[BC] THE POWER & SMALL MARKET SOUNDER

[Powell Way]

Indeed we so called geeks are not jealous.  We don't want you to make a 
mistake.  250 watts works OK for  you only part of the day. Now, wait 
you may say.... but listen to what I say.  You normally don't have a 
problem with skywave interference around the few hours that are the 
height of daytime, but in winter it happens more than you can imagine. 
But critical hours.... is 2 hours after sunrise and 2 before sunset can 
cause a problem. Now on the upper end of the AM band it is a REALLY 
serious problem.  So at 1560 you need every watt you can get to not 
have stuff in the background of your signal.

In these  cases.... the WCSL Cherryville, NC on 1590  station applied 
to go from 1000 watts to 10,000 watts. And the FCC ( sheeeesh  how 
stupid is this)  ========>  NO CRITICAL hours.  All of the 1590's 
within 200 miles get POUNDED in the early morning and late afternoons.  
The Atlanta area 1600  (WAOS Austell, GA)   got 20,000 watts. That 
pounds lots of the stations within 200 miles in the early mornings and 
late afternoons. I didn't see any critical hours allocations for that 
one either.

And there is ALWAYS skywave on the upper part of the band. I used to 
listen to WAGL 1560 in Lancaster, SC when I lived in West Columbia. On 
one 100+ Summer afternoon I was at home on the bed listening to WAGL on 
my 1946 Hammurlund HQ-129-X and I watched the signal strength go up and 
down  and into deep selective fades. Yes, this was in the heatwave and 
drought time that normally brings down soil conductivity and long 
daylight hours that are not conducive to skywave.

250 watts on 540 gets you out better than at least 25,000 or WAY more 
watts on 1600.  I can hear the 540 WYNN in Florence South Carolina well 
over 100 miles away, but can't hear WAOS 1600 Austell, Georgia the same 
distance.

See where I am going on this?

Now it's time for my night vitamins, and the Cod Liver Oil ( A&D and 
essential Omega oils) and go to bed.

Powell

On Feb 17, 2010, at 7:12 PM, Scott Bailey wrote:

> The tech geeks don't understand me. I've always wanted a little 
> 250-500 watt AM station, even when I was working at the FM stations in 
> Nashville. With the help of my family (mainly my parents) I got one, 
> and it sounds good.
>
> In closing, 250 or 500 watts is enough for me. I cover the whole 
> county with 250 watts! 1 KW is still a waste. As long as the City of 
> License is covered with the power I choose, then I'm happy. I'm not 
> out to make money and run a cash register. I'm just trying to relax, 
> have fun with the station, and yes I'm blessed to have it.
>
> Personally, I believe the geeks are just jealous of what I have and 
> think I should operate it like WSM, milk it for all I can get, and 
> then sell it. Nope that's not in my plan.