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Transmitter Pictures for WLTA-AM1400 and WCNN-680 AM-ATLANTA

Nice pictures. I have a couple questions. Why is AM still being used so frequently in the US? And why run lower power at night? Since I'm from Europe this is strange to me.
 
Nice pics! Were you able to get some of the studios, as well?

R
 
The F Mister said:
Nice pictures. I have a couple questions. Why is AM still being used so frequently in the US? And why run lower power at night? Since I'm from Europe this is strange to me.
Click to expand...

AM in the US is usually the highest or one of the highest rating stations in the market due to talk or sports programming. It also gives much better coverage of vast metropolitan areas often more than 100 miles across. Low power at night is necessary because of the vast number of stations (over 10,000) in the US. If most of them didn't lower power, the resulting interference would jam the band.
 
Thanks for the complements. I did not get to the studios but will try too soon and post more pictures. Personally I have always had a fascination with the AM Band and that piece of steel in the air. It's a complicated beast.
 
rbrucecarter5 said:
Low power at night is necessary because of the vast number of stations (over 10,000) in the US. If most of them didn't lower power, the resulting interference would jam the band.
Click to expand...

Besides which, many of them are required to use directional transmit antenna arrays at night, so as acceptably to reduce their skywave radiation toward the protected skywave contours accorded to AM stations existing before those subsequent stations were authorized.
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The F Mister said:
So are there more AM stations at night than during daytime?
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There are fewer at night, because some stations are licensed for daytime service only. Some others may operate at night only by reducing power and using a directional radiation pattern.
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Ok, that I understand. But rbrucecarter5 said:
rbrucecarter5 said:
Low power at night is necessary because of the vast number of stations (over 10,000) in the US. If most of them didn't lower power, the resulting interference would jam the band.
Click to expand...

This should be an issue during daytime as well than? Everyone at max power. And actually not at night when some have to shutdown due to daytime licenses.
 
The F Mister said:
This should be an issue during daytime as well than? Everyone at max power. And actually not at night when some have to shutdown due to daytime licenses.
Click to expand...

Many US AM stations licensed for 24 hour operation use a directional pattern day and night, and sometimes those patterns (as well as the allowable power) are different. Some are allowed higher power during the day because skywave interference is negligible then. Daytime service in the medium wave band is provided by the ground wave, only.
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The F Mister said:
This should be an issue during daytime as well than? Everyone at max power. And actually not at night when some have to shutdown due to daytime licenses.
Click to expand...

The vast distances between stations helps the problem, especially in the Western part of the country. One fine point I forgot to mention. A very large percentage of US stations are on some designated "local" frequencies - which are sort of thrown away to interference - you take what you can get. On the plus side, if you are on the road constantly, set your presets to these frequencies and you are virtually assured of a station! If memory serves they are 1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450, and 1490. As luck would have it, most are unusable in my metro area so there is not much on them.
 
It's not really an issue during the daytime, either, since many AM stations operate directional antennas during the day as well as their nighttime pattern.
 
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