AM Frequency of the week: 1440

Far Northwest Suburbs of Chicago.....

Days: WROK from Rockford, IL. Fair. 5kw aimed mostly west, but I'm about 35 miles east in what could best be described as a secondary lobe.

Night: WROK drops to 270 watts ND. Not to be confused with their longtime run with 500 watts ND. Same result either way. It disappears into the mess. I can't think of any station that rises to the top on a frequent basis.

Other Location: Wasn't R. Luxembourg on 1440 during it's days as a pop music icon? When I was going to London and other points in Europe on a regular basis, I kept trying for it, but I'm not sure if I ever heard it. Actually, the channel was usually fairly empty at night. The one thing I did hear from time to time was what sounded like religion on a fairly weak signal that I couldn't immediately identify.

Yet another Location: 5kw WGEM in Quincy, IL. My go-to for daytime Chicago Cubs baseball on business trips between St. Louis and Kansas City along I-70 and between St. Louis and Joplin on I-44. In each case, WGEM was available once you got out from splatter from the St. Louis 1430, which didn't take all that long. On I-70 the signal was good for about 90 minutes to Columbia. On I-44, WGEM shouldn't have been there at all. But there it was. Reliable. And usually for about an hour.

Warminster PA(Philly 'burbs):

Local news/talk WNPV, Lansdale PA, both day and nght.

From the near north Chicago suburbs, I hear nothing but splatter from WEEF day & mostly night.
Many years ago when WEEF's towers were in a different location I could hear a very weak WROK during the day.

Regarding Radio Luxembourg, it had a very strong signal into London & most of the UK at night when I was there in the late 70s. it was a very good station to listen to when I was there--even better than Capital Radio. I tried a lot to DX it from here, but I was never able to hear it.

WPGW was my grandpa's go-to for Cubs baseball in the 1980s (maybe into the 90s). It could be heard decently well daytime in St. Marys but was nowhere to be found at night. Eventually WPGW switched to the Reds, an affiliation that still exists today, and my grandfather had to rely on WGN to hear his beloved team.

>>Radioman mentioned Capital Radio. As Capital Gold on 1548, I used to hear them all the time in Germany including daytime skywave. But only barely in the Cotswolds (90 miles northwest of London), and not at all at my in-laws in Manchester. Such is what happens with 97kw very directional to the southeast.>>

Yes Cyberdad they are very directional. Back in the 80s and 90s before the internet, I had a friend send me tapes of Capital Gold. I loved their format and many of the "oldies" that were popular in the 50s, 60s, & 70s in the UK were never heard here. I really enjoyed listening to it then.

1440 in Charleston daytime is usually WGIG Brunswick, GA with a news/talk format. It often gets stepped on by the local 1450. Nighttime is usually WGVL.

gr8oldies said:

Amazingly, Capitol Gold/Gold's streams have been available in the US, while most other UK based music stations are not.

Click to expand...

I noticed that a few years ago.

Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: WROK but not easy (see below)
Nightime: nothing really stands out

DX/RETRO/ETC: This frequency is quite troublesome for me at me current location thanks to WGN. Since I am just 3 miles from their stick, I keep getting a first harmonic of WGN on this frequency interfering with my daytime reception of WROK. At night with the use of a loop antenna I can get eliminate most of that interference. Some of my DX catches include KKXL (Grand Forks, ND), KMLB (Monroe, LA), WHHY (Montgomery, AL), WNFL (Green Bay, WI), WJJL (Niagara Falls, NY), WZYN (Cowan, TN) as well as 4 different stations from Kentucky (WCDS, WMDJ, WEZJ, WPRZ).

Concerning Radio Luxembourg on 1440. When I lived in Czechoslovakia back in the 1970's that station was our main source of rock music. As teenagers we used tune in our little transistor radios at night to hear the latest hits since we had limited ways to listen to pop music behind the iron curtain. Listening to radio Luxembourg in those days was in a way kind of an introduction to DXing for me.

When did R. Lux move from 1439 to 1440?
Back around the mid 60's, we never knew who was testing on regional 1440 with a 1000-cycle tone.
At 9PM.
Turns out to be R. Lux. I only remember hearing actual audio from them once.

From here in NE PA :
Middays it's WNPV Lansdale and/or WCDL Carbondale, depending on the tilt of the antenna. WNPV is the
louder of the two.

Sunset once helped WHIS from WV come in. That one I have taped.

WRRO from Ohio was a nighttime catch.
One especially delightful OVERnight catch was an alma mater from the 80s -- WNYG Babylon, on Long Island. I
can't be certain, but I believe an engineer pal of mine had goosed up the meagre nighttime wattage during a
celebration/anniversary broadcast of the station. Here in PA I was hearing and identifying a few songs I heard, via the old ICQ message system, and getting back 'Yes! That's us! Wow!' from their end.

Orange County, TX - Days KETX Livingston, TX, Nights mess with KEYS Corpus Christi, TX on top occasionally.

If I can null out local WNAV 1430 I can hear a faint signal from York, PA's sports talker WGLD. Actually licensed to Manchester Township, runs 730 watts with CBS Sports Radio. At night usually just WNAV splatter with nothing overcoming.

On 1440 : Neighbouring super-local WPAM Pottsville on 1450 went belly up a few years ago. Some here might remember them as the 'Phoenix 14-50' -- a form of Classic Rock.

WPAM's absence (probably permanent) should open up 1440 and 1460 24/7.
As well as open up 1450. I want that newer 1450 sign-on station from Milford PA, a town right there on the Delaware, plus the elusive 1460 'Gem-FM' station from Tunkhannock. They're northwest of Scranton.

(Someone call me up at some random 2 AM and haul my biscuit in front of the loop antenna, hi. The problem here is that there is so much NOISE on the AM dial in the day. Middays used to be my most propitious time to hear 'closest-unheards'. Solid groundwave. But in 2018, the racket is impossible, even in this small town.)