Buffalo/Niagara Falls is #1 radio market for AM

[Fleezoid]

6 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

It's only a pale comparison if you can't enjoy the 

🎵Brotherly love, Brothers of Mercy🎶

commercials live.  Except they're probably all replaced by national betting shop commercials by now. 🤨

 

I get a bunch of Audacy Podcast commercials. Pretty annoying. 

[gomper]

Speaking of ducting, and I'm not sure it was the cause of this, but years ago I got the home Lakers broadcast of a playoff game in Williamsville. It was around dusk and I lived near powerlines. It was on a portable radio. KFI was the station I believe.  It lasted maybe 30 minutes.  Wild.

[ExiledInIllinois]

22 minutes ago, gomper said:

Speaking of ducting, and I'm not sure it was the cause of this, but years ago I got the home Lakers broadcast of a playoff game in Williamsville. It was around dusk and I lived near powerlines. It was on a portable radio. KFI was the station I believe.  It lasted maybe 30 minutes.  Wild.

How old are you? You sure they weren't still in Minneapolis? Minneapolis is still west of the Mississippi. 

 

😉 😜 

[gomper]

2 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

How old are you? You sure they weren't still in Minneapolis? Minneapolis is still west of the Mississippi. 

 

😉 😜 

Positive. I'm 51. This was in the late 80's.

[Goin Breakdown]

On 6/11/2023 at 7:09 PM, boyst said:

In many places here in Greensboro I can pick up wgr. 

 

Sometimes the station on 550 am out of Statesville North Carolina overpowers it, and that station is only 70 mi away straight line. The most the time wgr can be heard

Wait...what?  I know I'm not too smart but I still can't see how you'd pick up a buffalo station in NC. 

[Vark]

I have gotten it in Raleigh NC too.

[Wacka]

Back in 73 (the Sabre's first year in the playoffs) I wanted to keep tract  who they might play so I tried searching for games with a portable radio. I  tuned in Montreal, Toronto, Boston, Detroit, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and  very briefly St. Louis.

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 hour ago, Goin Breakdown said:

Wait...what?  I know I'm not too smart but I still can't see how you'd pick up a buffalo station in NC. 

Probably at night:

 

https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/am-stations-at-night

 

"...However, during nighttime hours the AM signals can travel over hundreds of miles by reflection from the ionosphere, a phenomenon called "skywave" propagation.  (Shortwave stations, which operate using AM modulation on several bands between between 2.3 MHz and 26.1 MHz, also use this phenomenon to broadcast still greater distances, up to thousands of miles.)  Because of this change in signal propagation from daytime to nighttime, if every AM station kept its daytime operating power at night, massive interference would result. (For a similar description, see Hours of Daytime-Only AM Broadcast Stations, First Report and Order, BC Docket 82-538, 95 FCC 2d 1032 (1983) [ PDF ] and related [ MO&O ]).  .. "

 

 

 

 

We sure are one hell of a "noisy" planet. If there is other intelligent life out there, it surely has had of heard us!

[Pete]

6 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Probably at night:

 

https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/am-stations-at-night

 

"...However, during nighttime hours the AM signals can travel over hundreds of miles by reflection from the ionosphere, a phenomenon called "skywave" propagation.  (Shortwave stations, which operate using AM modulation on several bands between between 2.3 MHz and 26.1 MHz, also use this phenomenon to broadcast still greater distances, up to thousands of miles.)  Because of this change in signal propagation from daytime to nighttime, if every AM station kept its daytime operating power at night, massive interference would result. (For a similar description, see Hours of Daytime-Only AM Broadcast Stations, First Report and Order, BC Docket 82-538, 95 FCC 2d 1032 (1983) [ PDF ] and related [ MO&O ]).  .. "

 

 

 

 

We sure are one hell of a "noisy" planet. If there is other intelligent life out there, it surely has had of heard us!

In the 80s, my family would drive Sunday night, often after midnight,  from Allentown PA to CT.  We would pick up AM stations from Florida and the whole east coast.

 

I was told many radio stations sign off Sunday night, and if there are a lot of clouds between FL and CT, you could receive a strong FL station

[boyst]

10 hours ago, Goin Breakdown said:

Wait...what?  I know I'm not too smart but I still can't see how you'd pick up a buffalo station in NC. 

Me either but I can pick it up often. Over the Appalachians, of all things. On some mornings in the winter it's about as clear as it is in Erie.

 

I couldn't get it in Toledo - not without extending a giant antenna through our attic - but I can get it here regularly. 

 

I always wait for the commercials to assure me it's right. Celino & Barnes - injury attorneys call 867-5309!

[ExiledInIllinois]

Explanation from NOAA...

 

"During the daytime, the distance the AM radio signal travels is the distance the ground wave travels, based upon the power of the transmitter. The signal also reaches the ionosphere.

The D-Layer of the ionosphere plays an interesting role. While there are no radio signals reflected off this layer, it does absorb AM radio signals. Because signals are absorbed, there is less interference between them. Therefore, more radio stations are transmitting during the daytime, and these stations can often transmit at higher power.

At night, the D-Layer disappears, and the transmitted signal can then bounce off the ionosphere and return back to the Earth. As a result, some low power stations must cease transmission at sunset, while others reduce their transmitted power to reduce interference.

