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And the major announcement from AM 830 WCRN is.........
- Thread starter DavidZ
- Start date
Thanks--and just clicked on their site...So WTAG loses rights after all these years. Oh, and the site
points out "listen to all the games with 50,000 watts of NIGHTTIME power". After all WRKO goes north-
south after dark.
It was mentioned that hearing "Sweet Caroline" as part of the WCRN promos was a good clue. By the way I
thought I read in one paper that the tradition of the Sox playing that song during the middle of the 8th
inning goes back to the fact that a Sox employee's wife gave birth to a girl named Caroline; the song was played in her honor, and it caught on...even appearing in the movie "Fever Pitch" as the crowd chants So Good! So
Good! Along with it.
Yet a quick websearch drags up an article in the paper whose parent company owns 17 per cent of the team,
and el Globo says that the Fenway park "DJ" started to play it and it just caught on with the crowd. (It was on a list of older rock songs that other stadia played as well.) I read somewhere online that the Mets also picked
up the tradition of playing the tune, and I remember hearing it at a minor league park in Ohio last year. Somewhere out there is that little article I read (maybe as part of a "baseball notes" article) saying that
the birth of a daughter to a Red Sox employee is the real reason why...
Ah! And here it is (adding "daughter" to the yahoo search was the key). And again it comes from the Globe:
the Red Sox had an employee named Billy Fitzpatrick who worked with them from 1984-2003, and in Dec. 1998
Billy's daughter Caroline was born. " At a Red Sox game the following summer, with Billy nearby in the control room, former public address announcer Ed Brickley requested that ''Sweet Caroline" be played." Fenway
Park "DJ" Amy Tobey did, and noticed the Sox fans seemed to enjoy it. For a time, it was only played when
the Sox were leading or if it was a close game (kind of like the Angels' "Rally Monkey" bit or the Sox'
own Rally Karaoke guy, Kevin Millar) but reaction to it was "so strong" that it became a regular fixture
just before the Sox came up in the bottom of the 8th.
And now you know...the rest of the Story!
points out "listen to all the games with 50,000 watts of NIGHTTIME power". After all WRKO goes north-
south after dark.
It was mentioned that hearing "Sweet Caroline" as part of the WCRN promos was a good clue. By the way I
thought I read in one paper that the tradition of the Sox playing that song during the middle of the 8th
inning goes back to the fact that a Sox employee's wife gave birth to a girl named Caroline; the song was played in her honor, and it caught on...even appearing in the movie "Fever Pitch" as the crowd chants So Good! So
Good! Along with it.
Yet a quick websearch drags up an article in the paper whose parent company owns 17 per cent of the team,
and el Globo says that the Fenway park "DJ" started to play it and it just caught on with the crowd. (It was on a list of older rock songs that other stadia played as well.) I read somewhere online that the Mets also picked
up the tradition of playing the tune, and I remember hearing it at a minor league park in Ohio last year. Somewhere out there is that little article I read (maybe as part of a "baseball notes" article) saying that
the birth of a daughter to a Red Sox employee is the real reason why...
Ah! And here it is (adding "daughter" to the yahoo search was the key). And again it comes from the Globe:
the Red Sox had an employee named Billy Fitzpatrick who worked with them from 1984-2003, and in Dec. 1998
Billy's daughter Caroline was born. " At a Red Sox game the following summer, with Billy nearby in the control room, former public address announcer Ed Brickley requested that ''Sweet Caroline" be played." Fenway
Park "DJ" Amy Tobey did, and noticed the Sox fans seemed to enjoy it. For a time, it was only played when
the Sox were leading or if it was a close game (kind of like the Angels' "Rally Monkey" bit or the Sox'
own Rally Karaoke guy, Kevin Millar) but reaction to it was "so strong" that it became a regular fixture
just before the Sox came up in the bottom of the 8th.
And now you know...the rest of the Story!
Here is a link to a story in Worcester Magazine concerning the announcement and other plans - http://www.worcestermag.com/archives/2006/11-09-06/city_desk.html
It is the 2nd story called Watts on first The Sox leave WTAG for a bigger signal.
It is the 2nd story called Watts on first The Sox leave WTAG for a bigger signal.
>>"As for that tease campaign, he says that it’s not just about the Red Sox, but is coy as to what the other big announcements to come might be. Knowing the radio industry, it sounds like the station is close to signing up with some name talent"
Hmm! Any guesses? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?"
Hmm! Any guesses? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?"
:-\raccoonradio said:
The above just proves that politics isn't the ONLY subject you don't understand. WRKO's day and night patterns are quite similar. In both patterns the radiation maxima are at approximately zero degrees (true north) and 120 degrees (east-southeast), with a shallow local minimum at 75 degrees (east-northeast). 75 degrees also happens to be the azimuth of the directional array, whose widely spaced towers (155 degrees) produce what are fundamentally side-fire patterns. The principal difference between the day and night patterns is that the day pattern produces a decent signal (equivalent to something between five and 10 kW ND) over an arc of at least 90 degrees behind the array (centered at 255 degrees, that is, west-southwest). The night signal is MUCH weaker over that arc, to protect co-channel stations (especially WPTF, Raleigh NC, which is older than WRKO/WNAC/WLAW) and the first-adjacent in Montreal (ex-CBF, now CINF).
