Status of WFNW 1380 Naugatuck?

[BobRadil]

It takes a LOT of work, slogging thru the swamp, dragging the wires! BTDT!

Don't forget the torch and the bug spray! Then there's the cost of the copper wire.
I remember working on the ground system back around 1980 when the original owner, Blair Walliser, still owned it.

 

[shepaug]

Interesting. (to me)


1500 is a terrible frequency.


Ahhh..you did try 1800 khz. I do not like contests either but for DX it would seem an excellent site but I'd guess a long term commitment. ya know..more than just a night or two...


Some have contacted 300 and over countries in 1800 khz area but over many many years. Like Japan. Imagine in AM on 1500 khz reaching Japan ? But yet a little up in frequency and on CW it is possible. Even when you hear those 'r's' in CW on AM BCB it is Cuba.


MFJ. Mighty Fine Junk. It is simply if the voltage gets to high you need a higher rated variable capacitor. (Or other parts)

 

[WPHA]

Daytimers & War Stories

Don't forget the torch and the bug spray! Then there's the cost of the copper wire.
I remember working on the ground system back around 1980 when the original owner, Blair Walliser, still owned it.

Oh, man... bug spray! Yeah, may as well just SHOWER in "OFF!" before venturing outdoors! The bugs in that swamp were VICIOUS!!!

Blair Walliser... R.I.P.
That man didn't just cut corners, he made SPHERES! He made Scrooge McDuck look like a philanthropist! I started there in 1987, and was helping the then-Engineer, Terry Smith. It was almost weekly, at first, then monthly... we were finding and fixing Blair's "shortcuts".

Even into the mid 1990's, when Terry left, and I was promoted to Chief Engineer of WFIF, I was STILL dealing with elements of Blair's legacy that would creep up from time-to-time!

One of the WORST that I remember, was discovering the LAMP CORD that was used to run power to electrical outlets in the production (former air) studio! When I tried to move it, the insulation started to crumble! THE WIRE WAS LIVE! So I quickly let go of it (thankfully, I didn't get a shock), and went upstairs to kill the power! Then I went and bought some good Romex, and ran THAT to those outlets! I still shudder at the thought of that!

Then there was the (decades-old??) alligator clip-lead inside the old transmitter. One night, I finally said "ENOUGH!" and replaced it with a soldered-in WIRE!

That was just ANOTHER problem solved... but the place was like an onion! So many layers of cut corners (spheres) had to be undone... even with frequent work, it wasn't until at least the early 2000's that I was reasonably sure I had repaired or replaced all of his "legacy"! That's when technical things started to really shape up sufficiently!

Did you know that he got a THIRTEEN-PAGE violation from the FCC?? Yeah, we found it, buried somewhere inside an old file cabinet that we moved when we started remodeling. It was historic! I believe it was THAT series of violations that forced him to sell the station... and Bill Blount bought it.

Yeah, I shed a LOT of blood, sweat, and tears in that place. It will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart! Seriously! I am very proud of the work I was able to do there.

(1) Interesting. (to me) 1500 is a terrible frequency.

(2) Ahhh..you did try 1800 khz. I do not like contests either but for DX it would seem an excellent site but I'd guess a long term commitment. ya know..more than just a night or two...

(3) Some have contacted 300 and over countries in 1800 khz area but over many many years. Like Japan. Imagine in AM on 1500 khz reaching Japan ? But yet a little up in frequency and on CW it is possible. Even when you hear those 'r's' in CW on AM BCB it is Cuba.

(4) MFJ. Mighty Fine Junk. It is simply if the voltage gets to high you need a higher rated variable capacitor. (Or other parts)

(1) 1500 *IS* a terrible frequency, primarily *BECAUSE* it basically *BELONGS* to the former WTOP at night. It's interesting to see just how FEW stations have *ANY* night power on that frequency.

I believe a NEW Daytimer went on the air at 1500 in upstate NY in the mid 2000's, no? It's 50Kw day, 0 night. Amazing.

One winter, I measured WTOP peaking at 20 mv/m. I live 13 miles from WFIF, and it gives me a solid 7mv/m in the middle of the day. No contest! Even testing WFIF at full power overnight, that signal squashed us 4 to 5 miles out from the antenna, in the major lobe. Even if WFIF were given 500 watts at night, it wouldn't be listenable more than a mile away. (Tested and verified!) It's doomed to be a Daytimer forever, unless that DC station goes dark, or someone else decides to WOWO it!

(2) WFIF's towers were VERY CLOSE to being 90 degrees on the 160 meter band, so they were ideal 1/4 wave radiators... atop a significant ground system, in a salt water marsh. Yeah. Nice stuff for a ham!!

