AM Frequency of the week: 1160

I posted this yesterday, but it looks like what I posted is gone.

From Phoenix, Arizona:

Daytime: Nothing

Nighttime: KSL loud and clear after an unknown Mexican station on 1160 powers down from their “daytime” power around 8:00 P.M. Here in Phoenix, even though some of the LA clears are closer in distance, KSL is probably the strongest out-of-state AM station with less fade out and sky wave interference. Consistently at night, I get an HD lock for KSL driving around Phoenix. While I’m not a big fan of AM HD as a whole due to IBOC hash, listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir every Sunday night on KSL with AM HD sounds really good.

In my travels, KSL is probably the strongest and clearest of the West coast AM clear channel stations. I can consistently pick it up driving from San Diego, California all the way up Interstate 5 into Vancouver, BC. Even traveling up from Phoenix to Edmonton, Alberta last year, I was able to pick-up KSL all the way up to Edmonton.

Honestly, if it weren’t for WYLL in Chicago, I think KSL would come in pretty good in the western part of the Midwest (including Chicago). But, the days of clear channel frequencies actually being “clear” are long gone.

asugeorge1 said:

I posted this yesterday, but it looks like what I posted is gone.


Honestly, if it weren’t for WYLL in Chicago, I think KSL would come in pretty good in the western part of the Midwest (including Chicago). But, the days of clear channel frequencies actually being “clear” are long gone.

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Many years ago when 1160 in Chicago was WJJD and signed off at Salt Lake City sunset, KSL used to get into Chicago pretty well most nights.

radioman148 said:

Many years ago when 1160 in Chicago was WJJD and signed off at Salt Lake City sunset, KSL used to get into Chicago pretty well most nights.

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And vice versa here in Phoenix with the Chicago clears. I am not old enough to remember this, but my dad remembers when the Chicago clears used to come in nightly very well into Arizona. As a native of Chicago, he said when he came out to Arizona in the 1960’s and 1970’s, he could clearly listen to WGN, WBBM, WMAQ and WLS at night. This makes sense since the 50,000 watt class B station out of Las Vegas, Nevada, KDWN, didn’t sign-on until 1975. Even now in Phoenix, if you null out KDWN from Las Vegas, WGN can be heard through the slop and, even in a car radio, can sometimes overpower KDWN.

Same can be said with KKOH in Reno, Nevada not signing on until 1971 and interfering with WBBM out of Chicago and KDXU, 890 AM in St. George, Utah not moving to 890 AM until 1985 and interfering with WLS. Out of all of them, the toughest catch right now in Phoenix is WLS thanks not only to KDXU, but also due to WLS not necessarily being the strongest of Chicago’s clear channels. 670 WSCR is also very difficult to capture here in Arizona. Don’t know why, but it has been the case for awhile. WGN is the “easiest” of the Chicago clears to pick-up here in Phoenix, their signal, for whatever reason, can rise up through the slop and stick around for a few minutes before disappearing again.

Must have been nice listening to AM radio back in the day when clear channel frequencies were actually “clear!”

Yes it's all true. Back in the early 60s I heard all 4 Chicago clears regularly on trips to the west coast. Not only that I heard WLS & WBBM in Hawaii in 1978.
Back in those days WLS actually had the best skywave signal of the four, but today that has changed. A lot of building around their transmitter site could be at least part of the reason.
On the Northern Ireland Receiver online WBBM and WLS can still be heard. Some nights WBBM's signal into Northern Ireland is pretty good.

The clear channel days were great for MWDX especially during winter.

"Odds and ends...."

I had an earlier post that also disappeared. I was talking about how the Chicago 1160 and 104.3 FM were connected for many years under the ownership of Plough Incorporated. (WJJD-AM). The FM calls, IIRC, included WSEL, WJJD-FM, and WJEZ. The latter was sort of a 'WJJD-lite". Soft, easy listening country. I thoiught it was a pretty nice listen, actually.

