• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

WLAT/speculation

P

progressivetalk

Living here in Northern Connecticut, after dark, WLAT, which has a very strong daytime signal, disappears. I know that it gets nulled to the North, but once again, it is not being nulled this week. Regular engineer on vacation, or are they trying to revamp the nighttime signal for something else, like a shift in programming?

As for shifts in programming, any takers on which if any low rated AM signals defect to CBS or NBC Sports? How about WRYM?, WLAT?, WCTF?, WNEZ?, WDRC AM?. WKND?, WSDK?. Your turn!!!!
 
It's interesting you bring it up... An application for a change in the nighttime signal of WLAT was filed last week. Tower 4 of the inline nighttime array will be dismantled and the ground system removed. The property that tower 4 sat on will be sold... probably to build a house on Farmington Ridge Drive, that really nice swanky subdivision adjacent to the WLAT array.

As a result, WLAT's nighttime power will drop to 2,800 watts from 5,000 watts. The new night contour will actually have even more severe nulls to the north, and send a little less signal to the southeast.

That's one way to add to your station's profits... start selling the land out from underneath the towers!
 
progressivetalk said:
Living here in Northern Connecticut, after dark, WLAT, which has a very strong daytime signal, disappears. I know that it gets nulled to the North, but once again, it is not being nulled this week. Regular engineer on vacation, or are they trying to revamp the nighttime signal for something else, like a shift in programming?

As for shifts in programming, any takers on which if any low rated AM signals defect to CBS or NBC Sports? How about WRYM?, WLAT?, WCTF?, WNEZ?, WDRC AM?. WKND?, WSDK?. Your turn!!!!
Click to expand...

Are WRYM and WNEZ looking to abandon ethnic programming? Certainly 910 would be a nice signal for CBS or NBC Sports to land on, but I'm not sure it either it or 840 is in play. As for the others, WCTF and WKND would seem to be obvious throw-outs -- especially WCTF, which has trouble even getting to Hartford, let alone the southern and western suburbs.
 
I happened to be in the area earlier this evening so I made a stop at the WLAT site. The day tower and towers 1-3 on the nighttime array were all lit, but tower 4 was totally dark, sidemarkers and beacon. I'd hazard a guess that there's no juice going to the tower at all and they've already decided to run 3 towers at night.
 
WSDK isn't going anywhere. :) Blount Communications is a solid company. I worked for them for 20 years.
 
reelyreal said:
As a result, WLAT's nighttime power will drop to 2,800 watts from 5,000 watts. The new night contour will actually have even more severe nulls to the north, and send a little less signal to the southeast.
Click to expand...

But what about the nighttime signal going into New Britain and Hartford? Could it be better or worse?
 
New Britain will be the same, really solid. As for Hartford, I can't really tell. It's a tighter pattern, but I'd have to defer to someone better with AM DA's.
 
At least according to Radio-Locator, their day and night patterns put roughly the same signal over the Hartford area. Bill Blount got an extraordinary deal when he picked up that station! I wish him Godspeed! :)
 
WLAT'S daytime signal was up and running all last night. I was twirling the AM dial about 10 ish and it was coming in loud and clear. Does anyone know why WLAT's signal gets nulled north at night? I've been listening to AM radio for years and it's always been nulled north, except for sporadic periods in the last year or so. I wish the station would flip formats to something useful.
 
WLAT has to protect a Canadian allocation in Lindsay, ON also on 910 AM. The station's not on the air anymore, but the US-Canadian agreement says they still have to protect the station. There's also WAEI 910 in Bangor.

What you mean to say, I believe, is that you wish the station would flip formats to something useful TO YOU. I think the massive hispanic community would disagree with your assessment that the station isn't useful. It's locally owned, locally operated, has live DJ's and personalities, serves the community, and has pretty decent ratings for an AM music station serving a minority population.
 
MarcB said:
Don't know if they're on day or night pattern tonight, but I do know I'm having a devil of a time picking up CHML 900. I keep changing the position of my Walkman bleed-over from 910 keeps overpowering CHML. I'm in Southington off of Route 229 and Route 10.
Click to expand...

Curiously, CFRA Ottawa was overpowering WTAG Worcester on 580 last night in Meriden. It's usually the other way around.
 
CTListener said:
MarcB said:
Don't know if they're on day or night pattern tonight, but I do know I'm having a devil of a time picking up CHML 900. I keep changing the position of my Walkman bleed-over from 910 keeps overpowering CHML. I'm in Southington off of Route 229 and Route 10.
Click to expand...

Curiously, CFRA Ottawa was overpowering WTAG Worcester on 580 last night in Meriden. It's usually the other way around.
Click to expand...

Living in Windsor Locks, far enough away from the WLAT transmitters, I still do get CHML reasonably well, and WLAT is still on at night under its daytime power. Don't know how long that will last.
 
I'm not sure when it came down, but tower #4 of WLAT's night array is gone. I don't know who's got the engineering contract for the site, but the top beacon on the first tower in the night array is out at night.

The site is now 4 towers (plus that little communications monopole for the cell companies.) It's now 5kw non-directional days from the 1 day tower, and down to 2.8kw nights from the 3 towers in a line.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom