Quote:
Originally Posted by electroking
The FCC may write the regulations it wishes, signals that bounce on the ionosphere
will sometimes go very far, sometimes not that far. AM DXing is probably more
interesting than listening to actual program content. I can't wait until the sunset!
By the way, there's a thread on the vanishing AM stations, I will look it up and
post the link.
Here it is:
http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=242866 |
The new regulations certainly can be confusing; my thanks to jr_tech, et al. who set me straight on the 750-mile rule. (I will print that information and file it for future reference.) That explains why I can often hear WBAP-820 in Dallas, WWL-870 in New Orleans, et al. here in northern Ohio after sundown (both stations are well over 1000 miles from my home), and without using an outdoor antenna -- just my Zenith C845 (probably the best AM DXing radio I've ever owned) with its built-in Wavemagnet antenna. Even with many smaller stations permitted to operate with lower power and/or directional signal patterns at night, the 750-mile rule prevents them from interfering with former clear-channel 50kW stations that very likely were there years or decades before any of the smaller local stations were even thought of, and therefore have absolute priority on the frequency in question.
AM DXing can indeed be more interesting than the program content of the stations heard, especially nowadays when many AM stations carry network or satellite programming (particularly talk shows) that is repeated across the US. I think most AM/FM DXers are much more interested in hearing the identification signal of a station they just picked up than they are interested in the programming itself. In many cases, the station ID and local commercials are the only original facets of AM radio programming, as these are always unique to the area in which the station is located.
It wouldn't surprise me either if most big 50kW US stations are running on skeleton crews or less after midnight, when the station is running satellite programming. A small 0.5kW day/0.042kW (42 watts) night former day-only station near where I grew up is now running almost 100 percent satellite-delivered talk programming, as it has been since about five years ago; it would not surprise me if there is only one engineer on duty after midnight and/or after normal business hours, as it doesn't take many people (I don't think, anyway) to operate a radio station programmed almost entirely from satellite feeds. The station near my hometown, in fact, is probably close to 100-percent automated.
A 1kW day/0.5kW night local station about five miles from me is probably, even likely, running 100 percent satellite programming as well, having dropped local programming several years ago. This is the station I've mentioned in previous posts that runs overmodulated black gospel music 24-7; they probably get the programming from one or more satellites and have very few actual people in the studio at any time, except of course for transmitter technicians and the folks who oversee the satellite operations.