Re: AM 830 Preparing to Go 50kw?

[dan.strassberg@att.net]

There can be little doubt that, on the basis of daytime 
population served, 830 is superior to 580. Even at 7 kW-
D, the population that 830 reaches by day must exceed 
that which 580 reaches because 580 protects Boston and 
830 is beamed to the northeast over a wide arc.

I don't know about night, though. WCCO is far away but 
may still dump more signal into eastern Mass than the 
RSS of all of the interfering signals on 580. Remember 
that WTAG has been around for a _long_ time and receives 
protection from nearly every other station on 580. So in 
all likelihood, 580 is interference-free at night to a 
lower field-strength contour than 830 is.

The 580 night pattern is nulled to the east (and west) 
however, so it's hard to say whether 580's nighttime 
population served equals that of 830. Also, the 
population that 830 reaches in the area between 
Worcester and Route 128 (err, 95) is probably regarded 
as more demographically desirable than that which 580 
reaches north and south of Worcester.

Since WBIS (WPMZ--or is that the Providence 1110?) moved 
to 1120, 1440 has been ND days. The night pattern is 
similar to 830's. Of course, 5 kW doesn't go nearly as 
far on 1440 as it does on 830, but, technically, 1440 is 
not a bad facility. Also, as a very old station, 1440, 
like 580, probably receives better nighttime protection 
than does 830.

> 
> I still maintain that 830, especially with the power upgrade, is a 
> superior Worcester signal to 580.