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What do you think you could get if you were...
- Thread starter Buckeyes2001
- Start date
Some of the border blasters are 100kW
None of the "border blasters" south of San Diego are 100kW, unless you count their directional antenna ERP*.
The strongest transmitter is 690 XEWW, which is 77kW day, 50kW night. Their daytime main lobe sends an ERP of 217kW to the north.
Also 1090 XEPRS is 50kW directional fulltime. Their ERP to the N/NW is 206kW.
Next down on the list is 950 XEKAM, with its 20kW transmitter (daytime). It only sends 40kW ERP to the north, though, if I calculated correctly.
Almost all the rest are 10kW or less and non-directional. 860 XEMO is 10kW directional, and 540 XESURF is supposedly 25kW, but I doubt they're using that much.
I suppose 620 XESS (and 1030 XESDD) could be considered pseudo-borderblasters, as they're listed as having directional antennas with very little sent north, but in practice are non-directional. Your SDR, DSP radio or FIM would need to have fairly decent selectivity to bring in XESS, though, from where that bird is perched.
*Re: ERP - what is actually the proper term when referring to AM directional antennas? I understand that for FM, the ERP is the transmitter power necessary to broadcast the same signal level using a half-wave dipole. For AM, though, what's the term, if not ERP, for the transmit power necessary to broadcast omnidirectionally with the same signal level using one of the station's existing antennae?
Speaking of 1270, what station on this frequency broadcasts CBS Sports Radio with a translator on 96.1? When I was down in Pacific County last weekend I got something that said 1270 and 96.1, but looking at Wikipedia's list of stations on these two frequencies, nothing jumps out as being obviously the station.
Probably a very weak KINN during the day, with KFLC possibly making it in. All KFLC at night.
I wouldn't doubt it at all, assuming the blackout meant that every broadcast station transmitting from the Empire State Building was knocked off the air (no back-up generator power, etc). I think WBEB and WRNB would both be in with HD from the top of Empire State.
Here's another one from central Illinois--from the "Which of these three stations is the most likely" department:
540 daytime in Shelbyville, IL (about 40 miles southeast of Decatur and 25 NW of Effingham).
540 daytime in Shelbyville, IL (about 40 miles southeast of Decatur and 25 NW of Effingham).
I'm guessing during the day WKFN/Clarksville, TN (most dominant) and maybe WAUK/Jackson, WI behind it with weak signals with KWMT/Ft. Dodge, IA making occasional appearances.
As Piano has mentioned, none of the Tijuana stations are... or have ever been... 100 kw. Former 250 kw XERF-1570 in Cd. Acuña, Coah., is running less than 50 kw now. XEROK-800 in Cd. Juárez, once 150 kw, is running a single 50 kw transmitter at reduced power. XEG-1050 in Monterrey is now running 50 kw as there is no gain in running more.
While not a border stations, 540's XEWA which also used 150 kw from central Mexico is running reduced power and appears to be moving to FM only as part of the near elimination of AM in Mexico.
Even in Mexico City, XEW-900 does not run its 250 kw any more. 100 kw XEB runs lower power to conserve energy and cut costs, and XEX-730 does run 100 kw. The other "100's" in Mexico City only use that power in the daytime (XEEP, XERED, XEN).
How about another in the "what's most likely" department.
900 kHz at the Fuerte Elementary School campus just N of Rancho San Diego, CA
I'm primarily interested in daytime reception when KECR is caught napping. (I find their transmitter off more than any other San Diego area station.)
One time they were off, I was just barely able to get a wisp of something on my PL-606 + SAT around 1pm or so, aimed NNW. Which station is more likely? (West Covina has a severe null toward there, Fresno is omnidirectional. Or could i possibly be hearing something else?) More recently using a Rat Shack 300-in-One kit's CW transmitter I was able to get a faint heterodyne on 900 (listening with a PL-398mp set in ±1kHz BW mode), but it was only audible between 910's songs & sermons.
