And one other thing----if the folks in the small town aren't listening to their local radio station on a regular basis, they aren't likely to think of them as a resource during a crisis in the first place.
That's a great point Mike. Anymore people go to Farsebook first. I think it was in Ohio, a tornado brought down a church and other buildings where people were working. What medium were people trapped inside the building, or asking for help? They didn't call or text for help. Instead their first stop was Farsebook. The sad part was, it actually worked!
And keep in mind, a hobbyist wouldn't be erecting a tower over 100 feet tall, most would be using a longwire for the transmitter. A 100 watt signal would have even shorter range. The FCC could add that as a restriction, as far as tower type, maximum height, etc.
Hey, if it helped them, maybe saved lives, great!
Guess my point was: Anymore, people don't default to some portable radio during emergencies. Their default is social media.
Agreed. I said what I said what I said because you said "The sad part was, it actually worked!"
Surprisingly, I don't give a sh*t when AM finally goes away entirely. My comments are usually intended on educating the Rip Van Winkle's on this site that are literally and figuratively still living in the 60's and 70's. Much of their knowledge about radio anyway, is incomplete or amounts to revisionist history.
I cut my teeth on AM, and have built many directional and non-D stations from scratch. I'm one of the remaining engineers under 75 who understand how they work. That said; I too have fond memories when AM was a big deal as a driving force of news and sports. The reality is; those days are officially over, and they ain't comin' back. Doesn't matter how many T-shirts, or free radios handed out.
And that's what AM is facing right now.
Exactly. Back in the 50's Major Armstrong felt AM should have been transitioning to FM, because FM was superior. But AM continued making money, so it remained for many years after. We're just witnessing the inevitable.
I've long been amused at the notion that a few drops of rain will cause a complete crash of internet and cellular infrastructure, while radio stations can somehow be unaffected by tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, or direct nuclear attack ("Wow, they dropped a 100 Megaton atom bomb on K### and not only did it stay on the air, the record didn't skip!")
Excellent points! Most people don't consider how information gets to stations for broadcast.
Most of the population is Beaumont, Vidor and up into Lumberton now. Even though it says Beaumont Port Arthur, Port Arthur has been sliding downhill over the last 20 years and people have been leaving it in droves. They've moved northward into Hardin County where land and the taxes are much cheaper! I know my market and I know my listeners. I don't go by the numbers posted on websites because they don't tell the entire story
Or it's a 1kW station in a noisy environment that requires at least 10mV/m at the receiver for a receivable listening experience?
All stations are required to have EAS. Here in Washington D.C. the LP-1 station is FM: WTOP.
This is exciting to hear.
All SF area stations have to be EAS capable. KCBS (AM) is the primary station, which originates alerts. But that is just part of the internal system, to which all stations are connected.
