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ESPN and Channel 5 Audio on FM?

K

KML0224

Guest
While at Boston's Downtown Crossing late Tuesday afternoon, I noticed something strange with my Sony Walkman:

1- I was getting audio from ESPN on 101.5 FM.
2- I was getting audio from channel 5 (ABC) on 100.1 FM.

Yes, I do have the analog VHF TV band available on my Walkman. However, I'm 100% certain that my Walkman was tuned to the FM band. What was I receiving?
 
> While at Boston's Downtown Crossing late Tuesday afternoon,
> I noticed something strange with my Sony Walkman:
>
> 1- I was getting audio from ESPN on 101.5 FM.
> 2- I was getting audio from channel 5 (ABC) on 100.1 FM.
>
> Yes, I do have the analog VHF TV band available on my
> Walkman. However, I'm 100% certain that my Walkman was tuned
> to the FM band. What was I receiving?
>
I don't know, but I'll say that when I was staying at a motel in Brattleboro
I noticed the audio for the cable (actually satellite) TV channels was showing up on my AM-FM-TV Sound-WB Sony Walkman (pic below to show you the model I mean).
So if ESPN was on channel 8, I'd get the audio of that on the Ch. 8 of the
Walkman. Some kind of "bleedthrough'

pr-Sony_SRF-M37V_Personal_Radio-resized200.jpg
 
Brattleboro? North end near Exit 3? Super 8? (LOL) Anyway, I've never had the so-called bleed-through problem up there with my Walkman. In fact, I don't get the audio of any TV station from channels 2 to 13 (not even a weak channel 9 from Manchester, NH).
 
> Brattleboro? North end near Exit 3? Super 8? (LOL)

Actually, Tom Bodett left the light on for me, and it _has_ been a long
time since those places cost $6, if you know what I mean! (I remember
when that "6" used to be a Susse Chalet. It's close enough to the Steak Out
restaurant that I could walk there.)

Anyway,
> I've never had the so-called bleed-through problem up there
> with my Walkman. In fact, I don't get the audio of any TV
> station from channels 2 to 13 (not even a weak channel 9
> from Manchester, NH).
>
So, yes, odd (though of course you might get Ch 6 at 87.7 or is it 87.5)
 
My family stayed at the Motel 6 in Brattleboro. It was horrible. People upstairs were either having a fight or doing the nasty because all night long we could hear furniture being moved. The only reason we stayed there was because my genius mother decided we should go on vacation the second week in August with no hotel reservation. We stayed at the Super 8 the first night. No problems there. And the Motel 6 the second. My father had to stay in a seperate room at the "6" because there wasn't a room available where my dad, mom, and I could share a room. I don't recall what year this was.

When we went to Brattleboro in August 2001 we stayed at the Super 8 and at 630AM on my walkman I picked up 2500 watt WNTY 990 (now WXCT) from Southington, Connecticut. It was crystal clear. It was also refreshing to pick up that station because at that time they were a hip-hop station and there aren't any hip-hop stations in greater Brattleboro.
 
You Stole My Walkman *LOL*

That's the same Walkman I have. I picked it up at Target in Meriden, Connecticut in July 2004 for $35. I should buy a replacement tho since I lost/broke the belt clip. Of course three or four months after I bought it, I found it cheaper at Walmart.
 
> While at Boston's Downtown Crossing late Tuesday afternoon,
> I noticed something strange with my Sony Walkman:
>
> 1- I was getting audio from ESPN on 101.5 FM.
> 2- I was getting audio from channel 5 (ABC) on 100.1 FM.
>
> Yes, I do have the analog VHF TV band available on my
> Walkman. However, I'm 100% certain that my Walkman was tuned
> to the FM band. What was I receiving?
>


My money is that you picked up audio from a nearby GYM! A lot of gyms have muted TVs and broadcast 2-3 channels' audio on low-power FM. That way, each patron brings their own radio and can listen to an individual station.
 
> My money is that you picked up audio from a nearby GYM! A
> lot of gyms have muted TVs and broadcast 2-3 channels' audio
> on low-power FM. That way, each patron brings their own
> radio and can listen to an individual station.
>

I'm not sure if there's a gym nearby or not. I was at the Wendy's on Washington Street (Downtown Crossing). Later in the evening, while trying for these two "stations" again, I also heard WFNX-FM (or whoever is on 101.7) on 101.3 while waiting on a bus at Gate 5 of South Station around 7:30 PM.
 
