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Do you know any non DXers who listen to out of market stations?

ai4i said:
WLS? Speaking of censorship,
of Janis Ian's Society's Child, Wikipedia writes,
"But some radio stations, such as Chicago's WLS, refused to play the song.
Click to expand...

The censorship on KCRS Midland was severe. Much more severe than WLS. Ohio by Crosby Stills Nash and Young comes to mind - didn't fit the Schaubauer political viewpoint. There were many additional songs censored from KCRS. A lot of kids discovered 950 from Lubbock which was not as censored. McLendon stations like KLIF were also censored but not as badly. KLIF was a really tough DX target from Midland during the day even though it was 50 kW. Even three IF stages with a tuned RF front end still had leakage from a local on 1150 that had sloppy engineering. I had to throw a null at the local 1150 with a loop just to get KLIF. Then I discovered ceramic filters, grafted in a home brew clone of the Heathkit GR-78 IF section, and alleviated much of it. But there was definitely still crosstalk from 1150 without nulling. Their old 1 kW pattern was a severe limitation at night as well. We eagerly anticipated the 5 kW nighttime upgrade, only to find it was essentially neutral over Midland, maybe marginally better. Interesting that WFAA 570 had a stint as a top-40 station, and was much easier to receive than KLIF on 1190, even coming in well on portables. And it was only two frequencies from local KCRS which was better engineered. Interestingly - what was KLIF 1190 migrated to 570. Had they done that during the top-40 era, a whole lot of us would have been happy! Midland was a breeding ground of informal DX - from KSEL Lubbock / KLIF Dallas in the daytime to KOMA and WLS at night - even KRLD when it was album rock, the kids had an interesting mix of stations on their radios to escape the censorship on KCRS. Then - KNIT FM Abilene started a REAL album rock show at night with absolutely NO censorship, playing stuff like Catscratch Fever, Yellow Snow, and other things that would make the Scharbauers and Gordon McLendon melt. That started a rash of new FM antennas around town, and people discovered that even Dallas FM was coming in. I made a small fortune putting up systems for people (adults) to get classical WRR, and kids to get KNUZ. One girl wanted a system for the easy listening station - I think it was KWXI 97.1 at the time. Others wanted the religious 105.3 or KDNT 106.1 when it was top-40. But it was a touch catch because of the high dial position, the old analog tuned FM tuners were tough to align on the high end of the dial. All of this DX because of censorship and formats not available in Midland.
 
I don't know much about 'nowadays', but as far back as 1973-1978 or so, this family I knew, headed by a widow, from Brentwood Long Island, had her sons and especially her daughters in tune with stations across the sound such as WPLR 99.1 New Haven and even as far north as WDRC 102.9 Hartford. I doubt that the Mom herself found such largesse ; the kids did, on their own.

The brood had no special equipment. The unit generally in use was your basic budget-console turntable/AM-FM receiver*. And across the Sound was a decidedly different radio market in Connecticut. Still, the adventurous family offspring found these stations. They also found an * AM * station -- WICC from Bridgeport, which played music back then. In the process of this pioneering, the young ones often eschewed local Long Islander AoR FM's WLIR. WBAB and WRCN.

* The gang of radio groupies, DJs and buddies wound up one intensely foggy morning at the Brentwood breakfast table. I recall scratching my head and thinking aloud: 'Wow -- 99.1 WNAB Bridgeport is awfully close to WPLR 99.1 New Haven'.
Well, we were enjoying WNAV 99.1 from Annapolis during that obviously tropo-inundated session of casual radio listening.

Those years of emerging FM listening in the 70's were fun times. But the young pups out on the skinny Long Island were indeed enjoying out-of-market stations.
 
During this period of time that we are discussing,
Wolfman Jack was making a name for himself across the western states from XERB,
and at the same time, "Luxy" or "Radio 208" was capturing the British youth.
 
WAPE 690 from Jacksonville had listeners well into South Carolina (along the coast).

Ha Ha! That was me! I grew up listening to the Greaseman on the big ape.
 
And don't forget X-rock 80 El Paso. It was a strong contender for top-40 in West Texas at night, and probably across a lot of the SW with its 150 kW nighttime power. I think they also carried Wolfman Jack.
 
