Mexico question for "Sr. Eduardo"

[Icangelp]

David,

I know at least some Mexican stations use directional antennas. Is there a website with a Mexican station list that shows those using a directional pattern?

How about Central American and South American stations? Do they commonly use directional antennas?

Anyone else with answers feel free to post.

 

[DavidEduardo]

David,

I know at least some Mexican stations use directional antennas. Is there a website with a Mexican station list that shows those using a directional pattern?

There is nothing really accurate beyond what the FCC site has. There are some DA's in Mexico City, and a few others scattered about... mostly on or near the border. If anyone else knows more, I'd love to know, too.

How about Central American and South American stations? Do they commonly use directional antennas?

The only directionals I have seen have been to purposely make a signal conform to a desirable coverage area, not for protection. They operate day and night, for that same reason.

I built the first and, I believe, only directional ever in Ecuador to make Ecos de la Montaña 660 in Quito go up and down the Andean corredor. There was jungle on either side of the sierra, so we pushed a narrow lobe roughly north-south. No papers had to be filed with the government, either.

HJED built a DA in Cali in the early 60's for its 50 kw on 820, to cover the Cauca Valley better.

Recently, I was with Radio 10 in Buenos Aires, where we used a passive reflector (quarter wave non-fed tower) to push the 100 kw signal more towards Buenos Aires itself, since the ambient noise there is dreadful and less power renders an AM useless in many places.

There was a directional for a shared site half way between Rio and Sao Paulo, where one 100 kw AM aims at Rio, and another aims at Sao Paulo... I don't know if that still operates; this would be like sharing a site for a Baltimore and a Washington station, each aimed at their particular market.

Puerto Rico has some directionals, but the ones supposedly operating per NARBA in the Dominican Republic are all what we call "single tower directionals" meaning that they flip the bird at the rules.

In general, there are few directionals. As AM fades in Latin America (some countries are down 30% or so in AM count in the last decade) there will be even less need. Mexico, of course, is trying to move over 90% of all AMs to FM, having already started with the 5 Southeastern states.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Maybe in the future, starting is seems south and north of the US borders, many smaller AMs will go away leaving more room for the powerful ones. IF the band was full of only powerful AMs it would be a much better medium IMHO. I used to work for a 50KW that for the most part had a signal almost like an FM because it overcomes the noise floor very, very nicely. Although very powerful AMs create hell for those close around them and for enginering, and cost bucks to keep running, they actually serve the public better in reality. We just need to migrate lower powered AMs over time to the 2-6 TV band (on a secondary basis if nothing else). Give each of them an analog channel that they can also do the IBUZ thing if they are crazy enough to, and call it a day. If there's any empty holes left (I'm thinking there would be if 2-6 was used) then the LPFM and Godchannel peeps could fill the empty slots. 1KW AM into itself is just too limited.

 

[schmave]

Maybe in the future, starting is seems south and north of the US borders, many smaller AMs will go away leaving more room for the powerful ones. IF the band was full of only powerful AMs it would be a much better medium IMHO. I used to work for a 50KW that for the most part had a signal almost like an FM because it overcomes the noise floor very, very nicely. Although very powerful AMs create hell for those close around them and for enginering, and cost bucks to keep running, they actually serve the public better in reality. We just need to migrate lower powered AMs over time to the 2-6 TV band (on a secondary basis if nothing else). Give each of them an analog channel that they can also do the IBUZ thing if they are crazy enough to, and call it a day. If there's any empty holes left (I'm thinking there would be if 2-6 was used) then the LPFM and Godchannel peeps could fill the empty slots. 1KW AM into itself is just too limited.

That would serve to clean up the band at night here in the southern part of the country too, I would think.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Maybe in the future, starting is seems south and north of the US borders, many smaller AMs will go away leaving more room for the powerful ones.

Mexico intends to try to get very close to all AMs onto FM. Where they can't do this is along the US border, and probably the cities of Monterrey, Mexico and Guadalajara. But in the SE region, the first to start the process, 100% of all AMs in the states of Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Tabasco and Campeche will move to FM, leaving nothing on the dial there. Mexico feels that AM is dead, with most people in the youngest two generations never using it.

A few AMs will be left, but with so little variety on the band overall, I would imagine that those few will not live long lives. I suspect that this is the idea, anyway.

 

[Icangelp]

The removal of the AM "clutter" at first seems like a good thing for us DXers, but if you look at it from a macro view, the migration ultimately leads to elimination of the AM band.

As David has pointed out many times, and some seem to want to ignore or deny, most poeple under 40 are only remotely aware of the AM band, and consider it the domain of the white hairs. Yes, there are exceptions, but it is what it is.

If you think it can't happen here or it will take a long time for it to happen, take a look at Canada. The mandated switch to FM is happening very rapidly...scary fast, and I have a hunch Mexico's switch will be rapid also. I feel sorry for the XEW stations. It wasn't too long ago, they were still creating and broadcasting soap operas, comedy shows and all sorts of other prime-time weekly programing.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

It's got to make me wonder if, when the channels are vacated, if people could go back with a purely digital service instead. If amplitude modulation becomes so unuseful they start shutting them off, is there an oppportunity for a new service there using DRM? One thing that would be very smart in our indstry is to somehow force manufactures utilzing the IBOC chipsets to also include DRM capabilites. Over a period of time more radios will be out there that could receive the DRM signal enabling some AMs to change over to DRM and leave the amplitude modulation in the trash...