Getting back to the subject at hand here...I usually will listen to WJMN-FM 94.5 ("Jam'n 94.5") while visiting the Boston metro. My question about their coverage area is this: Has their transmitter always been where it is now? Obviously it's in the Newton/Weston area, since I get the clearest unbroken signal along I-90 from about Exit 11A (I-495) until a couple hundred feet before the Allston/Brighton toll booth. It's always the exact same spot where the overload from the Prudential Center takes over...no matter what type of Walkman or "Walkman" I've ever used.
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Boston FM Reception Question
- Thread starter KML0224
- Start date
KML-224 said:
That's because I have yet to see ANY type of "Walkman"-style radio, made by ANY company, with a good FM tuner in it (though a "local/DX" switch can help somewhat).
AckDX said:
You might want to check your antenna connection. I was on Nantucket back in April, and with the portable DX-398, I was able to easily hear just about everything in Boston and Providence, plus WEBE and WQGN from Connecticut. I'm sure I could've found others too, if I had more time.
The classical signal that you heard was a translator for WGBH-FM on 98.1 from Beacon Hill....
Try the Grundigs, Eli. They're often regarded as the best of the portable radios for FM reception...which isn't to say they can hold a candle to a real FM receiver, but allegedly they're a noticeable improvement over the dreck that typically passes for portable radios. IIRC, they're pretty good on AM, too...although the old GE Superradio III is supposedly the best AM receiver ever made (shrugs). BTW, if you want to pay less and get the same Grundig radio, buy a Tecsun instead; literally the same box, just a different logo. (and Tecsuns are themselves sometimes rebranded as Eton's)
I suspect you need to do your homework, though...as in, I'll bet some models of tuners are good and some are crap, know which one you want before you buy.
Uhhh...WGBH's Beacon Hill translator (actually located on WMBR's tower) is on 96.3FM...not 98.1FM. The nearest 98.1 to Boston is WCTK, about 50 miles south in New Bedford. I'm guessing this was either an intermod product (not uncommon in downtown Boston) or the radio was really on 96.3, not 98.1FM.
Responding to KML-224's question about WJMN's trandsmitter site, WJMN was originally WHDH-FM, If you look up at the top of the old John Hancock building
you will see what now looks like a mast.
In reality the mast was once a slot antenna for WBCN which was in use with a
GEL-FM transmitter until sometime in the late 60's when it was moved onto what
was the pole for the old Boston Catholic Archdiocesan's TV station WIHS-TV channel 38 on the top of Prudential Tower. WIHS-TV was bought by Storer Broadcasting who then moved in to the Candelarbra tower in Needham to join channel 56 WKBG and later channel 25
Just below the old WBCN antenna was another FM slot antenna for WHDH-FM
which operated there until it was moved to the new tower for co owned WHDH-TV
(the original channel 5) sometime after 1957. The 94.5 signal has remained on this tower since that move though there have been several antenna changes and height
positions over the years.
you will see what now looks like a mast.
In reality the mast was once a slot antenna for WBCN which was in use with a
GEL-FM transmitter until sometime in the late 60's when it was moved onto what
was the pole for the old Boston Catholic Archdiocesan's TV station WIHS-TV channel 38 on the top of Prudential Tower. WIHS-TV was bought by Storer Broadcasting who then moved in to the Candelarbra tower in Needham to join channel 56 WKBG and later channel 25
Just below the old WBCN antenna was another FM slot antenna for WHDH-FM
which operated there until it was moved to the new tower for co owned WHDH-TV
(the original channel 5) sometime after 1957. The 94.5 signal has remained on this tower since that move though there have been several antenna changes and height
positions over the years.
Is there anyway they can keep the transmitter at its current site and help it overcome to noise from atop the Prudential Center? Like I said, every Walkman or "Walkman" I've ever used has the interference start at the railyard by the Allston/Brighton toll on I-90. As for a LOCAL/DX switch, it's a mere button on the player I use know, so no magic "middle" spot. 
Short answer: no. The only way to overcome the blanketing issues from the Pru is to be a Class B FM and transmit from the Pru. That's the tradeoff every FM out in Needham makes; better coverage of the suburbs (more height) in exchange for weaker coverage in-town.
To be honest, the problem is not with their transmitter, the problem is with your receiver. The vast majority of Walkmans are just really crappy receivers. Many have tried to get the FCC to enforce minimum standards on receivers but the CEA and OEM's have always fought them off with the argument that consumers expect and demand five-dollar radios, and that enforcing minimum standards would drive up the price.
Ironically, it's possible that HD Radio...oft-maligned for causing damage to the spectrum...may achieve some good here. One thing that I've noticed is that most, if not all, of the HD Radio receivers out there are impressively good tuners for both analog and digital. I used to think my Blaupunkt CD-52 Casablanca (with the SHARX IF narrow filter) was the "gold standard" for FM reception, but I had cause to A/B it against what is, in my opinion, a mediocre VR3 add-on car HD Radio and the Blau can't hold a candle to the VR3's sensitivity and adjacent-channel rejection. Whether or not portable HD Radio tuners will continue this trend is unclear, although it stands to logic that the lower power levels of HD carriers demand good tuners, so the portables will be good tuners, too.
Supposedly we'll see the first portable HD receivers sometime this year...but HD Radio in general has been plagued with vaporware issues from the beginning, so don't get excited until it's announced that the radios are actually shipping.
tigerbangs said:
No, the WGBH "Beacon Hill" translator (which transmits from the WMBR tower in Kendall Square, Cambridge) is on 96.3.
There is no WGBH translator in the Boston area on 98.1 (or anywhere that I know of).
I still believe he was most likely hearing an off-frequency image (intermod) from WHRB, being that he was listening on a Walkman-type radio on Atlantic Ave, practically underneath their transmitter on One Financial Place.
To be precise, I was sitting on a bench very close to the New England Aquarium, with that place to my front left (generally facing east towards the water). Atlantic Avenue and the nearby 7-Eleven would've been behind me. One Financial Center and the big hotel with the huge rounded atrium (or whatever you call it) were several blocks south of me. Maybe the pics here will help. The second pic is what was directly in front of me:
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AckDX
Guest
jlehmann said:
Since that noreaster last april('07) I have been having problems, I didn't think it was the antenna itself. Thanks for the advice man. Now the only problem is, where is the ladder, my dad got rid of it I think.
AckDX said:
You'll probably be happy to know that 96.3 The Rose has officially moved off of Nantucket! I noticed that the signal has been much weaker here on the south shore for the past few days, and they're IDing as Dennis at the top of the hour now. They are obviously a lot closer to me now, but the reduction in power really made a difference. They're probably on Class A power for now until the rebuild of WCOD's tower is complete. I'd expect that once they go 25kW, it'll be about the same as they were before.
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AckDX
Guest
I am very happy WRZE is off of the island! No blaring into every unused freq. any more.
That means WRZE won't have that excellent coverage when tropo hits. I used to get them on the Jersey shore whenever there was the slightest tropo, and well inland during the stronger openings. I even heard it from Boston to New Haven once along I95. 50000 watts for the fishies really goes far because tropo enhances stations that cover water much more. They used to come in on eastern Long Island all the time.
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