All-PSA low power AM at 1640

[Wbzfm2010]

i know theres one in lowell which tells about the historical stufff there on 495 as well i think its also 1640

 

[robotique]

BTW..... whats the deal on TIS' and power levels? The TIS at logan on 1650khz is much stronger than 530khz at I-90 & I-95. I can hear the logan one in Lexington. Are they exceeding licensure?

 

[chrisradioanimal]

The one in Lowell is 1610. I haven't heard it on the air for a while though. I've heard 1650 in Burlington before clear as day.

 

[aaronread]

Actually, beleive it or not, they are licenssed under PArt 90 of the FCC rules (90.242 to be precise).

Oh jeez you are totally right and I was totally on crack. That's what I get for trying to bang out a post while my wife is yelling at me to get off the computer so we can go to brunch. ;D

BTW..... whats the deal on TIS' and power levels? The TIS at logan on 1650khz is much stronger than 530khz at I-90 & I-95. I can hear the logan one in Lexington. Are they exceeding licensure?

Doubtful on the power. There's three reasons that could easily explain the perceived difference in signal:

• Current state of the equipment. One could be in better shape than the other; maintenance can vary wildly from TIS to TIS depending on what entity owns & operates it.
• Grounding. Theoretically both TIS's probably have similar ground systems but if the soil conductivity happens to be better at one than the other...that can make a big difference. The Logan one has the advantage of being right next to a rather large body of saltwater, too.
• Frequency. Those little 3-meter whip antennas are HIDEOUSLY inefficient for AM frequencies. That said, the higher the freq the shorter the radiating element needs to be to make a proper wavelength (or fraction of a wavelength) antenna. So a TIS up in the expanded band will generally have at least slightly better "signal" than one down at 530kHz.

FWIW, that Logan TIS has been there at least a decade. I remember hearing it (and seeing signs about it) back in 2000, and I suspect it had been there well before then...possibly many years before.

 

[raccoonradio]

The 1640 TIS, on a good radio, does about a 3 or 4 mile radius at night on 128

Also, today during daylight hrs I drove past the water tower where its stick is. Even right next to it you could still get the Logan signal at 1650 but as I went past it heading toward Lynn, 1640
obliterated 1650.

Not far away of course, the powerhouse FM on Lakeland Park Dr. : WMKK

 

[Wbzfm2010]

i remember as a kid when they first built the wmkk stick i could see it from my house inthe winter time especially at night all lit up!!

 

[raccoonradio]

Yes if you get off 128 at the Centennial Dr. exit, when you get to C-Drive take a right. The water
tower is on your right. Eventually you take a right and will cross over 128 (Farm Ave I think, head
toward Forest St.). You will easily see the WMKK stick, on Lakeland Park Dr. It also can be seen
very easily of course from 128, and I-95 or Rt 1 heading south from Danvers.
(From Forest St you can get to either 128/Centennial Dr exit, or go the other way to get on Rt 1
north.)

 

[carmen]

BTW..... whats the deal on TIS' and power levels? The TIS at logan on 1650khz is much stronger than 530khz at I-90 & I-95. I can hear the logan one in Lexington. Are they exceeding licensure?

good question. if its only 10 watts theyre doing remarkably well. are you allowed loading coils, W1BB style? surely theyre using an antenna tuner with a good match at least

 

[Eli Polonsky]

BTW..... whats the deal on TIS' and power levels? The TIS at logan on 1650khz is much stronger than 530khz at I-90 & I-95. I can hear the logan one in Lexington. Are they exceeding licensure?

Maybe they have it directionally nulled to the east so that it doesn't waste power toward the ocean, which would enable it to put out more effective power over land with the same wattage. Have there ever been directional TIS antennas?

 

[faderraider]

A couple of years ago 1620 am in Plymouth Ma. for tourist info.....I tried to listen the other day near exit 5 on rte. 3 it wasn't on, I wonder what happened. I think the Plymouth Chamber of Commerece was running it? Anyone have any info?

