[BULK] - [pct-l] RE: Music On The Trail

[randy_forsland at hotmail.com (Randy Forsland)]

Well...yes and no. In space, both am and fm signals would be able to travel 
the same distance. On a curved surface, such as the earth, that is not the 
case.

FM waves can only travel as ground waves, and, therefore, the distance you 
can receive an FM signal from is limit by your ability to "see" the radio 
transmitter tower.  Once the tower is below your horizon, you lose the 
station.

However, AM waves can "bounce" off of the ionosphere, and therefore you can 
"see" them over the horizon. Even more so at night.

I found it especially cool to listen to the bumper to bumper traffic report 
in the SF Bay Area on KGO (AM), while lazily getting out of bed somewhere in 
the SoCal desert...about 450 miles away.. Once the sun rose, the reception 
faded...



Redwood





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Saenz" <msaenz@mve-architects.com>
To: "John Coyle" <jcoyle@sanjuan.edu>; <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 1:22 PM
Subject: RE: [BULK] - [pct-l] RE: Music On The Trail


Maybe AsABat can answer this:

It's my understanding that AM wavelengths travel further than FM. True?