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1963 Station signoffs (audio link)

R

radioman148

I started DXing in 1961 back in the gold old days of 1A clear channel stations.
In 1963 I happen to record these five stations signing off on a Monday morning. In those days it was pretty routine for the big 50KW stations to do transmitter maintenance on Monday mornings. Those hours were a great opportunity for DXers like me to try to snag some rare stations that could not normally be heard.

The five stations on these recordings which I've posted are KDKA Pittsburgh, WBZ Boston, WABC New York,
WNBC New York and WLS Chicago. All recordings were made from the Chicago area on the AM tuner of a Zenith Trans Oceanic with the wavemagnet antenna in the radio.

To hear these recordings go to: http://www.geocities.com/cme30086/stations.html
 
Thanks for sharing those audio clips with us - kilocycles, eh? - now for sure I gotta get that drive belt and fix my 7" reel-to-reel machine. I have a number of DX recordings somewhere...(but it won't be earlier than late 60's - that's when I got the machine)
 
stormy01 said:
Thanks for sharing those audio clips with us - kilocycles, eh? - now for sure I gotta get that drive belt and fix my 7" reel-to-reel machine. I have a number of DX recordings somewhere...(but it won't be earlier than late 60's - that's when I got the machine)
Click to expand...

I thought fellow DXers would enjoy them. Eventually I'll see if I can dig out a few more.
 
Such formal sounding announcements for having played "teenager" music all day long, at least WLS, WABC and WBZ anyway.
 
Icangelp said:
Such formal sounding announcements for having played "teenager" music all day long, at least WLS, WABC and WBZ anyway.
Click to expand...

I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but on Sunday nights those stations used to broadcast public service or religion. It was very difficult in the early 60s to hear rock & roll on Sunday nights.
 
Thanks for the the sign off links. Brings back some memories. I remember that in most locations most of the stations signed off Sunday night/Monday morning. You were pretty much screwed if you wanted to listen to the radio after midnight on Sunday/Monday. I agree with Icangelp it was hard to find Top 40 music on a Sunday evening in most cases.
 
swfl said:
Thanks for the the sign off links. Brings back some memories. I remember that in most locations most of the stations signed off Sunday night/Monday morning. You were pretty much screwed if you wanted to listen to the radio after midnight on Sunday/Monday. I agree with Icangelp it was hard to find Top 40 music on a Sunday evening in most cases.
Click to expand...

WGN in Chicago did it differently. They signed off on Tuesday mornings. I remember quite a few times listening after their signoff and hearing WOR like a local in the Chicago area.
 
Great recordings :eek:

Myself & a number of other radio buffs recorded as many sign offs as we could back in the late 80s before everything went 24hrs. Glad we did 8)

dxer2_2000 (Australia)
 
dxer2_2000 said:
Great recordings :eek:

Myself & a number of other radio buffs recorded as many sign offs as we could back in the late 80s before everything went 24hrs. Glad we did 8)

dxer2_2000 (Australia)
Click to expand...

We just don't hear stuff like that anymore. Who ever heard of kilocycles anyway? :D
 
swfl said:
Thanks for the the sign off links. Brings back some memories. I remember that in most locations most of the stations signed off Sunday night/Monday morning. You were pretty much screwed if you wanted to listen to the radio after midnight on Sunday/Monday. I agree with Icangelp it was hard to find Top 40 music on a Sunday evening in most cases.
Click to expand...

But it was a DXer's dream. You could pick up channels over 2500 miles away when every clear channel is off.

-crainbebo
 
crainbebo said:
swfl said:
Thanks for the the sign off links. Brings back some memories. I remember that in most locations most of the stations signed off Sunday night/Monday morning. You were pretty much screwed if you wanted to listen to the radio after midnight on Sunday/Monday. I agree with Icangelp it was hard to find Top 40 music on a Sunday evening in most cases.
Click to expand...

But it was a DXer's dream. You could pick up channels over 2500 miles away when every clear channel is off.

-crainbebo
Click to expand...

DXing in those days was fabulous, but on Sunday nights/Monday mornings it was even better. You could almost choose the station and location you wanted to hear.
 
Can you post some of your Sunday Night/Monday Morning loggings? It WAS a DXers dream. Everything from the western USA, Mexico, Cuba, Carribean, South America, Brazil, amazing.

-crainbebo
 
crainbebo said:
Can you post some of your Sunday Night/Monday Morning loggings? It WAS a DXers dream. Everything from the western USA, Mexico, Cuba, Carribean, South America, Brazil, amazing.

-crainbebo
Click to expand...

Well living in the Chicago area I started Dxing in 1961. I regularly picked up all the usuals like the NYC clears, WBZ, WWL, KAAY, and KOA. My first catch over 1,000 miles was WOIA San Antonio.
Then one night in the fall of 1962 I heard KSL and KFI on the same Saturday night. At the time I thought that was AM DX utopia.
Later on after discovering the Monday morning openings I heard KNBR for the first time when local 670 then WMAQ in Chicago signed off. When WLS was off I heard 900 in Mexico City, 730 in Mexico City came in when WGN was off.
I did hear the carribbean & South America a few times.
However, my favorite Sunday night/Monday morning DX memory came when I was traveling on the west coast in August 1963.
I was in Seattle near where you are, I believe, and I heard WABC, WNBC & WCBS from NYC. Also All the Chicago clears, WMAQ, WGN, WBBM, & WLS--plus WBZ in Boston. The amazing thing was the reception of those stations all the way across the continent was crystal clear. I had heard some of those stations elsewhere on the west coast but not anywhere near as well as I heard them all in Seattle that Sunday night/Monday morning and this was in the summer!
 
WOW!!!
WOW!!!
WOW!!!

-crainbebo
 
I Think the last station to date that was still signing off on Sunday Night/Monday Mornings as late as the late 90's was the former WLUP now WMVP in chicago. but then they even went 24/7/365.
 
MikeStandardsFromIndiana said:
I Think the last station to date that was still signing off on Sunday Night/Monday Mornings as late as the late 90's was the former WLUP now WMVP in chicago. but then they even went 24/7/365.
Click to expand...

I remember when WCFL/WMVP did it, but I could still never get KOMO. Are there any stations still doing morning maintenance on a weekly basis?
 
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