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New Hurricane and its effect on radio.

E

ElmoreGantry

Guest
As of 10 am local time, Tropical storm 18 or Hurrricane Rita has winds of 70 mph and poised to reach the Florida Keys later today. United Radio of New Orleans is still on the air courtesy of Entercom and Clear Channel simulcasting each others stations. Now Im not quite sure how this Hurricane will affect the Gulf, but I am sure that somewhere engineers are scrambling to prepare for the affects of this potentially dangerous storm. So the question remains. Will this hurricane knock out what is left of Broacast stations all together and if so, how will residents receive any radio transmissions if whatever stations are left are knocked out. I do know that WWL is using short wave transmissions as a back up and they are still streaming audio. Will Ham radio operators be used even more this time than during Hurricane Katrina?
 
> As of 10 am local time, Tropical storm 18 or Hurrricane Rita
> has winds of 70 mph and poised to reach the Florida Keys
> later today. United Radio of New Orleans is still on the air
> courtesy of Entercom and Clear Channel simulcasting each
> others stations. Now Im not quite sure how this Hurricane
> will affect the Gulf, but I am sure that somewhere engineers
> are scrambling to prepare for the affects of this
> potentially dangerous storm. So the question remains. Will
> this hurricane knock out what is left of Broacast stations
> all together and if so, how will residents receive any radio
> transmissions if whatever stations are left are knocked out.
> I do know that WWL is using short wave transmissions as a
> back up and they are still streaming audio. Will Ham radio
> operators be used even more this time than during Hurricane
> Katrina?
>

I don't know, but you've made a huge argument to NOT screw up high-powered AM's with IBOC. If there is a second killer hurricane, then far away clear channel AM's may be the only way to get information to the area. Most average citizens can't receive ham radio, or shortwave.

Let's see, who has a signal that could put a good signal into the gulf from afar? WOAI comes to mind. WSB in Atlanta....Even KMOX in St. Louis might do it. Nights only, of course. Maybe WOKV in Jacksonville or some inland stations could handle daytimes.

<P ID="signature">______________
Never hold a cat and a dustbuster at the same time.</P>
 
> > As of 10 am local time, Tropical storm 18 or Hurrricane
> Rita
> > has winds of 70 mph and poised to reach the Florida Keys
> > later today. United Radio of New Orleans is still on the
> air
> > courtesy of Entercom and Clear Channel simulcasting each
> > others stations. Now Im not quite sure how this Hurricane
> > will affect the Gulf, but I am sure that somewhere
> engineers
> > are scrambling to prepare for the affects of this
> > potentially dangerous storm. So the question remains. Will
>
> > this hurricane knock out what is left of Broacast stations
>
> > all together and if so, how will residents receive any
> radio
> > transmissions if whatever stations are left are knocked
> out.
> > I do know that WWL is using short wave transmissions as a
> > back up and they are still streaming audio. Will Ham radio
>
> > operators be used even more this time than during
> Hurricane
> > Katrina?
> >
>
> I don't know, but you've made a huge argument to NOT screw
> up high-powered AM's with IBOC. If there is a second killer
> hurricane, then far away clear channel AM's may be the only
> way to get information to the area. Most average citizens
> can't receive ham radio, or shortwave.
>
> Let's see, who has a signal that could put a good signal
> into the gulf from afar? WOAI comes to mind. WSB in
> Atlanta....Even KMOX in St. Louis might do it. Nights only,
> of course. Maybe WOKV in Jacksonville or some inland
> stations could handle daytimes.
>

and another thing... with... a transmitter and just a long wire.. WWL could move pretty far and still deliver information where its needed.

never would happen again but wasnt this one reason for experimentation with 500kw... so lets ditch whatever the new incarnation of eas is this wk.. and start up a new connelrad with a few huge tx's
 
> > Let's see, who has a signal that could put a good signal
> > into the gulf from afar? WOAI comes to mind. WSB in
> > Atlanta....Even KMOX in St. Louis might do it. Nights
> only,
> > of course. Maybe WOKV in Jacksonville or some inland
> > stations could handle daytimes.

It's an interesting question; relying on skywave... everything old is new again.

There are a few stations that would work. And remember, in a truly emergent situation, all rules may be bent. Stations in the region could keep big power up at night, if need be. Stations like WSJC/810 in Magee, MS could be useful with its 50kw. There are many, many others.