(3) Naturally, the ham bands are reserved for that purpose, so there is a whole lot less noise! It fascinates me how by using super-slow-speed Morse code (QRSS) people have made contacts around the world with the equivalent RF power of a wristwatch crystal oscillator! Of course, a "dit" is 30 minutes long! Gotta love computers.

(4) That unit wasn't arcing the plates of the variable cap, it was arcing between the cap and the front panel. Poor manufacturing was (still is?) one of the hallmarks of MFJ. You get what you pay for. MFJ stuff is CHEAP, but it CAN be improved with a little TLC.

 

[BobRadil]

Re: Daytimers & War Stories

Did you know that he got a THIRTEEN-PAGE violation from the FCC?? Yeah, we found it, buried somewhere inside an old file cabinet that we moved when we started remodeling. It was historic! I believe it was THAT series of violations that forced him to sell the station... and Bill Blount bought it.

There's another unnamed CT station that I fear would have a similar "encylopedia" of violations.
Blair sold WFIF in around 1980. Walter Curley, Ken Chapin, and Ted Jones bought it under the name KW Dolmar. They had ideas of taking on the Bridgeport and New Haven markets with a country format. When reality set in they sold. In June 1982 Bill Blount bought it(including tower 3) and kept the KW... name. Ken Chapin later went to work for Al Ham(Music Of Your Life).
Before Bill Blount bought it the station didn't have a prayer. (sorry)

 

[fybush]

Re: Daytimers & War Stories

I believe a NEW Daytimer went on the air at 1500 in upstate NY in the mid 2000's, no? It's 50Kw day, 0 night. Amazing.

You're thinking of WICY in Malone, right on the Canadian border way up north. It's a kilowatt fulltimer on 1490, and it's been sitting on a series of construction permits to move to 1500, where it would serve Montreal during daylight hours only. That move has never actually been made.

 

[KML0224]

Would this station interfere with 1520 AM out of Buffalo?

 

[fybush]

No...Malone is hundreds of miles away from Buffalo, up near the northeastern corner of New York. It's a big state, you know...

 

[MarcB]

WOWW went on the air in the early 60s as a daytimer on 860 with two towers, and added a middle tower for the move to 1380 in the late 60s. The original studios were on the second floor of a old house in downtown Naugatuck.

WOWW on 860? Did they exist at the same time as 860 in Great Barrington, Mass? I can get traces of 860 Great Barrington on my car radio in parts of Bristol, CT. Some areas stronger than others. Sounds like a neat little station.

 

[Bill-in-CT]

WOWW on 860? Did they exist at the same time as 860 in Great Barrington, Mass?

I don't know if WSBS in Great Barrington was on at the same time. However I forgot to mention that WOWW on 860 was only a 250 watt daytimer.

 

[shepaug]

Interesting stuff....


There is a 50kw station in Minnesota and a 5kw one on Michigan which I imagine the signal is steered away from WDC. I have never heard the Minnesota one but of coarse there is 1500 WDC always there.


Frequency fine for days but as you know at times it can be mid-afternoon or morning and WDC signal making it up here.

Yea..I got that 'feel' of 'patchwork' stuff there. Patchwork? (is that a word). Even now is not the antenna feed or coax chewed away sitting on the ground ? Maybe that is why I thought about Amateur Radio. Daytime Only and....


1380 WFNW..I do not know if they came back or not. I never hear much in the 1380 mess but WSYB Rutland, Vermont comes through off and on.

 

[shepaug]

ps...MFJ ?? I do not know the quality of their products except a long time ago they were known for selling anything just like Radio Shack would sell battery chargers for 'general purpose batteries'. I think they went through ownership changes.

All I know is an antenna tuner might work fine at higher frequencies or if it is designed for tuning a 50 ohm line and it is 50 ohm... fine. Get lower in frequency to say 2000 khz and the voltage begins to arc over. I'd have to dig into my brain as to why BUT ------ Antenna Tuners for Amateur Radio often left out 'below 2000khz' in their ratings -----

These gadgets are getting expensive for good ones for 'personal usage'. If you see an old variable capacitor with big spacing SAVE IT. By theory you should not need any antenna tuner if the antenna is perfect but what antenna is or does not change ? Do not antenna tuners just make the transmitter think it has a perfect or good match ? hmmm Use my brain....


WSBS 860. I think it sounds still 'local'. (vs. satellite relay only) I do not know station engineer now but years ago it was an 'old amateur radio operator' that seemed to take pride in the way the station performed. (at least he bragged about it) I think it is still one tower in a field off rt7 in Great Barrington.

 

[shepaug]

oops..gonna shut up..'getting out of my league'. Like how you gonna feed an antenna that needs no tuner but it is 'grounded in the ocean ? It needs some 'match'..or maybe not...

