I've heard that changes in the Earth's ionosphere can greatly extend the coverage of AM radio stations, but 800 miles? Talk about coverage. I tuned into a radio program tonight, had the wrong affiliate, and found out I was listening to the NM feed here in LA instead of my local station.
2007-05-26 19:16:41 · 7 answers · asked by tonymedinala 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Geography
Yes, and 800 miles is just the tip of the iceberg. Radio waves propagate pretty strangely, especially in periods of high sunspot activity. That's how amateur radio operators like myself talk to people all over the globe without going through satellites; hams were around LONG before Sputnik or Telstar! Different frequencies can travel different distances under different conditions; on a good day, the first "hop" can be as much as 2500 miles on high-freqency channels, so 800 miles is a baby hop ;-)
2007-05-26 19:26:44 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Cloud cover between LA and NM can bounce the signal repeatedly from the ground to the clouds and back down. If it's bouncing at the right angle, the signal will hit in LA. Also, if the radio station uses a satellite, the satellite can easily bounce the signal that far. Yes, the ionosphere plays a large role in it all, charged particles in the atmosphere will repel similarly charged particles, so it can bounce the beam back more efficiently sometimes than others.
2007-05-27 02:22:43 · answer #2 · answered by Tha Nurd 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
AM broadcasts use MW, SW1 and SW2 bands, which are longer wavelength compared to FM and thus do tend to go around the circumference. They are guided and reflected by the ionosphere whose height keeps changing. So a few hundred miles is not a big deal for a radio signal in that wavelength range.
2007-05-27 04:10:20 · answer #3 · answered by Swamy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
AM Radio waves have a lower frequency then FM Radio, thus, they can travel farther. And yes, cloud cover does help.
2007-05-27 02:25:15 · answer #4 · answered by Lamiae 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's called skip,I used to pick up L.A. ,Ca. Police on scanner in Michigan. The signal bounces.
2007-05-27 02:18:44 · answer #5 · answered by Dave 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like another broadcasting station is boosting the signal with a simliar or identical wavelength.
2007-05-27 02:20:10 · answer #6 · answered by Eric 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Was it at night?
2007-05-27 02:19:22 · answer #7 · answered by anonymous 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