Re: X-Band Fidelity (was Re: 1690 WMDM Lexington Park MD)

[mwaters@wesleyan.edu (Martin J. Waters)]

>Shel Swartz wrote:
>Years and years ago, when Boston's WMEX/1510 was a top 40 station, I noticed
>it seemed to have more fidelity than stations much lower on the band, like
>1150 or 590.  So I phoned WMEX's Chief Engineer, who explained that indeed,
>the higher teh AM wavelength, the better the sound....and the greater the
>skip.
>
>If indeed that is true, do any of you folks hear those new ex-band stations
>sounding a bit more crisp...with better high and low-end response?
>
>Most curiously,  shel swartz

        I don't know about the technical aspects of frequency vs. fidelity.
It is true that skywave is stronger at the top of the AM band. It's the
reverse of groundwave strength. That's one reason WTOP, WWKB and WQEW come
in so well in New England, for example. The skywave at those frequencies
also starts to be audible much longer before sunset and stays in effect
much longer after sunrise than on the lower channels. The strong skywaves
of WTOP and WWKB are a problem for WNRB (old WMEX), as it gets nasty
splatter from them very close to Boston at night.
        But this is the first time I've ever heard anyone "accuse" the WMEX
of the '60s of having a great sounding signal. I always thought of it as
crummy sounding audio, done on the cheap -- like everything with the
Richmond Brothers -- that they got away with because the programming was so
good.

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