WBZ signal

[DougD]

I'm up in Down East Maine, and was listening to 'BZ a moment ago when the signal --- which is normally very strong up here --- suddenly cut out and then returned a moment later as a barely-audible whisper. This has happened twice recently. I'm assuming the power must have gone off down in Hull. Does the station have an auxiliary low-power transmitter?

 

[K6JHU]

Heard on the news site (10:00 AM) that Hull was being requested to evacuate due to flooding.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

I'm up in Down East Maine, and was listening to 'BZ a moment ago when the signal --- which is normally very strong up here --- suddenly cut out and then returned a moment later as a barely-audible whisper. This has happened twice recently. I'm assuming the power must have gone off down in Hull. Does the station have an auxiliary low-power transmitter?

I believe that WBZ has an auxiliary full-power transmitter with the main one in Hull, and a 10kW backup at the studios in Brighton. If Hull is completely out of service, they may have gone to the Brighton backup, which would be weak in Maine.

 

[DG02816]

WBZ does have what we call an alternate-main setup in Hull. Two 50 kW transmitters, each one operating alternate weeks so the rate of use and aging is the same. Brighton has a 10 kW setup running into a longwire.

 

[JIBGUY]

In addition to power problems in Hull, the snow-drifts might be so high as to complete a circuit between the top of cement base of the tower where there are copper straps to the ground. The big brown insulators are designed to keep the ground and the radiator (tower) apart. High snow could negate that making the sinal essentially short out, although one would think that being in a flood zone, those cement bases would have been built pretty high, like at least 6 feet from the ground though.

 

[faderraider]

I bet it throws a heck of a signal when the tide is high, and a bit of flooding....all that salt water on the ground field

 

[ThatGuyOnTheRadio]

In addition to power problems in Hull, the snow-drifts might be so high as to complete a circuit between the top of cement base of the tower where there are copper straps to the ground. The big brown insulators are designed to keep the ground and the radiator (tower) apart. High snow could negate that making the sinal essentially short out, although one would think that being in a flood zone, those cement bases would have been built pretty high, like at least 6 feet from the ground though.

Have no fear! Necrat is here! http://www.necrat.us/1030boston.html

 

[HHH]

I bet it throws a heck of a signal when the tide is high, and a bit of flooding....all that salt water on the ground field

It sure does!

Directional (on purpose) right into downtown Boston and the rest of the United States.

Was in Chicago not long ago and it was loud and clear after dark out there.

 

[DG02816]

WBZ is a 2- tower DA-1 with a deep null toward the Atlantic, so there's no signal wasted out over the ocean.

Here's what it looks like: http://fccinfo.com/CMDProEngine.php...abSearchType=Appl&sAppIDNumber=10513&sHours=U

ERP in that main lobe is probably on the order of ~120 kW.

Another station that does the same thing is WWL New Orleans.

 

[DanStrassberg]

WBZ is a 2- tower DA-1 with a deep null toward the Atlantic, so there's no signal wasted out over the ocean. Here's what it looks like: http://fccinfo.com/CMDProEngine.php?CurrentService=AM&tabSearchType=Appl&sAppIDNumber=10513&sHours=U ERP in that main lobe is probably on the order of ~120 kW. Another station that does the same thing is WWL New Orleans.

120 kW is pretty accurate if you are comparing WBZ's existing signal with what's you'd get if you pumped 50 kW into one of the two Hull sticks and grounded the other. But if you compare the signal to what you'd get if you used a short tower--minimally efficient for a Class B AM (WBZ is a Class A)--IOW, a tower ~1/3 the height of the Hull towers, it would cut the ERP by another factor of almost two, so you could say that 'BZ's ERP to the west is equivalent to ~200 kW relative to 50 kW into one minimally efficient tower. Sounds more impressive that way, although a few other stations use complex arrays with large numbers of towers that produce very narrow patterns whose ERP is equivalent to as much as 800 kW over a very small angle. WWJ and CHML are examples.

 

[radiome]

Several years ago I was driving down the strip at Daytona Beach, Fl. and shortly after sunset WBZ came booming in as if I were in downtown Boston.

 

[JIBGUY]

WBZ used to be a hot station in the Cayman Islands, too. Back in the mid-1980's there was a large (5' high) rock next to the road outside of Georgetown, Grand Cayman, where someone painted "WBZ", "WGBS"(Miami). Those two were regulars there. No doubt, as Cayman radio listening was dreary... No significant FM yet. The local choices were Radio Cayman (gov't run), 1000 watts on 1205 kHz, whose signal couldn't reach the other side of Georgetown at night, and a repeater on 1550 intended for the two smaller Cayman Islands.

 

[carmen]

WBZ is way too QRO. i listen on 3090 so my ADCs don't clip. in brookline, there was so much powerline noise and crud in between to Hull that it was well behind 680/850 in S/N on a walkman. not that i'd listen to any of these stations except for research purposes (like how many seconds the NBA audio on 850 is ahead of a ComcasT-fed TV . usually like 5-10

 

[DG02816]

Sorry, Carmen, but that ~120 kW ERP is what can get into office buildings to some extent. With the high noise floor these days, I'd rather see the heritage Class A's get a power boost.