AM and FM bandscan from Sonoma, California

[Mark Roberts]

I'm in Sonoma for a couple of days to get away from the chaos of Bay Area real estate and to overeat. It's interesting (to me at least) to compare some of these results, particularly on AM, to my current Oakland location. I wonder if San Pablo Bay, which is about 12 miles away from Sonoma, is giving a boost to some of the Central Valley stations.

General method: using Easy Tuning Mode on a Tecsun PL-320, then (on AM only) reconfirming results with a Digitech AR-1780 (same internals as the XHDATA D-808).

What's displayed below:
Frequency - Station - Signal Strength on the PL-320, then the AR-1780 (in dBµ - a bit suspect, actually, but at least it's some basis for comparison) - Other Comments

* indicates a station NOT picked up by Easy Tuning Mode

These are daytime results.

Here goes:

AM
540 KVIP Redding 15,15 * (this is a best guess)
560 KSFO San Francisco 55,55
580 KMJ Fresno 38,38 better reception than in Oakland
610 KEAR San Francisco 60,61
650 KSTE Rancho Cordova (Sacramento) 38,44
660 ???? ???? 9,10 possibly KGSV Oildale, CA? *
680 KNBR San Francisco 61,63
710 KFIA Carmichael (Sacramento) 36,37 worse reception than in Oakland
740 KCBS San Francisco 65,67 tx in Novato; in DA null at night with consequent very odd audio quality but not much fading
770 KCBC Manteca 53,55 much better reception than in Oakland
810 KGO San Francisco 62,65 a different kind of numbers game
840 KMPH Modesto 15,18 *
860 KTRB San Francisco 48,49
880 KKMC Gonzales 17,20 * fccdata.org map shows definite enhancement by San Pablo Bay
890 KVMX Olivehurst (Sacramento) 15,18 * about same reception as in Oakland
910 KKSF Oakland 63,65
920 KVIN Ceres 26,29 * in Punjabi
960 KNEW Oakland 56,59
970 KESP Modesto -,18 * on AR-1780 only
990 KATD Pittsburg 34,33 * //KIQI
1010 KIQI San Francisco 49,53
1050 KTCT San Mateo (San Francisco) 56,58
1080 KSCO Santa Cruz 23,27 *
1100 KFAX San Francisco 48,51
1120 KZSJ San Martin (San Jose) 22,25 *
1140 KHTK Sacramento 31,28 * weird: PL-320 scan missed it yet was stronger than on AR-1780, about same reception as Oakland
1170 KLOK San Jose 42,46
1190 KDYA Vallejo 46,48 fccdata.org map shows a null toward Sonoma yet lobes toward Santa Rosa and Napa - does this pattern go anywhere?
1220 KDOW Palo Alto 39,42 hang on to your wallets while listening to this one
1230 ???? See Notes 18,16 * giving the nod on this one to KWG Stockton though KDAC Fort Bragg is a possibility as well
1240 KMBY Monterey 18,22 * recognized format, better reception than in Oakland
1260 KSFB San Francisco 40,44
1280 KWSX Stockton 20,18 *
1290 KPAY Chico 13,18 * most likely station
1310 KMKY Oakland 45,48
1320 KIFM West Sacramento 11,9 *
1330 KLBS Los Banos -,8 on AR-1780 only
1350 KSRO Santa Rosa 35,36 I would have expected a better signal here
1360 KFIV Modesto 16,16 *
1370 KZSF San Jose 25,27 *
1400 KVTO Berkeley 42,45
1420 KSTN Stockton 19,18 *
1440 KVON Napa 46,46 in stereo, I expected a stronger signal from KVON
1450 KEST San Francisco 28,31 some adjacent channel from KVON
1460 KRRS Santa Rosa 14,15 * sharp null to points east of Santa Rosa, including Sonoma
NOTE: 1490 KZNB Petaluma is silent; if it were active, it would be a strong signal in Sonoma
1500 KSJX San Jose -,14 on AR-1780 only
1510 KSFB Piedmont (Oakland) 28,30
1530 KFBK Sacramento 24,24 * worse reception than in Oakland
1550 KZDG San Francisco 52,55
1600 KUBA Yuba City -,11 *
1640 KDIA Vallejo 53,56
1690 KFSG Roseville (Sacramento) -,14 * probably receivable on PL-320; user error

FM
88.5 KQED-FM San Francisco 36 stereo
91.1 KCSM-FM San Mateo 20 stereo
91.3 KSVY Sonoma 44 stereo, local community station
91.7 KALW San Francisco broadcasting in mono
93.3 KRZZ San Francisco 29 stereo
93.7 KJZY Sebastopol 17 mono reception only
94.1 KPFA Berkeley 41 stereo
94.5 K223CM Santa Rosa 21 //KSRO(AM), stereo
94.9 KYLD San Francisco 20 mono reception only
95.3 KUIC Vacaville 10 mono reception only
95.7 KGMZ San Francisco 24 broadcasting in mono
96.5 KOIT San Francisco 30 stereo
97.3 KLLC San Francisco 8 mono reception only
98.1 KISQ San Francisco 29 stereo
98.9 KSOL San Francisco 30 stereo
99.7 KMVQ San Francisco 43 stereo
100.1 KZST Santa Rosa 20 stereo
100.3 KBRG San Jose 18 stereo, better reception than in the Oakland hills
101.3 KIOI San Francisco 41 stereo
101.7 KHTH Santa Rosa 12 mono reception only, severe multipath
102.1 KRBQ San Francisco 18 mono reception only
102.9 KBLX Berkeley (San Francisco) 30 stereo
103.7 KOSF San Francisco 25 stereo
104.5 KNBR-FM San Francisco 21 //KNBR(AM), broadcasting in mono, some multipath
104.9 KRCB-FM Rohnert Park (Santa Rosa) 13 mono reception only
105.3 KITS San Francisco 35 stereo
106.1 KMEL San Francisco 41 stereo
106.9 KFRC-FM San Francisco 33 //KCBS(AM), stereo
107.3 KLVS Livermore 29 K-Love, stereo
107.7 KSAN San Mateo (San Francisco) 32 stereo

NOTE: No 99.3 KVYN St. Helena (Napa) - have they rebuilt the site that was burned out several years ago? Very poor quality in Sonoma, reception in mono if you can get it at all.

Location in Sonoma: one block from the central plaza. This is a mountain valley, which definitely affects reception from any direction other than the south.

 

[MarioMania]

Nice Scan

 

[SwapMeetLouie]

KVYN St. Helena (Napa) is a head-scratcher. It's been on an STA since the Atlas Fire over SIX YEARS ago. Can an STA exist in perpetuity, or be renewed an unlimited number of times? Their signal since that time has the power of a bathroom night light. Although its OK in most of the City of Napa, it begins to fade on the north end of town and is very scratchy by the time you reach Yountville, less than five miles north. Heading north on Hwy 29 to St. Helena, their COL, the signal is nonexistent. I've lived in the area for decades, and remember when their signal reached as far south as San Ramon, as far east as Fairfield, and blasted into Vallejo. It's a decent community station (with some really primitive automation) and I enjoyed listening to it sometimes.