AM Radio

You haven't tuned in to Reddit, either, where there is a discussion going on on this topic right now.

I listen to AM in my car every day, and I'm listening to it right now at work. Talk radio is still alive and well on AM, and as long as people are tuning in, advertisers will pay for spots, and the stations will stay on the air!

Tom

FM is very spotty in mountainous areas because of the LOS nature of commercial FM broadcasts. Unless they can site the antenna on the highest peak in the area. And range can be an issue as well. Was that Steely Dan I was hearing through the static?

Was that Steely Dan I was hearing through the static?

Can't be. No static at all......Fffffff Mmmmmmm.

AM = "poor man's" DIY lightning detector...just use triangulation.

I saw somebody driving along in a model T the other day listening to an AM station, what's up with that?

http://tunein.com/radio/Coast-to-Coast-AM-p35675/

I have been listening to Coast to Coast AM for 30+ years now. I really miss the Art Bell days.

I listen to AM talk radio when I drive. Not much on FM here in the Shenandoah Valley that interests me. Plus we are in the Greenbank radio telescope quiet zone so transmitter powers are reduced which just makes FM more difficult.

And, OTA radio here at night??!! Forget it! I use TuneIn radio app for night listening at home.

Hooker

Yes, I've noticed that Bright Radio 105.7 Luray (Sassy Soul and Fun Time Rock and Roll) doesn't carry very far and neither does Star Radio 94.3 Staunton.

A little research shows 105.7 transmitting at 150 watts and 94.3 at 340 watts. The big city stations in Baltimore are running up 25,000 watts.

25,000 watts?

Out here in the prairies our smaller stations burn that much power just keeping the tower lights blinking!

Around here if it's under a 100 KW it's just a small town hobby station and not worth taking serious.

Out your way, you have to pack a lunch when you drive to your next door neighbor.

And we like it that way!

Around here if it's under a 100 KW it's just a small town hobby station...

50 kW is the highest power authorized to any AM station in the United States.

Zvi

The key word is 'authorized'.

Are you serious?

On July 1st of this year the FCC raised the maximum penalty to $47,340 for each violation, or each day of a continuing violation.

No, that's a satellite radio station. What's the penalty for processing classified information on a private email server?

What's the penalty for processing classified information on a private email server?

Nomination to run for president.

Standard FM station power here.

You've got your oranges and apples mixed up.

How so?

Do explain.

Commercial FM (88-108 MHz) broadcast propagation is line-of-site. Reception starts to get lost at 50-60 miles distant from the station. More power ain't gonna help much. Larger stations will have 40 - 80 KW transmitters with 100 KW or more effective signal strength, depending on antenna height and gain.

Commercial AM (540-1710 KHz) broadcast propagation hugs the earth's surface. A 50KW station can be received at distances of hundreds of miles and more from the station.

In 1933 Crosley's WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio, received a permit to broadcast on 700 KHz with a power of 500 KW. Input power was 750 KW plus 400 KW for the audio modulation amplifier. The transmitter and antenna was said to have cost $500,000 in Depression dollars!

Based on international agreements, Congress set a maximum of 50 KW for commercial AM broadcast licenses, which remains in force today.

That does nothing to answer my question. Nor relate to anything I was talking about.

Please explain your curt comment: "Standard FM station power here."

Perhaps I misunderstood.

Follow each post to its related post its replying to then read them forward to get the context of the conversation.

That's where the FM wattage comments come in to proper context.

Post #10 dealing with FM broadcasting stated "...big city stations in Baltimore are running up 25,000 watts." In reply you wrote: "Around here if it's under a 100 KW it's just a small town hobby station and not worth taking serious."

Attempting to return to the thread's subject of AM radio, I wrote that "50 kW is the highest power authorized to any AM station in the United States."

For AM in the USA, 50KW is the maximum allowed RF output power of the transmitter being fed into the antenna. These "clear channel" stations are received for distances of many hundreds of miles and more.

For FM in the USA, 100KW is the maximum allowed effective radiated power (ERP) with limits of 25KW and 50KW in NE coastal states and in California. ERP is the result of transmitter power, antenna height and antenna gain. Typical transmitter RF outlet power for a 100KW station is around 20KW and a 80-100 mile reception radius.

That's what I meant by oranges and apples.

Now, let's get back back to "...why there is still AM broadcasting?"

Alternatively, change the format to "Nested" rather than "Chronological" to see the sequence better.

^{This post was brought to you by ER Productions (c) an entirely independent information service}

Thanks!

"I haven't tuned in to AM for at least 50 years."

I'm heading that way with FM now. My daily drivers all have aftermarket Pioneer head units with USB input so I have zero reason to ever tune into the babbling drivel that passes for radio station DJ work or the weak mass produced monkey chants they talk through as well.

As far as AM, well, I'd rather listen to nothing first.

Umm...

I see.

Spellcheck took the liberty of replacing 'crap' with 'chant' and I didn't catch it.

