All other things being equal, around 15% less coverage watt per watt.
Remember, 1 kw on 540 will cover about what 50 kw on 1500 will do. So 50 kw on 1510 will cover about what 25 kw on 1000 will do, or bout what 37 kw on 1250 will do.
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WMEX 1510 Boston
- Thread starter alok
- Start date
All other things being equal, around 15% less coverage watt per watt.
Remember, 1 kw on 540 will cover about what 50 kw on 1500 will do. So 50 kw on 1510 will cover about what 25 kw on 1000 will do, or bout what 37 kw on 1250 will do.
Hearing they're aiming for 10 kW--full time? Not sure..if so, not the best but best they can get.There will also be an FM translator though pattern will null to NW and SW to protect stations.
The translator application is publicly available, and you can look at the actual data just the same way I can, rather than filling the boards with meaningless speculation.
Here are the facts: the translator will be 250 watts, 41 meters above ground level, from a tower on Wharf St. in Weymouth. It will indeed be directional, but only mildly, with a notch to the south-southwest that will protect the 101.1 translator for WATD(AM), and a shallower minimum to the northwest protecting WGIR-FM and, coincidentally, avoiding wasting RF over the harbor. It will put 60 dBu over most of Quincy and Braintree, all of Weymouth and Hingham and most of Hull.
The red contour here shows what this signal will look like: https://fccdata.org/?facid=202403
There's really no "if" about whether this translator will materialize. Ed (and Dennis) have followed the FCC's process to the letter. Their application will be granted within the next few weeks (maybe even sooner, if the Prometheus translator objection is swept away promptly.
Now we move from fact into (well-informed) speculation:
In 2018, there's little value to a daytime-only AM signal, and huge expense involved in building up a higher-powered full-time AM signal. Ed's a good businessman, but he doesn't have unlimited resources. He spent $125,000 on the WMEX license, plus, presumably, legal costs that will be involved in defending against the transmitter site lawsuit. Is there a business case that would justify dropping another $100,000 on a high-powered AM installation that could do 10 kW or more by day? Or half a million or more (maybe much more) on the new directional installation that would be needed to get any significant night power?
I can't see Ed doing that. What makes more sense, I think, is that 1510 basically ends up being a minimal signal - not much more than the kilowatt daytimer in the STA - just enough to serve as a primary for the translator. And I don't think it's coincidental that the WATD(AM) translator is also on 101.1.
I think Ed's game here is going to be to simulcast the 101.1 translators. I think the AMs are there only because they're needed as nominal primary signals. And if I were a betting man, I'd make a wager that both of those 101.1 translators will be used to extend the reach of WATD-FM's programming to the west and north of its current core signal. I may not be as smart a broadcaster as Ed, but that's the move that would make the most business sense to me if they were my stations.
Here are the facts: the translator will be 250 watts, 41 meters above ground level, from a tower on Wharf St. in Weymouth. It will indeed be directional, but only mildly, with a notch to the south-southwest that will protect the 101.1 translator for WATD(AM), and a shallower minimum to the northwest protecting WGIR-FM and, coincidentally, avoiding wasting RF over the harbor. It will put 60 dBu over most of Quincy and Braintree, all of Weymouth and Hingham and most of Hull.
The red contour here shows what this signal will look like: https://fccdata.org/?facid=202403
There's really no "if" about whether this translator will materialize. Ed (and Dennis) have followed the FCC's process to the letter. Their application will be granted within the next few weeks (maybe even sooner, if the Prometheus translator objection is swept away promptly.
Now we move from fact into (well-informed) speculation:
In 2018, there's little value to a daytime-only AM signal, and huge expense involved in building up a higher-powered full-time AM signal. Ed's a good businessman, but he doesn't have unlimited resources. He spent $125,000 on the WMEX license, plus, presumably, legal costs that will be involved in defending against the transmitter site lawsuit. Is there a business case that would justify dropping another $100,000 on a high-powered AM installation that could do 10 kW or more by day? Or half a million or more (maybe much more) on the new directional installation that would be needed to get any significant night power?
