Have you ever been self impressed by how you have your own radio station and you wonder if your wife and friends get it?
Have you ever been self impressed by how you have your own radio station and you wonder if your wife and friends get it?
I was so proud today when the car radio played KDX AM 1680 all the way to the top of the hill where it’s never gone before and beyond, about a mile, possibly coming from power lines. How very smart it was to install PhilB’s AMT5000.
But things turn ugly at night when space noise comes crowding in and AM 1680 goes only about half-a-block.
Night time is evil and should be avoided.
The Other Suggestion
I like your other suggestion of cranking up the power at night to get the same results as daytime.
RFB
Aye, Matey!
How high do you figure you have to crank? About 20 watts? AAAARR!!
Hi Carl!
When I first started getting good distance coverage with Dog Radio,
I had an interesting experience.
I don’t have enough eyesight to drive. SO, I’ll take rides from
anyone, pretty much. Even my (Turn Up Creepy Music –
Buuuuu Bummm OOOO oooo ummmm) PARENTS.
I am 57. My dad is 131, and my mom is 137.
So we were riding in the 1953 Packard around town. My house is
1/2 mile from the center of town. But at the peak of my
success with coverage, a good car radio could hear my
station all around the downtown area, and around parts
of it, too.
They were impressed with the coverage. Also, I had some friends
who live about 40 miles away, and they were driving through
my town. They thought it was cool – because they heard the
station for a great distance.
So some people can understand this. If you tell them you
are license free and the FCC legally allows you a microscopic
amount of transmit energy to work with. And then you
tell them you managed to design an efficient RF set-up,
which is really hard to do.
The part about my parent’s age and the car is a joke. Those
changes were made to protect the innocent. However, the
rest of the story is true.
On this daytime only thing: With a Part 15 AM station, we
all know it will get clobbered at night. Even the 1610 to
1700 range is pretty crowded now.
I’m satisfied with a day only operation, but that’s just me.
For years and years, many stations with as much as 50,000
watts had to go off at sunset. I don’t mind it.
By the way – maybe somebody will know this:
I was trying to find out what AM station in the country has
the lowest nighttime power.
Stand by.
Bruce, DOGRADIO STUDIO 2
WSBS radio 860
WSBS in Great Barington, MA is 2700 watts
day, 250 watts critical hours, and 3.9 watts
at night. They are on 860, so after darkness
they get stepped on by a Canadian signal.
However, I have long been a fan of this station
because of their local programming.
Anyway, that’s the lowest nighttime power for
an AM station that I can find. Somebody else
may find something lower.
By the way, Carl – I think 1/2 block coverage
on 1680 at night for you is good. That means
your signal is holding off the skywave for all of
that distance. Sounds pretty good to me.
Bruce, DOGRADIO STUDIO 2
Funny
When Bruce said his dad was 131 and his mom 137 I laughed harder than I laugh at my own jokes.
The “lowest nighttime power” question is great. Yes, 3.6-Watts is really down there. It’s amazing a station would bother.
It might take two weeks to go through 10,000 radio stations, but the place to look for station nighttime powers is here
http://www.radio-locator.com/
Nighttime AM BCB Lowest Power(?)
I think I saw a station listing somewhere that was
2 watts at night. I can’t remember where it came
from.
Years ago, we had a 1000 watt daytimer on 1550 that
had a 2.5 watt presunrise authorization.
We have a 500 watt daytimer here in West Hartford on
1290 that is 9 watts at night. It actually does pretty well.
I’m glad you liked that joke, Carl. I had to add something silly.
Best Wishes,
Bruce, DOGRADIO STUDIO 2
A Word From On High
Dear Bruce:
Let me tell you my big time super opinion.
I think you are the radio personality you don’t know you are.
If you hook up a recorder and microphone, your radio show would be what could become the flagship of the new low power radio network.
Put your words in the order needed to deliver humor and fun to us, your waiting listeners. Believe me, you have the talent.
Stop being self conscious and shy, come out talking with full power, you have the ability to be a major radio voice.
Could I make this any clearer?
That’s Really Nice Carl
I have some questions for you about that idea.
Maybe we can talk about it on E-mail or on the
phone sometime soon.
Bruce (The One And Only) DOGRADIO STUDIO 2
Self Admiration
Congrads Carl on the successful instal of the AMT 5k. Theses efficient part 15 “Flamethowers” are a lot of fun considering the distance they can be heard. Your signal should do even better during the spring and summer seasons!! When the cloak of darkness comes, we are quickly reminded that we are still playing with milliwatts, and I think we are all good with that!
MS
Last Word of the Day
I am just getting down flat where I can lose consciousness for the night.
But first let me say to Bruce MICRO, e-mail me anytime at the old address
[email protected]
I will give you my phone number, but you must know, I never answer the phone, because telemarketers call so much.
HOWEVER, I will always return calls.
part 15 signal
im 16 and going to be 17 on the 21st of February sometimes i wonder if my girlfriend or my friends get it too, when i was self impressed with my station when i got it a mile away my girlfriend would be like “okay Andrew you got your station we know your proud just take the car back home to mama Andrew just take it back home lets go….”
1 watt
I know there’s an AM somewhere around 760 that has 1 watt at night.
For the life of me I cannot remember the call letters.
1 watt nighttime signal
i know a station i was searching online that had only 1 watt at night it was either in Minnesota or in Kentucky or both but i can’t think of the call letters either.
Is It Worth It?
I’m thinking that 1-Watt at night would be very little better than 100mW. Those 1-Watt stations are probably not……..
Oh wait. My brain just kicked in and I remember that the licensed stations have tall towers, so their 1-Watt would be a lot better than our 100mW.
Answering my own questions since 1959.
1 Watt At Night
I am still trying to figure out what station
has this low night time power.
Bruce, DOGRADIO STUDIO 2
Just Once
Since I now have a CC transmitter with a minimum of 2-Watts, I thought that someday, maybe this summer, I will try it on the wintenna 10-foot antenna just long enough to drive around and test it.
To go down to a Watt I’d need the right attenuation.
2 Watts In The Window
You will want to run that through the coupler. Don’t even attempt to connect that window antenna directly to the output of that transmitter unless you want to replace 190 dollars worth of matched pair finals. Cheapest price on those I have found is 95 bucks from RF Parts.com
RFB
Lower Than 2
“To go down to a Watt I’d need the right attenuation.”
No. The LPB transmitters, even the 30 and 60 units can operate as low as 500mW. You won’t need any attenuator.
However you will need a meter capable of indicating that low range as the coupler’s meter only reads accurately from the 2 point up to the 30 point. The lower marks on the meter scale below 2 is not that accurate, but good enough to tell you your transmitter is operating under 2 watts.
RFB
Thanks Barry
Hello To Everyone
Barry – WGRP – 940 – 2 watts at night.
That’s the lowest I’ve heard so far.
Thanks!
Bruce, DOGRADIO STUDIO 2
WGRP DX WOW
Barry, I just read about WGRP. It is amazing that
their 2 watt signal has been heard across the
northeast at night! Such great distances for such
a small signal! Yup! 940 is practically empty
during the night hours. Maybe I’ll bring out the
Sony 2010 and try to get it.
When that Canadian 50,000 watt blowtorch on
940 lights up again, WGRP will be covered up.
Maybe SQUASHED, is a better way to put it.
Cool!
Bruce, DOGRADIO STUDIO 2
The Tower
See, if you put 2-Watts up a really tall tower it does way more than 2-Watts could possibly do with a 3-meter wire.
2 watts overnights
WGRP AM Greenville, Pennsylvania must reduce it’s power at night to protect a Canadian station on 940 Khz.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WGRP