WRNJ 1510AM Radio
I know...who listens to AM anymore. LOL. But my old clock radio only gets AM. Is WRNJ still on AM? The last few nights I have not been able to get it on the radio. Even checked my car AM radio and no signal anymore? Anyone know? Thank you.
happycamper Many large automakers have announced they are eliminating AM from their EV vehicles. Some are still going to keep it.
The AM band is still in use. I can tune in to the 1510 now (10:00 AM) and hear it fine.
You could always call the station to see if there was some sort of interruption in their signal on the AM side.
908 850 1000.
Greg 
Patti 
EVV 1510 is a shared frequency with other stations. The frequencies that a.m. stations operate don't allow signals to travel far during daytime so during the day WRNJ can use 2,000 watts as it causes no inteference with other stations on 1510. Around sunset and sunrise* signals begin traveling further so WRNJ has to reduce power to 1,100 watts. During nightime signals can travel the furthest and therefore WRNJ has to reduce power to 230 watts.
*Critical hours for radio stations is the time from sunrise to two hours after sunrise, and from two hours before sunset until sunset, local time. During this time, certain American radio stations may be operating with reduced power as a result of Section 73.187 of the Federal Communications Commission's rules.
OnTheEdge 
BobI actually enjoy this time of year for enhanced sunset AM radio reception for far away stations I like to listen to that I can only get during sundown the rest of the year. When I am driving around my old AM radio only cars and the sun goes down, I can pickup oldies AM stations like 740AM out of Toronto as early as 530pm. And, funny enough, the public radio station WFED, broadcasting out of Washington DC on nearby frequency 1500AM is a Clear Channel station, which means they can continually broadcast at 50,000 watts all day, so their signal even overpowers local reduced wattage 1510 WRNJ AM once they reduce their wattage when the sun goes down.
In regards to what FCC class license WRNJ holds, I am not sure, since they may have been grandfathered in since the FCC has changed requirements many times since WRNJ has been on the air in the late 70's. But, we know for sure they are not a Clear Channel 50,000 watt continuous station. Class B or D I am guessing.
Personally, if you are stuck listening to AM radio only, and are up after 1a with the occasional insomina, then I would recommend WABC and the Frank Morano show. Consistently interesting program. Think of it as Jimmy Howes, but with a bit more thought put into the content. And, Morano has a bit of Uncle Floyd type story telling in him, which appeals to me.
The Rhyme Animal TRA, are those old cars/antennas that much better than modern cars for AM, or am I missing something? I was just trying to pick up 660 WFAN out of NYC tonight (after sunset) and could only hear every 5th word that was said. I was driving between here and Rockaway. I gave up around budd lake.
I used to listen to WFAN 660 while riding my lawn tractor, but the past couple years the only station I can get is WRNJ. I really want to listen to a baseball game most times. I used to get it in, but not any more.
Lonesome Dove I find that WFAN reception, night or day, once you get west of Morris County to be lacking, day or night. Their transmitter is located on High Island, outside of the Bronx. I often get better reception on any other NYC station other than WFAN. I used to love when the Yankees were on WABC, as listening to a game was crystal clear out here day or night. WFAN is often a struggle to get a strong signal, regardless of in the house or in a car in our area.
Older car radios absolutely had more robust parts and were designed to work in less than optimum conditions. The parts in the newer car radios are certainly inferior (cheaper) than an older radio.
To backup my theory of transmitter coverage and radio quality, I took a look at WFAN's coverage area:
https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WFAN&service=AM
Hmm.. that red line of strong coverage fades, right around.... Warren County, where it goes to Distant coverage. Distant coverage is defined as:
"Distant Coverage: Within this area, the signal of the radio station may be weak unless you have a good car radio or a good stereo with a good antenna. You may not be able to receive the station at all on inexpensive radios or radios with poor antennas."
Remember WFAN is a 50,000 watt Clear Channel station.
Now, lets look at WABC AM, whose transmitter is located in Lodi, NJ. obviously west of NYC.
https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WABC&service=AM&h=D&z=i
Their strong coverage map seems to suggest they have a bit better signal into Warren County, most likely due to the proximity of their transmitter being somewhat closer to Warren County.
I believe the location of the WFAN transmitter absolutely hinders it signal getting to Warren County, much worse than the coverage maps even suggest.
Now if only WRNJ could get the rights to broadcast the Yankees games, we would all be in better shape!
For listening to WFAN at home the Audacy app/website on the computer , phone , or tablet works well . I usually listen to the radiostationusa.com website to listen to WFAN live . But I like to listen to Richard Neer's Saturday morning show that starts at 5am and the Audacy website or app allows you to listen to shows on rewind . The WFAN Audacy site has a link that says full schedule - click on that then find the show and click on rewind to listen .
Lonesome Dove - a strong wifi signal allow you to listen to WFAN anywhere on your property with a smartphone or tablet . I use a wifi booster and have internet everywhere on the property . I use a cheap Moto G Power Tracfone mostly for the internet radio and have no problem with radio reception with wired or blutooth earbuds/headphones .
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=wi+fi+extenders+signal+booster+for+home&crid=225I513W5WLOJ&qid=1703089503&sprefix=wi+extender%2Caps%2C149&ref=sr_pg_1
97XBAM Thanks 97X. Didn't understand about 90% of that, I do not have a smartphone (can't get a signal at my house), don't know how I would use my tablet on my riding mower, tried a Tracfone once but couldn't get minutes loaded because they insisted that they had to text me a code and since I don't get any cell phone service at my house, I couldn't get the text, etc., etc. I don't have earbuds or Bluetooth, whatever that is.
I do manage to listen, on my tablet, in my family room, to the Giants football radio broadcast on WFAN, which I also manage to sync up with the TV, so I can watch the game without having to listen to those insufferable TV announcers.
Just so all this makes some sense, I'm 75 years old, and most of all this tech stuff just frustrates the devil out of me. I just would like to turn on my portable battery-powered radio & listen to a baseball game while I mow the lawn.
You don't need a cell signal just internet and a router which would then transmit a wifi signal to a tablet or phone that gets wifi then you would plug in your headset into the tablet audio jack after you find the radio station on the tablet . You could even do this on an old smartphone without any cell service because it is still capable of receiving a wifi signal and surfing the internet being basically just a small tablet with no phone capability . I have lousy radio reception and I've tried it all including RF headphones plugged into the computer headphone jack - it works but with a much smaller range than wifi .
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rf+headphones&ref=nb_sb_noss
Leave a Reply
To comment on this topic, fill out the form below. If you would like to comment directly to one person, you may click on the envelope next to the posters name if they provided their email.