Two New Catches

It's been a while since I've heard anything new here at my home location in northeast Illinois. But these past couple of pre-dawn mornings, while mostly hanging out on 1090 a couple of new ones turned up. In each case, a station I was familiar with from my travels but never heard at home.

1070: KHMO, Hannibal, MO. 1kw (night). We talked about this one recently. I was trying for KNX, and thought it I had it, but it turned out to be KHMO, complete with a positive ID. Radio was my ATS-505, signal was fair at best, but on top for about 8-10 minutes.

1380: CKPC, Brantford, ON. It's 25kw fulltime, but I'm in (or supposed to be in) a deep null for both patterns. It rose above the slop for about five minutes with a fair signal, and long enough for a positive ID. The path from southern Ontario was very good before dawn yesterday morning. CKOC, CFZM, CJBC, CKDO, CIAO, and 1610 from the Toronto area were all better than usual. CFRB and CHML were the only "usual suspects" from that part of the world that were absent.

CIWW (Ottawa) was also in with a fair-good signal and comfortably on top. Usually here on 1310 day/night, it's a fairly reliable WIBA.

WDTW 1310 Dearborn, MI should be signing back on soon with 5000 watts fulltime. It has been nearly completely rebuilt with six 199 foot towers, with four above ground radials for each tower. You have to wonder whether four radials per tower will work correctly with the complicated Night pattern. The day pattern is just two towers, with shallow nulls equivalent to about 1 kW nondirectional.

I used to get KHMO often when trying for KNX just before our local sunrise. Over the years I've found that the best time for getting KNX here in the Chicago area is in the fall (especially late October) just before sunrise. KHMO was usually the biggest pest for me when trying for KNX.

As I recall, the first time I heard KNX was in the late 1960s or early 1970s. A family member had traveled to the Rose Bowl that year, when The University of Michigan was playing. Oddly enough, I had given them a list of LA Area radio stations from WRTH. Not sure if it was December 31, 1969, or December 31, 1971, but those are the most likely days. Of course, it was Traffic and Weather together that caught my ear as different from nearby CHOK Sarnia. It was on a Sony 6R-11 TRF portable. It was either barefoot or using a Remco Caravelle as a DX antenna. How do you do that? Put the tuning coil in the radio next to the tuning coil in the Remco Caravelle. If you have opened up a Caravelle, you know that the tuning coil is right behind the tuning knob. Tune the Caravelle to peak the signal. It acts like a Select-A-Tenna, though roughly nondirectional. Try it, if you still have one. I heard KNX before I heard KFI. I first heard KFI on a Sony CF-450 barefoot. The golden age of KFI for me was when I got a Panasonic RF-2200, in a short window of time until all the other 640s started operating at night, upgrading, and signing on. For a couple of years, during the Winter, it was almost every night.

If David is reading this, it was the copy of WRTH I was showing Jesse Champion shortly before he left teaching at my HS for WBRC 960 Birmingham. I had noted to Jesse that WVOK 690 was the only Birmingham station I had ever DXed, as it was the only 50000 watt AM station there.

Schroedingers Cat said:

t WVOK 690 was the only Birmingham station I had ever DXed, as it was the only 50000 watt AM station there.

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WAPI 1070 (of all places) in Birmingham is 50kw non-directional daytime. (And 5kw directional nights). I think it's been that way for quite a while.

And as for my Remco Caravelle....it's long gone, but fondly remembered!

I hear KHMO most of the time at night in eastern Iowa. I will listen for CKPC. Usually my catches from Ontario are CFRB (rarely any more), CJBC, CFZM, and that's about it. CHML is a little too close to my local adjacent WSUI. Sometimes I hear the 1150 from Hamilton.

When I was in school about 75 miles south of you , it was KHMO 24/7. As for CKPC, that one was pretty surprising. I wasn't expecting it. They could've been on day pattern. At any rate, I only had it for a few minutes, and then it disappeared and never came back.

I actually had another first time catch this before dawn morning, completing my "hat trick" for the week. And a graveyarder, no less! WJRW from Grand Rapids, MI on 1340. I also had snagged WJRW about a year ago in a hotel room in central Wisconsin. But I've never heard it here at home It was pretty much on top of the channel for about 15 minutes. Roughly 150 miles, so really not all that impressive, but I'll gladly take it. The radio was my ATS-505.

Schroedingers Cat said:

WDTW 1310 Dearborn, MI should be signing back on soon with 5000 watts fulltime. It has been nearly completely rebuilt with six 199 foot towers, with four above ground radials for each tower. You have to wonder whether four radials per tower will work correctly with the complicated Night pattern. The day pattern is just two towers, with shallow nulls equivalent to about 1 kW nondirectional.

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Being from the Detroit area, I have followed this saga both here and on the mibuzzboard

were the towers rusty? Why where the old ones dismantled? These newer once certainly look more flimsy and less robust than the older ones at the site.
I guess that rumor of the site being turned into a commercial use must have fallen through. Being so close to I-94 and telegraph is decent real estate site.

What is the equivalent wattage of the DEEP night pattern null that kept my parents from Grosse Pointe from enjoying the station back in the day? They told be they would sometimes drive west at night just to continue to listen to Keener 13 (I am assuming that null is there to protect Ottawa)

Schroedingers Cat said:

WDTW 1310 Dearborn, MI should be signing back on soon with 5000 watts fulltime. It has been nearly completely rebuilt with six 199 foot towers, with four above ground radials for each tower. You have to wonder whether four radials per tower will work correctly with the complicated Night pattern. The day pattern is just two towers, with shallow nulls equivalent to about 1 kW nondirectional.

Click to expand...

HMMM, not sure how to delete a post...

WDTW Nighttime

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Looks like WDTW won't be putting much of a signal into about half of the metro Detroit area at night.

These are plots showing 0.25 mV/m contours.

rfry said:

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Looks like WDTW won't be putting much of a signal into about half of the metro Detroit area at night.

These are plots showing 0.25 mV/m contours.

Click to expand...

I believe that is their CURRENT night-time pattern (before the shut-down), and it never really did have full metro area coverage. I am sure it has been discussed at length as to why they are so limited as to why the deep nulls