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

[Douglas Broda <dougbroda@mindspring.com>]

Dan:

TRY's night audio has seemed similar for 20 years to the ear to me... very good
in all three cities, great in East Greenbush, awful headed up the Northway (it
is often spilling with CBV in the far north end of Clifton Park), and pretty bad
in eastern Rensselaer County (Berlin, Petersburgh, Grafton), though it's better
a bit south of that (Stephentown, New Lebanon, Nassau). Don't know if that's
pattern or another factor that causes that, though -- I know nada about this
technical stuff.

'TRY may not want that extended band. It's got its FM partnership again at 98 --
which makes advertising easier, "98 AM and FM," though the FM is not that strong
- -- and going to extended band would blow that. Plus it covers most of its market
area now at night well - the areas it would pick up by going to the e-band are
either low in population or far enough away that they are in adjoining (or
further) markets (such as Amsterdam, Saratoga, Hudson... and Boston :).

Dan Strassberg wrote:

> 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



- --
Douglas J. Broda
Broda and Burnett
Attorneys at Law
80 Ferry Street
Troy, New York 12180
(518) 272-0580
Fax: (518) 272-0381
dougbroda@mindspring.com

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