Its definitely not WVON from Chicago. Signal is strong & clear up here. It pops on, plays for a couple hours then suddenly disappears. No trace of the blowtorches from Chicago on 670/720/780. Plus, WVON is a talk station and only 10kW with a non-directional pattern.
In previous broadcasts, the playlist coincided with 680 WINR's playlist, incl a couple of the DJs.
Today it didn't match up with anything I found. In a previous logging, the DJ on the air was "Dangerous Dan," who at the time was on WINR's page. Checking their site now, no Dan. But, Dangerous Dan Allen now shows up at 1480 WDJO.
Internet search came up with him on the old WINR:
http://www.oldies969fm.com/pages/danallen.htmlAt 1815Z today, the DJ said his name was Craig Stevens. At WDJO, no Craig Stevens, but there is a Craig Roberts, Harry Stephens and Gary Stevens.
There is a bio of Craig Stevens buried at WINR (Internet search turned it up):
http://www.oldies969fm.com/pages/craigstevens.html?article=11054965Recorded our 1690 broadcast today and listened to 1815Z repeatedly and it sounds like "Craig Stevens," not Harry nor Gary.
One interesting post from Jan 2012 where Dangerous Dan gave some insight:
http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=205333.0No big mystery or drama. WDJO was my Sunday diversion but my full time job at Clear Channel is pretty demanding. After WSAI changed format I moved the Real Oldies format online to IHeartradio.com and as of today, I am going to be on there daily from 10am to 3pm. The format also debuted today in Binghamton, New York on 680 WINR and I can be heard there as well. I'm joined by my old friends Bobby Leach and Marty Thompson so it should be fun.
I've enjoyed my time at WDJO but, alas, it's time for me to move along. As you noted, I will be available for fill-in and that includes Dial-A-Hit where I will, of course, play requests mixed in with my personal all-time favorites. I'm hard to control.
My full-time employer is Clear Channel. They allowed me to be on WDJO in addition to my work for CC. I've been programming Real Oldies for Clear Channel non-stop since 2003. That was long before I was part of the WDJO team. There is no conflict.
Which brings up another question- Dan said in 2012 he's gone on Sundays from WDJO, but he shows up on their site today. Perhaps gone then returned? Certainly not uncommon.
The 1690 source is probably an Internet stream of The Real Oldies Channel (although I can hear no digitization from a low-quality stream). If it is a broadcaster testing, then maybe getting the high quality feed off a satellite. Today's broadcast didn't match any live playlists, so could've been a recording. Didn't see The Real Oldies Channel on Sirius nor XM.
This has been going on for at least 4 months since I first found 'em. In that time, no ID and no FCC records of any lic station nor CP in MN on 1690.
Pirate? If so, it has really good range. within about a 5-7 area around my house, the signal was strong and consistent. That was from observations when & I was out for doing other things or asking friends to tune in when I was on the phone with them. Luckily they obliged and although took a bit of explaining when the station suddenly went away.
As of now, I'm still betting on a legit broadcaster that's testing & whatnot. Why four months for only a few random hours? Who knows.