AM frequency of the week - 1450

Halloween is still more than two months away, but let's head for the graveyard anyway. What do you guys get on 1450?

Here in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago days it's a weak WCEV from close-in suburb Cicero, IL. Nights, it's the usual graveyard mess.

I confess that I haven't spent a lot of time hanging out on the graveyard channels, but 1450 has had its moments for me. For openers, when the semi-local 1450 has been off, KFIZ from Fon Du Lac, WI surfaces. Something of a oddity given the "K" call letter east of the Mississippi....and on a GY channel no less. (Fon Du Lac is roughly midway between Milwaukee and Green Bay.)

At night, one of my longest skywave catches on a GY channel came on 1450 back in the mid-60s. (Then) WLAY from Muscle Shoals, AL....about 550 miles away on 250 watts. Then there's the matter of 1450 being home to an 800-pound gorilla. CHUC in Coburg, ON (an hour east of Toronto on Lake Ontario. I think this one has migrated totally to FM, but when they were 10KW daytime (IIRC), they used to be fairly easy to hear in the Chicago area around sunrise/sunset.

In the near north Chicago suburbs I've only heard WCEV & before that WVON day & weaker at night. Admittedly I've never had the patience to hang out on the graveyards to try for night DX on those frequencies.

Days it's splatter from KUTI 1460, and some very weak thresholds under.

Night logs: this is going to be long...
KBKW Aberdeen, WA
KONP Port Angeles, WA
KLBM La Grande, OR
CHOR Summerland, BC (now silent)
KBFI Bonners Ferry, ID
KBPS Portland, OR
KFLS Klamath Falls, OR
KGRZ Missoula, MT
KHIT Reno, NV
KLZS Eugene, OR
KMMS Bozeman, MT
KSUH Puyallup, WA
KWEI Notus, ID

-crainbebo

Way once upon a time I used to hear myself talk on KIRX, 1450 in Kirksville MO.

In the Trenton NJ area, a weak WCTC New Brunswick NJ. Go farther south in New Jersey and you can get WPGG Atlantic City or WILM Wilmington DE, or maybe both at once.

From my location in the very western part of Tampa in the daytime, it's WSDV Sarasota with a local sounding signal even 44 miles away due to much of the path being over the bay.

Never checked it out but I bet the signal is a lot weaker in the eastern part of Tampa.

At night, it's a much weaker WSDV with numerous inaudible stations when I turn the radio in another direction with the occasional one station coming in to dominate for a brief time.

The most distant ones I've heard are the stations from Albany and Valdosta, Georgia.

crainbebo said:

Night logs: this is going to be long...
-crainbebo

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Actually, when I launched this, I was thinking that you....as "King of the Graveyard Channels"....would wind up carrying the thread. Which you did with those great catches. Nicely done, sir!

I live in east-central Wisconsin, so 1450 during the day for me is KFIZ out of Fond Du Lac. Haven't tried it at night lately, but I'm going to guess its a mess of everything, with KFIZ popping in and out.

Down in my hometown (a few miles west of Madison), 1450 during the day is WRCO out of Richland Center, Wisconsin.

gar fla said:

From my location in the very western part of Tampa in the daytime, it's WSDV Sarasota with a local sounding signal even 44 miles away due to much of the path being over the bay.
Never checked it out but I bet the signal is a lot weaker in the eastern part of Tampa.

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When we've stayed on Treasure Island WSDV has been good, very listenable, but not quite local quality. The salt water path certainly accounts for the good signal. But I'm guessing the signal is a bit weaker than where you are due to that salt water path being interrupted crossing the peninsula occupied by St. Pete. I also can hear stuff faintly in the background that I haven't been able to identify (WBSR?) Assuming I can get back down there with the Superradio II in January, I'll be anxious to see if I can figure this out.

Here in Manistee, a very weak WKLA Ludington, about 20 miles away. The station carries Manistee HS sports, while the small Catholic high school has their games on the FM station in town (97.7 WMLQ) (this is likely because a lot of Manistee CC's opponents are within 97.7's listening area, while Manistee HS only has four regular opponents within 97.7's range, and two of those schools are also heard on sister FM stations). The vast majority of its listeners come from its FM translators on 92.7 in Ludington and 107.9 in Manistee.

cyberdad said:

When we've stayed on Treasure Island WSDV has been good, very listenable, but not quite local quality. The salt water path certainly accounts for the good signal. But I'm guessing the signal is a bit weaker than where you are due to that salt water path being interrupted crossing the peninsula occupied by St. Pete. I also can hear stuff faintly in the background that I haven't been able to identify (WBSR?) Assuming I can get back down there with the Superradio II in January, I'll be anxious to see if I can figure this out.

