Music is good

[Larry Fransson]

On 2004-01-25 20:17:07 -0800, juno909
> said:

> Not too sure what the policy on this is..... reckon its frowned upon

Hardly. It's not uncommon for us to tune in news or sports or whatever
when we're headed somewhere.

--
Larry Fransson
Seattle, WA

[juno909]

I think close to CTA and urban centres is a no-no. But ive flown on 6
hour navs and and have often switched the ADF freq. over to local
stations and picked up a garbled broadcast (albeit redneck aussie
country musak ;) )
Not too sure what the policy on this is..... reckon its frowned upon
tho


--
juno909
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted via OziPilots Online [ http://www.OziPilotsOnline.com.au ]
- A website for Australian Pilots regardless of when, why, or what they fly -

[nooneimportant]

>
> My home field has a 50,000 watt clear channel antenna about a mile
> away. Back when I was flying rented with ADF, I *always* knew where
> home was, even from 500 miles away. You just have to like
> conservative talk radio.


You based out of KGKY by chance? Thats where I do my training, and the WBAP
820 transmitter isn't far at all from field. Ive been able to pick it up ON
THE GROUND! as far away as Rapid City, SD.. Just a tad over 1000 miles by
car...

[EDR]

In article <Gr8Rb.154484$xy6.741330@attbi_s02>, nooneimportant
> wrote:

> You based out of KGKY by chance? Thats where I do my training, and the WBAP
> 820 transmitter isn't far at all from field. Ive been able to pick it up ON
> THE GROUND! as far away as Rapid City, SD.. Just a tad over 1000 miles by
> car...

Where is WBAP?

Our local npr station in Columbus OH is WOSU-AM 820.
They have to switch to low power at night, and depending on which way
the antenna is pointing, I can pick up one of two other stations
intermoding.
One is in Texas and the other is in Minnesota, I think.

[Maule Driver]

I listen to music frequently here in the US. The newer audio panels enable
music to be piped in and it automatically mutes for radio transmissions.
Works real well. I use an IPOD as a music source. A portable CD player or
anyother MP3 player works great.

None of this will ply redneck aussie country though...

"juno909" > wrote in message
...
>
> I think close to CTA and urban centres is a no-no. But ive flown on 6
> hour navs and and have often switched the ADF freq. over to local
> stations and picked up a garbled broadcast (albeit redneck aussie
> country musak ;) )
> Not too sure what the policy on this is..... reckon its frowned upon
> tho
>
>
> --
> juno909
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Posted via OziPilots Online [ http://www.OziPilotsOnline.com.au ]
> - A website for Australian Pilots regardless of when, why, or what they
fly -
>

[nooneimportant]

WBAP is based out of the Dallas Fort Worth area... If you pull up the 34 DME
approach for KGKY its pretty darn near the brows intersection.... and WBAP
has absolutely nothing to do with npr... During the daytime carries
conservative talk radio and news, night tends to be
news/sports/country/whatever, and they crank their power up at night, not
sure what wattage is used during the day...


"EDR" > wrote in message
...
> In article <Gr8Rb.154484$xy6.741330@attbi_s02>, nooneimportant
> > wrote:
>
> > You based out of KGKY by chance? Thats where I do my training, and the
WBAP
> > 820 transmitter isn't far at all from field. Ive been able to pick it
up ON
> > THE GROUND! as far away as Rapid City, SD.. Just a tad over 1000 miles
by
> > car...
>
> Where is WBAP?
>
> Our local npr station in Columbus OH is WOSU-AM 820.
> They have to switch to low power at night, and depending on which way
> the antenna is pointing, I can pick up one of two other stations
> intermoding.
> One is in Texas and the other is in Minnesota, I think.

[Jonathan]

> They have to switch to low power at night, and depending on which way
> the antenna is pointing,

I always wondered about that. Why do they go to low power at night?
I have a local am station that I listen to on way home from work. Great
reception in summer (when i'm driving home in daylight). But bad this time
of year (drive home in dark)

[Bill Denton]

There are only a limited number of AM frequencies available in the US, and
these frequencies are shared across the US. For example, a station in
Monroe, LA could be on the same frequency with a station in Las Vegas, NV.
This will work because the power of the stations is limited and they are
geographically separated.

