WMEX Boston Missed An Opportunity

[Laurence Glavin]

It wasn't until I read on the Albany, NY site of radio-info.com did I find out that WPTR-AM 1540 was a Johnny-come-lately station, not hitting the air until 1948. I thought it was a heritage or pioneer outlet like so many 50,000-watts full time stations! So I checked americanradiohistory.com and clicked on a radio log from 1946, and yes, 1540 was still nearly wide open with outlets in Waterloo, IA and Cuba. If WMEX-AM 1510 had decided that they were being bashed by AMs at 1500 and 1520, could they have built out a new facility at 1540 with 50K day and night? What a missed opportunity!

 

[JIBGUY]

1540 is a (the) Bahamas clear channel frequency. But I wonder if ZNS-1540 was built by then; and/or assigned as a Bahamian freq at that time.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

1540 is a (the) Bahamas clear channel frequency. But I wonder if ZNS-1540 was built by then; and/or assigned as a Bahamian freq at that time.

Americanradiohistory.com doesn't show a station in the West Indies, but even if an assignment on 1540 was issued to take effect in a few years, WPTR was able to go on-the-air anyway, so a facility in Boston might have been possible. There were plenty of cities Albany's size (including the Metro area) that at that time had just one 50K: Spokane, WA; Hartford, CT. And several that had none: Phoenix (a much smaller city then) ; Providence; the urban complex in eastern Virginia called the Tidewater district. So there wasn't that much impetus for another 50K besides WGY.

 

[JIBGUY]

Amazing that Washington DC never had a non-directional 50kw clear. And only one 50kw; WTOP-1500. - Tiny little Wheeling WV even had a non-directional clear (on 1170).

 

[aerie]

WMEX missed the boat more than once. In 1940, WLAC was still a 5 kW class II station. In 1941, they got authorization to increase to class I-B with 50 kW (per 1941 Broadcasting Yearbook), with protection to WMEX and KGA. WMEX should have gone for an upgrade then. It's ironic, because KGA has now voluntarily downgraded itself to only 15 kW at night to favor a co-owned station in the San Francisco area. If WMEX had upgraded at the time WLAC upgraded, the other stations subsequently authorized on 1510 would probably never have happened and WWZN might have a better chance today.

 

[Early Byrd]

Didn't the infamous WMEX owner Mac Richmond also fail to take some type of action to stop the New London, CT 1510 station from encroaching on WMEX's southwestern signal...which, for all intents and purposes, was nothing to speak of?

Ironically, Mac Richmond was born in nearby Westerly RI, but grew up in New London. He and his family are buried there.

 

[DanStrassberg]

1540 is a (the) Bahamas clear channel frequency. But I wonder if ZNS-1540 was built by then; and/or assigned as a Bahamian freq at that time.

I used ti listen to ZNS (the -1 came later) and KXEL (which of the two depended on which way the ionosphere was "blowing" on any given night) in my parents' apartment in the Bronx near Yonkers back in the mid/late '40s, before WPTR was built. WPTR did not have much effect on DXing 1540 in the Bronx back then. WPTR's DA-1 pattern has a deep null toward Nassau and the Albany signal was usually not much in evidence. That null combined with some weirdness in the soil conductivity in the Capital District gives WPTR a really lousy signal in the Hudson Valley. BTW, when it signed on, WPTR was 10 kW-U and had a killer signal in Troy and Schenectady but, despite the half-wave towers, a surprisingly awful signal in Albany. They went to 50 kW very soon after sign on in the hope that they could meet the (then) requirement to deliver 25 mV/m to the city's major business district. But the increase to 50 kW did the trick only if the engineer making the field-intensity measurements was allowed to cherry pick the spots where the measurements were made. WROW and WOKO, both with only 5 kW (WROW was/is only 1 kW at night), had killer signals on State St. WPTR came in quite poorly. In fact, (then) Class IV WABY 1400 (back in those days graveyarders were limited to 250W-U) was more than competitive with WPTR in much of Albany despite the fact that the WABY and WPTR transmitters were both in Colonie (pretty much the geographic center of the Capital District. WPTR would have done much better if it had located in Glenmont, where WROW and WOKO were located. Even Selkirk (where WXKW 850 was), would have been better despite its being about 15 miles south of Albany.

 

[pqgeorge]

WMEX also had ample opportunity to get an FM signal as well. Most of the major AM'ers (WHDH, WBZ, WNAC, WLAW, WCOP) got an FM signal early on (WBZ, a few times over). WMEX even had a chance to get 104.1 before WBCN came to the air in '58. They screwed up royally. But, back then, most people thought FM would not amount to much. BOY were they wrong! Even at the age of 6 (in 1966), I knew that FM was something new and different. (I personally loved WRKO-FM ("ARKO-matic") and saw the difference between AM and FM. Sound wise, NO contest. )

 

[Fenway1912]

Mac was offered WBOS for cheap money in the 60's but keep in mind he also had a FM in Washington (WPGC) that his daytimer kept afloat.

