[BC] Re: WLW related historical question

[Jeffrey Kopp]

If I could ask a couple naive questions, I wonder why longwave has never been used for broadcasting in the US, or if it was even ever considered.

Since the AM band appears to be lurching inexorably towards collapse (which I believe Rich is obliquely and truculently implying), perhaps a reorg will happen (or rather, be forced to occur). I have a fuzzy idea along the lines of wide-regional coverage on LW (i.e., "return of the clears"), extended metro on MW below 1kHz, and communities above 1kHz. Existing receiver base would not be obsoleted; listeners could migrate over a few years to new sets including the new band.

My thinking probably derives from my life in the Pacific Northwest, where FM has never worked quite right due to distances and terrain, and military tours in rural Northern Cal., on Cape Cod and in Alaska have only reinforced my impression.

Would vestigial sideband work for MW audio, and (if artfully offset and staggered), could it bring channel bandwidth back?

Jeff