Re: WBZ-AM With Xmtr Problems?

["A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@world.std.com>]

On 4 Jun 2000,  Kaimbridge M. GoldChild wrote:

> Has WBZ been having problems with its Hull transmitter?
> For the last week or two (ar least), there has been strong signal
> snippets (intermodulation?) on 0.800 and weaker versions on 0.760 and
> maybe a few other frequencies, outside at South Station (especially
> along Ft. Point Channel).  I've always been able to pick up 'BZ's image on
> 1.570 (especially when the daytime pattern/conditions kick in), as well as
> (for a few days at a time) some similar type intermod snippets,
> simultaneously from 1.030 and 1.260, on 1.700--so part of it *may be*
> receiver sensitivity/inferiority, but this definitely seems beyond that.
 
I wonder whether they've still been using the Allston auxiliary 
transmitter lately.  I was in Lowell yesterday for the Democratic State 
Convention and found the WBZ signal fading in various spots as I 
approached the Tsongas Arena.

I also tried to hear WJTO from there and couldn't.  Too much ignition 
noise on my car radio.  Finally, on the way home, I pulled over, stopped, 
and shut off the motor.  Then I heard something on 730 in a foreign 
language.  Could that have been WJTO?

I noticed that, late in the afternoon, after the convention was long over, 
WBZ news kept running a story about how the convention "will" take place.  
My general impression is that WBZ is doing a really lousy job as an all-
news station, certainly far inferior to what we used to get from WEEI 
years ago.

I also noticed that the only radio station banner inside Tsongas Arena was 
from Lowell's WCAP.  After the convention, when I turned to WCAP on my car 
radio, they were running something else, so I don't know how much the 
actually covered the convention.

Not that there was any really earth-shaking news there.  The main business 
of the convention was to endorse Ted Kennedy for re-election, which was 
such a foregone conclusion that Ted made his acceptance speech before the 
nomination was actually voted on.

Probably the most controversial item on the agenda was a resolution 
condemning the owners of Wingate nursing homes for union-busting.  This 
was a problem, apparently, because the Wingate owners are major 
contributors to the party.  So the resolution was scheduled at the end.  
Most delegates left after Ted Kennedy's speech.  Before the resolution 
could be taken up, someone doubted the presence of a quorum.  Since there 
wasn't a quorum, the convention ended without a vote on that resolution.  
I don't know whether it made today's newspapers, but I didn't hear 
anything about that on WBZ yesterday afternoon.


===================================================
 A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                        617.367.0468
 15 Court Square                     lawyer@world.std.com
 Boston, MA 02108-2503      http://world.std.com/~lawyer/
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