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WHTZ vs. WPHI

J

Jacko

Hey all, I want to bring up 100.3 WHTZ and 100.3 WPHI and say how are these two class Bs so close to each other in geography. Sure, WPHI is directional, but by the information I've seen, not very directional. I don't know all the specifics, but it seems to me that WHTZ's transmitter (on the ESB) and WPHI's transmitter are too close to each other to be on the same frequency. And the reason I put this on the NJ board is that you guys are in the middle of it, and I'm sure there's some funky back-and-forth signal swapping somewhere in the middle. Any answers would be nice.

Thanks
Jacko<P ID="signature">______________
I live for my dream,
And a pocket full of gold.
</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Jacko on 11/10/05 12:28 AM.</FONT></P>
 
Dear Jacko and all interested,

The WHTZ/WPHI allocations are amongst several short-spaced between the NY and Philadelphia markets, such as 99.5 mhz. and 101.1 mhz., going back to a time when FM was still experimental and FM car radios didn't even exist, yet. There were many in the business and connected with the FCC who had little faith in FM going anywhere, success-wise. FM radios were in very short supply and pretty insensitive by current standards. Theoretically, FM radio was considered a line-of-sight service that they didn't think would cut through the Watchung Mountains in New Jersey, for one obstacle. Some of these allocations were originally meant for Delaware, hence there being greater anticipated distance between stations. Over the years, money and greed overruled short-spacing, and the competing allocations sort of learned to live with a certain amount of mutual interference. Also, keep in mind that many of the areas with serious signal overlap were also underpopulated by 21st century standards almost 60 years ago, so fewer radio listeners were around to be annoyed by the interference. If you couldn't drive through these coverage areas with the picket-fencing reception, it just presumably did not exist as far as many broadcasters were concerned.
 
> Hey all, I want to bring up 100.3 WHTZ and 100.3 WPHI and
> say how are these two class Bs so close to each other in
> geography. Sure, WPHI is directional, but by the
> information I've seen, not very directional. I don't know
> all the specifics, but it seems to me that WHTZ's
> transmitter (on the ESB) and WPHI's transmitter are too
> close to each other to be on the same frequency. And the
> reason I put this on the NJ board is that you guys are in
> the middle of it, and I'm sure there's some funky
> back-and-forth signal swapping somewhere in the middle. Any
> answers would be nice.
>
> Thanks
> Jacko
>

100.3 was always an interesting scenario. From lots of locations in NJ, you can aim your antenna one way and pick up Z100, then swing the antenna around and pick up 100.3 The Beat. Regular old antennae... No fancy shmancy shiz from the electronics stores.
 
> Hey all, I want to bring up 100.3 WHTZ and 100.3 WPHI and
> say how are these two class Bs so close to each other in
> geography. Sure, WPHI is directional, but by the
> information I've seen, not very directional. I don't know
> all the specifics, but it seems to me that WHTZ's
> transmitter (on the ESB) and WPHI's transmitter are too
> close to each other to be on the same frequency. And the
> reason I put this on the NJ board is that you guys are in
> the middle of it, and I'm sure there's some funky
> back-and-forth signal swapping somewhere in the middle. Any
> answers would be nice.
>
> Thanks
> Jacko
>

The 101.1 situation seems to be much worse than the 100.3 situation in most of Central Jersey. Only 10 minutes away from Staten Island, WCBS-FM gets beaten up by WBEB on the Driscoll Bridge between Woodbridge and Sayreville. And in most of Middlesex County south of Edison, B-101 cuts in and out. WHTZ doesn't seem to have those problems in those areas. 100.3's problems occur further down, near Princeton.
 
Coverage map of the Interference Areas

I had made a map of the overlap of Z100 and 100.3 The Beat.

<img src=http://wwph1079fm.no-ip.org/images/z100y100.gif></img>

There is a large area of interference, but the biggest interference area is where the signals are both weaker than 60 dBu. I get both Z100 and 100.3 The Beat about equally where I live.<P ID="signature">______________
17-year-old radio geek
Location: Princeton Junction, NJ
AIM: KewlDude471</P>
 
I lived in the New Brunswick area for many years and never listened to 101.1 because of all the interference, especially in the car. On my home stereo it wasn't as bad but the signal was still fuzzy. 100.3 was not as big of a problem.
 
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