• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

AM Frequency of the Week: 850

Status
Not open for further replies.
In west Houston, TX, days it's local KEYH "Houston Radio Platinum" with classic hits. It was previously various Spanish-language formats and went silent at the end of 2020 but came back on with the current format earlier this year. They are supposedly on at night with low power but I cannot hear them here.

At sunset while KEYH was off, I heard WXJC Birmingham AL and KFUO Clayton MO, both with religious formats. KJON Carrollton TX with Spanish religion is also usually in there. Now that KEYH is back on, I can null them and hear traces of those. When KEYH goes off/powers down KOA comes in with a good signal. At night I've also heard XECPAF in Jalpan de Serra, Qto Mexico with music. They signed on late in 2022 and can often be heard with a fair signal in KOA's null.

At sunrise, it's often all of the above until KEYH powers up.
 
The station was deleted (license turned in) many years ago, but I was curious to know if anyone here ever DXed the now non-existent KGOE Thousand Oaks, CA. They were 500 W DA-2 on 850. Last call sign used KIIS (AM)
 
TomásEstefan said:
The station was deleted (license turned in) many years ago, but I was curious to know if anyone here ever DXed the now non-existent KGOE Thousand Oaks, CA. They were 500 W DA-2 on 850. Last call sign used KIIS (AM)
Click to expand...
I don't remember ever hearing 850, T.O., at night in L.A. This 850 was a daytimer into the '80's and I don't recall exactly when nighttime service started. In L.A. I always got a weak KOA and still do.. I could say that I "DX'ed" a very, very weak Thousand Oaks 850 once, in my car while driving in Van Nuys - during the day!
 
Last edited:
BLA said:
I don't remember ever hearing 850, T.O., at night in L.A. This 850 was a daytimer into the '80's and I don't recall exactly when nighttime service started. In L.A. I always got a weak KOA and still do.. I could say that I "DX'ed" a very, very weak Thousand Oaks 850 once, in my car while driving in Van Nuys - during the day!
Click to expand...
The station was never a daytimer. It was fulltime with two patterns. Its 500 W daytime signal was beamed to the West/Southwest and covered most of southern Ventura County and was adequate on car radios West of the 405 in the SFV. The daytime signal had to protect KIEV 870 and XEMO 860. Night pattern had to protect Denver and barely reached Kanan Road to the east of T.O., there was no signal in the SFV at night.
 
cyberdad said:
Our local 850 operated under the same arrangement Since it signed as WCLR on in 1965. before then, KFUO used to boom in during that hour before sunset. Fast forward a decade, and I was working th ere. Owner Mal Bellairs was a great guy, a great storyteller, and the ultimate on-air ladies man, hence the WIVS call letters. He wasn't the greatest businessman, but his sons Rick and Jerry picked up the slack on that end. I enjoyed working with all three of them.

***
I told the story last week about when I left radio for the parallel business of print. I noted that one of my ex radio bosses for years referred to me as "leaving radio and deciding to "go straight" He meant it in the good natured humorous way, that was his true self both on and off the air.

We lost Mal about a dozen or so years ago after a long, happy, and successful life. I regretted that I was out of town when he passed and missed his funeral, I miss him to this day.

Fun fact: you can catch a glimpse of mal (and son Rick) as extras in the film "Groundhog Day", which was filmed in Woodstock, IL. 7 miles northwest of Crystal Lake where we live, and where Mal made his home. He recognized My wife, Nary Ann on the set and hung out with her during some of the downtime.

I wasn't around to defend myself!
Click to expand...
I remember Mal from his WBBM years always smooth with a nice personality.
 
Days is a very weak trace of KHHO Tacoma, Black Information Network. A little stronger at sunset. Nights, all KOA Denver with a bit of KHHO underneath.

XEZF Mexicali BCN heard once on 3/20/15. I also have KICY Nome AK in the logbook from 2018, during that fantastic period of trans-Pacific propagation in late October. It's never been emulated since. That brought me confirmed Taiwan, new Chinese and South Korean stations on a Grundig G5 and the old 3-ft. box loop (G5 is out of service, antenna since removed). I also confirmed KFQD-750 Anchorage for the first time during that time.
 
