WAAF Worcest..errr... Westborough!

[Tom Giarrosso]

You are correct that either they might not realize the signal is coming into
the protected area, and my bias towards the marketing end of the station
after seeing their website could be clouding my judgment. Most of the
engineering folks I've known over the years have been very conscientious
when it comes to meter readings and FCC compliance. It's management that
usually decide - 'let's run ay 105%, since that's in the tolerance levels -
then it's 'maybe we can put it up to 110% and no one will notice while the
book is out'. It is noticeable on the fringes, but unless someone actually
goes out and does the meter readings, you can't tell for sure. And how often
does a station go out and survey their signal, unless it's renewal time. The
FCC rarely does more than a letter and a wrist slap if they do find any
issues - they're much more concerned with other areas that this.

It could just be a weather condition - or buildings blocking the WHEB
signals but the path was clear from the south - but I found it odd that it
happened 2 days in a row for the first time in a year on my regular morning
drive. Before that, I didn't know that WKKB existed.

I don't think that if they're running a little hot, they're doing it to
annoy WHEB. With Howard on in the morning, I'm sure they just want to get
the largest clear signal possible to increase listeners - but I'd be curious
if they're grabbing Howard's market share from WBCN in the places they
overlap signals.

Is running a little hot illegal? As much as speeding on a highway is
illegal - you can get a ticket for going 66 - but it's usually ignored
unless it's higher. It's a minor infraction - but just something I noticed.
I'm sure they haven't doubled their wattage, but they probably are pushing
the envelope a little as far as power if I'm getting the signal now when
previously I hadn't.

I've sent a copy of this thread to WKKB, so they can say what's up and if
there are signal issues.

Tom



-----Original Message-----
From: Fitzpatrick, Mike [mailto:engineer@the-spa.com]
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2003 12:43 AM
To: Tom Giarrosso
Cc: Boston-Radio-Interest
Subject: Re: WAAF Worcest..errr... Westborough!



----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Giarrosso" <tommyg62@comcast.net>
Subject: RE: WAAF Worcest..errr... Westborough!


> Real Rock stations... have to love it.
>
> WERZ always had spotty coverage in the southern part of the state. Funny -
I
> just joined this list because WHEB - I was driving in Methuen, MA and
> getting a signal overlap from WKKB when listening to 100.3. I guess WKKB
> might be riding their power a bit high from 4200 watts, if I heard them
that
> clearly inside WHEB's protected signal area. Then again, perhaps they just
> want to break into WBCN's signal with their Howard Stern Morning show. I
bet
> they aren't too pleased about the power tweaking either.

I have to say this is one of the biggest mis-conceptions that people have.
Just because a station has a certain power and may seem lower than you'd
expect, doesn't mean the signal is going to be limited to that of others. I
will almost guarentee you that WKKB is running at it's legal power and not
"tweaking" it up in any way. I know and am good friends with several radio
engineers and not one of them is in the buisness of powering up the station
to make it illegal. You assume that automatically because you can hear them
up in Methuen that they are transmitting at rediculously high power, higher
than their license. Their antenna is in an excellent location (3/4 of the
way up the WLNE-TV tower in Tiverton, RI), and the signal just is clear
right up the valley. Before any wrong allegations are made against WKKB or
the engineering staff at Citadel, may I suggest contacting them about it.

--Mike Fitzpatrick
(not affiliated with Citadel in any way).