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How To Fix AM Radio

KeithE4 said:
That would describe every AM station in metro Phoenix at night. Not even KFYI and KTAR put a clear signal into the far east valley.
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It describes many markets, the largest with zero full coverage stations is DC. In all, the the top 100 markets there are just about 175 stations that cover at least 80% of the market area day and night. That is an average of less than two stations per market. Some markets like New York and Chicago have multiple full coverage facilities, meaning other markets may have one or none.

The FRC and the FCC never envisioned urban sprawl when they did revamps of the AM allocation system (which dates back 99 years!) and they certainly did not recognize man made interference. But most of all, their dedication to "local" service made the idea of lots of little local stations instead of fewer strong area stations the guiding light of the regulators.
 
TheBigA said:
Except that the government has basically stopped protecting the spectrum. In fact one Commissioner has suggested turning over policing of pirates to the licensees.
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That works, but mostly where "rule of law" is more relaxed.

At the station I worked with in Argentina, we had a crew in a van that patrolled for pirates next to our frequency. The preferred tool was a bat, not a summons.
 
TheBigA said:
In that particular case, they're going to use the frequency to program to a minority who is desperate for any kind of service, even if the audio quality is bad.
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But in the case of KFWB, the "minority" is actually the largest single group of people in Los Angeles, and there are nearly 20 signals, including 5 Class B FMs, serving the segment.
 
DavidEduardo said:

At the station I worked with in Argentina, we had a crew in a van that patrolled for pirates next to our frequency. The preferred tool was a bat, not a summons.
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A little frontier justice with a Louisville Slugger would probably work well here! The thought of this has all the makings of a CKLW 20/20 newscast.
 
I think AM provides an opportunity for Community Based radio that many have been seeking
for so long.

Turn the band into a giant graveyard. Nondirectional stations at 100W-1kW that will be cheap to operate. If they interfere with each other at the margins, oh well. Then these community-based organizations that have been criping about the inability to get space on the dial can finally have their wish.
 
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FreddyE1977 said:
I think AM provides an opportunity for Community Based radio that many have been seeking
for so long.
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The problem is the expense. FM is so much cheaper, and you can throw an antenna up anywhere. AM needs a lot of land.

Right now a lot of non profits can't even handle LPFM. They just do emails.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
Turn the band into a giant graveyard.
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Darned close to that now.

Nondirectional stations at 100W-1kW that will be cheap to operate. If they interfere with each other at the margins, oh well.
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I'm sure I ♥ Debt, Salem, TMISU, Hubbard, et al, will buy into that. NOT.
One of the nasty things about Ancient Modulation is nighttime skywave. Even 100 watts can wreak more havoc than a leaking rear main seal on our '76 Gremlin. YIKES!
 
DrAkbar said:
Darned close to that now.



I'm sure I ♥ Debt, Salem, TMISU, Hubbard, et al, will buy into that. NOT.
One of the nasty things about Ancient Modulation is nighttime skywave. Even 100 watts can wreak more havoc than a leaking rear main seal on our '76 Gremlin. YIKES!
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One needs to only listen to 1230 to hear the results of that experiment. With stations spaced 75 miles apart, bumping the nighttime power up to 1kW did that signal no favors, and it wasn't good even in the days of the mighty KRIZ.

The answer to saving AM is letting dying stations die and not replace them.

I would take the FM translator push one step further: once you put your translator on, sign off the AM for good. The only way to clean up Ancient Modulation is to get stations that shouldn't have been built off of it.
 
DavidEduardo said:


That works, but mostly where "rule of law" is more relaxed.

At the station I worked with in Argentina, we had a crew in a van that patrolled for pirates next to our frequency. The preferred tool was a bat, not a summons.
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A baseball bat? Isn't that an unusual item for an Argentinian to have handy? Or are they often bought for use as weapons online or in specialty sporting goods shops?
 
CTListener said:
A baseball bat? Isn't that an unusual item for an Argentinian to have handy? Or are they often bought for use as weapons online or in specialty sporting goods shops?
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They were cricket bats!
 
johndavis said:
One needs to only listen to 1230 to hear the results of that experiment. With stations spaced 75 miles apart, bumping the nighttime power up to 1kW did that signal no favors, and it wasn't good even in the days of the mighty KRIZ.
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In the heyday of KRIZ & KRUX (late '50s thru early '70s at the latest), the Valley was probably 1/3 of the land area and 1/6 to 1/4 the population (600K to 1 million, depending on the year) that it is today. 250 watts on 1230 and 500 watts on 1360 at night, with little-to-no interference, served most of the market well. Most of the market for their music was Baseline to Bell north and south, and roughly 75th Ave. to Hayden/McClintock Rd. east and west. I doubt either station had a big listenership in Mesa at that point in time.

I do know that both stations blasted into Sun City when I visited my grandparents during that era. They just "loved" it when I tuned their radios to 1230 or 1360. :D
 
CTListener said:
Oh? The Brits brought that game with them when they claimed Las Malvinas, eh?
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They left a big impact on Argentina's sporting culture. There are still soccer clubs with English-language names (Newell's Old Boys, Banfield, and of course there's River Plate). There's also a rugby team and even a Super Rugby franchise in Argentina now.
 
CTListener said:
Oh? The Brits brought that game with them when they claimed Las Malvinas, eh?
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Remember that Argentina is the southernmost country in Europe. :rolleyes:

Nearly 40% of the names in the Buenos Aires phone book are of Italian origin and there are nearly as many English surnames as classic Spanish ones along with a huge numbers of German, Polish, Russian and other European names.
 
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FreddyE1977 said:
Thanks for bringing back fond memories of the '76 Gremlin though. ;)
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We've used a bat to get the starter to work. It was that, or making Nurse Jeff push the King of Kenosha back to Buckeye!
 
KeithE4 said:
250 watts on 1230 and 500 watts on 1360 at night, with little-to-no interference, served most of the market well. Most of the market for their music was Baseline to Bell north and south, and roughly 75th Ave. to Hayden/McClintock Rd. east and west. I doubt either station had a big listenership in Mesa at that point in time.
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Now 12~Thirty becomes unlistenable at PV Mall (Cactus & Tatum) at night, even with 1kw. 13~Sixty does better with their increase to 1kw after the sun goes down. As far as Mesa, why have all the Ancient Modulation stations licensed to that burb moved their sticks out of there? Harold Camping might know, but he's not returning Nurse Jeff's calls.
 
DrAkbar said:
Now 12~Thirty becomes unlistenable at PV Mall (Cactus & Tatum) at night, even with 1kw.
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12-30 is a tough catch after dark at 44th & McDowell... or even 24th & Camelback!

The answer to fixing AM is fewer AM stations. Everybody knows this. It's just that everyone who owns an AM station in this country wants someone else to sign off instead of them.
 
johndavis said:
The answer to fixing AM is fewer AM stations. Everybody knows this. It's just that everyone who owns an AM station in this country wants someone else to sign off instead of them.
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Agreed. FM translators are just a bandage to the problem. I tried listening to 1230's FM translator on South Mountain at 93.7 last night and it kept getting stepped on by KRQQ on both the east and northwest sides. Then there's the low modulation of the 93.9 translator for KBSZ on Usery, which the operator of KWSS-LP and owner of KRDE in Globe have been trying to shut down.
 
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