WKBR in Manchester to go all sports

[Viking22]

From today's Nashua Telegraph:

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060317/BUSINESS/103170115/-1/XML08

"Starting March 20, WKBR’s current “oldies” format will change to the region’s first all-sports talk format.

Because of Absolute’s affiliation with Fox Sports Radio, the station will broadcast under the banner “Fox Sports 1250.” The new format will cover local, regional and national sports with comprehensive coverage of New Hampshire high school athletics, Monahan said.

WKBR is one of the largest stations in the state, broadcasting full time at 5,000 watts. The station covers Southern New Hampshire and can be heard as far away as the Lakes Region. Absolute already operates WSNH-ESPN 900 and WSMN-AM 1590, both in Nashua.

“There are a lot of residents in the region who are starving for more coverage of local high school sports,” Monahan wrote in a press release"

 

[Toni]

> From today's Nashua Telegraph:
>

> WKBR is one of the largest stations in the state,
> broadcasting full time at 5,000 watts.


Hmmm...

I bet lots of NH stations would take issue with that statement.

 

[hglick]

> > From today's Nashua Telegraph:
> >
>
> > WKBR is one of the largest stations in the state,
> > broadcasting full time at 5,000 watts.
>
>
> Hmmm...
>
> I bet lots of NH stations would take issue with that
> statement.
>


At one time WKBR had a decent signal in Concord,during the day. At night the pattern changed and essentially through the signal straighht up in the air. You weere lucky to pick it up in downtown Manchester! The Lakes Region? I don't think so.

ANd, wasn't it an ESPN affiliate once before?

 

[jjkktj]

> > > From today's Nashua Telegraph:
> > >
> >
> > > WKBR is one of the largest stations in the state,
> > > broadcasting full time at 5,000 watts.
> >
> >
> > Hmmm...
> >
> > I bet lots of NH stations would take issue with that
> > statement.
> >
>
>
> At one time WKBR had a decent signal in Concord,during the
> day. At night the pattern changed and essentially through
> the signal straighht up in the air. You weere lucky to pick
> it up in downtown Manchester! The Lakes Region? I don't
> think so.
>
> ANd, wasn't it an ESPN affiliate once before?
>

Nope, One-on-One sports/Sporting News Radio.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

> At one time WKBR had a decent signal in Concord,during the
> day. At night the pattern changed and essentially through
> the signal straighht up in the air. You weere lucky to pick
> it up in downtown Manchester! The Lakes Region? I don't
> think so.

I worked there in 1990 in it's last days as a live oldies station with DJ's.

The night pattern at that time threw the signal southeast from Goffstown over Manchester and toward the seacoast. I used to get calls from Exeter and that area at night. It was still pretty solid in Manchester at night at that time.

It didn't go very far north or south at night. We used to hear from Bow and Candia to the north and Derry to the south, and that was about it at night. Weare and occasionally Hillsborough to the northwest.

It's sharply nulled to the southwest day and night to protect WARE in Ware, MA. It was weak in Nashua, and it didn't go toward the Monadnocks at all. It was pretty much non-existent in Amherst and Milford.

 

[Oldbones]

>
> It didn't go very far north or south at night. We used to
> hear from Bow and Candia to the north and Derry to the
> south, and that was about it at night. Weare and
> occasionally Hillsborough to the northwest.
>
> It's sharply nulled to the southwest day and night to
> protect WARE in Ware, MA. It was weak in Nashua, and it
> didn't go toward the Monadnocks at all. It was pretty much
> non-existent in Amherst and Milford.
>


I'm skeptical about the signal reaching Weare or Hillsborough...those towns didn't get much of a signal even with the day pattern. Maybe it was some dx-er that called you.

Oddly, they do put a lobe to the south (at least with the day pattern). They put a pretty good signal (at least on a car radio) into Littleton, Mass.

