Come Home.
LOL buy a Ford as they will recive your station better than any other on AM.
As for computer sims , Uh just take a look at the weather sims and you can see for your self that they are as good as a lump of coal for weather pradiction ,, In fact the Old Famers guys have been better over than Noaa ..
But one last note , Try and be positive in the post that you make and see how much better everyone will feel after words..
BTW An Rangemaster or an SS Trans 5000 will both go over a mile here in Santa Cruz Ca with a one wire to ground rod. heck for that matter so will a TH with an ATU.
Hey Lefty, What is the ground conductivity where ur at?
As for computer sims , Uh just take a look at the weather sims and you can see for your self that they are as good as a lump of coal for weather pradiction
Just to point out that the FCC accepts the results of NEC modeling in the design and proof of performance of the directional arrays used by licensed AM broadcast stations.
Weather Sims are quite accurate. The forecasting trends of hurricanes gets tighter and tight each year. Both NEC and Storm Modeling are based on the laws of physics and are only as accurate as the data that is entered.
Weather simulations, although based in scientific calculation, are not comparable to radio frequency simulations because the weather is dynamic and RF is static.
Weather sumulations may be very accurate these days compared to the past, but from my observations that accuracy is very short term... the NOAA Weather forecasts change constantly, and sometimes AS the weather makes a shift. They are only "fore" casts when the coin flips their way, otherwise they're "now" casts or "dance" casts.
The physics of RF don't keep changing all the time, except for conditions related to meteorological events, such as ionospherics and earthquakes.
Weather simulations, although based in scientific calculation, are not comparable to radio frequency simulations because the weather is dynamic and RF is static.
Especially during thunderstorms.
From the original post, how is the range master connected to power and audio? When I read the results described in the first post my thought was “there is some path to ground or the audio or power cables are radiating.”
This thread sounds like it got heated. I know I am late to the discussion, but I have a suggestion for the OP:
Run the range master from a battery next to the transmitter. Play audio from a MP3 player next to the transmitter. Make sure there is nothing metal connecting the transmitter to anything other than the isolated power and audio sources. If with complete isolation between the transmitter and ground the range is the same, awesome. If the range is reduced, something was radiating and the original install may not be part 15 compliant.
You connect the audio & power usually with CAT5 or some similar shielded cable. I highly doubt that that those connections are radiating, even if something else is.
I don't know what 'crystal clear' sound means and that is really the crux of the matter, isn't it? It's quite typical to get over a mile range with the Rangemaster - I managed to achieve that (and more) in several directions with a ground mounted installation. It was over a relatively flat but built-up neighbourhood, with excellent grounding characteristics of the soil. Now, I was able to clearly hear my signal over a mile away on a good car radio; there was definitely static and noise there but I could listen to it easily. And in at least one direction it was discernable (but not really listenable) out to about 2 miles.
Talking about range really doesn't mean a thing unless you get all the details, including the sensitivity of the receiving equipment.
Hi guys! Doug here. I have a TH-5 with wire ant. and find MLR's results not unrealistic. I'm up on the second floor at the top of a big hill overlooking downtown.
With the wire just hanging out the window, I could hear the station almost a mile away! At one or two points, if you stopped in just the right place, the signal sounded city-grade! How was this possible? Not sure.
A freaking TH-5! I would never have believed it. I have a brand new one (just before they upgraded them) that is also a TH-5. So, yeah. I believe him. I gotta try it again. Maybe it's the Orban 424-A. That might make a difference.
Radio Doug
Obstructions, or lack thereof (at least in my experience), make a huge difference in range, both on Part 15 AM and FM.
Even on AM, height seems to make almost as much difference as grounding. I've often thought that an ideal installation would be an antenna elevated as high as possible (so that most have line of sight to it), with 4 10 foot evenly-spaced radials attached at the bottom and perpendicular to the antenna (so that they don't radiate), comprised of copper pipe. You have a ground, plus you're minimizing signal loss due to obstructions.