Will the signal limitations require a COL change?
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As an STA, no COL change will be required.
It was prepared by Hatfield and Dawson, one of the leading Engineering Consulting firms.
This is one of the 50 or so Class As in the contiguous 48 states. I still think they should move the 1660 to 1560 because it could be 50000 watts instead of 10000 watts.
It was prepared by Hatfield and Dawson, one of the leading Engineering Consulting firms.
This is one of the 50 or so Class As in the contiguous 48 states. I still think they should move the 1660 to 1560 because it could be 50000 watts instead of 10000 watts.
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The engineering request says "the site is located reasonable proximity to the city of license."
The engineering application is linked below:
And even if they do not have a city grade over the COL (which, per the map, they will not), they can request a waiver "while a new and better site is negotiated in a congested and heavily zoned metropolitan area."
That kind of antenna, which is pretty much a longwire or short vertical component "inverted L" was common in our hemisphere outside of North America through the mid 70's at least. Not efficient, but they work.
Between proposed changes in contour overlap, measured conductivities, and antenna major lobe orientation, it seems like they could have 50 kW Day and Night without too much problem. Whether they could still stay on Day pattern until KNZR Sunset, it's hard to say.
But is is on the ultra-dreadful 1560 which means I'd much rather have a kw on 570 than full power on 1560
Back in the late 1960s, The NYT/WQXR wanted an exemption from the new AM/FM nonduplication rules because of the bad AM signal conditions around NYC. The FCC said no.
The 1500s were used advantageously with good conductivity in a river bed sweet spot, an extreme DA antenna lobe, and 50000 watts, by George Storer for WJBK, to have a signal that was stronger than WJR in much of Detroit. Then the audience moved further out and nearer to the sides of the major lobe and to null areas.
The 1500s were used advantageously with good conductivity in a river bed sweet spot, an extreme DA antenna lobe, and 50000 watts, by George Storer for WJBK, to have a signal that was stronger than WJR in much of Detroit. Then the audience moved further out and nearer to the sides of the major lobe and to null areas.
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Another one is WWKB 1520 which covers Buffalo well out into its suburbs, and as we all know its nighttime signal is legendary.
But it's been 50 years since night coverage via skywave had any value; the day signal on 1520 with today's interference levels does not even put a 10 mV/m over all of the two county metro.
How could they not place a city grade signal over New York City?
The area for the City is HUUUUUge!
It wouldn't be that hard to make it directional toward the City with the slant fed from W. Orange, using the parasitics of the tower and the 10kw would make it across the Hudson with no problem, 14 miles East.
Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
NYT almost sold the stations with that disastrous FCC decision.
It forced a separation of the signal. The FM had Classical and the AM had Classical light.
It didn't work and because of 103.5 WGMS in DC having similar problems, the FCC rescinded, slightly, and allowed the two stations to return to their respective simulcast.
Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
Schroeder's Cat wrote <<<Back in the late 1960s, The NYT/WQXR wanted an exemption from the new AM/FM nonduplication rules because of the bad AM signal conditions around NYC. The FCC said no.>>>
That must have been only temporary. I remember WQXR was always simulcast except for a brief time in the early 1980s when the AM tried to do some fine arts talk programming for a few hours in middays while the FM continued to play music. That didn't last very long.
I thought all the commercial classical stations and all-news stations got virtually automatic exemptions and were able to simulcast on AM and FM. The FCC wanted to encourage their programming.
Classical Simulcasts:
WQXR-AM-FM New York
KFAC-AM-FM Los Angeles
KKHI-AM-FM San Francisco
KDFC-AM-FM San Francisco
WFLN-AM-FM Philadelphia
WGMS-AM-FM Washington
KDB-AM-FM Santa Barbara
All-News Simulcasts:
WAVA-AM-FM Washington
WBRE-AM-FM Wilkes-Barre / Scranton (First as an NBC NIS affiliate, then doing the format locally.)
There may have been more I'm not remembering.
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That must have been only temporary. I remember WQXR was always simulcast except for a brief time in the early 1980s when the AM tried to do some fine arts talk programming for a few hours in middays while the FM continued to play music. That didn't last very long.
I thought all the commercial classical stations and all-news stations got virtually automatic exemptions and were able to simulcast on AM and FM. The FCC wanted to encourage their programming.
Classical Simulcasts:
WQXR-AM-FM New York
KFAC-AM-FM Los Angeles
KKHI-AM-FM San Francisco
KDFC-AM-FM San Francisco
WFLN-AM-FM Philadelphia
WGMS-AM-FM Washington
KDB-AM-FM Santa Barbara
All-News Simulcasts:
WAVA-AM-FM Washington
WBRE-AM-FM Wilkes-Barre / Scranton (First as an NBC NIS affiliate, then doing the format locally.)
There may have been more I'm not remembering.
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The FCC was not trying to encourage anything!
It was purely the DC politicians' attempt to stay with THEIR listening habits and WGMS was it. They used other stations to justify their decision and to not apologize with their screwup.
They even had market size as excuses.
It was explained by the people who were involved in the book about WQXR. It is an in-depth "inside baseball" book for those interested in radio. I highly recommend it!
Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
Installing an effective ground system would seem rather challenging at the West Orange site:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.787...w-njYQ8A!2e0!5s20190801T000000!7i16384!8i8192
Absolutely...I've been there and what you might see on the left side of that photo is some rock formations and cliffs. It's very rocky and mountainous in that area. Very picturesque to drive in, right off I-280. Great location for an FM antenna. Very bad for ground systems. I can't imagine them drilling into the rock to install copper. Not gonna happen.
They could probably do a limited counterpoise system on the roof of the building. Better than nothing.
Ground systems do not have to be underground. Many stations use counterpoise systems of above ground radials; typically this is used with rooftop installations where the radials are suspended over the roof or even under the roofing material.
1020 and 1150 in LA have an industrial park under the radials. The radials are about 20 feet above ground and cover the roofs and, like a screen, are suspended over the parking areas. The system works just as well as when it had buried radials.
I'm sure they'll figure it out. The legacy AMs in the 1920s had their antennas on the roofs of their office buildings in the middle of big cities. I've seen pictures of WOR on top of Bambergers in Newark and WEAF on the roof of the old AT&T building in NYC. It's just temporary, although it could be several years.
Is that what WSB installed at Northlake Tower Festival? (The chief engineer told me WSB's ground system improved after the construction of the shopping center.)
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