AM Frequency of the Week: 690

[MarioMania]

That pretty much sums up what I've heard here, except I don't recall hearing XEWW (the low end of the dial is kind of noisy here, so quiet signals tend to get buried).

That said, I did catch CBK on 540 a few nights ago, so sometimes the noise does subside.

c

I took a listen on 690 again, i got CBU over XEWW

 

[wildthangjim]

West Houston TX:

Days, nothing but slop from local KSEV 700. At sunset, XEN and KGGF often battle it out on the N-S bearing. I can sometimes hear WQNO when I null them. I have also heard XEMA at times. Nights are the same with XEN usually dominant.

There's an XERG listed in Monterrey, but I've never heard them.

 

[cyberdad]

A little snooping reveals CKGM's transmitter side is in Mercier, southwest of Montreal. The CBF / CBM transmitter was in Brossard, a near southeast suburb of Montreal. CBF 690 was diplexed with CBM 940 in 1978. CKGM may have decided to go directional for a better signal in the city.

That's the only thing that I could think of. But the fact is that CBF on 690 had a monster omni signal 24/7 as it was. Also the pattern for the current version of CKGM would appear to reduce signal in the west of the metro, where the Lion's share of the English-speaking population is primarily located. For those who may not be aware the CKGM calls have long resided on English speaking formats. As is the case now despite 690 having previously been home to a French language station. That may no longer be a relevant point, but iit all doesn't seem to add up.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

Courtesy of Radio-Locator:

CKGM-AM Radio Station Coverage Map

radio-locator.com

Just casually, to me, wearing my casuals, that CKGM wants to serve those nighttime St. Lawrence up-river cities and towns where the commerce flows.
(A station I worked at long ago on *FM* recently went directional to emphasize coverage and population along the Conneciticut River -- the 'Piomeer Valley' -- where all the people are anyway.)

But it is puzzling, as you say, Cyberdad. 50 K omni should be a HUGE presence on 690 along that same stretch 24/7 either omni or otherwise.

 

[cyberdad]

Courtesy of Radio-Locator:

CKGM-AM Radio Station Coverage Map

radio-locator.com

Just casually, to me, wearing my casuals, that CKGM wants to serve those nighttime St. Lawrence up-river cities and towns where the commerce flows.
(A station I worked at long ago on *FM* recently went directional to emphasize coverage and population along the Conneciticut River -- the 'Piomeer Valley' -- where all the people are anyway.)

But it is puzzling, as you say, Cyberdad. 50 K omni should be a HUGE presence on 690 along that same stretch 24/7 either omni or otherwise.

I'm familiar with that region along the St. Lawrence River. You're right. It's valuable real estate. But it's probably at least 90% French speaking. If not more. And CKGM is broadcasting in English.

My guess...and I won't be surprised if I'm 100% wrong...is that after CBF migrated to FM, some sort of pre-existing condition kicked obliging any new occupant of 690 to go to the type of pattern depicted in the coverage map. As I alluded to earlier, if the map is accurate, CKGM's night signal would be significantly degraded in the primarily English speaking portion of the Montreal metro,

 

[Mark Roberts]

I've been trying for several days to see what's on 690 at night in Oakland (CA) - I haven't been able to definitely identify anything, but I suspect it is XEWW. It's not very strong, and I have to crank the volume way up to hear it. There's also a bit of chatter from adjacent KNBR.

Daytime, of course, it's entirely KNBR. Looks like the closest station to me on 690 is KRCO in Prineville, Oregon, with 1,000 watts daytime (77 nights). That would be a very unlikely catch.

 

[snuggles]

For some reason, Radio-Locator's nighttime coverage map for CKGM is actually the old 990 kHz nighttime coverage map. The daytime coverage map does appear to be correct. CKGM uses only one directional pattern at all times.

The directional pattern is designed to provide a better signal in downtown Montreal and is not needed to protect any other station. When the 690 kHz frequency was available back in 2011, one of the applicants had in fact planned to use 50 kW non-directional at all times.

