Buffalo/Niagara Falls is #1 radio market for AM

[ExiledInIllinois]

6 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

FM is a much shorter wavelength, only about 31 inches. But it's line-of-sight, while AM sort of radiates from the ground. But FM is susceptible to multipath interference in urban areas as well, where signals bounce off tall buildings and where they meet, if they are out of phase, they cancel out.

On the VHF-FM marine radio @ work... There's some good nights, atmospherics where here in Chicago we will pick up Upper Mississippi Group, USCG in Keokuk, Iowa... That's like 300 miles southwest. Also, picked up Detroit to the east another 300 miles.

 

But USCG has to be blasting high power!

 

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by ExiledInIllinois

[PromoTheRobot]

Just now, ExiledInIllinois said:

On the VHF-FM marine radio @ work... There's some good nights, atmospherics where here on Chicago we will pick up Upper Mississippi Group, USCG in Keokuk, Iowa... That's like 300 miles. Also, picked up Detroit to the east Another 300 miles.

 

But USCG has to be blasting high power!

 

That is something called ducting and it can happen to FM radio when there's a huge hot, humid weather system. Radio signals get trapped in layers of air and get "ducted" hundreds of miles.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Just now, PromoTheRobot said:

 

That is something called ducting and it can happen to FM radio when there's a huge hot, humid weather system. Radio signals get trapped in layers of air and get "ducted" hundreds of miles.

We have a 75 foot antenna too...

[jayg]

I still love AM radio.  I grew up in Richmond, VA. WGR 550 comes through ok some nights as well as 660 , 770 and 880 very well out of NYC.  

[Wacka]

Then why does WBEN's  signal  go to s**t right at the circle in East Aurora?

[BuffaloBill]

On 6/11/2023 at 7:06 PM, Augie said:

 

I’m with you here.   It doesn’t surprise me, and I don’t intend for that to sound mean at all. 

 

On a related note, we came in #2 in slide rule sales as well. 

 

 

.

 

 

You don’t still use your slide rule while listening to AM radio in the background?  What’s next, you going to tell me that you don’t like paneling?  

[Augie]

59 minutes ago, BuffaloBill said:

 

 

You don’t still use your slide rule while listening to AM radio in the background?  What’s next, you going to tell me that you don’t like paneling?  

 

The paneling was too dark so I tried to paint it. Unfortunately, I spilled some paint on the shag carpeting. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

8 hours ago, Wacka said:

Then why does WBEN's  signal  go to s**t right at the circle in East Aurora?

Just a guess on my part:

 

Local geography? Upstate New York is cross-sected by three geological formations all raising the elevation of the land towards the Southern Tier.  East Aurora is at the base and turning point east of the Portage Escarpment.  WBEN's transmitter is on Grand Island between the Niagara Escarpment and Onondaga Escarpment.  Is East Aurora a "dead spot" at the base of a formation?

[PromoTheRobot]

10 hours ago, Wacka said:

Then why does WBEN's  signal  go to s**t right at the circle in East Aurora?

 

Interference I assume. They should have more than enough signal there.

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

Interference I assume. They should have more than enough signal there.

 

Thanks! What's your take on geography, are there dead spots? E.Aurora lies right below where the Portage Escarpment turns east:

 

And beyond that are the Boston Hills...

 

The transmitter is on Grand Island,  can it skip over East Aurora which is sandwiched between these two right where they both run east.

 

The Onondaga formation:

 

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by ExiledInIllinois

[PromoTheRobot]

9 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Thanks! What's your take on geography, are there dead spots? E.Aurora lies right below where the Portage Escarpment turns east:

 

And beyond that are the Boston Hills...

 

The transmitter is on Grand Island,  can it skip over East Aurora which is sandwiched between these two right where they both run east.

 

The Onondaga formation:

 

 

 

Ground conductivity does affect AM radio signals. There might be a lot of hard rock below there. That's low conductivity.

[Wacka]

Well the  hills start just east of Rte 16 when it turns south .

