Reliable & audible clear channel AM DX reception.
Michael
After a few good threads on MW DX'ing, there has been some great info on
some of the AM broadcast "catches" that others have managed to get. There
was also a few posts regarding what AM radios are good for hearing far away
AM radio stations. As was pointed out in a previous post to a poster that
has asked the question of "what AM radio to buy", most of the AM DX'ing that
is being reported on is unreliable and usually too messy to listen to.
This leaves me with yet another AM broadcast question. I'm interested to
find out what 50KW AM broadcast stations http://www.ac6v.com/clearam.htm#USA
(not in your state, or at least 200 miles away) are in fact reliable and
listenable to you ???
Mine from North NJ are (after sundown):
840 kHz WHAS Louisville, KY
1100 kHz WTAM Cleveland, OH
1110 kHz WBT Charlotte, NC
I can hear many other of the 50KW AM stations from time time time, but those
three above are almost always relable and listenable here in NJ.
Especially, WBT.
--
Respectfully,
Michael
Home Page: http://md_dxing.tripod.com/
Northern NJ
R75 w/DSP, Kiwa agc/sync & audio mods
G5RV & 200ft longwire w/ICE-180
MFJ-1048 preselector
SoundBlstr Live PC card w/five piece Cambridge
speakers & full software mixer/eq.
Tony Meloche
Michael wrote:
> This leaves me with yet another AM broadcast question. I'm interested to
> find out what 50KW AM broadcast stations http://www.ac6v.com/clearam.htm#USA
> (not in your state, or at least 200 miles away) are in fact reliable and
> listenable to you ???
>
> Mine from North NJ are (after sundown):
>
> 840 kHz WHAS Louisville, KY
>
> 1100 kHz WTAM Cleveland, OH
>
> 1110 kHz WBT Charlotte, NC
OK, using your criteria, here is my list. I'm in the SW corner of
Michigan.
Eliminating the Chicago stations, which I get boomingly (but they're
only 80 miles away across the lake), and the Detroit stations (c. 140
miles), and leaving out the stations I can get consistently - but with
only poor, choppy audio, leaves me with this list. It's interesting to
note that while I can get everyone of the New York City 50k stations,
all of them save the one on the list are very weak. These results are
all after dark:
WSM Nashville 650
CNIF Montreal, 690 (all French)
WLW Cincinnati 700
WSB Atlanta 750 (always very strong)
CIGM Sudbury, Ont. 790
WHAS Lousisville 840
CHML Hamilton, Ont. 900
WWL New Orleans 870 (always VERY strong - must use directional antenna)
WGY 810 Schenectady 810
WCCO 830 Minneapolis
WCBS 880 New York
KDKA Pittsburgh 1020
WHO Des Moines 1040
KYW Philadelphia 1060
WTIC Hartford 1080
KMOX St. Louis 1120
WHAM Rochester, NY 880
WBT Charlotte 1110
WLAC Nashville 1510
WSAI Cinncinatti 1530
KYEL Waterloo, IA. 1540
Some of these would not be terribly pleasant lisening, (staticy) but
all are consistenly steady, clear signals at night, ID is easy. As I
said above, I left out about a dozen I can get well sometimes, barely at
all others.
Tony
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Frank Dresser
"Tony Meloche" <amel...@remc11.k12.mi.us> wrote in message
news:3F92C812...@remc11.k12.mi.us...
I can get more or less the same group, except for those which are adjacent
to the Chicago clear channels. I can also get WBZ quite clearly and
reliably. Do you have local interference on 1030?
Frank Dresser
Tony Meloche
Hi Frank:
Nope, the closest thing would be WCFL in Chicago, and that's far
enough away with good selectivity on my radios to be no problem. I can
*get* WBZ almost any night - but it's the exception that I get it clear
and steady. This bugs me, because as a kid in Detroit (140 miles closer
to WBZ) I could get it after dark as strong as a local station, and they
always "broke" Beatles records before
any of the Detroit stations :>D My friends thought I was clarivoyant
when I'd tell them what the next Beatles hit was going to be, and that's
how it turned out. I recall the DJ being some guy who called himself
"Juicy Brucie Bradley", and some campaign to have sandwiches renamed
"shrewsburys". Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
PS: IIRC, from the few times I've heard and ID'd it here, they have
different
programming today - but that's no suprise.
