Desert Beacon Posted October 30, 2020 Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 Not exactly an amateur radio question, but I'm guessing this is the best place to find help. I will be camping in remote SE Utah during the coming week with no cell service, no wifi and no satellite TV or radio. I'd like to get timely election results and any related news that might affect my travel decisions. I will have a rarely used Tecsun PL-600 portable radio. Does anyone have suggestions for AM stations/frequencies that I might pickup (best at night, I presume)? SW would be a possibility too, I guess, with that radio, although I am woefully ignorant of likely frequencies. At worst, I'll just fiddle with the dial. Thanks and happy, safe travels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KU9L Posted October 30, 2020 Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 During the day you can expect local AM stations to range from 50 - 100 miles or more and at night can range from 500 - 2500 miles depending on the the typical powerhouse station. AM is subject to a lot of noise generated by RV electronics so at night if you have no utility hookups you will not have interference from solar charge controllers and converters like we get at RV Parks. Static crashes from thunderstorms several hundred miles away can be a nuisance. Forty years of listening to the International Morse Code and using a narrow band I.F. filter I rarely notice the static as much anymore, but when I come over to voice frequencies I often am amazed by the static crashes. Best of luck with your listening and may God see us through the election with the sound of peace and quiet we look for in a boondocking experience. Dave, KU9L Quote David, Sheila, & Stella the Beagle SKP#95866 - Full-timing since 2008 GPAA/LDMA and Colorado Prospectors Life Members, NRA Life Member Amateur Ham callsigns: KU9L & KB9YYI, Life ARRL Members '12 Lance 1181 truck camper "Redneck Motorhome" '12 Ford F-350SD 4x4 DRW crew-cab "Sedona" w/Firestone airbags, Power Tank, PressurePro TPMS, Garmin GPS '09 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon "Red Rocks" w/Blue Ox tow-bar '93 Fleetwood Oak Park seasonally in SW FL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Beacon Posted October 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 9 minutes ago, KU9L said: ... Best of luck with your listening and may God see us through the election with the sound of peace and quiet we look for in a boondocking experience. Dave, KU9L Thank you, Dave. My goal for this boondocking trip is to be surrounded by that peace and quiet instead of being assaulted by pre-election and post-election commentary. Whatever the result, may peace prevail. Lew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill w/bus Posted November 2, 2020 Report Share Posted November 2, 2020 What you want are the "clear channel" stations. These stations have a frequency that clear of all other transmitters. They transmit at 50,000 watts. WLS in Chicago can be received in Idaho, southern part. I can't remember but Denver, Dallas, San Fransisco have these high power stations. Most are all talk stations. In the days before satellite radio truck drivers knew the reception area of all these stations. That should get you started on finding the radio station you need. Bill Quote Bill & Lynn Baxter MCI102A3 Conversion, Detroit Diesel S50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Beacon Posted November 2, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2020 Quote Thanks, Bill. I just did a search for clear channel in Salt Lake and got KSL 1160. It's coming in strong right now at home in southern Colorado. I expect it will do what I need while boondocking. Many thanks. Lew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packnrat Posted December 2, 2020 Report Share Posted December 2, 2020 some decades back when i drove between the sf bay area and the redlands area, after crossing in to the Mojave (east bound on hwy 58) and all the way till the sun just started to lighten up the eastern sky ( heading south on 395 to the pass) i could get this station out of east texas. but that was 30 years back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vladimir Posted December 5, 2020 Report Share Posted December 5, 2020 Even after the election I still listen to clear channel radio stations at night. Back in the 1990's on a business trip I needed to know if the Rodney King riots were going on in Sacramento since I was staying in downtown. Fortunately, I remembered that 1530 KFBK out of Sacramento was a clear channel. It was a quiet night in Sacramento. Here is a list of the clear channels in the Wilkipedia listing, plus a discussion of clear channel stations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear-channel_station They missed a few of clear channels like 660 out of the Navajo Nation, 670 out of Boise, and 1510 out of Spokane. I do wish the FCC would REQUIRE clear channel stations to broadcast ONLY original programming at night. There is no point is getting Coast to Coast on every clear channel in the west!! If your into radio at all....check out these two sites. CCRANE.COM.....Small radio store out of northern California. Lots of radio products and other stuff well suited to RV'ing. Great company. If your driving down 101 you should stop buy and check out their products in person. The antenna amplifiers are well worth checking out. https://ccrane.com/ Universal Radio...out of Ohio. Good company, shortwave and ham oriented. https://www.universal-radio.com/ Quote Vladimr Steblina Retired Forester...exploring the public lands. usbackroads.blogspot.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Beacon Posted December 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2020 Thank you, Vladimr. That's very useful information. I'll visit those sites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
podwerkz Posted March 1, 2022 Report Share Posted March 1, 2022 (edited) Bumping a 'zombie thread'... Universal Radio is currently in shutdown mode. They don't have much left. Edited March 1, 2022 by podwerkz Quote Nothing to see here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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