I wonder what is the difference between the FCC's daylight hours between Maine and Florida. Do Alaska AM stations go night time power for 24 hours a "day" during winter months?
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Daytime operating hours affected by latitude.
- Thread starter secondchoice
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Based on the 15 minute average sunset time of the month in the area/market the stations are located. Same for sunrise. Simple as that.
As for Alaska, all AMs are same power single tower day & night, except for KICY Nome that has a directional towards Russia durring certain times.
edit KTKN Ketchkan is 5 kw day 1 kw night but their not that far north.
KTKN:
As for Alaska, all AMs are same power single tower day & night, except for KICY Nome that has a directional towards Russia durring certain times.
edit KTKN Ketchkan is 5 kw day 1 kw night but their not that far north.
KTKN:
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Yes. The days are roughly two hours shorter in northern Maine than south Florida in December. A station in Maine would power down in December at either 3:45 or 4:00pm, and one in Miami would power down at 5:30.
The other factor is the time zone. A station in Maine powering down at 3:45pm is tougher on the business than powering down at 4:45pm in Fargo.
The other factor is the time zone. A station in Maine powering down at 3:45pm is tougher on the business than powering down at 4:45pm in Fargo.
We could also ask, what's the difference between sunset in Eastport, Maine and in Ironwood, Michigan? They're both in the Eastern Time Zone even though they are as far apart as any two points within a contiguous U.S. time zone. I think it's still fairly bright on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan while it's quite dark in Maine.
The FCC looks at the station's exact location using coordinates and rounds to the nearest quarter hour point for sunrise and sunset; the only time they pay attention to the time zone is in the determining of the local time for power/DA change or sign on and sign off times.
I believe I read of two stations in the same market, one on the far west side and one on the far east side, that had different sunrise and sunset times because they were far enough away from each other to make a difference.
Yes, the only reason I brought up time zones is because of the listener habits, rather than regulations.
Ironwood, MI is in the Central time zone, so I looked up Marquette, MI instead.
A station in Marquette would power down at 5:00pm. A station in Eastport would power down at 3:45pm.
But that comes with a tradeoff in the morning: The station in Maine would power up for sunrise at 7:00am, but the sunrise isn't until 8:30am in Marquette.
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