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AM Frequency of the Week: 680

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cyberdad

cyberdad

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40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago.....

Days: Splatter from local blowtorch WSCR.

Nights: Here's where 680 starts getting interesting. For the past year or two, CJOB (Winnipeg) has been strong enough to break through the WSCR splatter on most nights. No small feat. Especially since AFIK, CJOB isn't even supposed to be here in the first place. Prior to CJOB becoming a regular, I used to occasionally hear WCTT from Corbin, KY. All 830 watts of it....with a not exactly favorable pattern. Which is why I referred to it as "The little blowtorch".

Other Location: At our beach place on the Gulf near Pensacola, 680 daytime is a weak, but listenable WGES from St. Petersburg. Another miniature blowtorch. 800 watts that makes the 300-plus mile hop across the Gulf. Nights are usually a battle between WCNN (Atlanta) and WMFS (Memphis). WCNN typically gets the better of it.
 
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East Tennessee: Days-a weak WCTT with a weak WCNN. Critical hours will bring WPTF Raleigh or WKAZ Charleston WV
Night: WPTF and assorted stuff and junk. I had CFTR once, obviously on day pattern
Retro/other: Dayton and Western Ohio, would be a weak WKAZ (WCAW).
 
Kenosha, WI: Days- on a GOOD radio in the right location (usually near Lake Michigan) I can hear WDBC Escanaba, MI. In fact, I just did it about an hour ago (2015 Fusion radio). It depends on WSCR having their usually crappy narrow audio. Escanaba is about 225 air miles, mostly water path.

Nights- Like Cyberdad, CJOB is pretty much dominant here at night, sometimes swapping with WPTF. Also have (rarely) heard CFTR.
 
Wilmington Delaware

Days - A weak signal from WCBM Baltimore MD on my car radio. I can't hear it in my apartment. It sends a signal to the SE putting a much stronger signal into Central and Southern Delaware.

Nights - A stronger WCBM that I can easily hear in my apartment. I've picked up WPTF in Raleigh NC a few times in the backround.
 
cyberdad said:
40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago.....

Days: Splatter from local blowtorch WSCR.

Nights" Here's where 580 starts getting interesting. For the past year or two, CJOB (Winnnipeg) hasbeen strong enough to break through the WSCR splatter on most nights. No small feat. Especially since AFIK, CJOB isn't even supposed to be here in the first place. Prior to CJOB becoming a regular, I used to occasionally hear WCTT from Corbin, KY. All 830 watts of it....with a not exactly favorable pattern. Which is why I referred toit as "The little blowtorch".

Other Location: At our beach place on the Gulf near Pensacola, 680 daytime is a weak, but listenable WGES from St. Petersburg. Another miniature blowtorch. 800 watts that makes the 300-plus mile hop across the Gulf. Nights are usually a battle between WCNN (Atlanta) and WMFS (Memphis). WCNN typically gets the better of it.
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Near north Chicago suburbs: WSCR splatter days. At night I’ve heard CJOB,WPTF,CFTR, and Memphis under various calls. Sometimes KNBR used to show up sometimes on Monday mornings, but I haven’t heard them for awhile.
 
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Northeast Essex County, NJ

Daytime: Cranford, NJ's Fixed Information Station

At night and early hours: a mix of the 680's from Baltimore, Boston, and Raleigh
 
I'm a little surprised that I have no specific memory of WPTF in the Chicago area. I have heard it on the Gulf coast near P-cola. But only rarely. On the Florida Peninsula, WPTF has always been a pretty easy catch for me at night.
 
At home in Oakland, CA: Local KNBR round the clock.

Visiting Santa Fe, NM: Nothing daytime; for nighttime, I listened just before posting here. It took a while for the path of darkness to set up, but KNBR came in with a weak but steady signal. Identified a Shreve & Co. spot, which you're only going to hear from San Francisco, a bunch of junk spots, a promo for Giants games, and finally, a legal ID. Receiver is a Sangean DT-800.
 
Far NNW WA state (Bellingham)-

Days- A very weak KBRD Lacey. 250 watt daytimer, nostalgia format. IF I am in town and right near the salt water- otherwise nothing. Signal is so good for such low wattage, but they have apparently quite the tower and not too far from Puget Sound.

Nights- KNBR and nothing else, ever.
 
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: nothing but splatter from the nearby (5 miles away) WSCR 670
Nighttime: usually CJOB, sometimes WCTT with oldies format or WPTF

DX/RETRO: CFTR and WPTF used to be more common in the past. Others heard in the past include KKYX (San Antonio, TX), WCNN (N. Atlanta, GA), WMFS (Memphis, TN), WOGO (Hallie, WI), WDCB (Escanaba, MI), WJIE (Newburg,TN), WBCM (Baltimore, MD), WNZK (Derborn Heights, MI). Most recent new log on this frequency is Radio Nacional de Colombia from Barranquilla heard in January of 2023. KNBR is one station that has eluded me so far on 680.
 
