AM Signal Quality

[carlvanorden]

I spent a couple days last week in Atlantic City. To be presise, on the 16th floor of the Hilton, facing the ocean, with a GE Superradio III.Just a few comments: 1. 1020 WIBG was a surprisingly strong signal.2. 1490 WUSS was weak and distorted: a far cry in quality from what it was in the early 70's.3. 1340 WMID sounded terrific quality wise, day and night (especially night..I'm not used to that 1,000 watt night time signal). I was impressed with the way the music sounded as well (and the format). Pretty sure I heard some reverb on the air during news: it may also be on as part of the processing on the music segments.4. Still to this day, the strongest sounding local is 1450 WKXW. As a kid, I remember 1450 being strongest; as an adult I recall 1450 being WFPG and then WIIN when AC began casino gaming.5. WOND 1400 was strong and clear and it always was.6. 1580 was hard to hear day and night; just three years ago I heard it moderately in AC.So, signal wise, my list of the "locals" as far as quality is:#1: WKXW...#2:...WOND...#3...WMID...#4...WIBG...#5...WUSS.I spent a TON of time on Long Beach Island, at the southern tip in Beach Haven as a kid. Except for 1020 (which I don't remember) the top AMs were WMID, WOND, WFPG and WUSS..all class D (at the time) stations.The reception report could have been written in 1974. The only other exception I could mention would be 1170 WOBM, now a directional at 1160: I couldn't hear it at all in Atlantic City anymore: back in 1974 it was like a local in BeachHaven, but that is quite a bit north, isn't it.What do you think???Just curious.Carl<P ID="signature">______________
[email protected], [email protected],[email protected]</P>

 

[JerseyShor]

> signal wise, my list of the "locals"
> as far as quality is:#1:
> WKXW...#2:...WOND...#3...WMID...#4...WIBG...#5...WUSS.I
> spent a TON of time on Long Beach Island, at the southern
> tip in Beach Haven as a kid. Except for 1020 (which I don't
> remember) the top AMs were WMID, WOND, WFPG and WUSS..all
> class D (at the time) stations.The reception report could
> have been written in 1974. The only other exception I could
> mention would be 1170 WOBM, now a directional at 1160: I
> couldn't hear it at all in Atlantic City anymore: back in
> 1974 it was like a local in BeachHaven, but that is quite a
> bit north, isn't it.What do you think???Just curious.Carl
>

That's where I am (LBI) and it's still in that Top 5 order. As for WOBM-AM, it is nowehere near as strong as WKXW, WMID or WOND. Around sunrise & sunset I can get WBYN *clearly* on 1160. Around noon I can get WVNJ.

 

[qtpieislit]

On this weekends' overnight Ocean City excursion, I also sampled Jersey shore radio, at it's finest. Except my expectations came up a little short. 1340/WMID sounded like I was listening through a telephone line. So did WIBG/1020 for that matter. 1400/WOND, was clear and innately local, and 1450/WKXW was distinctly clear with ESPN. 1490/WTKU oldies simulcast was way too cool listening to Jackson T. Chase. That is just too much.
My real intention, was to check out www.hylitradio.com via WIFI/broadband, or CINGULAR/broadband, from the Port 'O Call hotel in Ocean city. I had mixed results. The hotel WIFI lobby hot spot was recievable on the 7th floor, but Cingular broadband was intermittent, at best. In either case, and in both instances, hylit.com was substantially superior in audio quality, on both high speed and low speed streams. Except for one fact, and that is, I am your basic die hard DXer, and need a little heterodyne in the shore mix.