Frank Dresser
>
>
> Hi Frank:
>
>
> Nope, the closest thing would be WCFL in Chicago, and that's far
> enough away with good selectivity on my radios to be no problem. I can
> *get* WBZ almost any night - but it's the exception that I get it clear
> and steady. This bugs me, because as a kid in Detroit (140 miles closer
> to WBZ) I could get it after dark as strong as a local station, and they
> always "broke" Beatles records before
> any of the Detroit stations :>D My friends thought I was clarivoyant
> when I'd tell them what the next Beatles hit was going to be, and that's
> how it turned out. I recall the DJ being some guy who called himself
> "Juicy Brucie Bradley", and some campaign to have sandwiches renamed
> "shrewsburys". Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
>
> PS: IIRC, from the few times I've heard and ID'd it here, they have
> different
> programming today - but that's no suprise.
>
> Tony
>
>
WBZ comes in very well almost every night here in the Chicago area. Even on
my old Walkman. They're a talker now, and one of the few that has a local
show at night.
Frank Dresser
Doug Smith W9WI
> This leaves me with yet another AM broadcast question. I'm interested to
> find out what 50KW AM broadcast stations http://www.ac6v.com/clearam.htm#USA
> (not in your state, or at least 200 miles away) are in fact reliable and
> listenable to you ???
NYC: 660 WFAN, 880 WCBS
Chicago: 670 WSCR, 720 WGN, 780 WBBM, 890 WLS, 1000 WMVP
Atlanta: 750 WSB
Detroit: 760 WJR
Fort Worth: 820 WBAP
New Orleans: 870 WWL
Pittsburgh: 1020 KDKA
Des Moines: 1040 WHO
Cleveland: 1100 WTAM
Shreveport: 1130 KWKH
Richmond: 1140 WRVA
Rochester: 1180 WHAM
San Antonio: 1200 WOAI
The following I can also get (weakly) during the *day* here:
Cincinnati: 700 WLW, 1530 WSAI
Louisville: 840 WHAS (though Louisville is only about 150 miles)
St. Louis: 1120 KMOX
- and of course: -
Nashville: 650 WSM, 1510 WLAC
> I can hear many other of the 50KW AM stations from time time time, but those
> three above are almost always relable and listenable here in NJ.
Likewise for this list - there are many other stations (WBZ, WPHT, and
KYW come to mind) that are usually audible here but also frequently
disappear under bad conditions.
And others (like 1260 WSDZ and 570 WWNC) that are almost always present
and identifiable, but nobody would dream of listening to a program on
the interference-laden signal.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com
--exray--
> Hiya....
>
> This leaves me with yet another AM broadcast question. I'm interested to
> find out what 50KW AM broadcast stations http://www.ac6v.com/clearam.htm#USA
> (not in your state, or at least 200 miles away) are in fact reliable and
> listenable to you ???
Also take into account that many stations use directional antennas.
Given that scenario you may be able to hear the 5kw guy but not the 50kw
from the same city depending on whether or not the lobe favors your
direction.
Most of the old (what used to be actually clear) clear-channel stations
are omni-directional.
-Bill
WShoots1
are omni-directional. >>
A while back, I looked up one in Dallas and it has a humongous array for
daytime and an entirely different almost-as-large array at night. The pattern
must look strange on each, and each are sort of directional.
I think I'll go back and try to find in my files the call sign of that station
and then recheck on it.
Bill, K5BY
starman
WHAM Rochester, NY is 1180 (not 880)
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Tony Meloche
Sure is - I wrote WHAM but looked at WCBS - damned astigmatism . . .
Tony
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Mark Keith
Maybe WBAP-820? They had always been one of the bigger clear channels
out of Dallas. MK
Tony Calguire
>
> This leaves me with yet another AM broadcast question. I'm interested to
> find out what 50KW AM broadcast stations http://www.ac6v.com/clearam.htm#USA
> (not in your state, or at least 200 miles away) are in fact reliable and
> listenable to you ???
>
As a native Minnesotan, one thing that I've always found disappointing
is that WCCO (830 kHz) doesn't seem to get out as well as other clear
channel stations. Last week, I was road tripping, and as we rolled into
Escanaba, MI, I found I was able to get KYW, KDKA, WBZ, WHAS, and others
without trouble, but nothing on 830.
I'm wondering... do others find that WCCO is a more difficult catch than
other clear channels?
(P.S. I should probably mention that back in 1986, I was able to listen
to WCCO's Gopher football broadcast on a walkman in the Liberty Bowl
stadium in Memphis, TN, while watching the Gophers play that game live.
So it would seem that "CCO's signal got out better in the past.)
Doug Smith W9WI
No, WBAP is non-directional.
My guess is he was looking at KFXR-1190. (long known as KLIF) IIRC
they use *twelve* towers at night - they have fewer towers for daytime,
at a different location.
David
Also KKOH 780, Reno, occasionally. Can get tons of stations but don't
regularly listen.
The West is the best.
On Sun, 19 Oct 2003 16:35:23 GMT, "Michael" <md1...@optonline.net>
wrote:
WShoots1
Dallas. >>
Thanks, Mark. I'll check that out asap. I wrote it down, to remind me to check
for that Dallas station I have in mind. It and WBAP may be the same.
Bill, K5BY
RHF
Back in the early 1960s I managed to receive "WBZ" in Boston using a
Hitachi TH-812 (TRF AM/MW Portable Radio) with an outboard
'inductively coupled' Tunable Ferrite Rod Antenna Feed by a 65 Foot
Random Wire Antenna.
GoTo=> http://www.transistor.org/collection/hitachi/hitachi9.html
NOTE: This took me two winter seasons to log this DX catch.
OBTW: If you are interested in Old Transister Radios check out this
website:
GoTo=> http://www.transistor.org/collection/collection.html
~ RHF
.
.
= = = "Michael" <md1...@optonline.net>
= = = wrote in message news:<f3zkb.88708$%B2.21...@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net>...
starman
>
> Michael wrote:
> >
> > This leaves me with yet another AM broadcast question. I'm interested to
> > find out what 50KW AM broadcast stations http://www.ac6v.com/clearam.htm#USA
> > (not in your state, or at least 200 miles away) are in fact reliable and
> > listenable to you ???
> >
>
> As a native Minnesotan, one thing that I've always found disappointing
> is that WCCO (830 kHz) doesn't seem to get out as well as other clear
> channel stations. Last week, I was road tripping, and as we rolled into
> Escanaba, MI, I found I was able to get KYW, KDKA, WBZ, WHAS, and others
> without trouble, but nothing on 830.
>
> I'm wondering... do others find that WCCO is a more difficult catch than
> other clear channels?
I have the same problem with receiving WHAM-1180 Rochester, NY in the
daytime. I can get all the NYC and Boston 50-KW stations in the day but
not WHAM, which is about the same distance from me as NYC. I think it
may have something to do with their transmitter location and ground
(soil) conditions. Also the Hudson river valley may enhance daytime MW
propagation to my area from NYC.
RHF
> MD,
>
> Back in the early 1960s I managed to receive "WBZ" in Boston using a
> Hitachi TH-812 (TRF AM/MW Portable Radio) with an outboard
> 'inductively coupled' Tunable Ferrite Rod Antenna Feed by a 65 Foot
> Random Wire Antenna.
From "Baghdad-by-the-Bay" <to> The "Back-Bay" of Bean Town.
At that time I lived in Oakland, California, USofA.
- OK-Land Cali-4-Ni-Ah ! (Coke-Land-Ese)
- - The Black-Hole of the NFL! (Raider Nation!)
- - - Mayor Jerry "MoonBeam" Brown announces . . .
- - - - a New Murder Rate of 100 "Dead Bodies" Year-to-Date.
- - - - - Drive-Thru-Coke-Land and Die !
~ RHF
WShoots1
Its 50kw anytime is on a single stick with no augmentation. And the size of
that tower... 192.10 degrees! That's over a half wavelength (180 degrees) tall.
