Re: The Celtics play the Zone(Re: Sox games bump Celts to 'RKO)

[dan.strassberg@att.net]

In theory, 1510 should have no problems at the South 
Postal Annex or in close-in North Shore communities. 
Perhaps Paul Allen should invest a small part of his 
billions to determine whether the signal is performing 
as it should. For example has the ground system to the 
east of the TX site been compromised? For sure, the 
ground system to the north and west has been compromised 
by construction at the site. But that is nothing new; it 
happened within the first year or two after the site 
went on the air in 1981.

I personally witnessed the destruction of a large number 
of radials to the north of the west tower by a fellow 
who was grooving the asphalt to make way for the conduit 
that supplies power to the light standards that 
illuminate the parking lot. I imagine that, at the time, 
the landlord's severing of the wires would have provided 
the station station with grounds for a suit (albeit no 
grounds fo its antenna system);-) But WITS was in the 
throes of bankruptcy by then and probably couldn't 
afford the legal fees. Moreover, I suspect that nobody 
at the station even knew what the landlord (actually 
workers hired by the landlord) had done.

The night signal to the east, over an arc that includes 
places such as Salem and Swampscott, is supposed to be 
the equivalent of about 400 kW nondirectional into a 
minimum efficiency tower (that is, one less than 1/3 the 
height of the station's 198-degree towers). The signal 
(almost 6 V/m unattenuated at 1 km) is supposed to be 
enough to deliver a 50 mV/m signal along the Boston 
waterfront. Aside from WBZ, no other AM station delivers 
a signal that strong to that area.

As for the unbuilt CP, which would, if built, improve 
the signal to the southwest, it's for noncritical hours 
daytime operation (from two hours past sunrise to two 
hours before sunset). In December, that doesn't even 
cover the C's rare afternoon games. However, it would 
make the station a real presence on the MetroWest AM 
dial during the middle of the day, so listeners out 
there would know of the station. It's safe to say that, 
at present, few people who live in Metrowest even know 
of the station's existence. The nighttime signal in 
MetroWest is, and will continue to be nonexistent, 
however. And the critical-hours day signal will never be 
anything besides marginal at best.

> Yes, the WWZN signal is supposed to be 50,000 watts
> but it hasn't been as easy to receive as WEEI or
> WBZ would be in many areas. North Shore and Metro
> West affiliates may indeed be needed. (If WESX were
> brought aboard maybe they could get sister station
> WJDA to cover the South Shore better, or does
> 1510 do well on the South Shore?)