1510 AM Upgrade

[DanStrassberg]

My understanding is the New London 1510 was bought out by WMEX which wanted to relax its day pattern for better general coverage in Boston.

Can't confirm or deny that what is now WWZN bought out WNLC but I absolutely can confirm that the Boston station relaxed its non-CH D pattern after the New London station went dark. I'm a bit skeptical about the buyout theory, though, because it seemed to take forever for WWZN to make the changes. IIRC (and I may not be correct on this), WWZN did not complete the buildout of the relaxed day pattern until a few days before the CP was due to expire. And I think there was also a long wait after WNLC went dark before WWZN filed for the new non-CH day pattern. I'm pretty sure that the new pattern went in while Paul Allen (Bill Gates buddy) owned the station. So, in theory, money should not have been a problem. Also, the new pattern was not an especially expensive project. The array has four towers, all of which are used at night and two of which are used D and CH. The D pattern is a very relaxed version of the CH pattern, which is a very slightly modified cardioid (protects WLAC from daytime skywave). In fact, my impression is that what motivated Allen to modify the non-CH pattern was an app for a Class C AM on 1490 that was filed for Uncasville CT. It was never granted. (Uncasville is the home of the Mohegan Sun Casino.) IIRC, the original Uncasville app was for 1510, replacing WNLC, but at much lower power and with a pattern that would have protected Boston by day as well as by night.

The main idea of the relaxed non-CH pattern was to keep anyone from building another 1510 in southeastern CT.

 

[freightliner]

The short (not the long) of it regarding WNLC was this: A fire in the tuning house--common to the day & night pattern damaged the system. Received an STA to operate non-directional at 800 watts. First thought was to repair the damaged gear and plod along. Found more problems (deterioration etc..) Other options considered were replacement of the entire antenna system (yikes !) Opted for constructing a three-tower (dog-leg) at 10KW daytime and 13w nights (directional !) Coverage at night would've encompassed the "on-air" studio and half the Production Room with the "null" in the kitchen. Town was cooperative...going from 8 towers to 3 seemed logical. But the entire "old" system had to be removed which would have kicked the whole matter up to the Army Corp.... Rather than disturb a few ferns and enjoy the fun to follow, Hall decided to purchase an available FM and move the station there. Land was sold which financed the purchase of a building in Downtown New London which still houses the cluster's secondary office & studio. Main studio is in Norwich.

 

[reelyreal]

Just tagging on to what Jim said for those who may not know, Hall Communications bought WNLC 1510 / WTYD 100.9 (now WKNL) in 1995. There was no connection to 1510 Boston.

 

[Time Traveler]

Wasn't the 680 in Halifax, Nova Scotia a factor? This is the station that later moved to 780, then to FM.

I don't know...but it seems like it should have been a factor. In 1972...I would sometimes receive another Top 40 station faintly under WRKO on the North shore...and concluded that it was CFTR...which I would receive at night at points substantially west of Boston. This would be prior to CFTR's upgrade to 50,000 watts. Back in those days...when WRKO changed pattern at night...It was literally "gone"...if you were 40 or more miles west of Boston...However....the night time sky wave of WRKO would make it to upstate New York...where it battled with CFTR for the most part. WINR Binghamtom only broadcast with 500 watts at night...nulled away from Boston...so they always completely disappeared after sunset....

 

[LA_Guy]

WNHC was not bought out. They talked to Sporting News but wound up pulling the plug before getting any money from them. CJRS used to routinely stay on their day pattern 24 hours-which was why it blew into the Northern suburbs of Boston so well. It has been off for years-but since Canada NEVER gives up AM allotments it is still notified internationally-and needs to be protected as if it still exists. Indeed ALL the Canadian stations that have gone off the air the past few years still exist-internationally on paper.

 

[aerie]

Time to renegotiate the treaty. <humming "Blame Canada" to himself>

 

[WLYNWAZNgm]

Attention Canada: we have your Canada Geese.
Please come get them out of here!