And, new technology could also be helpful. Sirius and XM will always make it into the region. But, receivers are few.

Shortwave targetting the region? A waste of perfectly good RF, sadly.

DE
 
Conelrad was a great concept...all the more viable today with satellite delivered programming. Imagine a skywave high powered network fed unified programming via satellite...

Way too sensible.<P ID="signature">______________
Never hold a cat and a dustbuster at the same time.</P>
 
WWTQ, then WMPS, covered the area at night fairly decently. How about putting 10kw(daytime power)into the directional array instead of 5kw? Want a real "flamethrower", put 25kw, or even 50kw, into the array. Grass fires in Frayser? Cuba and South America might not like the idea, either.

Seriously, WMPS got calls from the "Gulf Coast" area on the wats request lines all the time in the late 70's. I didn't understand this until I looked at the "pattern" numbers at FCC.gov recently. The beam still appears to be South/Southeast.

What programming to send down there? I'll stay out of that....<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by PR680 on 09/20/05 03:29 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> WWTQ, then WMPS, covered the area at night fairly decently.
> How about putting 10kw(daytime power)into the directional
> array instead of 5kw? Want a real "flamethrower", put 25kw,
> or even 50kw, into the array. Grass fires in Frayser? Cuba
> and South America might not like the idea, either.
>
> Seriously, WMPS got calls from the "Gulf Coast" area on the
> wats request lines all the time in the late 70's. I didn't
> understand this until I looked at the "pattern" numbers at
> FCC.gov recently. The beam still appears to be
> South/Southeast.
>
> What programming to send down there? I'll stay out of
> that....
>

The antenna components of that DA won't take 10KW...but it was a nice thought.

I wonder if the FCC would give stations temporary authority to do that...

They can in an emergency, but I wonder how they would handle distant stations' requests.
<P ID="signature">______________
Never hold a cat and a dustbuster at the same time.</P>
 
> The antenna components of that DA won't take 10KW...but it
> was a nice thought.

Well, there's the answer.

Fortunately, it doesn't seem as if this sort of thing would be necessary. Many of the NOLA stations are on, although running the same stuff. The New Orleans area has plenty of coverage. Obviously, other target cities like Houston are 100%.

Still, this is an interesting intellectual exercise. Instead of relying on Memphis, which is a bit north to bring reliable coverage that far south, I would look more at stations in the 100-200 mile range from the coastline. ON mediumwave (AM) that's one good hop.

There are several stations that would fit the bill, and some even have daytime DAs that would favor coastal residents. Examples include, but are not limited to, Montgomery, AL (which has 2 10kw stations that would be useful on 740 & 1170); Meridian, MS (WMOX @ 10kw ND); Shreveport (KWKH 1130 with 50kw nights and KEEL 710 which has 50kw days with a pattern favoring the south that could stay on at night); and the previously mentioned WSJC Magee, MS (a station I know VERY well from a past life). There is an 890 in Laurel, MS -- a 10kw daytimer -- but the last time I drove through, it seemed pretty weak. Don't know what's up with that. But, I am sure there are other stations I am not thinking about.

If this were ever necessary, I doubt it would need to stay on long. Guys like Radiosaur or even me could get some sort of signal on-air in most any area in a few days. As long as there is some sort of structure standing, a J-pole can be fashioned for an FM antenna (WKNO used one once when their antenna failed), and a portable generator can be used. AM? Easy. A few hundred feet of #10 will get you on the air. #8? Even better.

And, you may have read that the FCC approved an LPFM to operate for 90 days outside the Astrodome in TX. So, that IMPLIES that they'll be flexible in extraordinary circumstances.

Boy, I have posted too much in the last day or so. I should shut up now.

DE
 
DE, very true.

If a real communication emergency were to exist, like no station surviving,these guys would most likely be in the area. They would stay until some other communication systems were available. I bet restored commercial radio would be the first to be back due to the dedication of engineers.

http://www.iwar.org.uk/psyops/resources/commando-solo/193fact.htm

The capabilities of just one of these planes is awesome. With a 4 plane cell an area could covered for weeks. They don't even need to stage in the immediate area of the disaster.

PR680
 
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