Re: [IRCA] An Unhappy Birthday For WLW-AM

[Rick Dau <drummer1965us@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I meant to reply a couple weeks ago during the "KXEL petition" thread, but since this article about WLW has now become a topic of discussion, here's my opportunity to air out my feelings about the band and the hobby. 
 
I guess I am one of those remaining few left who believe in AM radio.  When I say believe, I mean that, like Russ, I don't expect it to disappear anytime soon.  Nothing gets my ire up more than when a suggestion is made that AM will die in X amount of years (5? 10?).   NONSENSE.  AM stations will always have an audience.  And, yes, full service radio is alive and well, if you know where to look for it.  My goodness, look the service that 50,000 watt KRVN provides during daylight hours to the farmers and ranchers of a 5-state area of the High Plains (stream it sometime, if you're too far away for its OTA signal to reach, and you'll see what I mean).  Same way with KCJJ-1630 in Iowa City, WSLM-1220 in Salem, Indiana, and gosh knows how many other stations.   LOCAL service to a LOCAL audience.  It's a concept that still survives.
 
When I'm not DXing, I listen to KWMT-540 in Fort Dodge, Iowa during the late mornings and early afternoons for its classic country & western M-U-S-I-C.  In the evenings, I'll often tune into WBBM to hear about what's going on in Chicagoland (I have fun trying to keep up with the traffic reports on the 8s!).  If I'm up past Midnight, it's WSM and Marcia Campbell for a show that's TRULY geared towards the trucking demographic (way better than Red Eye Radio, IMHO!).   In the summertime, it's WLW for Reds broadcasts, WTAM for the Indians, WIBA for the Brewers, and KOA for the Rockies (not a fan of any of these teams, I just tune in because I enjoy the broadcasts!).   And please, PLEASE note, folks, that none of what I've listed above is streamed.  The only stations I EVER stream on a consistent basis are KCJJ (during the morning drive shift, as it has a video stream and chatroom in which I participate -- look for "HawkeyeRick") and its sister FM, 99pluskfmh.com.
 
In short, over-the-air is what counts, in this listener's opinion.  The DXing hobby means too much to me, and I'm not about to give it or AM radio last rites anytime soon, if ever.  The thrill of the chase is what I enjoy, and always will. 

"You had your time
  You had the power
  You've yet to have your finest hour....Radio"  
 
                                               -- "Radio Gaga"
                                                    Queen
 
73, 
Rick Dau (DXing 1310 as he types this)
South Omaha, Nebraska  EN21af
http://www.dxworld.com/bcblog.html 

________________________________________
From: IRCA <irca-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of Russ Edmunds <wb2bjh@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, March 3, 2016 4:16 PM
To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America
Subject: Re: [IRCA] An Unhappy Birthday For WLW-AM

The AM band is unsuited for a number of things which various bureaucrats or
other outsiders have proposed. I think that's probably the primary reason I
don't expect it to go away very soon. I suspect that when it does, it will
simply die out naturally because of its various limitations coupled with
the cumulative damage from all sorts of industry-sponsored FCC decisions
which have repeatedly wounded it.

Russ Edmunds
15 mi NW Phila
Grid FN20id
<wb2bjh@xxxxxxxxx>

AM: Modified Sony ICF2010's (2) barefoot w/whip
FM: Yamaha T-80 & T-85, each w/ Conrad RDS Decoder;
Onkyo T-450RDS; Tecsun PL-310 ( 2);
modified Sony ICF2010 w/APS9B @ 15';
Grundig G8 w/whip; modified Sony ICF2010 w/whip


On Thu, Mar 3, 2016 at 5:11 PM, R. Colin Newell <coffeecanuck@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> *“Revitalizing the AM band by allowing licensees a low powered FM
> translator frequency is not “revitalization.”  It’s a white flag surrender,
> with the FCC and broadcast industry giving up on the AM radio. And could
> that be the ultimate goal? Freeing up the valuable AM (broadcast) spectrum
> space to be auctioned off for other uses, like wireless data?” he
> writes..."*
>
> As horrible as that sounds - it is not likely the AM dial would be useful
> for data transmission at all well...
> Because the very same thing that effects us radio listeners would impinge
> on the performance of the AM dial as a data carrier --
> an endless orchestra of RFI from cheap wall warts, switching power supplies
> and poorly maintained power lines would render
> the AM spectrum as useless for wireless data as it is for the current crop
> of stalwarts still clinging to the notion of medium wave
> as an entertainment or experimental hobbyist medium.
>
> The fact that the FCC is actually taking the occasional glance (at the AM
> dial)- and recognizing its sad state of affairs... brings me no end of joy.
>
>
> http://wvxu.org/post/unhappy-birthday-wlw-am
> >
> >
> --
> Colin Newell - Editor and creator *of *Coffeecrew.com
> <http://www.Coffeecrew.com> and DXer.ca <http://www.DXer.ca> -
> VA7WWV | Twitter @CoffeeCrew | Victoria - Canada



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