Back in the cold war days, the federal government took emergency warnings quite seriously. So much so that they spent about $2 million in 1972 to build a LF (low frequency) radio station WGU-20, in Maryland designed to integrate into the public warning system. This was known as the “Last radio station” because it was designed to operate after nuclear armageddon. Using the first all-solid-state AM transmitter designed by Westinghouse, the station transmitted on 179 kHz (power 50 KW) with a loop that stated:
“Good evening. This is WGU-20, a defense civil-preparedness agency station, serving the east-central states with emergency information. Eastern Standard Time seventeen hours, twenty minutes, twenty seconds.”
The greeting would change to “Good Morning…” or “Good afternoon…” as appropriate.
One small problem arose from this system, no one had long-wave receivers. The government attempted to persuade manufacturers to market, and the public to purchase radios that would only receive periodic tests or that they were likely going to die in the next 15 minutes. It was a tough sell from the start.
Military planners decided that they might integrate the DIDS (Decision Information Distribution System) information gained from surface-to-air radar that would give the approximate impact areas of incoming ballistic missiles. The idea was, the public would then know which areas to “avoid.” It may have appealed to the military mind, but most others didn’t quite see the value in it, especially since reaction times would have been 10 minutes or less.
Plans were to build several of these radio stations throughout the US operating on Low Frequency, which would have replaced the EBS over-the-air daisy chain system that remains in effect today with the current EAS. Unfortunately, the public never bought into the concept, and around 1990 or so, WGU-20 was turned off for good. The nearest thing was to have to it today is NOAA weather (or all hazards) radio.
EBS and EAS have never had to work in a time of emergency and if the circumstances are dire enough for someone to attempt to activate EAS, it is very likely the system would fail.
I was speaking with a friend of mine recently about some interference issues he was having at an FM transmitter site. There were several cellular and PCS tenants at this site and something from the FM transmitter was interfering with the GPS receivers. This one very small glitch was causing multiple carriers to go offline, basically shutting down the entire wireless infrastructure at this particular site.
GPS signals are used for syncing carrier frequencies and modulation timing for CDMA and TDMA that all cellular, PSC, and 3G, 4G (or whatever G) wireless systems use to seamlessly hand off users from one site to another. Without it, the entire system will shut down.
What would happen to communications in this country if all GPS were interrupted? When I was in the military, we spoke often about high-altitude nuclear detonations and the possible effects they would have on our communications circuits. In fact, we drilled for such things. Often. What, if anything, are wireless carriers doing to keep their sites online if, heaven forbid, somebody does something to disrupt GPS? If terrestrial radio and television broadcasting is going to be replaced by 3G and 4G wireless networks, how redundant are they? I know, for example, many cell sites do not have long-term backup power. They have battery banks, which in a power outage, may last 6-10 hours, but after that, the site is down.
Further, how about vulnerabilities getting the data to and from these sites? Most cell sites rely on some type of TELCO circuit, usually a T-1 (DS-1) or multiple T-1 to interface with the wired network. This includes voice, text, and data services. If those circuits are down, then anything connected to them will be offline.
What about redundant transmitters, antennas, receivers, etc? How much of the current wireless infrastructure is backed up with spares? It causes me worry to think that someday traditional broadcasters will be going out of business due to poor financial planning, leaving us all to subscription-based data services that may or may not be there in an emergency. At least with many radio and TV stations, there are generators, backup transmitters, microwave systems, and so forth. Most good broadcasters have emergency plans for the restoration of service during a disaster. EAS may not be the greatest thing ever, but right now, it is the only emergency communications plan we have. Radio is still the best and most robust way to communicate vital information during emergencies. Cell sites go offline along with whatever G wireless service, cable TV systems go offline due to power outages or damaged distribution networks, landline phones can be taken out due to power interruptions at the company office, or damaged networks.
Why do I care? Why should you care? Because, as I have eluded in previous posts, with the demise of local newspapers, the demise of local radio, the erosion of local TV news coverage, and the general trivialization of our political apparatus on the local and national levels, we are losing our voice. We will lose our democracy. Right now, the US is on the verge of becoming an oligarchy or a corporatocracy.
What road are we traveling down when unrestricted free access to information is gone? The internet is a great resource, but it is not free. What will happen to the price of internet access when competing information and entertainment technologies such as radio, TV, and newspapers disappear? Look to our transportation sector for an example. Gone are the vast majority of passenger railroads that crisscrossed the country for nearly 100 years. In many places, public transportation is laughable. How do you get to work? How do you get to the store? How much will $5.00 per gallon of gas affect your life? More importantly, what can you do about it when the cost of fuel gets expensive? Nothing. Most people are stuck in their suburban homes with not even a convenience store within walking distance.
What will happen when terrestrial radio goes away? I shudder to think.
It is clear to me that radio is changing, in some ways, it is changing for the better, and in many ways, it is changing for the worse. In spite of many bad business decisions made by overpriced MBAs, large consolidated radio groups seem to be hanging on, if only by their fingernails. It is very likely that the investment banks, who have the most to lose, are not interested in seeing their loans written off in a bankruptcy proceeding. As we all know, the consolidators that paid multiples of 15 to 16 times cash flow for stations, way overextended themselves. There is no hope that values will ever return to those levels, so the banks are now in the radio business.
