WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH WGY'S NIGHT SIGNAL???

[Adman4120]

I know this is probably a topic of very little interest, however, I am very interested in finding a correct answer. I know i asked this question several months ago about WGY's terrible signal, especially at night. Most responses mentioned that it was the skywave that was causing WGY's terrible signal at night, especially IF they are indeed running 50,000 watts at night.

I admit, I do not fully understand everything about the skywave, but I have been traveling every weekend for the past 6 weekends from Rome, NY to Long Island, Bangor Maine, Worester, Mass, Springfield Mass, and Buffalo, NY. I could not even hear WGY 40 miles away from their tower when traveling at night either away from their tower on the New York State Thruway, or heading back toward their tower.

I just do not buy that it is skywave because this is a normal every night happening. There is more interference underneath their signal that you do not even know there is a WGY on 810. The other night, we were heading back from Bangor Maine. Never even heard a peep out of WGY until 40 miles away. Skywave or no Skywave, that should not happen, should it? Even at 20 miles away, their signal was shakey.

I have always liked the station, but no matter where I go at night, there is just noise. I am not crazy about this. I even picked up 1kw WROW better. For 50,000 watts, you would never, ever, know, unless they have reduced power at night to save Clear Channel money, or tower or transmitter problems.

Thanks for any input.

 

[Channel Surf]

The main problem with WGY's night time coverage seems to be the night time skywave signal of 10,000 watt
CJVA, Carquet, New Brunswick. The station signed on during the 1980s and has caused havoc with WGY's night time signal in the northeast ever since. Once you are about forty to 60 miles from WGY's transmitter,
you do have the groundwave/skywave cancellation phenomenon occurring with WGY's signal, plus you are receiving strong skywave interference from CJVA. From what I can tell, that is the main problem with WGY's
signal. By day, you can pull WGY in clearly on Cape Cod or in Maine with a GE Superadio, but certainly not at night. By contrast you can get WGY in South Florida at night, with alot of interference. As a matter of fact,
the night time signal of WGY in south Florida, isn't much worse than the night time signal of WGY in Maine, which is just south of New Brunswick. Perhaps, CJVA will defect to the FM band at some point, like so many Canadian AMs already have. If they do shut that AM off eventually, I think that WGY's night time signal will improve by about 90%.

 

[Adman4120]

Hello Channel Surf........Thank-you very much for the insight on WGY's signal problem at night. I am sure you can understand my confusion, since I am not an engineer, nor fully understand the skywave/groundwave information.

You are so correct in stating that once you get about 40 miles beyond WGY's transmitter at night, they are basically gone from the face of the earth. I know there are probably different rules for stations in the US and Canada, but doesn't seem like there should be some agreement so this Canadian station doesn't squash WGY into non existence, since both stations are so close to each other with such high power?

It is sad if you can hear WGY two or three hundred miles south, but cannot hear them 40 miles east at night. And, going West toward Syracuse, N.Y, they are not much better at night. Can barely hear WGY at night in Central or Western N.Y. either. It just seems like this 810 frequency, is the only major 50,000 watt clear channel frequency that has this bad of a signal problem at night in so many areas.

Thank-you again for you explanation.

 

[fybush]

Funny thing...I was just thinking about the first incarnation of this thread as I drove west past the WGY tower on Sunday afternoon, heading home to Rochester. It was about 3:30 at that point, and I made it a point to check the 810 signal a few times along the way as I drove.

Sunday was an unusual day for AM propagation - there was a lot of late-afternoon skywave, more reminiscent of December/January conditions than mid-September. My own local WXXI 1370 is normally clearly audible around Syracuse, but on Sunday it was getting hammered by skywave from WELG down in Ellenville; I could still hear WELG's signal under WXXI's as close in as southeastern Monroe County, which is most unusual.

Getting back to WGY: its signal was not noticeably impaired anywhere along my drive. And I checked again last night from here in Rochester to find it blasting in with a nice, listenable signal on a portable radio.

 

[Adman4120]

Hello Mr. Fybush....Thank-you for responding to my questions about WGY. I do travel to Brockport every other weekend to visit family and most of the time, I have not been able to get WGY that good. There have been a few occasions when it hasn't been that bad, but then, as I get closer to Syracuse, it gets crazy with noise and interference.

I also wanted to say that your Northeast Radio Watch is one entertaining and informative website. I just paid my $60 subscription and joined a few weeks ago. I also received your 2009 calendar.

Keep up the great work!!!

 

[fybush]

Thanks, Adman...and when you open that www.fybush.com/calendar.html"]2009 calendar[/url], you'll find the WGY tower in it, ironically enough.

I wish I had some better answers for you about your noise problem. Do you hear the same noise around Syracuse on other nearby frequencies - say, WHAS Louisville on 840 or WBBM Chicago on 780?

 

[Adman4120]

Hello Again Mr. Fybush...Being an audio nut, even though I might not understand every explanation, I must say that I have not experienced this same problem with any other 50,000 watt stations. This is why I have been so puzzled. I can pick up WHAS, WFAN, WABC, WCBS, WSM, WBZ, KYW, KDKA, even KMOX, among others with no problem. I will say that another interesting tidbit I always notice is: When the big stations in the Northeast come in decent at night in the Rome/Utica area, the stations from Chicago such as WLS, WBBM, WGN, WMVP do not come in good at all, and when the stations from the Northeast do not come in well, the stations from the midwest seem to come in just the opposite...Better!

However, when I do not pick up any of these stations, it has that sound of the station just not coming in, if that makes any sense, but when WGY doesn't come in, there is so much back ground noise and interference. Someone else a few months ago described what I am talking about, but I forget what he had said.

I have been in the ad agency field for the past 18-years and was in radio prior to that. Even now, I free lance on WIBX in Utica doing sports, and I was able to pick that station up last Saturday night 30 miles east of Albany and they are only 5kw, and WGY at 50,000 watts at 40 miles away from the transmitter was nowhere to be found. Just weird.

I am not trying to make a big deal over something that is so trivial to most people, but I can tell you this. That Canadian station others have referred too giving WGY fits at night in the Northeast was on before Clear Channel purchased WGY. And, WGY never had any problems with signal at night. They have only had these problems over the past several years, since Clear Channel became owner. I just wonder if something changed since Clear Channel took over. From reading there reputation, nothing would surprise me.

Nice speaking with you.

 

[4dude]

WGY sucks,they are littering the airwaves with that IBOC crap thst probably is hardily getting listenend to! (They sound like crap,a hiss under them due to this)

 

[KB1PCI]

I live on Cape Cod and can recieve WGY during sunset and after sunset, as well as a bit after sunrise. Haven't tried during the day. And this was on a home stereo as well as a car radio.

 

[cspence]

On the south shore of Long Island I hear a faint but listenable daytime signal witha GE Superadio. It was a lot better before WNYC went IBOC :'( :'( Nite time the signal varies greatly.

 

[disney fanatic]

Thanks for the info! I remember when WGY used to carried 50kw at night for many years. I'm living in Kingston, but I'm not really sure if this station can or cannot pick up the signal at night. This is the same problem like they did with WNYM (formerly WWDJ) which is now "The Apple" at 970.