Before going to bed I often enjoying scanning the radio dials, listening for signals that don’t come through while the sun is out. A couple of weeks ago the AM band was particularly fertile, especially at the upper end of the dial. These frequencies north of 1600 kHz are known as the “expanded band” because they were added to the service in 1990.
Some factors aiding the reception of distant signals on these frequencies are that there are relatively few stations, and they are limited to a maximum of 1 kilowatt of power at night. That limited power of course is a limitation on overall propagation, but when conditions are right it can mean pretty good long-distance catches.
I received one station over the course of several nights that particularly fascinated me. At 1700 kHz I heard continuous 80s pop music – think Huey Lewis and the News – with an intermittent station ID that was hard to make out, as the signal faded in and out. On the occasions when the ID was clearer I’m pretty sure it was in Spanish, but difficult to understand. Even over the course one hour-long listening session I never heard even one commercial, or anything but the short ID or pop songs.
Very few stations are assigned this frequency – just seven in North America in fact. Looking the list of 1700 AM stations in the US, none is closer than 1400 miles away from my Portland, OR location (that station is in Des Moines, IA). While a couple stations have a Spanish language format, they don’t seem like they’d be playing American 80s pop.
At 949 miles, the closest station is actually in Tecate, Mexico, part of the Tijuana metro area. Unlike the US stations, XEPE-AM broadcasts with 10,000 watts at night. While still about a fifth of clear-channel power, that much signal in a relatively uncrowded band also helps explain why it can come in well on occasion in Oregon.
According to Wikipedia the station has a news-talk format, but that’s not what I’m hearing after dark. It might be that’s the daytime format, and perhaps it reverts to automated music at night just to fill the time. I don’t have a better explanation.
I wasn’t equipped to get a recording of the station, and it hasn’t been coming in clear since about July 6. The radio I’m using is a C.Crane CCRadio 2, which was designed to have excellent AM reception. Radio guru ‘Radio’ Jay Allen says, [f]or raw sensitivity the CC-2 is right up there with the best.”
I’ll keep trying with a recorder handy to see if I can’t get an aircheck to share. Otherwise, let me know if you have another theory on the station’s identity.
