What third tower is used for WFIL??

[DanStrassberg]

our biggest co-channel headache is CKGM in Montreal. In theory, they are supposed to protect us with a rather deep null at night. The problem is that they have this bad habit of not switching to night pattern.

I think that's known as the Canadian AM nighttime syndrome. The only cure for it seems to be a lethal dose of surrendered license. If Canada still had as many AMs as it did, say, 10 years ago, and they were all operating in the standard Canadian AM fashion, I think the effects on the AM band in the US would be as bad as the "side effects" currently attributed to the iBiquity syndrome;>( Probably with a little help from the Recession, the spread of the iBiquity syndrome seems to have been brought under control--at least temporarily.

 

[rtetro]

I think that's known as the Canadian AM nighttime syndrome. The only cure for it seems to be a lethal dose of surrendered license.

Dan, I've also had a similar problem with CFOS on 560 interfering with WFIL. Normally, however, a quick call from our GM to theirs cures it...for a while. I wouldn't dare run WNTP at night using the 50kw day pattern. It would be so obvious. I'd be scared to death that Dave Dombrowski from the local field office would stop be for an unexpected visit. I know there are lots of stations in the US that try to get away with running their day system at night. I see lots of them getting caught and fined on the FCC website, particularly those that are located out in Podunk who think they are so far away from things that it will not be noticed. But, even a local station here in Philly, WTMR, got cited for it about a year ago - which surprised me because they are owned by Beasley, which is normally a pretty straight outfit.

In the US, from what I've seen, it seems to be most prevalent among stations that only have 100 watts or less at nice. If I hear a station at 10PM 400 miles away that runs 1kw day and 22 watts at night, it's a pretty good bet they are running on day pattern. You read of lots of such reception on the various DX Lists.

I say reregulate transmitter operations. Make stations keep readings again. We still do readings every two hours. They can be automated, just like pattern/power changes, so it takes no human element unless there's a problem. Aside from helping to keep people honest, it gives you a record of your operations should something be questioned. And today's remote control systems will notify you via a page or email if something goes out of tolerance. This is especially important if you are operating unattended for long periods of the day or weekend.

 

[oasisrulz]

Could you please check WURD, I think they are running out of legality, day and night they get out more than they are suppossed to...Leaveas or whatever their name and deal is would get away with it anyway...they are so much stronger than when they were WFLN and WDVT with the old three tower array....daytime only...thanks again...btw is Cody the Crook still involved with that station, did he ever pay the 2 million lawsuit with WHAT from the city, probably not, I think the mad bomber excused him.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

I know there are lots of stations in the US that try to get away with running their day system at night.

There have been a few "illegal power aliens" from time to time in the Phoenix market
during the past 5-6 years or so.

And then there's one AM daytimer (it has minimal night authorization but hardly ever
uses it) that never IDs itself at sign-on and sign-off and has been up to +/- ten
minutes early or late from the specified monthly on/off times. It even has its own
33-page thread on the Phoenix board, we're so fond of it and its quirky lamptimer.

 

[rtetro]

Could you please check WURD, I think they are running out of legality, day and night they get out more than they are suppossed to...Leaveas or whatever their name and deal is would get away with it anyway...they are so much stronger than when they were WFLN and WDVT with the old three tower array...

I've never had reason to check the difference in WURD's day and night field strengths. I do know from discussions with WFLN's former CE that WURD's pattern is substantially different from the old WFLN-AM.

In theory, using 1kw day and about 100 watts at night WURD's night signal RMS should only be about 31% of their day signal...all things being equal. It might be interesting for someone to go out and do a field strength reading during the late day around sunset and see if it drops at night. Of course, their day and night patterns are somewhat different; but even at that, monitoring the station in its main day lobe should show a substantial difference in field between the two patterns/power levels.

It might be an interesting experiment. I know I can't get them at night here in Lansdale because CHML in Hamilton, ON just wipes them out.

One other note about WURD. Has anyone else noticed how bad their audio is? I'd be willing to bet that they are only using a standard 300 to 3khz, non-equalized telephone line for their studio-transmitter link. Everything they broadcast, even stuff that originates in their studio, sounds like it's run through a standard phone line. I guess it helps keep the costs down...but it sounds like garbage.

 

[DanStrassberg]

I've never had reason to check the difference in WURD's day and night field strengths. I do know from discussions with WFLN's former CE that WURD's pattern is substantially different from the old WFLN-AM.

In theory, using 1kw day and about 100 watts at night WURD's night signal RMS should only be about 31% of their day signal...all things being equal.

But all things are not equal. WURD's day and night patterns, though formed by the same pair of towers, differ substantially from each other. The day pattern is a modfied cardioid centered on zero degrees true. The inverse-distance field at 0 degrees is 449 mV/m @ 1 km. The night pattern is an ellipse with its major axis on an east-west line. The inverse-distance field at 0 degrees is ~84 mV/m @ 1 km. So if you were measuring day and night fields along the 0-degree radial, you should find that the day signal is more than five times the night signal. Along the 180-degree radial, however, the day signal is less than 1/4th the night signal because the day pattern minimum lies at 180 degrees.