A friend of mine claims

[Ice bowl 67]

He lives near Fremont Michigan which is almost directly across Lake Michigan from Green Bay in Michigan. He tells me the other day he was listening to a Top 40 station on 102.5 that came in and was unknown. He kept tuning in and it identifield itself as Star 102.5 from Buffalo. That is pretty far away to get Buffalo dont you guys think. I think that is impressive picking Buffalo up from that far away.

[boyst]

Unpossible.

[gomper]

Impressive for an FM signal. It's fun at to scan the AM airwaves at night. From Buffalo I've pulled in Iowa once and the granddaddy of the all, KFI from LA. I've been told by people who do this as a hobby (called DXing) that conditions were 1 in 10000 perfect.

Edited March 29, 2017 by gomper

[DC Tom]

FM radio is in the VHF spectrum, and is a line-of-sight broadcast usually limited to 60 miles (and that with a really tall antenna). However, Star 102.5 puts out a hell of a lot of watts (110,000. 97 Rock puts out around 25,000, in comparison). And on occasion, certain atmospheric conditions can cause VHF signals to do weird things (e.g. ducting, which I've heard) and be heard hundreds of miles away. So it's possible. But if he says he can do it regularly...that's bull ****.

 

(AM radio, on the other hand, carries. I've picked up Boston AM stations in Virginia on a car radio. WGR550 only broadcasts 5000 watts, but you can pick it up in Syracuse on a good day.)

[Ice bowl 67]

Not impossible. Ive picked up Texas and Oklahoma once last summer on FM. I was scanning the dial and a station clear as a local was coming in and I thought maybe the area got a new station. The song got over and the station said Austin Texas best rock station. I was floored but a minute later it was gone. Every summer I notice these events happen where you get a station from very far away.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Ice bowl 67

[Just Jack]

I've picked up a TV station out of Florida back when I still lived with my parents, mid-90s before digital tv. They had a antenna on the roof. The station wasn't perfect clear but it was watchable.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

Am radio bounces of of the ionosphere. Usually at night you will be able to hear signals far away.

 

The signal strength also helps. I have picked up Rochester NY radio in the Carolinas.

 

I live 465 miles south of Buffalo and when driving to work before the sun rises I can listen to WGR.

[Captain_Quint]

When im out in the gulf stream off SC, I can get FL stations pretty regularly. Not a huge distance, but more than a few times my radio has gone offline, and Ive tuned into FM to get weather reports. Almost always at night and in calm seas.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

I can easily get Chicago, Cincinnati and Boston radio stations too.

[Chef Jim]

What's radio?

[------]

I have the ootunes app. You can listen to any radio station from anywhere in the world. I'm suprised radio hasn't gone the way of the 8-tracks by now

[ExiledInIllinois]

FM radio is in the VHF spectrum, and is a line-of-sight broadcast usually limited to 60 miles (and that with a really tall antenna). However, Star 102.5 puts out a hell of a lot of watts (110,000. 97 Rock puts out around 25,000, in comparison). And on occasion, certain atmospheric conditions can cause VHF signals to do weird things (e.g. ducting, which I've heard) and be heard hundreds of miles away. So it's possible. But if he says he can do it regularly...that's bull ****.

 

(AM radio, on the other hand, carries. I've picked up Boston AM stations in Virginia on a car radio. WGR550 only broadcasts 5000 watts, but you can pick it up in Syracuse on a good day.)

Yep... On the marine band radio (VHF-FM), at work, under certain atmospherics we can pick-up Upper MS Coast Guard Group Keokuk, IA which is under 300 miles away. Fremont, MI to BFLo is just over 400 miles.

 

VHF marine band is limited to 25 watts by FCC! Not sure what wattage the USCG tramsmits @? We do have a 100' antenna though.

 

Here is a helpful thread on calculating distance from an FM signal @ the low 25 watts and under marine band:

 

http://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-electronics-forum/191367-vhf-radio-transmit-distance.html

 

I think PromoTheRobot is up on all this, he may be able to help seeing he is into radio...

 

But for the record, we periodically pick up Keokuk, IA just under 300 miles away... UNDER CERTAIN ATMOSPHERICS. What ever the USCG is putting out can't be that much more than what the Marine band is limited to?

