I just know that back in the day ( late 60's) Am radio stations like CKLW out of Detroit Mi would advertise how many broadcast watts they were using, being a 10 year old kid I really didnt give it much thought. I assuming then if they boasted about having 50,000 watts that was a constant carrier, all I know is that I could pick up their signal with my 9volt transistor radio, and also listen to Detroit Tiger baseball games on 970 am, in Ann Arbor Mi.
Mine past away in 1997, I was just trying to illustrate how childlike it sounds when drivers get in a pissing contest about how many watts their radio will swing to.
Ok let me ask this question ( sorry Bored not trying to highjack thread) if anyone of you are in the market for a new radio purchase does the advertised pep swing wattage influence your decision?
Well home town kid, good, we've got a lot in common. I remember CKLW very well. Personal connection to it, and other stations like CJOM, WWWW and WJR. I think CKLW was using a Gates 50K transmitter. I remember visiting the transmit site a few times but you do know that it broadcasts out of Amherstberg in Ontario? I used to pick them up while i was on the road, especially in the south like in Georgia. 970, that's WKHM out of Jackson, with a 1000 watts.
That's exactly right. In the AM broadcast industry, FCC standards for measurement of power are , Plate voltage x Total DC input current, e.g. 5000v * 10A=50kw power. Modulation was required to be no greater than 125% on postive peaks and no more than 100% on negative peaks....negative peaks being the primary source of what we thin of as overmodulation. FWIW, in college, I used to work for KXEL, the 50kw station in Waterloo, IA.
