• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

I used to listen to WCBS and with them gone WINS is the only all news station left. I am concerned that the broadcasting power of WINS is not as good.

C

Callinus 2

I used to listen to WCBS and with them gone WINS is the only all news station left. I am concerned that the broadcasting power of WINS is not as good. WINS needs to increase it's broadcasting power to reach Connecticut and New Jersey better then they do. The claim they reach the entire tri state area but don't on AM or FM it is time for them to walk the talk about transmitting to the entire tri state area!

Martin Edgar
 
Callinus 2 said:
I used to listen to WCBS and with them gone WINS is the only all news station left. I am concerned that the broadcasting power of WINS is not as good. WINS needs to increase it's broadcasting power to reach Connecticut and New Jersey better then they do. The claim they reach the entire tri state area but don't on AM or FM it is time for them to walk the talk about transmitting to the entire tri state area!
Click to expand...
You double posted this, but the answer is the same. WINS and WCBS have the same power, 50 kw, which is the U.S. maximum.

To a New York City station, "tristate" means the New York Metro Survey Area, which is NE New Jersey, NYC, Long Island and the boroughs, a few counties up the Hudson up to Putnam, and a tiny piece of a county in CT. Anything outside that really does not matter to them.

Here is a map. The upper red zone is the New York City radio market per Nielsen.

1746631935483.png
 
@Callinus 2 WINS is directional, which doesnt help CT much.. WCBS 880 is non directional which makes a big difference. Both the AM and FM's are at the maximum allowable power.
 
WINS does cover the tri-state area, but it depends how you defind it, The very SW part of Connecticut.
David's map helps.

One thing that may have helped you when listening to 880 WCBS when they were all- news is that their transmitter is on High Island (off of The Bronx), and the path to Connecticut is all over salt water, well mostly all.
Plus, they are 50kw non-directional.

Whereas 1010 WINS (from its transmitter site in Lyndhurst, NJ) path is over land & water. The WINS site is further from Connecticut too. Plus they are 50kw directional.

The AM should serve you well if you are by The Long Island Sound but if you are inland, the signals on both 880 & 1010 will be weaker. 1010 most likely the weaker of the two.

I know this may not cut-it for you on WINS saying they cover THE TRI-STATE area . . . but they do hit the SW part of CT. and along its coast.

As far as the FM, I'd say you are correct, since the FM seems to sneak into Connecticut near the SW part making it to about Stamford, CT what a decent signal, beyond that its weaker.
 
In today's world, you can solve this problem in your own house/apartment* with a $35 Amazon Echo Dot** and any internet connection faster than dial-up. Configure the Alexa device to communicate with your router, and then ask it to "Play 1010 WINS". The sound will come in clear and crisp, anytime you want to hear the news. You give it 22 minutes or 22 hours, it should sound much better than most over-the-air radios. Hope that helps.

* In your car you can stream WINS on your cellphone, or if your car's new enough, use Apple Play or Google Play;
** Or similar "smart speaker" from Apple or Google. They're a bit more expensive. Or if cost's an issue, find an older Echo device, they are available used, probably even cheaper.
 
Weiserguy said:
In today's world, you can solve this problem in your own house/apartment* with a $35 Amazon Echo Dot** and any internet connection faster than dial-up. Configure the Alexa device to communicate with your router, and then ask it to "Play 1010 WINS". The sound will come in clear and crisp, anytime you want to hear the news. You give it 22 minutes or 22 hours, it should sound much better than most over-the-air radios. Hope that helps.

* In your car you can stream WINS on your cellphone, or if your car's new enough, use Apple Play or Google Play;
** Or similar "smart speaker" from Apple or Google. They're a bit more expensive. Or if cost's an issue, find an older Echo device, they are available used, probably even cheaper.
Click to expand...
that's cheating!!!! :), but yes you can do the above, Callinus 2
 
Yes and also WINS on Audacy app as seen here is the other option as we seen here protecting their apps on Dashboards and phones are the biggest priorities with every major radio and podcast outlets. If you are in parts of the Tri-State area that the AM and FM are consider weak for WINS. There's always the Audacy app and yes there is emphasis on protecting the app with good cell phone and wifi signals.



 
WCBS and WFAN both clear into Hartford. However WCBS is a much cleaner signal. Is it the processing of 660 is worse than 880 or transmitter location.
 
Don CT said:
WCBS and WFAN both clear into Hartford. However WCBS is a much cleaner signal. Is it the processing of 660 is worse than 880 or transmitter location.
Click to expand...
They both transmit from the same location (High Island, off City Island in the Long Island Sound). They diplex into the same antenna. Neither is directional. So any differences are likely to be explained by (a) the audio chains of the two stations, (b) the condition of the two transmitters, (c) the height of the common tower*, (d) the propagation characteristics of each frequency, and/or (e) where you are receiving them.

* The specific electrical height of the antenna can amplify or attenuate the signal of each frequency. Whatever height their tower has is going to be sub-optimum for at least one of the stations, maybe both. And where you are located when you are receiving the stations can improve or degrade those signals even further.
 
Weiserguy said:
They both transmit from the same location (High Island, off City Island in the Long Island Sound). They diplex into the same antenna. Neither is directional. So any differences are likely to be explained by (a) the audio chains of the two stations, (b) the condition of the two transmitters, (c) the height of the common tower*, (d) the propagation characteristics of each frequency, and/or (e) where you are receiving them.

* The specific electrical height of the antenna can amplify or attenuate the signal of each frequency. Whatever height their tower has is going to be sub-optimum for at least one of the stations, maybe both. And where you are located when you are receiving the stations can improve or degrade those signals even further.
Click to expand...
880 sounds richer and 660 sounds more hollow
 
K.M. Richards said:
I find it amusing that every post in this thread that mentions 880 uses the old call letters, even when phrased in the present tense.
Click to expand...
The WHSQ calls have been on 880 since, uh, the end of last August? WCBS was on 880 since before any but the most geriatric of us were little kids. So which set do you think most of us associate with that station? (Not even considering a 56 year legacy news format?) Seems self-evident.
 
K.M. Richards said:
I find it amusing that every post in this thread that mentions 880 uses the old call letters, even when phrased in the present tense.
Click to expand...
Some of us are old enough to still think of 660 as WNNNNNBC. :)

Back in the 1980s WPLJ changed call letters to WWPR to match their brand "Power 95". However in the ratings diaries, people kept writing WPLJ and WPLJ went back to being WPLJ. Despite subsequent format changes, WPLJ is still WPLJ today.
 
Directional WINS definitely has lesser coverage to the northwest, west, and south notably including Philadelphia, compared with non-directional former WCBS.

Meanwhile, at night, WINS comes into Boston so well I often land on it by accident when I wanted (Boston's) 1030 WBZ.

Most of the "New York" AMs must be directional eastword (and/or north or south) so transmitter sites in eastern New Jersey make sense to cover NYC and at least a portion of NJ. WCBS and WABC, being nondirectional, don't need to transmit from west of "the city."
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom