AM Frequency of the Week: 840

(I tried to post this yesterday, but for some reason, my post never seemed to make it. So here goes again....)

At my location northwest of Chicago....

Day: Splatter from local WAIT. 2.5KW aimed right at me from less than three miles away.

Night: All WHAS. Usually with a good signal. I have no memory of hearing anything else on the channel.

Retro: I still miss Joe Donovan's WHAS overnight show. When it came to vintage pop/rock music, he knew it all and played it all. RIP, Joe. Well done!

Daytime in Yakima, it's a weak signal from KMAX Colfax, WA (News/Talk).
At sunset, KKNX Eugene (Oldies) and KSWB Seaside, OR (also Oldies) both come in mixing with KMAX.
Nighttime, it's mainly S9+ noise from the TVs and computers and whatnot. Tight null brings in KXNT Las Vegas (News/Talk). Once in a great while, CKBX 100 Mile House BC (Country) makes it in. I haven't heard CFCW AB since they moved from 790 to 840, they used to be a pest on 790.

Wanted stations include...
The aforementioned CFCW, but wouldn't count as new due to being heard on 790
KMPH Modesto (Immaculate), even during aurora conditions it seems like they never make it through KXNT. Are they directional away from me?
WHAS Louisville (News/Talk) - been DXing 840 for years and never have heard WHAS. They should have been heard by now, but that S-9 noise doesn't help one bit. Even on nights where the noise is absent, KXNT dominates, while 780 easily reveals WBBM!

Reynoldsburg, Ohio ...
* Daytime: A weak WHAS from Louisville. Years ago when then-WOSU was running IBOC, WHAS was unlistenable in the Columbus area.
* Nighttime: All WHAS, usually solid and sometimes a powerhouse. I picked it up many nights when I lived in suburban Houston from 2007-09; came in quite well (I'd say 5 on a scale of 1-to-10) given the distance.

Here in Cincinnati at the 840 dial. In the daytime it is WHAS with a good and steady moderate signal that is listenable at all the time. Except for interference. But, In the nighttime of that dial. It is still WHAS with a highly good moderate signal.
These are one of the signals out of the market that is kinda local to My area of Cincinnati. The other out of market signals are 980 WONE from Dayton, and 630 WLAP from Lexington. That 980 WONE signal from Dayton is Pretty like the same of 840 WHAS in Strength comparison 840 is really the most good, 980 Is ok, and 630 is kinda weakly moderate for a tiny bit in other areas.

So, It is 840 WHAS all the time with a really good signal in My area.

In the near north Chicago suburbs light WAIT splatter during the day. At night all WHAS. I've never heard any other station on 840 at this location.

Warminster Pa(Philly 'burbs):

Daytime: WSBG Stroudsburg PA(Poconos; very weak).
Night: WHAS(strong).

Hya Ryan ..... ' " ' here, lol. Weak WVPO in the day, WHAS by night.

* * * * * * *

In the days of retro SE Queens DX, I once had every listed 840 station in the National Rdio Club logbook, plus two more.
It was a tossup in the day between WVPO and WRYM from Connecticut. WVPO was far more the regularer.
WHAS at night.
There came in a scheduled DX test from WTUF in Mobile AL one night in the 60's, to complete the NRC logbook, hi.
HOL - 80 Radio Libertad from Panama is a logging, date unk.
And there's the inevitable logging from simply 'Cuba'.

Nowadays, Radio-Locator lists 22 stations in the US and Canada on the frequency. For some reason I doubt I'll be able to complete the whole set.

Nothing during the daytime in Madison, WI. (I don't believe there is "splatter", but I'm a newbie and am not sure. I've Googled it, but it's confusing. All I hear is basic static)

WHAS at night, moderately strong.

KMPH in Modesto is the replacement for the wildly successful (sarcasm) KTRB-860, which moved to San Francisco in the 2000s. With its Immaculate Heart Radio (slightly different from "iHeartRadio") programming, KMPH dominates 840 here in the SF Bay Area. KXNT in Las Vegas is rather difficult to receive nights, but it's possible. In the event that both KMPH and KXNT are off at the same time, and ~100,000 CFL bulbs, mobile devices, etc. suddenly go cold, I suppose WHAS might get through. Both the Oregon stations on 840, KKNX and KSWB, have been heard here, but not regularly.

How is it that there are two stations in Oregon on 840 khz a mere 140 miles apart? I can think of a few AM channels that could potentially be available in OR without duplicating 840.

84 WHAS is the clear night resident of that frequency in most of the southeast. But in the daytime in Charleston, I get a mix of stations. Usually, it is Mims, FL (just N of Cape Canaveral) with a classic rock format. On Sundays it is all oldies. It's a kilowatt daytimer, but comes in decently well here because of the water path.

Farther inland, you get Spanish from WCEO in Columbia, probably one of the worst 50kw signals in the country. It directs away from WHAS and usually struggles more than 30-40 miles from its transmitter with the bad ground conductivity.

I've heard WHAS many places. You can hear it in Athens, OH daytime, and all the way into Nashville with a decent radio.

Daytime in S.A. there's just some splatter from local 860 KONO.

At sunset, Christian talk daytimer KWDF in Ball, LA, comes up. It also has a decent signal for a while when signing on for the day. One time at sunset I heard a very weak classic country KTIC in West Point, NE.

At night, WHAS is the most prominent, but its signal isn't consistently strong. I can sometimes hear XEXXX in Tamazula underneath, and it occasionally rises to the top. Aiming more NE/SW, I sometimes get a weak/moderate Doblevé in Cuba.

At sunrise, KJVY "Radio Aleluya" in Pharr, TX, comes in fairly strong when it goes to day power, taking out KWDF.

Very late on Monday night I logged a new one - KARS in Belen, NM. I was listening for Cuba but was hearing rock songs from AC/DC, Nirvana, Sublime, etc. The signal was pretty weak and subject to long fades, but it matched the KARS stream/playlist. It was a surprise because the station only runs 30 watts at night.

Could have been day power, Jim. Nice catch! Off topic, have you heard Albuquerque on 1510 (KOAZ)? Their smooth jazz should stick out like a sore thumb at critical hours with 4200 watts. Good lobe towards your direction.

I get nothing

South of the Minnesota River (suburban Minneapolis)

daytime-bleedover of WCCO
nightime-mainly bleedover of WCCO

Coastal Alabama, it's semi-local WBHY from Mobile, a daytimer (and the aforementioned WTUF from Steve's post). At night's WHAS or something Spanish I can't ID.

Daytime: nothing.
Nighttime: WHAS, usually pretty strong

tomservo said:

Coastal Alabama, it's semi-local WBHY from Mobile, a daytimer (and the aforementioned WTUF from Steve's post). At night's WHAS or something Spanish I can't ID.

Click to expand...

WCEO has been known to forget to power down at night recently. They are Spanish.

ThePowerCow said:

WCEO has been known to forget to power down at night recently. They are Spanish.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I'll have to listen more carefully and see if I hear it again, and if I can get an ID.

I remember when those calls were for a short-lived business talk format on 1260 AM in Birmingham.