Re: WADN

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

At 04:32 AM 7/22/97 +0000, you wrote:
>On Mon, 21 Jul 1997, Dan Strassberg wrote:
>
>> At 03:48 AM 7/21/97 +0000, you wrote:
>> 
>> >I can usually hear WADN in Brookline on my car radio, but not well.  And
>> >it certainly doesn't put any kind of decent signal into Boston.  But
>> >around the affluent suburbs that it purports to serve, it seems to have a
>> >reasonably good signal.
>> >
>> By day, you're right, if your standards for "reasonably good" are not too
>> high. 
>
>I didn't begin to hear any interference or background noise until I
>reached the Turnpike interchange on Route 128.  I say that's a reasonably
>good signal.
>
I have an er, well, kind of calibrated AM signal-strength meter in one of my
cars. The radio suffers from ignition noise that I have been unable to cure.
(Not a problem in the older car--but by just about any standard, both cars
are quite old.) Anyhow, from what I know of the signal strength of various
stations, the noise becomes noticeable if the signal strength of the station
I'm listening to drops below about 6 mV/m and it becomes bothersome when the
signal drops below about 4 mV/m.

During the day, riding around Arlington Heights and down through Belmont and
Watertown to Newton Corner, where I work, the noise is always more than just
bothersome. The signal in those areas is well below 5 mV/m by this rather
unscientific reckoning. The criterion for a "city grade" AM signal is 5
mV/m. WADN's daytime signal, though listenable on a good car radio, is not
competitive in this west suburban area. And I'm talking _western_ and
_northwestern_ suburbs here.

Moreover, on a more typical household radio (I use the one in my kitchen for
this example), I can barely pick up WADN at all. Now, my kitchen radio is
not very sensitive, but I think it's rather typical of the radios most
people use. Even on my GE SuperRadio III, which most AM buffs call the
paragon of moderately priced radios, WADN's day signal leaves something to
be desired. My street seems to be plagued, on and off, by bad noise that
comes in via the power lines. WADN is not pleasant to listen to over that
noise. and when the noise is particularly bad, WADN is unlistenable.

WROL, on the other hand, is listenable under the same conditions. WROL does
not put an especially strong signal into Arlington Heights (5 kW-ND from
Saugus; the salt-water path that brings WROL into downtown Boston like
gangbusters does not help much here). Now the intensity of the line noise
varies as I tune across the AM band, but it doesn't differ much between 950
and 1120. So my point is, although _I_ listen to WADN, only an AM geek like
me is likely to bother.

I hope I can rest my case, counselor.

- -------------------------------
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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