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AM Frequency of the Week: 1520

cyberdad

cyberdad

Moderator
Staff member
Crystal Lake, IL....

Days: Weak WLUV 500-watts from Loves Park, IL (Rockford). 35 miles east of me. Formerly Country, then Oldies. Now Religion

Nights: KOKC usually on top with fair-weak signal. KRHW ( Sikeston, MO) sometimes breaks in. I've also heard WWKB a handful of times.

Retro/Other Location: As KOMA, The Oklahoma City 1520 was a nighttime top-40 go-to for me at my college location in southeast Iowa. The signal was usually quite good, but prone to some fading. I'd sometimes hear WKBW underneath. The battle of two legendary top-40 powerhouses!
 
Usual location in Denver, CO - Spillover from 1510 KPLS, day and night. I described KPLS in last week's FOTW. Even with spillover at night, KOKC (Oklahoma City) manages to make it in, though it's not particularly strong. In part, that may be due to having such a strong local signal being adjacent.

This week's location - Des Moines, IA* - Daytime: I haven't tried; KSIB Creston, IA would be the nearest station but I'm doubtful of getting it. Nighttime: KOKC, with a much stronger signal than in Denver.

Retro - KOKC's predecessor KOMA, a Storz station, reminding me a lot of WHB. The signal faded quite a bit and, in Kansas City, there was extremely noticeable groundwave-skywave cancellation, resulting in a rotating-speaker effect that rendered the station unlistenable there.

* Note for @cyberdad - I'm not anywhere near Mt. Pleasant this time as this was strictly a Des Moines trip; I'll be planning a future trip to Burlington for genealogical research, which would put me somewhat closer to MP.
 
Boise Idaho
Nights: KXXA Snohomish, WA and KOKC OKC is back! About equal now.
KVEN Port Hueneme CA there also (shouldn't be).
KGDD Oregon City has been a no-show since they moved from their 50/15 kw DA site.
 
near north Chicago suburbs days not much of anything, nights KOKC with usually a decent signal. Back during the top 40 days I’d try for WKBW but it was not strong here most of the time.
 
East Tennessee: Daytime: NADA. there are no 1520s even close.
Sunset: Sometimes KOKC. Nights will sometimes bring KHRW, Sikeston MO.
Retro/other: On the Edinburgh IN SDR, there is a local that was off the air for sometime. In it's place was WHOW, Clinton, IL. Much was written about this station when apparently it was a pit, but new owners brought it to life as an ag-focused station. Also caught it once from an SDR near Cadillac, MI.
West Central Ohio: I cought get WBNO, later WQCT, Bryan, Ohio. Northern Ohio had 4 tightly-packed daytimers on 1520, (2, WINW in Canton and WKNT in Kent, something like 30 miles from each other), as well as one in Toledo. I never heard the other 3. Sunset could bring a strong KOMA until their sunset, but I never caught WKBW.
 
The daytime 1520 was a washout when I moved here. 1530's WMBT Shenandoah had their stick around four miles North of us, and neither she nor I wished to null out their Oldies. Not only was midday guy Frank Jordan just the most present of the Jordan Brothers group, but they were actually brothers. Look 'em up if you wish, at The Jordan Brothers - Wikipedia
One sunset here brought back-to-back, legitimately lucid and taped signoffs in '03 by WTHE on Long Island, and WCHE Chester PA.
A curious SSS in '11 had no sign at all of Buffalo, while a WARR from North Carolina was on top for great local religious copy and a reception report. Since it's been thirteen years I've been waiting, the thought is that they figure if they don't QSL that jerk in PA, he might forget about us having been on day power instead of critical hours power.
Goes without saying that at night it's WWKBW closing the issue for good. Often, 'KB can be the loudest signal on the dial with the sun still out on winter.
*****
Neat retro story from back in Queens. My buddy four blocks west of me and I (who spoke later on the train to school) were glued at the same Monday Morning to that end of the dial at the same time without knowing it. I had found 'KB off the air, and was hearing some faint pop-music station called (?) 'Kim'. And they gave the time. Three time zones off ? Huh ? And then an Oregon mention during a weather report. The log book had a KYMN listed. Good enough for me.
Meanwhile, my buddy was on 1510, hearing and taping a station that puzzled him by saying 'The ABC' instead of just ABC. He wound up getting a log -- and a QSL -- from station 2NA, New Castle, Australia! Later research was required to determine from which direction on the Earth the signal was arriving.
One frequency away from each other we were. KOMA Oklahoma City must've been off that night as well as WKBW. I don't think my pal ever logged Oregon, And for some reason I never heard an AM station from Australia.
 
