1450 WCUM Bridgeport - Horrible Sounding Station

[MarcB]

The other day while going through Bridgeport on the Amtrak train I picked up WCUM 1450 on my Walkman. It is a horrible sounding radio station. 2 tins cans and some string would sound better.

 

[nd2023]

How did the FCC approve those call letters?

 

[MarcB]

It's the name and owner of the radio station. It's a Spanish language radio station called Radio Cumbre and it's owned by Cumbre Communications. (Or something like that).

 

[CTListener]

The calls were on an AM station in Cumberland, Md., for many years.

 

[RadioMan203]

@Marc: It's been said that their tower site needs some serious work. In today's return on investment with AM stations I don't think they'd chance it. I heard they had attempted to sell the station but were asking quite a bit more than most would pay.

 

[reelyreal]

Bob Radil is more familiar with the station, but to say it "needs work" is being generous. The station's only been putting out about 449 watts (licensed for 1,000) for almost a year, into a very tired longwire that the station's been using, as far as I can tell, for almost 20 years. The transmitter's on its deathbed, the antenna system is shot, it's a real mess.

Now, with Bomba 104.5 serving Bridgeport, I don't see things getting any better at WCUM.

 

[RadioMan203]

I had lost track of the station after the transfer from WJBX. I was only at the old Reservoir Ave transmitter site back when they had a Harris SX-1 and an old Collins. I think there aren't much parts kicking around for any of the SX series transmitters anymore and I bet the Collins has seen a lifetime of use and then some.

I wasn't aware that its power was that severely reduced. That will certainly hurt any chances of selling it.

 

[reelyreal]

It's the same SX-1, here's the original STA:

https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/w...xt=25&appn=101512908&formid=911&fac_num=54553

I'm wrong that it's a longwire, I've since been told that it appears to be a slant-wire shunt feed. I haven't actually seen it it person, so I'm not sure.

 

[RadioMan203]

I had only driven by the current transmitter site once and the overgrowth at the time made it near impossible to see the antenna.

I know there are outside engineering firms that can rebuild many of the modules for the SX-series but I guess they're saving money by coasting along on reduced power, too.

I remember back in the days of WNAB/WJBX that they had a decent signal. Nothing spectacular, but decent. Their current signal is nowhere nearly as favorable.

 

[mikedow]

WCUM is still using the same transmitter as in the mid-80s? It was aging then! As for signal, WJBX went west well past Stratford, but we faded out less than a couple of miles from the studio to the east. In 1985, we went off the air one afternoon in the middle of drive time. I drove across town to the transmitter—not that there was much I could do—to find that someone jumped the fences and tried to use the tower as an antenna. Somehow he got away, but he left behind a glove with a serious burn. The station was off the air for a few months until November 1985. Apparently someone didn’t get the memo that the tower was once again live. Our engineers were Bob Peiger, Bob Radil and Ed Butler. By the time I reached the transmitter one of the engineers (I don’t recall who) was there and got the station back on the air.

I never quite understood what you could do with a dead AM tower, but the burned glove made crystal clear what you couldn’t do with a live tower.

As for WCUM, given our nulls to the east, it is quite possible that the station no longer can be heard at the studios.

 

[Ed B]

The Harris SX1A transmitter and a new ATU and new audio processing was installed new back in 1985 when
when WJBX took to the air sounded great. The Harris SX1A transmitter replaced the Collins 20V3 which became the aux transmitter
for WJBX. The Collins 20V3 transmitter was used as the main for WNAB until the station went out of business.
The old Collins 250G transmitter 250 watt only which was WNAB first transmitter was sold off to a ham operator.
Back in the day when WNAB changed power the 20V3 ran at 1 kw daytime and the 250G ran at night until the station
went 1 KW 24 7. I work as a Engineer at both WNAB and WJBX which became WCUM. The big mistake came when
the transmitter was moved from the original site with what I can remember was a 1/2 wave tower to the present location
which is a shunt feed tower does not performed never did. I remember telling management along with the chief Engineer it would be a big mistake to move the transmitter. The transmitter site today is in very poor shape. the transmitter is in very poor shape The ground system is in very bad shape, houses have been built close to the site Ground system?? what ground system.
I had left the station before the transmitter move. That is the story of the poor signal.

 

[WPHA]

Their old tower site near Beardsley Park gave them an excellent signal! What a shame they gave that up!

The rumor I heard was that they were trying to sell the thing for over a million... that's quite a tidy sum for such a badly run-down facility!

As someone else mentioned, with the new 104.5 translator doing a high-energy Spanish format, I can't imagine 1450 lasting much longer, as-is.

Suffice it to say... "I'd buy THAT for a dollar!"

 

[Tom Gary]

Having been compensated by WCUM in the past I will restrict my remarks to general terms. A slant wire fed tower will have a high reactance at the feedpoint. This results in a high-Q, narrow bandwidth and high base voltage. Touching the feedpoint would result in an RF burn. Any changes on the tower such as additional antennas, transmission lines, etc. will affect the feedpoint impedance and cause the transmitter to trip off due to high VSWR.

If a former owner sells a transmitter site with a tall tower for a considerable profit it is wise a business decision. Given the available land, zoning and other matters a transmitter site with an existing tower and a means to couple an AM transmitter to keeps the station on the air, albeit with compromises. A good ground system is important and any damages should be repaired as soon as possible.

One must bear in mind not every decision is technical in nature. There may be other reasons behind what actions are taken, or not and by whom.

 

[KML0224]

Not knowing Bridgeport all that well from the south end of New Britain:

1- Where is the current site?
2- Would I get a decent signal if at a Bluefish baseball game with my Panasonic "Walkman"? (I know the WEBE-FM transmitter is on the U.I. smokestack next door.)

 

[MickeyD]

I think the owners have been having financial problems since they bought WALE in RI.

 

[reelyreal]

I think the owners have been having financial problems since they bought WALE in RI.

They're actually separate and completely unrelated companies. WALE is owned (at least in theory) by Cumbre Communications, which is Peter Arpin and Craig Rapoza. WCUM Bridgeport is owned by Radio Cumbre Broadcasting, which is the Colon family.

Not knowing Bridgeport all that well from the south end of New Britain:

1- Where is the current site?
2- Would I get a decent signal if at a Bluefish baseball game with my Panasonic "Walkman"? (I know the WEBE-FM transmitter is on the U.I. smokestack next door.)

The current site is on Chopsey Hill road, 5 or so miles north of Webster Bank Arena.