DavidEduardo said:
tfcwings said:
What do you mean "small AM signal"? I can hear KABC here better than I can hear almost all of the L.A. FMs.
Question for DavidEduardo... I've seen you mention that a 10mV/m signal is needed for a signal to be heard in a metro area like L.A. Does that mean the noise level is so high that a 10mV/m signal would only be a barely detectable ultra-narrowband QRSS CW signal (which is a mode I understand can be detected under the noise much better than other types of transmissions), or that most people aren't willing to listen to a signal with less than a 144-180dB signal-to-noise ratio, and 10mV/m provides that?
You can
hear a signal of lesser strength, but ratings analysis based on connecting reported listening with signal strenth contours shows that people do not
listen in the LA metro if the signal on AM is below 10 mV/M and most listening is inside the 15 mV/m contour. The deterioration of the listening experience outside those areas is such that people do not listen and that is due to man made interference such as dimmers, CFLs, computers, etc., which become annoying if even slightly audible.
DXers look for bad signals from far away. The rest of the folks want a clear noise-free signal or they will not listen.
Interesting. So how would you evaluate
this recording of KNX? Would that already be too much static for people to listen to it?
Based on that recording, I'm a bit surprised that some L.A. stations don't make it past Orange County, when I can hear them here (although not nearly as well as KNX). In fact, I can hear 1000-watt 1280 KFRN Long Beach in Campo, CA (southeast San Diego county) better than I can hear 5000-watt 910 KECR El Cajon in the same area.
I probably should mention I have a part saltwater path between me and KNX, and was using a Select-A-Tenna in that recording.
I can understand people having a hard time listening to
this signal (50kW 700 KALL Salt Lake City, 626 miles away, 3pm mid March). I myself would be willing to listen to weak signals if I had to, though, although something like
this signal (500-watt 1290 KZSB Santa Barbara, 195 miles away, saltwater path, I'm about 15-20 miles inland, used Panasonic RQ-SW20) would probably be fairly close to my limit, IF the signal is steady. If there's fading or interference from other stations, though, I want a stronger signal.
So apparently most people prefer that signals be quite strong. What about a signal like
this one (1130 KSDO, recorded with the radio on the metal fence surrounding the transmitter site)? I would think that's could be just a bit
too strong for some people to listen to.
So am I'm the only person outside the L.A. metro area who sometimes listens to 570 KLAC, 640 KFI, 710 KSPN, 740 KBRT, 790 KABC, 830 KLAA, 870 KRLA, 930 KHJ, 980 KFWB, 1020 KTNQ, 1070 KNX, 1110 KDIS, 1150 KTLK, 1190 KXMX, 1230 KYPA, 1260 KGIL, 1280 KFRN, 1300 KAZN, 1330 KWKW, 1390 KLTX, 1430 KMRB, 1460 KTYM, 1480 KVNR, 1540 KMPC, 1580 KBLA, or 1650 KFOX? (I should mention not all of those are receivable 24/7, and a few have only been heard once or twice, and/or are swamped by strong co-channel interference, or in some cases adjacent-channel interference.)