He didn't think much of WROR or WKOX-FM.

Even before he died he was convinced that AM would always be king. John Garabedian was also convinced of that which is why he fought to get WGTR up and running.

WMEX also had ample opportunity to get an FM signal as well. Most of the major AM'ers (WHDH, WBZ, WNAC, WLAW, WCOP) got an FM signal early on (WBZ, a few times over). WMEX even had a chance to get 104.1 before WBCN came to the air in '58. They screwed up royally. But, back then, most people thought FM would not amount to much. BOY were they wrong! Even at the age of 6 (in 1966), I knew that FM was something new and different. (I personally loved WRKO-FM ("ARKO-matic") and saw the difference between AM and FM. Sound wise, NO contest. )

 

[iyiyi]

WMEX held their ground for a good number of years against WBZ and WRKO. With 3 towers stuck in the mud of the mighty Neponset River at Quincy, MA. 5,000 glorious watts of power vs 50,000 watts for their competition.

WMEX's pre-NARBA bid to move from 1500 to 1470 was rejected more than once. They just got approved only a short while before NARBA would have banished them to 1490. I'm guessing that a deal with co-channel WNLC to accept mutual interference on the new 1510 far exceeded the alternative of both stations ending on the 250 watt 1490 frequency!

My personal feelings are that 1510 is one of the most improved frequencies from nightime interference in this region. 1510 used to be a zoo of co-channel clutter. So I believe WMEX made the right choices. WNLC no longer is an issue in Boston but 1540 is about as good signal as a 1240 or 1340 anywhere in the North East.

Things would probably have gone best for 1510 if they'd been able to install a stable ground system and remained in Quincy. The first couple hours of tide changes could keep you hopping to keep the pattern in spec. The cost for an effective ground for that array was prohibitive.

-

 

[DanStrassberg]

WMEX held their ground for a good number of years against WBZ and WRKO. With 3 towers stuck in the mud of the mighty Neponset River at Quincy, MA. 5,000 glorious watts of power vs 50,000 watts for their competition.

The night array (previously the DA-1 array) in Squantum was always two towers. The third tower did not materialize until the daytime power increase to 50 kw. At that point, WMEX became 50 kW-D/5 kW-N DA-2. It still used two towers day and night but only one of the three towers was common between the day and night arrays. The night pattern used the north and south towers and the day pattern used the south and east towers. The original plan was to use the north and east towers by day, but the state took the land on which the east tower was to have been built and the east tower instead had to be built south of its originally planned location.

Although the construction of the State St South office complex just west of the site utterly decimated the 5 kW night signal, the 50 kW day signal remained pretty good. Anybody in his right mind would have said the day pattern was ridiculous because all of the signal went out to sea but the guy who designed the day pattern knew what he was doing. I don't think that the 50 kW day signal was anywhere inferior to the old 5 kW day signal. It covered inland a pretty good distance--particularly to the north of the site. There were thus many places where the 50 kW did a world of good. However, once the office complex went up, a new night site became mandatory.

 

[DougD]

It just occurred to me for the first time that Boston, a city of 600,000 (give or take), has five 50,000-watt AM radio stations (WRKO, WEEI, WBZ, WXKS, and WWZN, and I suppose --- though as a Worcester County native I would never concede this --- one could throw in WCRN as well), which ranks it right up there with Chicago (six) and New York (six). I'm impressed!

 

[DanStrassberg]

It just occurred to me for the first time that Boston, a city of 600,000 (give or take), has five 50,000-watt AM radio stations (WRKO, WEEI, WBZ, WXKS, and WWZN, and I suppose --- though as a Worcester County native I would never concede this --- one could throw in WCRN as well), which ranks it right up there with Chicago (six) and New York (six). I'm impressed!

New York has eight: 660, 710, 770, 880, 1010, 1050, 1130, 1560. Of these, all but two (1010, 1050) are Class As. Boston has only one class A (WBZ). In fact, there is only one other Class A AM in all of the six New England statews (WTIC). Chicago has five Class As (670, 720, 780, 890, 1000).

 

[DougD]

I stand corrected. I had forgotten 1010 and 1130 in New York, and had remembered 1160 but had forgotten 1000 in Chicago.

BTW: I understand that at one time, around 1940 or thereabouts, Travelers Insurance made noises about wanting to relocate WTIC to Boston. I don't know what the rationale was behind that, but I believe the FCC nixed it. What with WBZ and WNAC having the city's two NBC affiliations sewn up, I can't imagine what Travelers thought it would have gained by the move, except perhaps for speculation that NBC might prefer a Class A 50-kw 'er for its Red Network.

 

[DanStrassberg]

I stand corrected. I had forgotten 1010 and 1130 in New York, and had remembered 1160 but had forgotten 1000 in Chicago.

