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What is Up With 1240?

D

DXnCruise

Over the last year, my reception of station WSBC, during nighttime hours ranges from poor to good. Some nights, an unknown, modern/pop country music station tries to dominate the frequency. It really disgusts me. I hate that kind of music, and worst of all, it is on many frequencies as of recently. It's really ruined my enjoyment of WSBC, as for, I listen to certain programs during the evening on weeknights.
WSBC is only a 1K watt station on the NW side of Chicago, but has excellent reception during the day. I did an extensive search on the internet, but after looking at this forum's posts on 1240, my guess is KASL. It's too far from where I live, but there are no country music stations on 1240 AM within 50 miles of me. I can hear WTAX (Springfield, IL) underneath WSBC, with stations fading in and out. WTAX doesn't really bother me either, since it's a good, light talk, local-oriented station. Can't discern much from them until WSBC is off the air.
While listening to my stereo, I tried to listen for an ID from the pop country station, but failed. Whenever I try to do so, the country station fades out. I am wondering if this station is a pirate or trying to "mumble" its ID from distant listeners like me. It's a real P.I.T.A.!!! Can anyone help me identify the country music station? Is it really KASL? I always hear screaming singers like Carrie Underwood or Keith Urban. After looking at KASL's web site, it I think KASL is it. What are your thoughts?
I am able to listen to WSBC on my Grundig Shortwave radio without that BS, left-wing (of all things) country music station annoying the heck of out me. There is some chatter at times in the background from WTAX in Springfield, and occassional hints of a Mexican, or regional Mexican station. Still, I would like file a nice, fat, juicy complaint with the FCC about this absurd country music station. I suspect that if I cannot get an ID out of them...they must be a pirate or something.
I don't expect WSBC to come in clear as a bell after critical hours, bug my Grundig radio pulls it in well. I don't hear the 1,000s of stations underneath it that much. So, what are your thoughts on this? I think Grundig builds a good radio and I record my favorite songs onto my computer, using a Radio Shack plug-in cord.
 
WSBC is on a graveyard channel - if you are more than 10 miles away fuggitaboutit at nighttime. Stream it.

I think WEBQ Harrisburg, IL is trying to kill your reception of WSBC - they are also in Illinois, run ABC's Real Country network (like KASL), and are a LOT closer than KASL.

-crainbebo
 
Couple of other possibilities are WCBY Cheboygan, MI, and WOBT Rhinelander, WI as they both play country, though, likely classic country.
 
There are about half a dozen stations on 1240 within a 250 mile radius of Chicago. There is also potential bleedover from WJOB Hammond IN on 1230 on the south side & NW Indiana. WJOB and WSBC are only about 20 miles apart and have coexisted since the 1920s, along with the late 1240 time-sharers WCRW and WEDC.

1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450, and 1490 are graveyard (local) channels. Stations on those frequencies are designed to be heard clearly only within about a 15 mile radius. They can be spaced 100-150 miles apart (I'm not sure of the exact minimum). No getting around it - you'll just have to deal with it.
 
KeithE4 said:
1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450, and 1490 are graveyard (local) channels. Stations on those frequencies are designed to be heard clearly only within about a 15 mile radius. They can be spaced 100-150 miles apart (I'm not sure of the exact minimum). No getting around it - you'll just have to deal with it.
Click to expand...

Yep, those are the graveyard channels, and I wouldn't argue much about your statement of a 15-mile radius being what can normally be expected. Here in Texas, however, we have a number of such stations that get out very well (some clearly audible in excess of 50 miles) due to high ground conductivity in the center of the state.

I would make one correction, however, in that there is no required minimum separation between stations. One example that comes to mind is WESX Nahant MA (formerly licensed to Salem) and WNEB Worcester MA. Granted WESX runs 450 watts while WNEB is the full 1000, but the two stations---both on 1230---are roughly 47 miles apart. Thank the horrible ground conductivity in New England for that one. That, along with the efficiency of the transmitting systems themselves must be considered.
 
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On most of the graveyard channels here in WA, stations seem to be in the 80-120 mile range apart - probably way closer in the East. I get 300-400 mi stuff on the GY channels, easily. KBNW 1340 Bend is one that's a flamethrower as is KTIX 1240 Pendleton OR (about 200mi)

-crainbebo
 
Worth keeping in mind that most "graveyard channels" were spaced when the maximum allowed power was 250 watts. Then in the early 1960s (IIRC) the day power limit was raised to 1,000 watts, then some years after that, the 1,000 watt limit was allowed both day and night. Raising the power limits was something of a double-edged sword. In general, it resulted in a better (and more competitive) signal in local areas, but made fringe areas more interference prone.

