Attention all AM DX-ing fans!

[Dan.Strassberg]

WWGB's day pattern supposedly protects WBZ during critical hours as
well as during the remainder of daylight. The pattern does indeed have
a broad, deep minimum to the northeast. When WWGB first went on the
air (60's?), its calls were WBZE. Supposedly, the calls were selected
so that people in the listening area, which includes Washington DC,
would think they were listening to WBZ day and night because WBZ has a
killer nighttime signal there.

As for KCTA, back in the '40s, when it was KWBU and I think was 50 kW
ND all day (the FCC hadn't yet invented critical hours), Westinghouse
tried to get the FCC to force KWBU to sign off at Boston sunset, which
would have been 3:15PM in south Texas in December. I know that during
critical hours, KCTA's daytime skywave really gets out; I've seen DX
reports from places about 1000 miles from Corpus Christie.

-----
Dan Strassberg (dan.strassberg@att.net)
eFax 1-707-215-6367

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Martin Waters" <martinjwaters@yahoo.com>
To: "Jr.Paul B. Walker" <walkerbroadcasting@gmail.com>
Cc: <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 4:17 AM
Subject: Re: Attention all AM DX-ing fans!


With the now-explained unusual propagation conditions, the possible
stations are several -- especially a few 50 kW daytime-only stations.
Like, WWGB, Indian Head, Md., 50 kW, DA. That's a regular visitor at
my home on winter mornings -- as late as 8 or 9 a.m. That station
should have a critical hours license.

A couple additional stations on 1030 kHz are required to reduce power
during critical hours -- including daytimer WBGS, Point Pleasant,
W.V., 50 kW day, directional; 2.9 kW critical hours, non-DA.

Maryland and West Virginia are the closest to Boston of the stations
on 1030.

The earliest time I could find that any station would be switching to
critical hours power was 3:30 p.m., EST, awhile later than when I
thought I heard the audible signal go away. Maybe what I heard was
just a fluctuation.

The other with critical hours operation is WNVR, Vernon Hills, Ill.
(just outside Chicago). The license is 10 kW day, 3.2 kW critical
hours, 0.12 kW night, DA-3. It has an application pending for 27 kW
day, 8 kW critical hours, 0.21 kW night, DA-3.

And in the micro-trivia department: A very old daytime-only station on
1030, KCTA, Corpus Christi, Texas, 50 kW, is licensed to operate from
sunrise at Boston to its local sunset. Somewhere in the mist of radio
history there's a story that goes with that, I'm sure.