WAMG/WBIX (was WNSH-AM 900 Off The Air...)

[Dan Strassberg]

I suppose it's possible that WAMG's patterns are distorted because of the
work that has been going on at its transmitter site on Sewell St in Ashland
to install WBIX's night facilities there. Several months ago, WBIX posted at
its Web site a set of 17 jpg images of the work that had been done at the
Sewell St site. If you search assiduously at WBIX.com, you will probably
locate the images; I think they are in a section titled Photo Galleries--or
some such name--and the specific group of 17 is called Construction, I
believe. Even though the site was originally built for 1060, the amount of
work to return the station to the site was not what I would call minimal. My
guess is that WBIX spent at least $500,000 not including engineering and
legal fees, which could easily have amounted to an additional $500,000. It
is unfortunate that whoever posted the photos at the WBIX Web site didn't
include subtitles so we could know what we are looking at. Although I am
familiar with the transmitter site, I can't be sure, in many of the photos,
whether I am looking toward the east or the west. There are also photos of
equipment that I can't identify. I think that WBIX has constructed a rather
large prefabricated steel transmitter building between the #1 and #2 towers
(#1 is at the west end of the array and is closest to Route 126; the towers
are numbered sequentially from west to east). WAMG's cinder-block building
is just west of the #3 tower. It does not appear that any ATU buildings have
been added at the tower bases, which is unusual. Maybe the ATUs had not been
installed at the time the photos were taken and have now been added or will
be added. Due to the proximity of the transmitter building, the ATUs for
towers ! and 2 might be inside the Tx building (as is WAMG's ATU for tower
#3), but I think there is a high probability that separate ATU buildings
will be required for the other three towers. Anyhow, it has been a long time
since I have heard WBIX running at reduced power, suggesting that the array
is not yet ready to be tuned up and proofed. It won't be long before the
six-month STA will expire--if it hasn't already done so.

--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@att.net
eFax 707-215-6367

----- Original Message -----
From: Laurence Glavin <lglavin@lycos.com>
To: <boston-radio-interest@rolinin.BostonRadio.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2004 2:13 PM
Subject: WNSH-AM 900 Off The Air...

> As of 1:30 pm today (05/16) WNSH-AM 900 in Nashua, NH
> has been off-the-air.  This is no big deal, unless they're
> setting up to become an AirAmerica affiliate as the AirAmerica website
> says.  One interesting(?) sidebar:
> the last time AM 900 in Nashua was off-the-air for
> a protracted period of time, I could observe the signal
> strength of WAMG-AM 890 COL Dedham (wink,wink);
> today, it had only a minimal signal and was very distorted
> as if I were in the path of a sharp null in the pattern.
> A few months ago, when AM 1150 became WTTT, and
> AM 890 picked up the calls AND became the only station
> in metro Boston with the programming, 890's signal became
> noticeably stronger in the Merrimack Valley.  If I
> tried to listen to WNSH while driving in the area, there
> was considerable splatter from WAMG.
> Now, if they've changed the pattern to include a sharp
> null in a northerly direction, wouldn't it
> be more due North that ENE towards Methuen-Lawrence-Andover?
> The way WAMG sounds now, it reminds me of a null WBZ-AM
> once had on the Outer Cape.  Somewhere around the
> Eastham visitors' center, WBZ faded and became very
> distorted for a short distance.  That is no longer the case I believe.