"Hi Bud,
Great blog! I’ve found a few KAAY sites out there with information, audio, etc.
As I wrote on my page, I grew up in Minnesota, but discovered KAAY at an early age. From shortly after the sun went down until just before it came up, they were as strong as any of our local Twin Cities stations. I’d fall asleep with Clyde and wake up with Sonny & George. Unfortunately, I don’t have any tape. I hadn’t yet become an aircheck geek. All I have is this short clip from 1982. But as you can hear, the signal is still as strong as it ever into Minnesota!
Speaking of which, why has KAAY’s signal deteoriated so much in recent years? My parents live in Conway, AR. During the day, the signal is okay, but nothing like I’d expect from 50,000 watts only 40-some miles away. At night, there’s a noise floor underneath and it’s only moderate strength. The “figure 8″ nighttime directional pattern points right at Conway, so I’d expect it to be much stronger. Bad transmitter? Rotted ground stystem? Combination of these two?
To access all the airchecks, just mouse over “Radio Geek Heaven! – Airchecks” on the top menu. When you do, a drop down list of all the airchecks will appear. Currently 180 airchecks and growing. Have fun!
Drew"
Drew's website for the audio is: http://elliskansas.info/drew/?page_id=1999 He also has a little more of his history there and what equipment he used to listen. He also runs the website with many money-saving tips, so check it out! We hopefully will get the soundbite here at a later date, but in the meantime, go to Drew's website above and listen. There is an announcer, "Russell Jones" that I've never heard of before...anyone know of him?
Thank you, Drew! Please check in often.
Bud S. (staceys4@hotmail.com)
This looks like a job for LeeRoyMan--aka Dave Montgomery. He would be the most clued-in of all of us to explain the weak signal.
ReplyDeleteMy pet theory is background noise. KAAY is not alone in having diminshed coverage. There's a 5KW on 670 in Glenwood, 35 miles from me, that I cannot pull in. There's another 5KW on 590 in Hot Springs, roughly 30 miles away, same story. There's a couple of 1Ks within 10 and 15 miles, respectively, that might as well not be on the air.
My take is that the amount of electronic intereference to AM has grown exponentially with the increase in computers, cell phones, garage door openers, vacuum cleaners, Skil saws and Lord knows what-all else over the past 20 years.
Felix McDonald used to claim that even leaves on the trees in springtime and summer would interfere with KAAY's coverage, and it's commonly accepted that nobody knows more about RF propagation than he does.
Dave M will be The Man on this issue.
When I knew Russell Jones, he was the sweetest, gentlest kid you could imagine. All he wanted to do was work on the air. I do not know where he is now, so if anyone runs across him, tell him I said hey!
David B. Treadway
Doc Holiday VII