What has happened to 1110 WBT's signal in the past decade or so?

[gar hi]

Like so many have said, WLS ain't what it used to be at night.

Here in Florida, it boomed in on a regular basis and I would listen to their music on my AM Stereo walkman back in the 80s.

The Cuban station now makes it barely audible.

And I can't even hear WSCR anymore. 670 here is loaded with all kinds of Spanish stations.

 

[Icangelp]

Like so many have said, WLS ain't what it used to be at night.

Here in Florida, it boomed in on a regular basis and I would listen to their music on my AM Stereo walkman back in the 80s.

The Cuban station now makes it barely audible.

And I can't even hear WSCR anymore. 670 here is loaded with all kinds of Spanish stations.

It will probably only get worse Cuba wise, what with the new sunspot cycle starting to ramp up.

Maybe Castro will finally hit the dirt and some progressive pro-democracy person will take over and turn all the broadcast stations over to commercial operators. The first thing they would do is switch to FM. Florida then becomes a DXing paradise.

 

[trusty]

Some years ago, hurricane Hugo did a number on WBT's towers (photo). I understand that even the ground sysem was damaged in the towers' reconstruction.

 

[schmave]

As for WLS I think someone in CUBA is using 890. I hear faint Spanish language programming mixing with WLS at my location in Central Connecticut. I used to think it was WAMG from Dedham, Mass but they were sold and went ESPN in 2005 (they went dark in September 2009 and have since gotten sold and went Spanish again) and I was still hearing Spanish language programming mixing with WLS.

Cuba definitely is a factor against WLS in some parts of the country, but even here in the Midwest WLS is no powerhouse. Here in Ohio, I very rarely hear Spanish on 890. I'm about 280 miles ESE of Chicago.
As far as the Chicago blasters, I think one of the earlier posters forgot WMVP. While WGN and WBBM are practically locals here every night and WSCR is not far behind, WMVP is *always* the strongest. WLS always is present but never as strong as the other four. The nice thing about 670 is it never is clobbered by the Cuban that sometimes used to dominate the frequency at night here. Every night now it's always the Score.

 

[radioman148]

As for WLS I think someone in CUBA is using 890. I hear faint Spanish language programming mixing with WLS at my location in Central Connecticut. I used to think it was WAMG from Dedham, Mass but they were sold and went ESPN in 2005 (they went dark in September 2009 and have since gotten sold and went Spanish again) and I was still hearing Spanish language programming mixing with WLS.

Cuba definitely is a factor against WLS in some parts of the country, but even here in the Midwest WLS is no powerhouse. Here in Ohio, I very rarely hear Spanish on 890. I'm about 280 miles ESE of Chicago.
As far as the Chicago blasters, I think one of the earlier posters forgot WMVP. While WGN and WBBM are practically locals here every night and WSCR is not far behind, WMVP is *always* the strongest. WLS always is present but never as strong as the other four. The nice thing about 670 is it never is clobbered by the Cuban that sometimes used to dominate the frequency at night here. Every night now it's always the Score.

WMVP sends a great deal of their signal eastward especially at night so it's not a surprise they would be the strongest Chicago station your way. However, if you go 60-70 miles west of their tower you can hardly hear them at night.

 

[ddsparxx]

I have heard some Spanish station on 710 mixing with WOR or even above it at night. Is that also a Cuban station?

WAQI in the Miami area is 50KW on 710 with a Spanish format.

I don't know about that Bob. I've heard the signal that they're talking about when I lived in PA and I was quite certain that it was Cuban. The reasons I'll give for that are two-fold. First off, WAQI ("Wacky 710" is what they should call it!) is directional with very little power going northwest of a line between Miami and Bermuda. Even during the day, it nulls to the NNE.

Secondly, I have heard that signal in the mid-Atlantic region many times and they are often featuring political rallies, 'patriotic' music and sporting events. All with a very Cuban accent.

