Medium Wave dx: best bet to log all 50 states
Douglas W. Martin
For those interested in dx on the AM broadcast band, here are my
picks for logging all 50 states. In most cases, these are the most powerful
stations in each state, or they are on frequencies with the least
number of competing stations. In a few cases, e.g. South Carolina, the best bet
is not powerful or clear channel. Rather, it has the best night-time
antenna pattern.
For New Hampshire, WFEA-1370 is the only station from that state that
can be heard in the midwest. I don't know why.
Basically, listed stations that are not 50 kw or clear channels are based on
my dx experience all over the country. For whatever reason,
these are the stations that get out best.
I have tried to list more than one station, in case someone has a local station
on the frequency of the best catch.
In many cases, I have notes about Hawaii or the east coast, just to verify
that the given station really gets out. Sorry if some call letters are old;
I did this list from memory.
Hope this helps.
(If anyone has easier stations to log, please let me know.)
--------------------
Alabama: WERC-960, WHHY-1170
Alaska: KYAK-650, KFQD-750, KBBI-890
(KBBI is the only one that can be heard in Southern Cal)
Arizona: KTNN-660, KNIX-1580
Arkansas: KAAY-1090
California: KFI-640, KNX-1070, KFBK-1530
(All these I have heard from the east coast and from Hawaii.)
Colorado: KOA-850
Connecticut: WTIC-1080
Delaware: WDEL-1150
Florida: WGBS-710, WSRF-1580, WSUN-620
Georgia: WSB-750 (heard in Hawaii)
Hawaii: KIKI-830, KAIM-870,
IOWA: WHO-1040, KXEL-1540
Idaho: KBOI-670
Illinois: WMAQ-670, WGN-720, WBBM-780, WLS-890
(All heard both from the east coast and from Hawaii.)
Indiana: WOWO-1190, WIBC-1070
Kansas: KFDI-1070, KFH-1330, WIBW-580
Kentucky: WHAS-840 (heard in Hawaii.)
Louisiana: WWL-870, KWKH-1130
(both heard from the east coast and from Hawaii.)
Maine: Auburn--1530
Maryland: WBAL-1090
Massachusetts: WBZ-1030 (heard from Hawaii.)
Michigan: WJR-760
Minnisota: WCCO-830
Mississippi: 810 kHz, or WOKJ-1550, or WCPC-940
Missouri: KMOX-1120
Montana: KOFI-1180, KJJR-880
Nebraska: KRVN-880, WOW-590, KFAB-1110
Nevada: KDWN-720, KROW-780, KVEG-840
New Hampshire: WFEA-1370 (logged from Ohio.)
New Jersey: WPAT-930 NEWARK-620
New Mexico: KOB-770
New York: WHAM-1180, NYC-clear--660 770 880
North Carolina: WBT-1110, WPTF-680
North Dakota: KFYR-550, KFNW-1200, KQWB-1550 (all logged from Hawaii)
Ohio: WLW-700, WWWE-1100 (logged from Hawaii)
Oklahoma: KOMA-1520, KRMG-740, KGYN-1210, KVOO-1170
Oregon: KEX-1190, KPNW-1120
Pennsylvania: KDKA-1020, WCAU-1210 (logged from Hawaii)
Rhode Island: WJAR-920 (heard in Ohio)
South Carolina: WFBC-1330
South Dakota: WNAX-570, KBHB-810 (Logged from Hawaii)
Tennessee: WSM-650, Memphis-1030
Texas: WOAI-1200, WBAP-820
Utah: KSL-1160, KFAM-700, KOAL-750
Vermont: WDEV-550, WVMT-620
Virginia: WRVA-1140
Washington DC: WTOP-1500, WRC-980
Washington: KIRO-710, KGA-1510
West Virginia: WWVA-1170
Wisconsin: WISN-1070, WTMJ-620
Wyoming: KTWO-1030
Doug Martin mar...@nosc.mil
Douglas W. Martin
Here are a few more stations that are fairly easy to log.
