89.7

[radiojay1]

Why doesn't WGBH put the classical on 89.7 because reception of 99.5 in Boston and south is poor. Put the news and talk on 99.5 and the classical music on 89.7 so Boston, most of Rhode Island, and southeastern Massachusetts (except Cape Cod, they have 107.5 WFCC) can hear it.

 

[carmen]

95.3 kicks a pretty good signal down hear near providence. where are you at?

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Why doesn't WGBH put the classical on 89.7 because reception of 99.5 in Boston and south is poor. Put the news and talk on 99.5 and the classical music on 89.7 so Boston, most of Rhode Island, and southeastern Massachusetts (except Cape Cod, they have 107.5 WFCC) can hear it.

Because they believe they will get better ratings with news/talk than classical, so they want it on their most powerful signal in the Boston metro.

They're looking at WBUR's ratings, which are about four times the size of WGBH's with classical having been on 89.7, and decided 89.7 would do better to try for a piece of the news/talk pie.

 

[radiojay1]

95.3 kicks a pretty good signal down hear near providence. where are you at?

I am a few miles west of Providence.  95.3 WHRB cannot be heard at all in the Providence area because of 95.5 WBRU.  When I am driving I can only recieve WHRB inside the Route 495 loop closest to Boston, Route 495 between Route 24 and Route 93.

 

[carmen]

i'd suggest a better radio then. just north of attleboro (where the 96.7 haitian fades out) 96.5 fades in, which is proably the bst soca station. yes, even with the talk firepowre on 96.5 or 9 or whatever it is

you really cant seperate 95.3 from 95.5? time to upgrade

 

[carmen]

did you actually listen? did you donate and say you listened to the classical?

my neighbours in brookline were both professional classical musicians - and i'd ocasinaly hit 89.7, 95.3, and 99.5 to see if they had it on - they must have always played it off CD...

 

[carmen]

I am a few miles west of Providence. 95.3 WHRB cannot be heard at all in the Providence area

i guess i should try somewhere besides tin-top hill with a small dipole cut to resonance at ~96 mhz

cannot is quite a broad statement. how hard have you tried to hear hrb, 99.5, or 107.5 from the cape?

also i'd suggest shortwave - theres usually someone playing classical on 49m or 31m

 

[4CX1000A]

WHRB will never reach Providence because it is first-adjacent to WBRU.

WFCC is a possibility, but it will depend on atmospherics and local terrain. Some days you may get it and some days not.

A rooftop Yagi in an exceptionally good location *might* get WCRI 95.9 Block Island; but it is co-channel with WATD in Marshfield, MA.

 

[scranton]

why are non profits that dont pay taxes competing. Do they think they are hospitals?

 

[radiojay1]

i guess i should try somewhere besides tin-top hill with a small dipole cut to resonance at ~96 mhz
cannot is quite a broad statement. how hard have you tried to hear hrb, 99.5, or 107.5 from the cape?
also i'd suggest shortwave - theres usually someone playing classical on 49m or 31m

Tin-top hill?  I wonder where that is.;D  I live five miles west of Providence.  My factory car radio gets all Boston stations with a good signal except those on frequencies that are first adjacent to local stations here.  95.3 WHRB is nonexistant, 99.5 WCRB is poor, and 107.5 WFCC from the Cape is poor unless there is tropo.  I do get 99.9 WQRC and 106.1 WCOD from the Cape in my area with a fair signal.  On my home digital radios, definitely no 95.3 WHRB because of 95.5 WBRU, no 99.5 and 99.9 because of 99.7 WEAN, and no 107.5 unless there is tropo.  Also in my area on the car radio, Classical 95.9 WCRI (transmits from Block Island) is poor.  On 95.9 I mostly hear WATD with a fair signal.  I can't get WCRI on my home radios.  But 89.7 is clear like a local in the car and at home.   

 

[aaronread]

WHRB is a very tough grab anywhere near Providence. It's got good height but the ERP is only 1700 watts, and they've got a directional antenna pattern that nulls somewhat to the NE and SW (in part to protect WBRU). WBRU, OTOH, blasts out over 18,000 watts from (almost) downtown Providence.

I don't think WBRU broadcasts in HD Radio, but if they do, kiss any reception of WHRB...no matter how good your radio...goodbye in the metro Providence area. The IBOC sidebands just put out too much noise and the WHRB signal is too weak to get reliable reception.

 

[necrat123]

WBRU does not and has no plans to do HD radio anytime soon.

 

[aaronread]

That doesn't surprise me...as a commercial outlet they can't get the CPB grants to upgrade, and from a business perspective it's hard to justify "going HD" when you own just one broadcast property like Brown does with WBRU. Maybe to put "WBSR" on an HD2 channel, but methinks everyone is happier with WBSR being mostly web-only. (do they still have the simulcast on 88.1?)

 

[alg2468]

I live 4 miles northeast of Providence, and WCRB is very weak on my home radios. However, I just bought an RCA Infinite Radio that receives radio stations broadcasting on the internet, and WGBH just restored their internet stream and it comes in very clear.