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Whose on the night shift on 1380AM?

J

johnbasalla

While driving through the Southwestern portion of Cuyahoga County (part of the Cleveland, Ohio market), at 11pm Monday night, I chanced to put on 1380 AM which is the home of "Cool Cat Oldies - WDLW" in Lorain County. They are only 57 watts at night, and can only barely be heard, if at all, in the area I was driving.

Two other stations popped up, one right after the other. The first was a preacher doing a typical sermon you'd hear on Protestant religious stations. The station was coming in fairly clearly for a short time. Then it disappeared as another station took its place. This one was airing, what sounded like, a network play-by-play feed of the Monday night football game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks. I didn't make it to a break so I could hear if it was network or local.

So, who was on tonights shift on 1380AM?
 
The first 1380 may be WLRM Millington, TN (it's Love 1380 religion, 1kw). The second may be WKJG Fort Wayne, IN (ESPN).

-crainbebo
 
Another possibility for the sports station, but maybe a long shot, is KXFN St. Louis.
 
I monitored 1380 just now from here in Vermilion, OH and I could get an ESPN Sports station amongst several others and the callsign sounded like WADA. Checking sports stations on 1380 on radio-locator, it may have been WABH from Bath, NY!
 
Confirmed the sports station (ESPN) I'm getting on 1380 at night is WABH. They're broadcasting the Yankees game right now and I heard them say Yankees radio network.
 
HEY BUCKEYES2001 . Could you check to hear how well WBWC 88.3 FM comes in, in Vermilion? The tower is in North Olmsted and is directional west. Just curious. The station is strong in the Elyria area.
 
If I don't get KRKO, I get KSRV and/or KTKZ. Those three damage 1380 at night. I've tried to log others, but it's not working well. I did get KPXQ-1360 out of AZ one time. Remember, they run 50kw day, and I logged it about less than an hour before sunset one winter day.

-crainbebo
 
The fact that someone in Ohio was hearing WABH is particularly fascinating to me. I grew up in Bath, and remember this station well. It started life as a 500 watt daytimer in 1962 with the calls WFSR. I was born in '79, and as I was growing up in the 80s, they were simulcasting their FM sister station, with the calls being WVIN AM/FM. They did not split that simulcast until 1997, when WABH picked up a satellite Oldies format. 1380 has had two significant power increases. Currently, they run 10kw by day, 500 watts at night. The fact that someone several hundred miles away was able to pull in a clear ID makes me wonder if they were really operating with the correct nighttime power. After all, a lot of AM stations operate on day power and pattern at night, hoping the FCC will just "look the other way", and from what I keep hearing, they usually do!
 
johnbasalla said:
HEY BUCKEYES2001 . Could you check to hear how well WBWC 88.3 FM comes in, in Vermilion? The tower is in North Olmsted and is directional west. Just curious. The station is strong in the Elyria area.
Click to expand...
This station has the distinction of being the most distant 10 watt station I've heard. That was in Cincinnati over 40 years ago...still has the same call letters but obviously a lot more power these days. Seems like the mileage was in the 230-240 range. Ah the good old days when the FM dial was full of open frequencies after midnight.
 
crainbebo said:
The first 1380 may be WLRM Millington, TN (it's Love 1380 religion, 1kw). The second may be WKJG Fort Wayne, IN (ESPN).

-crainbebo
Click to expand...

1380 WLRM has been airing a Mexican music format most recently. I'm not sure if the format is 24 hrs as it's an LMA I believe. I will try checking at night if I can pull them out of the mess. I'm 15-20 miles from the TX site.
 
johnbasalla said:
HEY BUCKEYES2001 . Could you check to hear how well WBWC 88.3 FM comes in, in Vermilion? The tower is in North Olmsted and is directional west. Just curious. The station is strong in the Elyria area.
Click to expand...

88.3 WBWC comes in pretty clear in Vermilion, enough to cause some splatter to 88.5 and 88.1. Next time I head towards Sandusky, I'll check to see how it comes in out there.
 
JakeLongwell said:
The fact that someone in Ohio was hearing WABH is particularly fascinating to me. I grew up in Bath, and remember this station well. It started life as a 500 watt daytimer in 1962 with the calls WFSR. I was born in '79, and as I was growing up in the 80s, they were simulcasting their FM sister station, with the calls being WVIN AM/FM. They did not split that simulcast until 1997, when WABH picked up a satellite Oldies format. 1380 has had two significant power increases. Currently, they run 10kw by day, 500 watts at night. The fact that someone several hundred miles away was able to pull in a clear ID makes me wonder if they were really operating with the correct nighttime power. After all, a lot of AM stations operate on day power and pattern at night, hoping the FCC will just "look the other way", and from what I keep hearing, they usually do!
Click to expand...

I'll check 1380 again tonight and see if WABH is still on top of the jumble of stations I get at night. I also heard a Catholic religious station briefly fade up over WABH...sounded like they were about to interview a priest...then the station faded back down and WABH was back on top. WARE on 1250 is another example of AM stations that come in quite well here at night, considering the distance and power.
 
Thank you Mr. Buckeyes... I'm guessing what you will find as you head towards Sandusky is that at some point, WBWC's signal just drops off as another 88.3, with a religious format I believe, takes its place. At least that's what a friend told me as he headed west. You can tell me if it's true.
 
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