AM RECEPTION DURING POWER OUTAGE

[romer979fm]

getting ready this morning around 7:30 central when the power went out in the neighborhood:
was able to grab the SuperRadioII and scan around for a few minutes on battery power.
it's amazing how noise-free the AM band is when there's zero nearby electrical interference!
TDOT TIS on 1680 - clean
Nashville Airport info on 1610 - clean (it's only a few miles away)
WSB 750 - listenable
WHAS 840 - listenable

all the surrounding locals were there...without artificial noise and buzzing

very cool while it lasted...only about 30 minutes
(only on a DX forum is a power outage a good thing...and the only complaint is
that the power was restored quickly)

 

[cd637299]

I don't DX AM much anymore, but ^ this!

cd

 

[frankberry]

I love to DX when visiting my cousin who lives in the woods in northern Michigan. Very little electrical interference.
It's amazing what you can hear when you're away from the big, high voltage power lines.

 

[pianoplayer88key]

Yeah, having less electrical interference definitely helps. I just wish the FCC would basically require that unwanted radiation/conduction (EMI,RFI,QRN,etc) from devices, powerlines, etc, be no higher than about 180db below the lowest level atmospheric noise (or 120db below the faintest detectable QRSS carrier even if station ID is impossible, whichever is the greater attenuation) as measured at the cover/shield of the device/powerline, with said cover removed.

Also I don't know if it's just a poor front end on my Tecsun DSP radios, but I actually get a better signal on 1110 KDIS in Cameron Corners, CA (google map it) than in El Cajon, CA, in spite of being farther from Arcadia where the transmitter is. Near El Cajon the radio suffers desense from 1130 KSDO and 1170 KCBQ.

Now you guys have me praying for the next power outage, preferably one that takes my stronger locals & regionals (540 XESURF, 600 KOGO, 620 XESS, 640 KFI, 690 XEWW, 740 KBRT, 760 KFMB, 800 XESPN, 860 XEMO, 910 KECR, 950 XEKAM, 1000 KCEO, 1030 XESDD, 1040 KURS, 1070 KNX, 1090 XEPRS, 1130 KSDO, 1170 KCBQ, 1210 KPRZ, 1240 KNSN, 1270 XEAC/XECAL (not sure which), 1310 XEC, 1360 KLSD, 1390 XEKT, 1420 XEXX, 1470 XERCN, 1550 XEBG, 1620 XEUT & 1700 XEPE) all off the air simultaneously for a while. If that happens I hope to have an opportunity to inductively couple my Tecsun PL-606 and Select-A-Tenna to a utility pole grounding wire, and do some midday groundwave DX, evening TA reception (if possible on the west coast), and morning TP/DU reception. I don't know how much gain a beverage antenna has over a portable's built-in loopstick, but with the setup I described, I can get 760 KFMB to overload at night more severely at my house 7.3 miles away than just with the ferrite loopstick on the highway between two of their towers.

Speaking of DX, power outages, etc, does anyone know the current status of some of the higher powered Japanese AM stations?

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Anyone else DX during the August, 2003 regional power failure in the Northeast/Midwest?

Many of the local stations in Southeast Michigan were not equipped to stay on, or their generators were not operational due to years of lack of maintenance from no necessity as the power was usually very reliable.

I was on the edge of the power failure, and cochannel and adjacent channel stations both on AM and FM were there.

I didn't have that much time to log them as there were other concerns related to the power failure, but it was amazing how listenable some of the signals were without the locals.

Frankly, I don't want to DX that way again. We lost everything in the freezer and refrigerator, and the stress of not knowing when it would come back on was also a factor.

 

[Bongwater]

I too know the beauty of interference free AM DXing. During one midday power outage in Bellingham, WA, my AM radio, a '60s vintage Australian AWA Radiola I bought at a second hand shop in Brisbane many years ago picked up KPOJ, KXL and KEX Portland as well as a few Eastern Washington stations (KTBI Ephrata, KGA Spokane), like semi-locals and most Seattle/Everett/Tacoma AMs as strong and clear as locals (Every frequency had something on it - most from BC, I couldn't possibly log them all, I had other, more important things to do at that moment.) And this was in the middle of the day in the middle of a hot summer........

 

[spunker88]

Anyone else DX during the August, 2003 regional power failure in the Northeast/Midwest?

Many of the local stations in Southeast Michigan were not equipped to stay on, or their generators were not operational due to years of lack of maintenance from no necessity as the power was usually very reliable.

I was on the edge of the power failure, and cochannel and adjacent channel stations both on AM and FM were there.