However, there are high power clear channel stations that can broadcast all night. It is these stations the students will most likely find."

 

"Comparison showing how the D-layer affects daytime and night time radio transmissions."

46 minutes ago, boyst said:

Me either but I can pick it up often. Over the Appalachians, of all things. On some mornings in the winter it's about as clear as it is in Erie.

 

I couldn't get it in Toledo - not without extending a giant antenna through our attic - but I can get it here regularly. 

 

I always wait for the commercials to assure me it's right. Celino & Barnes - injury attorneys call 867-5309!

Toledo is west.  Probably the reason. 

 

??

[PromoTheRobot]

14 hours ago, gomper said:

Speaking of ducting, and I'm not sure it was the cause of this, but years ago I got the home Lakers broadcast of a playoff game in Williamsville. It was around dusk and I lived near powerlines. It was on a portable radio. KFI was the station I believe.  It lasted maybe 30 minutes.  Wild.

 

KFI is an AM station, right? That wasn't ducting. That's called "skip" where the signal bounces off the ionosphere and ground, like a ball.

 

https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/01/radio-signals-travel-night-day/#:~:text=For AM waves%2C given the,in the terrestrial radio process.

[boyst]

22 hours ago, Fleezoid said:

 

I get a bunch of Audacy Podcast commercials. Pretty annoying. 

just do the right thing! in order to help protect our environment stop breathing for 60 seconds a day. this will help cut down on harmful gasses omitted in our planet. remember, together only we can do one thing.

 

 

seriously, these commercials are so freaking hollow. there was one that talked about eating fruit over beef and meat. it's... orwell meets kafka. these big radio heads preaching buffoonery.

[Goin Breakdown]

2 hours ago, boyst said:

Me either but I can pick it up often. Over the Appalachians, of all things. On some mornings in the winter it's about as clear as it is in Erie.

 

I couldn't get it in Toledo - not without extending a giant antenna through our attic - but I can get it here regularly. 

 

I always wait for the commercials to assure me it's right. Celino & Barnes - injury attorneys call 867-5309!

This is pretty awesome

[gomper]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

KFI is an AM station, right? That wasn't ducting. That's called "skip" where the signal bounces off the ionosphere and ground, like a ball.

 

https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/01/radio-signals-travel-night-day/#:~:text=For AM waves%2C given the,in the terrestrial radio process.

Thank you for the explanation.  It was a unique experience for sure. 

[Poleshifter]

Back in the 60s, my brother and I listened to AM radio, picked up stations far away. We wrote down 10-15 minutes of their content and mailed it to them.

 

the station would send us back a QSL card, a postcard with their logo.

 

From our AM table radio in Kenmore, we picked up stations from New Orleans, Chicago, Boston, etc. We even got one from Bonaire, off the coast of Venezuela. They were probably pumping 100,000 watts. US stations were limited to 50K.

 

We collected about 40 cards from all over the US, east of the Mississippi mostly. It was a fun hobby. Of course, stations were staffed with human beings back then.

[Big Turk]

On 6/14/2023 at 6:25 PM, I am leaving for good said:

I think one thing people are missing with why AM radio is still popular in Buffalo is our long winter weather season here it plays a part. A cellular phone means nothing if you have no power. I keep a cupboard full of batteries always since 1977 Blizzard happened when they are on sale. I have transistor radios and Walkman from the 1970’s through the 1990’s. I think of stocking up for next winter weather now when there are sales. Buffalo AM radio is reliable if the power goes out. Also a lot of people are in there cars in the winter traffic in Buffalo taking it easy on the slippery roads you turn on local radio going to school and work it’s a conditioned thing having grown up in the winter weather my whole life. Radio becomes a friend when you are alone in a car trying to thaw out while driving to school or work and when you finally thaw out you are there to get frozen again. It’s has nothing to do with not changing with the times as much as it’s reliable the national radio out of New York City or Los Angeles isn’t going to tell you there is a back up at the big blue water tower in a winter storm in Buffalo in my opinion. Go Bills! Let’s Go Buffalo 

 

I've lived in WNY for almost 40 years of my life and can count the number of times I lost power in winter on one hand. It virtually never happens. Lost power more in the summer by far.

Edited June 19, 2023 by Big Turk

[ExiledInIllinois]

41 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

I've lived in WNY for almost 40 years of my life and can count the number of times I lost power in winter on one hand. It virtually never happens. Lost power more in the summer by far.

AND in all my years,  never had a car battery die in the winter. Always the dead heat of summer.

 

Hope... I didn't just jinx myself! 😕 

[Poleshifter]

On 6/11/2023 at 4:06 PM, Augie said:

 

On a related note, we came in #2 in slide rule sales as well. 

 

.

Does anyone know if Engineering students still use slide rules?
 

[ExiledInIllinois]

6 hours ago, Poleshifter said:

Does anyone know if Engineering students still use slide rules?
 

I guess they could... But why not use a nice scientific calculator?

 

Outside of nostalgia,  probably not. But, it's a handy skill to have:

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/10/22/356937347/the-slide-rule-a-computing-device-that-put-a-man-on-the-moon