Re: what is WWZN's nightime power?????

["Dan Strassberg" <dan.strassberg@att.net>]

The last time he was quoted, it was 10,000 watts night. As far as I know,
General Manager or not, Kellogg just doesn't know what the h!## he's talking
about. WWZN runs 50 kW-U. The article also contained a reference to
nighttime signal problems when the station (as WITS) carried the Red sox
games in the late 70s and early 80s. During most of _that_ period, the
station was transmitting from N Quincy and _was_ running 5 kW at night. And
also during most of that period, the station suffered additional problems
because the (then) newly constructed State St South office complex
just to the west of the Tx site further degraded the night signal. Even
before the complex was built, the night signal was already really bad
everywhere except along the coastline.

At the rate Kellogg is going, he'll be announcing that the night power is
only 250W before many more months pass. First, when 1510 moved to Waltham in
1981, AM stations had to deliver 25 mV/m to the central business district of
the COL and had to deliver an interference-free signal or 5 mV/m (whichever
represented the greater signal strength) to 80% of the land area of the COL.
The 80% rule still applies but the 25 mV/m requirement is no longer in
force. 1510 delivers at least 25 mV/m to all of Boston during the day and,
with its narrower night pattern, about 50 mV/m to the downtown area at
night. One of the boasts when the station took to the air from Waltham in
1981 was that the night signal in Boston proper was the strongest of any
Boston AM except WBZ. Unfortunately, when the night pattern is on, the
signal drops off very rapidly as you travel west or southwest of the
transmitter site.

When the transmitter was in Quincy, the salt water path enabled the station
to meet the 25 mV/m requirement with only 5 kW directionalized to the north.
The move to Waltham both allowed and necessitated higher power. There is no
salt water between 411 Waverley Oaks Rd and downtown Boston. However, the
transmitter had to be pretty much where it is because the existence of an AM
1510 almost due north of Boston in Sherbrooke PQ precluded any increase in
signal strength to the north.

I spoke with the consulting engineer when the original proofs of performance
were just about complete and he categorically denied any problems bringing
the array into spec. I also spoke with the engineers who were doing the
proofs before the station returned to the air after it had been dark for
about eight months in the winter of 1986 and the spring and early summer of
1987. They complained that the incursions onto the ground system had
degraded the signal somewhat (particularly to the north and northwest) but
again denied any problems bringing the patterns into spec.

I have never seen anything in the FCC actions or in the FCC database about a
reduction in night power. I think Kellogg is out in left field. Maybe he
thinks that poormouthing the signal gains him points for working miracles. I
think the owner, Paul Allen's Rose City Communications, should fire him.
--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@att.net
617-558-4205, eFax 707-215-6367

----- Original Message -----
From: Kevin Vahey <kvahey@yahoo.com>
To: bri <bri@bostonradio.org>
Sent: Friday, May 03, 2002 3:50 PM
Subject: what is WWZN's nightime power?????

> <snip>WWZN general manager Mike Kellogg also saw good
> things as the ratings for ''The McDonough Group''
> moved up from a 1.7 to a 2.3 in the winter book,
> getting into the playing field of Boston radio at No.
> 17. The number was achieved despite winter darkness
> cutting the signal back to 5,000 watts at dark and
> only a month of having Eddie Andelman's show as a
> lead-in.<snip>