I didn't have that much time to log them as there were other concerns related to the power failure, but it was amazing how listenable some of the signals were without the locals.

Frankly, I don't want to DX that way again. We lost everything in the freezer and refrigerator, and the stress of not knowing when it would come back on was also a factor.

I was just going to ask this. I wasn't into DXing at the time so the thought never crossed my mind. But if this happened again, I would probably spend the night in my car scanning the AM band. Its got one of the best AM radios on it and its own power supply.

Being in Upstate NY I wonder if any of the big NYC 50kw stations were off air or on reduced power. I would have loved to see what I could have logged.

 

[Steve_Green]

If it were possible :

How much of a noise difference would it make if you listened to that GE Superadio plugged into, let's say, the only operating outlet in a blacked-out neighborhood?

See, when I'd moved in here for the first time, the place only had one operating outlet. This thread got me to thinking. Does the end result of the electric company's lines and transformers (etc) make for that much extra noise out of an outlet than a battery radio on the exact same table would receive?

 

[K6JHU]

Not out of the outlet. Radiated through the air from the power lines just like any radio signal. Also in the house any motor, dimmer swtich, flourescent light will radiate as well. And even if you are way out in the country, cattle fences will also radiate. Anything with a long wire and electricity going through it will radiate (unless you are in some parts of NYC which, I believe, still use DC).

 

[FreddyE1977]

I have a neighbor a couple of blocks away whose big screen plasma TV
puts out a stronger signal than most TIS stations

 

[pianoplayer88key]

I have a neighbor a couple of blocks away whose big screen plasma TV
puts out a stronger signal than most TIS stations

WOW!!!  That's gotta be a KILLER signal!!!  Only 2 blocks away and stronger than most TIS stations?  JEEZ!!!!

I've made recordings of a couple TIS stations received in my back yard.  Here are a couple examples...

1620 WNSB415 San Ysidro, CA - 15 miles - Tecsun PL-380 + Select-A-Tenna + 180-foot chainlink fence - recorded April 2010

530 WNHV296 Los Angeles Airport (LAX), CA - 116.7 miles - Sony SRF-42 + Select-A-Tenna - recorded April 2005

And, a more recent recording of 530 WNHV296 LAX Airport - Tecsun PL-380 + Select-A-Tenna, recorded March 2010
This one has co-channel interference from a (relatively) nearby Cal-Trans TIS station.  It's difficult for me to ID, but I suspect it could be KNNN867 Descanso, CA @ 25.3 miles, WNRS426 Escondido, CA @ 26.9 miles, or maybe even WNRS427 Vista, CA @ 33.7 miles or WNRS428 Oceanside, CA @ 37.4 miles.

If I'm getting TIS stations that strong from that far away, I shudder to try to imagine the meltdown-level signals your radios are bombarded with from the plasma!!!    Would it be comparable to this recording of 760 KFMB? (That was the PL-606 with the Select-A-Tenna up against a utility pole ground wire (shielded under a wooden strip) from about 7.3 miles away, recorded when they switched from their 5kW day transmitter to their 50kW night transmitter.)
Or, do you live in an area where a block is several tens or hundreds of miles long, and/or have an all-saltwater path from you to the neighbor 2 blocks away?  Or is my reception of TIS stations at that distance and strength somewhat unusual?

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

It is amazing how great the AM stations come in when there is no electrical interference. There was a daytime outage in my town last week for about three hours. As soon as power was restored, there was an immediate hum coming in on my battery-powered radio and it was tuned to powerful WLW. I've heard it quite a bit here while tuned to some AM stations and you have to rotate the radio in an attempt to get rid of it. Of course, that's in addition to the usual whine and buzz of cable TV, the home computer, etc. etc. when the power is on.

 

[flytrap]

From my home in Mississippi during Katrina there was no power for over a week. Plus a lot of radio stations in the area were off the air. The reception was incredible. WWL was crystal clear during the day at over 200 miles away. I heard stations that I haven't heard in years. This was either on a car radio or a portable. I wish I had thought of rigging up some sort of antenna to see just what was out there. As the week wore on you could always tell what areas had electricity, because the reception would suddenly go to pot as soon as entered the area.

 

[spunker88]

Ive DXed the AM band at dusk in a large parking lot thinking it would get me far enough away from power lines and the lot was pretty empty. Things were going well and the band was pretty clear until all of a sudden every channel was filled with buzzing. I looked out the window to notice all the parking lot street lights starting to come on. Even after the lights warmed up and stopped flickering reception wasn't nearly as good.