WPEN has been off the air this morning (Tuesday), checked several radios between 5:45 and 6:30 and nothing there. Guess this is related to storms last night? Is there a 'rush' to get them back on the air - or hasn't anyone there noticed yet? What if it was a weekend and the infomercials weren't being heard!
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WPEN Off the Air Tuesday AM
- Thread starter John1
- Start date
W
westlife
Guest
WPEN is back on -- and the digital hash is too
> WPEN has been off the air this morning (Tuesday), checked
> several radios between 5:45 and 6:30 and nothing there.
> Guess this is related to storms last night? Is there a
> 'rush' to get them back on the air - or hasn't anyone there
> noticed yet? What if it was a weekend and the infomercials
> weren't being heard!
I tuned in around 9 AM and heard them on the air, with the same noisy IBOC digital signal and horribly low-fidelity 5 kHz audio as heard from them in the past. Oh well, that week or so of WPEN broadcasting a crisp, clean analog signal was fun while it lasted!
And maybe they were off the air to flush the toxins out of their antenna system... you know, just like all those color cleanser infomercials they run.
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> WPEN has been off the air this morning (Tuesday), checked
> several radios between 5:45 and 6:30 and nothing there.
> Guess this is related to storms last night? Is there a
> 'rush' to get them back on the air - or hasn't anyone there
> noticed yet? What if it was a weekend and the infomercials
> weren't being heard!
I tuned in around 9 AM and heard them on the air, with the same noisy IBOC digital signal and horribly low-fidelity 5 kHz audio as heard from them in the past. Oh well, that week or so of WPEN broadcasting a crisp, clean analog signal was fun while it lasted!
And maybe they were off the air to flush the toxins out of their antenna system... you know, just like all those color cleanser infomercials they run.
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Re: WPEN is back on -- and the digital hash is too
I think the IBOC was off again later in the day.
I think the IBOC was off again later in the day.
W
westlife
Guest
WPEN is a flip-flopper!
> I think the IBOC was off again later in the day.
It was off again today. Looks like WPEN is either "flip-flopping" on its decision to transmit IBOC, or they're doing testing of the new nighttime antenna system (shared with 860 WWDB's towers) which requires IBOC to be off during those tests. (Certain technical adjustments of an AM station's tower system CANNOT be done with the IBOC digital sidebands in use. So I guess when AM stations switch to full-digital IBOC in the future, then they can no longer properly adjust their towers!?)
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> I think the IBOC was off again later in the day.
It was off again today. Looks like WPEN is either "flip-flopping" on its decision to transmit IBOC, or they're doing testing of the new nighttime antenna system (shared with 860 WWDB's towers) which requires IBOC to be off during those tests. (Certain technical adjustments of an AM station's tower system CANNOT be done with the IBOC digital sidebands in use. So I guess when AM stations switch to full-digital IBOC in the future, then they can no longer properly adjust their towers!?)
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K
k2pg
Guest
Re: WPEN is a flip-flopper!
> Looks like WPEN is either
> "flip-flopping" on its decision to transmit IBOC, or they're
> doing testing of the new nighttime antenna system (shared
> with 860 WWDB's towers) which requires IBOC to be off during
> those tests.
Or they may simply be testing the IBOC equipment itself, the performance of the IBOC transmissions and prototype IBOC receivers, or the degree of interference caused to other stations on nearby frequencies. Greater Media's VP of Engineering is a prominent figure in the development of IBOC for both AM and FM and many Greater Media stations are doing the pioneering work in the deployment of IBOC, so it is highly unlikely that WPEN or any other Greater Media station would "flip-flop" on a decision to transmit IBOC.
Antenna system bandwidth and group delay affect the transmission of the digital sidebands. Any changes in the antenna system would require a sweep of the system at the common point, watching the changes in common point impedance as the frequency is swept through the IBOC passband. This test would require the station to be off the air completely, as an oscillator and impedance bridge are used. Testing and tuning become more complicated in a diplexed antenna system, as the tests must be run on the frequencies of both stations that share the antenna system. These tests, along with field strength measurements for each pattern and base impedance measurements for each tower in the array, must be run whenever an AM antenna system is built or modified, regardless of whether the station transmits IBOC or not. When IBOC is used, the digital sidebands must fit inside an "emission mask" prescribed for that standard. Mistuning and misadjustment of an IBOC transmitter will produce spurious digital garbage that will aggravate the interference to other stations several channels away.
> Looks like WPEN is either
> "flip-flopping" on its decision to transmit IBOC, or they're
> doing testing of the new nighttime antenna system (shared
> with 860 WWDB's towers) which requires IBOC to be off during
> those tests.
Or they may simply be testing the IBOC equipment itself, the performance of the IBOC transmissions and prototype IBOC receivers, or the degree of interference caused to other stations on nearby frequencies. Greater Media's VP of Engineering is a prominent figure in the development of IBOC for both AM and FM and many Greater Media stations are doing the pioneering work in the deployment of IBOC, so it is highly unlikely that WPEN or any other Greater Media station would "flip-flop" on a decision to transmit IBOC.
