The simple reason is: Because they can. KGB, KFI, KNX, KNBR, KGO, KEX, and KOMO, etc could all chose to operate with 28 watts at night just like KSCO. But instead they run 50 kw because they can. If we wished, all of us could choose to drive Mopeds, but most of us want to drive cars because we can !
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AM 760 no longer 50kw at night?
- Thread starter Signal Geek
- Start date
Yeah, but KFI, KNX, KNBR, KGO, KEX and KOMO all had that 50kw authorization for decades. KGB (KFMB) didn't, got it late, and had a signal at 5kw directional that went way beyond any reasonable service area expectation. So "why" is a question Doc is perfectly correct to ask.
They're not just protecting WJR, but also KGU, Honolulu.
I realize in my previous post I said "because they can". It must be remembered that in a given stations' local coverage area the higher the power the better S/N ratio. That might be reason enough as long as the electric bill doesn't break the bank !
Yeah, but if you're hitting Sacramento from San Diego with 5k directional, Escondido and Oceanside should be pretty well covered.
There was, in decades past, some value in saying "50,000 watts" since at certain points 690 and 1090 both used power as a selling point. Everyone else who tried 50 kw at some point ended up scaling back... mostly due to losing or selling valuable transmitter site land.
Of course, you were getting skywave. Given the shorter towers that 760 had, they kicked out a nice bit of that at night. The inability of stations to cover North Country with its poor conductivity in inland areas is well known.
Okay, so that 5kw directional due north really wasn't enough for 760 to cover North County? Because it's not just Sac---I'd pull 'em in clear as a bell in L.A. and Orange County.
At one point there was a separate North County book... partly because there were stations in Ocenside and the like that got numbers but also because the SD stations did not look as good there. So, the core SD stations could show numbers for "Metro San Diego" without North County and look a lot better.
Smoke and mirrors 101.
KUDE 1320 and KOWN 1450 apparently were the top stations. Back at that time during most dayparts KUDE was MOR and so was KOWN until at one point they decided to go Country. KMLO 1000 was "Beautiful Music". KUDE though played Top 40 music during evening hours because they recognized that the night pattern signals of KGB and KCBQ were barely listenable and KDEO non existent.
Of course, at that time, KGB was at 1360 with 1,000 watts nighttime power.
I drove *through* the transmitter site a few weeks ago (the 52 freeway goes right through it). Yes, all three towers were still standing.
Those freestanding towers are the existing 760 towers that have been there since about 1965 when KFMB moved from 540 to 760. Those towers aren't going anywhere. KOGO 600 is going to (if they are not already) diplex off those towers.
For what it's worth, at just after 9 pm in Oakland, I got out one of my better radios and found that 760 was definitely receivable, if noisy, but still not what I would consider local strength. 1090 was definitely coming in better, even accounting for spillover from adjacent KFAX.
Talking about KUDE...back then GM Lyle Richardson voiced a weekly 2 minute editorial that went something like this: "This is President and General Manager Lyle A. Richardson with 'Another Point of View', last week the Oceanside City Council voted to...yada, yada, yada, and so on...this has been Lyle A. Richardson with 'Another Point of View', your comments are invited".
Well, the following weekend someone backed their truck into the KUDE parking lot, and dumped several tons of manure right onto the front of the building, blocking the entrance to the station. The guy planted a sign in the manure that read: "Hi Lyle - here's another point of view !"
Honolulu is over 2000 miles from San Diego. Even taking into account that it's 50 kW over salt water, I find it hard to believe that KGB is putting any kind of a signal that would interfere with KGU anywhere in Hawaii with the possible exception of on the Big Island.
But I will say that KGB is putting a decent signal into Phoenix as I write this.
When I lived in Carlsbad, KHJ had a better signal than either KCBQ or KGB at night, but in the daytime KCBQ came in strong up in Riverside.
That was my point as well. I used to never hear KGB AM 760 in Phoenix until recently. Technically speaking, their directional night-time pattern should not put anything of significance toward Phoenix because they are protecting WJR in Detroit. But, since about 2021, they have been coming in well into Phoenix, sometimes very clearly, which makes me wonder if they are just staying on day power.
In North County San Diego, whether it’s the day pattern or night pattern, KGB comes in great along with KOGO. KFI and KNX are also like locals in the North County, although KNX’s skywave cancellation zone is pretty close to where I’m at here in Carlsbad. If I go a few miles inland to Vista and San Macros, the KNX fading is very strong. Here along the coast, there is no sign of that. As far as KFI is concerned, they might as well be a local station. They are great at night with a strong groundwave signal almost throughout the entire San Diego metropolitan area, save for El Cajon and Alpine where they also hit their skywave cancellation zone.
As far as 1360 KLSD AM is concerned, they are a non-factor up here in the North County at night. I can’t even pick them up out of the slop. During the day, they are weak as well so I can see why they always did bad in the books in the North County. Why I-Heart didn’t get a North County translator for 1360 AM is beyond me because the one they have now on 103.3 doesn’t get north of Mira Mesa and Carmel Valley (here in Carlsbad, 103.3 FM is all KRUZ from Santa Barbara).
AM 1320 KKSM is a pretty good station even today. While it may not talk about local Oceanside happenings, the college station has some good programming with a lot of interesting music geared shows on the weekends like Dan Sweeney’s One Hit Wonders and other oldies themed shows. Its signal is limited at only 500 watts to the Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, San Marcos and Encinitas area, but it is a unique station that I wish had an FM translator.
The FCC regulations are based on the possibility of occasional interference to the licensed coverage of another station.
Example: On more than one occasion, in Cleveland, Ohio and not more than 30 miles from the 50 kw station on 1100, I heard a 10 kw station from Venezuela absolutely hashing the local station. While that was rare, more distant stations could rather regularly be heard interfering with nearby facilities, even if the distant station was over 1000 miles away and the nearby one was less than 100 miles distant.
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