KXOK VS KDWB 1960'S

[JohnnyOhJohnny]

Does anyone remember getting KXOK in the twin cities when KDWB went off the air? or Vice Versa? 

[cyberdad]

Nope.....

When I started going to the Twin Cities on a regular basis for business in the 80s, KDWB was an oldies station with a lousy nighttime signal.  I don't remember offhand if the St. Louis station had switched calls by then or not, but when KDWB was off....or more correctly went silent...CKRC from Winnipeg was normally top dog.  Of course, CKRC has also been silent itself for at least a dozen years or so.

When I was in College in southeast Iowa in the late 60s, KXOK was a rather popular daytime listen, but disappeared completely when they went to their nighttime pattern.   I mention this because the school was located on a direct line between St. Louis and St. Paul.  (And indeed is now on the "Avenue of the Saints" highway).

[vibe]

I stayed at the Avenue of the Saints motel in Donellson IA (2008?).  Small town, quiet, good AM spot to DX because of lack of external noise. 
Cool town- pop. 1000 or so w/ a 9H golf course-18H w/ cart $15.  12 oz rib eye, salad, potato 6.95, and stock car racing on Sat nites.  But a good spot to explore nearby Ft. Madison, Keokuk, Nauvoo and other places. 
So I'm off topic-the place was really nice, clean, and $30 or so.  And the ground conductivity was something else as the room backed up to a cornfield.

[cyberdad]

Ahh....Donellson, IA.... 

About 15 miles from where I went to school.  Once went out with a girl from there. 

But my favorite memory was being in my roommate's car and getting stopped by the local cop (apparently a close relative of Barney Fife) after a standard Friday night beer drinking episode.  While my roomate was busy successfully talking his way out of a ticket, three of us were standing behind the 1959 Ford squad car (this was now 1969). After we discretely finished relieving ourselves behind the rear bumper, we noticed that most of the lights etc. on the car were simply glued onto the vehicle.  Not hooked up to anything!  Bogus...purely for effect!

There's more to the story, but far be it from me to veer off topic.

[radioman148]

Speaking of KXOK, I used to be able to hear it in the Northern Chicago suburbs sometimes during the day in the 60s. If I positioned the radio one way I heard KXOK, if I moved it the other way CFCO.
Anyway KXOK was a great Top 40 station back then. At night their directional pattern made it impossible for me to hear around Chicago, but it came in
like a local in New Orleans when I visited family there.

[Schroedingers Cat]

When KDWB (or whatever the call letters are on 630 this week), and apparently CKRC, went silent or became daytime only, it allowed CFCO Chatham, ON to upgrade to 6 kW night using five of their existing towers.  The pattern maximum to the NW is equivalent to about 30 kW based on Class B minimum efficiency.  If they had built a new antenna array, they might have been able to run even more power, but you may notice that CFCO comes in a good percentage of the time at night now.

[radioman148]

When KDWB (or whatever the call letters are on 630 this week), and apparently CKRC, went silent or became daytime only, it allowed CFCO Chatham, ON to upgrade to 6 kW night using five of their existing towers.  The pattern maximum to the NW is equivalent to about 30 kW based on Class B minimum efficiency.  If they had built a new antenna array, they might have been able to run even more power, but you may notice that CFCO comes in a good percentage of the time at night now.

CFCO comes into the northern burbs of Chicago during the day. A nice haul from Chatham, Ontario.

[Steve Green NEPA]

From the Laurelton Queens (NYC) area,    it was WPRO Providence in the day with a little WEJL Scranton if you nulled WPRO and caught a break from the searing violins of WVNJ 620.

But on those swell overnights when a lot of stations were off dial-wide,  KXOK could be pretty listenable.     Never did log KDWB,  though.

[cyberdad]

KDWB's 500-watt nighttime pattern was very directional and narrow to the west.  I never heard it here in the Chicago area....or in Iowa.  In fact, during the late '80s, when I'd visit a customer of mine in Lakeville, MN....about 20 miles south of downtown Minneapolis...I'd get splatter in the car radio from WOI in Ames, IA.  Even at 5kw, the daytime signal was also directional and not that great.  The fact that the ground conductivity immediately around the Twin Cities is generally pretty lousy didn't help matters.

As for CFCO, when I was in Northern Minnesota and in Winnipeg a couple of months ago, it was roaring in each night.  I was a little surprised, but the equivalent of 30kw aimed at me would certainly explain things!

[cyberdad]

CFCO comes into the northern burbs of Chicago during the day. A nice haul from Chatham, Ontario.

As you know, I'm about 25-30 miles west of you, and I've never heard them during the day except once in a while right after sunrise.  If anything, during the day here, I'll sometimes get snatches of KJSL....but even that's less frequent now that was the case as KXOK. 

I've driven by CFCO's array many times.  It's clearly visible about a mile or two north of the 401 freeway which connects Detroit-Windsor with Toronto.  Tall towers planted in level farm country ground with what I'd presume to be excellent conductivity.  No buildings, development, or anything similar nearby to obstruct or degrade the signal.