WREC 600 AM HD 5kW station delivers HD signal 70 miles away in Arkansas 01-24-09 mp4

This brief clip demonstrates the potential of long-range AM HD digital captures while traveling through Eastern Arkansas en route to Texas. The station: 600 WREC Memphis is a 5kW station. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? ONLY 5,000 WATTS and HD that reaches 70 miles in the DAYTIME! with HD signal service.The capture was relatively consistent. Note the extremely convenient use of my Flip Video camcorder which allowed me to capture and drive without taking my eyes off of the road at any point in time. The station covered nearly half of Arkansas(150-170 miles) before collapsing into noise.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• 5kW
• HD
• WREC
• 70
• mile
• digital
• daytime
• signal

[afw7964]

At that point, I had previously reset my trip odometer after filling up at a Memphis Gas station just before the bridge to Arkansas. I used the 2nd generation JVC KD-W10 ( forgot the model number but this unit was sold by Walmart). I had also experimented with a one transistor preamp that worked on FM and AM simultaneously which was partcularly tricky to bias to provide gain across the bands and folded like a cheap camera around strong TV transmitters for miles on end. There's a vid on that amp

[gopher2x]

Not bad, sounds good. Is it going in and out of digital? hard to tell... what radio?

[afw7964]

Second reply. The signal was just beginning to show signs of digital ock fatigue. I would drop for maybe 10 seconds and return for 60 or more. If I remember correctly, the signal become analog only 10 or 15 miles after the Original 70 + miles.The preamp helped stop dropout fading but the road and elevation and lack of city landscape sealed the signal better than any other listening situation from Akron Ohio to Fort Worth Texas. especially with only 5kW of transmitter power!

[MichaelJGrant]

70 miles is nothing for an AM station that low on the band with 5kW of power and good frequency protection. KFRC with 5kW out of San Francisco could reliably deliver CQUAM AM Stereo for 200 miles. By the way, driving from L.A. (Lower Arkansas) to St. Louis, I listen to WREC all the time. The FMers come and fade along the way, but WREC stays in there.