- Interesting tidbit of info gathered from the Old Time
Radio Digest website...
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- Question From Alain:
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- I'm curious; do radio signals decay over space and time?
If at least some signals survive, how far out are the OTR era's signals?
And, could ET (or some other extra terrestrial) conceivably be listening
to Jack Benny right now using a regular AM receiver?
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- Answered By Don Shenbarger:
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- The strength falls off in accordance with the "inverse
square rule", meaning it works just like light shining from a flashlight.
Eventually you reach a point where the strength of the signal (or light)
is much less than the ambient background (noise) and can no longer be separated
from the noise. You can compare this to AM radio quality as you drive in
your car where static replaces more of the program as the distance to the
station increases. To a great extent, better receivers will work at greater
distances, but all have limitations.
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- As to the distance, radio signals travel at the speed
of light. Jack Benny's radio show broadcast on December 7th, 1941 would
be at a distance of 62.3 light years now. At that distance the program
has passed through approximately 2,500 known neighboring stars.
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