As for the Chicago 50KW blowtorches on the west coast. I agree that "back in the day" WLS had the best signal. WMAQ was the most difficult, but still do-able. Of cours, this all changed when the respective channels became home to other stations, begiing basically in the 1970s.

WLS remained listenable on the west coast into the 80s as KDXU signed off late at night.

Daytime here is local WCFO usually running low modulation. They carry Michael Savage and Laura Ingram. I have given up on complaining to them about their low modulation problem. They don't seem to care or have no desire to fix or replace their processor.
After local sunset its WCRT out of Tennessee. Then after their local sunset, its a cacophony of unidentifiable stations.

@ Cyberdad and Radioman 148:

It's so true about the AM dial being far more crowded (especially at night now). When local WMIM Mt Carmel, a former daytimer, got their stingy 30 watt crumb to stay on at night, they'd be pretty much atop the frequency here. Except when WAKR Akron decided to play hopscotch and override them.

A huge obstacle to daytime DX here and elsewhere is the gosh-darned noise factor (pardon my language).
My buddy and his wife stayed for a week or so at some getaway rental on Cape Cod several months back. Naturally, Vinny brought along his decades-old Radio Shack portable. And naturally, they were greeted a day or so after arrival by a power outage. I guess some vacation spots do that to tourists just to let outsiders know who's in charge of society.
They didn't count on someone like Vinny visiting.
Oh no.
Almost instinctively, he lunged for the battery DX radio.
Vinny relates that the AM dial sounded like that of the 60's -- crystal clear. He told me that he was able to get (and null) WGAN 560 from Portland ME. In the null was WHYN Springfield MA. Stuff like that.

Now -- I've got here, in Fustville PA, perhaps the three best AM DX radios in the town's history. But the devil if I can get any worthwhile distant AM listening done in the day or at night. Way too much noise.
And as you folks suggested, way too many stations.

@ Steve.... IME there's no escaping what you're talking about. Even when I travel, places that used to be great spots for DX are now challenging. And along the lines of your story, it's gotten to the point where during power outages, I immediately go to one of my battery-operated portables, because no power in the local grid makes for superior DX. At least by today's standards.

Here in Los Angeles, daytime on 1160 is nothing but splatter from KEIB on 1150, while nighttime brings in Salt Lake City’s KSL with a little of the aforementioned splatter, but still listenable.

I'm probably one of the older kids here. So does anyone else remember when KSL would give the time, late at night on the East Coast? We thought they were saying 'at the sound of the Novel Bell ....' and then there'd be this noise, like some rusted, resonant oil tank being struck with a shovel.

Turns out that they were saying 'The Noveau Bell (sp?) . Some old Indian aegis. I can't locate it on wiki.

I'm probably one of the older kids here. So does anyone else remember when KSL would give the time, late at night on the East Coast? We thought they were saying 'at the sound of the Novel Bell ....' and then there'd be this noise, like some rusted, resonant oil tank being struck with a shovel.

Turns out that they were saying 'The Noveau Bell (sp?) . Some old Indian aegis. I can't locate it on wiki.

I never officially heard KSL in New Jersey with an ID but once back in the 70's, I heard KOA.

They were broadcasting a Denver Nuggets game when the signal temporarily dominated the station from Johnstown, Pa.

Living in the Chicago area I remember hearing KSL right after local WJJD would signoff. This goes back to the late 50s for me. However, I don't remember what you are referring to Steve.

Daytime::Nothing

Nighttime::: KSL Salt Lake Utah...

Orange County, TX: Days - slop from KBPO-1150, nights - mix of KVCE & KSL each taking turns of being on top.

I get a medley between WOBM in Lakewood and some other stations.Most notably WTAM in Cleveland.

Baldwin Co., Alabama:

Day: Nothing
Evening: WCFO Atlanta
Night: I've never logged anything specific. On at least two occasions I've heard what sounded like Christian programming in Spanish, which made me wonder about KRDY San Antonio but I've never gotten an ID.