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From where I am in Town N Country, the signal path doesn't pass over the Pinellas County peninsula. It goes right between that and the little peninsula sticking out that's part of Tampa.

On my Sangean PR-D5, it's a local sounding signal daytime when the radio is facing directly at the station's location but unlike other actual locals, it quickly gets weaker when the radio is turned in the other direction.

And as much as I like Radio Locator and it's been a useful tool for my daytime DXing at the Gulf, I think it really underestimates the signal strength of this station.

http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WSDV&service=AM&status=L&hours=U

Here in Phoenix, it's "splatter" from adjacent KAZG-1440 during the day; never tried it at night, although I expect there wouldn't be much to catch.

Perfect timing for this frequency. In our area, WQNT is a local, generally serving as a sports station (it carries Citadel football). The signal usually has about 850 watts, but gets out well. A few days ago however, the transmitter suffered a lightning strike. It was off the air for several days, bringing in the 1450 from Daytona Beach. Another signal (probably Myrtle Beach) was under that. Now, the signal is on, but operating at maybe 200 watts or so off of a wire antenna.

It can barely be heard at my location, where it usually blasts in.

WMOH in Hamilton, Ohio. Has a fairly nice signal in Southwestern Ohio during the daytime although not as good after dark. This station has been around for decades and always under the same call-letters which stand for the Butler County cities of: Middletown, Oxford and Hamilton.

Local 1450 was top 40 KAYC in the 70s....(worked there too as a weekend DJ)...to the east is another 1450 100miles away....before the 1KW night upgrade, KAYC could be heard all over the area....(5/8w tower)...but now with the upgrade, the distant 1450 covers the now-KIKR 25 miles south.

1450 am frequency of the week

If you live in victorville there is a station on 1450 called KQTE they play all oldies and country & the do mix some Christian music too they do stream at www.kqte.com and they do have local personalities. No syndicated programs

Cincinnati Kid said:

WMOH in Hamilton, Ohio. Has a fairly nice signal in Southwestern Ohio during the daytime although not as good after dark. This station has been around for decades and always under the same call-letters which stand for the Butler County cities of: Middletown, Oxford and Hamilton.

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Here in the Southwest Cincinnati area, WMOH really struggles with power lines and other electrical interference. Nights, it is no where to be found.

We're about 12 miles from WPAM Pottsville, the on-again/off-again former 'Phoenix 1450', a classic rocker that's been through more format changes than Radio Belgrade.

Oddly, while painting a house in St. Clair PA one late morning, I achieved an absolutely devastating null on WPAM with the barefoot GE SuperadioII.
The boro of 'Santa Clara' is about two air miles from WPAM's stick, which is atop something called Lawton's Hill.
The null was so unbelievable that the lights in WPAM's studios might have dimmed. I didn't hear anything new on 1450, of course. But I got WIFI 1460 from NJ with their sports.
Here is their coverage area, which, as you see, smothers St. Clair.

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WPAM&service=AM&status=L&hours=U

We live near the second 'h' in Shenandoah. That's right outside the main red contour. So sunsets and nighttimes are the DX times.

WPAM, WCTC NJ (5-10-95t), WTHU MD (5-10-95), WTBO MD (5-10-95t), WMAJ PA (12-30-97) are the loggings. 'T' means a taped ID.
Those are all from when WPAM was on the air.
In their faithful and punctual absences, I've tried to get the new one from Milford PA with their country format. No luck IDing them yet, although I did hear a few cowboy records there one sunset.
(Slightly off-topic and off-frequency : My closest unheard here at home is WGMF 1460 Tunkhannock. They're northwest of Scranton. Irrespective of WPAM being on the air at full wattage or off the air, I cannot raise WGMF. Wilkes-Barre DXer Curt Schwarzwalder can testify to this frustration. Ironically, Curt only recenty logged WPAM himself!

WPAM is also an *excello* pilot station whenever there's a blazing Aurora afoot. When they're loud and clear groundwave at night, like 10PM, something in the atmosphere is certainly afoot. When WPAM is crystal at 10PM, I expect to have the Aurora waking up the birds.

Steve.... I'm a little surprised that neither you nor anyone else in the northeast/midwest has mentioned CHUC. I'm almost positive they shut down 1450 and moved entirely to FM a few years back. But when they were 8kw daytime, they were a relatively easy catch for me here in the Chicago area before they powered down at sunset.