Mark Roberts said:
Retro - KOKC's predecessor KOMA, a Storz station, reminding me a lot of WHB.
Click to expand...
KOMA and WHB were co-owned by Storz. All of the Storz stations had similar top 40 formats....and sounded great.

Burlington? 27 miles southeast of where I was. I spent quite of time there. Be sure to stop in to my old hangout, the Sombrero (aka "The Som). Bar & Grill with great Iowa pork tenderloin sandwiches \...and other really good stuff. Was just there last August. PM me for more info.
 
Clifton, New Jersey

Days: I can occasionally receive WCHE "WCHE 95.3 FM/1520 AM" West Chester, PA during critical hours. WCHE is a daytimer that airs local news, talk, and music programming.

Nights: I receive WWKB "The Bet 1520" Buffalo, NY, which airs Sports Betting programming from the BetQL Newtork. I usually get good reception of this station.

Retro: For many years, 1520 was the home of WTHE Mineola, NY. On May 27, 2021, the call letters were changed to WJDM. In June 2023, it moved to 1530 while remaining a daytime-only station.
 
Here in Kansas, sometimes KOKC comes in at night but during the day, nothing.
@Mark Roberts Check out Napoli's pizza when you're in Burlington, and Snake Alley (Burlington's version of Lombard Street, and the turns on it are sharper.)
 
From suburban Aberfoyle ON:
Back again with my brand new RSPdx. During the day there is a weak scratchy WWKB Buffalo NY which becomes the dominant station at night wiping any other.
 
Wilmington Delaware

Days - Weak signal from day timer WCHE West Chester PA. It has a directional SW-NE pattern limiting it's signal strength to the SE.

Nights - Good signal from WWKB Buffalo NY but weaker than I remember in the past.

Retro - This frequency got me interested in DX-ing at a young age. I grew up in West Chester PA 2 miles from WCHE's transmitter and when I listened to it one winter afternoon back in the 60's it signed off at 4:45pm and WKBW came in immediately. I was fascinated by this other station and started spinning the AM dial making notes of every station I heard.
 
From west Houston, TX

Daytime is local daytimer KYND with Esne Radio Spanish religion
Sunset, after KYND goes off, KOKC comes up with a fair to good signal. I also sometimes hear KRHW Sikeston MO and have heard KFXZ once or twice.
Nights it's KOKC. Their signal seemed stronger before they went to the ND STA, and now that they're back, still don't seem as strong.
Sunrise, KOKC until KYND signs on.

In Tulsa in the early '70's, KOMA came in reasonably well in the daytime, but at night, I was in their null and that, with the GW cancellation, killed their signal for me. When I would visit my cousins in West Texas, they all had KOMA as a preset and it boomed in every night.
 
radiofan2023 said:
Snake Alley (Burlington's version of Lombard Street, and the turns on it are sharper.)
Click to expand...
Absolutely! I've driven down both. (And once ran down Snake Alley). The two are unique and VERY similar. I actually lived in Burlington for a few months in 1972, and still have friends there. (Apologies for the veer).
. Distance
Back OT (sort of), I've also snagged Burlington's KBUR here a couple of times at my home location. 780 watts on 1490. Distance about 200 miles.
 
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Going off topic for only a moment - @cyberdad @radiofan2023 thanks - especially for the pork tenderloin suggestion! I had a good one today at the Drake Diner in Des Moines, by the way. Planning for a trip to SE Iowa is in the very early planning stages, as I'm hobbling around at the moment due to a bone spur in one foot, which makes for challenging travel at times. I'll follow up in DMs.
 
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: heard weak WLUV (Loves Park, IL) on few occasions in the past, but these days it's usually splash from the nearby WCKG on 1530 kHz.
Nighttime: KOKC or WWKB

DX/RETRO: Some catches in the past include KWHW (Sikeston, MO), KOLM (Rochester, MN), WHOW (Clinton, IL), WCHE (West Chester, PA), WHIC (Hardinsburg, KY), WSVX (Shelbyville, IN), WIDD (Elizabethton, TN). My most recent catches on this frequency are WMLM (St. Louis, MI) and WKVI (Knox, IN). Foreign catches include Radio Minuto, Barranquilla, Colombia and the clandestine station Radio Liberacion which was rumored to be from El Salvador.

For years a het was present on 1521 kHz, presumably from Saudi Arabia here in the Chicago area, but was never able to pull audio to get an ID. Back in 2005 while visiting Boston I was able to listen to a good signal from Saudi Arabia on the rental car radio even though the radio was tuned to 1520 kHz.
 
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