Greg,

I also hear Spanish on 1710. Constant music but once in a while a girl comes on and says something in Spanish. It is faint on my PL-380 here in Lake Villa (North of Chicago).

One day I was out driving and I tuned the car radio to 1710 and heard the same Spanish music. But this time it was about 9 AM and the signal was stronger. I drove about 5 miles into the city of Waukegan and the signal got much stronger - the strength of a local station.

The point here is that I believe that this station is a low power transmitter run by a local organization (church?). It may be legal as I see low power AM transmitting kits (1 watt or less) on the internet.

A few days ago I heard another low power transmission on 1710 kHz. This time in English and broadcasting an old time radio drama. I followed the signal in my car and located it in Antioch IL. They had a legal ID on the TOH ("This is WEDM the Antioch broadcasting network").

Perhaps your signal is a similar low power quasi-legal station and you are receiving it at a time which allows for longer distance reception.

My suggestion is that you also drive around and see if the station comes in stronger.

Ed Semrad
Lake Villa IL