680 signal...

[knoxbob]

Now that the 680 station in Sylva, NC, western NC mountains, has switched to 540AM do you think they will try to change their directional pattern or stay with what they have?

 

[HGR1290]

They have Corbin KY up north still
If they did change, I doubt they would gain much

 

[secondchoice]

Love them or hate them, you have got to give Cumulus credit for "maximization" the technical parts of their properties. Their translators have as good or even better coverage than some class A's. IMHO 106.7's "sound" has improved since the Citadel days.

Hurtles to 680's night time signal improvement are:

WPTF:

http://www.radio-locator.com/info/WPTF-AM

WCCT:

http://www.radio-locator.com/info/WCTT-AM

WHBE:

http://www.radio-locator.com/info/WHBE-AM

WGES:

http://www.radio-locator.com/info/WGES-AM

WMFS:

http://www.radio-locator.com/info/WMFS-AM

There might be some upgrade at the presents sight possible but, if they end up buying a new transmitter site I double if they could sell the present site for big bucks because IIRC part of it is in a flood plan. Of course, overall land is relatively cheap and there might be a bank owning some land that the bank might want to get off their books that would work.

 

[fybush]

WGES is a class D station with no protected nighttime signal, so it's no obstacle to WCNN at night. It's the others - especially WPTF - that stand in the way.

 

[secondchoice]

WGES is a class D station with no protected nighttime signal, so it's no obstacle to WCNN at night. It's the others - especially WPTF - that stand in the way.

I know its a Class D but I am surprised WGES hasn't upgraded. 125 Watts low on the dial with salt water isn't that close to class B night time coverage (141 mV/m at 1 km) with all the salt water around?

 

[artsutton]

WGES is a class D station with no protected nighttime signal, so it's no obstacle to WCNN at night. It's the others - especially WPTF - that stand in the way.

I know its a Class D but I am surprised WGES hasn't upgraded. 125 Watts low on the dial with salt water isn't that close to class B night time coverage (141 mV/m at 1 km) with all the salt water around?

680 is a very crowded "Clear Channel" on the eastern seaboard as the dominant Class A on 680 is in San Francisco. There is also a big Cuban station on 680 which likely limits the Tampa area station.

WCNN has a huge wall from about 20 degrees true north to about 90 degrees true north of their site where they are not able to send hardly any signal due to the heavy protection that must be afforded to 50KW WPTF in Raleigh. To the west they not only have the San Francisco A to deal with but the heavier restriction is the 680 in Memphis.

When the Smithgalls built the 10KW nighttime site, they pretty much maximized the nighttime signal and it too 8 towers to get 10KW. Sylva moving off 680 gives them a little breathing room toward Sylva but that is close to where they must start protecting WPTF and beyond Sylva there is Charleston, WV which has a 680, also on the air before WCNN.

WCNN has a high interference free level from WPTF of 30 mV/m but in reality I think they get good use of their signal even down to about 5 mV/m with most of WPTF skywave going over Atlanta and their nighttime signal is really the strongest off to the southeast of Raleigh. Imagine a figure 8 with the top end toward Durham and the bottom part southeast of Raleigh and that is WPTF's pattern. The restriction for WCNN is much more than 50 watts toward WPTF and they raise the interference level to WPTF which has a very low interference free contour at night of something like 2 mV/m.

With Sylva's departure from 680, heavy datytime interfernce that dates back to when WRGC went on 680 in 1970 and then WRBN was 25KW daytime only will be eliminated. WCNN's daytime pattern is a very relaxed two tower pulled back slightly from Sylva. What they would gain toward the northeast, they would lose toward the Southwest and in this economy and the general state of AM radio in a large market like Atlanta, one could question if its worth it.

If WCNN were to ever move from their present site, then they would likely be daytime only with some 50 watts at night. The original 680 site is now used by 1190 and 970.

Since WRGC was the only radio station licensed to Sylva and WCNN(then WRNG) was the only licensed station to census designated place North Atlanta, each station could accept interference to and from each other...an old FCC rule long since eliminated but still grandfathered in a few instances. WCNN and WRGC could both move but they couldn't increase the interference level to each other...just shift it around. For less than a year, WRGC went to 5KW on 680 using a two tower directional but due to poor ground conductivity, abandoned the site west of Dillsboro and returned to the present site with 1KWnon directional. The owner of the station kept the land, some 100 acres, which was later developed into Hazel Hollow subdivision.

Despite this overlap signal situation, the two stations waged a lengthy and expensive battle against each other in the late 1960s as both station owners involved were long time successful broadcasters and hard headed in their determination to get their applications granted.

 

[the golden boy]

When I lived in Gwinnett, I there were moments when I would get WPTF better at night than I did with WCNN.

 

[jabba17]

When I lived in Gwinnett, I there were moments when I would get WPTF better at night than I did with WCNN.

Not surprising with WCNN's hard null over Gwinnett. http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WCNN&service=AM&status=L&hours=N

With Sylva gone, I do wonder if WCNN could tweak their night pattern to get just a little more of Gwinnett.