Save AM Radio

[dand5780]

If the problem you describe has been going on for years, you should look at the possibilities.

One possibility is that the WBEN pattern has deteriorated, due to degradation of the ground system or something similar such as construction in the area which has upset the pattern.

Another possibility is that noise levels have increased in your area, rendering unusable what was a usable signal before.

Third would be interference from another station on 930 operating outside its licensed parameters.

The impossibility is that things have changed due to an action by the FCC to improve AM reception, as that has not happened yet.

Note that sunrise in January is around 7:45 while in June it is 5:15 (adjusted for DST). Depending on the exact location of the transmitter site, the FCC will have assigned WBEN pattern change times that are close to those, rounded to 15 minute increments.

The problem has been about 3 weeks, or whenever the change started. And it is with WHAM, not WBEN, at least for me. Although I have also heard callers into WBEN stating they can't hear that station after 7pm.

 

[Rob Piotrowski]

And why do you out of towners care anyway? This is a Buffalo board. If you don't know the market (i.e. actually living or have lived here), your posts are meaningless.

 

[K.M. Richards]

The problem has been about 3 weeks, or whenever the change started.

As usual, you only pay selective attention to what has been posted. Re-read just this one sentence from David, which I have boldfaced the relevant five words in:

The impossibility is that things have changed due to an action by the FCC to improve AM reception, as that has not happened yet.

Please return to your coop, Chicken Little. You're giving us all a headache with your "sky is falling" tirade.

 

[K.M. Richards]

And why do you out of towners care anyway? This is a Buffalo board. If you don't know the market (i.e. actually living or have lived here), your posts are meaningless.

We are trying -- in vain, it appears -- to bring some facts to the muddled monologue of Mr. Anderson, who (if memory serves) was already removed from RD once in the past several months for much the same type of behavior.

I do not see any rules here that say one must reside in a market to comment on threads about it.

 

[davideduardo]

The problem has been about 3 weeks, or whenever the change started. And it is with WHAM, not WBEN, at least for me. Although I have also heard callers into WBEN stating they can't hear that station after 7pm.

WHAM is a Class A AM, and the dominant station on what used to be a class 1-A clear channel. 1180 kHz. There is no US duplication in night hours closer than a medium power station in western Montana (directional) and some lower power ones way off in MN, NE, TX and MS (also very directional)

The big and highly variable stations on the channel are 100 kw Radio Martí in Key Marathon, FL and the up-to-300 kw Cuban station outside La Habana. While Martí (it is a US station but has no call letters) is highly directional towards Cuba and usually a hard catch even in Miami. The Cuban is unregulated by the US or by treaty, so it does whatever it wants and whatever the Cuban government desires. It was rumored that the Chinese were installing a new transmitter for this one, apparently at or near the same medium-high power level.

In any event, the FCC has not changed any AM rules that would affect WHAM. The part of the AM revitalization plan that would change rules on skywave protection, degree of interference, etc., are under preliminary study and absolutely no station on AM has made any licensed facilities changes because none have been authorized.

There are 30 stations on 970 in the US with powers in excess of 100 watts at night. There are more internationally. Given unusual propagation conditions or damaged facilities, any of them could be legally or illegally interfering.

 

[davideduardo]

And why do you out of towners care anyway? This is a Buffalo board. If you don't know the market (i.e. actually living or have lived here), your posts are meaningless.

The subject of discussion is interference to both a Buffalo and a Rochester station. Interference of the sort that seems to be described (although none too clearly or precisely) would come from stations outside the market.

In any case, since the subject of AM revitalization has been brought into the discussion, this is a "national" subject. And, particularly, it is important to comment since there has been, contrary to the OP's belief, no change in power and interference rules for AM stations has been made as part of revitalization.

 

[dand5780]

We are trying -- in vain, it appears -- to bring some facts to the muddled monologue of Mr. Anderson, who (if memory serves) was already removed from RD once in the past several months for much the same type of behavior.

I do not see any rules here that say one must reside in a market to comment on threads about it.

What this Richards character doesn't know is who I am. I don't who it is or where it came from, but I'm not "Anderson." I'm a listener, and I know what is said over the air each day. Someone who doesn't listen to the stations wouldn't know, and should return to their coop.

 

[dand5780]

As usual, you only pay selective attention to what has been posted. Re-read just this one sentence from David, which I have boldfaced the relevant five words in:



Please return to your coop, Chicken Little. You're giving us all a headache with your "sky is falling" tirade.

Changes were made, plain and simple. I hear the changes on WHAM, others here it on WBEN. It's hard for some to grasp. Whether they are the same changes, I don't know.

But when the host of the show states the reason some cannot hear the station after 7pm because of new FCC regulations, that is what I know.

Now whether that is correct or whether it can't be heard for other reasons, it doesn't matter to me.

I can't hear the station. That's the bottom line.

 

[K.M. Richards]

But when the host of the show states the reason some cannot hear the station after 7pm because of new FCC regulations, that is what I know.

I can't help it if the host transfers responsibility to some FCC regulations imagined on his part.

What I do know is that David has told you all the reasons that your problem might be happening, and you are ignoring that in favor of continuing to insist that there is a FCC regulation causing your listening problem.

Frank?

 

[davideduardo]

Changes were made, plain and simple. I hear the changes on WHAM, others here it on WBEN. It's hard for some to grasp. Whether they are the same changes, I don't know.

But when the host of the show states the reason some cannot hear the station after 7pm because of new FCC regulations, that is what I know.

Now whether that is correct or whether it can't be heard for other reasons, it doesn't matter to me.

I can't hear the station. That's the bottom line.

Probably the last place I would go to ask about AM technical issues is the host of a talk show. It is just not within what you would expect to be their area of expertise and knowledge.

The host, no doubt (keyword: NO) heard something about the AM revitalization issue, and perhaps saw the petition on the WHAM website and made very wrong conclusions based on lack of understanding.

In any case, no station in the US on 1180 or any other frequency has made any changes based on AM revitalization because no such changes have been authorized.

More likely: atmospheric conditions (which are particularly quirky in Spring and Fall) or a change in the Cuban 300,000 watt station (perhaps in reaction to Obama's visit to Cuba just to make a point about not being pushed around... typically Fidel).

If you can't "hear the station" is it due to noise (static, etc) at a high level? Or another station on the same frequency? You might describe what you experience on 1180 so that others on here who have lots of AM experience might explain it for you.

 

[Rob Piotrowski]

I do not see any rules here that say one must reside in a market to comment on threads about it.

You're absolutely right. Comment away - uninformed as it is.

 

[davideduardo]

You're absolutely right. Comment away - uninformed as it is.

The idea that there has been any change in regulations about AM interference, night operations, skywave protection, etc., in recent months is the uninformed position. That is because there has been absolutely no change at all.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Four pages of commentary, and only one listener has heard a "problem" with WHAM or WBEN?

Let me know when a second listeners hears a difference.

 

[frankberry]

I'm closing this thread.
Why is it necessary to throw insults back and forth?