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WSAR Seeking......

D

Dighton Rockhead

Some of the folks on the Boston board have been discussing WSAR's pending application with the FCC for a daytime power upgrade to 25KW (with the addition of a third tower for daytime use only).

Maybe it's just me, but......I always thought WSAR did a fairly good job (signal-wise) covering its intended market.....The programming, however, could form the basis for a whole other thread... ;).

Unless......The Karams have come to the conclusion that the Providence market is soooooo dull/dead/uncompetitive/boring (feel free to pick one, or come up with one of your own)......that they want to take a gamble on trying to become a player in RI too?

It's a good thing I'm sitting down, because I'm still blown away over the idea that the Karam's might actually $pend some money.... ;D
 
I imagine they'd stay a Bristol County station. Not enough signal is put into R.I. but it will help getting into New Bedford & going up against WBSM.
 
I'd want to see the proposed coverage map before trying to guess at the objective.

For sure there's room on the site for a third tower since there once were four there. Though the neighborhood has grown I doubt there'd be much NIMBY opposition but these days.......
 
WSAR's present towers are 215 electrical deg. high at 1480. The proposed third tower is 106 deg. I do remember the 4-tower DA-2 they used years ago, which supposedly protected a 1480 in Quebec. The Quebec one was never built,so Knight Quality Stations(the then-owner)applied to remove 2 towers and go to the present DA-1.
 
DG02816 said:
WSAR's present towers are 215 electrical deg. high at 1480. The proposed third tower is 106 deg. I do remember the 4-tower DA-2 they used years ago, which supposedly protected a 1480 in Quebec. The Quebec one was never built,so Knight Quality Stations(the then-owner)applied to remove 2 towers and go to the present DA-1.
Click to expand...

The 4-tower array at the present 2-tower site merely replicated the original 4-tower array at the Walker Street site. There they had four Blaw-Knox square cross-section towers which were top loaded, though I don't recall the height. Those were similar to the two used by what used to be WJAR-920 over on Wampanog Trail. Indeed the pattern DID protect a 1480 in Quebec but that station folded just after Norm Knight put up the new site (the old site was supposed to be a nuclear power plant location but that never happened and, ultimately, I195 consumed most of it). Pity the Quebec station didn't give it up sooner. In any case, there were proposals to bring it back but that never happened and Canada finally admitted it so WSAR could go to two towers.

Considering the age of their present transmitter, they could run a 25 kW Nautel for about the same electrical cost. If they also went to LED lighting on the towers they might save enough on electricity over 5-10 years to pay for the new transmitter and tower, though probably not enough to cover the phasing equipment, too.
 
When I was Chief there in'84, the MW-5 was the main and a Gates BC-5P was the backup. I read on here that the 5P is rusting away in the back yard there. Sad end for such a nice box.
 
N1WVQ said:
You don't mean the MW5A do you? That's their backup. I think a Nautel is their primary 5k box.
Click to expand...

I had lost track of what they were using for 5K. Nautel was only a comparison for power savings at a possible 25kW level. Especially if Nautel's "dynamic carrier" technique gets FCC approval. They'd doing a show-and-tell about it at NAB. I've seen the power consumption figures and the savings are huge.

The Gates 5 was the primary when they moved to the site; there was a 1kW Gates backup as well.

At the old Walker street site everything was General Electric. The engineer-on-duty had a big GE board in the transmitter space (it was a huge room and the transmitter was built into the walls) There was a GE primary at 5kW and a GE 1kW backup which was about the size of today's 50-kW solid state rigs. In later years they added Gates Studioette boards and turntables (2 each) to tiny rooms off the engineering space and did combo ops from one; production from the other.

I think, at times, the studios were alternated. You do your show in A and then I do mine from B.
 
And to amplify N1WVQ's observation, the new pattern will indeed put less signal into RI, but will blanket New Bedford, and a good part of the Cape. It should cover the Vineyard and Nantucket too.
 
Their primary TX is indeed a Nautel with the MW5A as a aux.

This is a very expensive project to be built for what in return?

They gain better building penetration in Fall River and New Bedford with the signal. That seems to be the biggest gain from it.
 
Necrat said:
Their primary TX is indeed a Nautel with the MW5A as a aux.

This is a very expensive project to be built for what in return?

They gain better building penetration in Fall River and New Bedford with the signal. That seems to be the biggest gain from it.
Click to expand...

Fall River, according to census figures, is fading fast. Population loss and declining per capita income. Not much advertising business there! OTOH, New Bedford is gaining population and net incomes are rising. It could be a good move for WSAR to become more of a "regional" factor without messing around in Providence which already has to many signals it's difficult for any station (other than perhaps the top 3-5) to make any money. It may be a smart move. A new 25kW transmitter will not cost much more to run; if they can keep the two present towers adding a third is a major expense but certainly not crippling. Remember, they already own the land. Biggest single factor is likely to be a court battle should the NIMBY faction horn in.
 
VelvetR said:
Necrat said:
Their primary TX is indeed a Nautel with the MW5A as a aux.
This is a very expensive project to be built for what in return?
They gain better building penetration in Fall River and New Bedford with the signal. That seems to be the biggest gain from it.
Click to expand...
A new 25kW transmitter will not cost much more to run; if they can keep the two present towers adding a third is a major expense but certainly not crippling. Remember, they already own the land. Biggest single factor is likely to be a court battle should the NIMBY faction horn in.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure, but I believe that WSAR's third tower (a 200-footer; the other two are roughly twice as tall) will be built at the site of one of the two towers that was removed from the site many years ago. If I'm correct and the foundation, guy anchors, transmission line, and ground radials for the old tower remain intact, the cost of the tower work should not be too great.
 
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