Zion Hill, Woburn MA

[robotique]

Does anything broadcast from there anymore? What are those towers?

 

[pqgeorge]

Does anything broadcast from there anymore? What are those towers?

No, not since October, 1968 has any station transmit from Mt. Zion. 96.9 (WXHR-FM, WJIB) operated from the hill from 1948 through 1968. As for TV, Channel 56 (WTAO-TV, WXHR-TV and WKBG-TV) operated from 1953 through 1956, 1962 and 1966-1968. Today, the hill is basically used for cable head-end, cell-phone various RF use. It used to be one of the best sites for Boston area transmission, before the days of the Needham/Newton towers, the Pru, the new Hancock and what not. Today, Mt. Zion would not be suitable for broadcast.

 

[jlehmann]

Does anything broadcast from there anymore? What are those towers?

The towers probably just have cellular, paging, and 2-way radio antennas on them.

 

[DanStrassberg]

Today, Mt. Zion would not be suitable for broadcast.

Why? It has been suggested that if WGBH were willing to downgrade 99.5 to a B1 in order to better cover points south of Boston, Zion Hill might be an acceptable location--although it does not quite meet spacing minimums to WPLM-FM. OTOH, I have heard that there are other hills between Woburn and downtown Boston that would create shadowing downtown for a station at that site.

 

[mgpt6]

Site has been owned since early 70s by cable. First , Greater Boston Cable then Continetal then mediaOne, then ATT Broadband and noe Comcast

 

[robotique]

thanks for all the info guys

 

[robotique]

I guess I didn't know this 2.5 years ago, but non-directional beacon SKR on 251 kHz is on Zion Hill aka Shaker Hill. Based on google satellite view (42.455729, -71.178537) , it seems to be a wire T antenna strung between two white support poles with the lead dropping down into a small transmitter that has a small fence around it. This is in a section on the site that is distinctly separate from the Comcast facility. Its in an area that also houses some other type of radio service (repeater?).

I have yet to trespass up there...

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Despite how good of a potential location Zion might look on paper and even to the eye, I recall that both Channel 56 and 96.9 FM covered Boston very poorly from there. Channel 56 was all snow and ghosts anywhere beyond the inland metro-north and northwest suburbs, and 96.9 had severe multipath distortion. The problems were probably due to various other hills and ridges as well as distance from Boston. I'd think that it's not being used by broadcast stations for good reason.

 

[Early Byrd]

What about the pros and cons of Great Blue Hill in Canton? Is WGBH the only commercial broadcast station on that tower now?

 

[jlehmann]

What about the pros and cons of Great Blue Hill in Canton? Is WGBH the only commercial broadcast station on that tower now?

97.7 WKAF is also up there.

 

[LA_Guy]

Zion Hill coverage of Boston gets killed by from shadowing from the ridge that the old Malden Hospital is on. WFNX used to transmit from the tower atop that ridge before they moved to 1 Financial. I happen to believe that they had a better class A signal from there. WEEI-FM also signed on from there (and their original pylon antenna might still be there buried in the weeds beside the tower).

Both channels 4 and 7 also operated from there at one point also (on the shorter tower to the West - it used to be the same height as the taller tower before they lopped the top half of it off so they didn't have to light it).

 

[Eli Polonsky]

What about the pros and cons of Great Blue Hill in Canton? Is WGBH the only commercial broadcast station on that tower now?

WKAF is the only commercial station. WGBH is non-commercial.

Compared to the Newton/Needham towers or the Pru, Big Blue is not really all that great of a site because it's less than 2/3 the height of those other two sites, both of which did not exist back when WGBH claimed Great Blue Hill. It's a great site for getting into Boston's urban neighborhoods and the metro-south, but WGBH-FM is putting out 98,000 watts ERP to get their big footprint from there. I recall that Ch.2's reception from there was mediocre in Newtonville where I grew up. Blue Hill was shadowed there by the hills in Newton Centre, Oak Hill, etc...

 

[Dighton Rockhead]

Compared to the Newton/Needham towers or the Pru, Big Blue is not really all that great of a site because it's less than 2/3 the height of those other two sites, both of which did not exist back when WGBH claimed Great Blue Hill. It's a great site for getting into Boston's urban neighborhoods and the metro-south, but WGBH-FM is putting out 98,000 watts ERP to get their big footprint from there. I recall that Ch.2's reception from there was mediocre in Newtonville where I grew up. Blue Hill was shadowed there by the hills in Newton Centre, Oak Hill, etc...

If Great Blue Hill is not an optimum spot to broadcast from....then why does 89.7 stay there?

Are they prevented (technically speaking) from moving elsewhere?....Or are there other factors involved in why they stay put?

 

[Eli Polonsky]

If Great Blue Hill is not an optimum spot to broadcast from....then why does 89.7 stay there?

Are they prevented (technically speaking) from moving elsewhere?....Or are there other factors involved in why they stay put?

If I remember correctly, WGBH tried investigating moving to one of the 128 towers a few years ago, and found that they would not have been allowed to keep their "grandfathered" power level that they have on Blue Hill. As an application for a new facility, they would have had reduce to a significantly lower ERP than they're "grandfathered" for on Blue.

 

[HHH]

Yes, even though Blue Hills is a good---but not great---location, WGBH-FM stays there primarily because they are grandfathered at nearly 100kw, which they would lose if they moved.

But I must say that with the nearly 100kw, they have an outstanding signal to the south and west, and (as far as I know) a more than adequate signal into downtown and to the north.

I wouldn't touch it.

Zion Hill: Yes, I remember WXHR (96.9) and Channel 56 were from that site for many years. As a matter of fact, WXHR was one of the area's first FM stations, signing on as a commercial station in 1945. They were originally experimental W1XHR before that, I believe (X-perimental Harvey Radio) Not sure if they began from Zion in '45, but they were up there by the late '40s, I believe, with Channel 56 coming a few years later. WXHR, of course, eventually became WJIB when long time owner Harvey Radio Labs sold it (I think they still owed it) along with Channel 56, and then both stations moved to the new candelabra tower in Needham (along with Channel 38 who started on The Pru).

I believe that one of the towers on Zion is the original WXHR/Channel 56 tower.

 

[HHH]

Zion Hill coverage of Boston gets killed by from shadowing from the ridge that the old Malden Hospital is on. WFNX used to transmit from the tower atop that ridge before they moved to 1 Financial. I happen to believe that they had a better class A signal from there. WEEI-FM also signed on from there (and their original pylon antenna might still be there buried in the weeds beside the tower).

Both channels 4 and 7 also operated from there at one point also (on the shorter tower to the West - it used to be the same height as the taller tower before they lopped the top half of it off so they didn't have to light it).

Yes, before the tall towers were built in Needham/Newton, Channel 7 (WNAC-TV) was from the Malden site, down the street from a tower that CBS built for the original WEEI-FM (103.3), and Channel 4 (WBZ-TV) was from a tower behind their studio in Brighton. When Hurricane Carol hit Boston hard on August 31, 1954, it toppled the Channel 4 tower (an aircheck from WBZ radio exists of the TV tower falling on the building! Google it). Channel 4 went to Malden temporarily (not sure if the WNAC-TV tower or the WEEI-FM tower), while they planned Needham, which they finished in 1957. Brand new Channel 5 (WHDH-TV) built a second tower nearby in Newton, and moved WHDH-FM to their TV tower from the original Prudential Building (the short, fat one). WBCN signed on shortly afterward from the former WHDH-FM stick on the old Pru. Channel 7 held out from Malden through the early 60s, but they couldn't match the Channel 4 and 5 coverage, so they built their own tall tower in Newton. As mentioned elsewhere, Channel 56 was on Zion Hill in Woburn and Channel 38 was on the Pru. Neither location was particularly good for TV, so yet another tower was built in Needham/Newton, and Channel 56, Channel 38 and 96.9 (which was also on Zion) moved there in the late 60s.

 

[fybush]

After a brief temporary operation from its shorter standby tower at the Allston studios, Channel 4 went to the WEEI-FM tower. There was capacity on that tower because it had been built by CBS in expectation of winning a license for WEEI-TV, and that of course never came to pass.

Even if WNAC-TV had been willing to lend WBZ a hand (and it might have), its tower was probably at capacity with antennas for channel 7 and WNAC-FM. (Assuming, as I believe to be the case, that 98.5 was on the Malden tower at the time.)

Here's what I believe to be the full sequence of transmitter sites for the major Boston commercial FMs:

92.9: Saw Mill Brook Pkwy (WBOS 1600 site) > Candelabra > FM 128 > Pru
93.7: WCCM tower > Peabody
94.5: Old Hancock > FM128 (ex-WHDH-TV 5 tower, where 94.5 is the longest-running tenant)
95.3: Harvard campus (?) > Holyoke Center > 1 Financial Center
96.9: Zion Hill > Candelabra > Pru
98.5: Malden > Ch. 7 tower, Newton > FM128
100.7: Lexington (WCOP 1150 site) > New Hancock > Pru
101.7: Lynn (WLYN 1360 site) > Malden (ex-WEEI-FM tower) > 1 Financial Center
102.5: South Street, Waltham (WCRB 1330 site) >WBZ-TV tower, Needham > FM128 > WBZ-TV tower, Needham
103.3: Malden > Candelabra (?) > Pru
104.1: Old Hancock > Pru
105.7: Framingham (WKOX 1190 site) > Candelabra > FM128 > Pru
106.7: WBZ-TV tower, Needham > Pru
107.9: Wellington Circle (WHIL 1430 site) > Pru

This may be missing a few interim moves around the Newton/Needham farm.

 

[fybush]

That should read "FM128" for 103.3's current incarnation; there was an application (and CP?) to move to the Pru that has not been consummated and probably won't be.

And I am reminded that 94.5 began at the old St. James Street studios before moving to the old Hancock.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

Brand new Channel 5 (WHDH-TV) built a second tower nearby in Newton, and moved WHDH-FM to their TV tower from the original Prudential Building (the short, fat one). WBCN signed on shortly afterward from the former WHDH-FM stick on the old Pru.

You mean the old Hancock. I don't think there was an old Pru. I remember WBCN and WHDH-FM transmitting from the old Hancock.

 

[HHH]

Brand new Channel 5 (WHDH-TV) built a second tower nearby in Newton, and moved WHDH-FM to their TV tower from the original Prudential Building (the short, fat one). WBCN signed on shortly afterward from the former WHDH-FM stick on the old Pru.

You mean the old Hancock. I don't think there was an old Pru. I remember WBCN and WHDH-FM transmitting from the old Hancock.

Yes, right you are. Senior moment. I meant the old Hancock. However, I don't think WBCN came along until after WHDH-FM left the site.