When what was then WLAW moved from Andover to Burlington and increased power to 50 kW right after WWII. the station ran what is now the night pattern full-time. Apparently, in the mid '40s, the area now known as MetroWest was so sparsely populated and considered so unimportant that the designers of the array didn't think it was worthwhile to "waste" the daytime signal on that area. (Nothing could be done to improve the night signal.) Why it took until around 1980 for the station management to realize the importance of the area and to install a separate daytime pattern with reduced minima to the west-southwest is a mystery to me, because the Framingham-Natick-Marlborough area had, long before 1980, become very prosperous and important to the greater Boston economy.
Well I understand politics but have no idea what the heck an azimuth is.
Exact technical specifications notwithstanding, the effect is that WRKO at night can be heard well toward and in Boston, up and down the North and South shores, and due north into New Hampshire, but it can't be heard well due west or southwest of Boston more than a few miles beyond Route 128.
So, I don't consider racoon's assesment of WRKO's effective night listenability as being "north-south" to be incorrect from the point of view of where it can be heard from the vantage of a Boston area listener. You drive north or south of Boston along the coasts, or due north, WRKO is there and solid. You drive west or southwest, it fizzles a few miles beyond 128. WRKO's night reception from Metro-West to Worcester county ranges from tenuous at best to unlistenable, which is why a 50 kW WCRN at night would make a great complement to WRKO's nightime Red Sox coverage.
Even a 50 kW night WCRN will not be all that great east of 128 into Boston, but it should cover everywhere west of 128 very well, a lot better than WTAG. It would also get the inland Metro-South better than WRKO or WTAG, though that area also gets a solid signal from WEEI-FM.
So, I don't consider racoon's assesment of WRKO's effective night listenability as being "north-south" to be incorrect from the point of view of where it can be heard from the vantage of a Boston area listener. You drive north or south of Boston along the coasts, or due north, WRKO is there and solid. You drive west or southwest, it fizzles a few miles beyond 128. WRKO's night reception from Metro-West to Worcester county ranges from tenuous at best to unlistenable, which is why a 50 kW WCRN at night would make a great complement to WRKO's nightime Red Sox coverage.
Even a 50 kW night WCRN will not be all that great east of 128 into Boston, but it should cover everywhere west of 128 very well, a lot better than WTAG. It would also get the inland Metro-South better than WRKO or WTAG, though that area also gets a solid signal from WEEI-FM.
Eli Polonsky said:
But, night or day, the patterns have the same north-south characteristics. It's just that going west or southwest at night (starting at the transmitter in Burlington), the signal drops off much more rapidly than during the day.
DanStrassberg said:
That should read zero degrees (true north) and 150 degrees (south-southeast). As are all patterns synthesized with in-line arrays, WRKO's patterns are symmetrical about the line of towers (75 degrees, in WRKO's case). Sorry about the error.
>>You drive west or southwest, it fizzles a few miles beyond 128.
which is why Howie heralded (hey! that could be a pun based on his other employer!) the addition of
WCRN to his network. Many times in the past he apologized on air for the fact that listeners to the
west of town lost him after dark, especially with these earlier sunsets (and callers have complained
to him on air for the same reason)
I see via wikipedia that azimuth figures into such things as astronomy or installation of satellite dishes
and it's defined as "horizontal component of a direction (compass direction), measured around the horizon, usually from the north toward the east — i.e., clockwise — and is usually measured in degrees."
which is why Howie heralded (hey! that could be a pun based on his other employer!) the addition of
WCRN to his network. Many times in the past he apologized on air for the fact that listeners to the
west of town lost him after dark, especially with these earlier sunsets (and callers have complained
to him on air for the same reason)
I see via wikipedia that azimuth figures into such things as astronomy or installation of satellite dishes
and it's defined as "horizontal component of a direction (compass direction), measured around the horizon, usually from the north toward the east — i.e., clockwise — and is usually measured in degrees."
R
RockyWShore
Guest
I was a big fan of WRKO 680 through the 70s, and they SEARED a hell of a signal into Lowell, day and night. Then in '78 I summered in Groton, MA, and got a shaky night time signal there. Is Halifax Nova Scotia's CFDR 680 still on? During a visit there in 1993, I forgot to try to null CFDR and try for WRKO at night.
Rocky W. Shore
Formerly, Lowell, MA
Rocky W. Shore
Formerly, Lowell, MA
Wikipedia says CFDR (AM) moved to 780 in 1991 (and trying to move to 88.9 now)
http://www.780kixx.ca/index.asp?CP=Menu_1
http://www.780kixx.ca/index.asp?CP=Menu_1
Getting back to Sox affiliation, Fybush's NERW says that WCRN feels its power increase will be done by
Opening Day--tower work needs to be done to have the CP built (also there are hints longtime Sox station WTIC 1080 Hartford is being wooed by the Yankees! If that happens, if Jeter & Co. take over that far-reaching nighttime signal, I'd guess ESPN 1410 in Insurance City would pick up the Sox...IF it happens.
http://www.fybush.com/nerw.html
Opening Day--tower work needs to be done to have the CP built (also there are hints longtime Sox station WTIC 1080 Hartford is being wooed by the Yankees! If that happens, if Jeter & Co. take over that far-reaching nighttime signal, I'd guess ESPN 1410 in Insurance City would pick up the Sox...IF it happens.
http://www.fybush.com/nerw.html
raccoonradio said:
Oh no! It would be such a major bummer if WTIC went over to the dark side! Also the end of a very long standing tradition. Seems like the Sox have been on WTIC for at least 25-30 years. But, I guess *legacy* means nothing in this business any more.
As a Granite Stater currently living in exile, WTIC was my only link to the Olde Towne team this summer. All of the other signals are either far too weak to get to me in PA - or they're directional toward Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
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