WINS 1010AM New York / KOA 850AM Denver

[Wthom100]

Is WINS 1010 AM New york considered a strong transmitting station? Never hear much about this station in peoples catch reports (especially vs. 880AM WCBS). Picked it up hear in Detroit area last night - not real clear but listenable if you turned the volume up - not sure where they aim their antenna - toward the south perhaps along the coast?. Perhaps their signal competes with Toronto 1010 AM CFRB.

Another station I would think I would see more of in blowtorch catch reports is KOA 850AM Denver. Being a high power station in the somewhat center of the country (and high altitude?) it would seem like this would really be strong in a large part of the country (both east and west of rockies).

Great forum - very interesting to read.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

WINS is a Class B/Class II-B and is directional into the ocean. It radiates very little to the west. KOA is a Class A/Class I-B but is a long ways away, and there are many other stations on 850. That is why you don't hear it much.

 

[foreverchanges1975]

KOA is a regular at night in Memphis. 1010 here is always CFRB.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

KOA is a blowtorch over the center of the country. I have received it in Michigan, Florida, and California at night. During the daytime, the ground wave goes to almost Amarillo to the South. Before an 850 singed on in Dallas, they sometimes came in during the day during winter.

 

[Wthom100]

Thanks S-Cat -

Fairly new to many details on DX'ing - but why would a radio station send their signal out over the ocean? i.e. wasted power expense, obviously no listeners (other than ships). Is it to stay out of other radio stations antenna radiation foot-prints?

Same with WWJ here in Detroit - I hear they send their 50Kw signal mostly to the northeast which when you look at the map there is not many people in the northern Ontario Canada area.

I guess because NY metro is so populated WINS is still reaching a large number of people so not as much concern about a ocean signal direction.

Thx -

 

[spunker88]

1010 WINS has to protect 1010 CFRB Toronto so its pattern is probably directional away from Toronto which would have it sending power towards the Atlantic.

For me 850 is a more crowded frequency at night. I usually hear WEEI from Boston and sometimes WKNR from Cleveland comes in. Both run ESPN radio so it can be hard to tell them apart without an hourly ID.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Thanks S-Cat -

Fairly new to many details on DX'ing - but why would a radio station send their signal out over the ocean? i.e. wasted power expense, obviously no listeners (other than ships). Is it to stay out of other radio stations antenna radiation foot-prints?

Same with WWJ here in Detroit - I hear they send their 50Kw signal mostly to the northeast which when you look at the map there is not many people in the northern Ontario Canada area.

I guess because NY metro is so populated WINS is still reaching a large number of people so not as much concern about a ocean signal direction.

Thx -

We have a similar situation in Houston, KTRH 740 sends most of its 50 kW power South. The reason? Our brilliant FCC authorized another 740 to operate in Tulsa, OK at 50 kW - KRMG. At night, it makes a mess over Texas and Oklahoma. But KTRH can be heard all over South America. The only way KTRH can be heard over the vast Houston metro area is 50 kW. They obviously don't care how many listeners they have in Mexico and South America. KRMG, however, has a funny pattern that just happens to cover Oklahoma City as well as Tulsa. I wonder why?!

 

[cd637299]

I am wondering, why I used to hear KTRH more often here in south FL. Were adjustments made to their pattern? Nowadays it is as if it didn't exist at all. True, we have two FL 740's at night, including WSBR about 60 minutes' drive from here---but WSBR isn't much of a factor, and it only got night authorization in the 70s and started in the 80s I think.

I think I have heard CFZM 740 Toronto more often in the past few years than KTRH---not that I try for KTRH anyway. (CFZM is a blowtorch, a nondirectional 50k)

cd

 

[newfoundlandtime]

Here in Port aux Basques, it does tend to vary, probably at the time of day. I sometimes get CFRB dominating, other times WINS, and on a number of occasions they fight each other. Same with 1050 (ESPN Deportes NYC and TSN Radio Toronto).

 

[newfoundlandtime]

One more thing: Have gotten 740 Toronto on one occasion (I posted the info here last October), even though I usually get 740 CHCM from Marystown at all hours.

 

[tomservo]

I'm on the Ala. gulf coast, so KOA should be do-able for me but all I ever hear is WXJC from Birmingham. It has an unusually steady, dominant signal on 850 most nights.

