94.9 WHOM claims to be America's superstation in terms of coverage. They broadcast from the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire at 48,000 watts. From Radio-Locator, the height above average terrain is 1,141 meters, 3,743 feet and the height above sea level is 1,924 meters, 6,312 feet. I am curious how far WHOM has been heard during E-skip.
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Has anyone ever received 94.9 WHOM in E-skip?
- Thread starter radiojay1
- Start date
radiojay1 said:
I believe WHOM & a station in Santa Barbara, Ca (I can't remember the calls) have the largest FM contours.
A buddy of mine had a home on Long Island's north shore .... near Port Jefferson, about halfway between Manhattan and Montauk.
He was not just a DXer but a pretty darned effective electrical engineer in his teens. His FM DX setup near Port Jeff consisted of a Fisher tuner and a rotating roof aerial. The aerial was NOT for tlevision. It was for FM.
So we went through the reception exercises on what seemed to be a normal day ... no trope or anything. The aerial spun, the Fisher detected. We got all the stations in the 98.3 and 94.4 triads easily. Most of the Bostons came in. Hartford was local.
And of course, WHOM.
Midway out on Long Island, unlike the sandy South Shore, the North Shore is pretty rocky and bluff-y and up there, like the coast of Maine. Any chance that this WHOM, from four states away on a benign reception day, was actually line-of-sight?
He was not just a DXer but a pretty darned effective electrical engineer in his teens. His FM DX setup near Port Jeff consisted of a Fisher tuner and a rotating roof aerial. The aerial was NOT for tlevision. It was for FM.
So we went through the reception exercises on what seemed to be a normal day ... no trope or anything. The aerial spun, the Fisher detected. We got all the stations in the 98.3 and 94.4 triads easily. Most of the Bostons came in. Hartford was local.
And of course, WHOM.
Midway out on Long Island, unlike the sandy South Shore, the North Shore is pretty rocky and bluff-y and up there, like the coast of Maine. Any chance that this WHOM, from four states away on a benign reception day, was actually line-of-sight?
Steve Green NEPA said:
Did you ever go back or ask this guy if reception like that was a regular thing?
Hya Radioman ....
Oh, it was regular, allright. My buddy pointed it out. 94.9 was a pretty open spot in those parts (much like the Nashville poster says it is by him).
Someone once posted the formula for line-of-sight, but I've lost it. And there was a subsequent article I'd read (seemed to make sense) which claimed that the true line-of-sight formula actually was a modest estimate of reception. Evidently some sort of bending effect guides a signal past that circle to some degree. Perhaps that effect would be most notable on more open frequencies.
Can someone post the line-of-sight formula again?
For what it's worth, here's WHOM's Radio-Locator C/M , a version colorized for your viewing and entertainment pleasure. If nothing else, it looks, so .... omni.
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WHOM&service=FM&status=L&hours=U
Oh, it was regular, allright. My buddy pointed it out. 94.9 was a pretty open spot in those parts (much like the Nashville poster says it is by him).
Someone once posted the formula for line-of-sight, but I've lost it. And there was a subsequent article I'd read (seemed to make sense) which claimed that the true line-of-sight formula actually was a modest estimate of reception. Evidently some sort of bending effect guides a signal past that circle to some degree. Perhaps that effect would be most notable on more open frequencies.
Can someone post the line-of-sight formula again?
For what it's worth, here's WHOM's Radio-Locator C/M , a version colorized for your viewing and entertainment pleasure. If nothing else, it looks, so .... omni.
http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WHOM&service=FM&status=L&hours=U
Line of sight is the square root of height. If your eyes are 6' above ground & you stare into the ocean, the horizon disappears at 2.45 miles. If you're 1300' up on a skyscraper in Chicago looking across Lake Michigan, the farthest water you'll see is 36 miles. Of course, if you see something that's higher than the water level, you must calculate it's height separately. I use water as an example since the ground must be perfectly flat from point A to point B for the formula to be accurate. So when you see that sail boat while watching the proverbial sunset, it can be seen farther than 2.45 miles. That's the visual line of sight. There's a separate formula that approximates how radio waves bend. That formula is the square root of 1.5 times the height. In that case, the radio horizon is about 44 miles from the 1300' mark in Chicago. The signals go farther yet, but without the benefit of radio line of sight.Steve Green NEPA said:
A question about E-skip that might be worthy of discussion...how much effect does extreme height have on E-Skip? Based on the FM stuff I've heard here from Arizona & Colorado, height certainly doesn't hurt, but I've also heard Class A's from the flat lands of Texas come in here in Indiana on the car radio as well.
