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March 23, 2025 7:58 pm  #1


Pirate on AM 1620

You folks wanna hear a pirate on AM? Oldies with no announcer on 1620 right now at 8pm Sunday. Decent signal into Kawarthas, south antenna. Could be anywhere in the northeastern N.A.

 

March 24, 2025 11:20 am  #2


Re: Pirate on AM 1620

The even frequencies in the extended band (1620, 1640, 1660, 1680 and 1700) are primarily assigned to the United States.  The closest station is WDHP in Frederiksted, Virginia. It operates at 10 kW day and 1 kW night.  Any legit station must identify call sign and city of license as close to the top of the hour as possible.  If you don't hear a station ID, then maybe it is a pirate.
Given the high frequency, almost at the low end of the shortwave band, you can expect some daytime skywave reception.

Last edited by Skywave (March 24, 2025 11:23 am)

 

March 24, 2025 12:05 pm  #3


Re: Pirate on AM 1620

Skywave wrote:

The even frequencies in the extended band (1620, 1640, 1660, 1680 and 1700) are primarily assigned to the United States.  The closest station is WDHP in Frederiksted, Virginia. It operates at 10 kW day and 1 kW night.  Any legit station must identify call sign and city of license as close to the top of the hour as possible.  If you don't hear a station ID, then maybe it is a pirate.
Given the high frequency, almost at the low end of the shortwave band, you can expect some daytime skywave reception.

WDHP is in the US Virgin Islands, not Virginia. So one of the farthest from ON, actually. I have heard it - in fact I stumbled upon it unexpectedly when it was first testing many years ago. It comes in occasionally during good southerly conditions. There are 1620s in Nebraska, Florida, Texas, California and Washington State. Also some Rebelde outlets in Cuba. Some weak ones in Mexico. Also lots of micro-powered highway info and public service stations (I've heard from IL, OH and elsewhere). Before the X-Band came along, 1610 and 1620 were hot for pirates, especially in the NYC area.
 

     Thread Starter
 

March 24, 2025 12:08 pm  #4


Re: Pirate on AM 1620

So much for my knowledge of US state codes.