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AM Frequency of the week: 780

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gr8oldies said:
One-time reception of YVOD, Ecos del Torbes, San Cristobal, Venezuela under WBBM. I was a regular listener to Ecos del Torbes on 4980 in the Tropical Bands, and I caught the "Lo Que Esta Noche Recuerda" instrumental bed on 780. Ecos del Torbes is off the air on all frequencies, and last I knew even the webstream was down. An Automated version of "Lo Que Esta Noche Recuerda ran on the webstream until the end.
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I've never heard Venezuela on AM here at my home location northwest of Chicago. At least not that I could ID. I did, however enjoy listening to the now-defunct YVLL "Radio Rumbos" on 31 meter shortwave. Problem around here for their AM was they were operating on 670. Same as local Behemoth WMAQ/WSCR. I did, however try for them a number of times when WMAQ was off. I thought they'd be easy enough to ID given their tropical music format and the unique sounder they used between stories on newscasts. But alas, no luck. By the time WMAQ flipped to WSCR, the local 670 was staying on all night seven days a week. Also by that time, the Cubans had a R. Rebelde flamethrower of their own operating on 670, so I never had any luck with R. at our beach location on the Gulf either.
 
Mark Roberts said:
Bonus: I'm back in Denver (almost in Aurora) tonight - WBBM is there though it's not as strong as I remember it in Kansas or Missouri. It fades in and out.
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A lot like KOA is for me here in the Chicago area. Sometimes during the fades, WKNR from Cleveland comes through.
 
cyberdad said:
A lot like KOA is for me here in the Chicago area. Sometimes during the fades, WKNR from Cleveland comes through.
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This got me thinking: what about the other two of the Chicago "big three" - WSCR (formerly WMAQ) and WLS?

Unfortunately, this is what I found after trotting out again to the parking lot and getting well clear of the hotel:

670 WSCR - no dice; there's a local on that channel (KLTT). Crawford strikes again.
890 WLS - I didn't count on something I should have counted on: 880 KRVN slams in here at night, so strong that you've got to narrow the bandwidth considerably to get anything on an adjacent channel. So I *think* I heard WLS but I couldn't get a readable enough signal to verify anything. Even choking down the bandwidth to 1 kHz (on a Tecsun PL-380) didn't yield a readable signal, plus I can't really understand much of anything on an AM signal with such a narrow bandwidth. 2.5 kHz is about the narrowest that I can deal with.

WBBM tonight was a little better than last night but still fading at times.
 
cyberdad said:
I've never heard Venezuela on AM here at my home location northwest of Chicago. At least not that I could ID. I did, however enjoy listening to the now-defunct YVLL "Radio Rumbos" on 31 meter shortwave.
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Interesting, as when I lived in Cleveland, Venezuela was a very commonly heard nation. One evening when stations were reporting national elections we had a slightly auroral condition and even my local 50 kw station on 1100 could be nulled and and YV from the interior was logged. From memory, I count over 25 YVs logged in Cleveland in the earliest 60's.

And because Venezuela was so wealthy at the time, they all answered DX reports and usually sent pennants and other cool souvenirs.
 
all KNOM 95 plus percent of the time, though KKOH Reno sneaks in once in a blue moon
 
Mark Roberts said:
This got me thinking: what about the other two of the Chicago "big three" - WSCR (formerly WMAQ) and WLS?

Unfortunately, this is what I found after trotting out again to the parking lot and getting well clear of the hotel:

670 WSCR - no dice; there's a local on that channel (KLTT). Crawford strikes again.
890 WLS - I didn't count on something I should have counted on: 880 KRVN slams in here at night, so strong that you've got to narrow the bandwidth considerably to get anything on an adjacent channel. So I *think* I heard WLS but I couldn't get a readable enough signal to verify anything. Even choking down the bandwidth to 1 kHz (on a Tecsun PL-380) didn't yield a readable signal, plus I can't really understand much of anything on an AM signal with such a narrow bandwidth. 2.5 kHz is about the narrowest that I can deal with.

WBBM tonight was a little better than last night but still fading at times.
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Both WSCR and WLS are susceptible to moderate to heavy interference from Cuba here in central Ohio, depending on the night. It is extremely frustrating. I have wished more than once for those stations to simply disappear or at least direct their signals away from our country!
WBBM's occasional weakness here, I can't explain. It might be the time of the night that I try. Later at night, it does seem stronger. It does not take the co-channel interference 670 and 890 have to contend with.
 
