Re: WAAF (was Re: WUMB/WMWM )

[Dan.Strassberg@worldnet.att.net]

20 kW ND at 239' HAAT is the current licensed facility. 
9.6 kW DA at 335' HAAT from a site 9 miles east of Mt 
Asnebumskit is the proposed facility--as far as I know, 
still an application, not yet a CP.

Frankly, I don't get the application. Yes, the site is 
nine miles closer to Boston, but the entire increase in 
HAAT is the result of the land being lower as you move 
east. The height AMSL is essentially the same at both 
sites. Although I'm no expert on FM propagation, it 
appears to me that the signal in Boston will not improve 
much. This seems especially true because the signal to 
the southeast would be deeply nulled--at least the null 
is a deep one for FM: a minimum field strength 
equivalent to 10% of the power over at least 180 degrees 
centered on the northwest.

What station or stations would this deep null protect, 
anyhow? Why does a move of nine miles to the east 
necessitate dropping the ERP to the southeast to 10% of 
the current value? 

Due east or a bit south of due east--that is, toward the 
City of Boston--the field strength is equivalent to only 
about 1/4 of the power to the northwest. And the move to 
the east would cause a very noticeable drop in signal 
strength in Springfield and other communities in the 
Connecticut Valley.

I had been told that the proposed site was on the 
Channel 66 tower. But isn't Channel 66 in Hudson? 
According to the map at the Kodis Web site, WAAF's 
proposed site is between Northborough and Worcester--
almost as far from Hudson as from the current Mt 
Asnebumskit site.

I guess I should never be surprised by the dumb moves 
that the Entercom folks make. I suppose their areas of 
expertise transcend programming and extend into the 
technical side of radio. Maybe the bottom-line pressure 
will keep this move from taking place. I suspect that 
that might be the best thing to happen to WAAF since the 
departure of Opie and Anthony.

> >www.fcc.gov/FCC-bin/fmq?call=waaf
> >
> >the only directional pattern here is the application filed.
> >
> >What is John Kodis' web addy?
> 
> http://stations.triathlon.net/radiostation/
> 
> The interface doesn't make the distinction between applications, construction
> permits and licensed facilities very clear, unfortunately...