WNRB & former WNLC (AM) (Was Re: WNLC AM/FM)

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

>Sven Weil wrote:
>
> Are you sure you don't mean WNRB-AM 1510 in Boston? That IS the
>One-on-One Sports O/O relay in the New England area that I know
>of.  :)

        I also was confused by the post about WNLC being all-sports. As far
as I know, it remains off the air. The repairs had been described as being
to repair storm damage from last winter suffered by its towers (it used
three towers day, six towers night). I think it's been since January or
around that time. I have a vague recollection of seeing something more
recently (maybe on NERW? Hartford Courant?) that the station had changed
its plans and rather than restoring operation to the former parameters,
10kW D, 5 kW N, DA-2, was going to come back with something less. Today,
I'm getting a a very faint C&W signal on 1510, which I take to be WPUT,
Brewster, N.Y., a 1 kW daytimer. It's been the daytime groundwave here on
1510 since WNLC went dark.
        But, the plot thickens. First, the FCC database shows that the
calls in New London now are WWJY. I thought the whole point of the
relatively recent changing of the FM calls to WNLC-FM originally was said
to be that the long-range plan was to simulcast the standards format. So,
there's a question about what the format now is supposed to be on the AM
when it comes back. But most interesting is that the database shows a C.P.
for a daytime only station with 10 kW, three towers. A notation says:
"LETTER 19980409 BY WWJY PRESIDENT ROWBOTHAM TO SURRENDER NIGHTTIME
OPERATION." Given my non-memory, all of this may have been reported on
NERW.

        Related question: Although I hesitate to make accusations, I'd be
curious to know if anyone can detect WNRB switching to its night pattern.
Since the new owners took over, it comes in much better out here in
Connecticut at night and I have listened many times, both here and in the
Boston area, to hear the switch at sunset. Nada. Could it be that the new
owners decided to take advantage of the fact that WNLC is off the air,
figuring no one will notice the non-switch?  And now there's a question
about whether they might be able to improve their nighttime pattern the
old-fashioned way -- by doing the engineering and applying to the
FCC--since New London is going to be a daytimer. I know that there's a
question about protecting a Canadian assignment on 1510 (Sherbrooke,
Quebec, perhaps?) that's not even used anymore, so I imagine it wouldn't be
a simple matter. Are there any WNRB folks out there in cyberville to
comment on this?
        Meanwhile, WNRB, on a high-end frequency with towers that are
six-tenths of a wavelength tall, has a better skywave signal here than WBZ
until late in the evening, when WLAC finally fades up in the background.

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