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WLS
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I used to listen to WLS every night in Florida around 1990-91 because former Tampa Bay personality Bob Lassiter did nights on WLS then. Reception was very good especially during the fall & winter months. But the Spanish interference really picked up later in the '90s. And now, as you so correctly pointed out, it's like a special event these days to pick up WLS in Florida.
Back in the early 1960's, I used to listen to WLS almost nightly in Riverside, California on a really "Hot" RCA transistor radio I had. It was really neat listening to Clark Weber's East of Midnight program. Lots of other stations from the east were easily heard in California at night before the FCC gluted up the band and destroyed the "Clear Channel" concept for AM radio.
R
rbrucecarter5
Guest
It is a shadow of its former self - receivable in Dallas at night with Spanish language chatter underneath. Nobody much cares now that it is talk.
I've had the same problem with that Spanish language station overtaking WLS for a few hours a night. However, there was a surprise one evening about ten years ago. For some reason the mystery signal was playing More Than a Feeling. It was back announced in Spanish but 890 AM was playing Boston again and everything for a moment seemed normal. 
Original post was spot on. Only occasional reception of 890 in SW Fla (S of Sarasota, N of Ft. Myers). But I've gotten listenable signals at 4-5AM driving on I-75 on 780,890, 1000 CHI with 670 and 720 absent. But I've even gotten and held WOWO so maybe it was the conditions or a better than ave car radio (w/ rspect to AM only).
WLS has the weakest of the 50 kw Chicago former clears. WBBM kicks sand all over its face, be it by skywave or groundwave. Their signal issues go beyond bounce. Now that I live in Chicagoland, I notice that their groundwave signal is the weakest of the big Chicago AMs as well. In fact, during a recent trip to the Milwaukee area, at noon I could receive WIND 560, WSCR 670, WGN 720, WBBM 780, and WMVP 1000; each with a signal that was only a little short of local grade.
And WLS? Nowhere to be found....buried in static. :
Either something is wrong with their transmitter, the ground lines or they chose one lousy spot for it. Because every other big AM signal in the area is far better. In fact, it's almost unlistenable in the area just west of O'Hare (Elk Grove Village, Itasca, etc.) because of interference from the nearby transmitters of others. Theirs is the only 50 kw signal not strong enough to drown it out - even with a good radio.
So, these dx reports don't surprise me. When I lived on the east coast, they had the weakest skywave signal of the "Chicago 5" there too. All of the others were much stronger.
And WLS? Nowhere to be found....buried in static. :
Either something is wrong with their transmitter, the ground lines or they chose one lousy spot for it. Because every other big AM signal in the area is far better. In fact, it's almost unlistenable in the area just west of O'Hare (Elk Grove Village, Itasca, etc.) because of interference from the nearby transmitters of others. Theirs is the only 50 kw signal not strong enough to drown it out - even with a good radio.
So, these dx reports don't surprise me. When I lived on the east coast, they had the weakest skywave signal of the "Chicago 5" there too. All of the others were much stronger.
BRNout said:
WLS is still a clear channel station; while the 1-A clears had stations added to their frequencies in the 70's, the 25 1-A clears (by the old designation) are still clears, just as KGO and WGY that share 810 are clears.
Minor and very nit-picking comment.... what you are referring to is called the "ground system" and usually consists of 180 copper wires, one every 2 degrees, burried and "radiating" from the base of the tower.
Over time, the radials deteriorate, particularly if the soil has corrosive elements in it, such as salt in "footwet" ocean sites.
The comments on the WLS signal have been common among DXers for several years at least.
It's interesting how this has changed so much. In the 60s 70s & 80s as I traveled around the country WLS by far had the best skywave signal of any of the Chicago 50kws. Especially in the south and west. WLS came in great in the deep south and far west. During those years I received them well consistantly all over California.
One thing I know for sure, their transmitting facilities used to be out in the clear completely surrounded by farm land. Now the area around their transmitter has been completely built up.
One thing I know for sure, their transmitting facilities used to be out in the clear completely surrounded by farm land. Now the area around their transmitter has been completely built up.
M
Mid West Clubber
Guest
Yeah, I live 150 miles south of WLS and cant barely hear it here day or night. 780 is the strongest of the Chicago 50KW at this time, but about 10 years ago it seemed that 670 The old WMAQ came in the best, and wls was a second... We used to not get 720 WGN here at all, I dont know what they have done to improve their singnal, but in my opinion, I think the new Built up houses and Businesses near the WLS tower and causing alot of man made interference thats killining their signal.
Residential commercial development in the area of WLS's Tinley Park stick, along with the apparently-deteriorating ground system would seem to explain the problem. I spent this past week in Ontario and Quebec. Each night, wherever I was, WLS was the weakest of the Chicago blowtorches. WBBM the strongest.
First memory I have of WLS is being in a shoe store in Quincy, IL and hearing their jingle on the radio that the clerks listened to. I was maybe 5 or 6, so that was around '71 or '72, I'd guess. I'm a good 300 miles SSW of Chi-town, but it USED to have a kick-ass signal here, day or night...
Sure, I also remember picking WLS up pretty well at night in Virginia on a really crappy Emerson AM/FM/Cassette radio. They had a very dependable signal back then. Nowadays, they're frequently buried in the muck and only come in listenably well on the east coast on those nights when the other Chicagoans come is even better.
But my daytime experience in Wisconsin was a fascinating example of just how lousy their signal has become. Near Waukegan, no signal from WLS at all when all of the others came in well. Something is certainly wrong in Tinley Park.
But my daytime experience in Wisconsin was a fascinating example of just how lousy their signal has become. Near Waukegan, no signal from WLS at all when all of the others came in well. Something is certainly wrong in Tinley Park.
