AM Radio might have 10 more years

[Ben Zonia]

The limited Night service areas of Class Cs/Class IV is because they are almost exclusively 1000 watts nondirectional. The NIFs are generally in the 20-25 mV/m range. Many newer Class Bs/Class IIIs have NIFs in excess of 25 mV/m, but they generally have higher power at Night, and are directional, so they have a larger service area. If a Class C/Class IV has a tower in the center of a small city and some more population for a few miles just outside the city limits, the service to that community and signal can be very good in that area. If the Class Cs/Class IVs use a 1/2 wave plus tower, they have an "ERP" close to 2000 watts. And many stations did that, plus they could put an FM station and antenna at a decent HAAT on it early in the game. And now, they often have an FM station and a 250 watt FM translator that serves that limited area well.

[Circle Seven]

Here's another article about EV's and AM radio:

https://alci.csuchico.edu/in-a-future-f ... ft-behind/

[k8jd]

A Radioworld.com article mentions this and brings up the all digital AM mode, which is rarely used. Although many say that HD Radio is almost dead, Xperi hasn't given up on it yet. They are even talking about improving the signal of the FM side, which often simulcasts existing AM broadcasts.

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail ... 5a5b229243

https://www.radioworld.com/tag/electric-vehicles

I recently got a new car with a high gas mileage Internal combustion engine. It did not have HD AM but it did have satellute reception. !! I was ready to look at another vehicle to see if it had the HD AM/FM feature but the wife liked the car we were leasing and the paperwork was started. I also got the evil eye from wife ! This car 's AM reception is not as good as the 2011 Truck I have !!!! Not even sure where the AM radio antenna is, there is a little stubby thing that I think is for FM and Satellite.

[Colonel Flagg]

I wonder how 1440 WMKM Inkster is hanging on. Two separate 6 tower DA's sitting side by side. 12 towers total, with the majority of the signal aimed at Detroit proper. I remember when they were a contender, as the original WCHB, and the first station to go all Disco... until WLBS came along on FM and clobbered them.

I think my favorite show on WMKM is the Italian guy from Dearborn Heights, who offers to come to your home and sing opera, at one of your fancy dinner parties. I wonder if he knows that the "dinner party elite" are not listening to WMKM, and where they are, probably can't hear it anyway. Either way, that complex DA system can't be easy to maintain. I've never understood why they needed two separate DA's that basically point in the same direction. I am sure Ben Zonia will be along anytime now to explain it.

1290 in Saline may be another one. That's probably a decent piece of real estate.

Maybe Smilin' Ed can buy up all of these throwaway stations and create "Smile AM, your static filled station for throwback hymns and classic sermons, without the fire and brimstone"

[Ben Zonia]

You are frequently correct, Sir.

It's the different requirements for Day and Night, plus the power upgrades over the years, that required two separate 6 tower arrays. They also wanted the signal to go more toward Detroit at Night, and get as much gain as possible with the 6 towers, generally 10 dB over 282 mV/m reference efficiency in the maximum direction. Remember that WBRB 1430 also used to be a restriction. The late great Clarence Ringo had a big part of the design. Back then though, there weren't computers readily available to do things like the late great Glen Clark did, designing asymmetrical and odd tower placement arrays to put a maximum in as many directions as possible.

WBCM 1440 was 1000 watts nondirectional 500 Night nondirectional when WCHB came on the air.

There weren't as many stations that used measured conductivities beyond 20 miles from DA Proofs in the past to upgrade except in larger markets. Many stations still are using patterns with unnecessarily deep nulls. Stations such as WTCM 580 50 KW DA Day and WION 1430 4.7 kW Nondirectional Day were a couple that were more recently upgraded with measured conductivities. WONE 980 went from DA Day to Nondirectional. I think that WTCM 580 was initially able to go from 2.5 DA-D to 5 kW DA-D from DA Proofs that showed no overlap with WKZO 590. Until 1968, WKZO 590 used the Night DA from 6 PM until 10 AM the following morning because WOW 590 complained that they needed de facto Drive Time protection all year. WKZO didn't care when nobody lived in the nulls and it doubled their signal in Grand Rapids. WKZO was always a thorn in the side of WOW.

https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5 ... 49346ad364

It's all there on the History Cards up until 1980.

[Marcus]

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/2459 ... ach%20band.

The CRTC decision in Canada will cause more AM shutdowns to happen. Sarnia, Chatham, Wingham, and Belleville, Ontario might not have local AM radio anymore. I can see CJBK in London moving to 91.1 and either taking the Talk radio format with it, or making it Move 91.1 to compete with Easy 101. Kitchener and Guelph could go after 95.7 FM.

[Turkeytop]

CKNX 920 is one of Canada's oldest radio stations. It would be sad to see that part of our heritage vanish.

[Ben Zonia]

The areas around Sarnia, Windsor, Chatham, and London are so jammed up with FM stations that there is little possibility of having an FM with anywhere near a comparable service area to most of the remaining AM stations. Maybe a 1 kW maximum directional facility here and there, like CFCO has on 92.9, increasing ERP to the NW. This would be most useful in thinly populated areas with one or two AMs. Most AMs that can already have moved to FM. The only other possibility is to radically reduce protection between FM stations.

[Marcus]

The areas around Sarnia, Windsor, Chatham, and London are so jammed up with FM stations that there is little possibility of having an FM with anywhere near a comparable service area to most of the remaining AM stations. Maybe a 1 kW maximum directional facility here and there, like CFCO has on 92.9, increasing ERP to the NW. This would be most useful in thinly populated areas with one or two AMs. Most AMs that can already have moved to FM. The only other possibility is to radically reduce protection between FM stations.

Both 89.5 and 91.1 MHz are possible in London with DA's. Another possibility is 95.5 from the CFPL tower with 20 dB less power than what FM 96 uses.
Chatham can use 91.3 under the condition that they don't exceed 6 KW at 100 meters. If they protect WRSX Port Huron, they might be allowed to use more than 6 KW. 105.5 MHz is their other allocation.
In Sarnia it is a matter of deciding between 103.3 and 104.7 MHz. Protecting Detroit is the main limitation.

[matt1]

AM radio NOT in vehicles anymore!! https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/end-o ... r-AA1b8VO1

[billmich88888]

AM radio NOT in vehicles anymore!! https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/end-o ... r-AA1b8VO1

hasn't been on some vehicles for a couple of years now

[k8jd]

Other than 950, I can't say I listen.

I listen for bad signals and DX

[k8jd]

When I tune in a noisy signal I just listen harder It may be DX!

[Radiobirdman]

I've been reading about the imminent death of AM radio since the 1980s!

[Marcus]

I don't agree with that ten-year prediction. I can just see the number of AM signals thinning out because of online streaming.
AM Conservative Talk will also continue to lose listeners each year. Podcasts allow that you listen to anytime, also will not go away.