Antenna system bandwidth and group delay affect the transmission of the digital sidebands. Any changes in the antenna system would require a sweep of the system at the common point, watching the changes in common point impedance as the frequency is swept through the IBOC passband. This test would require the station to be off the air completely, as an oscillator and impedance bridge are used. Testing and tuning become more complicated in a diplexed antenna system, as the tests must be run on the frequencies of both stations that share the antenna system. These tests, along with field strength measurements for each pattern and base impedance measurements for each tower in the array, must be run whenever an AM antenna system is built or modified, regardless of whether the station transmits IBOC or not. When IBOC is used, the digital sidebands must fit inside an "emission mask" prescribed for that standard. Mistuning and misadjustment of an IBOC transmitter will produce spurious digital garbage that will aggravate the interference to other stations several channels away.
W
westlife
Guest
Re: WPEN is a flip-flopper!
> Mistuning and
> misadjustment of an IBOC transmitter will produce spurious
> digital garbage that will aggravate the interference to
> other stations several channels away.
...as 710 WOR (or should I say "675 through 745" WOR?) is a perfect example of.
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> Mistuning and
> misadjustment of an IBOC transmitter will produce spurious
> digital garbage that will aggravate the interference to
> other stations several channels away.
...as 710 WOR (or should I say "675 through 745" WOR?) is a perfect example of.
<P ID="signature">______________
Re: WPEN is a flip-flopper!
> Or they may simply be testing the IBOC equipment itself, the
> performance of the IBOC transmissions and prototype IBOC
> receivers, or the degree of interference caused to other
> stations on nearby frequencies. Greater Media's VP of
> Engineering is a prominent figure in the development of IBOC
> for both AM and FM and many Greater Media stations are doing
> the pioneering work in the deployment of IBOC, so it is
> highly unlikely that WPEN or any other Greater Media station
> would "flip-flop" on a decision to transmit IBOC.
I would think that any testing going on at the moment and related to WPEN's use of the WWDB site would be going on on 860 and not on 950. Although all of the data on the conductivity of the soil surrounding the 860 site must still be on file from the time, what, 20 years ago? when the facility was proofed for WWDB (or WTEL as I think the station was then still known), there is good reason to obtain up-to-date data. Since conductivity is not frequency dependent, the measurements can be made by running WWDB ND during its normal daytime broadcast hours. I have a hunch that, at some point, WWDB will transmit temporarily from WPEN's current site to allow adjustment and proofs on WPEN's new nighttime antenna system. That work must be conducted during daylight hours. Once that work is complete, WWDB will move back to E Norriton and WPEN will return to its current site during the day and will start using the E Norriton site at night. Will WPEN EVER build its proposed new 6-tower array and 50-kW day plant in what someone told me is Collegeville? My guess is no, but you can't be sure.
> Or they may simply be testing the IBOC equipment itself, the
> performance of the IBOC transmissions and prototype IBOC
> receivers, or the degree of interference caused to other
> stations on nearby frequencies. Greater Media's VP of
> Engineering is a prominent figure in the development of IBOC
> for both AM and FM and many Greater Media stations are doing
> the pioneering work in the deployment of IBOC, so it is
> highly unlikely that WPEN or any other Greater Media station
> would "flip-flop" on a decision to transmit IBOC.
I would think that any testing going on at the moment and related to WPEN's use of the WWDB site would be going on on 860 and not on 950. Although all of the data on the conductivity of the soil surrounding the 860 site must still be on file from the time, what, 20 years ago? when the facility was proofed for WWDB (or WTEL as I think the station was then still known), there is good reason to obtain up-to-date data. Since conductivity is not frequency dependent, the measurements can be made by running WWDB ND during its normal daytime broadcast hours. I have a hunch that, at some point, WWDB will transmit temporarily from WPEN's current site to allow adjustment and proofs on WPEN's new nighttime antenna system. That work must be conducted during daylight hours. Once that work is complete, WWDB will move back to E Norriton and WPEN will return to its current site during the day and will start using the E Norriton site at night. Will WPEN EVER build its proposed new 6-tower array and 50-kW day plant in what someone told me is Collegeville? My guess is no, but you can't be sure.
K
k2pg
Guest
Re: WPEN is a flip-flopper!
> > Mistuning and
> > misadjustment of an IBOC transmitter will produce spurious
>
> > digital garbage that will aggravate the interference to
> > other stations several channels away.
>
> ...as 710 WOR (or should I say "675 through 745" WOR?) is a
> perfect example of.
>
WOR is not necessarily mistuned. The IBOC signal itself is obscenely broad and I can hear the digital hash 20 kHz away from any AM IBOC station.
> > Mistuning and
> > misadjustment of an IBOC transmitter will produce spurious
>
> > digital garbage that will aggravate the interference to
> > other stations several channels away.
>
> ...as 710 WOR (or should I say "675 through 745" WOR?) is a
> perfect example of.
>
WOR is not necessarily mistuned. The IBOC signal itself is obscenely broad and I can hear the digital hash 20 kHz away from any AM IBOC station.
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