BobOnTheJob said:
My gut feeling (and this is only a gut feeling) is that elevation has little effect on E-skip. (indeed, some DXers intentionally use low receiving antennas for skip, to knock down interfering signals from nearby stations)
I've found height does, however, have a dramatic effect on *tropo* reception. On a couple of occasions I've had strong signals here from several Houston stations, nearly 700 miles away. Other stations, **transmitting from the same towers and at the same power**, have been completely absent.
The difference was that the stations I heard were at the top of the towers -- above 1,700' HAAT or so -- while the ones I didn't hear were around 1,400'.
I've heard it the other way around too -- with the highly-elevated stations missing and the ones with low antennas blasting in.
How many air miles from WHOM's tower to the receiving antenna on Long Island?
94.9 WHOM can be heard in Boston and Providence anytime. It makes it to the CT/MA border and used to make it to Montreal before a 94.9 came on the air there. In NJ, when there's tropo to Long Island and New England, WHOM comes in. WHOM's target market is 60 miles from its transmitter, Portland, ME.
E-skip is more power-dependent. But height has an advantage. WHOM's antenna can be line of sight to an e-skip cloud further away than a station at sea level. But a 50000 watt station on e-skip will blast out a weaker, but higher station on the same frequency. That's why it's rarer to get the New York City FMs on e-skip because they're only a few thousand watts.
E-skip is more power-dependent. But height has an advantage. WHOM's antenna can be line of sight to an e-skip cloud further away than a station at sea level. But a 50000 watt station on e-skip will blast out a weaker, but higher station on the same frequency. That's why it's rarer to get the New York City FMs on e-skip because they're only a few thousand watts.
Hey Radioman ....
According to the 'How Far Is It' site, WHOM's stick is 245 miles away from Port Jeff Long Island.
According to the 'How Far Is It' site, WHOM's stick is 245 miles away from Port Jeff Long Island.
Here in Poughkeepsie, NY, 216 miles from Mt. Washington, WHOM is often heard, but is not regular. It tends to fade in and out, although sometimes in summer, it can be strong and solid. This morning around 8am a quick check shows WHOM coming in pretty good at times with "Continuous Light Rock" with deep fades.
Meanwhile, I'm amazed at WTSS-102.5 Buffalo, which is even farther away at 251 miles. This morning around 8am they were right there when I tuned in, although weak, with "Sunrise". There's some pretty rough terrain between me and Buffalo, and much closer markets Binghamton, Syracuse, and Rochester are absent under everyday conditions. I've only heard a few other Buffalo FM's ever, and most of them only once. WTSS (Star 102.5) tends to fade in and out all year long, easily receivable here at least 200 days a year if I try for 5 or 10 minutes
Both 102.5 and 94.9 are among my clearest frequencies.
Meanwhile, I'm amazed at WTSS-102.5 Buffalo, which is even farther away at 251 miles. This morning around 8am they were right there when I tuned in, although weak, with "Sunrise". There's some pretty rough terrain between me and Buffalo, and much closer markets Binghamton, Syracuse, and Rochester are absent under everyday conditions. I've only heard a few other Buffalo FM's ever, and most of them only once. WTSS (Star 102.5) tends to fade in and out all year long, easily receivable here at least 200 days a year if I try for 5 or 10 minutes
Both 102.5 and 94.9 are among my clearest frequencies.
Steve Green NEPA said:
That would be a helluva haul, but if your friend regularly picks it up, he just might be in a great location.
dx1ng said:
Do you get WTSS often?
radiojay1 said:
How far is WHOM from Boston--air miles?
radioman148 said:
WTSS fades in/out almost everyday May through October, and maybe 2 or 3 days a week on average the rest of the year. Sometimes it's really in well with little fading, but more often there is fading, with interference sometimes from WUMX in Utica-Rome,NY and/or WRFY Reading, Pa.
w9wi said:
jd said:
That's not too far for WHOM's big signal.
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