I've never heard 1010 WINS but I'll definitely add that to my list of things to look for. With the occasional strong signal from OKC on 1000 and KDKA on 1020, this is usually a frequency too jumbled for me to spent time on.

 

[KR4BD]

WINS is REGULARLY heard at night in Central KY fighting it out with CFRB. When KLRA-1010 was on the air many years ago from Little Rock, it was in the mix, too. KOA is the DOMINANT "regular" here nightly on 850 but often has competition from WGVS-850 in Muskegan, MI, WXJC-850 in Birmingham, AL and rarely WKNR-850 from Cleveland, OH.

 

[fybush]

Thanks S-Cat -

Fairly new to many details on DX'ing - but why would a radio station send their signal out over the ocean? i.e. wasted power expense, obviously no listeners (other than ships). Is it to stay out of other radio stations antenna radiation foot-prints?

It's not really fair to say that WINS "sends its signal out over the ocean." Its transmitter site is located in Carlstadt, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands due west of midtown Manhattan. From there, it must protect other stations on 1010, most notably CFRB in Toronto. That means that WINS' 50,000-watt signal has to be directional, and most of it is aimed due east. That's out to the ocean, sure - but there are 14 million or so potential listeners getting a strong WINS signal in New York City and surrounding areas between the transmitter site and the open ocean!

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Nearly all Class B stations like WINS direct their signals away from other cochannel and adjacent channel stations, particularly at night. On the East and West Coast, that is into the ocean, after blasting the population to be served on the coast with a signal stronger than to would be if it were nondirectional. That is more accurate. In the Northern tiers of states, the signals are often sent North into Canada. Stations in the Central areas of the country often have several lobes of near equal intensity that go out in several directions, interspersed with nulls protecting other stations. Often there is nowhere to go without interfering with other stations, and the stations are limited in power at night, compared to the stations particularly on the edges of the country, which are often more powerful because they can be sent in a general direction that it won't interfere.

 

[ftballfan]

1010, if I get anything, is usually CFRB.

Even in Allendale, MI (20 miles southeast of Muskegon), KOA seems to rule the roost on 850. When WGVS first went to oldies, I picked it up in Manistee over KOA and thought at first a daytimer was running at night.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

KOA still uses a "LIN RESISTOR" according to AM Query. It has a 200+ degree monopole antenna, but only radiates the minimum inverse field for a 50000 watt Class A signal. That also limits it a little compared to stations like WHO, a Class A, former I-A, that uses an antenna with superior efficiency and full 50000 watt input to the antenna. As a recall, WHO's antenna is a Franklin antenna. This uses two sections which interfere to produce a stronger signal in the horizontal than a monopole can, similar to the way multiple FM bays are used to produce higher ERP. Some FM stations use vertical polarization antennas that are like multisection super Franklin antennas, because the wavelength is so much shorter.

 

[tomservo]

Pardon my electronic ignorance, but what on earth is a Lin Resistor?

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

My assumption is that it is an abbreviation for linear resistor, which I assume means a series limiting resistor. This is a resistor designed to change RF energy to heat, and allow a reduced power to the antenna, to reduce efficiency to something in between the efficiency of the towers and directional array and minimum efficiency to achieve interference or multiple ownership overlap and skywave reduction to prescribed levels. They used to be common until during the energy crisis in the 1970s, they were deemed wasteful. They allowed the full 250, 500, 1000, 5000, 10000, or 50000 watt power class to be quoted. Later, minimum or less efficiency was achieved by reducing power below the nominal power levels. Often it was used with Class IVs increasing to 1000 watts, and Class IIIs increasing to 5000 watts day or night, when full input power would cause overlap or skywave interference. Now, since changes in AM rules, actual powers are used when station facilities are relicensed.

 

[robotique]

back to WINS.... this time of year one can get WINS in the daytime in the car here in the Boston area. At night its as loud as a local but still null-able to get CFRB

 

[schmave]

I've heard both WINS and CFRB here in central Ohio at night. Both are equally weak, and neither gives WMVP or KDKA problems one channel over (likewise, KDKA slop is rarely heard on 1010 or 1030 here).
KOA is a fairly easy catch here at night. Once WKNR changes pattern, it absolutely vanishes.