AM 1200 - More Power?

[fccfight]

OK, I'm suddenly getting AM 1200 more clearly than 1430 - even though I am closer to 1430. Did 1200 get a boost we don't know about? Or is there a thread concerning this that I missed?

 

[DanStrassberg]

> OK, I'm suddenly getting AM 1200 more clearly than 1430 -
> even though I am closer to 1430. Did 1200 get a boost we
> don't know about? Or is there a thread concerning this that
> I missed?
>
They recently installed a new 10 kW transmitter, but I thought that happened three or four months back. I haven't noticed any change except for much worse nighttime interference from CFGO Ottawa (Team 1200, Fox Sports), which now often completely overpowers WKOX at night where I live (Arlington-Lexington line) and sometimes interferes quite noticeably during critical hours. CFGO has been having problems with its antenna system for two months now. I've spoken with a couple of folks in engineering at Clear Channel about this. (DX reports on CFGO have come in from at least as far away as Oklahoma--in the heart of WOAI country.) Pursuing a foreign station is a very difficult job and CCU obviously is not interested in putting in the effort right now. Maybe their attitude will change if the problem persists after WKOX's 50-kW upgrade. My prediction on completion of that project is late summer or early fall of 2007, but we'll have to see when the work starts and how it progresses.

 

[fccfight]

Dan,

That's interesting because one of our engineers is on the Arl/Lexington line and that's where I noticed 1200 comes in better than 1430. Also had to go to the Lexington/Waltham line before driving down route 2.

I'm in Burlington right now with 1430 on the dial. Another 2 miles North from here and forget it. Boston's Progressive Talk really needs 50,000 watts.

It's only recently I've heard better reception. Driving on the Mass Pike
July 1 out towards Connecticut both signals were pretty bad - and isn't 1200
out near Framingham?


: DanStrassberg
Posts: 354
Status: Offline
Posted on: 12/07/05 08:20 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> OK, I'm suddenly getting AM 1200 more clearly than 1430 -
> even though I am closer to 1430. Did 1200 get a boost we
> don't know about? Or is there a thread concerning this that
> I missed?
>
They recently installed a new 10 kW transmitter, but I thought that happened three or four months back. I haven't noticed any change except for much worse nighttime interference from CFGO Ottawa (Team 1200, Fox Sports), which now often completely overpowers WKOX at night where I live (Arlington-Lexington line) and sometimes interferes quite noticeably during critical hours. CFGO has been having problems with its antenna system for two months now. I've spoken with a couple of folks in engineering at Clear Channel about this. (DX reports on CFGO have come in from at least as far away as Oklahoma--in the heart of WOAI country.) Pursuing a foreign station is a very difficult job and CCU obviously is not interested in putting in the effort right now. Maybe their attitude will change if the problem persists after WKOX's 50-kW upgrade. My prediction on completion of that project is late summer or early fall of 2007, but we'll have to see when the work starts and how it progresses.

 

[DanStrassberg]

> Boston's
> Progressive Talk really needs 50,000 watts.
>
As I've posted several times in different threads, don't get your hopes up too high about the 50-kW signal. People on this board love to knock WWZN's 50-kW signal. WKOX's won't be much different. Good in Boston and a few places nearby, but at night, it won't be listenable outside of 128--just like WWZN. Don't think WRKO or WEEI; think WWZN.

If your WKOX vs WXKS listening tests were done around Route 2 in Lexington and you hadn't done such tests in a while, it could be that, thanks to your radio, WXKS reception has degraded. The problem is not with WXKS; it's in your set! Most auto radios have tuned RF stages in the front end. When presented with very strong signals, those stages tend to overload (saturate). When that happens, funny things happen to the behavior of the radio. WAZN 1470 is now diplexed with WTTT, and, I believe, is finally operating with its CP patterns and power. During the daytime, the signal has a big lobe to the northwest--away from Boston. (WAZN has to protect WSAR and WBET by day.) 1510-1470 = 40. 1470-40 = 1430. In other words, the mixing product of the two strongest signals in the area of Route 2 in Lexington lies right on top of WXKS. Get close enough to the WTTT/WAZN towers along Route 2 and WXKS can actually disappear on some radios. On others, you will hear a gravely sound because WWZN operates intentionally off frequency (although within FCC limits) to minimize the effect on TV sets in the area of the transmitter (Waverley Sq on the Belmont/Waltham line). Around Cushing Sq in Belmont, WCRN has problems because of the mixing product of 1510 and 680. You guessed it; 1510-680 = 830.

