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- Subject: Re: [IRCA] TA's in traffic (Sat. early evening)
- From: Mark Connelly <markwa1ion@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2016 10:31:56 -0400
- Delivered-to: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Car radio and stock antenna used. 10 kHz steps.
Especially with TA's that are 2 kHz or less separated from a domestic channel, the TA audio can be heard in cases where the TA signal is as strong as, or stronger than, the domestic channel being tuned.
Algeria 549 often clobbers the weaker 550's at coastal sites in the early evening. When Saudi was at full power on 1521, it often blew away WWKB on 1520. UK on 1089 has overpowered WBAL at times.
Along eastward facing sites in New England and Atlantic Canada, it isn't uncommon to have some TA's sufficiently loud to overpower domestics.
Rarer at inland sites, but not impossible.
As noted below, small changes in distance along the highway caused significant changes in signal level because of the differences between built-up areas and open ones, between dry / rocky sites and wetland ones.
Mark Connelly, WA1ION
South Yarmouth, MA
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Hi Mark,
Were you using your vehicle's stock radio and antenna? (My car's stock
radio tunes in 10 kHz steps, so I can't tune in the TAs.)
Stan, WA1LOU
>>
<<
Yesterday I had a drive from here on Cape Cod up through the western suburbs of Boston into southern NH and then back.
Around 6:45 p.m. EDT (2245 UTC), as sunset was getting close, TA hets started popping up across the AM band on the car radio. It was interesting to note signal variations at different spots along Route 128 (the inner of two loop roads around Boston - the outer one being I-495). The topography along the highway made those variations understandable. The TA signals were only slightly noticeable in rocky areas or in ones where hotel and office buildings loomed over the road.
Things cranked up when I got to the "Needham flats", a wide open marshy area adjacent to the Charles River. The transmission sites for 850, 1200, 1330, and 1600 are located nearby. Broadcast engineers long ago recognized the "get-out-ability factor" of the riparian wetland area. Algeria on 531 and 549 occasionally slid into audio; 981 from there was putting a nasty het on the oldies from WCAP Lowell. Spain was another big-time het contributor. 639 was a loud one, bits of audio intermingling with 640 CBN. Even local 740 WJIB was taking grief from 738 Barcelona. 612 Morocco was spanking 610 WGIR NH with a pretty fierce whistle.
After proceeding south into rockier areas of Dedham, Westwood, and Canton, the strengths of the TA hets dropped appreciably. "Big Blue" (Great Blue Hill, elevation ~600 ft.), being on a line between the ocean and that section of roadway, no doubt had something to do with that signal reduction. After passing the Route 24 interchange in the Randolph area, with "Big Blue" then out of the way, the TA signals cranked up again, doing well right up to the Braintree Split (Route 3 interchange), only a couple of miles inland.
Mouth of the Mediterranean signals were more the big bruisers instead of the UK stations which had been the heavy hitters the previous two days' sunsets at home.
Saudi 1521 must still be off the air since that usually-monster het was just a weak-ish one - probably from Spain.
Mark Connelly, WA1ION
South Yarmouth, MA
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