HFU HF Underground
General Category => General Radio Discussion => Topic started by: ChrisSmolinski on January 17, 2014, 1147 UTC
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FYI: I understand that the Hudson County TIS on 1710 KHz is going to 100 watts (or already is, testing). This will likely make it even more difficult to hear pirates on 1710.
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How'd you hear about this?
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How'd you hear about this?
MW loggings forum :-)
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How'd you hear about this?
MW loggings forum :-)
Yep :-)
Just thought I'd spread the word... I guess I'll be listening to 1720 more often.
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This puts medium wave operators in a quandary; Do we abandon 1710 (and all the casual listeners that might stumble upon MW pirates) in favor of 1720, which cannot be received on any domestic AM receivers? Or do we use both?
Questions, questions....
+-RH
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WTF is the FCC doing, authorizing a station for out-of-band ? !
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My take on this. Sadly the TIS is creating interference. Celestial Radio also creates issues on Pirate Clear Channel 1710 :( Anyhow, how many actual "regular Joe's" stumble into broadcast on 1710? I believe very very few. Naturally a regular Joe probably won't understand what he/she is listening to nor may not even care, nor even consider reporting it on one of the many websites. Not to mention most "John Q public's" only stand a chance with their car radio and most of us know they're not tuning the high end of the "X" band. I believe most folks who cruise the "X" band are enthusiast like you or me. Also most are going to have the capability to hear above 1710, I say most. Another thing to consider is that many enthusiast are either not setup to operate the lower bands properly (poor antenna and/or equipment choices), or suffer serious noise issues, or both compared to the SW spectrum.
I would be interested in knowing if any of our fine former/current free radio broadcasters on 1710 have ever received a reception report from a regular John Q public? While the idea to operate on 1710 is preferred regardless since anyone stands a chance to pick up the broadcast. I doubt real world listener-ship will suffer by moving up to 1720. 20 years ago maybe, but today, nah..... Just MHO :)
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I agree, pirates aren't going to be losing too many listeners by moving up to 1720. I'm speaking of what I refer to as the "radio hobbyist" pirates, catering to the SW pirate crowd, vs the local radio pirates, that probably hang out on clear slots in the 16xx range anyway.
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I just like the idea that a broader audience could be had by using frequencies that the average American (An important distinction, as the rest of the world stops at 1610KHz.) could hear. Sometime toward the end of the year we may be doing some MW testing. That's the goal anyway, lots of hurdles to overcome. The number of radios that get 1710 is getting smaller and smaller. Both of my Kenwood car stereos stop at 1700, and most Chrysler radios do too. I think the GM Delco's go to 1710, as do Carver TX-11a's, and a variety of Walkmans, component tuners, and bookshelf systems at my disposal.
More stereo for your radio ;)
+-RH
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The number of radios that get 1710 is getting smaller and smaller. Both of my Kenwood car stereos stop at 1700, and most Chrysler radios do too. I think the GM Delco's go to 1710, as do Carver TX-11a's, and a variety of Walkmans, component tuners, and bookshelf systems at my disposal.
More stereo for your radio ;)
+-RH
Ohh, wasn't aware of this fact. 1710 going away in radios, ugh, sacrilege!
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One other thing I forgot to mention, there are a lot of people out there that never report anything. Even if you give out an email or postal address, I think a lot of people just grin, listen to the music, and move on. Only the diehards send in reports and such. The fact that I could be on the air, and call up my cousin several states away and say "go to you car and tell me what you got on 1710" has some merit.
+-RH
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How clear is 1610, once you get far enough away from Toronto?
It's blocked here, FWIW. Solid S9+10 in the evening.
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One other thing I forgot to mention, there are a lot of people out there that never report anything. Even if you give out an email or postal address, I think a lot of people just grin, listen to the music, and move on. Only the diehards send in reports and such. The fact that I could be on the air, and call up my cousin several states away and say "go to you car and tell me what you got on 1710" has some merit.
+-RH
Yes the chances of a John Q Public catching a broadcast are possible however, very unlikely just from my own experience with the average Joe. Now with all the post/reception reports regarding MW/1710 catches, many are far more aware of this being used by free radio broadcasters. I even heard HAMs talking about 1710 catches a few times in the 80m band last spring/summer. As it stands now, our friendly area TIS and religious/ethnic broadcaster out of the Bronx ain't going away anytime soon. 1720 affords us a nice clean clear broadcast capture. That for me is equally important for enjoying the broadcast itself ;)
Over the last few years I've noticed many reception post regarding the Big Q (probably the biggest user of 1710 for some time) as hard to hear or being completely covered by our friendly east-coast broadcasters. This wouldn't have occurred on 1720. But as you say, they probably would have lost a few John Q Public's doing that. Oh what to do what to do.... Well, obviously it is up to you fine folks who plan on utilizing these freqs. I will follow where ever you go regardless ;D
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How clear is 1610, once you get far enough away from Toronto?
It's blocked here, FWIW. Solid S9+10 in the evening.
CJWI and CHHA make it near impossible at my location. With signal strengths from them topping out easily in the red in the late evening :P For someone in the outer midwest and southern/western states, it may make a good freq. Provided they do not have a TIS in their backyard so to say.
EDIT: This is interesting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CJWI
According to that info, they no longer broadcast on 1610. I know I hear more than one player on 1610. I'll need to pay closer attention.
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How clear is 1610, once you get far enough away from Toronto?
It's blocked here, FWIW. Solid S9+10 in the evening.
At my QTH, 1610,1620, and 1700 are all occupied by local TIS stations.
I believe the situation is better if you are not near cities and state/national parks.
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I just checked, and at 2340z, Everything from 1610 to 1700 has a S9+20 signal on it.
1710 is "only" S9+10, sounds like Radio Celestial with the TIS underneath. They take turns.
Some faint line on 1720, possibly QRM.
And some mixing product on 1760? Anyone else this? Guess I'll log it on the MW board.
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The TIS on 1710 here in Springfield, MA is a solid S9+ all day and all night long. I can hear Celestial weakly under it sometimes at night. What surprises me is the strength of the TIS during daylight hours. Rock sold and are they going to keep broadcasting the same test message forever? Doing some internet searching turned up that the authorization for Hudson County to use this frequency was for the eventuality of having to evacuate New York City. Really? If standard AM radios can't tune up this high, then who is going to hear the evacuation message? Something doesn't make sense here...