Power 800 powers up

[Dan Strassberg]

Maybe you can receive WNNW in Plymouth on a good radio, but is the signal
even CLOSE to 0.5 mV/m, let alone 5 mV/m? The 0.5 mV/m figure is the signal
strength that the FCC used to (and may still) define as the limit of an AM's
daytime primary service. The 5 mV/m value is the signal strength that HD
Radio advocates insist the FCC now requires for an AM signal to be
listenable in a community with more than 2500 residents. I think Plymouth's
population must now exceed 50,000. As I recall the application for 3 kW,
even WNNW didn't claim in the boilerplate that either contour came within 20
miles of Plymouth. Only Mr Costa's overblown rhetoric made that claim.
Costa's boast is not quite as egregeous as the bogus coverage maps published
about five years ago by the former owners of a certain Providence AM that is
highly directional to the southeast. Those maps showed "coverage" all the
way to Maine, I believe.

Remember that a threefold power increase increases the signal strength at
any point by only 1.73 times and moves any given contour outward by a factor
that depends on both the fequency and the soil conductivity, but is very
roughly proportional to the square root of the signal-strength increase.
Hence, we're talking about the contours moving outward by a factor
of approximately the fourth root of 3, or about 30%. If the 0.5 mV/m contour
used to be 20 miles from the transmitter, the new 0.5 mV/m contour is about
26 miles from the transmitter. The 5 mV/m contour would move from
approximately six miles from the transmitter to about eight miles from the
transmitter. No doubt, Hispanic listeners north and northwest of Boston and
in southern New Hampshire will receive a better signal, but even within
Boston proper, the improvement is likely to be important only to Mr Costa,
to advertisers who don't try to listen to the station, and to us radio
geeks.

I have to say this, though. Costa deserves kudos for getting the CP on the
air so quickly. This was a simple CP--no tower construction, and no
directional array. Presumably, this CP involved only a new transmitter, a
new ATU, and new transmission line. But, of late, even simple AM CPs have
been known to take longer than the statutory three years to complete.

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

----- Original Message -----
From: <bradfordwood@comcast.net>
To: <boston-radio-interest@rolinin.bostonradio.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2006 6:23 AM
Subject: Power 800 powers up


> WNNW 800 AM Lawrence flipped the switch on their new 3kw daytime signal
late last week which can now be heard pretty well as far south as Plymouth
(which, if I recall, was considered almost impossible by some on the list.)
Much clearer signal in downtown Boston proper and many of the buildings that
could never get Power800 can now hear them loud and clear.  Got to listen to
them myself personally down to down Rte 24 into Bridgewater.
>
> BW