• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

790 night pattern

J

johndavis

I've usually been one to shrug off people that say that nobody wants to listen to AM radio anymore because the quality is so bad... but I forgot how awful AM radio is at night in this town until I tried to listen to the Aggies Saturday night. Everything was fine until the pattern change, then it faded in and out all night.

I've been spoiled by FM, but I still won't listen to ESPN Radio out of Beaumont on 97.5 because, well, ESPN Radio is boring!

And to think that 790 has one of the better night patterns in the city...
 
johndavis said:
And to think that 790 has one of the better night patterns in the city...
Click to expand...

Houston is one of the worst AM markets in the country (right next to DC). It's terrible. Even KTRH has problems in the northern part of the metro at night.

What a disaster!
 
790 usedto have one of the best night patterns, when it was out on Battleground Rd., many years ago. Actually, 1320 has one of the best night patterns of any AM in the market. And, at only 5 KW! That's beacuse it's one of the oldest signals in town and it has stayed rooted in the same spot since it was put there. Nearly every other AM has moved around in a vain attempt to gain a small measure of power increase; which doesn't do a damn bit of good at night. In fact, a move with an increase from 5 to 10 KW only increases the pattern gain by a mere 25%; and, in reality, doesn't cover much more of the population. That's because it has to be located so far from town, in order to find land that is cheap enough. And, many times, any increase in power comes with an attendant restriction in the directional pattern; which, in practicality, makes the move a wash.

KTRH is protecting a Canadian clear at night. So, any territory North of Harris County suffers greatly after sunset.
 
KTRH has problems at times in the Beaumont area as well. Perhaps they have some transmitter issues?
 
Where I was in the late 60s as a college kid in Iowa, 790 from Houston was a regular every night. "Demand Radio 79" KTHT. Very listenable. On top of everything else on the channel and very little fading.
 
amisdead said:
Houston is one of the worst AM markets in the country (right next to DC). It's terrible. Even KTRH has problems in the northern part of the metro at night.
Click to expand...

There are plenty of markets that only have one or two viable AMs that cover the entire Arbitron metro day and night.

Phoenix. Birmingham, AL Atlanta. Orlando. Miami. Cleveland. Grand Rapids. Memphis. Knoxville. Columbia, SC. Montgomery, AL. Rochester, NY. Hartford, CT. Providence, RI. Wilmington, DE.

These are just a couple of the markets that have very few useful AMs.
 
Here in Houston the only AMs that have a good night signal (at least in the Westchase District where I live) are 610, 790, 850, 950, 1010, 1070 and 1560. But that's on my car's radio.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom