Your Closest Unheard?

[Steve Green NEPA]

What is that maddening, elusive, homewrecking, smirking station which you haven't caught yet? And for all you know it may not even be on the air anymore?

In this neck of the woods it's WEMR 1460 Tunkhannock PA, which has to protect long-ago regional 1460 Harrisburg. And WEMR, although it blasts apart the car radio along I-84 between Scranton and Port Jervis when we visit the in-laws, doesn't make a single peep into this place ; its rightful repository with the loop and the antennae and the rigs and the ears. It's unfair.

Grrrr.

WEMR looks to be either a careless sunrise/sunset catch -- I won't hold my breath -- or an exact midday snare with all of the rest of the world nulled.

Your DX shoe pebble?

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Well I cant call any of these stations unheard, because I can hear them here, but very disernable, so i think thats what your looking for too RIGHT????

I live 100 miles from Cincinatti's 700 WLW Powerhouse, but I cant really get it here day or night, same goes for WHAS Louisville also only 100 miles away. Their signals are so noisy and distorted, but I can drive 100 miles farther away and get a solid signal on them both, I think im in the Groundwave-Skywave cancellation path...

Also in Indianapolis Indiana about 30 miles away, During the night I cant get 1070 THE FAN,,Formerly WIBC.. It stays 50kw at night, but it is directional southwest, and it skews away from me to where I cant hear anything at night, but it comes in Clear into Ohio and Eastern Kentucky 2-300 hundred miles at night.

 

[radioman148]

I live 65 miles south of Milwaukee. 50KW WISN comes in OK during the day, but at night their 10KW signal is impossible to hear. In fact WBBR NYC comes in better & they're 700+ miles away and I'm in WBBR's night null.

 

[Lawppy]

Wow, this is a pretty good subject!

From good ol' Coldwater, MI.

AM:
1230 WTKG- Grand Rapids, MI- (1kw 80 mi.) Nearby GY'er WMSH is pretty strong, making this one a lot more elusive than it should be.

1380 WGLM- Greenville, MI- (1kw 84 mi.) This station usually is overpowered by WKJG in Fort Wayne. I can occasionally hear music underneath that signal which is probably WGLM, but I don't know for sure. This is the most likely station to be taken off of this list.

1480 WSDS- Salem Township, MI- (750w 73 mi.) One of the rare AM stations that actually power UP at night. I haven't heard them after dark, either. Their directional pattern doesn't favor my area.

1560 WTOD- Toledo, OH- (4kw 74 mi.) Their directional pattern favors areas north and south of Toledo, but the nulls to the east and west don't appear to be sharp enough where I shouldn't get it.

1570 WGLL- Auburn, IN- (500w 42 mi.) This is most frustrating one of all. Radio-Locator says their fringe should barely make it up here, but they must be at reduced power because this is even a hard catch in Angola, IN (about 20 miles closer).

FM:
I've heard most of the full-power FM's in my area. My frustration around here comes from the lower powered stations.

88.3 WAQQ- Onsted, MI- (100w 43 mi.) The Irish Hills kill this signal to the point where the Radio-Locator map is a bit generous. You might hear them up to 10 miles.. On a good day.

88.5 WJKQ- Jackson, MI- (100w 39 mi.) This one would be no contest if much stronger WYSA Wauseon was off the air for any reason. I know I could get this one. I've logged a couple of stations of this power from that distance.

89.7 WLNZ- Lansing, MI- (420w 58 mi.) They must not be running all 420 watts because there is never a trace of this station even in Jackson. I've heard 100 watt LPFM's that make it out farther than that. And 89.7 is a clear frequency in these parts. So, any station on 89.7 should get out as far as the atmospheric conditions and terrain will allow.

97.1 W246BW- Three Rivers, MI- (115w 33 mi.) I'll never hear this one from home because I have a 97.1 translator in my town as well. This one is so strong that it's actually the station that gives my 97.1 Tx a fit while heading EAST (away from Three Rivers) out of town. When away from Coldwater, i've heard this one 45 miles away.

99.5 W258BD- Ligonier, IN- (120w 45 mi.) Not even for sure if this one is operating. I've been much closer to Ligonier and didn't hear a peep out of this one.

105.9 WNRL-LP- Ligonier, IN- (58w 46 mi.) This one GETS OUT! With a trained ear, you can sniff this one out of the static just a few miles south and west of the city. Just another example of how far these translators and LPFM's can make it on an open frequency. It doesn't quite make it here though.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

A veteran DXer named Ernie Cooper, from Brooklyn, occasionally would be close to out of his wits trying to hear WERA Plainfield NJ on 1590.

WERA was about 25 miles from him -- if that -- and Ernie had an HQ-180 and a four foot loop and ears like an elephant and QSL's all over the place from AM stations in places like Venezuela. (In fact, I don't think he would count a station as being 'heard' unless he got a QSL from them , and he still had over 4000 AM QSL's).