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From the southwest suburbs of Chicago:

It's nights only on 680 thanks to mighty WSCR 670, of course.

In the days when NBC owned WMAQ 670, the Sunday night silent period was the time to chase on 680. Catches included KNBR San Francisco (1,795 miles distant and often sounding like it), CFTR Toronto, WCBM Baltimore and WPTF Raleigh. With the multiplicity of stations on clear frequencies, I haven't heard KNBR this century. However, the three more recent catches are KKYX San Antonio (Oct. 2015), CJOB Winnipeg (Oct. 2018, and the regular on 680 these days) and WCTT Corbin, Ky. (Nov. 2019) with those rompin' stompin' 830 watts. Just as CADXER has had no luck with KNBR, I've struck out with Memphis, Atlanta and Dearborn Heights, picture postcard locales all. Maybe some day.
 
680 WPTF - Raleigh NC - Newstalk 680 - News/talk - 2023

680 WRMD - St. Petersburg-Tampa - Rumba 680 Spanish – Tropical - 2009

680 WAPA - San Juan PR - WAPA Radio 2045 EDT - Spanish – talk - 2001

680 WCNN - North Atlanta - Kiss 104.7 - Atlanta’s R&B station - 2000

kw - Melbourne FL
 
From DFW, Texas

Daytime: A weak KKYX San Antonio audible on the car radio with country music.
Nights: KFEQ St. Joseph MO is the regular with news/talk. WMFS Memphis is also heard under or mixing with KFEQ. KKYX is not regularly heard at night, unless southern conditions kick in. When conditions are favorable to the north, CJOB Winnipeg comes in under or equal to KFEQ. KNBR San Francisco makes an occasional visit when aiming E/W, nulling KFEQ. I've also logged WPTF Raleigh NC prior to DFW sunrise when they go to day pattern.
 
@anwr
Same as you here in NE PA (I'm actually closer to DE and MD than to upstate NY).
WCBM is a faint daytine listen ; with WPTF a few SSS's and nightss.
WINR Binghampton NY *should* be a daytime regular, as that's what their day pattern suggests, but middays are so blasted noisy here. Best bet is in the car radio, headed straight north from here. That was from around 1968, before FM was important in that market.
* * * * * * *
Retro days in Queens, quite retro ago, KNBR was caught once overnight. I don't remember the date, but it was one overnight/MM and super-omni local WNBC had to've been off. WAPA from San Juan and .......

@cyberdad
.....your St. Pete station came in once on what had to be an Auroral SSS. They were WWBA then, a daytime Beautiful Music station. That was ~ 1968. FM wasn't important yet in that market.
And even before THOSE loggings, before we kids knew what 'directional pattenr's were -- White's Radio Logs never made that distinction -- it always puzzled us why that Boston 50,000-watt 'WNAC' never came in, lol.
 
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tvnut said:
From the southwest suburbs of Chicago:

It's nights only on 680 thanks to mighty WSCR 670, of course.

In the days when NBC owned WMAQ 670, the Sunday night silent period was the time to chase on 680. Catches included KNBR San Francisco (1,795 miles distant and often sounding like it),
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I also used to try for KNBR back in the days when WMAQ was off on Monday mornings. No luck. But I did hear it a few times in northwest Illinois, as well as at my college location in southeast Iowa. The main pest at college was (then-)
KBAT from San Antonio, which came roaring in when on day power at sunset and sunrise.
cc333 said:
KNBR really dominates the west coast, doesn't it?
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Definitely my experience on the west coast. Solid from San Diego to Seattle. And beyond.

Of course no visit to the west coast was ever complete for me without dialing up K-BRD/680 on daytime runs between Seattle and Portland. "K-Bird....America's ninth best radio station." At least according to Esquire magazine, IIRC. What a hoot! Unfortunately, the drive along I-5 was all land path with lousy ground conductivity, so the signal was pretty much spent by the time you got to either city.
 
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radioman148 said:
Near north Chicago suburbs: WSCR splatter days. At night I’ve heard CJOB,WPTF,CFTR, and Memphis under various calls. Sometimes KNBR used to show up sometimes on Monday mornings, but I haven’t heard them for awhile.
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TXPH97 said:
From DFW, Texas

Daytime: A weak KKYX San Antonio audible on the car radio with country music.
Nights: KFEQ St. Joseph MO is the regular with news/talk. WMFS Memphis is also heard under or mixing with KFEQ. KKYX is not regularly heard at night, unless southern conditions kick in. When conditions are favorable to the north, CJOB Winnipeg comes in under or equal to
Click to expand...
 
In west Houston TX, KKYX is in with a fair signal during the day. At sunset and at night, KKYX is usually pretty strong but I can null them and hear KFEQ most nights. Sometimes there's a weak talk station underneath, probably WMFS, but I've never positively ID'd them, or anything else, on this frequency.
 
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