Is it time to end AM night skywave protection?

[KTN Corp]

I agree here. Even experts here mention that part of AM's problem is that even stations in big metros have smaller signal footprints than the metro which outgrew them, and RFI is part of the problem on top of that. Signal strength over your primary area is important.

Perhaps it would be better to scrap the concepts of blowtorches and directional regionals, and focus on signal strength and pattern to serve the market? Eliminating Class A, B, C and D classifications and focusing on an allocation plan (similar to FM or TV) would be a start. Making sure that signal strength is just enough (to overcome RF interference and poor soils, but minimize skywave) and that the pattern serves the entire market would do wonders to revitalize AM radio.

But eliminating the MW service and going FM-only is much the simpler way to get things done!

 

[Bigrobmjca]

Not just no, but hell no! I still find myself dxing the AM band sometimes. It’s part of Americana!

 

[KeithE4]

Not just no, but hell no! I still find myself dxing the AM band sometimes. It’s part of Americana!

It's also completely obsolete. There is no DX that can be barely heard on your Ancient Modulation radio that can't be heard clearly and noise-free via TuneIn, iHeart, or the other streaming services. Better to eliminate directional antennas, limit the power to 10 kW in most cases (there would be some exceptions that would be allowed 50 kW, but not all current blowtorches), and have whatever AM stations that can survive be able to cover their entire markets clearly.

 

[davideduardo]

It's also completely obsolete. There is no DX that can be barely heard on your Ancient Modulation radio that can't be heard clearly and noise-free via TuneIn, iHeart, or the other streaming services. Better to eliminate directional antennas, limit the power to 10 kW in most cases (there would be some exceptions that would be allowed 50 kW, but not all current blowtorches), and have whatever AM stations that can survive be able to cover their entire markets clearly.

There are many larger markets that can't be covered adequately with 10 kw and quite a few where 50 kw can't cover the market well, particularly on the upper half of the band.

In any case, you can't legislate to change the laws of physics. Other than for the clear channel stations, skywave protection is basically not protection of individual station skywave coverage but, really, protection against interference in the local coverage area of each station's primary signal. It's about keeping each local station's groundwave contour protected from local interference from the skywave of distant stations.

Elimination of mutual skywave protection might allow, as an example, KGO to have a bit more signal to the east, but it is not going to let stations on regional and local channels make any significant changes.

And, of course, few stations are going to invest in new transmitter facilities for dying AM stations. The trend is now to eliminate directional systems and reduce power to avoid paying for expensive upkeep and land for stations with a bunch of towers.

 

[boombox4]

But eliminating the MW service and going FM-only is much the simpler way to get things done!

Sounds great, except where are you going to find the room on the FM band? (Answer: nowhere).

 

[KeithE4]

But eliminating the MW service and going FM-only is much the simpler way to get things done!

Physically impossible without HD, and difficult with it. There are only 80 commercial FM frequencies, plus 20 non-comm channels, and the spectrum cannot be expanded.

 

[TheBigA]

There are only 80 commercial FM frequencies, plus 20 non-comm channels, and the spectrum cannot be expanded.

Still truthfully there aren't enough profitable formats to fill all those frequencies.

 

[ixnay]

I'm with you. I really enjoyed picking up KGO and KFRC in San Francisco, as well as KFI in Los Angeles in Seattle as a teen in the 70's. Today, you can still pick up 810 out of SF, but the programming is so vanilla the joy is gone. I also loved to pick up WLS and WCFL on our family trips to Michigan in the 70's. From my Grand Rapids location in the mid-70's I have amateur airchecks of not only those Chicago stations, but WABC New York, and the above mentioned WOWO Fort Wayne.

But the horse is out of the barn. Those good old days are gone and when you pick up one of these giants today, it isn't anything special. Sad, but time marches on.

"Time goes slowly but carries on, and now the best years have come and gone..."

Ah, I remember (as an 8yo) hearing the Guess Who singing that on WFIL in the summer of '69 (not a blowtorch, but that's not the point of quoting "Laughing" here)...

ixnay

 

[ixnay]

The need for skywave today is more about quality of the signal over the noise floor rather than reaching 16 states.

What's a "noise floor"?

ixnay

 

[vchimpanzee]

Physically impossible without HD, and difficult with it. There are only 80 commercial FM frequencies, plus 20 non-comm channels, and the spectrum cannot be expanded.

Sure it can. As long as we're repacking, get rid of Channel 6. And then people won't bother to buy receivers that can pick up 82 through 88, so we're back where we started.

 

[KeithE4]

Sure it can. As long as we're repacking, get rid of Channel 6. And then people won't bother to buy receivers that can pick up 82 through 88, so we're back where we started.

For the millionth time, THE FCC IS NOT REALLOCATING CHANNEL 6, or any other television channel, for any other use. Period. They've said so repeatedly.

 

[Uncle Kaimbridge]

What's a "noise floor"

The noise floor is the baseline noise.
Think of this graph as measuring noise:

The flatline is the noise floor, while the spikes are added sounds/noise.