Problem was, he lived just off Flatbush Avenue, the thrombosis down which WWRL 1600 sent their main signal -- maybe even ALL of it. Ernie's writings -- he was the editor of the 'musings' (posts) section of the DX News -- might have been an influence when the movie 'Independence Day' was being scripted and the alien Death Ray was being devised.

In a quirky one-man's-ceiling sense, we more primitive DXers along Jamaica Bay were able to get WERA pretty well. We were out of range of WWRL's 24/7 laser. We were actually farther from WERA than he was.

I believe Ernie heard WERA one day ... the circumstances are dim recall .... but what a maddening battle that must've been for this incredible DXer and his closest unheard.

 

[K4WRF]

Ok, I’ve got one… A little over 20 years ago was consulting on a station in Roswell New Mexico on 1020 kHz which is (was) Class 1-A KDKA in Pittsburgh. The Roswell station operated 50 kilowatts into a six-tower directional array at night protecting the entire KDKA 0.5 millivolt sky-wave contour.

When the system was properly adjusted, at a monitor point that was 2.2 miles north-east of the site, you could see the full length of all six towers with lights blazing but only hear a faint KDKA. No sign of the 50kw Roswell signal.

 

[FreddyE1977]

at my home in the Greater Pittsburgh area...

WEIR-AM 1430 Weirton, WV. About thirty miles as the crow flies, but too weak and
wedged between KQV 1410 and WJPA 1450.

WANB-AM 1580 Waynesburg, PA - 5kW and 55 mi. away, but not receivable and likely
blown away by WZUM 1590 in Carnegie, PA

WCCS-AM 1160, Indiana, PA - about 60 miles, pattern I presume is protecting WWVA on 1170

WKGE-AM 850, Johnstown, PA - fairly powerful regional signal that is severely shifted into
an hour glass pattern to protect 850 in Cleveland. Less than 70 miles from my house but I
do not have even a prayer of catching it under WAMO 860. At one time this station and KDKA
were links in the old EBS station chain, even though neither of them could hear each other! Rumor
is that the land on which their huge tower array sits has been sold and they will likely file to move to
a more populous area as a 1kW non-directional.

 

[ddsparxx]

Here's a few closest unheards I can think of...
WPWC AM 1480 Dumfires-Triangle, VA--5 kW day, 500W night, directional toward north, 30 miles north of my location and I almost never hear it.
WKIK AM 1560 LaPlata, MD, 1 kW, about 35 miles, daytime only because of NY's WQEW and I almost never hear it and it is nondirectional.
WCTN AM 950 just NW of DC 2700W, about 50 miles away, normally can't hear because of Richmond's nondirectional WXGI ESPN 950 4000w about 45 miles away, and the Radio-Locator map shows WCTN's coverage kind of shaped like an acorn.

 

[radioman148]

Ok, I’ve got one… A little over 20 years ago was consulting on a station in Roswell New Mexico on 1020 kHz which is (was) Class 1-A KDKA in Pittsburgh. The Roswell station operated 50 kilowatts into a six-tower directional array at night protecting the entire KDKA 0.5 millivolt sky-wave contour.

When the system was properly adjusted, at a monitor point that was 2.2 miles north-east of the site, you could see the full length of all six towers with lights blazing but only hear a faint KDKA. No sign of the 50kw Roswell signal.

That's truly amazing.

 

[gr8oldies]

Very interesting topic. I do remember the name of Ernie Cooper when I was in the NRC, and the low-tech version of a message board, "Musings".

BTW, the former WIBC AM on 1070 is 10kW at night, not 50. It has a very southeasterly pattern and when I lived in Lafayette, it often was trounced by CHOK in Sarnia, ONT.

My closest unheards from the Dayton, OH area:

1350-WCSM, Celina, OH. The deep null to the southeast, and splatter (and IBOC) from WIZE pretty much preclude reception.

1490-WKBV Richmond IN and WBEX, Chillicothe IN, haven't heard either from my outpost, Richmond comes in in the western part of the area.

1340-WLBC, Muncie, IN. No dice unless you can catch WIZE off the air. I have heard it in Troy, OH

1520 I've only heard one of the 1520 quadruplets in Ohio-WNWT in the Toledo market. No sign ever of WJMP, Kent; WINW, Canton, or WQCT, Bryan

1290-I just heard one of my unheards the other day, WOMP in Bellaire, OH

FM:

There's probably a kazillion translators in the region I haven't heard. Most of the rest haven't been heard because they are covered by others, such as:

WMWX, "Class X" in Miamitown is covered by WCSU on 88.9
There are a handful of 88.1s that are inaudible due to WDPR. I've heard WTDA, Westerville, OH under WXEG in Beavercreek, no such luck with WRBI in Batesville, IN. Most of the lower powered Lima sticks have not made it down this way, such as WEGE on 104.9 and WZRX on 107.5. WWSR on 92.1 in Wapakoneta may make it to the northern part of the area on occasion under WROU.

 

[landtuna]

For those of us in Phoenix it would likely be the Lamptimer, er, Lumberyard - KAZG 1440.

