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910am Tower Move
- Thread starter scottsan
- Start date
Isn't there a river or something they can move to and take advantage of the conductivity? I was the C.E. of a rooftop antenna and the only time we put out a good signal was when the roof was covered with rain water.
I heard a long time ago that the WEJL tower is tied into the Times Building steel beams, and those beams are stuck into the swamp below the building that used to be Scranton. It gives WEJL a stronger signal than it normally would have.
I don't know if the switch was made this morning, but 910 sounded worse than usual, very muddy.
I don't know if the switch was made this morning, but 910 sounded worse than usual, very muddy.
I guess so. ;D
E
ElectricNoodle
Guest
NigelWick said:
Well, here's the story I got... When WEJL was broadcasting from the 3rd floor, Ed Sr. wanted to expand and recover some of the space being taken up by the radio operation. He hired people to do studies and make plans to add a floor on top of the four story Scranton-Times building. But when it was discovered that just a few feet below the basement floor there existed a swamp, they had to come up with a way to stabilize the building so it wouldn't fall over - after all, they weren't only going to add another floor but a 263 foot self-support tower on top of that - along with steel plates that would make up the ground system and protect occupants below from excess RF energy. (There is less RF energy in the Times building than there is in the bank across the street.) They weren’t sure if all the additional weight plus a 260+ foot wind vane wouldn’t topple the existing structure. So work was begun to sink steel beams down through the existing building, past the swamp and into something a little more substantial. Once that was done they were able to begin adding the fifth floor around 1948 and the operation began broadcasting from the new floor in 1949. Now, an interesting sidebar (true or false??): Mr. Lynett Sr. happened to listen to a few of his close cronies who lost him what could have been a major media coup. In the 1950’s the Lynetts had an FM radio license and after Ed Sr. was told by one of his well informed buddies that FM would never take off, turned the authorization back into the FCC (which wasn’t called the FCC then but that’s a story for another time). The frequency was 92.9mc which later became Magic-93, a full Class B (50,000 watt) station. The other story I heard was Mr. Ed Sr. had a really cool auditorium built up on the third floor (complete with a client viewing booth) – not to necessarily present live radio programs – but to be able to have stage space for the new television station he wanted to get operating (he may have been partnering up with the Baltimores??). But alas, he listened to another “friend” and abandoned that idea too since television was just a fad and would never last. Now please don’t fry me about the last two stories since I believe they are accurate but if anyone can confirm them or correct them I would appreciate it.
EN
Lots of stories speak of the swamp beneath downtown Scranton, yet a few more claim a cavernous mine chamber exists but a few feet below the area from the vet home on over to the vicinity of Lackawanna Avenue. True stories? I honestly do not know.
The steel reinforcing tale fits somewhat with what I heard years ago; that copper pilings were driven down a hundred feet or more at each corner of the building, which is why WEJL's signal(500 watt?) can stretch as far west as Williamsport. That story, however, claimed the pilings were there for the radio signal, not for building support. I'm not a tekkie, never have been, so the copper piling theory is beyond any further explanation from me. Does any of this make sense?
The steel reinforcing tale fits somewhat with what I heard years ago; that copper pilings were driven down a hundred feet or more at each corner of the building, which is why WEJL's signal(500 watt?) can stretch as far west as Williamsport. That story, however, claimed the pilings were there for the radio signal, not for building support. I'm not a tekkie, never have been, so the copper piling theory is beyond any further explanation from me. Does any of this make sense?
E
ElectricNoodle
Guest
masterg said:
I'm not positive but I believe steel would last longer than copper and if it's extending down through water the conductivity would most likely not be all that different and the beams would last longer (I think). Kevin may be able to add to this. And speaking of Kevin, or should I say to Kevin - if George H. is still wandering the hallways of the 5th floor, he has a treasure trove of stories. He may be able to add some insight to this "mystery".
Oh, and it appears in Feb 2003 WEJL got a power increase to 2000 watts DAY and 32 watts NIGHT. (From 500(D) and 17(N)) And the tower is 293 feet not 263 feet as I posted before... :-\
EN
P
Prospector
Guest
The move to the WEJL tower didn't happen yet. It is now scheduled for Saturday morning. George H is still roaming the halls here on 5 and the Auditorium someone mentioned earlier is on the 5th floor not the 3rd. Don't know if any of the stories are true but some sure are interesting!
Prospector
Prospector
E
ElectricNoodle
Guest
Eric Logan said:
Yeh... the auditorium is on the 5th - don't know if I did a typo or not... But ask George about the beams and what not (like programming the old Harris 9000 automation). He remembers quite a bit about stuff like that. Let us know if you find out anything worthwhile. Thanks...
EN
Nigel is right. 910 is flat and muddy. Actually sounds just as flat and muddy as the audio chain formerly on WEJL. I was guessing based on the audio they were on the Times tower now. Whatever the case, they better do something about the audio. It sounds like total $hit and is just too muddy!
Every market has great stories of radio executives(mostly owners)who were convinced FM was never going to amount to anything. For those old enough, think back to the 60s and try and envision how many radios had FM bands on them. I was a kid when the transistor revolutionized and miniaturized the radio, and they were all AM only. I had at least three "transistors" and not one of them was anything but AM. I'd guess it was the early 70s that brought FM forward to the point where listeners began to even realize it was there.
FWIW, Mrs. Lynett, mother of the present owners, always referred to the 5th floor as the "new" floor. And I know she did so in recent memory. Is she still living? If so, she must be nearing 100.
A
Aramondo
Guest
masterg said:
I think she died about six or seven years ago.
NigelWick said:
Actually, it's like just like most old money companies...the older generation made it quite a company, the younger ones are just riding the name...
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