Salem News: "WESX sale getting poor reception on North Shore"

[Dan Strassberg]

Without a power reduction, WESX cannot move to any point that has a
salt-water path to Boston and is closer to Boston than the present location.
Doing so would result in prohibited overlap with WKOX's CP operation from
Newton. Were it not for that "little" problem, use of the WLYN tower might
be an option. The WLYN tower is half-wave at 1360 and would be close to
half-wave at 1230, so there would have to be a power reduction to compensate
for the higher efficiency but further power reductions would be necessary to
protect WKOX and WNEB. Moreover, a further daytime power reduction would
almost certainly be necessary to eliminate the grandfathered overlap with
WBUR (AM). The clown who is buying the station might decide that the power
reductions and the attendant losses in coverage were justified in order to
deliver a better signal to his target demos in Lynn--but I'd bet that he
isn't even aware of the situation. If he hires a reputable consulting
engineer, he'll find out--for a fee. Another problem that needs to be
checked out is whether a move to Lynn at reduced power would provide the
necessary signal in Salem. It probably would, but that, too, needs to be
verified. If WESX can't deliver an NIF signal (around 25 mV/m) to at least
80% of Salem by night, it will be necessary to wait until the next AM
major-change filing window to apply for a COL change. He'd be taking away
Salem's only commercial broadcast service, but I think that because WMWM is
licensed to Salem, the FCC would not give him grief over the COL change
(other than the enforced multi-year wait for the filing window).

Another possibility is that the Salem News reporter got the story on the Tx
move wrong. If wrong, the Tx won't be moving. If right, the odds still favor
no move. If the new owner is determined to make the move and is undeterred
by all the reasons not to do so, it will be years before the move takes
place--unless the new owner comes to grips with reality and gives up on the
stupid project, or runs out of money, or sells the station in frustration.

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

----- Original Message -----
From: "Laurence Glavin" <lglavin@lycos.com>
To: "Kaimbridge M. GoldChild" <Kaimbridge@gmail.com>;
<boston-radio-interest@rolinin.bostonradio.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2006 1:18 PM
Subject: Re: Salem News: "WESX sale getting poor reception on North Shore"


>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Kaimbridge M. GoldChild" <Kaimbridge@gmail.com>
> > To: boston-radio-interest@rolinin.bostonradio.org
> > Subject: Salem News: "WESX sale getting poor reception on North Shore"
> > Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 21:48:53 +0000
> >
> >
> > The "outcry" has already begun!
> >
> >            (this time the whole article is provided)
> >
> >
http://www.ecnnews.com/cgi-bin/05/snstory.pl?-sec-News+1k589g0+fn-wesx+page_
0
> >
> > © The small AM radio station in Salem and later Marblehead
> > © has spent the last 67 years telling listeners who won the
> > © elections, scored the touchdowns and robbed the banks in
> > © their communities. But the WESX that generations have
> > © come to know and love will soon cease to exist.
> > ©
> > © The station, along with its sister station in Quincy,
> > © was recently sold for $4.5 million to a Connecticut
> > © businessman who plans to take down WESX's 180-foot
> > © antenna in Marblehead, move the studio to Chelsea
> > © and maybe even change its call letters.
> >            <snip>
> > © the antenna tower on the WESX site in Marblehead
> > © will be moved to "swampland" in Lynn in order to
> > © improve the station's signal, although he
> > © wouldn't say where in Lynn.
> >
> >From the time I became aware that WESX's tower was on a
> peninsula in Marblehead, I was amazed that they let half
> their puny signal go out to sea.  I later surmised the location
> was dictated by the presence of WNEB in Woostah.  When the
> FCC authorized the former Class IVs to go to 1,000 watts days,
> and WESX installed a directional antenna to do so (uninstalled
> a few years later,) I figured they might then move inland but
> no, they stayed in Marblehead and apparently protected what is
> now WBUR-AM in West Yarmouth.  So I find it hard to  figure
> out how they can build a 1,000-watt NDA on 1230 in Lynn,
> especially with the new WKOX-AM 50KW signal due to come on-line
> some day.
>
>
>
>
> --
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