RE: WLW and "Morning Edition"

["Peter Murray" <pete@partnercomm.com>]

Sean said:

[truncated for brevity/relevance]
One of the points they made that was interesting was about
WLW's old 500kW signal. The old-time guys claim that the
500kWs didn't extend WLW's reach (compared to the current
50kW) so much as it strengthened the signal in its strong
areas. Dan and Garrett, I'd be interested in hearing your
thoughts on this, since in principle that sounds a little
fishy. I could see maybe not extending the signal *much*
(given the potential primitive transmitting technology of
the day) but I would still imagine the extra 450kW did
something to extend the station's reach. Also, they
mentioned the reason Crosley built a 500kW transmitter was
because the radios his company manufactured were really
weak (and basically cheap) and he needed a stronger signal
to compensate for it.

--------

Without a change in radiation pattern or antenna efficiency, the difference
between 50KW and 500KW is 10dB (double the signal strength at the receiver).
Doesn't matter whether it's being measured on the moon, Shoreham, or
Cincinnati.

Of course, the difference between 50KW today and 500KW then (when measured
empirically) is quite remarkable, given the greatly increased height of the
current noise floor. That the quality of the front-end of the broad majority
of today's AM receivers (which given the advancement of technology *should*
have risen in direct proportion with the noise floor) only widens that
disparity.

-Peter Murray (N3IXY)
Pittsburgh, PA