As for the "what's up" question where the OP says WSBC's reception ranges from good to poor. My guess is that he's in a "transition" area. Far enough from the transmitter where the signal is still generally good, but the degree to which other stations can interfere is dependent primarily on atmospheric conditions on any given night. When I was a teenager, I went on family lake vacations in northern Wisconsin. There was a local station on 1240 about 15 miles from where we stayed. Some nights reception would be good, while other nights it would be lousy. And on still other nights it would be somewhere in between. A family friend who lived nearby said it was always like that.
 
cyberdad said:
When I was a teenager, I went on family lake vacations in northern Wisconsin. There was a local station on 1240 about 15 miles from where we stayed. Some nights reception would be good, while other nights it would be lousy. And on still other nights it would be somewhere in between. A family friend who lived nearby said it was always like that.
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That wasn't perchance WOBT Rhinelander, was it? I used to spend a lot of time in St. Germain, about 20 miles directly north of Rhinelander (and a 30 mile drive, since there's no direct highway between them) in the '60s and '70s, and found the same thing. Used to drive my dad nuts, since he liked to listen to Monitor on weekends (they were the northern Wisconsin NBC affiliate then). Reception would be flaky day and night - usually almost inaudible at night.

Local radio and TV reception in northern Wisconsin were (I'll be kind) "problematic" back in those days. Two AM stations (WERL 950 Eagle River, a daytimer then, and WOBT 1240 Rhinelander), one FM (elevator-music WOBT-FM 107.9, since moved), and one TV station (NBC affiliate WAEO-TV 12) unless one had a huge antenna with a rotator. Chasing DX was mandatory in that area. Fortunately, there are far more stations available today.
 
WSBC actually has about the best Chicago area graveyard signal. They can be heard at night 20-25 miles away, although there's quite a bit of crud in the background if you're more than about 5-8 miles from the transmitter. In the daytime, I have pulled them in as far east as Mishawaka, IN (haven't tried in other directions). Here in the north suburbs, WSBC is the only graveyard station heard at night. WJOB on 1230 is nonexistent, as are WRLL 1450 and WPNA 1490. These two are weak but readable in the daytime. WRJN on 1400 is never heard even in the daytime due to I-Block from 1390. Kankakee's WJOL on 1340 is too far to be heard and is adjacent to local 1330.

The story is similar in many parts of the midwest. Over in Michigan we have a local station that is barely heard 25 miles away in the daytime and at night they only make it about 8 miles before they succumb to the jumble on the frequency (1230). Their signal is completely drowned out at 12 miles. It was a different story back when all of the graveyard stations ran 250 watts. That particular staiton was easily heard 12-15 miles away at night and 30 to 40 miles in the daytime. When the FCC raised the power for all of those stations, it just created a wall of QRM that wiped out all but extremely local coverage. This is the story again and again on AM. Calling for more and more power will just create more interference, degrading the listening experience even further. You can only stuff so many tomatoes into that ketchup bottle...
 
Transition Area

cyberdad said:
Worth keeping in mind that most "graveyard channels" were spaced when the maximum allowed power was 250 watts. Then in the early 1960s (IIRC) the day power limit was raised to 1,000 watts, then some years after that, the 1,000 watt limit was allowed both day and night. Raising the power limits was something of a double-edged sword. In general, it resulted in a better (and more competitive) signal in local areas, but made fringe areas more interference prone.

As for the "what's up" question where the OP says WSBC's reception ranges from good to poor. My guess is that he's in a "transition" area. Far enough from the transmitter where the signal is still generally good, but the degree to which other stations can interfere is dependent primarily on atmospheric conditions on any given night. When I was a teenager, I went on family lake vacations in northern Wisconsin. There was a local station on 1240 about 15 miles from where we stayed. Some nights reception would be good, while other nights it would be lousy. And on still other nights it would be somewhere in between. A family friend who lived nearby said it was always like that.
Click to expand...

I live in a transition area. I receive 950, 1230, 1490, 1510, 1590, 1630 (Midway TIS), and 1640 (Racine- Radio Disney) like I do with 'SBC. Good (daytime), fair to poor (now, night). I get WNDZ 750 clear as a bell. In order to get 1470 WCFJ during the daytime, I have to be as far "north" as Worth, Oak Lawn (east of Central Ave), or Alsip (very fast trip down 294). At night, it comes in good if WMBD isn't competing with it. As we Southsiders know, WMBD has always made 'CFJ hard to hear many times. I have airchecks of WCFJ. They were recorded between January and May. I love their music variety (rare oldies, jazz, swing, soft AC, metal, etc.) and I recorded programming. I should post a few samples. I wish WCGO was still on the air at 1600.
 
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