AM Radio Stations
Have you ever road tripped across the country and wondered how to find the strong AM signals? I put a list of the strongest stations in the eastern two-thirds of the nation down below. But there is another way to use these towers too.
ADF Hunting For Your Cessna
I want to introduce you to a little thing we called ADF hunting. One type of navigational aid used in aviation is a non-directional beacon (NDB.) Pilots can tune an NDB station with an automatic direction finder (ADF). When an ADF is tuned to a station, a needle will point toward the NDB antenna. It’s a crude, and not-often-used system but it still functions today.
One interesting thing about NDB’s is they are within the same frequency range as AM radio. AM stations use every tenth channel while the 9 in the middle are set aside for NDB use. An ADF is capable of tuning AM radio and usually can be selected to a voice mode to listen to the station. This is, of course, one additional way of increasing situational awareness by knowing where large nearby towns are because as you tune an AM station, the ADF needle will also point to the tower it is broadcast from.
Radio transmissions are measured in Watts. The highest AM frequency wattage licensed to stations is 50,000 watts. The following list contains these stations by location and frequency.
List of AM Radio Stations
The following is a list of major AM stations by state. It is great both for pilots and roadtrippers alike.
Alabama
WAPI 1070 Birmingham, Alabama
WJOX 690 Birmingham, Alabama
WXJC 850 Birmingham, Alabama
WLOR 1550 Huntsville, Alabama
Arkansas
KAAY 1090 Little Rock, Arkansas
KLRG 880 Sheridan, Arkansas
Colorado
KMXA 1090 Aurora, Colorado
KLTT 670 Commerce City, Colorado
KOA 850 Denver, Colorado
KNZZ 1100 Grand Junction, Colorado
KRCN 1060 Longmont, Colorado
KDSP 760 Thornton, Colorado
Connecticut
WTIC 1080 Hartford, Connecticut
Florida
WWBC1510 Cocoa, Florida
WHIM 1080 Coral Gables, Florida
WJNJ 1320 Jacksonville, Florida
WOKV 690 Jacksonville, Florida
WJXL 1010 Jacksonville Beach, Florida
WINZ 940 Miami, Florida
WWFE 670 Miami, Florida
WDYZ 990 Orlando, Florida
WFLF 540 Orlando, Florida
WWNN1470 Pompano Beach, Florida
WJUA 1200 Pine Island Center, Florida
WHFS 1010 Seffner, Florida
WIXC 1060 Titusville, Florida
Georgia
WGST 640 Atlanta, Georgia
WSB 750 Atlanta, Georgia
WPBS 1040 Atlanta, Georgia
WMAC 940 Macon, Georgia
WCNN 680 North Atlanta, Georgia
WAZX 1550 Smyrna, Georgia
WKNG 1060 Talapoosa, Georgia
Illinois
WBBM 780 Chicago, Illinois
WYLL 1160 Chicago, Illinois
WGN 720 Chicago, Illinois
WSCR 670 Chicago, Illinois
WLS 890 Chicago, Illinois
WMVP 1000 Chicago, Illinois
Indiana
WOWO1190 Fort Wayne, Indiana
WFNI 1070 Indianapolis, Indiana
Iowa
WHO 1040 Des Moines, Iowa
KXEL 1540 Waterloo, Iowa
Kentucky
WHAS 840 Louisville, Kentucky
Louisiana
KEEL 710 Shreveport, Louisiana
KWKH 1130 Shreveport, Louisiana
Massachusetts
WBZ 1030 Boston, Massachusetts
WMEX 1510 Boston, Massachusetts
WEEI 850 Boston, Massachusetts
WRKO 680 Boston, Massachusetts
WQOM1060 Natick, Massachusetts
WXKS 1200 Newton, Massachusetts
WNNZ 640 Westfield, Massachusetts
WCRN 830 Worcester, Massachusetts
Maryland
WBAL 1090 Baltimore, Maryland
WCBM 680 Baltimore, Maryland
WWGB1030 Indian Head, Maryland
WJFK 1580 Morningside, Maryland
WQLL 1370 Pikesville, Maryland
Michigan
WDFN 1130 Detroit, Michigan
WJR 760 Detroit, Michigan
WXYT 1270 Detroit, Michigan
