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There seem to be a few "cold spots" around town where my favorite radio station just won't pick up. The spots are small, as in less than a quarter-mile from end to end. Why is this? Why does the radio pick up better in some spots than in others?
Hi, Possibly several reasons. First what kind is it? How sensitive is it? I find that ones like my satellite one will drop out when the satellite is blocked from line of sight. Where I live the "look" angle for the main satellite is low on the horizon. For FM it is not as severe but often at relatively large distances from the station many radios will mute if set to stereo only. Some will switch to mono and still be able to produce music. The tech explanation of that is probably beyond your question. Sometimes both FM and satellite radios will receive a bounce signal off a building, mountain etc and have adequate signal strength to make music. Basically for both types it is line of sight though. AM stations due to various factors (mostly the way they propagate) are pretty immune to drop out. They will just fade into noise.
There is an interstate I travel a few times a week that goes through what used to be a mountain or butte that they had to blast away. Radio signals, phone signals, they all die right when I go through those blasted away mountains.
Cold spots are a nuisance, that's for sure, but so are "hot spots". Areas where 2 or 3 stations seem to be fighting for the same bandwidth. Just an example, but 92.3 fm will hear bits of static-y country, metal and a preacher going on about hell-fire all within a half mile radius. After a certain point, the station with the strongest signal wins. Now THAT'S entertainment.