 

[Bill-in-CT]

WSBS 860. I think it sounds still 'local'. (vs. satellite relay only) I do not know station engineer now but years ago it was an 'old amateur radio operator' that seemed to take pride in the way the station performed. (at least he bragged about it) I think it is still one tower in a field off rt7 in Great Barrington.

You are correct. WSBS is still the one tower off rt7 in Great Barrington. Nice looking building on the outside for offices and studios.

 

[necrat123]

WSBS 860 in Great Barrington signed on Christmas Eve 1957 on 860 from the tower, still currently used at 250 watts daytime only. In 1993, WSBS upgraded from 250 watts to 2.7kW Day, 250 watts Critical and 3.9 watts night. The original Gates GY-250 transmitter is still functional as a backup. Their main is a Harris SX2.5 running at 2.7kW.

WSBS's long time engineer was Paul Willey out of North Adams (who engineered several stations in the county), and WSBS also had an on air personality (the morning news guy), who was a very active local ham, Tom "Jay" Jaworski. (Odd side piece of trivia, his brother, who was also a big time Ham Radio guy, Peter, was my 8th grade science teacher.). Paul retired from the group at the time it was sold from Don Thurston to Vox Radio Group. Tom Jay retired a couple of years later. After Paul retired, legendary CT engineer Ken Jones (yes, THE Ken Jones) took over engineering the radio group until his untimely passing in August.

WNTE ("WFNW") also had a construction permit at that time for daytime operation on 860. It signed on, on 860, as WOWW in February 1961. In 1969, they received a construction permit to move to 1380 5kW Day, 500w Night. It appears this happened in the very early 70's. (Most liklely 1971)

 

[WPHA]

[Antenna tuners] are getting expensive for good ones for 'personal usage'. If you see an old variable capacitor with big spacing SAVE IT. By theory you should not need any antenna tuner if the antenna is perfect but what antenna is or does not change ? Do not antenna tuners just make the transmitter think it has a perfect or good match?

A *GOOD* amateur radio antenna tuner does cost a few $$. You get what you pay for.

In a broadcast AM station, most of the time you're working with towers that are "too short" for the wavelength of the signal you're transmitting. There are several reasons why this is done, but the biggest ones are CO$T and regulations. By keeping a tower UNDER 200 feet, for example, it does not require FAA-approved (and REGULATED) lighting/monitoring. Therefore, whenever possible, stations want to keep their towers below that size. This is workable at the upper end of the AM band, since the wavelengths are shorter. Stations with lower frequencies generally don't have a choice, when the Laws of Physics dictate that they MUST use a tower larger than 200', so they have to deal with the FAA, lights, etc.

Because those 199 foot towers are not resonant on AM B'cast frequencies, (1/4 wave or an odd multiple) they do not present a 50 ohm load, so an antenna tuner is required at the base of the tower. This will provide as close to 50 ohms as is practical, into the coax. (Impedance mismatches into the coax lead to inefficiencies that waste power.)

There's a lot of complex math involved with the wavelength, frequency, impedances, resistances, etc, involved, which is beyond the scope of this discussion. Suffice it to say, the tuning unit at the base of the tower "makes the transmitter happy". A "happy" transmitter works more efficiently and puts out a better signal. If the tuning goes far-enough out-of-tolerance, modern transmitters will either reduce power or shut down, to self-protect.

 

[shepaug]

All very interesting to me.


Yes..you briefly got into making the transmitter happy which I in quick digested as too complex a subject for here...

Not to plug Amateur Radio but it does give a person the ability to run 1.5kw (or milli-watts if desired)in various frequency areas and play with antennas, transmitters or whatever as a personal hobby.

OK on WSBS 860 history.


When in NW Connecticut amongst the 'hills and mountains' not too much comes through on AM in the day. (normal consumer radio) I'd say WSBS 860 (weak). Old WKZE? 1020 with a tower in Millerton, NY I think. WATR 1320 Waterbury. WTIC 1080. WSNG 610.

WSNG 610 I never thought got out as good as a station should on 610 but maybe just my imagination. It seems to have a good antenna(s) and looks like it gets some attention vs. some other stations.


Excuse the wandering off the subject !!!! WFNW 1380. I was sitting in the car tonight and heard them on 1380 in Ansonia so I guess they are back. I am not a fan of the station (no good at Spanish !!!) but as some would say ::::::::: better to have somebody running the station than it going dark... I even heard WNYG 1440 the other day..(New York) ((9 lives)

 

[MarcB]

WFNW 1380. I was sitting in the car tonight and heard them on 1380 in Ansonia so I guess they are back. I am not a fan of the station (no good at Spanish !!!) but as some would say ::::::::: better to have somebody running the station than it going dark.

Yep. I can confirm that they are back on the air. Heard them while sitting in the car during my break at the Southington Shoprite yesterday.