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Post by bluebucketradio on Dec 5, 2015 2:12:42 GMT
While i like our position on the AM dial, weather conditions and skywave have both changed for this time of year. AM 1520 is becoming a crowded mess all of a sudden and it has me wondering if I should have picked a quieter channel in the extended band? This evening during a trip to the store and away from home, i noted three stations creeping in on 1520.
I was talking to my wife and driving so I didn't try to i.d. any of the stations fighting to come out on top. It did occur to me that it was around sunset and sky wave was becoming more active but i also considered my surroundings. It was open country around us and not surrounded by close mountains like it is at home.
Here at the house I am surrounded by mountains that are 1000 feet high and nearly in our face. Hell, one is at my back door and the other is 90 feet across the road from my house. Propagation is different on a mountain obviously because of elevation but since my location is in a valley, i might as well be in a cave.
At this point I am wondering if I should consider moving to the x band?
I am sure those other stations i heard on 1520 are out of state, according to radio-locator and the fcc website, there is no stations in my state assigned to 1520. What do you think?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2015 11:27:19 GMT
Why I Made a Bad Choice
Your experience, Barry, on 1520 reminds me a whole lot of my operation on 1550 which is the AM channel I listen to indoors.
During the critical hours (2-hours around sunrise and sunset) 1550 is loaded with many voices and songs all combined in a distant stew of sound.
It was fun plotting out a map of all the stations on 1550 within a several state area.
In daylight there are three 5 kW stations in Missouri which reduce to much lower power at night.
100-feet from the house the noise totally overtakes all radios and my signal becomes part of the "far away" voices.
I kind of like hearing my station as if it was farther away than it is. I figure that if anyone ever hears me on 1550 something really weird is happening.
Meanwhile, I also have a signal at 1680 kHz which gets out a lot farther and is the one I listen to when outdoors working in the yard.
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Post by bluebucketradio on Dec 25, 2015 20:24:59 GMT
After listening to 1520 AM away from my small coverage area, it has been determined that the mountain i live on is shielding my receiver from hearing those other stations on 1520. When I am in town (Hazard,Ky) some 7 miles from home, the terrain is more open and in some places we are able to see the horizon, most places you cannot unless of course you live on one of the many hills/mountains or ridges that make up parts of the Appalachian Mts.
So when i am out and about town, i can hear other stations on 1520 and sometimes they are strong but not as strong as you'd expect.
At home where i park my jeep under a car port made of metal and wood posts, i can't really hear that much traffic on that channel.
On a long wire antenna connected to a shortwave radio , 1520 is noisy and i can hear those high powered stations but they aren't border blasters.
If i use two miles as a guide for my expected coverage area, then all should be well at night given the terrain around my neighborhood, beyond that it really won't matter since i don't expect to hear my station past 1 or 2 miles.
I think Blue Bucket Radio will stay where it is on 1520 Khz.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2015 22:48:04 GMT
Home At 1520Sounds like you have considered very carefully to stick with 1520 AM. I will add you to the National AM Dial on my Part 15 page. CARL'S PART 15 PAGE SPIGOT
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Post by bluebucketradio on Dec 26, 2015 18:31:22 GMT
Thank You Carl,
Seems like it works out about the same as being in the extended AM band.
Some nights traffic on 1520 comes and goes like it does from 1620 to 1700 khz and i am sure others have noticed the same pattern on their frequency.
One night 1520 isn't very active, the next night or even a few nights following can be a mix of several weak to strong signals fighting to get on top of the pile up.
1710 being what it is, is always quiet day or night. Ehter or i mean, either way it has always been a problem no matter what part of the AM band we choose to transmit in there will always be skywaves to deal with. I actually like hanging around the lower end of the band from 1000 khz to 530 khz.
There is always something new to dx in the lower end of the band.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2015 20:23:07 GMT
Part 15 AM Lower Band
Using the lower AM band is the big strength of carrier current.
Because of congestion here, the lowest open AM channel I can find is 970 kHz, but carrier current results have been very good... well, the coverage I get on 970 pretty well matches the Part 15 coverage with a 3-meter antenna up at 1680 kHz.
Right, and sometimes I listen to an open channel, like 1550, for several hours... and sure enough... signals sort of "arrive" and get pretty strong for a brief or maybe longer time... then it's back to the jumble of mixed up signals... sometimes nothing at all comes in.
Always having secret dreams of piracy, it would be crazy to have a transmitter designed to raise and lower its own power so that some far off DXer with his radio would find it, then notice it fading out.
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