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 Message Boards » » WCHL 1360AM Radio... How far can it be heard? Page [1]  
Supplanter
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I know it covers basically all of Orange & Durham county, & part of Wake.

I know I can easily hear its broadcast in the car in the Southpoint Mall parking lot. And I can usually catch it in the car when visiting family in Cary although it can get fuzzy sometimes. But that is still sort of west of most of Raleigh. I'm just curious where the cut off point is.

If you turn on your radio to 1360 AM right now, do you hear static, or can you here this triangle area station? If you care to respond, let me know if you can hear it, or if you can't hear it, and roughly where you live (I'd also be interested in seeing how far it reaches out towards Burlington, but I doubt there will be enough tdubbers in that area to determine it)

8/14/2009 12:52:57 PM

ALkatraz
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Chapel Hill-Carrboro's News, Talk, and Tarheel Station

WTF MAN?!



WPTF 680 is where it's at. I stream that shit at work and listen in the car.

[Edited on August 14, 2009 at 1:02 PM. Reason : -]

8/14/2009 1:02:41 PM

Supplanter
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Working in Carrboro at a vet clinic, I do listen to the station. But they go into national broadcast stuff too a lot, and do CBS national news, so it isn't all Chapel Hill stuff. And they do breaking stories in the area, and live coverage sometimes too rather than entirely being stories written in advance. But I'm just trying to determine how far their broadcast signal goes.

8/14/2009 1:14:37 PM

ALkatraz
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WPTF has about an approx. 35 to 40 mile broadcast radius.*

[Edited on August 14, 2009 at 1:28 PM. Reason : *I don't know what the antenna elevation is or their power output is.]

8/14/2009 1:27:41 PM

Supplanter
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WCHL is a pretty cool station, despite having an allegiance to the most local sports team, they let anyone who lives in the area do commentaries. You just go in, say I want to do a commentary on a local issue, or a national or state wide issue viewed through a local lens, and you can say whatever you want and have it played on air for everyone to hear. It is a great way to get words out about events or try to have your input on a public discussion that is going to be voted on by the town council or county board of commissioners.

They helped me greatly with getting the word out about this Pet Food Drive in Carrboro:
http://www.thewolfweb.com/story.aspx?story=1186#comments

So I can't condemn them for just being located close to UNC.

I like that they broadcast Air America Radio, not that I listen to tons of it, but I am in love with Rachel Maddow.

I've worked at a Vet Clinic in Carrboro for the past 3 years, & I recently stopped to go back to grad school at NCSU which I'm starting next week (although I still have the option of working the occasional Saturday). I was just wondering, if I move back to Raleigh, or at least a little closer, would I still be able to hear this station which is what brought this whole thread idea on. Not that I'll likely move soon just b/c of the expense of it all, but depending on what kind of employment I get in the future there is the possibility that I could call Raleigh home again.

8/14/2009 1:49:10 PM

Supplanter
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Tried looking 'em up on Wikipedia.

Quote :
"WCHL's 5,000-watt non-directional daytime signal"


But I have no idea how far 5,000 wats will get you. Interestingly I learned that they have at times been located both in Durham & Raleigh, so they've had experience with broadcasting from all over the triangle.

8/14/2009 3:41:14 PM

ALkatraz
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From Wikipedia:
Quote :
"WPTF's 50,000-watt signal is non-directional during the day, but the nighttime directional signal is hard to hear 50 miles to the north in Virginia, while to the south WPTF can be picked up well south into the Bahamas and other parts of the Caribbean and can supposedly be picked up in Venezuela."


I lose WPTF down US 1 near NC 27/24. Also, that shit must get a good ionic bonce if you can get it in the Bahamas!


EDIT
Quote :
"But I have no idea how far 5,000 wats will get you"


Well if it's proportional: 50,000 watts is near 50 miles, 5,000 watts is 5 miles. I highly doubt that is the case though

[Edited on August 14, 2009 at 4:26 PM. Reason : -]

8/14/2009 4:24:50 PM

Supplanter
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http://library.thinkquest.org/27887/gather/fundamentals/broadcasting.shtml
Quote :
"Another factor affecting the distance a radio transmission travels is the power of the transmitter. The power of AM transmitters range from 250 watts (serving only one or two towns) to 50,000 watts (can be heard over 1,000 miles away). FM transmitters range from 100 watts (15 miles broadcast) to 100,000 watts (65 miles). This shows how FM radio signals still travel less than 10% the distance of AM stations with ½ the power."


Still not getting a very narrowed down picture.

Just came across this station, another 5000-Watt AM Radio station in NC, but I can't find anything that talks about how far that signal reaches other than it serves the greater Asheville area, however big that is...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPEK

Quote :
"WPEK (880 AM), known as "880 the Revolution", is a daytime-only AM radio station in Fairview, North Carolina serving the greater Asheville, North Carolina area."



"Well if it's proportional: 50,000 watts is near 50 miles, 5,000 watts is 5 miles. I highly doubt that is the case though"

Yeah, I know I can easily pick it up at Southpoint, and that has to be about 10 miles away from the radio towers.

[Edited on August 14, 2009 at 7:55 PM. Reason : .]

8/14/2009 7:54:41 PM

Supplanter
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I guess my question is now moot, they just started doing live streaming online:
http://www.wchl1360.com/live_streaming.html

8/28/2009 12:43:23 PM

 Message Boards » Chit Chat » WCHL 1360AM Radio... How far can it be heard? Page [1]  
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