AM Broadcast Station - - 1 Watt Night Time Power

Actually, they have had a lot of
problems. They were also silent
for a while.

Bruce, DRS2

Imagine being hired by a 1-Watt station to do their night shift.

It would be kind of a DX challenge. If you can hear me, honk your horn. I'll hear it.

The only time I ever worked in
commercial broadcasting was at
a talk station in Bloomfield, CT -
not too far from West Hartford, where
I live now.

The station's studios were in a building in West
Hartford, but the transmitter was
in Bloomfield, CT, about 9 miles away.

This was a 6 tower array. I'd have to look
at a map to try to figure out which way
the nighttime lobe went, and if it pointed
to that studio at all.

In any case, when we went to the nighttime
power/pattern, it was very hard to hear the
station's signal on the studio air monitor.

I would walk home to my apartment in Newington, CT
2 or 3 miles from the station's studios. At
my apartment, the signal was a big mess. The
station was fighting with a Canadian on the
channel and losing. I guess the lobe was
really missing my apartment.

I understand the station blasted into the
Bahamas at night. This was on 1550 kHz.

Bruce, DRS2

WJJT-AM, 1540KHz, Jellico Tennessee (my dad's birthplace). Their nighttime signal doesn't even cover the entire town with a strong signal!!!!!! Look at the radio locator map. It's amazing! http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WJJT&service=AM&status=L&hours=N

Divide that by 10 and you got what 100mW would do on that tower. It would probably cover a block or 2.

Thanks for that one, Channel X 1610!

Bruce, DRS2

I found an FM blowtorch!!!!! WNOX, 100kW, 100.3 FM has a blowtorch signal. Their signal covers the entire Knoxville market with a strong signal and the fringe area is as far away as northern Georgia!!!! That blows my mind!!!!!! No wonder I heard that station near Lexington on 75 one time. I thought it was E-skip but that was fringe coverage!!!!!

I bet it would make for epic e-skip! People could probably hear it in Canada.

About 7 months ago...while a certain AM station here remains dark, I took the opportunity to play around with a AMT 3K modified for 50 ohm output feeding an LPB TCU-30 coupler connected to a 120 foot monopole AM tower over a 120 wire ground radial system.

2 blocks?

Heh.

RFB

I'm curious to know how far the signal traveled off such a tall tower with so many radials. I'd guess 10 miles.

My few block estimate was by dividing the coverage map for WJJT by 10. Real world results will always vary.

I get 2-blocks using a window.

Tests were done with an unmodulated carrier on 1230Khz.

Using an aftermarket radio in an 85 Chevy 4x4 with the embedded window antenna, the signal was wall to wall clear for about 1 mile, I mean clear clear.

At just under 2 miles the signal began to get a little noise but not anything like that from a 3 meter antenna at 1/2 mile.

At 3 miles the signal was about equal to that of a good 3 meter antenna system at 1/2 mile, more or less.

At 5 miles it was like DX listening.

The tests were done during the daytime because at night from 1190 up skywave blasts in.

RFB

In West Hartford, in about 1981 (?)
there was a 1 kW daytimer on
1550, that also used a 2 1/2 watt
pre-sunrise authorization.

My friend, who was the chief
engineer for that station,
did a test for the National
Radio Club. This was running
the 1000 watt daytime authorization.
He played music and did test tones
and did announcements.

But we had a good friend in Chicago,
who was listening, too. The channel
was crowded out there, but with the
BFO running on his communications
receiver, he did hear the 1000 watt
carrier, as we turned it the carrier on
and off (so it would be easier for
him to notice.)

Then we went down to 2 1/2 watts. He
heard that too (with the BFO on) as we turned it on
and off. It was very weak on the
crowded channel, but this guy was (still is)
a master DXer, and knows how to listen.

Bruce, DRS2

If you think WNOX is a blowtorch, take a gander at most of not all the Dallas stations, those FMs go for 70 miles plus.
Theres a few up north that have 300 kW.

And for distance, by golly the Kansas Stations go forever. AM FM and Two Way.

Its so flat here nothing fades out.

No thought is too small for me to ponder......

Blowtorch is a good description for a station that "blazes" with power, but what would be bigger than that?

SOLAR POWER !!

But I don't mean capturing the sun rays for making trickles of electricty.

I'm talking about generating major power with a SOLAR BLASTER RADIO SIGNAL that leaves those blowtorchers far behind.

The way I see it is... first, we build our mall in space, in anticipation of space tourism,.... then we erect the giant space tower on the mall aimed at entire earth hemispheres.

By the time the FCC rocket arrives to shut us down, we will be prepared with beautiful women and cases of whiskey as our gesture of welcome.

Let's all be friends. We're in outer space.