here with the Texans. Tampa Bay area is another story, however, with 620, 820, 970, 1040, 1250. and 1380 among the regulars).

 

[cyberdad]

Update....

I had a pretty busy day today, but did take a few minutes early this afternoon to fire up the Eaton E-10. Didn't get anything other than the semi-local 1620 on the x-band, but 1030 was another story.

At first, on the balcony of where we stay, there was only an unidentifiable carrier on 1030. But I decided to move a little farther away from the building and "viola"! I didn't have enough time to wait for a positive ID, but I'm pretty sure I had KCTA with a pretty decent signal. It was a syndicated religious talk program that matched up with the program schedule posted on the station's website.

I'm back home in the Chicago area for the next nine days, but then I have two more weeks on the gulf coming up after then. I'll see if I can pick up where I left off.

 

[gar hi]

Thanks for the report!

If KCTA can make it that far with a pretty decent signal, it only helps convince me that was the religious station I heard out at the Gulf here in the background of the Spanish station on 1030.

Again, we're getting a better clue from your reports since you've been there as to how far AM can travel on a saltwater path.

640 miles is a typical decent catch for the nighttime!

 

[vibe]

I've actually endured CC's 1030 and ID'd it Englewood during the day on several rare occasions. It's still a great catch from the Redneck Riviera however.

 

[cyberdad]

Thanks for the report!

If KCTA can make it that far with a pretty decent signal, it only helps convince me that was the religious station I heard out at the Gulf here in the background of the Spanish station on 1030.

Again, we're getting a better clue from your reports since you've been there as to how far AM can travel on a saltwater path.

640 miles is a typical decent catch for the nighttime!

Well, its a little weird because we've been staying in the same condo for a number of years, and I'd never noticed KCTA. Moving off the balcony away from the building usually only results in a slight improvement in signals. But yesterday, KCTA went from a barely audible carrier to absolutely listenable. And yes, there was something underneath KCTA....possibly Spanish...but whatever it was wasn't readily apparent.

As for the 640 Cuban, it's pretty regular at that location day and night, but seldom with an impressive signal. The Cuban on 710, however, is audible under semi-local WNTM daytime, then blasts in and takes over at night.

 

[gar hi]

Well, its a little weird because we've been staying in the same condo for a number of years, and I'd never noticed KCTA. Moving off the balcony away from the building usually only results in a slight improvement in signals. But yesterday, KCTA went from a barely audible carrier to absolutely listenable. And yes, there was something underneath KCTA....possibly Spanish...but whatever it was wasn't readily apparent.

It sounds like that Spanish station you heard is the same one I heard here much stronger that pushed what I think was KCTA into the background.


Based ou your observations with the good signal you got with KCTA where you were and the religious broadcast I heard on 1030 at the Gulf here and that vibe heard it too from our Gulf coast daytime, that's about a 900 mile signal from Corpus Christi to the west coast of Florida.

Also consider it's frequency is 1030. Now Daytona Beach and that general area of the east coast of Florida is about 900 miles from New York. Though there's part of the North Carolina coast that 660 and 880 would have to travel over, it's an area of mostly saltwater inlets, marshes, or saltwater intrusion with good conductivity so there wouldn't be the same signal loss as if it was regular land. 660 and 880 are lower on the dial than 1030 too. I think that with the right equipment and if there were some possible way to null out the Florida stations on 660 and 880, one or both of the two New York stations could be audible and an ID could be confirmed. Unfortunately, I've learned first hand how both Florida stations on those frequencies make it difficult to hear much else.

If only the internet had been around in the old days for people to post their DXing reports. I wonder how many people could hear those New York stations in the daytime but had no place to make a report.

I thought I read somewhere in some DXing forum that someone heard WBZ at 4 pm on Daytona Beach during spring break years ago. I tried for WBZ when I was there but there's a very strong local on 1030 now.

 

[purpledevil]

KCTA is a powerhouse, having a regular daytime signal all throughout SE Texas. I imagine you could pick up 1030 over in Tampa with relative ease. KCTA's 50kW reaches down into Mexico and well into Louisiana. In Houston, there is nothing near it locally so it is a regular here. It produces a stronger daytime signal in Houston than KVNS. It's no wonder KCTA's reach is so great. There isn't a co-channel anywhere near KCTA. Closest 1030 to Corpus's, I guess, would be KFAY up in Arkansas. I'd suspect that you'd get KCTA even down into the Yucatan. This spring, when my buddy and his wife take the Carnival cruise down to the Cozumel, I'm going to ask him to take a listen.

 

[gar hi]

I know the religious broadcast I was hearing in the background of a Spanish station on 1030 when I did the videos at the Gulf here last year had to be KCTA because the only other station with a religious format on 1030 is up in North Carolina and there are hundreds of miles of land between here and their location.

Hey, you might also want to ask your friend to listen for 620 WDAE and 970 WFLA from the Tampa/St. Pete area too in Cozumel.