Re: You Stole My Walkman *LOL*

> That's the same Walkman I have. I picked it up at Target in
> Meriden, CT in July 2004 for $35. I should buy a
> replacement tho since I lost/broke the belt clip. Of course
> three or four months after I bought it, I found it cheaper
> at Walmart.
>

Target along CT Route 71 near Westfield Shoppingtown (a.k.a. Meriden Mall)! BTW, I work at a Wal-Mart and I believe we also sell that Sony Walkman (need to check if it's still in stock or not!). Say...how is its FM sensitivity? I have a newer Sony Walkman which never gets used because its FM sensitivity sucks! Too bd, too, since it only uses one AA battery, compared to the older cassette model I have now that still runs on the traditional two. :(

Getting back to radio, Where does WILD-FM 97.7 of Brockton have their transmitter? I had them tuned in by the Weston toll booth on I-90 at the junction of I-95/MA 128 and the signal was overloaded by at least two stations, one of which (I think) was WBMX-FM 98.5 of Boston.
 
> When we went to Brattleboro in August 2001 we stayed at the
> Super 8. At 6:30 AM on my Walkman I picked up 2500 watt
> WNTY-AM 990 (now WXCT) of Southington, CT. It was
> crystal clear. It was also refreshing to pick up that
> station because at that time they were a hip-hop station and
> there aren't any hip-hop stations in greater Brattleboro.
>

Nor will there ever be. Brattleboro is white-cracker country (yes, I'm white, too). Are you sure it's not an Indian word that means "Land Of Nothingness"? :)

You must have (or had) a good Walkman! Around noontime, all I'll get in B-boro's north end is WTSA-AM 1450 and WKVT-AM 1490. I'll also get weak directional signals of WTIC-AM 1080 of Hartford, WGY-AM 810 of Schenectady, NY and WBZ-AM 1030 of Boston.
 
> So, yes, odd (though of course you might get Ch 6 at 87.7 or
> is it 87.5)
>

The channel 6 audio is usually around 87.75 FM. Most any ordinary AM/FM stereo will get the channel 6 sound (in greater Philadelphia, Portland, ME, Providence, RI/New Bedford, MA and Albany/Schenectady, NY).
 
> I'm not sure if there's a gym nearby or not.

Isn't there a Bally Total Fitness around there? I might be wrong.

> Later in
> the evening, while trying for these two "stations" again, I
> also heard WFNX-FM (or whoever is on 101.7) on 101.3 while
> waiting on a bus at Gate 5 of South Station around 7:30 PM.

That one makes sense. You were listening to 101.3 W283AI, WFNX translator on top of the John Hancock Tower. On a good day, 101.3 can be heard as far out as the Weston tolls, so it's no surprise that you could hear it at South Station.
 
Re: You Stole My Walkman *LOL*

> Getting back to radio, Where does WILD-FM 97.7 of Brockton
> have their transmitter? I had them tuned in by the Weston
> toll booth on I-90 at the junction of I-95/MA 128 and the
> signal was overloaded by at least two stations, one of which
> (I think) was WBMX-FM 98.5 of Boston.

WILD-FM is now on Great Blue Hill in Milton. It's not too far "as the bird flies", but the signal is kind of hard to pick up in many places. It's an easy catch on a car radio, but I guess not on a walkman.

No surprise that you heard WBMX; their tower couldn't be more than a few miles from the Weston tolls; if you'd looked, you actually might have been able to see the FM-128 complex in Needham where Mix broadcasts from.

(This is presuming that Mix has their transmitter back on the air; at last check they were temporarily broadcasting from the Pru as their Needham transmitter was flooded in some way due to rain a week or so ago.)

The other station that you heard was likely Greater Media's talker WTKK "96.9 FM Talk", which is a powerful Class B broadcasting from the Pru (as are all of Greater Media's stations other than WKLB). I'd doubt it, but if the programming you heard was in a foreign language, you could have been pulling in 97.3 WJFD from New Bedford.
 
