The vaugeries and magic of AM radio waves travelin through the ether are what got me interested in this business and even though i know exactly how the magic works, it still fascinates me.
I'm in McGrath, Alaska a community in the west central interior, about 250 miles NW of Anchorage which is 2000 miles away from the two towers in the google street view screen shots below.
The left tower is 790 Watt KIHH Eureka, CA which is fairly regular/commonly heard here and often enough, somewhat to mildly listenable to, at times, outright pile driving in.
The right tower is KATA 1340 Arcata, CA just 4 miles NE across Arcata Bay with 1kw. I just heard it for the first time last night.
Why this all happens fascinates me and makes me wanna figure out why. That oddity probably has a very scientific reason..I'm guessing KIHH's tower is more efficient/taller than 1/4 wave, hence its 790W and that taller tower possibly helps with skywave.
Plus I'm betting the location makes a difference. They're BOTH within about 1/2 mile of the water, BUT KIHH is right on the water looking NW towards me.. so KIHH has very very little to impede its trip to me via the Pacific Ocean
KATA would have to go over several miles of land to reach the Pacific Ocean and get to me.
I find that mildly fascinating, but I'm an nerd.
I'm in McGrath, Alaska a community in the west central interior, about 250 miles NW of Anchorage which is 2000 miles away from the two towers in the google street view screen shots below.
The left tower is 790 Watt KIHH Eureka, CA which is fairly regular/commonly heard here and often enough, somewhat to mildly listenable to, at times, outright pile driving in.
The right tower is KATA 1340 Arcata, CA just 4 miles NE across Arcata Bay with 1kw. I just heard it for the first time last night.
Why this all happens fascinates me and makes me wanna figure out why. That oddity probably has a very scientific reason..I'm guessing KIHH's tower is more efficient/taller than 1/4 wave, hence its 790W and that taller tower possibly helps with skywave.
Plus I'm betting the location makes a difference. They're BOTH within about 1/2 mile of the water, BUT KIHH is right on the water looking NW towards me.. so KIHH has very very little to impede its trip to me via the Pacific Ocean
KATA would have to go over several miles of land to reach the Pacific Ocean and get to me.
I find that mildly fascinating, but I'm an nerd.