 

[DanStrassberg]

Indeed ALL the Canadian stations that have gone off the air the past few years still exist-internationally on paper.

I can't cite any examples off the top of my head, but not quite. In a couple of cases, before moving to FM, a Canadian AM moved to an assignment that was mutually exclusive with its previous assignment (for example, a move of 10 or 20 kHz that permitted higher power and/or a more favorable directional pattern). In such cases, the older assignment was cancelled and only the newer one appears in CDBS and requires protection. Many of the now-unused Canadian assignments appear in CDBS with their former facilities, but with the call sign NEW. Sometimes, though, the listed call sign is the last one the station held on AM. And in at least one case, the dark station has been replaced by a station with substantially different facilities. On 1580, CBJ in Chicoutimi QC, which ran 50 kW-U, was replaced by CKDO in Oshawa ON, which runs 10 kW-U. Oshawa is hundreds of miles from Chicoutimi and CKDO has a much different pattern from CBJ.

 

[carmen]

Canada: we have your Canada Geese. Please come get them out of here!

on OCt 1 1550 CBC switched to FM. not sure how much this helps WNTN with a nighttime power of 3 watts

 

[JIBGUY]

probably not all that much, since CBE wasn't a screamer in the Boston area at night.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

Canada: we have your Canada Geese. Please come get them out of here!

on OCt 1 1550 CBC switched to FM. not sure how much this helps WNTN with a nighttime power of 3 watts

I don't know if WNTN-AM 1550 would be interested in any PRE-sunrise authority, but I'm sure they couldn't be bothered with POST-sunset authority because in May-June-July-August, they sign off at 5:00 pm anyway.

 

[DG02816]

Surprised they couldn't find clients for the summer hours; looking at the FCC's AM Query, they could stay on till 8:15 pm.

 

[JIBGUY]

It's very hard to find brokered-time clients to just be on a couple hours 6 months a year. Everyone who buys time wants to think and hope that their program will be a success and that it would continue beyond September. As to the people who rent time in the mid-late afternoon for extended programs beyond 5 PM pr so, that sometimes happens, or USED to happen before the pirates starting taking away some audience, therefore weakening the program on a legit station. Result: station prefers not to air programming in the later summer hours, as it costs $$$ to run a 10kw transmitter. FCC rules say that a station must be on only 2/3rds of the time its licensed for between 6 AM and 6 PM. Another (very old) FCC rule says that a station doesn't even have to be at all on Sundays!

 

[LA_Guy]

Indeed ALL the Canadian stations that have gone off the air the past few years still exist-internationally on paper.

I can't cite any examples off the top of my head, but not quite. In a couple of cases, before moving to FM, a Canadian AM moved to an assignment that was mutually exclusive with its previous assignment (for example, a move of 10 or 20 kHz that permitted higher power and/or a more favorable directional pattern). In such cases, the older assignment was cancelled and only the newer one appears in CDBS and requires protection. Many of the now-unused Canadian assignments appear in CDBS with their former facilities, but with the call sign NEW. Sometimes, though, the listed call sign is the last one the station held on AM. And in at least one case, the dark station has been replaced by a station with substantially different facilities. On 1580, CBJ in Chicoutimi QC, which ran 50 kW-U, was replaced by CKDO in Oshawa ON, which runs 10 kW-U. Oshawa is hundreds of miles from Chicoutimi and CKDO has a much different pattern from CBJ.

You are correct-as an example when CKGM, Montreal moved from 980 to 990, the 980 allotment went away. In theory WCAP can let their pattern out considerably to the North now and/or possibly increase power to 10 kW at night or more, as they no longer have to protect Montreal now. I also know of one case where Canada did delete an allotment-1480 somewhere in Nova Scotia, which allowed WSAR, Fall River to drop from a 4 tower night pattern to their present two tower DA-1 pattern, but this was a station that went off the air in the early 1960s and WSAR upgraded in the late '70s.