 

[marconi108]

> > OK, I'm suddenly getting AM 1200 more clearly than 1430 -
> > even though I am closer to 1430. Did 1200 get a boost we
> > don't know about? Or is there a thread concerning this
> that
> > I missed?
> >
> They recently installed a new 10 kW transmitter, but I
> thought that happened three or four months back. I haven't
> noticed any change except for much worse nighttime
> interference from CFGO Ottawa (Team 1200, Fox Sports), which
> now often completely overpowers WKOX at night where I live
> (Arlington-Lexington line) and sometimes interferes quite
> noticeably during critical hours. CFGO has been having
> problems with its antenna system for two months now. I've
> spoken with a couple of folks in engineering at Clear
> Channel about this. (DX reports on CFGO have come in from at
> least as far away as Oklahoma--in the heart of WOAI
> country.) Pursuing a foreign station is a very difficult job
> and CCU obviously is not interested in putting in the effort
> right now. Maybe their attitude will change if the problem
> persists after WKOX's 50-kW upgrade. My prediction on
> completion of that project is late summer or early fall of
> 2007, but we'll have to see when the work starts and how it
> progresses.

Did I install a transmitter and not remember? The new 10KW is not installed yet. Soon, and in HD too.

 

[DanStrassberg]

> Did I install a transmitter and not remember? The new 10KW
> is not installed yet. Soon, and in HD too.
>
Sorry. Accureassy is my watchword ;>( I thought I read in a post here some months back that you were about to put in WKOX's new box any day. I must say that I can't distinguish any difference in WXKS's analog audio quality since you put IBOC on there. With some other stations, the 5-kHz rolloff is really noticeable compared with the wider-band analog audio they were broadcasting before they switched. I think WMKI must be rolling off the LOW end more now in an effort to keep the reduced high end from making the audio sound too mushy. (With 1270 and 1250 in NH and 1280 in Fitchburg, WMKI is a pretty tough test for IBOC.) Also, WXKS's IBOC sidebands don't seem to be nearly as loud as the IBOC sidebands of some other AMs I've heard. I know that iBiquity allows for several levels of IBOC power. Is WXKS not using the highest pemitted IBOC power? With 1420 in New Bedford, which puts quite a good signal onto Cape Cod, where WXKS is also quite strong, there might be reason not to run the maximum sideband power.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

> > Did I install a transmitter and not remember? The new 10KW
> > is not installed yet. Soon, and in HD too.
> >
> Sorry. Accureassy is my watchword ;>( I thought I read in a
> post here some months back that you were about to put in
> WKOX's new box any day. I must say that I can't distinguish
> any difference in WXKS's analog audio quality since you put
> IBOC on there. With some other stations, the 5-kHz rolloff
> is really noticeable compared with the wider-band analog
> audio they were broadcasting before they switched.

I recall that WXKS-AM used to have very nice AM audio fidelity when it still had the Adult Standards music format. Though it was never in AM stereo, it sounded very good on my wideband AM stereo receiver. There was enough high frequency response to make good use of the wideband feature. It sounded almost as good as FM mono (at least in the daytime. At night I always got some amount of phase distortion though I'm in Somerville only a couple of miles from the transmitter, but right in the null).

I don't recall there ever being very good high-end frequency response on the AAR/Progressive Talk programming, either on 1430 or 1200. The local commercials and features on 1430 (pre-IBOC) still had that full frequency response, but the network talk feed always sounded very rolled off on the high end, so there may not be much difference in how that sounds now even with the IBOC.

 

[fccfight]

I stand in awe, Dan, of the knowledge you and Eli possess regarding radio.
It's amazing -

As a listener - it is very frustrating to be hitting the dial constantly
when programs we like start to fade and get fuzzy.

But you, Eli, Bob Bittner and Donna Halper (where is she? She hasn't posted
here in awhile) offer the community so much information. It IS appreciated.

Thanks!

> > Boston's
> > Progressive Talk really needs 50,000 watts.
> >
> As I've posted several times in different threads, don't get
> your hopes up too high about the 50-kW signal. People on
> this board love to knock WWZN's 50-kW signal. WKOX's won't
> be much different. Good in Boston and a few places nearby,
> but at night, it won't be listenable outside of 128--just
> like WWZN. Don't think WRKO or WEEI; think WWZN.
>
> If your WKOX vs WXKS listening tests were done around Route
> 2 in Lexington and you hadn't done such tests in a while, it
> could be that, thanks to your radio, WXKS reception has
> degraded. The problem is not with WXKS; it's in your set!
> Most auto radios have tuned RF stages in the front end. When
> presented with very strong signals, those stages tend to
> overload (saturate). When that happens, funny things happen
> to the behavior of the radio. WAZN 1470 is now diplexed with
> WTTT, and, I believe, is finally operating with its CP
> patterns and power. During the daytime, the signal has a big
> lobe to the northwest--away from Boston. (WAZN has to
> protect WSAR and WBET by day.) 1510-1470 = 40. 1470-40 =
> 1430. In other words, the mixing product of the two
> strongest signals in the area of Route 2 in Lexington lies
> right on top of WXKS. Get close enough to the WTTT/WAZN
> towers along Route 2 and WXKS can actually disappear on some
> radios. On others, you will hear a gravely sound because
> WWZN operates intentionally off frequency (although within
> FCC limits) to minimize the effect on TV sets in the area of
> the transmitter (Waverley Sq on the Belmont/Waltham line).
> Around Cushing Sq in Belmont, WCRN has problems because of
> the mixing product of 1510 and 680. You guessed it; 1510-680
> = 830.
>