End of a LONG Dry Spell for me

[mofocat]

1998 was the last time I lived in a place with relatively low RFI. I've lived in three different locations since then, all in Fresno or Clovis and each one was worse than the last for RFI. I'm in the process of moving this week. Leaving a place where even the FM band was HORRIBLE.
I bought a Grundig SAT800 in 2003. I have never yet been able to use it! Of course now that I have fairly quiet AM reception there is practically no AM programming worth listening to. KGO used to be my daytime 'go to' station- now its like an endless infomercial Catholic radio is on a half dozen daytime signals. Spanish religion on several more Sportz up the ying yang. And of course the shortwave bands have become a vast empty place, expect for the preachers. I still cannot put up any kind of outdoor antenna. Oh, I didn't know how good I had it living amongst the orange groves of the Central Valley in the 60s.

 

[kenrayc]

1998 was the last time I lived in a place with relatively low RFI. I've lived in three different locations since then, all in Fresno or Clovis and each one was worse than the last for RFI. I'm in the process of moving this week. Leaving a place where even the FM band was HORRIBLE.
I bought a Grundig SAT800 in 2003. I have never yet been able to use it! Of course now that I have fairly quiet AM reception there is practically no AM programming worth listening to. KGO used to be my daytime 'go to' station- now its like an endless infomercial Catholic radio is on a half dozen daytime signals. Spanish religion on several more Sportz up the ying yang. And of course the shortwave bands have become a vast empty place, expect for the preachers. I still cannot put up any kind of outdoor antenna. Oh, I didn't know how good I had it living amongst the orange groves of the Central Valley in the 60s.

Are you leaving Fresno / Clovis or a another part of town?

 

[mofocat]

I'm moving all the way from Minnewawa to Pollaski and over from 3rd to 1st street LOL Still no outside antennas allowed but at least the RFI is much less.

 

[brettbutlerisok]

I can get a ton AM at night. 10 different ways to listen to Red Eye Radio of Coast to Coast.

What's RFI?

 

[davideduardo]

I can get a ton AM at night. 10 different ways to listen to Red Eye Radio of Coast to Coast.

What's RFI?

Radio Frequency Interference.

Generally used as a term to describe man-made noise that interferes with radio broadcasts. Causes range from flourescent and LED light bulbs to computers and devices with a microprocessor or CPU. Notorious are "wall warts" but some sources are as old as radio itself, such as bleeding and arcing on power line insulators.

 

[kenrayc]

Radio Frequency Interference.

Generally used as a term to describe man-made noise that interferes with radio broadcasts. Causes range from flourescent and LED light bulbs to computers and devices with a microprocessor or CPU. Notorious are "wall warts" but some sources are as old as radio itself, such as bleeding and arcing on power line insulators.

It's bad in office buildings, in mine, I have a small boom box and on AM It's hard to get some locals without that "hum static" noise, same with living close to major power lines is another factor.

 

[stewie]

It's bad in office buildings, in mine, I have a small boom box and on AM It's hard to get some locals without that "hum static" noise, same with living close to major power lines is another factor.

I gave up long ago trying to receive AM in an office environment. I do this new thing called "streaming" to listening to AM.

 

[DanielBoone]

It's bad in office buildings, in mine, I have a small boom box and on AM It's hard to get some locals without that "hum static" noise, same with living close to major power lines is another factor.

Flourescent lights is the biggest enemy for getting distant AM stations.

 

[davideduardo]

Flourescent lights is the biggest enemy for getting distant AM stations.

I'd say that was true a couple of decades ago. Today it is switching power supplies (wall warts), dimmers, most LED light bulbs and any type of CPU, ranging from smart thermostat controllers to computers.

 

[kenrayc]

I gave up long ago trying to receive AM in an office environment. I do this new thing called "streaming" to listening to AM.

LMFAO I was actually talking about 4 years ago or so, Streaming is all I use at work now, and most of it is out of town.

 

[kenrayc]

LMFAO I was actually talking about 4 years ago or so, Streaming is all I use at work now, and most of it is out of town.

Usually I save OTA time for making deliveries which is about 50/50 and for the dxing, even today 104.1 was KKHK in North West Fresno, I like those tropo conditions, probably by the nice weather we are getting.

 

[brettbutlerisok]

Oh well then, my house is lousy with RFI, 90% of the time. Tried to isolate it (unplugging things) can't. But sometimes no problem at all. I would say it's a neighborhood thing but if I take a radio outside, no problems at all.