I've noticed at home lately on the Bose clock radio that the WSB-AM signal has so much other noise on it that I can't even understand what's being said. I know this radio's AM tuner isn't the greatest, but the WSB signal has generally been strong. Do any of you engineer-types know about anything competing for signal lately? I'm in NE Cobb county and that's about the only AM signal that seems to make it up there at night and early am.
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Question for engineering types re: WSB-AM
- Thread starter hail2theorange
- Start date
I'm not a radio engineer, so this may be the blind leading the blind, but I'll give it a shot--
What time are you hearing this interference? Did you notice this at the same time last year? Sometimes I will hear interference on AM stations during "critical hours"--that is, 2 hours after sunrise and 2 hours before sunset, when skywave propagation (distant signals bouncing off the ionosphere) is winding down and winding up. With the early dawns right now that may be what you are hearing.
Some stations have to power down during those times (the only one that comes to mind is 1190) to avoid interfering with other stations and get interference on themselves as a result, but even stations that don't have to observe critical hours can get interference from other stations up and running at full daytime power at that time. 640 is bad (even before they power down from 50k day to 1000W night) and 920 is horrid when it comes to that kind of interference. Of course, as others have posted anything and everything interferes with 640.
I wouldn't expect this on a clear channel like 750, but I suppose it could happen if other conditions were right.
I have posted in the past about hearing 680 over 750 (and other stations too) on Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth, under some high voltage lines running along the road. My speculation was that these lines might be serving the 680 transmitter field in nearby Peachtree Corners, and the lines might be serving as an antenna or backfeed, causing the usual power line RFI to get modulated to whatever's being broadcasted on 680.
The NE and NW suburbs are bad for night AM. Most other AMs--certainly all the powerful ones--besides WSB have to power down at night, and some of the stronger ones have to go directional, like 680 and 790. Both 680 and 790 cut off the NE and NW with their night patterns. Cobb is bad and Gwinnett is worse.
My guess is that the only other "Atlanta" station you can pick up reasonably clearly at night is going to be Radio Disney on 590, which has a 4500W night signal out of Powder Springs. Being on a "regional channel", it's usually very choppy night water as it has to compete with similarly-powered stations elsewhere.
What time are you hearing this interference? Did you notice this at the same time last year? Sometimes I will hear interference on AM stations during "critical hours"--that is, 2 hours after sunrise and 2 hours before sunset, when skywave propagation (distant signals bouncing off the ionosphere) is winding down and winding up. With the early dawns right now that may be what you are hearing.
Some stations have to power down during those times (the only one that comes to mind is 1190) to avoid interfering with other stations and get interference on themselves as a result, but even stations that don't have to observe critical hours can get interference from other stations up and running at full daytime power at that time. 640 is bad (even before they power down from 50k day to 1000W night) and 920 is horrid when it comes to that kind of interference. Of course, as others have posted anything and everything interferes with 640.
I wouldn't expect this on a clear channel like 750, but I suppose it could happen if other conditions were right.
I have posted in the past about hearing 680 over 750 (and other stations too) on Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth, under some high voltage lines running along the road. My speculation was that these lines might be serving the 680 transmitter field in nearby Peachtree Corners, and the lines might be serving as an antenna or backfeed, causing the usual power line RFI to get modulated to whatever's being broadcasted on 680.
The NE and NW suburbs are bad for night AM. Most other AMs--certainly all the powerful ones--besides WSB have to power down at night, and some of the stronger ones have to go directional, like 680 and 790. Both 680 and 790 cut off the NE and NW with their night patterns. Cobb is bad and Gwinnett is worse.
My guess is that the only other "Atlanta" station you can pick up reasonably clearly at night is going to be Radio Disney on 590, which has a 4500W night signal out of Powder Springs. Being on a "regional channel", it's usually very choppy night water as it has to compete with similarly-powered stations elsewhere.
shot in the dark:
have you recently changed to the "new"
energy-saving 'curly' flourescent light bulbs?
they generate a TON of noise
have you recently changed to the "new"
energy-saving 'curly' flourescent light bulbs?
they generate a TON of noise
I suffer interference to WSB's signal from my neighbors Internet connection. I don't know if the issue is their DSL or a wireless router, but we did confirm that it was the source of the problem.
romer979fm said:
While we have changed to the compact fluourescent bulbs, none are yet on when the clock radio kicks on at 6.
Here's my shot in the dark:
It could be that the WSB engineering folks are testing their AM-HD. I spoke to one of them over a year ago about AM-HD and they said that while they had the capability to do it, AM-HD has a tendency to generate noise in the main carrier on some AM radios due to the wide bandwidth of the tuners. This was mostly in car radios though.
It could be that the WSB engineering folks are testing their AM-HD. I spoke to one of them over a year ago about AM-HD and they said that while they had the capability to do it, AM-HD has a tendency to generate noise in the main carrier on some AM radios due to the wide bandwidth of the tuners. This was mostly in car radios though.
I've noticed the same thing with my alarm clock lately. It's set to go off at 6 a.m. and WSB doesn't come in as clearly then as it does on the same radio in the middle of the day.
One morning recently, I went to hit the snooze button and accidentally hit the tuning knob. I landed on 720 and was able to pick up WGN Chicago. Pretty neat stuff.