I can't see Ed doing that. What makes more sense, I think, is that 1510 basically ends up being a minimal signal - not much more than the kilowatt daytimer in the STA - just enough to serve as a primary for the translator. And I don't think it's coincidental that the WATD(AM) translator is also on 101.1.
I think Ed's game here is going to be to simulcast the 101.1 translators. I think the AMs are there only because they're needed as nominal primary signals. And if I were a betting man, I'd make a wager that both of those 101.1 translators will be used to extend the reach of WATD-FM's programming to the west and north of its current core signal. I may not be as smart a broadcaster as Ed, but that's the move that would make the most business sense to me if they were my stations.
And the status of WATD AM is what? Last I heard there were issues related to the transmitter site, like he didn't have one
WATD AM is currently silent right?
NO AM, no translator correct?
Personally I think WATD AM was a mistake, I think buying WMEX was a mistake, Ed is burning a lot of cash to get translators, because we all know the AM's are worthless and just needed to get the translator.
What sort of R.O.I. can be expected on such an outlay of cash? IMHO next to nothing, if any at all.
What I heard for 1510 AM was aiming for 10 kW days, just 100 watts nights, non-directional.
btw in terms of URLs 1510wmex dot com still belongs to the Renegade Radio guys (and a 1510 WMEX app) for their streaming and podcasts, which are current.It may look like they're on 1510 in Boston from the site...then you notice there are no other shows...
Wmexradio dot com is for the LPFM
Wmex1510.com is currently being offered by GoDaddy, no doubt for a premium price.
Wmex dot com is a Chinese site
Wmexradio dot com is for the LPFM
Wmex1510.com is currently being offered by GoDaddy, no doubt for a premium price.
Wmex dot com is a Chinese site
Tried a WHOIS search and it wouldn't say who owns it but a backorder of the domain could be had...($69 min.)
"We contact the current owner on your behalf. If it's for sale, we'll do all we can to get it for you!
$69.99 per domain + commission"
Again it doesn't say who owns it.Thought someone may have had it, it expired, and GoDaddy was making it available "for a price" (above the standard fee).So yes someone may have it, don't know who.
"We contact the current owner on your behalf. If it's for sale, we'll do all we can to get it for you!
$69.99 per domain + commission"
Again it doesn't say who owns it.Thought someone may have had it, it expired, and GoDaddy was making it available "for a price" (above the standard fee).So yes someone may have it, don't know who.
A new European Union law which took affect on May 18 - GDPR - makes it illegal to post the name or any information about the ownership of a domain. The fines are very high for violating the rules. While it only applies to domain owners within the EU, most registrars are now pulling the info for all domain names. While their supposed intent is privacy, it will also protect the most undesirable web sites too. Whois will be basically useless.
In this country, domain registers charge for that privilege. That includes GoDaddy.
Hiding the owner has been a big money maker - Domains By Proxy, etc.
The problem the registrars face is either to stop listing the contact info for all domains, or just try to filter out those listed for EU owners. If they miss a few, the EU bureaucrats will be all over them.
ICANN isn't sure what to do:
https://www.icann.org/dataprotectionprivacy
A post by Dennis DeNapoli on Facebook says Ed asked the FCC to extend the deadline to get back on (using 1 kW days) and in same thread Joe McMilan said Ed told him he wanted to get the Brockton station back on first, with MEX by the fall...hmmm...I
In former case Ed may still have to get (with site approval) some brief broadcast on before July 1 to this buy some more time.
In former case Ed may still have to get (with site approval) some brief broadcast on before July 1 to this buy some more time.
That's what KQV 1410 in Pittsburgh is doing. They've temporarily returned to the airwaves and currently running old time radio dramas. They've been on for a few weeks now. They're doing it just to reset the clock on the period they can be silent.
Bob! You don't have to guess at these things! You don't have to depend on a Facebook post! It's... all... public... information.
Behold file number BSTA-20180522AAQ, filed May 22 (and reported on in NERW May 28):
WMEX WAS RECENTLY SOLD TO THE APPLICANT. THE TOWER SITE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE SALE AND IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING DISMANTLED. THE APPLICANT HAS SECURED ACCESS TO DIPLEX AT THE SITE OF AM STATION WBIX BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. NON-DIRECTIONAL OPERATION WITH POWER OF 1 KILOWATT DAYTIME HOURS ONLY IS REQUESTED. DILPEXING EQUIPMENT WILL BE INSTALLED.
