From: Lynn.Hollerman@f2.n373.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Lynn Hollerman)
Newsgroups: hsv.general
Subject: Re: Where do all those AM stations come from?
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 92 09:59:22 CST
Organization: FidoNet node 1:373/2 - Gateway, Huntsville AL

 TO: greg@cherokee.b23b.ingr.com

 GM> Why -- is because the signals from AM bounce off the atmosphere 
 GM> at night and land on your radio's antenna.  That way, a signal 
 GM> from, say, Chicago can make it to here while a signal from, 
 GM> say, Memphis is blocked by the hills (and eventually the 
 GM> curvature of the Earth) from making it here.

 Well, yes, that's pretty much it...when the sun goes down, a layer of
 the atmosphere called the ionosphere builds up. It's mainly off the E &
 F layers of the ionosphere that the AM radio signals skip...most of the
 ionosphere burns off as the sun rises during the day, only to build up
 again at night...some of the stations you mentioned are audible during
 the day, thru ground wave propogation...this means the wave travels a
 path thru the ground and the curvature of the earth is important...you
 can hear KBOA-830 from Kennett, MO most mornings during the day...but
 when the sun goes down, 830 is taken over by WCCO out of
 Minneapolis/St.Paul...this is a 50kW station, much stronger than KBOA's
 10kW, and depending on your location, you may get WCCO's atmospheric
 skip signal much better...

 GM> If you hear an underlying Spanish language broadcast, it comes 
 GM> generally, from Mexico.  I think those signals have been 
 GM> bounced off the atmosphere then the Earth then the atmosphere 
 GM> again.  Some of the Spanish language programs undoubtedly come 
 GM> from Florida or Texas, but I haven't been able to locate one 
 GM> for sure. 

 Oh, maybe, but Cuba's awful close to us, globally speaking...try 710 or
 640 late in the evening and listen for a beeping noise...that's Radio
 Reloj from Cuba...a news service...or for some US-originated
 "propaganda" in Spanish, try Radio Marti on 1080...they're in South
 Florida...the Mexican stations, like XEWA on 540, are more prevalent in
 the western US...

 GM> Here is what I came up with:

 You know, what you're doing is called "DXing", or long distance
 reception...it's one of my favorite pasttimes...I've logged over 1500
 stations since I was 11 or 12...there are clubs, like the
 International Radio Club of America or the National Radio Club that
 specialize in broadcast band (AM) DXing...there're some errors in the
 list you produced...I won't quote it for the sake of brevity...and
 there's plenty more I could add...there's a station to be heard at
 every frequency on the AM dial...and you can do it here, on your
 average car radio...all it takes is patience, and a LOT of free
 time...I won't go into the difference between clear channel, regional,
 and local stations and why you can hear stations like WLS-890 from
 Chicago during the day right now...it would take too long...but if
 you're interested, there are some members of the International Radio
 Club of America (IRCA) here in Huntsville...we had our yearly
 convention at the Holiday Inn at Madison Square Mall in August...you
 might write for a sample issue of our publication, the DX
 Monitor...in it are the reports from various members about the domestic
 and foreign stations they've heard of late, as well as some tips and
 techincal stuff. Just send $1 to:

 The International Radio Club of America
 11300 Magnolia #43
 Riverside, CA 92505 USA

 I know the kind of list you're looking for...gas stations used to
 include a list of stations on the maps they gave out...but these days,
 you'll find a pretty comprehensive list in the World Radio TV Handbook
 (WRTH), available at most bookstores...but this is published yearly,
 and the 1993 edition is about to be released, so now might now find too
 many of them in bookstores. I don't know if the Huntsville library has
 any back editions...if they don't, they should, since that's what the
 radio clubs ask their members to do with the old editions. If you want
 to get technical, you could also get an NRC log or and IRCA
 Almanac...both list AM stations, and the Almanac has lists of the
 various programs and what station airs what. And by the way, WAHR is a
 local FM station, 99.1 mHz...on 990 kHZ at night, you're likely to hear
 WRJZ in Knoxville, TN...

Lynn.
     


--  
 = Micro Magic, 830-2362,  Alabama's Usenet/Fidonet gateway.
 = Reply-To:  Lynn.Hollerman@f2.n373.z1.FIDONET.ORG
Newsgroups: hsv.general