 

Now with that being said, there are "dead spots" on the river not even a few miles away! We had a nut case after 911, on a handheld, placing bomb threats to us, the USCG, and threatening shipping with shooting their pilot houses out. This was giving the USCG fits, they would hear it, we wouldn't. We would hear it, they wouldn't. Again, we have a huge antenna, they do too. They were doing everything in their power to triangulate the signal. Even went to installing equipment, recorders @ our site. Not sure what happened, threats just stopped over time.

Am radio bounces of of the ionosphere. Usually at night you will be able to hear signals far away.

 

The signal strength also helps. I have picked up Rochester NY radio in the Carolinas.

 

I live 465 miles south of Buffalo and when driving to work before the sun rises I can listen to WGR.

Not sure if you are talking AM? Amplitude modulation is another story. They have loop AM antennas that can pull signals from the Lower 48 and receive them in Alaska.

 

If I don't stand corrected, FM is frequency modulation, so that will be affected by stuff like cities and tall buildings where as AM with stuff like going under bridges.

[Gugny]

What's radio?

 

A slow black man who loves him some football.

[DC Tom]

Yep... On the marine band radio (VHF-FM), at work, under certain atmospherics we can pick-up Upper MS Coast Guard Group Keokuk, IA which is under 300 miles away. Fremont, MI to BFLo is just over 400 miles.

 

VHF marine band is limited to 25 watts by FCC! Not sure what wattage the USCG tramsmits @? We do have a 100' antenna though.

 

Here is a helpful thread on calculating distance from an FM signal @ the low 25 watts and under marine band:

 

http://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-electronics-forum/191367-vhf-radio-transmit-distance.html

 

I think PromoTheRobot is up on all this, he may be able to help seeing he is into radio...

 

But for the record, we periodically pick up Keokuk, IA just under 300 miles away... UNDER CERTAIN ATMOSPHERICS. What ever the USCG is putting out can't be that much more than what the Marine band is limited to?

 

Now with that being said, there are "dead spots" on the river not even a few miles away! We had a nut case after 911, on a handheld, placing bomb threats to us, the USCG, and threatening shipping with shooting their pilot houses out. This was giving the USCG fits, they would hear it, we wouldn't. We would hear it, they wouldn't. Again, we have a huge antenna, they do too. They were doing everything in their power to triangulate the signal. Even went to installing equipment, recorders @ our site. Not sure what happened, threats just stopped over time.

 

I would be surprised if the Coast Guard didn't have higher power radios. As far as I know, the 25 watt limit is only for commercial marine VHF transmitters. From what I can find from suppliers (e.g. Thales), the CG uses ship-borne Marine VHF that goes as high as a kilowatt of output. But even low VHF power will carry well over water. The problem is that it's only line-of-sight, so you can get odd dead spots or strong spots from time to time, depending on antenna height, intervening obstacles (not a lot between you and Iowa), and the like.

 

 

Not sure if you are talking AM? Amplitude modulation is another story. They have loop AM antennas that can pull signals from the Lower 48 and receive them in Alaska.

 

If I don't stand corrected, FM is frequency modulation, so that will be affected by stuff like cities and tall buildings where as AM with stuff like going under bridges.

 

Yep...but it has nothing to do with the modulation. Below UHF, every radio frequency reflects in the atmosphere (different levels of the trophosphere or ionosphere, depending on frequency) to some degree. HF (high frequency - above AM radio but below VHF, roughly) is actually the best. That's where shortwave radio frequencies are. AM radio is in the MF (medium frequency) band, which doesn't reflect off the ionosphere as well as HF, but isn't attenuated as much by obstacles, either.

 

Though as a general rule of thumb lower frequency = longer range, it's really highly dependent on local geography and atmospheric conditions. One of the big problems with the early use of radar was the lack of understanding of that, which is why you see detection ranges for air-search sets on ships varying widely early in World War 2, or American submarines getting freakish returns off fishing trawlers at 60,000 yards.

[Gugny]

 

I would be surprised if the Coast Guard didn't have higher power radios. As far as I know, the 25 watt limit is only for commercial marine VHF transmitters. From what I can find from suppliers (e.g. Thales), the CG uses ship-borne Marine VHF that goes as high as a kilowatt of output. But even low VHF power will carry well over water. The problem is that it's only line-of-sight, so you can get odd dead spots or strong spots from time to time, depending on antenna height, intervening obstacles (not a lot between you and Iowa), and the like.

 

 

 

Yep...but it has nothing to do with the modulation. Below UHF, every radio frequency reflects in the atmosphere (different levels of the trophosphere or ionosphere, depending on frequency) to some degree. HF (high frequency - above AM radio but below VHF, roughly) is actually the best. That's where shortwave radio frequencies are. AM radio is in the MF (medium frequency) band, which doesn't reflect off the ionosphere as well as HF, but isn't attenuated as much by obstacles, either.

