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I Voted For 37 States Before I Voted Against Them

T

Those RRRRs

Guest
Doesn't 1210 brag once in a while about being heard in 37 states on a consistent basis? I haven't heard anyone on the station say this for a while but I know that at least one host has claimed it on the air. So far as I know, their 50,000 kw stick is still located in Moorestown, and I don't think they have changed or reduced the pattern.

Scenario: Allentown, PA. Very weak at 10:00 PM (Unlistenable)
Binghamton, NY. Very weak at 1:00 AM (Unlistenable)
Columbus, OH. Non-existent at 11:30 PM

These are locations to which I have traveled over the past few months and have unsuccesfully attempted to listen to WPHT on my Grundig. I never had a geography class in school but if I'm not mistaken, NY and OH border Pennsylvania, and Allentown is only 50 miles north.

Is the 37 stater claim part of a vast right wing conspiracy? Did John Kerry vote for a 37 state coverage referendum before he voted against it? Does the signal somehow leap over OH and NY and end up in a fairy tale land? Did WPHT buy this transmitter from the same guy who sold Jack his beanstalk beans?

Any thoughts?
 
There are even noticeable poor grade and intermittent signal fluctuation, here, in Gladwynne Pa., as the signal does not even behave like a local 50 Kw’r. And the signal has been as poor for at least a decade. When it was WOGL AM, the ground system showed signs of erosion, and continues to, to the point of, well, exhibiting disrepair, and thus, you have no ground wave bounce. So much for being a world class clear channel. Welcome to the transmitters’ parents’ wide wonderful world of the epitome of mediocrity.
 
RRR:

They are referring to it at night.. when theres lots of skywave bounce.. duh.
 
In parts of PA, NJ, OH and NY you will be too far for groundwave and too close for skywave..... In my calcuation, Allentown and Binghamton fall into this too far/too close scenario.
 
They are referring to it at night.. when theres lots of skywave bounce.. duh.
Click to expand...

Paul...Did you notice the times I posted? Seems to me that those times fall within the hours in which the sun sets and rises...duh.
 
Those RRRRs said:
They are referring to it at night.. when theres lots of skywave bounce.. duh.
Click to expand...



Paul...Did you notice the times I posted? Seems to me that those times fall within the hours in which the sun sets and rises...duh.
Click to expand...

No I didn't notice that, I apologize.. i read too quickly..


PaulBWalkerJr said:
In parts of PA, NJ, OH and NY you will be too far for groundwave and too close for skywave..... In my calcuation, Allentown and Binghamton fall into this too far/too close scenario.
Click to expand...


I still stand by this though, I think thats the scenario
 
When I lived in Raleigh, NC, in the 90's, 1210 came in OK post sunset, but not like a 50 Kw clear should have. It was neat to be able to listen to Sam's Dad doing the "top 20 countdown" on my floor model RCA Victrola AM/SW/phonograph, though!

Now, here in Ocean County, the daytime signal is pitiful. I agree with Sam; the ground system must be in serious disrepair...assume much of it has corroded away. CBS will probably put that stupid IBOC crap on it instead of repairing the ground system to make it sound decent again.
 
In parts of PA, NJ, OH and NY you will be too far for groundwave and too close for skywave..... In my calcuation, Allentown and Binghamton fall into this too far/too close scenario.
Click to expand...

That could very well be accurate. If the ground signal has indeed eroded, how would that affect the skywave and the 37 states that are able to (or used to be able to) receive the station?

I'd be interested in hearing from someone who is schooled in this subject.
 
An eroded ground system would do the same to a skywave(distant) signal as it would groundwave(local)

It wouldnt nreach as far or be as strong...
 
What if you can pick up WPHT in Ontario, Canada or even Puerto Rico? Would that possibly fudge the formula a bit?
 
Can't say I've tried picking them up in 37 states. Or 3 for that matter. But in 1987, I picked up 1210 on my little old Walkman...in London.
 