I can still get the BBC Home Service.

Is that on BBC Radio 4's LW transmitter? The BBC keep trying to turn it off, but folks in the wilds of Scotland can't receive anything else...

If you've driven into the boondocks or the outback, what are your chances of hearing the nearest FM station which may be several hundred miles away, even if it is dead flat, but not line of sight? And when you have conditions that cause mirages, it's even worse, as it refracts the signal into the sky.

Ask workers who operate in these areas why they use AM or satellites for comms.

You can increase reception of FM by making it more directional (with a YAGI) or by utilizing the ground wave. To do that, you find the line of sight direction and lay one leg of the di-pole antenna across the ground perpendicular to the direction of the desired station, and then lift the other leg of the dipole vertical. This will allow you to even pick up a station on the other side of a hill when your receiver is in the shadow of the hill.

I've got about an hour-long commute to/from work. I'd been listening to talk radio (AM and FM), but I am so sick of the the discussions about the elections and all the awful events that pass as 'news', that I found myself punching the buttons all the time to change the stations.

I asked my son if there were any good podcasts he listens to and he mentioned his favorite, 'Hello Internet'. It's fantastic. There are about 70 episodes so far, starting in Jan/Feb 2014, and many are 1.5 to 2 hours long. I'm only on Ep 12, so I have a lot to catch up on. I've got them loaded on my iphone and I plug the phone into the radio (no bluetooth) and listen via the radio speakers in my car.

In a recent episode they mentioned the epic 'Red Letter Media' reviews of Star Wars 1-3. I first watched those reviews maybe 5 years ago and loved them (they're hilarious) -- so the Hello Internet guys are my kind of guys. They (Brady Haran and CPG Gray) are both well-known makers of YouTube videos about science and math and other interesting stuff. One of Brady Haran's YouTube channels is 'Numberphile' which I also enjoy.

Oops... CGP Grey.

Because of am radio, it has helped stir curiosity in the mind of my ten year old nephew.

He was amazed that a zenor diode, a used toilet paper roll, 25' of bell wire, a strip of metal from a starkist tuna can and a ear bud could allow him to hear an over the air broadcast.

It's interesting that this and other simple to build devices are often the building blocks that help guide young boys and girls toward technical, analytical and engineering careers.

My first radio was a crystal set that used a real chunk of germanium crystal! Hooked the antenna lead to the metal finger stop on our dial telephone and picked up the local AM station in our small town. I think that was the beginning of my engineering life.

Are you sure it was germanium?

I and my family built many crystal radios during the '40's. At first we made them using galena (lead sulfide crystals) and fool's gold (iron pyrites, iron sulfide crystals). Later on we bought crystals already mounted in a lead (I think) base. I don't remember whether those were galena or germanium; I do know from the color they were not iron sulfide.

In the early '50's, I acquired a commercially made crystal radio enclosed in a nice wooden box. Unfortunately, it got lost in one of our several moves...

That experience was a major influence on the beginning of my science/engineering life as well.

Not sure. I was maybe 10, it was built on a cardboard box and the crystal was just a lump that fit between two metal strips. But it sure was magical.

Mine too! My bed was next to the only phone in our house (8 person party line at first) and I could listen at night when it was quiet.

My brother did become an EE, I did not. I liked to take things apart. I leaned toward mechanical.

Zener diode? Possibly germanium or silicon diode!

??

I thought they were 100 per cent pure zener.

I thought that's what the guy at radio shack said !

Normally germanium, due to the much lower conduction voltage (≈0.3 V for germanium vs. ≈0.6 V for silicon. Zeners are even higher, so I wouldn't think they would be very good at all...

Judging by the responses, it appears AM radio is still around because of reception issues. I guess there are still areas of the country where FM signals are weak or non existent.

Every once in a while, while traveling by car, I used to try tuning to AM, when I lost my home FM station, and couldn't find anything I liked on other FM stations. I rarely found anything worth listening to on AM, either.

Fortunately, I now have satellite radio in my car. It is wonderful to be able to travel hundreds of miles without having to search for new stations! I still prefer one of my local NPR stations (most of the time) when I'm near home, but as soon as it starts fading, or they play music I don't care for, I switch to satellite.

When I'm bored with all other car audio I like to 'DX' AM stations when the sun goes down. I think WTAM in Cleveland is the furthest I've hit loud and clear (in Northeastern NY). I'm guessing that's probably a niche use though.

WLS, Chicago from central Ark.

Dick Beondi, I think that's how it's spelled.

Nicely done--you've got 150 miles on me then. I'll have to try to hear WLS.

"Audio radiance for our radio audience." That's what I remember from WLS.

Ah, fond memories of "Little Tommy" and "Animal Stories" on WLS. Little Tommy was always concerned about the animals involved, while never expressing concern for the people. Made for some hilarious segments, IE "Tiger attacks woman at zoo!", the first question out of Tommy would be "Is the tiger all right?" :)

I can still recall the tune of the call letter jingle.

Tom