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I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I woke up early Tuesday hoping to beat the rain to get the dog out for a walk. I turned on AM 640 around 5 AM and was surprised at what I heard. Or what I almost didn't hear.
Their signal was so bad, I could barely make it out. It was weak and staticy, had no bass and just did not come in well. Greg Brady's show, which starts at 5:30, was similarly affected and the mix on Alan Cross' History of New Music segment was all but inaudible.
But then, at precisely 5:51 (I know, because Brady was giving a time check at that exact moment) it popped back in at full strength. Not sure what happened (it my have been routine transmitter maintenance) but I have to admit, after their awful third quarter report on Monday, that I briefly pondered whether Corus was trying to save money by turning down the power!
They're back to normal now, but I wonder if anyone else noticed this.
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Was the signal weak enough to null and maybe receive a distant signal?
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Sadly, no. Just weak and noisy, but not enough to hear anything else. My biggest catch on 640 was probably KFI Los Angeles, but that was before CFGM moved to 640 and there was nothing locally on the frequency. It was a very long time ago!
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RadioActive wrote:
Sadly, no. Just weak and noisy, but not enough to hear anything else. My biggest catch on 640 was probably KFI Los Angeles, but that was before CFGM moved to 640 and there was nothing locally on the frequency. It was a very long time ago!
It was hearing KFI that got me into the DX hobby way back in the day. I think it was hitting the west coast that did it.
The band is much more crowded today (in the US). Back then KFI pretty much came in alone at night.
Even if AM 640 were to go off, likely replacements would include a powerful Cuban, Peotone IL and Akron OH, with others in the wings.
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I'd forgotten about Akron, it's been so long since that frequency was free.
The only other California station I ever got here was KCBS San Francisco, back in the days when CBL was still on 740 - and signed off at 1 AM.