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AM Frequency of the Week: 970

cyberdad

cyberdad

Moderator
Staff member
With the Easter Bunny lurking, I thought I'd "hop" in a day earlier than usual. Happy Easter/Happy Passover everyone...and STAY SAFE!i

Far Northwest Chicago suburbs....WHA from Madison, WI (NPR) in daily with a fair signal. 5kw Non-directionl from about 80 miles northwest of me,

Night: WHA goes to "flea power" and vanishes. What's left on 970 are a bunch of weak signals. WMAY, Springfield IL, most likely to rise to the top, but not all that often. Only 500 watts night power, but the pattern favors me. KQAQ, Austin, MN, is a rather distant "second most likely". Also 500 watts but the night pattern (supposedly) doesn't favor me. I've also heard WGTK (Formerly WAVE), from Louisville, KY a few times.

Other Location. At our vacation location on the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola, A weak WFLA is usually able to make the daytime hop across the gulf from the Tampa Bay area.
 
Here in Wood Dale, IL in the near NW suburb of Chicago:

Daytime: WHA Madison, WI with fair signal
Nightime: WMAY most likely catch

DX/RETRO: DX wise this frequency has been quite good over the years for me. Some highlights include KJLT (No Platte, NE), KCF (Tulsa, OK), KXTP (Superior, WI), KHVN Forth Worth, TX), WTKN (Pittsburgh, PA), WDAY (Fargo, ND), WFUN (Ashtabula, OH), WWRK (Florence, SC), WRCS (Ahoskie, NC) during DX test as well as XEJ ICiudad Juarez, Mexico), HJME (Maicao, Colombia), and TIRI (Alajuelito, Costa Rica)
 
WAKE Valparaiso, IN tried to move from 1500 kHz to 970 kHz quite a few years ago. Can't remember the details. It could have been turned down due to challenges to their measured conductivity and contour studies.
 
Near north Chicago suburbs during the day it's WHA with a fair signal. At night these days it's mostly WMAY rising to the top in a crowd.

Retro: Many many years ago the station I heard the most at night on 970 was Pittsburgh. Their calls at the time were WWSW.
 
West Central Georgia

Days: WTBF Troy AL 5000/45 CBS Sports weak

Nights: Good signal from WGTK Louisville KY 5000 News/Talk most nights

Critical Hours: WNIV Atlanta GA 5000/39 religious and WVOP Vidalia GA 4000/60 News Talk
 
Street Novelist said:
No 970 in the Bay...At night, it's just static. I can't pick up KESP (Modesto) or KHTY (Bakersfield). I guess neither signal is strong enough.
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Tonight I picked up KNWZ out of Coachella; at least I think it was. It was airing Michael Savage and described itself as Fox News. I also, briefly, picked up KESP, a 1 Kw out of Modesto airing CBS Sports.
 
In west Houston, 970 is tough due to a very sloppy KQUE 980. I get nothing on 970 in the daytime, but around sunset KIXL Relevant Radio comes up along with something in Spanish (maybe Matamoros) that I haven't ID'd. Later on, it's mostly XEJ in Cd. Juarez on top of a jumble. Sunrise is similar. I have also heard KCFO in Tulsa, which was once KAKC, a great top 40 station in my youth.
 
wildthangjim said:
....I have also heard KCFO in Tulsa, which was once KAKC, a great top 40 station in my youth.
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I heard KAKC in my youth as well. But not here in my home area. Instead, I heard it a few times at my college location in southeast Iowa. Not a regular. KELI on 1430 from Tulsa was also an excellent top 40 station, and at least a semi-regular at night in that part of Iowa. More so than either KVOO and KRMG.
 
cyberdad said:
I heard KAKC in my youth as well. But not here in my home area. Instead, I heard it a few times at my college location in southeast Iowa. Not a regular. KELI on 1430 from Tulsa was also an excellent top 40 station, and at least a semi-regular at night in that part of Iowa. More so than either KVOO and KRMG.
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KAKC was unique in another way as it was the smallest market station consulted by Bill Drake when he developed the mid-60's concept that debuted at KGB and then was added to KHJ and most of the RKO General stations. It's PD, Scooter Seagraves, was great on and off the air, too.
 
DavidEduardo said:
KAKC was unique in another way as it was the smallest market station consulted by Bill Drake when he developed the mid-60's concept that debuted at KGB and then was added to KHJ and most of the RKO General stations. It's PD, Scooter Seagraves, was great on and off the air, too.
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Growing up in Tulsa, KAKC was my mom's favorite station and the soundtrack of my youth. I remember Scooter very well, lots of good jocks on the station, some of which went on to bigger markets. IIRC, Beau Weaver was at KHJ for a time. Robert W Walker was there also.
 
Mason City, IA:
Clean signal from KQAQ/Austin, MN (about 50 miles NNE of me), though non-existent at night

Central KS:
Open frequency, though I have netted KFEL/Pueblo, CO once (well over 400 miles from me)
 
From NW San Antonio:

Day: A moderate signal from KIXL "Relevant Radio" in Del Valle near Austin.

Sunset: KIXL is stronger, with XERFR "Radio Fórmula" in Mexico City and urban gospel station KHVN in Ft. Worth mixing in.

Night: To the NE/SW, XERFR and KHVN are most dominant. KIXL is only heard occasionally after going to its nighttime pattern. A weak WGTK will sometimes pop up briefly as well. Aiming E/W, XEJ in Ciudad Juárez dominates.

Sunrise: To the NW/SE, XEO in Matamoros is heard when it goes to day pattern, and it is the last to fade before only KIXL is left. Also in that direction I can sometimes hear brief snatches of KFEL in Pueblo after it goes to day power.

DX/RETRO: I'm no longer hearing XESW in Ciudad Madera, although it's supposedly still active. Also, I heard KSYL in Alexandria, LA, once during a winter sunset about five years ago.
 
On the Chicago lakeshore:

Actually I have a different experience from the other Chicago area people here. During the day I can get a faint WHA in Madison but it's pretty hard to hear. At night it's something of a jumble but if something rises to the top it's usually WGTK in Louisville.
 
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