KBXD 1480: new 50 kW night time flamethrower?

Reposting this here from the DFW thread:

The last several nights I've been hearing Spanish Christian programming on 1480 in southern Colorado. Not KAVA Pueblo 35 mi ESE of me, their 107 watts of secular Spanish directs away from me. I think it's the newly resurrected (pardon the pun) KBXD.

Question is: are they using their day pattern at 50 kW? It seemed quite clear and steady. Granted they have a major lobe of their 1.9 kW night pattern pointing right up towards Colorado. Still, it seems too steady and strong at over 600 miles away to be 1.9 kW, no matter how much gain is in their NW lobe. Perhaps some of you living in the sharp nulls (Dallas* - Wichita and Dallas* - Houston) can better verify if KBXD is running at night power/pattern.

* apx. the SE side water treatment plant to be more precise

I'd contact KBXD and tell them about your reception of the station. If they are cutting back, you'll continue to hear the station. If they are not, your listening days are numbered.

Found their phone number as listed in the FCC database. Phone message said to leave an email, so I did. Still on with apparent 50 kW last night. It may take a couple of days for the message to get from what I think is the station's FCC attorney to the lessee's operation.

If you listen as late as you can during the morning critical hours and
as early as you can during the afternoon and evening critical hours,
You should hear them pop up at local sunrise, Dallas time
and pop down at local sunset, Dallas time.
Or maybe their signal will remain the same.

Indeed, that major lobe of KBXD nightime is pointed right at Colorado. This reminds me of the rather potent nighttime signal of WDXR 1560 Paducah KY in the 70s, before WPAD swapped their graveyarder in exchange for WDXR's 1560. Today, WPAD is a 10 kW day 5 kW night operation but in 1975 WDXR was just a kilowatt night, with a major lobe pointed right at Iowa. WDXR was a regular visitor in Iowa at night and was executing a solid top 40 format at the time. It was a little bit noisy, certainly not as strong as a 50 kW from Cincinnati or Louisville, but it was fairly listenable.

One Friday evening after coming back from an away HS football game, I noticed WDXR was a lot stronger than usual...it was moving the signal strength meter on my brother's new Pioneer receiver almost as far over as KAAY that night. Did the hot shot jock in Paducah happen to "forget" and leave his station on 10 kW day pattern? We'll never know of course. And it is just an interesting coincidence that the same jock ended up at the Big 8 CKLW a few months later.

Back to 1480, all I can go by is comparing apparent signal strengths. On a non-descript handheld crank-up radio, most nights KBXD seems about as loud in Colorado as KOKC on 1520. I'll try to listen at Dallas sunset tomorrow and see if I can pick up a signal dip. Or maybe there's someone in Oklahoma City or Wichita easily hearing KBXD at night when their signal should be down in the weeds.

DavidEduardo said:

Update: WDXR is now 1 kw day, 35 watts at night.

Click to expand...

It was off completely when I drove through Paducah one day this past mid-January.

The night signal here in the Chicago area was also very good here in the Chicago area back in the 70s and into the 80s. But I haven't heard them around here in years.

I forgot that 1560 in Paducah got defanged...Bristol Broadcasting owns all three AMs in Paducah (maybe it's just two if WPAD 1560 is missing in action) 1 kW Day/ 500 watt night on 570 (WKYX) is the only DA that's still worth keeping.

Back to "missing in action" here's an update on KBXD: they were definitely on 50 kW special football authority* earlier this week. While they weren't MIA on 1480 in CO last night, they were back down in the mush with several other weak signals popping through. I think the memo got to their LMA partner in big D!

....

WDXR was a nightime regular in the Chicago area in the 60s. Not real strong, but in there every night.

I think that's how KBXD is going to be here in CO at night, a weak but regular visitor. It's their daytime signal after Dallas sunrise that's the real blaster...50 kW 6 tower DA with the main lobe pointed north and northwest from Dallas. That's how I first stumbled onto KBXD a couple months ago.

Update, just after midnight this morning: KBXD likely was left in 50 kW day pattern again after just a one night absence. Just before 1 AM Mountain time near the end of a spoken word program in Spanish, an auto ID in English cut in, "KBXD Dallas" repeated twice, then the program resumed to conclusion. Signal strength for KBXD was almost equal to "La Poderosa" XERF 1570 here in Colorado, and possibly a little stronger than 1520 KOKC. It was nearly impossible to null out KBXD to hear other stations underneath.

Apparently the weekend crew didn't get the memo about shutting down their flamethrower at night.

I get WABF Mobile Alabama on that frequency here in Atlanta.

The southeast US appears to be safe from being singed with KBXD's flame-throwing ways. They have a fairly significant null to the east of Dallas during the day. Areas subject to "forest fire" at night from KBXD's unintended 50 kW on 1480 are generally from Dallas north and northwest to Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho...maybe beyond.

That is, if they forget and leave KBXD on 24 hour day pattern again tonight. Last night KBXD seemed like it was back hiding in the weeds here in Colorado, as it should. XERF on 1570 wasn't particularly robust though, and it's usually the most dominant DX signal on the band at night in CO. (250 kW ND will do that)

So it may be the end of this DX opening for KBXD during nighttime hours, although the northwest US will always get a huge earful of KBXD every morning in that first hour after Dallas sunrise.

DX ALERT!! If you live in the western US in states to the north and west of Texas and you want to log a rogue 50 kW on 1480, do it now. The Spanish Christian programming on KBXD Dallas has been louder than KRLD 1080 in Colorado over the last 30 minutes of this post.

I've been able to pick up WABF here in East Texas (Kilgore) very frequently now. Last year I was able to get KBXD at night with a weak signal when they were running a mix of oldies and country.

KBXD's night signal through Fort Worth and Dallas is very spotty (just like that pattern is.. it looks like someone at the FCC spat on a map of the metroplex and said "thats your night pattern")

billyg said:

I've been able to pick up WABF here in East Texas (Kilgore) very frequently now.

Click to expand...

WABF from Fairhope, AL? Interesting. The station, which was on 1220, lost their tower/studio site in Fairhope a while back and went to a longwire temporary antenna at the WERM (1480) site in Prichard, near Mobile. The owners eventually swapped the gospel from WERM 1480 to 1220 and moved 1220 WABF's standards format to 1480 to better reach Fairhope from the distant tower location. They never did swap call letters officially, though.

They have a new engineer who has been working to restore the 1480 signal to its maximum potency, so it's good to hear he must be making some progress. Mobile's 1480 has a good history, originally being the top 40 giant WABB before the format migrated to their FM sister. The AM fell into disrepair over the years afterwards, going through a stint with talk radio before being sold to Eternity Records out of Mississippi, who put gospel on.