 

[JIBGUY]

KBR's signal in daytime goes west, north and south; 3 lobes. However the north one misses Concord and the south one misses Nashua... but hits Hudson better. At night, it goes only norteast, east, southeast and south in an oval-shaped pattern, looking like a tilted egg. 1250 is a crowded frequency sandwiches in between 1240 Franklin NH and 1260 in Boston, the latter whose HD signal clobbers KBR anywhere in Mass. - There's also WARE to protect, which even in the daytime, can be heard mixed in with KBR's signal about 5 miles southwest of KBR's tower site on the Goffstown-Manchester line, for KBR has a null in the daytime to the southwest and the northwest. 5kw stations in bad-ground-conductivity-New Hampshire don't go as far as 5 kw's elsewhere. The tower site has an impressive 5 tower array (3 day; 4 night) on 40 acres in Goffstown on Goffstown Back Road, west of Manchester. WKBR's signal IS the strongest in the city-proper at night, with an impressive 78 mv/m !! (I measured it often, being one of many former owners of the station.) - Because of the high porperty taxes on the 40-acre parcel of land ($15,000.00+) and the electric bill, many people have mentioned that perhaps the station would be better off at their old tower site in the northwest corner of Manchester, next to I-295. To some extent that's true.... They had 1000 watts at 1250, one tower (4 cement pilings stil there I believe, along with the old dog house), and a solid signal. But the station could not move back there to that site, as its no longer owned by the station, and mostly due to the fact that 1240 in Franklin came on since WKBR's 1960 move to Goffstown. KBR's in-city 1kw signal was non-directional and today would be too close to Franklin. The current signal casts a null towards Franklin.

 

[KML0224]

> - Because of the high porperty
> taxes on the 40-acre parcel of land ($15,000.00+) and the
> electric bill, many people have mentioned that perhaps the
> station would be better off at their old tower site in the
> northwest corner of Manchester, next to I-295.

Don't you mean I-393? There is no I-295 in New Hampshire!<P ID="signature">______________
The 2006 New York Yankees...on to title #27!</P>

 

[hglick]

> > - Because of the high porperty
> > taxes on the 40-acre parcel of land ($15,000.00+) and the
> > electric bill, many people have mentioned that perhaps the
>
> > station would be better off at their old tower site in the
>
> > northwest corner of Manchester, next to I-295.
>
> Don't you mean I-393? There is no I-295 in New Hampshire!
>

I-293...used to be I-93 that ran through M<anchester along the river past the old mills.

393 is in Concord.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

> > It didn't go very far north or south at night. We used to
> > hear from Bow and Candia to the north and Derry to the
> > south, and that was about it at night. Weare and
> > occasionally Hillsborough to the northwest.
> >
> > It's sharply nulled to the southwest day and night to
> > protect WARE in Ware, MA. It was weak in Nashua, and it
> > didn't go toward the Monadnocks at all. It was pretty much
> > non-existent in Amherst and Milford.
>
> I'm skeptical about the signal reaching Weare or
> Hillsborough...those towns didn't get much of a signal even
> with the day pattern. Maybe it was some dx-er that called
> you.
>
> Oddly, they do put a lobe to the south (at least with the
> day pattern). They put a pretty good signal (at least on a
> car radio) into Littleton, Mass.

Their day signal goes due south and southeast fairly well. It used to be audible, though weak, throughout the whole Merrimack Valley in the daytime, before 1260 in Boston started kicking out the IBOC noise.

I lived in Arlington, MA in 1990 when I worked there, and I could hear their day signal at home on my Radio Shack TM-152, though weak and noisy. It could be heard just barely well enough to hear what song was on, or what was being said, all over the northwest Boston suburbs in the car.

I recall that, for some reason, there was a small spot right at the Cambridge/Boston line on the O'Brien Highway in the Science Museum/Leverett Circle area where something must've been conducting their signal and they came in quite well.

There was a spot in my driveway in Arlington where they came in both day and night (if the background skywaves weren't too strong). Of course, you can forget hearing them in these areas at any time since 1260 went IBOC.

I have also heard the WKBR day signal in Littleton, but when I tried ten miles farther west in Lunenberg, I got only WARE (very weak) on 1250 and no trace of WKBR. The WKBR null is southwest.