As I mention below, XEW Mexico City is audible if you can get around 910 KECR's splatter. What else would you hear at night here? Btw I tried for the BC station on 900 before they went off, but was never able to catch it. I was consoled, however, when I caught KSDO sleeping one night and bagged CKWX.
——————
Speaking of the big Mexicans...
Any idea what they're running now? Also how good would their nighttime signal be with 250kW, if their current one is readable (by a DXer who understands a little Spanish) but fairly noisy? Listening right now (9:26pm) its strength is comparable to 1520 KOKC here.
Do you know what power 540 XESURF, 620 XESS and 1030 XESDD currently run? (620 and 1030 are within a db or two of the same daytime strength here.)
Also is 1700 XEPE using its night pattern in the daytime? It's several dB weaker than 1630 XEUT here, in spite of both being (I believe) 10kW fairly close to each other. Also I've fairly recently seen a report on another forum from a DXer in AZ who didn't notice any signal change around sunset or so one evening.
900 kHz at the Fuerte Elementary School campus just N of Rancho San Diego, CA
I'm primarily interested in daytime reception when KECR is caught napping. (I find their transmitter off more than any other San Diego area station.)
One time they were off, I was just barely able to get a wisp of something on my PL-606 + SAT around 1pm or so, aimed NNW. Which station is more likely? (West Covina has a severe null toward there, Fresno is omnidirectional. Or could i possibly be hearing something else?) More recently using a Rat Shack 300-in-One kit's CW transmitter I was able to get a faint heterodyne on 900 (listening with a PL-398mp set in ±1kHz BW mode), but it was only audible between 910's songs & sermons.
As I mention below, XEW Mexico City is audible if you can get around 910 KECR's splatter. What else would you hear at night here? Btw I tried for the BC station on 900 before they went off, but was never able to catch it. I was consoled, however, when I caught KSDO sleeping one night and bagged CKWX.
——————
Speaking of the big Mexicans...
Any idea what they're running now? Also how good would their nighttime signal be with 250kW, if their current one is readable (by a DXer who understands a little Spanish) but fairly noisy? Listening right now (9:26pm) its strength is comparable to 1520 KOKC here.
That must be why they're no longer equal strength with my local 800 from Tijuana, like they used to be in the mid 1990s or so.
Am I likely hearing this at night here, or XED? Signal is moderate but with severe co-channel right now on this frequency, hearing a pop song at 9:26pm PDT. (XED is, by my definition, listenable during the day, but somewhat noisy, maybe 10-15dB S/N or so. (KFWB and KNWZ at the school campus mentioned above, when heard on semi-decent $15-40 pocket portables with only the internal loopstick, are within a few dB or so of my limit of listenability, assuming a steady groundwave signal and no nearby noise sources.)
When Tijuana's 540 used to sign off overnight (or so I think - whatever was on 540 was fairly weak and strongest beamed southeast), was XEWA the likely Spanish-language station I was hearing?
I can still sometimes hear this here, albeit faintly, and I have to get a very good null on my local 910 KECR and use a radio with superb selectivity. How well should I hear it if they were running 250k, and what are they using now?
I'm not sure if I've heard XEB here. I do hear Spanish on 730, but it's usually best when aimed south toward Ensenada, not southeast toward Ciudad Mexico.
Is Mexico City by any chance the city with the highest concentration of current (and/or former) 50+kW AM stations in the world? or are there other large cities with a higher percentage of their stations being 50kW? (of course small cities, and those whose ONLY licensed AM is a 50kW like Window Rock, AZ, don't count.)
Do you know what power 540 XESURF, 620 XESS and 1030 XESDD currently run? (620 and 1030 are within a db or two of the same daytime strength here.)
Also is 1700 XEPE using its night pattern in the daytime? It's several dB weaker than 1630 XEUT here, in spite of both being (I believe) 10kW fairly close to each other. Also I've fairly recently seen a report on another forum from a DXer in AZ who didn't notice any signal change around sunset or so one evening.
