Channel surfing on the AM dial recently on my commute home, I tuned to 740 AM around 5:40 pm. Of course, KBRT and KCBS in SF were fighting it out. My question is why in the world does KBRT even try broadcasting at night with their 190 watts? Note that I was on the 241 Tollway about 8 miles from KBRT's towers in the Santa Ana Mountains where their only listeners with a clear signal are the grizzly bears and mountain lions. As you know, this month has the longest nights and the least amount of daytime for KBRT to use their 50kw directional power. Now when their transmitter was elsewhere with only 10kw, even though they were licensed to operate at night with 113 watts, they usually signed off at sunset or within 15-30 minutes after sunset depending on the month. Do they not sign off at sunset anymore because using the 50kw power makes it cost prohibitive compared with the 10kw stick? Just wondering......
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KBRT at night - WHY?
- Thread starter SuperRadioFan
- Start date
The cost of operating a 50 kw transmitter won't affect night operation. So if they stay on the air, it is likely in the belief that the maximum power they can have at night... 190 watts... covers some people and gives some usable service.
The night transmitter is likely a separate, little rack mounted unit that uses less power than an old component stereo system. The A/C likely uses a lot more power than the night transmitter.
When they were on Catalina Island, they knew that it would be impossible to get the night signal back to the mainland. Apparently now they think enough people can hear them to make being on the air worthwhile.
I imagine few of the KBRT engineers or employees have ever driven their vehicle to a place close enough to receive a decent signal minus the interference from KCBS. That drive likely would include an extensive trip along a winding dirt or gravel road not designed for the average car. Maybe on a "dead" night for DXing a little skywave propagation the 190 watts is OK but most of the time it won't be a clear listenable signal.
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