WBZ in reverse

[Eli Polonsky]

this wasn't an image of another station. this was a high pitched whistle that changed tone if you moved the dial a tiny bit. Hollywood used this same sound for years as a sound effect for tuning a radio. I remember it happening in Winchester and Revere and on the road. I dont know what year it stopped... but once it went religious it was gone. New transmitter? New tower location? Some other phenomonon ended? who knows....

If it's what I was describing, you may not hear the audio of the station causing the IF interference reaction, you would hear a tone that varied in pitch when you tuned a bit up and down superimposed on top of the station that was on the frequency (WEEI). You wouldn't hear the actual audio on the IF image of the interfering station unless you were very close to it, and it was strong enough to completely overcome the station you were listening to (WEEI). Otherwise, you would hear the kind of variable pitch tone you describe.

The signal of the original WMEX transmitting over salt water from Quincy to Revere could have possibly caused this type of IF interference on 600 kHz there, which could have caused heterodyne whistles on 590 WEEI. WMEX was very strong on the lower North Shore from the Quincy transmitter. This doesn't explain it happening in Winchester, where WMEX from Quincy was weak, though it could have possibly happened in Winchester after the 1510 transmitter was moved to Waltham.