Personally, I think that the station which encroaches so obnoxiously on WOR (even into central NJ) is CMLC Victoria, Cuba. They supposedly run 10 kw, but so does Radio Reloj and I heard traces of them in Wyoming. And they would be non-directional.

CMLC sounds most likely be what I've heard. The AMLogbook says WAQI is Spanish news/talk. (And I have heard it here at my place.)

 

[ddsparxx]

I need to make a correction. I meant to say that I have NOT heard WAQI at my place.

 

[schmave]

As for WLS I think someone in CUBA is using 890. I hear faint Spanish language programming mixing with WLS at my location in Central Connecticut. I used to think it was WAMG from Dedham, Mass but they were sold and went ESPN in 2005 (they went dark in September 2009 and have since gotten sold and went Spanish again) and I was still hearing Spanish language programming mixing with WLS.

Cuba definitely is a factor against WLS in some parts of the country, but even here in the Midwest WLS is no powerhouse. Here in Ohio, I very rarely hear Spanish on 890. I'm about 280 miles ESE of Chicago.
As far as the Chicago blasters, I think one of the earlier posters forgot WMVP. While WGN and WBBM are practically locals here every night and WSCR is not far behind, WMVP is *always* the strongest. WLS always is present but never as strong as the other four. The nice thing about 670 is it never is clobbered by the Cuban that sometimes used to dominate the frequency at night here. Every night now it's always the Score.

WMVP sends a great deal of their signal eastward especially at night so it's not a surprise they would be the strongest Chicago station your way. However, if you go 60-70 miles west of their tower you can hardly hear them at night.

The one time I visited DeKalb, Ill., about 10 years ago, I remember not being able to hear 1000 after sunset. Driving back to Ohio, I remember seeing the WMVP towers in Downers Grove and hearing a very noticeable change in pattern.

 

[radioman148]

As for WLS I think someone in CUBA is using 890. I hear faint Spanish language programming mixing with WLS at my location in Central Connecticut. I used to think it was WAMG from Dedham, Mass but they were sold and went ESPN in 2005 (they went dark in September 2009 and have since gotten sold and went Spanish again) and I was still hearing Spanish language programming mixing with WLS.

Cuba definitely is a factor against WLS in some parts of the country, but even here in the Midwest WLS is no powerhouse. Here in Ohio, I very rarely hear Spanish on 890. I'm about 280 miles ESE of Chicago.
As far as the Chicago blasters, I think one of the earlier posters forgot WMVP. While WGN and WBBM are practically locals here every night and WSCR is not far behind, WMVP is *always* the strongest. WLS always is present but never as strong as the other four. The nice thing about 670 is it never is clobbered by the Cuban that sometimes used to dominate the frequency at night here. Every night now it's always the Score.

WMVP sends a great deal of their signal eastward especially at night so it's not a surprise they would be the strongest Chicago station your way. However, if you go 60-70 miles west of their tower you can hardly hear them at night.

The one time I visited DeKalb, Ill., about 10 years ago, I remember not being able to hear 1000 after sunset. Driving back to Ohio, I remember seeing the WMVP towers in Downers Grove and hearing a very noticeable change in pattern.

I went to college in De Kalb 40 years ago. At that time we listened to either WLS or WCFL(AM 1000). During the day WCFL came in about half as strong as WLS. At night WCFL sounded like very distant DX.

 

[charlestondxman]

Going back to WBT, their signal has diminished somewhat locally. There's a little skywave cancellation, but a signal that used to be strong 100% of the time is now in 85% of the time.

But, when you go to Tampa, Orlando, and areas around there, it's probably the strongest clear.

 

[schmave]

How severe is the null they throw to the west? I know WBT's signal is decent here in central Ohio ... it's listenabe but maybe a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

As for WLS I think someone in CUBA is using 890. I hear faint Spanish language programming mixing with WLS at my location in Central Connecticut. I used to think it was WAMG from Dedham, Mass but they were sold and went ESPN in 2005 (they went dark in September 2009 and have since gotten sold and went Spanish again) and I was still hearing Spanish language programming mixing with WLS.