WWJ 950 Detroit, Michigan
WLQV 1500 Detroit, Michigan
WFDF 910 Farmington Hills, Michigan
WJNL 1210 Kingsley, Michigan
WMUZ 1200 Taylor, Michigan
WTCM 580 Traverse City, Michigan
Minnesota
WCTS 1030 Maplewood, Minnesota
KTIS 900 Minneapolis, Minnesota
KTLK 1130 Minneapolis, Minnesota
WCCO 830 Minneapolis, Minnesota
KYES 1180 Rockville, Minnesota
KSTP 1500 Saint Paul, Minnesota
Mississippi
WSJC 810 Magee, Mississippi
WJNT 1180 Pearl, Mississippi
Missouri
WHB 810 Kansas City, Missouri
KMOX 1120 St. Louis, Missouri
KXEN 1010 St. Louis, Missouri
KZQZ 1430 St. Louis, Missouri
Montana
KOFI 1180 Kalispell, Montana
KERR 750 Polson, Montana
Nebraska
KRVN 880 Lexington, Nebraska
KFAB 1110 Omaha, Nebraska
KMMQ 1020 Plattsmouth, Nebraska
New Jersey
WWJZ 640 Mount Holly, New Jersey
New Mexico
KKOB 770 Albuquerque, New Mexico
KCKN 1020 Roswell, New Mexico
New York
WDCD 1540 Albany, New York
WABC 770 New York, New York
WOR 710 New York, New York
WADO 1280 New York, New York
WCBS 880 New York, New York
WBBR 1130 New York, New York
WEPN 1050 New York, New York
WFAN 660 New York, New York
WFME 1560 New York, New York
WINS 1010 New York, New York
WHAM 1180 Rochester, New York
WGY 810 Schenectady, New York
North Carolina
KWBT 1110 Charlotte, North Carolina
WNCT 1070 Greenville, North Carolina
WTRU 830 Kernersville, North Carolina
WGCR 720 Pisgah Forest, North Carolina
WPTF 680 Raleigh, North Carolina
WDRU 1030 Wake Forest, North Carolina
North Dakota
KXMR 710 Bismark, North Dakota
KNFL 740 Fargo, North Dakota
KFNW 1200 West Fargo, North Dakota
Ohio
WCKY 1530 Cincinnati, Ohio
WHKW1220 Cleveland, Ohio
WKNR 850 Cleveland, Ohio
WTAM 1100 Cleveland, Ohio
WLW 700 Cincinnati, Ohio
Oklahoma
KOKC 1520 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
KFAQ 1170 Tulsa, Oklahoma
KRMG 740 Tulsa, Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
KYW 1060 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
WNTP 990 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
WNWR1540 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
WPHT 1210 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
KDKA 1020 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
WWNL 1080 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
South Carolina
WBAJ 890 Blythewood, South Carolina
WCEO 840 Columbia, South Carolina
WLFJ 660 Greenville, South Carolina
WCSZ 1070 Sans Souci, South Carolina
Tennessee
WCRT 1160 Donelson, Tennessee
WMQM1600 Lakeland, Tennessee
WFLI 1070 Lookout Mountain, Tennessee
WDIA 1070 Memphis, Tennessee
WGSF 1030 Memphis, Tennessee
WLAC 1510 Nashville, Tennessee
WNQM1300 Nashville, Tennessee
WSM 650 Nashville, Tennessee
Texas
KCTA 1030 Corpus Christi, Texas
KRLD 1080 Dallas, Texas
KFLC 1270 Fort Worth, Texas
WBAP 820 Fort Worth, Texas
KFXR 1190 Dallas, Texas
KGBT 1530 Harlingen, Texas
KTRH 740 Houston, Texas
KGOL 1180 Humble, Texas
KMNY 1360 Hurst, Texas
KVTT 1110 Mineral Wells, Texas
KKYX 680 San Antonio, Texas
KTKR 760 San Antonio, Texas
WOAI 1200 San Antonio, Texas
KTNO 1440 University Park, Texas
Virginia
WCRW1190 Leesburg, Virginia
WTAR 850 Norfolk, Virginia
WRVA 1140 Richmond, Virginia
West Virginia
WWVA 1170 Wheeling, West Virginia
Washington DC
WFED 1500 Washington, D.C.
WTEM 980 Washington, D.C.
Wisconsin
WISN 1130 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
WTMJ 620 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Wyoming
KTWO 1030 Casper, Wyoming