 

[Oldbones]

> Because of the high porperty
> taxes on the 40-acre parcel of land ($15,000.00+) and the
> electric bill, many people have mentioned that perhaps the
> station would be better off at their old tower site in the
> northwest corner of Manchester, next to I-295. To some
> extent that's true.... They had 1000 watts at 1250, one
> tower (4 cement pilings stil there I believe, along with the
> old dog house), and a solid signal. But the station could
> not move back there to that site, as its no longer owned by
> the station, and mostly due to the fact that 1240 in
> Franklin came on since WKBR's 1960 move to Goffstown. KBR's
> in-city 1kw signal was non-directional and today would be
> too close to Franklin. The current signal casts a null
> towards Franklin.

I don't see why WKBR should protect Franklin...WKBR has been at it's present site since moving to 1250 in the early 60s...WFTN didn't sign on until several years later. Obviously, now that WFTN exists any changes in WKBR's pattern would have to protect them, but they didn't exist when that DA was built. When WKBR's tower was at the (then) studio on Front St., they were on 1240 with 250W. I thought they had to go DA in order to move to 1250 (protecting WARE and the 1250 in Pittsburgh).

 

[JIBGUY]

> I don't see why WKBR should protect Franklin...WKBR has been
> at it's present site since moving to 1250 in the early
> 60s...WFTN didn't sign on until several years later.
> Obviously, now that WFTN exists any changes in WKBR's
> pattern would have to protect them, but they didn't exist
> when that DA was built. When WKBR's tower was at the (then)
> studio on Front St., they were on 1240 with 250W. I thought
> they had to go DA in order to move to 1250 (protecting WARE
> and the 1250 in Pittsburgh).
>
=================================================
Actually I forgot to mention that WKBR's ORIGINAL day pattern at the Goffstown site is different than it is now. Around 1968 or so, it changed to its preset pattern. From 1960 to 1968 (or so), the day pattern was shaped like a butterfly as if it was flying to the north-northeast. WFTN-1240-Franklin came on during THAT time I think. - Also does anyone know that WKBR started its life as WCNH-1240-Concord? Yup, it did. But to my knowledge by the time it got on the air it became WKBR, and relocated to Manchester.

 

[channelsurf]

Growing up around Leominster, in the 60s and 70s, WKBR-AM did not exist. It could sometimes be faintly heard under WARE. However, 95.7-WKBR-FM was like a local, in that area....


KBR's signal in daytime goes west, north and south; 3 lobes.
> However the north one misses Concord and the south one
> misses Nashua... but hits Hudson better. At night, it goes
> only norteast, east, southeast and south in an oval-shaped
> pattern, looking like a tilted egg. 1250 is a crowded
> frequency sandwiches in between 1240 Franklin NH and 1260 in
> Boston, the latter whose HD signal clobbers KBR anywhere in
> Mass. - There's also WARE to protect, which even in the
> daytime, can be heard mixed in with KBR's signal about 5
> miles southwest of KBR's tower site on the
> Goffstown-Manchester line, for KBR has a null in the daytime
> to the southwest and the northwest. 5kw stations in
> bad-ground-conductivity-New Hampshire don't go as far as 5
> kw's elsewhere. The tower site has an impressive 5 tower
> array (3 day; 4 night) on 40 acres in Goffstown on Goffstown
> Back Road, west of Manchester. WKBR's signal IS the
> strongest in the city-proper at night, with an impressive 78
> mv/m !! (I measured it often, being one of many former
> owners of the station.) - Because of the high porperty
> taxes on the 40-acre parcel of land ($15,000.00+) and the
> electric bill, many people have mentioned that perhaps the
> station would be better off at their old tower site in the
> northwest corner of Manchester, next to I-295. To some
> extent that's true.... They had 1000 watts at 1250, one
> tower (4 cement pilings stil there I believe, along with the
> old dog house), and a solid signal. But the station could
> not move back there to that site, as its no longer owned by
> the station, and mostly due to the fact that 1240 in
> Franklin came on since WKBR's 1960 move to Goffstown. KBR's
> in-city 1kw signal was non-directional and today would be
> too close to Franklin. The current signal casts a null
> towards Franklin.
>