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Ok Folks, Can Anyone Tell Me Why
- Thread starter sjs1959
- Start date
Memphis came very close in the early 1950’s when KTHS (now KAAY) applied for and received a construction permit to move from Hot Springs Arkansas to West Memphis. There was such a political uproar the CP was withdrawn and it wound up in Little Rock in 1954, one of the last Class 1-B facilities granted. Back further than that, it was more about what frequency you were on when the allocation picture started to settle down in the late 1920’s and for others, what frequency you occupied just before the North American AM frequency realignment March 29, 1941. WLAC was required moved from 1470 khz to the present 1510 khz. Stations at the low end of the band like WREC and WSM did not have to move but WMC had to shift from 780 khz to 790 khz. Other Memphis stations like WHBQ, WMPS and WDIA didn’t move to their current channels until the late 1940’s and early 50’s; consequently, their night-time powers and directional patterns are rather restrictive to protect other stations that were already established on the respective frequencies. There is a good treatise of the clear channel subject by Mark Durenberger posted on WWW.oldradio.com
Ok, another question: Why do so many AM signals in Memphis have directional restrictions to the North and/or East in the daytime?
In the case of Hoyt Wooten and WREC, when he built the transmitter site in 1936, he went directional to concentrate the signal over the greatest population. For you Frayser trivia experts, when he bought the land, it was at the corner of Payne Ave. and Hindman Ferry Road. I would assume Hindman Ferry must have been located on the Wolf River.
As far as directionals...
Stations point in many directions at night, depending on their individual co-channel issues. But, there are broad themes.
Stations in the south very often point south at night. This sends the skywave out to sea where it causes the least interference (that's why, when I was in Honduras, 5 kW WROA/1390 Gulfport with its tight 8-tower array was the strongest US station on the dial). Stations on the East Coast very often point out over the Atlantic. Northern tier stations point north, very often, to the Canadian tundra.
Note that WDIA points south at night. WHBQ has a major lobe south. WREC's major lobe is SW. WMFS points SSE at night. WGSF points SW (I suppose Boston is the main issue there). WMPS/1210 aims SSW (Again, this is more an issue of protecting a Clear Channel, though). But, you get the idea.
It's not that the FCC requires a south-facing array. It's just easier to make the stations work that way.
DE
Stations point in many directions at night, depending on their individual co-channel issues. But, there are broad themes.
Stations in the south very often point south at night. This sends the skywave out to sea where it causes the least interference (that's why, when I was in Honduras, 5 kW WROA/1390 Gulfport with its tight 8-tower array was the strongest US station on the dial). Stations on the East Coast very often point out over the Atlantic. Northern tier stations point north, very often, to the Canadian tundra.
Note that WDIA points south at night. WHBQ has a major lobe south. WREC's major lobe is SW. WMFS points SSE at night. WGSF points SW (I suppose Boston is the main issue there). WMPS/1210 aims SSW (Again, this is more an issue of protecting a Clear Channel, though). But, you get the idea.
It's not that the FCC requires a south-facing array. It's just easier to make the stations work that way.
DE
DeadElvis said:
It's probably easier to make sense of this when you think about what they're protecting, rather than where they end up pointing as a result.
In what direction was the bulk of the US population (and thus its radio stations) in the thirties, forties and fifties, when most of the directional arrays were built? North and east, right? So it stands to reason that as stations that might once have been 1-kw nondirectionals upgraded to 5-kw (or more) directionals, most of the co-channel stations they needed to protect would have been north and east.
From any location on or near a coast, the stations needing protection will always be inland, which is why Boston's DAs are largely west of the city pointing east, while those in San Diego are east of the city pointing west...and why WROA was north of Gulfport pointing south.
(And why mine here in Rochester are south of the city pointing north, out over the "north coast of America" to Canada.)
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