No doubt, the old quality signal of the John Facenda / Bill Corsair WCAU 1210 is long gone. The signal is NOT like it used to be. But last time I was in Charllotte NC and Daytona Beach FL, is was as strong as KYW, which was pretty clean.

But gentlemen and gentlewomen, that has now passed onto legend and fabled story with yesterday's FCC action of allowing nightime IBOC service on AM frequencies. There will no longer be any need for those 50kw clear channels, as they will be blasted off the dial by sideband IBOC HD noise. So, to WPHT, cut your power at night, and save on your electric bill.
 
I picked up 1210 reasonably well at night in Dubuque, Iowa earlier this year; however, I just tried to dx them in Nashville a couple of weeks ago and got only a very faint signal. KYW was better (so was KOA from Denver - but that's a different story). Nothing of them in Memphis. They are audible, yet unreliable, in parts of New England at night too. Really deep fades in places like New Hampshire - where there are no competing locals. KYW is poor there too, but it is directional - WPHT is not.

There's no way that they get to 37 states! Their daytime AND nighttime groundwave signal absolutely sucks for an alleged 50,000 watter. They fade out under bridges as close to the tx site as Devon and K of P.

Although one could argue that WPHT's dial position effectively makes it weaker than the New York clears (most of which are below 1000 kHz), I recall listening to other higher freq. 50 kw stations in Salt Lake (1160), Oklahoma City (1520) and Buffalo (also 1520) and their groundwave signals are pretty awesome. Admittedly, those areas have better ground conductivity, but these stations are absolute powerhouses in their home markets. KSL is so strong, it's signal used to sneak into people phone lines (before US West shielded them). KOMA, now KOKC, didn't begin to fade under bridges until you were at least 65 miles from its tx site. It really booms in everywhere in its home market - strong enough to make me wonder if they came in on dental fillings!

WPHT, on the other hand, sounds more like it has 5 kw rather than 50. It's signal is nothing like the examples that I've cited. Nor does it get out very far during the day - to about Carlisle, PA in the west and to about Parsippany, NJ to the northeast. The truly listenable signal is somewhat more restrictive than that. It's an ok range, but hardly impressive.

I'd love to hear why 1210 underperforms like this.
 
It must be a badly deteriorated ground system.

For what it's worth, I remember that a cousin and her husband used to drive to Arizona every summer to visit his family, and they could usually hear WCAU 1210 at night in Arizona (and along the way when they drove at night).

Of course their kids (the oldest is my age) would rather have had Wibbage booming in! And in the Fifties, their father, a big Glenn Miller fan, would rather have had the "pre-oldies oldies" station of the day, big-band WRCV (now KYW, for those of you who don't know).

But never mind 1210 turning on the I-BUZZ. If 50-kw WOAI in San Antonio, Texas ever goes I-BUZZ, 1210's skywave will never be heard again out west!
 
Spent the summer in Atlanta GA about 7 years ago I could hear Philly's 1210 at night (some nights were better than others), also while living in Portsmouth, NH back in 1974.
 
Here in Chapel Hill, North Carolina I can pick up several of the "Free Range Stations" (of course at night only). They include...

1. 1030 WBZ-Boston
2. 1020 KDKA-Pittsburgh
3. 1060 KYW-Philadelphia (sometimes it comes in clearer here than in Phila.!)
4. Several of the AM's from New York City
5. 1190 WOWO-FT. Wayne
6. 1140 WRVA-Richmond
7. 700 WLW-Cincinatti (also on XM Radio)

Also many others when weather conditions are favorable.

Stuart ;D
 
1210 in Lancaster doesnt come in real well during the day, you really have to turn the volume up tto hear it good. Not the way it used to be a few years ago when it was really strong in the area. Night time forget it, other stations make it impossible.
 
I listened to KYW 1060 on a cheap WalMart radio last summer in Myrtle Beach SC at night while on vacation.
 
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