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WBZ Transmitter Down Again

T

Tilden

Guest
WBZ RADIO On Low Power All Day

Looks like WBZ Radio is having more problems with its transmitter. They have been on low power all day - something they usually do only on the weekend for repairs.
 
WBZ has multiple 50 kilowatt transmitters. I'm guessing that they are working on their old antenna system.
 
frankberry said:
WBZ has multiple 50 kilowatt transmitters. I'm guessing that they are working on their old antenna system.
Click to expand...

"Multiple" 50-KW xmtrs? As in more than two??

I thought one of their main standbys, at 1170 Soldiers Field Rd, was 10 KW non-directional; is this still correct?
 
but if they are working on the towers in Hull, it doesn't matter if they have one transmitter there or 100, they have to dial the power down, or go to the Auxiliary on Soldiers Field Rd in order not to radiate the crap out of the people working on or near the towers.

IIRC ( and I am frequently wrong) they almost always go to Soldiers Field Rd when they need to work on the Hull site.
 
Tilden said:
WBZ Radio is DOWN again 07/18/16
Click to expand...

Down?

They are broadcasting, we just have not determined from where, at what power, and using what configuration.

I used the car with HD radio for work today, and the first thing I noticed was there was no HD being decoded for WBZ AM

Your guess is as good as mine
 
WBZ is barely background noise where I live in the Lowell area. Too much static to listen in the car even before the thunderstorms.
 
MRBIboredop said:
Down?

They are broadcasting, we just have not determined from where, at what power, and using what configuration.

I used the car with HD radio for work today, and the first thing I noticed was there was no HD being decoded for WBZ AM

Your guess is as good as mine
Click to expand...

I wish WBZ would turn off the HD and leave it off!

For a super-power 50-KW signal, that HD mush adds an enormous amount of hiss to the analog received signal.

WRKO, also a 50-KW signal, has no such hiss because they do not broadcast in HD.

BTW - is there any way to determine if HD signals on AM, or HD-2/-3 sub-channels on FM, actually have any listeners? The former look to be impossible to gauge, especially in car radios, where the receiver would be constantly switching between digital and analog. The FM HD-2/-3 sub-channels, with different content than the analog main and HD-1 sub-channel, should be more straightforward to measure.
 
nowradioguy said:
I wish WBZ would turn off the HD and leave it off!

For a super-power 50-KW signal, that HD mush adds an enormous amount of hiss to the analog received signal.

WRKO, also a 50-KW signal, has no such hiss because they do not broadcast in HD.

BTW - is there any way to determine if HD signals on AM, or HD-2/-3 sub-channels on FM, actually have any listeners? The former look to be impossible to gauge, especially in car radios, where the receiver would be constantly switching between digital and analog. The FM HD-2/-3 sub-channels, with different content than the analog main and HD-1 sub-channel, should be more straightforward to measure.
Click to expand...


I don't listen to the HD-2's and such because the Boston ones don't make it into the Merrimack Valley and Southern NH where I am usually driving the one car I have that has the capability to receive them. Another reason is the radio/nav package I got in that car (2016 Rav4 XLE) has Sirius radio and I frequently (mostly) listening to the "60's on 6" when I am driving that car.

The HD main channels are interesting though, take WZLX for example, I can tell the second the radio detects the availability of the HD and swaps modes... the sound is much better... brighter.... but the change is subtle... I have to point it out to people who are hearing it for the first time and once I do they get it.

WBZ-AM is a different story.... in AM mode it sounds like mud, when the radio detects and switches into HD mode, the sound goes from mud to near FM quality. It is very noticeable..and nice.... as long as you are not in a fringe area then the switching is annoying.
 
Wednesday morning and WBZ Radio main transmitter is down again.
'BZ is using its backup transmitter which makes WBZ sound like a 5 Watt station.
What is the ' story behind the story ' at 'BZ as the late great WBZ radio personality Larry Glick would say?
 
nowradioguy said:
I wish WBZ would turn off the HD and leave it off!

For a super-power 50-KW signal, that HD mush adds an enormous amount of hiss to the analog received signal.
Click to expand...

I listen to WBZ in HD every day in my office and it sounds fantastic!

Like the news anchors are in the room with me.
 
I have to agree, I have HD in my company car, the sound is great, so I will admit I was wrong about HD, once you have it you'll love it.

the only downside, and this applies equally to AM and FM, is in the car when you drop below the detectable signal threshold, and it drops back into amplitude modulation, and then back into digital, the transition is seamless as far as what is being said, but it is like turning the stereo pilot on and off .... very noticeable.
 
MRBIboredop said:
I have to agree, I have HD in my company car, the sound is great, so I will admit I was wrong about HD, once you have it you'll love it.

the only downside, and this applies equally to AM and FM, is in the car when you drop below the detectable signal threshold, and it drops back into amplitude modulation, and then back into digital, the transition is seamless as far as what is being said, but it is like turning the stereo pilot on and off .... very noticeable.
Click to expand...

How many stations broadcast in HD and what is the average cost of an HD Radio?
 
WBZ Radio Low Power Continues Thursday August 11, 2016

Thursday morning and WBZ Radio is back on low power. Impossible to listen on standard radio. Must be having real problems that cannot wait to overnight or weekends. Too bad WBZ doesn't have competition on the AM dial.
 
Tilden said:
Thursday morning and WBZ Radio is back on low power. Impossible to listen on standard radio. Must be having real problems that cannot wait to overnight or weekends. Too bad WBZ doesn't have competition on the AM dial.
Click to expand...

Have you thought about streaming it?

At least there are other sources for the audio, we are no longer bound to RF, I keep a small powered pair of speakers with a sub next to my chair at the Florida house. When I get up and have coffee, the speakers get plugged into either the laptop or Droid, and I listen to WBZ on the Tune-In app.

Big jump from sitting outside at night with my home made 5 tube radio, a long wire in the antenna coil and a tuning tool trying to pick WBZ up at night ... something I did in my youth when I traveled around the country
 
Wimmmex said:
http://hdradio.com/get-a-radio about $50 will get you one.

I don't know how many AM's are still using it...but the real benefit is FM-HD....because you can pick up the HD2 & HD3 program channels.

Try this website: http://hdradio.com/stations and put in your zip code.....you can see formats of the HD2 & HD3 streams.
Click to expand...

That site is not quite up to date. In the Boston area list, it doesn't list that 92.5 WXRV "The River" recently began broadcasting in HD, it has the format of 102.5 WKLB HD2 as the former "Classic Country" but it's now "New Country", and on the AM, I don't think that 800 WNNW in Lawrence is still in HD (not sure), and 1430 WKOX is now Talk (no longer Spanish) and no longer broadcasts in HD.
 
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