The angle of radiation should be lower than that of most stations. It'd be a
good station for newbie MW DXers to look for at night
I checked on my Houston area anytime 50kw, KTRH 740, and it's puny in
comparison. It uses a cluster of 4 antenna towers with augmentation, to take a
nip here and a tuck there, to protect other stations. At night, the pattern is
changed, for the same reason. The towers are only 75 degrees tall, less than a
quarter wavelength (90).
I found the Dallas station I was thinking of. It's KFXR 1190. 50kw day, 5kw
night. During the day, it uses 4 towers inline, with 13 augmentations (ground
radials, I presume). At night, it uses 12 towers(!), different from the day
towers and aligned in a different direction. And it uses a whopping 28
augmentations!!! The day towers are 96d tall, the night towers are 87.2d tall.
They must have a good income at night to go to all that trouble for 5kw.
For those who don't know about it, MW AM station info can be found at:
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/amq.html
Type in the state and call letters, when looking for a specific station, and
then scroll down and request the detailed report. The site gives a number of
options that can be used for searching the FCC data base.
Bill, K5BY
Doug Smith W9WI
> I have the same problem with receiving WHAM-1180 Rochester, NY in the
> daytime. I can get all the NYC and Boston 50-KW stations in the day but
> not WHAM, which is about the same distance from me as NYC. I think it
> may have something to do with their transmitter location and ground
> (soil) conditions. Also the Hudson river valley may enhance daytime MW
> propagation to my area from NYC.
WHAM's relatively high dial position doesn't help. A given amount of
power covers better at the bottom of the dial (daytime) than it does at
the top - by an amazing amount.
starman
>
> starman wrote:
> > I have the same problem with receiving WHAM-1180 Rochester, NY in the
> > daytime. I can get all the NYC and Boston 50-KW stations in the day but
> > not WHAM, which is about the same distance from me as NYC. I think it
> > may have something to do with their transmitter location and ground
> > (soil) conditions. Also the Hudson river valley may enhance daytime MW
> > propagation to my area from NYC.
>
> WHAM's relatively high dial position doesn't help. A given amount of
> power covers better at the bottom of the dial (daytime) than it does at
> the top - by an amazing amount.
True but I can get 1130-NYC and 1030-Boston with relatively strong
daytime signals. My antenna is not long enough to be directional for MW.
Doug Smith W9WI
> True but I can get 1130-NYC and 1030-Boston with relatively strong
> daytime signals. My antenna is not long enough to be directional for MW.
Interesting.
Your antenna probably *is* directional for MW, just not predictably so...
Ron Hardin
Every small antenna has the same pattern, a donut with a single axis of opposite
nulls, for its electrical response and for its magnetic response.
So if it's chiefly electrical or chiefly magnetic, it's a donut.
You get deep nulls mostly by constructing small antennas so they are entirely
magnetic or entirely electrical. Otherwise the out-of-phase electrical and
magnetic responses fill in each other's nulls.
Or you can phase-shift the electrical response and get a unidirectional
combination electrical/magnetic antenna, eg. a loop plus a co-located whip
combined with a phase shift.
--
Ron Hardin
rhha...@mindspring.com
On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.
starman
The explanation I favor is the WHAM groundwave signal is weaker than the
other stations I mentioned in this thread because of unfavorable soil
conditions and/or a deteriorated ground radial system at the antenna
site. I think those are the most likely causes of reduced daytime
coverage. It would be interesting to know what their (WHAM) daytime
coverage was a few decades ago, to determine if it has deteriorated over
the years.
RHF
Printed in a Table on the middle of this webpage you can find the
'official' "Clear Channel" List by the FCC.
AM Station Classes: Clear, Regional, and Local Channels
GoTo=> http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/amclasses.html
* Class A Station: A Class A station is an unlimited time station
(that is, it can broadcast 24 hours per day) that operates on a clear
channel. The operating power shall not be less than 10 kilowatts (kW)
or more than 50 kW.
~ RHF
.
.
= = = "Michael" <md1...@optonline.net>
= = = wrote in message news:<f3zkb.88708$%B2.21...@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net>...