interference on 1030....and other things. ;-)

[Dan Strassberg]

104.1 and 105.7 definitely do produce a mixing product at 102.5 and
undoubtedly that product does interfere with WCRB downtown. When WCRB lost
its place on the Channel 2/4/5 tower, it must have had a choice of moving to
FM 128 or the Pru. I suspect that the choice of FM 128 was economically more
attractive. For sure, it is exactly such problems that have motivated the
exodus of so many of the major Boston FMs from Newton to downtown. More
people probably live in the interference zone around the Newton/Needham
towers than live in the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and the South End, but the
advertising agencies are in town, so even though the rent on FM 128 may be
lower, a site downtown may indeed be more valuable. I guess that if time
buyers can't hear a station they are unlikely to place spots on it. Perhaps
that's less important to WCRB than to other commercial FMs, since a lot of
ads on WCRB are institutional in nature. The nature of WCRB's clients may
well have tipped the balance in favor of staying in the Newton/Needham area.
If WCRB is sold, the new buyer might well want to move the transmitter
downtown. I bet the decision depends strongly on the new format, if any.

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

----- Original Message -----
From: "Shawn Mamros" <mamros@mit.edu>
To: "A. Joseph Ross" <joe@attorneyross.com>
Cc: <boston-radio-interest@rolinin.BostonRadio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2005 10:05 AM
Subject: Re: interference on 1030....and other things. ;-)


> >Well, the fact of the matter is, 105.7 is one of the major things that
> > interferes with the WCRB
> >signal in downtown Boston.
>
> At first, I was thinking, "how could that be?"  But I think I figured
> it out, and it's not strictly (or at least not solely) WROR's fault.
>
> WBCN also transmits from the Pru.  105.7 minus 104.1 equals 1.6 MHz.
> And, by sheer coincidence, 104.1 minus 102.5 also equals 1.6 MHz.
> So intermod between WROR and WBCN could create a "beat" frequency
> that causes a reflection of the higher frequency (WROR) to one that's
> lower than the lower frequency (WBCN), and works out to be right on
> top of WCRB.  (It would most likely work the other way around, too;
> try listening to 107.3, and I wouldn't be surprised if you pick up
> WBCN up there.)  With WCRB transmitting from out on 128, it makes
> sense that the "beat" coming from the Pru could be stronger right
> on Boston.
>
> Not sure if there's much WROR or WBCN could do about it either,
> unless one of them moves off the Pru, or WCRB moves in closer to
> downtown.
>
> -Shawn Mamros
> E-mail to: mamros -at- mit dot edu