Sure, the banks are not the owners of record, and the FCC never would consent to transfer all those licenses to so many investment banks. However, they are calling the shots, making “suggestions” on how best to run things. Offering perhaps a 1/4 percent reduction in an interest rate if the expenses can be reduced below a certain level. Unfortunately, for the communities like Ellenville, NY, their local radio station means nothing to the banker living in Manhattan. It is a number, and more than likely, a negative number on a spreadsheet. It means nothing to the group owner in San Antonio, other than some miscellaneous real estate assets. The same can be said for all the radio stations in the Hudson Valley if not the entire country.
Why is this important? I mean, who really cares? The apparent answer is no one seems to care. Local news, or what used to be local news such as town board meetings, high school sports scores, police blotter, and all of the many other small town things do not get the hearing they used to. Town boards; well if no one shows up for the meeting to pass the new zoning laws, so be it. School boards; sure, raise the taxes, most homeowners will just pay the new higher amount and not say anything. It is for the children, after all. Seems that the local constabulary is spending more time at the Dunkin Donuts than out walking around checking doors. That’s the way it goes. With the demise of local newspapers, detailed in a previous post, who is keeping an eye on things? Who lets the community know when something doesn’t pass the smell test?
A receiver tuned to a local AM station playing good-sounding music
A small AM radio station can be made profitable, just not at the margins expected by the big boys. There is a niche for perhaps a 1 KW or 5 KW non-directional station with its own real estate that is not in too bad shape and can be turned into a community radio station. Those types of stations are fairly low maintenance, most have some type of PSRA and PSSA to keep them on at least during drive times if they are daytimers. Others have minimal amounts of nighttime power. Almost all of them cover their city of license, even with small nighttime powers.
I have been looking into good quality AM radio receivers and there are a few out there which are not too expensive. Most GM car radios and older Chrysler radios have good AM radios. A group formed to promote AM radio, ensure that automakers install radios that are at least as good as their older versions, and work with manufacturers to make better small tabletop receivers and such would go a long way to improving the unjustly bad reputation that AM broadcasting has received. Further, working with the ARRL (amateur radio) to reduce and keep noise levels from things like BPL and other noise-making technologies that do not comply with current FCC regulations would also help. It is true that our environment has become electrically noisier, one might not be able to listen to the 50 KW clear channel station 500 miles away, but the local station should come in well enough to enjoy, especially if the programming is good.
FM radio is becoming crowed with translators, adjacent channel HD radio interference, LPFMs, and whatever else can be shoehorned into the band. The quality of FM is set to decline precipitously in the next few years. It seems that with the right combination of good local programming, good receivers, and radio station owners/operators that are not looking to get listed on the NASDAQ, small AM stations could survive, if not thrive in the business that the big stations turn away.
There are a number, a small number, of stations already doing this. As long as there is free local news and free quality programming, people will listen, no matter what band it is being broadcast on. Free trumps paid any time, any day.
When I was a young lad, still impressionable I might add, I would listen to the big AM powerhouses at night with my little transistor radio. I have eluded to this in previous posts. I have also written an article for Radio World in which I suggest turning AM transmitter off at overnight hours to save money, with certain caveats. I still listen to AM radio quite often. I have a Kenwood R-2000 MF/HF receiver which, while not the best technical receiver, is the best-sounding AM receiver I have ever heard. Its wide AM IF bandwidth is 6.5 kHz, which seems to work very well with the high-end pre-emphasis curves most good AM processors employ. Music, especially oldies, which were recorded in AM’s hay day sounds spectacular. There is no other AM radio that sounds as good as this unit. Right now, the sun has just set and I am listening to WFED 1500 KHz in Washington DC. They are airing a VOA program called “Issues in the News.” It’s real red-meat radio. We are 250 air miles from the transmitter site.
I think there is a place for AM stations, not just merely being satellite repeaters, but making a meaningful contribution to their communities of license. Unfortunately, I am one of the few that thinks so. For as long as I have been in radio, AM has been declining. It is a matter of economics, most GMs would tell me. That being said, the two three-letter call signs that I worked at were consistently in the top four in the rating book. Clearly, live local programming was the key to this success.
The notion that they sound bad may or may not be true. An AM station that has a properly tuned and matched antenna can sound very good. Using a good receiver, one that has good fidelity, good selection and sensitivity can also increase listening pleasure. Unfortunately, almost all AM radios being sold today have an IF bandwidth that is only slightly better than a telephone around 2-3 kHz. This is because… I don’t know. Originally receiver manufacturers began limiting bandwidth to reduce interference. NRSC-2 was supposed to limit interference by reducing out-of-bandwidth splatter. Apparently, the manufacturers didn’t get the word.
Who knows, as the FM band gets filled with shit (interference from adjacent channel IBOC, translators shoehorned in, LPFM’s on third adjacent channels) AM radio might be viable again.
Once the moneymen got a hold of the broadcasting industry, everything was geared toward making money. Not that making money is wrong, it is certainly good to make a profit, however, with the margins on the FM stations, usually between 25-50%, AM stations were relegated to second place because their margins were much less than that. Even so, many AM stations were initially profitable during the consolidation and still had some ratings. Not so anymore. AM stations also require more maintenance, because of directional antennas and all that is associated with those systems. What a banker or an accountant sees when he looks at an AM radio station is a money pit. And, if the station has been run into the ground, it is a money pit.
Still, a small AM at a fire sale price might be fun to rehab. Launch some type of community radio format, put AM radio back where it was 30 years ago, solidly in the community. It might be fun.