One morning recently, I went to hit the snooze button and accidentally hit the tuning knob. I landed on 720 and was able to pick up WGN Chicago. Pretty neat stuff.
librarygirlatl said:
The skywave on WGN-720 has been really poor for several weeks now. The "Steve and Johnny" show during the middle of the night is a keeper.
bnaivar said:
WSB-AM has shut down normal HD operations, but must install and test any equipment previously ordered. That is why WSB-AM is on WSRV-HD2. I doubt they are doing it at 6 AM during morning drive. They said if the issues involving AM-HD could be resolved, they would turn it back on in a heartbeat.
And the car radio that got the interference that caused WSB-AM to shut down HD operations...it belongs to Bob Neil.
I have noticed that my car radio gets bad interference at times from WSB-AM (mostly during the day). But then again there is a lot of electromagnetic interference from powerlines and every single building (commercial, residential, government, or otherwise) caused by the area's tremendous growth. Not to mention WSB deciding to "pave paradise and put up a parking lot" in the late 70's may have something to do with things (I am not an engineer, but when I hear about bad groundwave, instinct tells me that that shopping center has something to do with it, but I may be wrong).
WSB engineers past and present have denied that to me. In fact, they say the signal is better because when the shopping center was built, the station installed a totally new ground system. But, you're correct that the market's growth, including buildings and the increased use of computers, has hurt the WSB signal.
RoddyFreeman said:
Do you mean around Northlake Tower Festival or throughout the ATL? If the latter, that would hurt all AMs--particularly weaker ones. I had always heard that WAKE 1340 (as a top 40 station) was killed by suburban sprawl more than anything else, succumbing to WPLO 590 and Quixie. There's only so much you can do with ~500 watts, in the case of WAKE.
Neal Boortz once recounted a story where someone was having an ultrasound on their baby done at a doctor's office near Northlake, and the WSB signal came out over the ultrasound machine. The patient wisecracked and said, "I guess we're having a Libertarian..."
jal41 said:
Go up into parts of the Midwest and drive around with a map and maybe a receiver that has a meter on it that gives you a reasonable indication of received signal. Then come back to northeast Georgia and do the same drill. I don't think every A.M. radio station in Gainesville, Cleveland, Commerce, Cornelia, etc. etc. etc. has their tower planted in a shopping center blacktop.
A.M. Groundware in the area SUCKS. And if you have a poorly installed antenna and ground system, it gets even worse.
Throughout Atlanta once you get several miles from the transmitter site. And yes, all AM's are affected.
WAKE as a top-40 station did not die because of interference in the suburbs. It died because its signal really no longer covered the market once Atlanta started sprawling away from the city. That's also why WQXI was a top-rated station at night in the 60's but no longer has the nighttime signal potential to be one. But WAKE, with only 250 watts at night compared to 1,000 for WQXI, died much earlier.
K
kyscott
Guest
Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:
You also need to take into account ground conductivity. On a scale of 10, the Atlanta/North Georgia area is below a 1. Middle and south Georgia don't get above a 3. That's what hurts WSB within a 150 mile radius of Atlanta more than anything else. And every other AM station for that matter. For example, up here in Kentucky where soil conductivity is in the 4s and 5s, I'm hearing WHAS 115 miles away during the daytime. However, memorial day weekend I was in Dooly County, 110 miles from WSB's transmitter and was unable to hear them. I was hardly able to pick out WMAC in Macon 70 miles away. By comparison, I regularly listen to WSB at night up here (When WJR in Detroit isn't fighting them).
C
CJ_Jackson
Guest
I live in NE Cobb and have the same issues as a listener. I've taken some field strength measurements with a FIM-41 around NE Cobb in places and the signal to noise (high power line noise too in more and more places) like all up and down Shallowford Rd and Johnson Ferry in many spots is bad. Even on a GE SuperRadio it's noisy in my house on most of the "big guns" to varying degrees. Nothing like a drought to lower the local water table thereby making our already bad ground conductivity worse, almost forgot about that one!
Back to the original question....if this is a recent development, it may be a PC, TV, gawd, who knows what trashing AM reception in your own home.Lights? Heaters? HVAC? It could be any of these items. Far more likely vs something WSB did, or did not do.
And on ground conductivity, yes it sucks here. Back in the upper Midwest, my hometown station on 1490 (1kW) is a daytime scan stopper about 50 miles out. (Ground Conductivity is around 8-10 if I recall.)
And on ground conductivity, yes it sucks here. Back in the upper Midwest, my hometown station on 1490 (1kW) is a daytime scan stopper about 50 miles out. (Ground Conductivity is around 8-10 if I recall.)
HGR1290 said:
If it was something WSB did, only WSB would be having the problem.
I live on the north side of Lake Lanier between Cumming and Gainesville. Until WDUN (550) went to 10 kw I had difficulty getting their 5KW 20 miles away. When WDGR (1210) in Dahlonega was on the air I could not get it here at 20 miles out. I can barely get Murrayville (1330) here. It's noisy. Back when Cumming had 1170 I could barely pick it up here 8 miles out.
The atmosphere is just noisy with all kinds of modern gadgets boiling electrons over like a coffee maker too full of water.
And the AM receivers of today will not will any awards at this year's county fair.
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