Cuba definitely is a factor against WLS in some parts of the country, but even here in the Midwest WLS is no powerhouse. Here in Ohio, I very rarely hear Spanish on 890. I'm about 280 miles ESE of Chicago.
As far as the Chicago blasters, I think one of the earlier posters forgot WMVP. While WGN and WBBM are practically locals here every night and WSCR is not far behind, WMVP is *always* the strongest. WLS always is present but never as strong as the other four. The nice thing about 670 is it never is clobbered by the Cuban that sometimes used to dominate the frequency at night here. Every night now it's always the Score.

When I started driving in Cincinnati in 1971, WLS & WCFL 1000 were both listenable during the day on my '64 Impala's AM only car radio with the taller whip antennas of the day (both were great top 40 stations & I listened to them a lot). If WLS isn't there in Cincy during the day on a good car radio, then something has gone downhill in the past 40 years...

 

[davideduardo]

, I have heard that signal in the mid-Atlantic region many times and they are often featuring political rallies, 'patriotic' music and sporting events. All with a very Cuban accent.

WAQI, Radio Mambí, is the Cuban-in-Exile station. If anything, the accent is more pronounced than that on the several Cuban stations on 710.

Personally, I think that the station which encroaches so obnoxiously on WOR (even into central NJ) is CMLC Victoria, Cuba. They supposedly run 10 kw, but so does Radio Reloj and I heard traces of them in Wyoming. And they would be non-directional.

There are 3 or 4 local Cuban stations on 710, all intended to block WAQI and its anti-Castro content making landfall on Cuba. Usually all the Cuban stations on 710 are on the same network. Power is impossible to know, as the equipment in Cuba is old and much of it running on reduced power.

 

[BRNout]

There are 3 or 4 local Cuban stations on 710, all intended to block WAQI and its anti-Castro content making landfall on Cuba. Usually all the Cuban stations on 710 are on the same network. Power is impossible to know, as the equipment in Cuba is old and much of it running on reduced power.

Based on content (even more than accent), I am pretty sure that what I used to hear in PA on 710 was from Cuba. Some nights it was so strong as to render WOR unlistenable as close to NY as the Philly suburbs. I seriously doubt that WAQI would have been so out of pattern - nor would the political content match.

Agree?

 

[Icangelp]

As for WLS I think someone in CUBA is using 890. I hear faint Spanish language programming mixing with WLS at my location in Central Connecticut. I used to think it was WAMG from Dedham, Mass but they were sold and went ESPN in 2005 (they went dark in September 2009 and have since gotten sold and went Spanish again) and I was still hearing Spanish language programming mixing with WLS.

Cuba definitely is a factor against WLS in some parts of the country, but even here in the Midwest WLS is no powerhouse. Here in Ohio, I very rarely hear Spanish on 890. I'm about 280 miles ESE of Chicago.
As far as the Chicago blasters, I think one of the earlier posters forgot WMVP. While WGN and WBBM are practically locals here every night and WSCR is not far behind, WMVP is *always* the strongest. WLS always is present but never as strong as the other four. The nice thing about 670 is it never is clobbered by the Cuban that sometimes used to dominate the frequency at night here. Every night now it's always the Score.

When I started driving in Cincinnati in 1971, WLS & WCFL 1000 were both listenable during the day on my '64 Impala's AM only car radio with the taller whip antennas of the day (both were great top 40 stations & I listened to them a lot). If WLS isn't there in Cincy during the day on a good car radio, then something has gone downhill in the past 40 years...

It really depends on where you are in Cincinnati, and the daytime "conditions". Away from power lines and buildings, WLS and WMVP are both above the threshold and listenable, but weak. In general, WGN is the best daytime signal, and add WIND and WSCR to the Chicago stations receivable daytime in parts of Cincinnati.