In my earlier posting, I only had one station for some of
these states; here are alternatives if a given frequency isn't clear
in your area.
Doug Martin mar...@nosc.mil
--------------------
utah: KDXU-890
California: KNBR-680, KFRE-940, KTNQ-1020
New Mexico: KBCQ-1020
Arizona: KTAR-620, KOOL-960
TEXAS: KRLD-1080, KTRH-740
New York: WGY-810 (logged from Hawaii)
Pennsylvania: KYW-1060 (logged from Hawaii)
Michigan: WKNX-1210 WCAR-1130
Oregon: KWJJ-1080
Alabama: WYDE-850
Tennessee: WNOX-990
robert.f.casey
One should note that some New York City MW stations transmit from the
Big Swamp (nowdays called the "Meadowlands", where Giants stadium is)
in New Jersey. WABC 770 (in Lodi, a little north of the Big Swamp),
WCBS? 880, WNEW? 1130, WOR 710, WMCA 570, "Z-rock" 1480, WINS 1010,
W??? 1050. So, should one log these as NY (location of studio) or
NJ, where the RF energy comes from? One can see lots of towers when
one drives on the New Jersey Turnpike thru the Big Swamp.
Scott Fybush
(robert.f.casey) writes:
>
>One should note that some New York City MW stations transmit from the
>Big Swamp (nowdays called the "Meadowlands", where Giants stadium is)
>in New Jersey. WABC 770 (in Lodi, a little north of the Big Swamp),
>WCBS? 880, WNEW? 1130, WOR 710, WMCA 570, "Z-rock" 1480, WINS 1010,
880 is WCBS. 1130 is WNEW. However, the last I heard, WCBS shared
a stick with 660 WFAN (ex-WNBC) somewhere on Long Island (Fire Island,
perhaps?) I remember an article a few years back describing the
technical arrangement involved in having two 50-kw signals emanate
from the same tower.
An historical note: Both WCBS, formerly WABC on 860, and WNBC, formerly
WEAF and later WRCA on 660, used to have transmitter sites in Jersey.
RCA's 660 signal came from its huge transmitter plant in Bound Brook,
which was put into use in the mid-20s when WEAF's transmitter was
moved from 463 West Street, Manhattan. CBS had a medium and shortwave
transmission facility somewhere in NJ as well, although the town name
escapes me and I'm not near my reference books. I believe it was
sometime just after WW2 when they combined MW facilities on Long Island.
The shortwave facilities were taken over by Uncle Sam for the war, of
course.
If I'm not mistaken (I've only been there once, WMCA's and WNEW's
towers face each other on opposite sides of the Garden State Parkway.
>W??? 1050. So, should one log these as NY (location of studio) or
^^^
That would be WEVD. The 1050 frequency was part of the Great Station
Swap of 1988. I'll post more about that if people are interested.
>NJ, where the RF energy comes from? One can see lots of towers when
>one drives on the New Jersey Turnpike thru the Big Swamp.
Oh yeah, there was an actual question there :) My personal preference
is to go strictly by city of license, a semi-mythical FCC concept.
Thus I'd log all the stations you mentioned as New York NY. Likewise,
if I write down WBZ 1030 in my logbook, I'd write the city of license,
Boston MA, not the transmission site, Hull MA.
There are, of course, exceptions that can be made when the transmitter
is some really long distance from the city of license. Two examples
come to mind: WAMC 90.3 Albany NY has its transmitter more than 30 miles
away, atop Mount Greylock in western Massachusetts. I'd be inclined to
at least make a note of that. WMTW-TV 8 in Poland Spring ME is probably
the champion -- its transmitter is atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire,
which (I don't have a map handy) must be at least 50 miles from Poland
Spring and Portland. (The two other stations atop Mt. Washington,
94.9 WHOM FM and 103.7 WZPK FM, are licensed to "Mt. Washington NH"
and Berlin NH, respectively. WHOM produces a clean signal for well over
100 miles in any direction. 50 kilowatts from 3800 feet above average
terrain will do that :)
So the short answer is: Use your judgment. Unless you're entering
a contest, it's all up to you. Have fun...this is certainly the time
of year for great MW and VHF DX!