I can't get WBBZ TV (Channel 67) in Cheektowaga. I read that it was broadcast near the same frequency as a TV station in Hamilton, ONT  and they have to direct  their signal mostly east and west as to not interfere with Hamilton's (WNNZs transmitter is in Speingvillle and is hard to get over the air in Buffalo.  I do pick up a low power TV station in Olean (although very choppy)

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 hour ago, Wacka said:

Well the  hills start just east of Rte 16 when it turns south .

I can't get WBBZ TV (Channel 67) in Cheektowaga. I read that it was broadcast near the same frequency as a TV station in Hamilton, ONT  and they have to direct  their signal mostly east and west as to not interfere with Hamilton's (WNNZs transmitter is in Speingvillle and is hard to get over the air in Buffalo.  I do pick up a low power TV station in Olean (although very choppy)

 

That's the Portage Escarpment.  The Onondaga you can see when driving on Main Street, Route 5. The Kensington Expressway/Rte. 33 also cuts through it. That's the rapids under the water at the mouth of the Lake. 

 

The Portage impound Lake Erie to east, Onondaga to west... Funnels through and over the Niagara. 

[Wacka]

The Onondaga escarpment  is what the Falls at Glen Park in Williamsville is. If my memory is correct.

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, Wacka said:

Well the  hills start just east of Rte 16 when it turns south .

I can't get WBBZ TV (Channel 67) in Cheektowaga. I read that it was broadcast near the same frequency as a TV station in Hamilton, ONT  and they have to direct  their signal mostly east and west as to not interfere with Hamilton's (WNNZs transmitter is in Speingvillle and is hard to get over the air in Buffalo.  I do pick up a low power TV station in Olean (although very choppy)

 

 

TV, especially UHF frequencies, are even shorter wavelengths than FM, and more line of sight. That made it harder to pick up clearly during the analog TV era of old. Oddly enough, UHF frequencies are much better transmitting HDTV than VHF channels. Of course most HD channels these days transmit "virtual channels" that match the old channel people remember. For example WKBW ch.7 is actually on UHF channel 34.

 

https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=print_market&mktid=63

[Buffalo Super Fan]

I think one thing people are missing with why AM radio is still popular in Buffalo is our long winter weather season here it plays a part. A cellular phone means nothing if you have no power. I keep a cupboard full of batteries always since 1977 Blizzard happened when they are on sale. I have transistor radios and Walkman from the 1970’s through the 1990’s. I think of stocking up for next winter weather now when there are sales. Buffalo AM radio is reliable if the power goes out. Also a lot of people are in there cars in the winter traffic in Buffalo taking it easy on the slippery roads you turn on local radio going to school and work it’s a conditioned thing having grown up in the winter weather my whole life. Radio becomes a friend when you are alone in a car trying to thaw out while driving to school or work and when you finally thaw out you are there to get frozen again. It’s has nothing to do with not changing with the times as much as it’s reliable the national radio out of New York City or Los Angeles isn’t going to tell you there is a back up at the big blue water tower in a winter storm in Buffalo in my opinion. Go Bills! Let’s Go Buffalo 

[Wacka]

People were calling into KB with reports of " Someone needs insulin  from XYZ pharmacy" and several snowmobilers would show up to deliver meds, etc.  Also there was no internet or cable TV which was in it's infancy in the country.

[PromoTheRobot]

43 minutes ago, Wacka said:

People were calling into KB with reports of " Someone needs insulin  from XYZ pharmacy" and several snowmobilers would show up to deliver meds, etc.  Also there was no internet or cable TV which was in it's infancy in the country.

 

At their peak KB had a 60% share of listeners in Buffalo. That level of domination is unheard-of in a market of 20+ stations.

[Fleezoid]

There is no Topography, Geography, Location, Distance, things when you live in the Matrix.

 

I'm in Tampa. I listen to WGR on Audacy. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

7 minutes ago, Fleezoid said:

There is no Topography, Geography, Location, Distance, things when you live in the Matrix.

 

I'm in Tampa. I listen to WGR on Audacy. 

It's only a pale comparison if you can't enjoy the 

🎵Brotherly love, Brothers of Mercy🎶

commercials live.  Except they're probably all replaced by national betting shop commercials by now. 🤨