But at night, an AM signal goes farther than it does in the daytime. It has
to do with skywaves vs. groundwaves, but I have long since forgotten that
stuff. So trust me, the signal goes farther at night than it does during the
daytime.

So, the stations must reduce power at night to avoid interference with other
stations on the same frequency. There used to be a type of station known as
a Class IV that was intended to basically serve a single community. They all
operated with 1,000 watts daytime and 250 watts at night. I think I worked
at three different stations that were on 1290.

It's basically the same situation with directional antennas; they are used
to avoid interference with other stations. But they also frequently had a
slightly different purpose; you could use a directional antenna to allow you
to put a station in a geographical location where it would not otherwise be
permitted.

If you're trying to find something to listen to on the ADF, you need to find
50,000 watt stations. Unfortunately, most of them are now talk stations. You
can probably google "50,000 watt radio stations" and find a list of them.

BTW: A lot of pilots used broadcast AM stations as an important part of
their navigation...


"Jonathan" > wrote in message
news:ZmjRb.124495$sv6.673056@attbi_s52...
> > They have to switch to low power at night, and depending on which way
> > the antenna is pointing,
>
> I always wondered about that. Why do they go to low power at night?
> I have a local am station that I listen to on way home from work. Great
> reception in summer (when i'm driving home in daylight). But bad this time
> of year (drive home in dark)
>
>
>

[Newps]

Bill Denton wrote:

> There are only a limited number of AM frequencies available in the US, and
> these frequencies are shared across the US.

And Canada and Mexico too.


For example, a station in
> Monroe, LA could be on the same frequency with a station in Las Vegas, NV.
> This will work because the power of the stations is limited and they are
> geographically separated.
>
> But at night, an AM signal goes farther than it does in the daytime. It has
> to do with skywaves vs. groundwaves, but I have long since forgotten that
> stuff. So trust me, the signal goes farther at night than it does during the
> daytime.
>
> So, the stations must reduce power at night to avoid interference with other
> stations on the same frequency.

Yes and one of those stations will have the "priority" at night.
Commonly referred to as clear channels. For example WCCO 830 in the
Twin Cities is a clear channel. They broadcast at 50,000 watts 24/7.
All other stations that broadcast on 830 must turn their power way down
at night because WCCO essentially owns the freq at night.

[StellaStar]

>If you're trying to find something to listen to on the ADF, you need to find
>50,000 watt stations.

An excellent explanation of the broadcast band, though you can use any AM
station if you're close enough to it. I have a friend who calls the little
dial the NPR. (How nice to have a local affiliate on AM!)

And you'll see a startling thing on some sectionals, a number with BS beside
it...it's your guide to a local commercial Broadcast Station, and the
frequency.

[gross_arrow]

"Bill Denton" > wrote in message >...
>
> So, the stations must reduce power at night to avoid interference with other
> stations on the same frequency. There used to be a type of station known as
> a Class IV that was intended to basically serve a single community. They all
> operated with 1,000 watts daytime and 250 watts at night. I think I worked
> at three different stations that were on 1290.
>
> It's basically the same situation with directional antennas; they are used
> to avoid interference with other stations. But they also frequently had a
> slightly different purpose; you could use a directional antenna to allow you
> to put a station in a geographical location where it would not otherwise be
> permitted.
>

i used to work at a station that had a combination of both of these concepts:
it was licensed for 50kw day, 1kw night. the antenna pattern looked something
like:
a b c
d e f
g

during the day, the 50kw drove c,e,and g. at night, the 1kw drove abcdef. so
we used both power and radiation pattern. we were totally off air from midnight
to 5:00 am. i used to work two morning shifts and one night shift on weekends,
so i had to switch the transmitters and the antenna bank at sunrise and sunset.

as i remember it, the first year i worked there, even though we were licensed
to 50kw, we usually only put out about 25kw. the transmitter was old, and
the exciter panel would arc if you cranked it up. the local neighbors used to
complain a lot about rfi on their telephone lines, etc. finally, a coupla the
locals must have gotten fed up, because one morning i came in to find that
an axe had been taken to the 50kw transmitter. they really screwed themselves,
though, because the insurance paid for a new 50kw xmtr that didn't have the
arcing problem, so instead of only 25kw in the day, it was 50kw all the time.

sorry about hijacking the thread for reminiscing.

g_a