BTW: I understand that at one time, around 1940 or thereabouts, Travelers Insurance made noises about wanting to relocate WTIC to Boston. I don't know what the rationale was behind that, but I believe the FCC nixed it. What with WBZ and WNAC having the city's two NBC affiliations sewn up, I can't imagine what Travelers thought it would have gained by the move, except perhaps for speculation that NBC might prefer a Class A 50-kw 'er for its Red Network.

For certain, had WTIC moved to Boston, Boston radio history would be a lot different. Not all that high on the list of the various differences ranked by importance would be that there would be no WILD or WQOM. Maybe WQOM would be licensed to Worcester. Would Garabedian have been interested in building it if it could not have become, in effect, a Boston station? Higher on the list, would CBS have bought the old WEEI 590? WTIC, with 50 kW, might have become the CBS affiliate. Hartford radio history would also be a lot different.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

For certain, had WTIC moved to Boston, Boston radio history would be a lot different. Not all that high on the list of the various differences ranked by importance would be that there would be no WILD or WQOM.

I certainly wouldn't say that WILD was always not important. It isn't anymore, but for a few decades from the '60s until its long decline, it was a very important station to Boston's African-American community. What happened to it over the past decade or so was a shame, but it would have been much more of a shame if it had never existed.

 

[HHH]

WMEX held their ground for a good number of years against WBZ and WRKO. With 3 towers stuck in the mud of the mighty Neponset River at Quincy, MA. 5,000 glorious watts of power vs 50,000 watts for their competition.

The night array (previously the DA-1 array) in Squantum was always two towers. The third tower did not materialize until the daytime power increase to 50 kw. At that point, WMEX became 50 kW-D/5 kW-N DA-2. It still used two towers day and night but only one of the three towers was common between the day and night arrays. The night pattern used the north and south towers and the day pattern used the south and east towers. The original plan was to use the north and east towers by day, but the state took the land on which the east tower was to have been built and the east tower instead had to be built south of its originally planned location.

Although the construction of the State St South office complex just west of the site utterly decimated the 5 kW night signal, the 50 kW day signal remained pretty good. Anybody in his right mind would have said the day pattern was ridiculous because all of the signal went out to sea but the guy who designed the day pattern knew what he was doing. I don't think that the 50 kW day signal was anywhere inferior to the old 5 kW day signal. It covered inland a pretty good distance--particularly to the north of the site. There were thus many places where the 50 kW did a world of good. However, once the office complex went up, a new night site became mandatory.

Yes, I remember that the WIMMEX 50K day signal from Squantum was a big improvement in many areas. For the first time, you could hear station on Cape Cod and in Portland, Maine in the daytime. Unfortunately, WNLC New London prevented any gain to the southwest, so they still nulled pretty badly that way. The night signal was always pretty rough, squeezed in between two 50KW blasters from Washington and Buffalo, but -- as Dan says -- the new building made it go from bad to worse.

I know that 20/20 is hindsight, but they should have had Waltham as just a night site, and kept the Squantum site for day. Now with WNLC gone, they could have probably gone 50K non-D daytime from Squantum which would have probably had fabulous coverage.

 

[DanStrassberg]

I know that 20/20 is hindsight, but they should have had Waltham as just a night site, and kept the Squantum site for day. Now with WNLC gone, they could have probably gone 50K non-D daytime from Squantum which would have probably had fabulous coverage.

Except that the 50 kW ND operation would have to be limited to non-critical hours. WWZN's non-CH D pattern, which was made possible by the deletion of WNLC, sends toward Nashville a signal roughly the equivalent of 50 kW ND from the shorter towers at the old Squantum site. During CH, however, the old Waltham D pattern remains in effect and, though it is not nearly as restrictive to the southwest as is the night pattern, it is a pretty tight cardioid with a radiation maximum centered at around 60 degrees and minima to the southwest (around 240 degrees) equivalent to only about 1 kW ND.

Given the location of the Waltham site (northwest of downtown Boston), the high-on-the-dial frequency, and the poor soil conductivity around Waverly Square, it's really kind of amazing that WWZN gets out to the southwest as well as it does during CH. I think the CH coverage to the southwest from Squantum, where the conductivity is better, was at least as good. And don't forget that 1510 could diplex with WMKI during daylight hours (CH and non-CH) getting around the problems caused by the State St South office complex, which was west of the old WMEX site but is--I guess--more or less east of WMKI.

Someone had commented on the effect of the tide cycle on WMKI's night pattern. I believe that problem has been successfully addressed at other stations. One of them is the AM 910 in Oakland CA, whose two-tower array is actually in SF Bay. I believe that station (ex-KNEW) used to run 5 kW DA-N (maybe it was DA-1--not sure) but within the last decade or so increased to 20 kW-D/5 kW-N DA-2. I've been told that they use a float rather like the one in a toilet tank to adjust the phasor parameters as the tide comes in and goes out.