From NW San Antonio:

Day: Just heavy splatter from local 860 KONO.

Sunset: KOA comes up amidst the splatter. Aiming NE/SW and narrowing the radio's bandwidth mitigates the slop somewhat, and I can hear KFUO in Clayton, MO, mixing weakly with KOA before signing off.

Night: With KONO at night power, KOA is easier to hear and puts in a fairly solid signal. Aiming SW, I can hear a weak XECPAF "Radio Universidad" in Jalpan de Serra occasionally.

Sunrise: KOA is still there, but XECPAF is stronger at day power. Later WXJC comes up for a while at day power, followed by KFUO briefly at its sign-on.

DX/Retro: I've only heard KEYH once; it was during an afternoon several years ago when it was still "La Ranchera" and KONO was off air. My other one-time loggings on the frequency are Radio Reloj in Cuba and WFTL in Palm Beach, FL (both at night) and KJON in Carrollton, TX (sunrise). Also, XEMIA in Tlaquepaque used to be a nighttime and sunrise regular before it was retired.
 
Last edited:
From the southwest suburbs of Chicago ...

I never had the pleasure to know Mal Bellairs, but I knew he was a friendly voice on WBBM. I was amazed when he left and bought what he renamed little WIVS in Crystal Lake. Here's a long May 5, 1968 aircheck of Mal on WBBM, the last day it was "The Talk of Chicago," starting with WBBM News with Tom Clark. Sounds like it came right off master control.


As for catches on 850, it starts for me when WIVS was just that and only 500 watts. It eventually reached 2.5 kW with a pair of stints as WAIT (familiar to Chicagoans from 820) and WCPT in between. Gone since Aug. 27, 2019, just over three years ago.

Other catches: KOA Denver dominates at night. When it comes to land coverage, KOA may rule the roost. I've heard it in Los Angeles and Atlanta. Also heard here: KFUO Clayton, Mo., WJW / WKNR Cleveland, WKIX Raleigh, N.C., Radio Reloj in Cuba, WXJC Birmingham, Ala. (the latter two the evening of 1/20/2022), and tentatively, WSMZ Muskegon, Mich., with mentions of Michigan but no ID or specific mention of Muskegon.
 
The station on 850 in Hilo KHLO isn't currently broadcasting anything but the signal is still there.

If there was no signal at all, I could probably get KOA at night.


In Tampa, KOA wasn't what I'd call a nighttime regular but it was there now and then.

My Sangean PR-D5 was brand new here 14 years ago. 😌

 
gar hi said:
The station on 850 in Hilo KHLO isn't currently broadcasting anything but the signal is still there.

If there was no signal at all, I could probably get KOA at night.


In Tampa, KOA wasn't what I'd call a nighttime regular but it was there now and then.

My Sangean PR-D5 was brand new here 14 years ago.
Click to expand...
 
Interesting. When I was in Honolulu for my Junior year of high school the Hilo stations were basically relays of Honolulu stations. I forget which were for which except for KGMB (now KSSK) ,

I think you're right about KOA. It's audible more often than not in Pensacola. And up and down the west coast, the signal is normally pretty good in most locations (except for Seattle-
Tacoma, which has a local 850)
 
South Mississippi:

Day: nothing. WXJC Birmingham comes in well during the afternoon in the winter, sometimes with the HD decoding.
Night: strong signal from WXJC with 1kw mostly directed south. These rarely come in with WXJC nulled:
KOA Denver - News Talk Sports
WRUF Gainesville, FL - ESPN 98.1
WFTL West Palm Beach, FL (news/talk)
Radio Reloj
 
Central Kentucky:
Daytime: Splatter from WHAS
Nights: WKNR Cleveland most of the time, rarely KOA, but I have heard it here.
However, go 2 hours west of here, and KOA is more common. Was down in Paducah on business a few years ago, and KOA was coming in fairly well.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom