Re: Donn Parker

[Dan Strassberg <dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net>]

At 01:43 AM 7/14/97 +0000, you wrote:
>I had a pleasant conversation with Donn Parker about his oldies show on
>WBPS-- a station which truly puts out a horrible signal into Quincy (I could
>barely hear the station... it felt like dx'ing!).  He said he isn't paying
>for the show-- he evidently has a backer of some sort, a gentleman named
>Fred somebody.  Does anyone know who might be sponsoring him?  (No, it's not
>Alan Day at Cheap-o Records...)  
>
Raises the question of where WBPS's signal is good. If you look at a map,
you'll see the TX, off route 126 in Ashland, is almost exactly due west of
Quincy. The signal is beamed due east. However, at night, they use only
3400W and they have WLS to contend with. WLS puts a very good signal into
Boston on the majority of nights. But if you turn the radio the right way,
WBPS should be clearly audible, albeit with a good piece of WLS underneath,
and maybe some splatter from WCBS.

I've seen two quite different versions of WBPS's night pattern. The one at
John Kodis's Web site is a teardrop, very similar to the day pattern. The
other, in the National Radio Club's Night Pattern Book, is a modified
cardioid--much fatter than the teardrop but with a much weaker signal dead
ahead of the array (e.g. in Quincy). I have no idea which is correct.

If one were designing the pattern from scratch (given only the five in-line
towers, which were there before the array was converted from 1060 to 890), I
think he'd design the cardioid. WBPS only has WLS to protect; why create a
narrow pattern, when it would be easier to create the necessary deep null
toward WLS if the pattern were wider? OTOH, the day pattern _has_ to be a
teardrop to protect WMVU and it might have been cheaper to use very similar
day and night patterns.

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Dan Strassberg (Note: Address is CASE SENSITIVE!)
ALL _LOWER_ CASE!!!--> dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net
(617) 558-4205; Fax (617) 928-4205

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