In west Houston, TX, daytimes are just slop from local KBME 790. At sunset, WBBM starts to come in, with XESFT sometimes underneath. WBBM is usually dominant all night. I've occasionally heard daytimer WIIN on late after sunset with r&b music. Back in 2016 I logged XEWGR in Monclova Coah. before they went silent.
 
From the southwest suburbs of Chicago ...

Surprise! It's WBBM NewsRadio 780, direct from Bloomingdale on the diplexed WMAQ/WSCR tower on Army Trail Road, 35 kW days and 42 kW nights since July 2018. The coverage map shows virtually identical coverage from their 24/7 50 kW Itasca tower, but your reports seem to differ from that. I was down in Indianapolis over the weekend and WBBM seemed little different from WSCR or WGN. WLS, some 30 miles south, seemed a bit stronger, but I'd like to look at things with a Vu meter, not just my ears in the car.

Never have heard anything but WBBM, be it from Itasca or Bloomingdale.
 
wildthangjim said:
In west Houston, TX, daytimes are just slop from local KBME 790. At sunset, WBBM starts to come in, with XESFT sometimes underneath. WBBM is usually dominant all night. I've occasionally heard daytimer WIIN on late after sunset with r&b music. Back in 2016 I logged XEWGR in Monclova Coah. before they went silent.
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Jim, does KBME broadcast in HD? Radio Locator and mwlist.org state that they do, and when I aim my radios E/W on 780 at night, I sometimes hear what sounds like IBOC hash.
 
jim-satx said:
Jim, does KBME broadcast in HD? Radio Locator and mwlist.org state that they do, and when I aim my radios E/W on 780 at night, I sometimes hear what sounds like IBOC hash.
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They don't seem to be using HD at the moment, but I believe they have in the past.
 
DavidEduardo said:
From memory, I count over 25 YVs logged in Cleveland in the earliest 60's.
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That's amazing.

For some reason, for about as long as I can remember, there always seem to miss hearing stations and locations that multiple DXers (usually nearby) hear from time to time. Not that I've never bagged a few now and then that other guys have whiffed on. Anyway, Venezuela has been particularly frustrating for me....especially given that I've also missed it in numerous visits to Pensacola and vicinity. In all probability I've heard Venezuela more than a few times. But until I can positively ID something, I still consider myself officially "skunked".
 
15 miles south of Orlando

Daytime - nothing

Nights - In summertime, usually one of the Cuban stations with WBBM underneath. Winter - Usually WBBM.
 
From NW San Antonio:

Day: Blank

Sunset: XESFT "La Poderosa" in San Fernando comes up.

Night: WBBM is heard most often, but it's not as strong/steady as it used to be when it was 50 kW. XESFT sometimes mixes in and will occasionally take over. At times, both of them fade. Back when WBBM was broadcasting in HD at 50 kW, it would sometimes trigger the HD indicator on my Sangean HDR-16 (although I never saw it fully decode).

Sunrise: I usually hear KSPI "Pete 94.3" in Stillwater, OK, and WJAG in Norfolk, NE, both fairly weak, in and out for a while when they sign on for the day. After they fade, a weak XETMEP "Acustik Radio" often comes up when it goes to day power.

DX: I've heard XEGLO in Guelatao de Juaréz once at sign-on, and I heard KJME in Fountain, CO, once at night back when it was KCEG "The Ranch." My two-time-only loggings include KAZM (sports) in Sedona, AZ (night) and WIIN in Ridgeland, MS, (once at sunrise and once at night when it was on day power). Also, I heard XEWGR in Monclova every now and then before it was retired. In addition, I've heard Radio Viva in Pasto, Colombia - my furthest AM catch at 2,395 miles - twice, back in 2019 and 2021.

Retro: During my childhood days in the mid-70s when I was a casual DXer for a few years, I used to listen to the CBS Radio Mystery Theater at night on my G.E. 10-band (7-2971) portable when falling asleep. It was plugged in to the wall, and I don't recall hearing RFI or WBBM fading much. I loved that radio. It had the AM, FM, SW, CB, Air, Weather, Police, and UHF bands.
 
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Special tonight from Winnemucca, NV - a mix of KKOH Reno and WBBM Chicago. KKOH is slightly more audible and listenable than WBBM. This was a surprise in north-central Nevada.
 
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