 

[Deleted User]

there is one on 1610 for the Lowell National Historic Park, the sign is out on 495 north just before the Connector exit.

 

[chrisradioanimal]

I don't think that has been on in a year or two. I haven't heard it on the air in a while.

 

[aaronread]

Maybe they have it directionally nulled to the east so that it doesn't waste power toward the ocean, which would enable it to put out more effective power over land with the same wattage. Have there ever been directional TIS antennas?

47 CFR 90.242(b)(4) does allow for directional arrays on TIS/HAR stations. But I would think it'd be exceedingly rare. The key is that it's soooooo much easier to get a TIS license than a regular AM license that it's not worth the cost or hassle to employ all the tricks of shoehorning in a regular AM station.

I freely admit that I don't have any hard info on this, but I suspect Logan's TIS gets out further just because it's on a "clearer" frequency and because it's surrounded by salt water (which "artificially" extends its range). 10 watts on a fairly clear frequency will go pretty far...I could get the old pirate incarnation of ABfree on 1670 all the way out at Brandeis, even at night. They used a homebrew TIS antenna and a 20 watt transmitter, IIRC.

 

[Uncle Kaimbridge]

I freely admit that I don't have any hard info on this, but I suspect Logan's TIS gets out further just because it's on a "clearer" frequency and because it's surrounded by salt water (which "artificially" extends its range). 10 watts on a fairly clear frequency will go pretty far

I'm going with the salt water location theory. ;D

 

[MickeyD]

BTW..... whats the deal on TIS' and power levels? The TIS at logan on 1650khz is much stronger than 530khz at I-90 & I-95. I can hear the logan one in Lexington. Are they exceeding licensure?

good question. if its only 10 watts theyre doing remarkably well. are you allowed loading coils, W1BB style? surely theyre using an antenna tuner with a good match at least

I actually built one of these in my old town of Clifton NJ on 1640. You can do all kinds of things with them including syncing them up to form a network. There is a company that specializes in just building these stations. They even include, for rural areas, adding a Valcom antenna. Not very legal but it is available.

 

[robotique]

I freely admit that I don't have any hard info on this, but I suspect Logan's TIS gets out further just because it's on a "clearer" frequency and because it's surrounded by salt water (which "artificially" extends its range). 10 watts on a fairly clear frequency will go pretty far

I'm going with the salt water location theory. ;D

i swear the Logan TIS gets out better than WUnR!

 

[raccoonradio]

btw I was driving in Rowley yesterday and saw what looked like a small electrical box with a bumper sticker on it saying "FM 87.9" and I thought, hey, I wonder if that's what "the Wave"
was using (pirate). I tuned to the freq and got nothing of course so maybe it was just some kind
of box and someone threw the bumper sticker on there. And I thought, hey, some folks here liked the Wave but it was illegal.

Solution? Get the Wave guy to work with the Mass. Highway Dept or whomever is running
the TIS on 1640 and have them broadcast Wave oldies via comp. instead of all those PSAs.
It would be a LEGAL station. And if there are emergencies or imp. travel info, they have have it cut in and pre-empt it. It would be an interesting setup, not that it would ever happen...

 

[Tom Wells]

I'm quite sure the laws regarding TISs specify NO MUSIC, and I seem to recall at least one has been "chastised" for doing so.
Also required is a ridiculous "brick wall" upper audio frequency cutoff, sure to make music sound even worse than
an old telco line.

It's supposed to ensure that these signals cannot splatter, but they are almost unintelligible as a result.

But I like the idea.

 

[chrisradioanimal]

I liked the old 87.9 station as well. Luckily the guy who ran it continued doing radio and legally started up an online version of the station which still runs to this day. He went far out and bought studio space and everything. http://www.879thewave.webs.com. He didn't put new pics of the studio up yet but I saw pics of it myself and it looks awesome.

 

[raccoonradio]

Oh, OK; like I say it prob wouldn't happen anyway. Just maybe a bit more variety than all
PSA radio, and TIS stuff could be interspersed with it but I guess not and yup re:
the anti-splatter solution that makes the stations sound crappy