WABC 770 was off the air for an hour this morning

[VA3TFC]

I like to tune into WABC 770 in NYC sometimes in the wee hours to listen to The Other Side Of Midnight talk show. It comes on at 1am weeknights. This morning at just after 1am I am up and try tuning in on my new Tecsun 310et. I tune to the frequency and nothing but static. Now usually 770 is booming in here at this time of the morning. I can receive WJR 760 Detroit and WBBM 780 Chicago no problem. I'm thinking that's weird as it was coming in fine the morning before on the Tecsun.

So for the heck of it I try using the Sony ICF-P26 since it receives anything. Nope, still can't get WABC no matter which way I turn the radio so I just carry on tuning around the band for a bit and check for 770 once in awhile. I figure conditions are bad or the are actually off the air. Then around 1:50am there it is! Just as I tune in the host is saying they were off the air for an hour for transmitter maintenance and that's why you should download the free WABC radio listening app to your device or tune in online. Hahaha...I was actually thinking of listening in online but I still prefer my bedside radio like I have for 50 years. The good part was the host commented on how many people were calling and wondering why they couldn't hear it on the radio.

Radio still lives!

 

[mciupa]

I love clear-channel monitoring as well. WABC was a favorite of mine. Don't listen as much as I used to.

One memorable night was back on Dec. 8,1980 around 11 pm when they broke in with a bulletin on the Monday Night Football game that Cosell was broadcasting saying that John Lennon had been shot. I listened until 2:30 am and went in to work hours later.

I would feel that listening on-line is cheating. I also like clear-channel listening while driving. Nothing like driving down a dark highway listening to a preacher screaming the gospel. It sure keeps you alert.

 

[VA3TFC]

Yeah when I was a teenager in the 70's I'd tune into 1030 WBZ at night from Boston to listen to the late great Larry Glick! I live in eastern Ontario Canada and all those east coast clear channel stations were great for evening/early morning listening back in those days. Yes, I too loved listening to the AM car radio driving late at night. Those old car radios were the best for late night DX. Now it's mostly Red Eye radio politics or Coast To Coast AM but WABC from 1am-5am reminds me of the old days. Both overnight hosts (week days and weekends) are entertaining and they take calls from all over. The guy who hosts weekends from 1am-6am is hilarious. They're under new ownership. Weekend evenings they play oldies music and other entertainment. I really enjoy tuning in.

 

[mciupa]

I'm in Toronto and one morning driving to work I wanted to listen to WCBS on 880 but was getting CKLQ in Brandon, Manitoba. Totally unexpected and I didn't even care that it was Country Music.
This has kind of kindled my DX interest again.

I took my SW long-wire down years ago. I may take my AM loop antenna out from the junk box and start some AM DXing again.

 

[a29zuk]

Yeah when I was a teenager in the 70's I'd tune into 1030 WBZ at night from Boston to listen to the late great Larry Glick! Now it's mostly Red Eye radio politics or Coast To Coast AM but WABC from 1am-5am reminds me of the old days. Both overnight hosts (week days and weekends) are entertaining and they take calls from all over. The guy who hosts weekends from 1am-6am is hilarious.

Same here. Used to listen to Larry Glick on WBZ too, back in the 70's.

Frankie Russo is the weekend host on WABC. I enjoy listening to him, also.

Jim

 

[jhooten]

KOMA in Oklahoma on 1520 was the one I used to listen to. Don’t think they are still a 50,000 watt clear channel station anymore. Haven’t heard them in a long time.


Trivia question, what was the secondary purpose for the high power clear channel stations “back in the day”?

 

[VA3TFC]

Same here. Used to listen to Larry Glick on WBZ too, back in the 70's.

Frankie Russo is the weekend host on WABC. I enjoy listening to him, also.

Jim

Yes it's Frankie Russo on WABC weekend overnights and he's really entertaining. Frank Morano is the Mon-Fri overnight host and his show is also quite good. I enjoy the fact they take callers and the topics are interesting at times.

 

[VA3TFC]

I'm in Toronto and one morning driving to work I wanted to listen to WCBS on 880 but was getting CKLQ in Brandon, Manitoba. Totally unexpected and I didn't even care that it was Country Music.
This has kind of kindled my DX interest again.

I took my SW long-wire down years ago. I may take my AM loop antenna out from the junk box and start some AM DXing again.

Very cool! I tune into CFZM 740 "Zoomer Radio" quite often since it too booms in here at night sometimes like a local station. They play some good tunes! Here in Ottawa we have three AM/MW stations that are all news/sports. I miss the days when we had an AM music station. I think I will invest in a loop antenna in the future.

