RE: WLLH (wasRe: Re: Made-up callsigns)

[EM1 GITCHIER <RGITSCHIER@doyle.navy.mil>]

I could listen to WLLH's signal out to Salisbury Beach, and following out to
the SW can listen to it down 495 from Lowell to 290 and continuing down 290
nearly to the I-190 interchange. From there it's lost. I could listen to it
into Boston. And up I-93 up to Manchester or so.  I don't remember ever
listening to it northerly or southerly to the point of losing the signal
completely.  I attended Groton School in Groton and could listen to the
station there and in Lunenburg/eastern stretches of Fitchburg...  This was
in the late 70s with the 4 Broadway Lowell rooftop antenna tower.   A common
route I used to take, MA Rte 110 between Lowell and Lawrence, the phasing
basically occured about a mile to two miles prior to the Methuen-Dracut line
to about a mile or more eastbound past the Methuen-Dracut line. These
observations were mostly from my 1970 Mercury Marquis stock AM radio (one
front and one back speaker) and also a 1968 Ford Fairlane stock AM radio
(just the one dashboard speaker -- not the "deluxe model" like in the
Marquis).  I could hear WLLH also westbound on MA Rte 119 through Pepperell
and into Townsend. From Townsend, the utilities were just too much to deal
with a very high powerline buzz every time I travelled out that way. 

I know a DX enthusiast who has logged WLLH from S.E. Pennsylvania. I asked
him if he logged it from the Lowell or Lawrence transmitter.... lol.

I have a 1965ish Aircheck that IDs as "WLLH AM and FM, Lowell and Lawrence,
Massachusetts". Must of had Synchronous FM transmitters back then too!! ;-)

In my judgement, I thought they had a fair coverage area in the day. Not
terriffic, but OK... there are graveyard stations that had better coverage
areas. I was a regular listener in the 60s and 70s.

Ron Gitschier
Latin America
> -----Original Message-----
> From:	SteveOrdinetz [SMTP:steveord@bit-net.com]
> Dave Faneuf wrote:
> 
> >The area between the Lowell and Lawrence signals is brutal to try to
> >listen to, nothing but phase as the two xmitters fight each other.
> 
> 
> In the early 70s I worked at the old Wang Labs plant along 495 (midway 
> between Rt 3 & I-93) and the signal was all but unlistenable there.
> Didn't 
> know about the 2 tx sites, just thought "what a rinky-dink outfit, this 
> station sounds awful".  Don't recall that the signal ever got out very
> well 
> in any direction.