My issue was math. In junior high they finally put me in [and sorry if this word offends you but we're talking very early 70s] what they called "retard" math and I STILL had difficulties. Wasn't till 10 years out of high school that they found out I had dyscalculia, which is like math dyslexia.
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720 WGN filing
- Thread starter JJSPC
- Start date
I think with a Faraday Cage like you describe, you should have an AM BC antenna matched to Coax and mounted outside, and matched to an AM radio input.. That would also eliminate a lot of the electronic noisemaker problems inside. David may have some ideas.
I rarely listen to Ancient Modulation at home, and the ones I do listen to are also on FM-HD, so that's pretty much a moot point. If I take a radio outside, it works great. Shortwave reception indoors on the build-in antenna is as bad as AM.
But my ham antenna is about 20 feet from the house, in my back yard. That's far enough away to keep the inside-the-house devices from causing interference, thanks to the lath and stucco. The attenuation does go both ways, you know. I also use common mode chokes on both ends of the coax to keep the garbage off of it.
The DOD is supposed to EMF suppression abilities. I am sure there is unclassified stuff now.
As suspected, WGN filed to have the CP (BP-20221014AAA) for the auxiliary tower cancelled as well.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
How many times are we going to report the exact same information about that file number?
I guessed that was the reason back in post #4. @Kent confirmed it two posts later. You yourself confirmed that in post #15.
Or did you perhaps intend to reference BXP-20221018AAD in this most recent post?
It’s helpful for those of us who start with latest posting and go back up the thread.
Sorry, got the reference numbers confused. Right now only the main tower move was cancelled.
In any case here is an article from 2022, which had some details about the proposed data center, including a detailed map:
www.journal-topics.com
In any case here is an article from 2022, which had some details about the proposed data center, including a detailed map:
WGN, Nexstar Selling Part Of Broadcast Tower Site For New Elk Grove Village Data Center - Journal & Topics Media Group
Proposed data center site plan at the current WGN broadcast tower site at 720 Rohlwing Rd., Elk Grove Village. (Elk Grove Village submitted image) Another one million sq. ft., three-building data center is proposed for a location just outside Elk Grove Village currently owned by WGN Radio and...
www.journal-topics.com
Interesting article in the Daily Herald concerning the data center involving the WGN transmitter site. Here is an interesting quote from the Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson:
But Johnson said plans now call for four data center buildings on a larger portion of the property. He said Nexstar officials told him they can do without the old towers and are able to handle radio transmission in other ways these days.
Officials at the Irving, Texas-based company that acquired the 50,000-watt AM station in 2019 wouldn’t detail future plans, but assured listeners they would not lose service to WGN radio over the air and online.
Here is a link to the full article:
But Johnson said plans now call for four data center buildings on a larger portion of the property. He said Nexstar officials told him they can do without the old towers and are able to handle radio transmission in other ways these days.
Officials at the Irving, Texas-based company that acquired the 50,000-watt AM station in 2019 wouldn’t detail future plans, but assured listeners they would not lose service to WGN radio over the air and online.
Here is a link to the full article:
I wonder who they will duplex, triplex, or quadplex with? Or is there any "unbuildable"land near Chicago?
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
You sparked a side thought in my mind: What happens when, in any given metropolitan/urbanized area, we get to a point where towers that could be used to diplex become few to none?
To quadraplex WSCR WGN WBBM and WLS would be problematic, because WSCR and WGN are only 50 kHz apart, and WGN and WBBM are only 60 kHz apart.
WSCR, WBBM, and WLS could triplex. I don't know how far away WGN would have to be to not cause problems. At one time WNBC 660, WABC 770, and WCBS 880 had figured out they could triplex, but WABC 770 decided against it.
WSCR, WBBM, and WLS could triplex. I don't know how far away WGN would have to be to not cause problems. At one time WNBC 660, WABC 770, and WCBS 880 had figured out they could triplex, but WABC 770 decided against it.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
The fact that you reference 660 and 880 by their old call letters tells me that this was pre-Citadel and Cumulus.
So my take is that they were probably still miffed about the way the KOB/Albuquerque situation turned out and wouldn't do anything that would reduce their coverage area by even one mile.
Diplex with WIND. Each of the usable towers is close to 500Ft tall. Yes, it's way south east from the current site but ground wave coverage will be good from that site. I predicted that WMVP would diplex from the WCPT night site when others said it was too far south to be useful.
Diplexing with WLS would be risky as I assume the days are numbered for that site as well. The WIND site in Griffith, IN is a swampy site surrounded by rail road track which is not very practical for real estate development.
That is already a problem in Honolulu where tri and quad plexes have been common. Alan Roycroft, a well known engineer in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, was one of the most experienced diplex installers on the planet before his death!
An interesting radio story; Alan Roycroft – A Tribute
This was decades ago. I just can't stand having to look up newer call letters every time the stations are discussed. I think it was at one of the Island locations in Long Island Sound.
If they find a building tall enough, maybe an antenna on top of that? Towers may run out, but buildings in the Chicago area should be plentiful. But there's always a few building owners that'll say "You ain't sticking that thing on MY building!"
Are we talking about AM stations?
The Chicago "full" FMs are already on the Hancock and the whateveritiscallednow Sears tower. Just as the NYC stations are mostly on the ESB.
Remember that an effective AM tower is at least a quarter wave. At the bottom of the dial, that is around 400 feet and at the top around 150 feet (I am giving rounded numbers just as examples). Less than quarter wave starts to reduce coverage significantly.
There are some alternative "tiny antennas" but they do not create signals like a quarter wave or greater tower. And you can use an inverted L or "T" antenna using wire between two masts, but that can be prohibitavely directional as well as being less efficient.
And any antenna needs some kind of ground system. While roof antennas can use counterpoise systems or even the frame of a steel building, those are not efficient.
In other words, rooftop AM antennas of any kind are not going to give the coverage of a conventional tower with a ground system. And I have not touched on multi-tower directional AM stations.
(An exception would be a full tower on top of one of those huge Amazon-like warehouses with a complete ground system laid out on the roof. But I doubt most warehose oweners woud want the hassle for what would be limited budget AM station payments.)
Joe
There has been a lot of activity at the WLS AM transmitter site the last few months. I have seen the gate open several times with vans parked outside of the building with people going in and out. There is also a new development being built right next to it. So yes, I would also say its days are numbered.
John (Mark's Son)
Hi John,
The WLS site was sold off the Vertical Bridge a number of years ago. Cumulus leases the site. It's possible that WGN can diplex from the site with the assurance that it will stay as a viable transmitting site for at least 10 years. I'm assuming Vertical Bridge will have the same inclination to sell the land for profit which is what Audacy is currently doing with WSCR and WBBM, Disney did with WMVP and what NextStar is apparently now doing with the WGN Site. Cumulus is not shy about turning licenses in to the FCC that they deem not profitable.
The main issue with WGN is that they are the main EBS site in the North East Illinois area that trigger EBS for all of the other Chicago stations. Historically, large AM's in the country have been EBS stations for their geographic locations. If emergencies occur these hardened AM's can stay on the air in many different ways when cell sites are down, and the internet is not functioning. A new EBS system needs to be developed if these AM's are going away which more than likely will be the case within the next 5 to 10 years.