Finding the right frequency in your area for AM or FM part 15 operation is an enjoyable sport in itself, and there are several ways to proceed.
Finding the right frequency in your area for AM or FM part 15 operation is an enjoyable sport in itself, and there are several ways to proceed.
Tuning the AM dial in search of open frequencies needs to be done both day and night because of changing conditions, and even double checked on different days and in changing weather.
Besides finding a clear channel for your station, the two channels both above and below your channel should be reasonably clear as well, with the nearest fuller powered stations as far away as the third adjacent channel on both sides.
In addition to radio listening, there is a valuable website that can give you solid facts about the AM and FM stations in the entire Nation:
There are several ways to search, including by city or frequency.
When I was seeking a spot for carrier current AM operation I made a pencil drawing of the U.S. and marked in station frequencies and powers in relation to my area, until I found that 970kHz was the best choice available.
radio-locator.com offers a tool for "Finding an Open FM Frequency" which does the searching for you, and does a fair job of quickly presenting results, although I found one frequency that was very free and open, but which radio-locator missed.
How have you done your frequency search?
I found radio locator quite good for FM. As for finding AM..well I will leave it at that.
Trust your radio first..then outside sources not even located in your neck of the woods.
RFB
Hard to beat a good radio to tell you exactly what's happening at your house. A really sensitive set will uncover quite a few stations that aren't heard on average sets, and you'll get a better idea of what frequencies are safest to use. The Radio Locator and other websites are great for identifying the stations you're hearing....the ones that don't seem to want to fully identify themselves very often.
On FM, be sure to leave at least one open channel between your frequency and any other station that could be enjoyed at your location. On AM, I'd stay 3 or 4 channels away. (Not because of interference to them --- because of the interference to you!)
"On AM, I'd stay 3 or 4 channels away. (Not because of interference to them --- because of the interference to you!)"
Those living up near the Great White North should also keep in mind of the 9Khz channel spacing up there vs the US 10Khz channel spacing. Such close proximity to those off-set channel stations can really make that dreaded word come true even more.
RFB
Canada uses the same spacing as us RFB.
But, not to say Skywave from Europe couldn't cause some issues!
"Whats that High pitched whine on my station?!"
"Canada uses the same spacing as us RFB."
Only in a certain range of the US/Canada border so as to not cause the dreadful harmful (b). I guess it changed at some point.
I got two Sony AM stereo receivers purchased in Canada, specifically marketed in Canada, and low and behold these have 9Khz channel spacing. They also can switch over to 10Khz channel spacing by holding the + tuning button and power on at the same time.
Unless Canada totally re-vamped their frequency layouts and threw away all those radios and expensive transmitters and antennas, which I doubt. They must have changed the whole thing while I wasn't listening! 😀
RFB
Yes, Canada does use the same spacing, 10Khz, as the U.S. There is some reciprocal agreement between Canada and the U.S. for power output and frequency allocation near the border, both for AM and FM, to reduce interference.
A lot of Asian and European stuff comes to Canada - there's a huge grey market here for electronics (and motorcycles, believe it or not). Unless you purchased through an authorized dealer, you could have easily gotten some sort of import, regardless of whether it's also sold in Canada for the domestic market. And sometimes even authorized dealers take advantage of the cheaper stuff coming in outside of Sony official channels.
The most commonly listed frequencies for legal part 15 on long wave have 9kHz spacing, but I notice that the Sangeon digital radio can be set for 10kHz spacing.
Is there a U.S. standard for long wave spacing?
"Unless you purchased through an authorized dealer, you could have easily gotten some sort of import, regardless of whether it's also sold in Canada for the domestic market."
No these were purchased from an actual Sony dealer in Toronto. These particular models were only sold in Canada and are not any item meant for Europe or Asia. Sony had 3 different versions of this particular stereo receiver, one sold only in America, the 2nd in Canada and the 3rd for Europe and Asia.
At the time (1986), I was sitting at a nice work bench at Sony Service in Dallas and was glancing at some flyers about Sony's line of AM Stereo receivers, and saw the one I really wanted but could not be purchased in the US. So I began the hunt and through internal Sony contact information, found the Sony dealer in Toronto and purchased through them.
ST-JX220A.
RFB
I did a bit of research, found a few web sites that talked about this AM stereo tuner, and apparently the unit was also sold in Australia, as well as Canada. Obviously you got one intended for the Australian market, although how it ended up in the inventory of the Toronto dealer you purchased from is a good question.
But in any event, I can assure everyone that the spacing here in Canada is indeed 10 Khz.
"I did a bit of research, found a few web sites that talked about this AM stereo tuner, and apparently the unit was also sold in Australia, as well as Canada."
I think I know which sites your referring to...some of the data on those sites are not entirely accurate either.
I say that because why would a radio which defaults to the 9khz spacing be sold in a region where there was no need for it?
To set this unit for 10khz spacing, you have to hold one of the tuning buttons down while powering up twice.
Imagine every time going through that process if your channel spacing is 10 and not 9.
RFB
I actually found multiple sites which said basically the same thing - the radio was sold both in Australia and Canada.
I wonder why this is so difficult to understand. Canada does NOT use 9Khz spacing. I also know from first hand experience (I grew up in Toronto and bought many things from Toronto electronics dealers) that there was a thriving grey market in Sony electronics, since Sony tended to fix prices for all dealers (and despite price fixing laws and the like, they would cut dealers off if they discounted more than Sony wanted). It's quite possible the radio you bought came into the country that way, it may have been a mistake by Sony, who knows.
I don't think its a matter of understanding Canada uses the 10khz as the US does. These Sony radios aren't the only items sporting dual spacing or single spacing with 9.
Sony wheels and deals...heh! If there ever is a place where one could find a lot of dirty laundry shoved into the loading mechs of their vcr's and dvd players...it be the place to go!
One of the reasons why I don't work there anymore!
Well its just odd how it all panned out. The unit I use for a studio monitor is left on because if it is turned off, it defaults back to the 9khz spacing and you have to go through the process to flip it back over to 10. If power goes out even for a few seconds, it reverts back to 9khz spacing. Very annoying and very stupid IMO.
Oh well...what matters is how they sound and decode the C-QUAM and they do it very very well.
RFB
This thread is mostly about AM band spacing, but on another thread we talked about spacing on long wave, and I found that my Sangeon modern digital radio, made for north America, has 9kHz and 1kHz spacing for long wave. 1kHz spacing opens up a lot of different points for monitoring the long wave band, and I guess every tenth spot is equivelant to a 10kHz spot..... but what do you think of that?
Well I would prefer a receiver capable of tuning in 1khz steps to catch those signals outside of the 9. I have seen plenty of store shelf radios that are either analog tuning or digital with 1khz step tuning. It is only these special, pricey radios like those mentioned here before that seem to be stuck in the world of 9.
Now taking the public's defense since the public is not here to speak their minds and opinions, they are not going to go out and purchase a specialty radio just to tune into our stations. The dedicated DX'ers will..but joe and jane average wont.
I did a little study over the last several weeks talking to various folks, both young and old. I found the tolerance for anything beyond "push on, works...push off turned off" does not settle too well. The majority polled seems to suggest if they cannot simply turn it on, flip a band switch and tune in something other than static and noise...as they do in the stores with the display units, they simply walk away and go to something a bit more exciting.
The public is used to having what is necessary already there in the device. In their minds, as it would be mine from the consumer prospective, the thing had better have what is most commonly used in radios for the public...ie AM and FM.
The ratio of standard band listeners vs special band listeners..be it SW or LW or whatever, leans heavily to the standard bands. This is why I believe a LW network, or even someone just setting up a LW station and expecting someone to notice when those someones have no idea about LW anyway is insane.
There will have to be an awareness campaign and such.
Anyway finding a frequency in the LW band is never any real problem compared to MW and plotting the nighttime skip reception over several days as it always changes from one evening to the next, even changing a lot within the 6-12 hours of nighttime propagation.
RFB