Simulcasting

 

Have you ever taken a long trip and found an interesting program on the car radio but  the signal constantly fades in and out and you become frustrated to the point where you are forced to search for another station....

This usually happens with an AM station but fortunately re-appears on the FM band. The process is called Simulcasting. It's like being in two different places at the same time and that's exactly what's happening. 

The exact programing is being broadcasted on two different frequencies. 

WV Public Radio 

       

WXRL Radio

 

In the early morning hours, I found this country music station on 1300 KHz. It serves the Lancaster- Buffalo NY area. They were using only 2500 watts. 

Final Transmission of WCBS

Another station (WCBS) goes off the air. This one in New York.....

K Stations

 

I noticed more "K" stations on the air last night and they were broadcasting  "news". This is a very good thing.   

Philadelphia KYW was a close station but KXEL was in Iowa and was booming into the Appalachians along with WHO in Des Moines. 

                                                                                     

Getting back to the "news"....I find hope in this format. I detest those broadcasting their personal philosophy and their biased views on politics. I'd much prefer honest newscasting. 

Close Quarters

There are a lot of radio stations in the Kanawha Valley. None of these stations are "power houses" but 90% of these are within walking distance of my home. 

WCHS   580     5,000 watts  

WKAZ  680   10,000 watts

WBES   950    5,000 watts 

WVTS   1240  1,000 watts

WSCW  1410  5,000 watts 

WLUX   1450  1,000 watts

WSWW  1490  1,000 watts

It's hard to believe that I could log nearly 20 West Virginia stations with this many close stations next to me, but the Autumn and Winter months will be approaching soon.  

 

            

Marconi

                                             The inventor of modern radio.....a true genius! 

                                                                  Guglielmo Marconi

Allegheny Mountain Radio

 

For me, here in Charleston, Its rare to hear this station "live" on the air but they were on the air this morning. The frequency as such was 1370....

I heard the local news, an agriculture report on the importance of using Nitrogen on the garden soil and a church service.   

Clear Channel Frequencies

 

Clear Channel Stations

KWYRadio

 

ANOTHER K station on the East Coast 

Additions to the logbook 50 Stations

Canada 5 Stations

 Ohio 12 Stations 

New Jersey 1 station

Florida 1 Station        

Iowa 3 Stations     

Georgia 1 Station

St Croix 1 Station 

Texas 1 Station

Cuba 2 stations

West Virginia Stations

 

Just out of curiosity, I counted the WV stations in my logbook this evening and came to a total of around 20. I suppose that's perfectly normal since I'm living in the South Central part of the state. I hear 5 in the Charleston area, 3 in Beckley, 3 in Huntington, 1 in Oak Hill, 1 in Parkersburg, 1 in Point Pleasant, 1 in Wheeling, 1 in Montgomery, 1 in Spencer, 1 in Frost, and 1 in Bluefield. 

Of course I don't hear them at the same season; Summer verses Winter makes a big difference in reception. I think the Winter months are the best for the weaker signals. The only part of the state I don't hear is the Eastern Panhandle. 

What am I using for 90% of the weaker signals ? I find my GE Super Radio with the Analog dial and a manual logging scale with the addition of the external A100 loop antenna does the trick well. I'm looking forward to the Winter months when the band is more quiet. 

Allegheny Mountain Radio

Although I rarely hear this station "live" over the air, I listen to the "streaming" mode almost daily. I love the programing of rural communitary stations. You can find this station on the 1370 frequency. 

I've logged a total of 5 different stations on this frequency,

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

                                                        
I first heard this station while staying at one of WV's s state parks. Although I love nature, I can't stay anywhere without a small transistor radio. My choice for traveling is the CCrane    Skywave. This small radio has an AM-FM band, a Weather band, a SWL band, and a Skywave band. Its a very good small receiver. 

I heard this station while staying in a log cabin at Watoga State Park.  

WSM

 

WSM AM 650 is another station that I hear in Charleston at night. They use the same type of antenna as WLW. Both these stations easily handle 50,000 watts. 

WSM is famous for transmitting the "Grand 'ole Opera". 

WLW

WLW AM 700 in Cincinnati Ohio was one of the earlier AM stations to use a  Blaw Knox radio tower. The antenna has a distinct "diamond" shape and the transmissions can be easily heard in my hometown of Charleston, WV. 

The difference between day and night is drastic but I can usually hear WLW until noon and then early towards sunset. 

500,000 watts ?    :   An interesting video on this site

Loop Antennas

 I wrote earlier about sensitivity and selectivity being the two most important aspects of good AM reception. The easiest remedy for both of these poor reception qualities is to add a loop antenna to your radio. I personally like the Tecsun AN100 but there are several on the market. Place a loop antenna close to the radio and reception will change drastically. 

What am I hearing ?

Sometimes you might have to listen to a station for half an hour or more before they identify themselves, Regulations require all broadcasters to announce their call signs at the top of the hour but what if the station is very weak and fades in and out ? Sometimes it takes an extraordinary effort like: 

Using a web database like this : https://radio-locator.com/

Thousands of Stations

There are literally thousands of stations categorised by frequency, state, callsign, etc. and most importantly "live streams". There is a "time delay" but still this is a very valuable tool. Most of the time it's possible to recognize the announcer or the music etc, 

KDKA

 

Callsigns usually say a little about the location of a station. Normally a station with a beginning K means they're on the West Coast. KDKA is an exception to the rule. You can read about this station here :  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDKA_(AM)

Many radio historians consider KDKA to be the first commercially viable broadcaster in the USA.  

The AM-FM Controversary

Much has been said about the AM portion of the radio band that has to do with "car radio". Several car manufactures have already eliminated the AM portion of the radio bands due to the "static" produced by the new electric vehicles. Ford is an exception to the rule. 

Streaming

 One of the great things about these modern days is the ability to hear live broadcasts over the web. Whenever I hear an interesting broadcast, I make a mental note to find the callsign and it's location. Some stations are much to distant to hear otherwise. 

A few of my favorites are: 

"Little Buddy Radio:- Bob Denver of "Gilligan's Island" fame

"Saint Community Radio - " Saint Helena Island"  

"Allegheny Mountain Radio-  " near a WV State Park called Watoga" 

I'll have much more to say about these types of stations in the future. The Amazon Alexa app makes these type stations a "piece of cake" to put in the logbook.