Re: WCAP/WTRY (was: WSRO/let's be civil.../community radio...)

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

At 09:04 AM 4/28/98 -0400, you wrote:
>
>Could the 6.4 kW figure be a night ERP average of some sort?  I recall
>seeing that number somewhere at the XMTR literature.
>
It might be the rms field based on the Class III minimum of 175/mV/m
unattneuated at 1 mile (since metrified to 281,7 mV/m at 1 km). I'm sure
that WCAP's towers are taller than the bare minimum, so I can easily believe
an rms ERP of 6.4 kW.
>
>What is the history and status of WTRY's contour's D/N? Have there been any
>changes?
>
Quite a few years ago now--maybe even before WCAP increased to 5 kW-U
DA-2--WTRY switched from DA-1 to DA-N. The old full-time pattern, which is
now the night pattern, is an asymmetrical figure eight on a roughly
east-west line. The west lobe, which covers Schenectady, is considerably
weaker than the east lobe, which covers Albany and Troy. The nulls are to
the north to protect CBV, and slightly west of due south to protect the DC
station (which I incorrectly identified in my last post as WWRC; it's now
WTEM). The TX, north of State Route 7 in Niskayuna, is actually a bit closer
to Schenectady than it is to Troy, the COL. The location is far enough west
to deliver a city grade signal to all three of the major cities in the
Capital District. WTRY used to advertise in Broadcasting that it was the
_only_ station that delivered 25 mV/m to Albany, Schenectady, and Troy. That
claim may have been true. (This was before 1540 went up--but even after 1540
increased to 50 kW, a 25 mV/m signal in downtown Albany was problematic for
them; the soil conductivity between the 1540 TX and downtown Albany is
lousy.) WGY, from its TX west of Schenectady, may well not have all of Troy
in its 25 mV/m contour.

If WTRY sounds louder here now than it did in years past (and it doesn't to
me; I think the night signal is the same as it's been since I moved here,
from Troy, in 1956), my guess would be that the improvement is the result of
"better" audio processing. BTW, WTRY was granted an ex-band assignment (I
guess because of the interference reduction that would result from a move
off of 980). To my knowledge, WTRY is the only station that received such an
assignment but has not filed for a CP.

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