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How about another in the "what's most likely" department.
Is Mexico City by any chance the city with the highest concentration of current (and/or former) 50+kW AM stations in the world? or are there other large cities with a higher percentage of their stations being 50kW? (of course small cities, and those whose ONLY licensed AM is a 50kW like Window Rock, AZ, don't count.).
Buenos Aires comes in similar to Mexico City... fewer stations (excluding the X-Band neighborhood stations and municipally licensed deep suburban stations) but nearly all with 50 to 100 kw. 590, 630, 710, 790, 870, 910, 950, 990, 1030, 1110, 1190 and several others are 50 kw... all non directional except 710 which is 100 kw and intentionally slightly directional to drive power over the central city. Bogotá comes close, too, with all the stations from 540 up to 1070 being 50 kw... about 13 or 14 of them.
Mexico has 50 kw or more, at least daytime, on 620, 660, 690, 730, 770, 790, 860, 900, 940, 970, 1000, 1030, 1060, 1110, 1150, 1220, 1380, 1470, 1500, 1530, and 1560.
Reposting this here (with a little editing), as the original, on my (hybrid) layout settings, got put several posts up. (I had included it in a reply to a DavidEduardo post. I've trimmed that section out of this one.)
How about another in the "what's most likely" department.
900 kHz at the Fuerte Elementary School campus just N of Rancho San Diego, CA
I'm primarily interested in daytime reception when KECR is caught napping. (I find their transmitter off more than any other San Diego area station.)
One time they were off, I was just barely able to get a wisp of something on my PL-606 + SAT around 1pm or so, aimed NNW. Which station is more likely? (West Covina has a severe null toward there, Fresno is omnidirectional. Or could i possibly be hearing something else?) More recently using a Rat Shack 300-in-One kit's CW transmitter I was able to get a faint heterodyne on 900 (listening with a PL-398mp set in ±1kHz BW mode), but it was only audible between 910's songs & sermons.
As I mention (in my above reply to DE), XEW Mexico City is audible if you can get around 910 KECR's splatter. What else would you hear at night here? Btw I tried for the BC station on 900 before they went off, but was never able to catch it. I was consoled, however, when I caught KSDO sleeping one night and bagged CKWX.
How about another in the "what's most likely" department.
900 kHz at the Fuerte Elementary School campus just N of Rancho San Diego, CA
I'm primarily interested in daytime reception when KECR is caught napping. (I find their transmitter off more than any other San Diego area station.)
One time they were off, I was just barely able to get a wisp of something on my PL-606 + SAT around 1pm or so, aimed NNW. Which station is more likely? (West Covina has a severe null toward there, Fresno is omnidirectional. Or could i possibly be hearing something else?) More recently using a Rat Shack 300-in-One kit's CW transmitter I was able to get a faint heterodyne on 900 (listening with a PL-398mp set in ±1kHz BW mode), but it was only audible between 910's songs & sermons.
As I mention (in my above reply to DE), XEW Mexico City is audible if you can get around 910 KECR's splatter. What else would you hear at night here? Btw I tried for the BC station on 900 before they went off, but was never able to catch it. I was consoled, however, when I caught KSDO sleeping one night and bagged CKWX.
I'm going to guess it would mainly be weak signals alternating from WPWX/Hammond, IN (Chicago), WBNZ/Frankfort, MI and WMXD/Detroit with visits from WOWO/Ft. Wayne, IN and W222BB/Battle Creek, MI when conditions are right. I think WBNZ may be on top most of the time though when the band is quiet.
New one:
100.9 MHz in West Des Moines, IA
100.9 MHz in West Des Moines, IA
Depending on which direction you point your antenna on a very good receiver, I'd guess maybe KRRY Canton, MO, KOWZ Blooming Prairie, MN, or KHSK Allen, NE.
What about the 900 kHz mentioned a few posts up? Seems no one has tried that one yet.
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