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Question on WBZ Boston 1030 AM

N

NSPUNX

Guest
I am curious about WBZ Boston 1030 AM. Apparently this channel can be heard very far away, and I have heard them say they are a "clear channel" even though they are owned by CBS Radio? I know they are 50,000 Watts and I have heard that they can be heard as far away as the midwest, how is this possible? Thanks!
 
NSPUNX said:
I am curious about WBZ Boston 1030 AM. Apparently this channel can be heard very far away, and I have heard them say they are a "clear channel" even though they are owned by CBS Radio? I know they are 50,000 Watts and I have heard that they can be heard as far away as the midwest, how is this possible? Thanks!
Click to expand...

The upper movement of atmospheric ionization as the sun drops below the true horizon. In other words, the low layers of atmosphere lose their ability to reflect radio waves at night.
 
NSPUNX said:
I am curious about WBZ Boston 1030 AM. Apparently this channel can be heard very far away, and I have heard them say they are a "clear channel" even though they are owned by CBS Radio? I know they are 50,000 Watts and I have heard that they can be heard as far away as the midwest, how is this possible? Thanks!
Click to expand...

"clear channel" (lower case) is (was) a term in the FCC regulations. It referred to AM frequencies on which only one station broadcast at night - frequencies that were "clear" of interference from other stations. In 1966 only two stations were authorized on 1030 AM in the U.S. and Canada. (the other one, in Texas, was required to go off the air at night) Today, there are other stations operating at night on 1030 AM (and the other clear channels) but not as many as on other "regional" and "local" channels, so the original "clear channel" stations still have considerable immunity from interference.

All AM stations's signals can reach great distances at night due to bending in ionized layers of the upper atmosphere. However, on "non-clear" channels there's so much interference from other stations operating at night that long-distance reception is difficult to impossible. Today, 13 stations in the U.S. operate at night on 1030 AM, but the closest one to Boston is located just outside Chicago. On 1150 AM (a "regional" channel occupied by a Boston station among others) there are 54 stations operating at night, as close as central Connecticut.

Clear Channel, the company, is named after the "clear channel" in the FCC rules. Their first station was WOAI 1200 AM, a clear channel station in San Antonio, Texas, and many of their subsequent purchases were also clear channel stations.
 
An interesting fact about WBZ is that they use a directional antenna (even though they are not required to do so for interference reasons) that limits the power waste over the Atlantic and beams more power to the west, giving them an effective power of perhaps as much as 100kw.
 
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