As soon as I can figure out how to adjust the SWR on my 100W garage light I'm going to suggest to the Lamptimer, er, Lumberyard's engineer he use that instead of the 52W blowtorch currently in use.

As it is, the current signal races out of the transmitter, across the lumberyard on that ancient cable, charges up the mast to the very tip-top of the antenna.....where it performs an amazing swan dive and falls flat into the canal and floats away to water the crops downstream.

Meanwhile, those of us a whole, uh, 8 miles away continue desperately searching for those elusive "14 in a row" goldmine Oldies.

 

[charlestondxman]

For me, I have several close unheards in the Charleston, SC area, due to local stations:

AM:

1400 WGTN Georgetown (about 57 mi)- swamped by WXTC in Charleston, but I've gotten their co-channel in Savannah. Because of the local, you can't get this station until you get to about McClellanville, around 20 miles from the transmitter.

1490 WVGB Beaufort (49 mi)- one of the worst graveyard signals on the coast, is interfered with by WMOG-Brunswick in Edisto Beach, which is almost across the water from part of the Beaufort area. They don't even use their full 1kw graveyard power, as they only use 500 watts daytime (1000 at night).

1440 WJBS Holly Hill (around 50 mi)- overpowered by WQNT in Charleston, gets out on land from Holly Hill, but very low-rent 1kw daytimer that I've tried for many times, but I always get WGIG here.

FM: I've heard most of the stations in the eastern half of SC, and SE GA, but just a few stations don't go through.

90.3 WSSB Orangeburg (74 mi)- they have a good inland signal, but except for a few very weak times during the summer, they never come in on my Grundig S350. A good car radio picks it up about 15 miles away from here.

94.1 WGSS Kingstree (69 mi)- rarely comes in at all, because of Savannah coming in over water and our local 94.3's IBOC. You have to get pretty far inland, about 20 mi, to hear them.

105.1 WPDT Johnsonville (83 mi) - never heard them, because of stupid His Radio translator on 105.1 locally.

Most of the others I have heard sometime during a DX event, or with my antenna.

 

[tanner]

660 WORL Orlando . You can see the towers during the day from their north side but there is a null and the signal is all distorted and it is that way pretty much across the northern part of Seminole county

 

[radioman148]

660 WORL Orlando . You can see the towers during the day from their north side but there is a null and the signal is all distorted and it is that way pretty much across the northern part of Seminole county

Their signal is distorted during the day? How many miles away?

 

[Raider57]

AM
1410- WHTG Eatontown, NJ, havent really tried too hard to get
1420- both stations in peekskill,ny and Old saybrook, CT never hear
590 Scranton, PA
FM
102.3 WSUS Franklin, Nj- only hear WBAB Babylon, NY
103.7 WNNJ Newton, NJ
92.7 WRRV Middletown, NY
95.1 Bethelehem PA
99.9 Easton, PA- only hear WEZN Bridgeport, CT

these are all stations on the fringe areas according to radiolocator.com

 

[cyberdad]

At the moment for me, it would be WFXW in Geneva, IL. Supposedly 1kw on 1480 (daytime pattern). I'm 25 miles north of them and not a trace of it. At one time they had a decent signal here.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

I know there was an FM in Clinton,IL that supposedly was running 3KW, but was NEVER heard at 50 miles...until a new owner came along & it suddenly was there daily. Just because the FCC paperwork says a station is operating with a certain power doesn't mean it really is. Prime example today : WLBH 96.9 Mattoon,IL...claims to be a full 50KW at 500', but 23 miles away, the 96.9 in Paris, KY is stronger than WLBH is, even though Paris is 217 miles from that point.

As far as my closest unheards go, there are several, some as close as 40 miles, that operate with Vertical only FM antennas, resulting in a 20db polarization loss. That makes those 100 watters equal to about 1 watt at my antenna if my math is correct. A lot of those will add Horizontal after channel 6 goes away, but not all. With the substitution of an equal number of bays of circular polarization, twice the transmitter power will be needed. There are many educational band stations that can't afford an antenna or a transmitter...they are many more that can't find the substantial funding to add both items.

 

[ddsparxx]

Those stations BobOnTheJob mentioned remind me of one station in Coos Bay, OR. KSHR-FM over there was supposed to operate at class C1 power but when I was in Oregon in 2007, KSHR was never heard farther than 15 miles. ???

 

[mimo]

Mine would be 1040 CJMS Montreal. 5000 watts from 180 Kilometres away. I've never heard it at all. In the daytime I get WYSL which is further away and at night it's IBOC hash from WBZ with a faint WHO underneath.

 

[cyberdad]

I'll add WISN for nighttime. I'm 35 miles from the stick....10kw nights. Never have heard anything more than a trace of it at night, despite a city grade signal by day. 1130 in these parts at night is usually a weak KWKH...sometimes WBBR, or even WDFN.

The other oddity about this is when WISN was on 1150 back in the early and mid-60s, they had a fairly decent nighttime signal here north and northwest of Chicago (after WJJD's signoff).