 

[schmave]

As for WLS I think someone in CUBA is using 890. I hear faint Spanish language programming mixing with WLS at my location in Central Connecticut. I used to think it was WAMG from Dedham, Mass but they were sold and went ESPN in 2005 (they went dark in September 2009 and have since gotten sold and went Spanish again) and I was still hearing Spanish language programming mixing with WLS.

Cuba definitely is a factor against WLS in some parts of the country, but even here in the Midwest WLS is no powerhouse. Here in Ohio, I very rarely hear Spanish on 890. I'm about 280 miles ESE of Chicago.
As far as the Chicago blasters, I think one of the earlier posters forgot WMVP. While WGN and WBBM are practically locals here every night and WSCR is not far behind, WMVP is *always* the strongest. WLS always is present but never as strong as the other four. The nice thing about 670 is it never is clobbered by the Cuban that sometimes used to dominate the frequency at night here. Every night now it's always the Score.

When I started driving in Cincinnati in 1971, WLS & WCFL 1000 were both listenable during the day on my '64 Impala's AM only car radio with the taller whip antennas of the day (both were great top 40 stations & I listened to them a lot). If WLS isn't there in Cincy during the day on a good car radio, then something has gone downhill in the past 40 years...

It really depends on where you are in Cincinnati, and the daytime "conditions". Away from power lines and buildings, WLS and WMVP are both above the threshold and listenable, but weak. In general, WGN is the best daytime signal, and add WIND and WSCR to the Chicago stations receivable daytime in parts of Cincinnati.

I tried to help the other direct this thing back to WBT but I have to ask this ... how do you hear WGN in Cincinnati?! Even here in Columbus, where 720 is quite listenable this time of year, WLW's hash is very much present.

 

[Icangelp]

I find on all the radio's I use including my car radio, WLW's slop only spreads 10KHZ in either tuning direction, although it seems to be worse to the left of the dial. Bear in mind that I seldom travel north and to Mason where I presume WLW would spread two or three notches in either direction.

Especially on the west side where (I presume) urban sprall weakens WLW's signal, I can almost always hear WGN. I will also say that Chicago signals are weak, and infrequently they are not above the threshold.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled WBT thread already in progress.

 

[KR4BD]

Although I am on the back of their night-time pattern here in Central KY, I used to hear WBT all the time at night, although weakly. The problem here now, and I suppose in many other areas, is the IBOC noise generation from WTAM on 1100 and KMOX on 1120 which totally wipes out WBT most of the time. Another example of IBOC interference comes from WFNI (ex-WIBC) on 1070. KYW-1060 from Philadelphia is now a much more difficult catch for me where it was a "regular" in years past.

 

[davideduardo]

Based on content (even more than accent), I am pretty sure that what I used to hear in PA on 710 was from Cuba. Some nights it was so strong as to render WOR unlistenable as close to NY as the Philly suburbs. I seriously doubt that WAQI would have been so out of pattern - nor would the political content match.

Agree?

Agree. The Cubans were noted inteferring with WOR back to the 80's, as their concern was blocking WAQI. WAQI is the strongest of the Miami Spanish langauge AM's in Cuba (I recall hearing it as WGBS several nights on my car radio driving around in Quito) other than Marti, so the blocking effort has been strenuous. It's pretty hard to tell which Cuban you might have heard, though.

 

[BRNout]

Agree. The Cubans were noted inteferring with WOR back to the 80's, as their concern was blocking WAQI. WAQI is the strongest of the Miami Spanish langauge AM's in Cuba (I recall hearing it as WGBS several nights on my car radio driving around in Quito) other than Marti, so the blocking effort has been strenuous. It's pretty hard to tell which Cuban you might have heard, though.

Good info - helping to confirm my suspicion. When I've tuned in to WAQI during past trips to Miami, it sounded more professional than the blather I have heard bothering WOR.

Am on my way to Central America in a couple of days and will see what I can get on 710 at night (among other freqs)!