Tom,

Ironically, the low power stations who were supposed to be helped by
allowing them to run all night don't even reap the benefits.  In our area,
you can't even hear some of the 500 watt stations (which are supposed to
have local coverage) at night because of all the QRM underneath them.  Said
QRM is being caused by stations in other areas which probably can't be heard
either in the areas they're supposed to cover.  I doubt they'll ever do it,
but a lot of this would get fixed if the FCC were to implement the idea of
"clear channel" as it was in the old days.

You raise a good point about streaming on line, which has changed the whole
face of AM radio.  It takes a lot less energy to stream a radio station than
it does to run a 50,000 watt transmitter.  It also takes a lot less space.
When I lived in Connecticut, a friend of mine was Chief Engineer at one of
the local TV stations.  He took me on a tour of the transmitter site which,
by the way, was fascinating.  After showing me the four final tubes of the
transmitter, each of which was four feet long, water cooled, and the
diameter of a small gas water heater, he showed me the box they use to feed
the cable companies.  It was about the size of a CD player.  Pretty amazing
when you consider that their entire transmitter installation cost about
$1500 a month just for the electricity, and served only 30% of their
audience.  The other 70% was served by that cute little box the size of a CD
player.  Look how many shortwave stations have given up broadcasting because
it's just not cost effective to run those 100KW transmitters.  Ultimately,
all this stuff boils down to how much it costs, and going digital is cheaper
and much more efficient in the long run.

Steve

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "T Behler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2007 14:49
Subject: Re: FCC aproves HD A M broadcasting 24 hours a day


>    I hear you, Steve.
>
> And, you're right.
>
> A m  DXING isn't what it used to be.  For example, here in Michigan, say 
> 15
> years ago, I used to be able to get WBZ in Boston every night, unless
> conditions were very very poor.
>
> Now, I usually have to wait till the Fall or Winter, and even then, it's
> questionable.
>
> The same can be said for many of the New York stations, like WABC, WOR, 
> and
> WCBS, as well as Philadelphia stations like KYW and WPHT.
>
> And, being from the east coast myself, I really miss that.
>
> Of course, you can now get most of them streaming "on line", but, in my
> opinion, it's not quite the same.
>
> 73 from Tom Behler:  KB8TYJ