 

Though as a general rule of thumb lower frequency = longer range, it's really highly dependent on local geography and atmospheric conditions. One of the big problems with the early use of radar was the lack of understanding of that, which is why you see detection ranges for air-search sets on ships varying widely early in World War 2, or American submarines getting freakish returns off fishing trawlers at 60,000 yards.

 

Remember when this is what did Philip Rivers in when he came to Buffalo?

[DC Tom]

 

Remember when this is what did Philip Rivers in when he came to Buffalo?

 

I thought that was gravitational fluctuations?

[Dr. Fong]

FM radio is in the VHF spectrum, and is a line-of-sight broadcast usually limited to 60 miles (and that with a really tall antenna). However, Star 102.5 puts out a hell of a lot of watts (110,000. 97 Rock puts out around 25,000, in comparison). And on occasion, certain atmospheric conditions can cause VHF signals to do weird things (e.g. ducting, which I've heard) and be heard hundreds of miles away. So it's possible. But if he says he can do it regularly...that's bull ****.

 

(AM radio, on the other hand, carries. I've picked up Boston AM stations in Virginia on a car radio. WGR550 only broadcasts 5000 watts, but you can pick it up in Syracuse on a good day.)

I used to listen to Sabres games on WGR when I went to school in Greenville, NC. WGR came in pretty faint, but 660 in NYC came in like it was broadcasting from the next county over. I always got a kick out of picking up radio stations from other places. Things were a little different before the Internet.

[Cereal]

Yeah, PromoTheRobot (I think) previously posted this link: http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=WTSS-FM

 

Cool stuff!

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

I would be surprised if the Coast Guard didn't have higher power radios. As far as I know, the 25 watt limit is only for commercial marine VHF transmitters. From what I can find from suppliers (e.g. Thales), the CG uses ship-borne Marine VHF that goes as high as a kilowatt of output. But even low VHF power will carry well over water. The problem is that it's only line-of-sight, so you can get odd dead spots or strong spots from time to time, depending on antenna height, intervening obstacles (not a lot between you and Iowa), and the like.

 

 

 

Yep...but it has nothing to do with the modulation. Below UHF, every radio frequency reflects in the atmosphere (different levels of the trophosphere or ionosphere, depending on frequency) to some degree. HF (high frequency - above AM radio but below VHF, roughly) is actually the best. That's where shortwave radio frequencies are. AM radio is in the MF (medium frequency) band, which doesn't reflect off the ionosphere as well as HF, but isn't attenuated as much by obstacles, either.

 

Though as a general rule of thumb lower frequency = longer range, it's really highly dependent on local geography and atmospheric conditions. One of the big problems with the early use of radar was the lack of understanding of that, which is why you see detection ranges for air-search sets on ships varying widely early in World War 2, or American submarines getting freakish returns off fishing trawlers at 60,000 yards.

Interesting... Line of sight with high antenna has to be pretty decent between BFLo & Fremont, MI (north of Grand Rapids)???

 

The site line is above the Niagara Escarpment (ring all the way around Lake Huron and down other side of Lake Michigan). And misses Toronto, Hamilton to north. It misses Detroit, Grand Rapids to south. Gotta be pretty flat geography, just as it is here between Iowa. Maybe, the signal just happens to scoot right through given what's blasting out of 102.5fm and where OP's friend is?

 

Looking @ it, there is really nothing between the two except S.Ontario and a basket of Michigan Deplorables & Ted Nugent. What's the chance it bounces off their idiot big noggins? I keed, keed! J/K fellas! :-) :-)

 

Anyway, I may not be calling that much BS on what IceBowl67's friend is claiming.

Edited March 30, 2017 by ExiledInIllinois

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

Not sure if you are talking AM? Amplitude modulation is another story. They have loop AM antennas that can pull signals from the Lower 48 and receive them in Alaska.

 

If I don't stand corrected, FM is frequency modulation, so that will be affected by stuff like cities and tall buildings where as AM with stuff like going under bridges.

Correct. The topic was FM I included AM.

I've heard AM that far, never FM.

 

Buffalo FM to Detroit, Cleveland or Toledo I could see as its across the lake. There's a lot of land between the two.

 

Now unless there are "sister" stations rebroadcasting .... but still.