Ground conductivity is considerably weaker in downtown Montreal than elsewhere in the region, due to the presence of Mount Royal which is immediately adjacent to the downtown area.

It is not unusual for Radio-Locator to provide inaccurate information for Canadian stations, especially in cases where a station was authorized to move to a new frequency at some point in the last thirty years, or where a call sign was recycled on a new or competing station. Inaccurate information has often tended to reappear again after being corrected. In the past, they routinely showed defunct stations as still being active, and many AM stations that moved to FM were still appearing as AM stations, but this is no longer the case.

 

[cyberdad]

I've been trying for several days to see what's on 690 at night in Oakland (CA) - I haven't been able to definitely identify anything, but I suspect it is XEWW. It's not very strong, and I have to crank the volume way up to hear it. There's also a bit of chatter from adjacent KNBR.

I used to have to go to San Jose once or twice a year on business trips. XETRA (before it became XEWW) was a fairly easy catch there, KNBR splatter notwithstanding. But the signal was only fair at best.

 

[jim-satx]

From NW San Antonio:

Day: Just heavy splatter from local 680 KKYX.

Night: If I off-tune, use tight filtering, and aim N-NW/S-SE to reduce the KKYX slop a bit, I hear XEMA in Fresnillo and XEN in Mexico City taking turns dominating. Occasionally I’ll hear KGGF in Coffeyville, KS, or (to a leaser extent) XERG “La Deportiva” in Monterrey fade up for a short while.

Sunrise: XEN is stronger and steadier at day power. XEMA is last to go before KKYX goes to day power/pattern and obliterates everything.

DX/Retro: WQNO used to fade up sometimes at night or sunrise, but I haven’t heard it in a couple of years.

 

[Steve Green NEPA]

When I lived and worked in Springfield Mass as a kid, I DXed a bit on an old console radio that came, traditionally I suppose, with the small but furnished apartment. The only QSL I got from casual DXing there was from an overnight DX Test from KHEY 690, somewhere in Texas. The Olde Logge Booke has them as 10,000, U-4.
I'm recalling 1973 or 1974. Anyone here remember that test ?

 

[radioman148]

40 Miles northwest of downtown Chicago....

Days: Usually blank. Sometimes a whiff of WVCY from Oshkosh, WI (between Milwaukee and Green Bay). Only 250 watts, but aimed in my direction. Even so, my location is normally just out of range.

Nights: Up until about six months ago, 690 was usually a weak WQNO from New Orleans. For about the last several months, however, they've been missing. The channel subsequently has been pretty quietat night. Although CKGM sometimes sneaks in. (The CKGM call letters have been at various frequencies around the Montreal radio dial down through the years. My last memory of them was on 990 with oldies,)

Retro/Other location: 690 has been home to some legendary top 40 stations. WAPE, WVOK, and most notably (for me), WTIX, WVOK (Birmingham) sometimes made it in here to the Chicago area before signoff at sunset. WTIX was rare here, but occasionally doable. I never heard WAPE here at home.
CBF from Montreal dominated the channel at night, (CBF was 50kw non-directional. The current incarnation of CKGM is 50kw, but with a major mull to the east and south).

Meanwhile, here at home, KGGF from Coffeyville, KS used to be common around sunset on day power/pattern. But it's been quite a few years since I;ve heard them.

At our beach location near Pensacola, WQNO does quite well with a good day signal at 9,100watts ND. Comparable signal to what WTIX was, Night is a different story. WQNO's night signal is 1kw directed mostly east-west. WTIX had a similar night pattern, but at 5kw. WQNO is 2,1 at night and the difference is very noticeable. R. Progreso from Cuba trashes WQNO.
E, WVOK, and most notably for me

Near north Chicago suburbs, days nothing, nights
Montreal used to dominate but now they mix with New Orleans, Birmingham and KGGF.