Re: WRKO take notice
Eli, This IS great information.
But it only explains the science of skywaves and it doesn't
answer the question as to why the reception is OK during the day the and lousy
in metro west at night.
To find out the answer you can go a very good sight:
www.radio-locator.com then type in the call letters, then click on (i) menu and scroll down to the day and night patterns of said station/s.
The day and night patterns are deliberately different to protect the co channels
in distant cities from WRKO's skywave, butthe issue of" why can't WRKO WEEI and WWZN satisfy
the Requirements and still serve the entire Boston area?"
You touched on the reason. When WLAW 680 from Lawrence moved to Boston in 1938
They broadcasted more or less from their present site west of Boston with the same signal pattern.
The size of the market was very different then, and the night time signal was adequate for the market.
The growth took place to the west and south of Boston, and while listerners in these areas want to hear the stations, we are the same ones who block the movement of the towers west.
Add to the NIMBY attitude, are the complacency of the stations to try to make things better.
IN WBZ's case they are no more powerful signal wise than WRKO WEEI and WWZN but the tower is at the end of Nantasket Beach in Hull and the signal is trong to the west, and as luck and timing would have it, they are grandfathered with a lock on that frequency at night, and whenever the AM tower is near water such WBZ's case Boston harbor, the signal is more voluminous.
it would perfect if WRKO WEEI and WWZN ccould move further west and send their signals east through some wetlands
I'm getting decent reception on WAAF from the 495 RI/MA
> > border.
> >
> > Hopefully WRKO will follow suit and do something about
> their
> > transmitter. If WBZ broadcasts to almost 40 US states,
> why
> > can't I get WRKO after dinnertime if I'm more than 10
> miles
> > from Boston?
>
> As you probably know, AM signals can skip much farther
> distances at night after the sun goes down than they
> normally reach in the daytime. The electrical charge of the
> ionospheric layer changes when the sun is no longer shining
> through it, and it reflects signals back to Earth in farther
> locations. These nightime skip signals are called "skywaves"
> because they're reflected back from the sky.
>
> Because of this, many AM stations, including WRKO, are
> required by the FCC to either lower their power or change
> their directional pattern after sunset, in order to avoid
> their nighttime "skywave" skip signals from interfering with
> one another (some other stations must sign off completely).
>
> WBZ's dial position was designated a "clear channel" (not
> the company, but the frequency) station on 1030 AM at night
> for the eastern half of the U.S. many decades ago. That
> means that they can beam their 50,000 watt signal inland
> west (and also north/south) from their transmitter on the
> coast in Hull day and night. They're authorized to cover the
> huge portion of the country that they reach at night.
>
> Though there has been some deregulation of "clear channel"
> frequencies and the 1030 frequency is no longer completely
> clear of other stations everywhere in the eastern U.S. at
> night, that has not changed WBZ's authority to send their
> full power inland both day and night.
>
> The station at 680 that eventually became WRKO (WLAW,
> WNAC...) came on to their frequency with 50,000 watts later
> on, and was never designated by the FCC as a "clear channel"
> frequency like WBZ. WRKO has to change their directional
> pattern at sunset and is not allowed to beam southwest or
> west at night because it has to "protect" a number of other
> stations in other states from their nighttime "skywave" skip
> signal. It's not a matter of them "doing something about
> their transmitter". Unlike WBZ, WRKO is not authorized by
> the FCC to beam much power inland at night. You know they
> would if they were allowed to.
> <P ID="signature">______________
Norm Rosen
</P>