FWIW...I used to have WLS and WCFL as pre-sets on my car radio while in
high school in Louisville circa 1968 - 1971. Add in locals WAKY and WKLO, and night-time
listening was spectacular...and WKLO (later WAKY, too) had "showcase studios"...
so you could drive by and see the jock on-air.
Oh yeah...forgot where I was originally going: WLS used to show up in the Nashville arbitrons
in the mid-late 70's. Then FM arrived...
high school in Louisville circa 1968 - 1971. Add in locals WAKY and WKLO, and night-time
listening was spectacular...and WKLO (later WAKY, too) had "showcase studios"...
so you could drive by and see the jock on-air.
Oh yeah...forgot where I was originally going: WLS used to show up in the Nashville arbitrons
in the mid-late 70's. Then FM arrived...
There isn't anything wrong with WLS' daytime signal in Waukegan... perhaps you have a radio problem.
On the other hand, hearing WLS in and around Milwaukee is tough. WOKY 920 has their transmitter located not far from the 894 interstate bypass. My mid-60's early 70's car radios have a tough time getting WLS cleanly in the area, and they DO have RF preselector amplifiers.
Part of the problem is the WOKY iboc hash, which doesn't really extend into WLS' bandwidth, but the iboc signal does cause the
AVC to kick in and lower the sensitivity of my radios. The cheaper radios with no preselector ahead of the detector will be utterly swamped out and WLS will not be heard in this case.
Don't forget that when in Milwaukee, WGN, WBBM, and WSCR are all 45 miles closer than WLS.
The opposite effect is seen traveling south in Illionois, where WLS seems to be the strongest, and can be listened to
easily almost the whole way to St. Louis in the daytime.
I frequently have work in the Stevens Point area (Central Wisconsin) and easily listen to WLS the whole way there and back.
In Stevens Point, I can listen to any of the Chicago 50kws, and also pick up WCCO Minneapolis, in the daytime.
I'm in NH this week and WLS is coming in pretty well at night, given the 900 miles.
I do agree their signal seems weaker than it used to be , and it could be due to absorption of the signal by newer construction near the
transmitter location.
The "other 3" also have a lot of buildings and such nearby their transmitter sites, so there shouldn't be too much difference on this account.
Maybe their radials really are falling apart.
They should hold a radio-thon to buy new copper.
Heck, I'd sponsor one new radial for WLS before I would for any other station.
What gauge wire do they need?
That leaves only 179 others needed.
On the other hand, hearing WLS in and around Milwaukee is tough. WOKY 920 has their transmitter located not far from the 894 interstate bypass. My mid-60's early 70's car radios have a tough time getting WLS cleanly in the area, and they DO have RF preselector amplifiers.
Part of the problem is the WOKY iboc hash, which doesn't really extend into WLS' bandwidth, but the iboc signal does cause the
AVC to kick in and lower the sensitivity of my radios. The cheaper radios with no preselector ahead of the detector will be utterly swamped out and WLS will not be heard in this case.
Don't forget that when in Milwaukee, WGN, WBBM, and WSCR are all 45 miles closer than WLS.
The opposite effect is seen traveling south in Illionois, where WLS seems to be the strongest, and can be listened to
easily almost the whole way to St. Louis in the daytime.
I frequently have work in the Stevens Point area (Central Wisconsin) and easily listen to WLS the whole way there and back.
In Stevens Point, I can listen to any of the Chicago 50kws, and also pick up WCCO Minneapolis, in the daytime.
I'm in NH this week and WLS is coming in pretty well at night, given the 900 miles.
I do agree their signal seems weaker than it used to be , and it could be due to absorption of the signal by newer construction near the
transmitter location.
The "other 3" also have a lot of buildings and such nearby their transmitter sites, so there shouldn't be too much difference on this account.
Maybe their radials really are falling apart.
They should hold a radio-thon to buy new copper.
Heck, I'd sponsor one new radial for WLS before I would for any other station.
What gauge wire do they need?
That leaves only 179 others needed.
WLS transmitter is located at the intersection of I-80 and old US-45 just inside the Will County line. Cook County borders the northern WLS property line. As stated before in this thread, that is about 30-miles south of the other Cgo class-A facilities and about 25 miles SW of the Loop. I can tell you that Warren Shulz, long-time engineer there is recognized amongst his peers as just about the sharpest knife the engineering drawer in a global sense. Having visited that site on business several occasions the last being about three weeks ago, I can unequivocally state there is nothing wrong with the ground system or the rest of the technical facility for that matter. Much of the problem is manmade noise plus poor receiver design that is prevalent today as touched on here. The distance reception issue is related to a station in Columbia that started nighttime operation some years back. It doesn’t take much signal to completely obliterate a stations secondary coverage. Normal US class “A” protection is to the half-millivolt sky wave at a 26db ratio. Currently, the impact to the sky wave coverage contour is 10X what it was at one time on average. In other words, what was interference free 0.5mv/m is now 5.0 mv/m.
Welcome to AM radio in the twenty-first century.
Welcome to AM radio in the twenty-first century.
Watt Hairston said:
If you are referring to Columbia, the country, I have a comment. Otherwise, I can't find a station in Columbia, MO, or even the District of Columbia on 890 or 900 or 880.
Colombia has had several 50 kw stations on 890 going back 50 years. When the channels were reassigned in the early 60's, all frequencies below 1000 kHz are the equivalents of clear channels, where as many as 2 50 kw stations can be licensed, and where some have two 50's and a 10 on them.
Colombia, and Latin America other than Puerto Rico and Mexico, have no daytimers, There are not more than a handfull of directional stations outside Mexico, either.
So there is no station in Colombia that recently began night operation. The ones on 890 have been there for three or four decades.
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