CONCURRENTLY, THE UNDERSIGNED IS PREPARING A FORM 301-AM APPLICATION FOR CONSTRUCTION PERMIT FOR THIS SITE. SINCE WMEX HAS BEEN OPERATING UNDER SILENT AUTHORITY AS PER STA BLSTA-20170707AAB FOR A NUMBER OF MONTHS AND NEEDS TO BE BACK ON THE AIR BY JULY 1, 2018, THE ENGINEERING STA IS NECESSARY TO MEET THIS REQUIREMENT.
Yup I had seen that but the post seemed to imply he got permission to push the deadline back without returning to the air somehow first before that deadline.Would expect or hope the permit is granted before that deadline.
The FCC doesn't make policy based on Facebook posts.
WMEX last broadcast on 7/31/2017. As a matter of Federal law, it must return to the air by 7/31/2018 or its license will be cancelled.
There is no such thing as "permission to push the deadline back." The FCC does not have that authority.
The STA request was accepted for filing on 5/23/2018, so there's nothing to "expect or hope." Ed now has the authority to fire up a kilowatt daytime from the 1260 site. Barring some sort of calamity on Ed's side of things between now and 7/31/18, it is now a certainty that 1510 will fire back up with some sort of programming from the 1260 site before that deadline.
The nature of that programming will be irrelevant. It's a placeholder to keep the AM alive, nothing more or less, and the AM itself is only a placeholder now to protect the application for the Weymouth translator (the exact facilities of which are now public information), which is the real point of this venture.
I know it's more fun to keep speculating endlessly...but all the facts are right there on the table, except, perhaps, Ed's ultimate programming plans for his pair of 101.1 translators and the AMs that will support them.
This is my first post but I have been a long time reader of this website. I absolutely agree with Mr. Fybush that posters who post third party Facebook or other website info without validating that information does a tremendous disservice to all who read their posts. Very basic FCC law and rules are easy to find. Clearly, a station has one year to get back on the air per law. Very basic. No exceptions. I would encourage the posters here to check their facts BEFORE posting misinformation. With WMEX, Mr. Perry is clearly a very knowledgeable professional who knows the rules. I believe he really doesn't care about the AM signals, so he will spend the least amount possible for AM coverage. The FM translators are the valuable commodity. My guess he will use both translators to transmit WATD to a wider audience.
Please forgive my ignorance to the 101.1 translators, as I have not been following his plans to translate on 101.1 but what's the likelihood of their having some form of interference with WGIR-FM? I assume that it will need to point south, as the New Hampshire boarder is covered under WGIR-FM. When 100.3 went on as a translator, I was less interested as WHEB is much further north.
Any translator on 101.1, whether in Weymouth or Brockton, has to protect the 54 dBu service contour of WGIR-FM. You can see an approximation of that contour here: https://fccdata.org/?facid=&call=wg...zip=&arn=&party=&party_type=LICEN&latd=&lond=
So the 101.1 translators do have to use directional antennas to keep their signals from going too far north, and WGIR-FM has the opportunity to protest if it can show that there are regular listeners who are experiencing interference. (Spoiler alert: they won't, because iHeart wants listeners in Boston to be listening to its Boston-market signals, not to Manchester.)
The new translators will also have to protect other nearby signals, including Bob Bittner's 101.3 WJIB translator. In practice, as I've said previously, the Weymouth signal will reach from Quincy and Braintree to Cohasset and Hull, while the Brockton translator will mostly cover Brockton. They won't be Boston signals.
Deadline is June 30
RadioInsight:
"Jun 29, 2017 · Last night (June 29th), Jimmy J announced that WMEX-1510 indeed would go off the air today (June 30th) at 6 P.M.."
RadioInsight:
"Jun 29, 2017 · Last night (June 29th), Jimmy J announced that WMEX-1510 indeed would go off the air today (June 30th) at 6 P.M.."
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