WUNR-AM 1600 Makes Cut! Who Can Receive It?

[Laurence Glavin]

I know the 12-plus Arbitrends aren't all that important, but in the latest iteration of same, WUNR-AM 1600 showed up with a fractional number to ber sure; but these days, who can receive the signal even a few mile away from Sawmill Brook Parkway? In the days when they ran 5,000-watts DA-1 from the long-standing two towers, the signal wasn't great, but since the switchover last summer to the array-still-a-building, it's been disastrous, even on my car radio on route 128. Home reception is nil. A few diaries must have been sent to the Oak Hill Park neighborhood of Newton.

 

[radioguybroadcasting]

I know the 12-plus Arbitrends aren't all that important, but in the latest iteration of same, WUNR-AM 1600 showed up with a fractional number to ber sure; but these days, who can receive the signal even a few mile away from Sawmill Brook Parkway? In the days when they ran 5,000-watts DA-1 from the long-standing two towers, the signal wasn't great, but since the switchover last summer to the array-still-a-building, it's been disastrous, even on my car radio on route 128. Home reception is nil. A few diaries must have been sent to the Oak Hill Park neighborhood of Newton.

There is a good chance they are operating non directionally at lower power while the new setup for the other stations is being built and proofed.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

I know the 12-plus Arbitrends aren't all that important, but in the latest iteration of same, WUNR-AM 1600 showed up with a fractionalnumber to ber sure; but these days, who can receive the signal even a few mile away from Sawmill Brook Parkway? In the days when they ran 5,000-watts DA-1 from the long-standing two towers, the signal wasn't great, but since the switchover last summer to the array-still-a-building, it's been disastrous, even on my car radio on route 128. Home reception is nil. A few diaries must have been sent to the Oak Hill Park neighborhood of Newton.

Oak Hill is only a couple of miles away with an unobstructed path to Boston's inner city and urban neighborhoods, where it still comes in quite well even if they are running at reduced power, and there's a significant audience in the area for the ethnic programming that WUNR provides. I'd imagine that's where most of their numbers are coming from.

 

[DanStrassberg]

In the days when they ran 5,000-watts DA-1 from the long-standing two towers, the signal wasn't great, but since the switchover last summer to the array-still-a-building, it's been disastrous, even on my car radio on route 128.

I use WNNW 800 as a surrogate for your town of Methuen. WNNW is almost due north of WUNR et al. During this testing period, WUNR is running 5 kW DA-1 into its five new, much shorter, and less efficient towers. The signal where you live is equivalent to what you'd get get if the two old tall towers were still standing and WUNR were pumping out its old pattern from them using a power of less than 800W. As Eli pointed out, the signal in Boston's inner city is still pretty good because the new pattern is much narrower than the old one. It has to be to comply with the "ratchet rule" when WUNR finally runs its authorized 20 kW. When that happens the effect where you live will be the same as if WUNR were running its old pattern at less than 3200W. Apparently the three stations are not pushing to beat the clock on getting licenses to cover. Their temporary authority to run at low power runs until the end of February. So we're unlikely to find out what the REAL new signals will sound like until then.

I can say that WRCA comes in much better where I live (Arlington Heights, near Lexington) than I had expected. And I would say that even if it were running at full power, which I don't think it is doing. Between less efficient towers, more restrictive patterns, and moving quite a few miles further from me than the former Waltham site, I had expected that, at my location, WRCA's signal would take the biggest hit of the three stations. Well, that appears to have been wrong. Of the three stations, all currently running at less than CP power, WRCA seems to come in the best--especially at night.