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Does a tower like this only broadcast one radio station? That's not what I would have naively expected. But if not, why do they pick up that specific one?

by philh 11y ago

beedogs 11y ago
AM towers can broadcast more than one frequency at a time, but I'm not sure how common it is in practice. http://www.radioworld.com/article/four-am-stations-sharing-one-site/220752 http://www.radioworld.com/article/four-am-stations-sharing-o...
sathackr 11y ago
I've never heard of it, but as the other reply mentions, it's possible. If you are near an AM station, you can make a radio with just a earphone(now called ear bud?), a diode, and a piece of wire. You will pick up all nearby stations, but one will likely be stronger/closer than the rest, so you would hear that one. A slight improvement of that is the 'crystal radio' that adds the ability to tune to a certain station. [1] It is common for people living near AM stations to hear the radio signal induced into their house/business wiring. It's a common problem with landline telephones near these stations, you can hear the radio in the phone while you're trying to use it. Intercom systems are also vulnerable. You've probably also heard this from time to time when someone with an illegal CB amplifier uses their radio near a business with an intercom system. It will typically briefly bleed into the intercom system, with everyone looking around trying to figure out where that noise came from. This may be common only in the south, I'm not sure how prolific CB radios are throughout the country. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio
kabdib 11y ago
I used to live in Fort Collins, Colorado, a couple of miles from the antenna for WWV, the broadcast time standard from the National Bureau of Standards (that'll date me, it's called NIST now). Electronics was one of my hobbies. Most of the noise in my circuits was that damned time signal. I could pick it up with just about any length of wire and anything that would act as a diode. A transistor. A pin on a chip -- I had a DRAM coughing up "At the tone, the time will be..." once. At least I usually knew what time it was.
- fluxquanta 11y ago
  Oh boy. WWV is great when testing out ham radio propagation for the same reasons it was a nightmare for you. Powerful signal being broadcast between about every major amateur band. 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz. BEEEP dooo dooo dooo dooo

Does a tower like this only broadcast one radio station? That's not what I would have naively expected. But if not, why do they pick up that specific one?

by philh 11y ago

Does a tower like this only broadcast one radio station? That's not what I would have naively expected. But if not, why do they pick up that specific one?

beedogs 11y ago

AM towers can broadcast more than one frequency at a time, but I'm not sure how common it is in practice. http://www.radioworld.com/article/four-am-stations-sharing-one-site/220752 http://www.radioworld.com/article/four-am-stations-sharing-o...

sathackr 11y ago

I've never heard of it, but as the other reply mentions, it's possible. If you are near an AM station, you can make a radio with just a earphone(now called ear bud?), a diode, and a piece of wire. You will pick up all nearby stations, but one will likely be stronger/closer than the rest, so you would hear that one. A slight improvement of that is the 'crystal radio' that adds the ability to tune to a certain station. [1] It is common for people living near AM stations to hear the radio signal induced into their house/business wiring. It's a common problem with landline telephones near these stations, you can hear the radio in the phone while you're trying to use it. Intercom systems are also vulnerable. You've probably also heard this from time to time when someone with an illegal CB amplifier uses their radio near a business with an intercom system. It will typically briefly bleed into the intercom system, with everyone looking around trying to figure out where that noise came from. This may be common only in the south, I'm not sure how prolific CB radios are throughout the country. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio

kabdib 11y ago

I used to live in Fort Collins, Colorado, a couple of miles from the antenna for WWV, the broadcast time standard from the National Bureau of Standards (that'll date me, it's called NIST now). Electronics was one of my hobbies. Most of the noise in my circuits was that damned time signal. I could pick it up with just about any length of wire and anything that would act as a diode. A transistor. A pin on a chip -- I had a DRAM coughing up "At the tone, the time will be..." once. At least I usually knew what time it was.

fluxquanta 11y ago
Oh boy. WWV is great when testing out ham radio propagation for the same reasons it was a nightmare for you. Powerful signal being broadcast between about every major amateur band. 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz. BEEEP dooo dooo dooo dooo