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WSCR 670 IBOC OFF
- Thread starter audioguy
- Start date
They should all take notice.
That's always been my experience.
Slightly OT, but I just found out I'm probably headed to Milwaukee this July for a long weekend of baseball and beer. How do the Chicago AM stations come in up there day and night? Based on my experience traveling in other directions, I'm guessing they do very well daytime with maybe a few cancellation issues at night. Any experiences with any of you?
Slightly OT, but I just found out I'm probably headed to Milwaukee this July for a long weekend of baseball and beer. How do the Chicago AM stations come in up there day and night? Based on my experience traveling in other directions, I'm guessing they do very well daytime with maybe a few cancellation issues at night. Any experiences with any of you?
schmave said:
I've never spent the night there, but I know you'll get the 50KWs perfectly during the day along with WIND.
radioman148 said:
Agreed.
And, most will come in pretty well at night too. It's only 90 miles from downtown Chicago to downtown Milwaukee, meaning that it's a little less than that to most AM tx sites with the exceptions of WLS and WIND. WIND is directional to the north and comes in surprisingly well up there at night.
I spent the night in Cedar Grove, probably 45 miles north of Milwaukee back in the 1970s, and I was surprised that WIND came in almost as well at night as WMAQ (WSCR). With all the PSSAs, I don't know if that is still true.
schmave said:
Probably fairly well...CBW 990 from Manitoba might scrape WMVP a little bit, but CFRB or WINS 1010 shouldn't cause problems. The radio-locator coverage map is close to what AM 1000 sounds like at night in and near Milwaukee: http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WMVP&service=AM&status=L&hours=N If you're listening to ESPN Chicago from Miller Park, I've no idea how reception of AM 1000 would be there.
p.s. I'm ok with the 670 noise generator being off but I wouldn't count on it being off for good. Now if only WBBM would shut theirs off!
schmave said:
You'll have no problem with AM 1000 in Milwaukee.
Yeah, I forgot about WCFL, er, WMVP. 
Yes, it comes in pretty well around MKE too. But it goes away quickly if you drive west toward Madison.
On the subject of WSCR's Soviet jammer being off, last night I had a good signal from CFTR "News 680" Toronto as well as a bit of WPTF in the background. 660 is all WFAN and it came in well enough to listen clearly.
Not to mention (again) how much better WSCR itself sounds! When I have my PL-310 set to the 6 kHz bandwidth, it sounds full, rich and impressive. Not compressed and flat as WBBM does. NOT having IBOC going makes analog sound much, much better. Don't believe the Kool-Aid drinking Ibiquity cheerleaders: IBOC on AM absolutely makes the analog audio flat and listless. That means your signal is degraded for some 99.7% of your audience. Just some food for thought.
Yes, it comes in pretty well around MKE too. But it goes away quickly if you drive west toward Madison.
On the subject of WSCR's Soviet jammer being off, last night I had a good signal from CFTR "News 680" Toronto as well as a bit of WPTF in the background. 660 is all WFAN and it came in well enough to listen clearly.
Not to mention (again) how much better WSCR itself sounds! When I have my PL-310 set to the 6 kHz bandwidth, it sounds full, rich and impressive. Not compressed and flat as WBBM does. NOT having IBOC going makes analog sound much, much better. Don't believe the Kool-Aid drinking Ibiquity cheerleaders: IBOC on AM absolutely makes the analog audio flat and listless. That means your signal is degraded for some 99.7% of your audience. Just some food for thought.
The weird thing about AM 1000 is that I used to go up to Northern Minnesota during the summer & it came in almost as well at night as the other Chicago 50KWs.
Regarding WSCR's IBOC being off, it was nice to hear WNBC..er, WFAN last night.
Regarding WSCR's IBOC being off, it was nice to hear WNBC..er, WFAN last night.
Minnesota is kind of off the back side of the pattern of WMVP, but there weren't many other stations (still aren't for the most part) and noisemakers, broadcast and home devices. You used to easily hear the I-As and I-Bs also well outside their protected contours, and even groundwave and skywave III-As and III-Bs also.
Schroedingers Cat said:
You're right. I expected MVP to be much weaker if even listenable up in Bemidji, Mn, but it came in just about as well as the other Chicago powerhouses which really surprised me.
OTOH when I went to college at NIU in De Kalb, 60 miles west of their transmitter you could hardly hear what was then "Big 10" WCFL at night. It sounded like it was 2,000 miles away. I was directly in their null.
And people try to tell you directional antennas don't work. I talked with the late Charles Gustafson (also of WTAQ and WIND, and later several West Michigan stations including WKMI, 500 kW WJFM, and WWTV-FM) who worked out in Downers Grove circa 1960. He said that DA maintenance and pattern changes were done religiously.
Schroedingers Cat said:
Well I can tell you that WCFL's directional array worked quite well. In the late 60s & early 70s
When I was in De Kalb WCFL came in about half as good as WLS during the day & about 10%
as well at night.
schmave said:
I was attending an event for a few days about 60 miles north of Milwaukee in December and then another two-day meeting Milwaukee last month. The Chicago 50kw stations (including WMVP and WYLL) along with WIND are just fine 24/7 at both locations.
Baseball and beer? Sprecher Amber is the way to go. Sprecher Pub Draft if you like the darker stuff.
schmave said:
Grew up there.
Chicago AMs that are essentially local signals in Milwaukee: 670 720 780 1000
Chicago AMs that are entertainment quality on most radios but can be a bit difficult in noisy locations: 560 820* 890 1160*
Chicago AMs that are plainly audible but might suffer from interference: 1110* 1200*
Chicago AMs that are DX quality daytime & pretty much gone at night: 950 1240 1390
* 820, 1110, and 1160 didn't have nighttime signals when I lived there, and I generally don't listen during more recent visits. 1200 didn't exist at all when I lived there, and again I generally don't listen.
Selective fading ("cancellation") is indeed a problem, especially on WLS. The 720 and 780 transmitters are closest to Milwaukee; next are 670 and 1000; 890 is the most distant, by quite a bit. You'll notice, if you're in a location that's at all noisy.
780 had a button on my car radio when I lived in Madison, I listened about as often as any local station.
Better car radios can hear a few FM signals from Chicago . 91.5, 93.9, 97.9, 98.7, 99.5, 100.3, 101.1, 104.3, 105.1. Generally I found 101.1 and 105.1 to be one's best bets.
You'll also hear some Michigan signals on FM. 93.7 and 105.7 especially.
I'm betting the Les Paul exhibit at Discovery World on the lakefront is over -- but if it isn't, you REALLY want to see it.
w9wi said:
1160 now has a great nighttime signal into Wisconsin with it's new directional array.
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