Re: 1290 WCCC/West Hartford

[dan.Strassberg@att.net]

I think WAQY (AM) is still on the air. WWRL was granted 
a waiver of the co-channel overlap requirements with 
WAQY. Somewhere in the vicinity of Hartford, WAQY's 
0.025 mV/m contour used to overlap WWRL's new 0.5 mV/m 
contour. Thus WAQY "interfered" with WWRL's expanded 
daytime coverage. However, WAQY then requested, and was 
granted a reduction in its daytime power to 2.5 kW ND. 
(WAQY uses 2.5 kW at night, but is directional at 
night.) With all the money WWRL threw at other stations 
to go dark or accept interference (there was a deal with 
WARV Warwick RI as well), WWRL may have chosen to grease 
WAQY's palm also. I think the rules say that whatever 
contour is interference-free with respect to one station 
becomes the protected contour for all stations. So 
WWRL's interference-free contour was established by 
interference from WAQY. This interference probably 
significantly reduced the population within WWRL's 
protected contour. WWRL may have seen this as opening 
the door to incursions by other stations and therefore 
struck a deal with WAQY to head them off. I'm only 
guessing that that's what happened, but it seems like a 
reasonable guess.
 
> A similar situation occured at WAQY AM/FM East Longmeadow (Springfield.)  The AM
> tried to run it's own programming a few times but would always go back to
> simulcasting the FM.  Is WAQY-AM still on the air at this point, or was it's
> licence deleted at the same time WWRL-New York paid to shut down WLNG-AM?
> Wasn't there a recent call letter change on the AM, if it's still there?
> 
> BTW, I noticed on the Boston Radio Archives Springfield station lineup that 1600
> is still on the air as WAQY-AM, but it also says that WARE is still oldies.  Can
> anyone clarify?