Re: You Stole My Walkman *LOL*

> The other station that you heard was likely Greater Media's
> talker WTKK "96.9 FM Talk", which is a powerful Class B
> broadcasting from the Pru (as are all of Greater Media's
> stations other than WKLB). I'd doubt it, but if the
> programming you heard was in a foreign language, you could
> have been pulling in 97.3 WJFD from New Bedford.
>

No, it wasn't WJFD-FM from New Bedford. I can barely pick that station up in Providence, let alone Weston, MA!
 
> > My money is that you picked up audio from a nearby GYM! A
> > lot of gyms have muted TVs and broadcast 2-3 channels' audio
> > on low-power FM. That way, each patron brings their own
> > radio and can listen to an individual station.
> >
> I'm not sure if there's a gym nearby or not. I was at the
> Wendy's on Washington Street (Downtown Crossing).

Many gyms in town are located on upstairs levels. Unless you know where they are, you may not even see them from the street.
 
Re: You Stole My Walkman *LOL*

> That's the same Walkman I have. I picked it up at Target in
> Meriden, Connecticut in July 2004 for $35. I should buy a
> replacement tho since I lost/broke the belt clip. Of course
> three or four months after I bought it, I found it cheaper
> at Walmart.
>
It was about $30 when I bought it, I believe. It does pretty well
for reception!
 
Re: You Stole My Walkman *LOL*

> > That's the same Walkman I have. I picked it up at Target
> in
> > Meriden, CT in July 2004 for $35. I should buy a
Aren't they on Great Blue Hill (Milton) now?

> Getting back to radio, Where does WILD-FM 97.7 of Brockton
> have their transmitter? I had them tuned in by the Weston
> toll booth on I-90 at the junction of I-95/MA 128 and the
> signal was overloaded by at least two stations, one of which
> (I think) was WBMX-FM 98.5 of Boston.
>
 
> > While at Boston's Downtown Crossing late Tuesday
> afternoon,
> > I noticed something strange with my Sony Walkman:
> >
> > 1- I was getting audio from ESPN on 101.5 FM.
> > 2- I was getting audio from channel 5 (ABC) on 100.1 FM.
> >
> > Yes, I do have the analog VHF TV band available on my
> > Walkman. However, I'm 100% certain that my Walkman was
> tuned
> > to the FM band. What was I receiving?
> >
> I don't know, but I'll say that when I was staying at a
> motel in Brattleboro
> I noticed the audio for the cable (actually satellite) TV
> channels was showing up on my AM-FM-TV Sound-WB Sony Walkman
> (pic below to show you the model I mean).
> So if ESPN was on channel 8, I'd get the audio of that on
> the Ch. 8 of the
> Walkman. Some kind of "bleedthrough'
>


>>> How is the weather-band reception? Most portables are bad for TV audio and even worse for the weather band, which is now actually called "All Hazards Radio". Was actually thinking of getting one of these, with CD player for my car and plug it in thru the present AM/FM/cassette dash-receiver.. I haven't seen a AM/FM/Weather band car radio receiver in years!
Last one I saw was in an old JC Whitney Car-parts catalog, probably 20 years ago.
 
> >>> How is the weather-band reception? Most portables are
> bad for TV audio and even worse for the weather band, which
> is now actually called "All Hazards Radio". Was actually
> thinking of getting one of these, with CD player for my car
> and plug it in thru the present AM/FM/cassette
> dash-receiver.. I haven't seen a AM/FM/Weather band car
> radio receiver in years!
> Last one I saw was in an old JC Whitney Car-parts catalog,
> probably 20 years ago.

Police scanners are great for weather band, even portables.

With a Bearcat programmable portable with only it's own rubber ducky antenna, in the Boston west suburbs I hear weather channels from Blue Hill (Boston), Essex (North Shore), Paxton (Worcester), and Pack Monadnock Mountain (Peterborough, NH) clearly.

Concord NH is regular but weak, and sometimes troppo brings in Bourne (Cape Cod), Johnston RI (Providence), and one of the ones from Vermont. I may have heard Mt. Washington skip in too.
 
> With a Bearcat programmable portable with only it's own
> rubber ducky antenna, in the Boston west suburbs I hear
> weather channels from Blue Hill (Boston), Essex (North
> Shore), Paxton (Worcester), and Pack Monadnock Mountain
> (Peterborough, NH) clearly.

The Brattleboro, VT NOAA Weather Radio station comes off of Ames Hill in Brattleboro, if that helps. It's only so-so with my Walkman in the north end near I-91's Exit 3.
 
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