It had been mentioned on another thread about a time when I'd asked folks at work my age, in their 50's then, what radio station(s) they listened to at night as teens or in college.

Local pop AM stations had really stingy signals in this area. The social 'region' was comprised of four or five counties. The huge-ratings WARM Scranton send nothing this way. WBAX 1340 Wilkes-Barre had problems reaching Wilkes-Barre itself at night. WPAM 1450 Pottsville might very well've been on 250 nighttime watts. Shamokin's WISL, the local-est, was seriously directional at night. Pop station WMBT 1530 Shenandoah was always daytime-only.

The response I got (from two different work places) was : WKBW
 
Steve Green NEPA said:
...I'd asked folks at work my age...what radio station(s) they listened to at night as teens or in college...
Local pop AM stations had really stingy signals in this area.
Click to expand...
When I visited relatives in Carbondale, PA in the late sixties or early seventies, I set a button on 770 WABeatleC.
 
Steve Green NEPA said:
It had been mentioned on another thread about a time when I'd asked folks at work my age, in their 50's then, what radio station(s) they listened to at night as teens or in college.
Click to expand...

Even though I lived in the Chicago area well within range of WLS & other pop stations, Around 1962 I found that by nulling WBBM I also could listen to WABC.
 
radioman148 said:
Even though I lived in the Chicago area well within range of WLS & other pop stations, Around 1962 I found that by nulling WBBM I also could listen to WABC.
Click to expand...

That was hard to do in the NW suburbs, where WBBM transmits from, but very easy if you lived far enough north or south from there. When I lived in Wauconda in the mid '80s, the main NY stations (then-WNBC, WABC, WCBS, and occasionally WQXR) came in very well at night.
 
KeithE4 said:
That was hard to do in the NW suburbs, where WBBM transmits from, but very easy if you lived far enough north or south from there. When I lived in Wauconda in the mid '80s, the main NY stations (then-WNBC, WABC, WCBS, and occasionally WQXR) came in very well at night.
Click to expand...

WABC had a small, but loyal following in Houston. Who knows what kid first found it, but by the time I visited Houston it had been spreading from high school to high school. It was a bit more challenging than WLS, because you had to null what was then KOB Albuquerque.
 
KeithE4 said:
That was hard to do in the NW suburbs, where WBBM transmits from, but very easy if you lived far enough north or south from there. When I lived in Wauconda in the mid '80s, the main NY stations (then-WNBC, WABC, WCBS, and occasionally WQXR) came in very well at night.
Click to expand...

WOR used to come in well also, but it's much weaker now at my location.
 
radioman148 said:
WOR used to come in well also, but it's much weaker now at my location.
Click to expand...

Hmmm.... I don't remember WOR being a regular at all. There was a station on 710 that was weak but regular, but definitely not from New York. I can't remember what it was, though. Maybe WHB Kansas City.
 
radioman148 said:
I wonder why that is? Did they change their pattern or make some other change?
Click to expand...

They moved the WOR TL slightly and changed the pattern. The null to protect 710 in St. Cartherines, Ontario, or possibly the 710 in Duluth/Superior and other 710 stations had to be deeper. The old array also probably had some reradiation issues that probably filled the null and made it hard to maintain. It probably exceeded augmented values. It's still a similar dogleg, but I forget what other details are avaliable online about the change.

I seem to remember that WOR used to be quite reliable also. Of course, CHYR was licensed to 710 at Night in later years, and CHYR and I think St. Cartherines are gone, but the allotments remain in the Region II database and have to be protected. The ratchet clause may have applied to US stations.

Well, here's the reason. Since it was involuntary, they may not have been subject to the ratchet clause.

https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS...?appn=100590833&qnum=5150&copynum=1&exhcnum=2

The whole application is available online.

Night Study. Hopefully in before the editing time cuts off.

https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS...?appn=100590833&qnum=5170&copynum=1&exhcnum=2
 
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Why is WOR still listed as having two IDENTICAL patterns?
 
ai4i said:
Why is WOR still listed as having two IDENTICAL patterns?
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Only the really old licenses that have identical Day and Night facilities are shown with only one record. I think it has to do with the databases and programs used to utilize the records for different allotment and protection requirements.
 
WWL New Orleans is another station worth mentioning in this thread. Especially during the era of the "Road Gang," which geared to truck drivers overnight
 
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