Scott Fybush -- ST90...@pip.cc.brandeis.edu
Ralph Brandi
>Spring and Portland. (The two other stations atop Mt. Washington,
>94.9 WHOM FM and 103.7 WZPK FM, are licensed to "Mt. Washington NH"
>and Berlin NH, respectively. WHOM produces a clean signal for well over
>100 miles in any direction. 50 kilowatts from 3800 feet above average
>terrain will do that :)
You're the resident historian, Scott; are either of these stations
at all related to the Yankee Network station located at the top of
Mt. Washington that featured so prominently in Howard Armstrong's
early FM work?
(I was surprised when I read of this in Empire of the Air; I'd never
heard of the network before....)
--
Ralph Brandi ra...@mtunq.att.com att!mtunq!ralph
You can't coat a wolf in chocolate because the wolf already has its own fur.
m...@zurich.ibm.com
> That would be WEVD. The 1050 frequency was part of the Great Station
> Swap of 1988. I'll post more about that if people are interested.
>
>
>
Yes please do.........
M. E. Rappoport
Scott Fybush
are descendants of the old Yankee Network station up there.
The answer, I think, is no. Broadcasting Yearbook lists the older
of the two as 94.9 WHOM, with an on-air date of 1958. I believe
the Yankee Network's FM relay operation had ended long before
1958, so there must have been a few years with no FM up there.
My guess as to WHOM's origin is that it went up as an afterthought.
WMTW-TV, licensed to Poland Spring, went on the air from the
mountain in 1954. WHOM used to be WMTW(FM), co-owned with the
TV.
So, unfortunately, I think that no vestige of the old Yankee
Network operation up there has survived. Speaking of the
Yankee Network, can any of you New Englanders tell me where
in Massachusetts Mount Asnebumskit is? That was another
early YN site.
Scott Fybush -- ST90...@pip.cc.brandeis.edu -- Resident Historian:)
"I may not be Tom Lewis, but then Tom Lewis doesn't read r.r.s."
Steven Alexsy
>
>
>For those interested in dx on the AM broadcast band, here are my
>picks for logging all 50 states. In most cases, these are the most powerful
>stations in each state, or they are on frequencies with the least
>number of competing stations.
[Most of this fine list deleted.]
>Alabama: WERC-960, WHHY-1170
Haven't heard either of those here in Michigan. I hear WVOK, Birmingham on
690 kHz regularly before it changes power from 50kw.
>Florida: WGBS-710, WSRF-1580, WSUN-620
WGBS is no longer. It's now a Spanish station. (WAQI?) I think WSRF would
be difficult to hear anywhere but the Bahamas since the signal is directed
east into the ocean. I have heard WQAM 560 (Miami) a number of times in
Michigan. I've also heard WRBQ 1380 (St.Petersburg) infrequently but more than
I've heard WSUN which has to battle a Cuban on the same frequency.
>South Carolina: WFBC-1330
I've heard this but I hear WHYZ 1070 (Sans Souci), a 50 kw station, more
often.
>Tennessee: WSM-650, Memphis-1030
The station with a signal that rivals WSM is WLAC 1510 (Nashville). I've heard
WLAC in the daytime in southern Georgia. (I can hear WSM here in Michigan in
the daytime.)
>Wisconsin: WISN-1070, WTMJ-620
WISN is on 1130.
/s/ "Reality is nothing but a collective hunch"
-Lily Tomlin
Brighton, Michigan
ale...@gldoa.enet.dec.com
John Mayson
>In article <36...@cod.NOSC.MIL>, mar...@cod.NOSC.MIL (Douglas W. Martin) writes...
>
>WGBS is no longer. It's now a Spanish station. (WAQI?) I think WSRF would
>be difficult to hear anywhere but the Bahamas since the signal is directed
>east into the ocean. I have heard WQAM 560 (Miami) a number of times in
>Michigan. I've also heard WRBQ 1380 (St.Petersburg) infrequently but more than
>I've heard WSUN which has to battle a Cuban on the same frequency.
Yes, 710 is now WAQI, a Spanish station in Miami. I can hear it just fine
here in Atlanta on my RF-3100. By turning my radio 90 degrees I can null
out WAQI and pull in WABC or WNBC (one of the two) on 710 kHz. Hey, those
ferrite rod antenna really are directional!
John Mayson
m...@zurich.ibm.com
> 97.9 FM (WEVD -- big band, talk, ethnic) was owned by the Jewish Forward
> newspaper. The station had signed on as an AM in 1924, its call letters
> standing for _E_ugene _V_ictor _D_ebs. The FM signed on in the fifties,
> and the AM was sold about 1979. WEVD needed financial support, as it was
> nowhere near as profitable as the "big" FMs.
>
An interesting footnote to this is that WEVD (1330 AM) broadcasting much of
the day in Yiddish language, could not be heard in New York's Lower East Side
where much of it's target audience was located (as were the offices of the
owners - the Jewish Forward newspaper).
M. E. Rappoport - IBM Research
Scott Fybush
writes:
>Yes, 710 is now WAQI, a Spanish station in Miami. I can hear it just fine
>here in Atlanta on my RF-3100. By turning my radio 90 degrees I can null
>out WAQI and pull in WABC or WNBC (one of the two) on 710 kHz. Hey, those
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Or WOR. WABC's on 770, the late WNBC was on 660.
I wonder why it is that the SWLs never seem to get Radio Moscow and the
BBC mixed up, yet we BCB DXers have so much trouble getting calls and
frequencies right? I guess it's another thing that makes the hobby either
more fun or more frustrating, depending on personal taste.
>ferrite rod antenna really are directional!
>
>John Mayson
Scott Fybush -- ST90...@pip.cc.brandeis.edu -- voice +1 617 736 8276
Weekend News Anchor, WCAP (AM) Lowell, Massachusetts*
Radio Historian, SIGNALS - Sat. 11:35pm ET - WWCR 7435kHz SW*
*affiliations for identification only.
Scott Fybush
>> That would be WEVD. The 1050 frequency was part of the Great Station
>> Swap of 1988. I'll post more about that if people are interested.
>>
>>
>> Scott Fybush -- ST90...@pip.cc.brandeis.edu
>>
>Yes please do.........
>
>M. E. Rappoport
OK. I was waiting for that :)
THE GREAT STATION SWAP OF 1988
The Great Station Swap of 1988 affected stations on three medium-wave
frequencies and three FM frequencies in the New York City market. It was
set into motion by the sale of NBC to General Electric and the subsequent
shutdown of NBC's radio operations.
For starters, here was the status of each of the six frequencies as of the
start of 1988:
660 AM (WNBC -- rock format) and 97.1 FM (WYNY -- country format) were owned
by NBC. NBC had just been sold to GE, and was under FCC orders to divest
itself of radio stations in cities where it already owned TV stations. Since
NBC owned (and still owns) WNBC-TV 4 in New York, the radio stations had to go.
1050 AM (WFAN -- sports) and 103.5 FM (WQHT -- CHR) were owned by Emmis
Communications, which had recently bought them from Doubleday Broadcasting,
under which they had been WHN (AM) and WAPP-FM. Although the 1050 frequency
is a 50kw clear channel, its signal does not get out anywhere near as well
as the monster non-directional 660 signal. Emmis was at the time a rapidly
growing company looking to expand in any way it could.
620 AM (WSKQ -- Spanish-language) was owned by the Spanish Broadcasting
System, which owned an AM-FM in Miami, an AM and a newly-purchased FM in
Los Angeles, and wanted to expand to the NYC FM dial. Until a few years
before, WSKQ (AM) had been WVNJ (AM), a mostly-ignored simulcast of an
easy-listening FM. (The FM was sold and became WHTZ, or "Z100.")
97.9 FM (WEVD -- big band, talk, ethnic) was owned by the Jewish Forward
newspaper. The station had signed on as an AM in 1924, its call letters
standing for _E_ugene _V_ictor _D_ebs. The FM signed on in the fifties,
and the AM was sold about 1979. WEVD needed financial support, as it was
nowhere near as profitable as the "big" FMs.
WHAT HAPPENED:
The first step of the deal involved the NBC stations on 660 and 97.1. Emmis
agreed to buy most of NBC's radio operations around the nation, thus giving
them stations in Boston and Chicago where they had had none before. However,
Emmis already owned two New York stations. The 660 and 97.1 frequencies
were better than the 1050 and 103.5 frequencies, however, so Emmis bought
them. The WNBC calls left the air forever, and WFAN's all-sports format
moved down the dial to 660. The only vestige of WNBC radio to survive was
Don Imus' morning show. WQHT, "Hot 103.5," also moved to the better 97.1
signal and became "Hot 97."
That left Emmis with the 1050 and 103.5 stations to sell. 103.5 was sold to
Westwood One (which also bought the NBC Radio network, but not the stations.)
Westwood One kept the WYNY calls and format from the old 97.1, thus
retaining the country format on 103.5 WYNY. WYNY was combined with WNEW(AM)
when Westwood One bought that station the same year. [Just to add to the
fun, WNEW-FM was sold to Westinghouse, which owns WINS (AM) in New York.
Confused yet?]
1050 was more difficult, since there was little market for a standalone AM
in the city. WSKQ wanted a second service, but FCC regs said they couldn't
own two AMs. So WSKQ engineered another swap: They bought AM 1050. For
a few months, it programmed a separate Spanish-language format as WUKQ,
while the deal with WEVD was worked out. A few months later, WEVD vacated
the 97.9 FM channel for 1050 AM and a 50kw clear channel. WUKQ's programming
moved to FM as WSKQ-FM 97.9.
THE AFTERMATH:
Emmis' new WFAN 660-WQHT 103.5 combo lasted only about four years. At the
beginning of 1992, Emmis announced plans to sell AM 660 to Infinity, owners
of WXRK(FM) - WZRC(AM) New York. This is one of several Emmis sales in
the past few years, caused by owner Jeff Smulyan's attempts to finance his
Seattle Mariners baseball team. WSKQ 620 AM-97.9 FM survived, and even
helped cause the demise of another Spanish-language outlet, WJIT 1480.
WYNY 103.5 is still there, as is WEVD.
This was probably the largest station swap in recent history. A relaxation
of FCC regulations may make such swaps less necessary in the future, as the
advent of Local Marketing Agreements (LMAs) has allowed station owners to
program multiple stations in one market. Relaxed AM cross-ownership rules
have also changed the picture somewhat.
THE CHART (just to help make things clear:)
1988-start 1988-end 1989 1992
620 WSKQ WSKQ WSKQ WSKQ
Span. Bcstg. Sys. ----------------------->
660 WNBC WFAN WFAN WFAN
NBC Emmis Emmis Infinity
1050 WFAN WUKQ WEVD WEVD
Emmis Span.B.Sys. Forward------>
97.1 WYNY WQHT WQHT WQHT
NBC Emmis--------------------->
97.9 WEVD WEVD WSKQ-FM WSKQ-FM
Forward Forward Span. Bcstg. Sys.-->
103.5 WQHT WYNY WYNY WYNY
Emmis Westwood 1---------------->
I hope that makes it somewhat clear. I'd like to do a *SIGNALS*
piece on the whole swap in the future. If anyone has aircheck tapes
of any of these stations, either pre- or post-swap, please get in
touch with me, as I'd love to be able to use some of them (and I
wouldn't mind hearing the old WNBC again :)