Re: WTRY AM/FM reception and notes

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

At 07:09 PM 5/2/98 -0400, you wrote:
>That *is* a change on the AM.... what you describe seems closer to their
licensed
>eastern pattern. I've historically had trouble getting the AM going out
Route 2,
>and a bit less trouble going out 7.... but it's not seemed as clear as you
>describe in Bennington in past years.

Doug: Since you are in Troy, listen for a pattern change at sunset. Sounds
as if, at least on the day that the person who wrote the original post drove
across southern VT, WTRY was running its night pattern during the day. As I
wrote earlier, WTRY used to run DA-1 but switched to DA-N sometime in the
70s. The idea was to sacrifice some signal in Bennington, Williamstown, and
Pittsfield, which aren't part of the Capital District market, to provide
coverage of Saratoga and Mechanicville, which are.

I listen to a program about PCs on WCAP every Sunday morning from 7:00 to
8:30. In January, Troy sunrise is at 7:45, so if it is operating in
accordance with its license, WTRY doesn't switch to ND until the program is
half over. I have noticed that the interference from WTRY drops off at that
time, but the daytime skywave in the winter is still strong enough that, on
many Sunday mornings, WCAP remains unintelligible here (maybe 20 miles
southwest of the WCAP TX) for maybe another hour. At night, WCAP's signal to
the south is much stronger than the daytime signal. In January, Lowell
sunrise is at 7:15, so the worst half hour is from 7:15 to 7:45. But in the
winter, whenever the skywave from WTRY is coming in, reception of WCAP is
not great, even before Lowell sunrise and for about an hour past Troy sunrise.

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