 

[VA3TFC]

KOMA in Oklahoma on 1520 was the one I used to listen to. Don’t think they are still a 50,000 watt clear channel station anymore. Haven’t heard them in a long time.


Trivia question, what was the secondary purpose for the high power clear channel stations “back in the day”?

Good question! I have no idea!

 

[u2brent]

Trivia question, what was the secondary purpose for the high power clear channel stations “back in the day”?

Nav beacon? Would be my guess, before taking the deep dive into the internet to find the answer

 

[a417]

Trivia question, what was the secondary purpose for the high power clear channel stations “back in the day”?

Wartime information dissemination.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

KOMA in Oklahoma on 1520 was the one I used to listen to. Don’t think they are still a 50,000 watt clear channel station anymore. Haven’t heard them in a long time.


Trivia question, what was the secondary purpose for the high power clear channel stations “back in the day”?

CONELRAD

 

[trentbob]

Nostalgic conversation. I first did AM DXing as a young kid in the early 60s. Many stations would go off at sundown. Dad was a ham and set me up with a great receiver and I used a 200 foot copper wire in the backyard.

I still do it today with an old Radio Shack tabletop radio and a tunable loop antenna.

 

[KK4JUG]

Back in the early 50s, I lived in a valley in the Ozarks in Arkansas. I tried to listen to anything I could at night. It seems pretty obvious but I could only pick up clear channel stations. It was hit or miss but I could usually pick up WLS (Chicago), KMOX (St. Louis), WLW (Cincinnati), WOAI (San Antonio) or XERF (Cuidad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico). I think XERF was at least 250kw (and maybe 500kw) at that time.

 

[marlin39a]

Here by the western part of the Country, my clear channel I tune into is also on 770. KKOB in Albuquerque, NM.

 

[jhooten]

Nav beacon? Would be my guess, before taking the deep dive into the internet to find the answer

Give that man a ceegar. NDBs push as little as five watts into an antenna that could be less than a tenth of a wave length. So which would be easier to lock your direction finding receiver on a flea powered NDB or a 50,000 watt broadcast station with a LARGE antenna?

 

[cralt]

I'm in Toronto and one morning driving to work I wanted to listen to WCBS on 880 but was getting CKLQ in Brandon, Manitoba. Totally unexpected and I didn't even care that it was Country Music.
This has kind of kindled my DX interest again.

I took my SW long-wire down years ago. I may take my AM loop antenna out from the junk box and start some AM DXing again.

I always listen for 880 when traveling out of state. Its like my little connection to home. I have heard it as far away as the eastern shore of mexico. I was told it gets out so great because it has an great ground system. Its on an island and their ground radials run right in to long island sound.

I hear 1080 wtic go off the air every morning when im getting ready for work. They go off for a few seconds to do the day/night antenna pattern change.

At night I can listen to 740 Zoomer Radio here in connecticut reliably

 

[6079smithw]

Back in the early 50s, I lived in a valley in the Ozarks in Arkansas. I tried to listen to anything I could at night. It seems pretty obvious but I could only pick up clear channel stations. It was hit or miss but I could usually pick up WLS (Chicago), KMOX (St. Louis), WLW (Cincinnati), WOAI (San Antonio) or XERF (Cuidad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico). I think XERF was at least 250kw (and maybe 500kw) at that time.

WLS was my go-to when I was doing OTR in the 70s... signal covered about 33 states as I recall. Their tower is right off I-80 Exit 145 in Tinley Park, IL. Stopped at the nearby Texas Roadhouse to eat a few years back and shot this picture from the back parking lot.

 

[WA8ZTZ]

Look at all the replies... post something about AM BCB DX in this or any other radio forum and it generates a bunch of replies.
Still a lot of interest in DXing the AM band.

 

[ind224]

My introduction to real radio was the mechanical flop time display kitchen clock radio in a suburb of Chicago. AM DX was the game and back in the mid 70's winter evenings even power line noise was low to nil. WLS was clear channel and I was getting stuff coast to coast. Remember the pocket travel guides the trucks stops had AM and FM stations listed? No way I could not be equipped for AM or the NAVTEX at 515 USB. Now that noise is the new normal, the only beacon I can hear is 338 and that is about 9 miles away. Like OP I would rather hear it on a radio than via the web. Always wanted to hear even a test on CONELRAD but no joy. Mom had a pocket transistor that had the CONELRAD freqs with red marker pointers. I have a reel to reel tape of my Dad eating sardines on pancakes for the Wally Phillips Show WGN.
AM is great and the more bandwidth the better; some things never change.