Hey, Harry, we're talking about you.

[Ric Werme]

I noted earlier:

> Reception here in Penacook is pretty good today, any idea why?  It
> may be that WHOM is only coming in good instead of great, of course.

It's sagged to typical at-home too noisy to listen quality.  Ah well.
I'm not a dx'er.  I don't have equipment to be a dx'er, I don't have time
to be a dx'er. I don't want to be a dx'er!  No!  Temptation go away!

More to the point, attached is a response from Harry.  There's a lot
to be said for going to the horse's mouth.  I don't know if Harry likes
horses, but I'm sure he'd less like a reference to the other end.

    -Ric Werme

Hello,

I thought my ears were ringing...or was that my modem beeping?   Thanks 
for discussing our little station.  Let me clarify a few points that 
were brought up.  Our tower is about a quarter-mile east of the 89.1 and 
102.3 towers, on a 100-foot stick down the hill.  We signed on Feb 29 
2004, so officially we haven't had our first birthday yet!  Originally 
we broadcast ripped CD music from the NHPR library, but gave up on that 
pretty quick when we joined BSN from WFMT. 

We get our programming from Chicago via our own "content depot" we 
created.   Each file is transferred by an automatic FTP to our Concord 
transmitter site, where it becomes part of a Winamp playlist that also 
contains local underwriting messages.  Yes, WCNH gets just about all of 
it's programming from WFMT, although we also carry the Met Opera, and 
have gone out and recorded some local concerts to air.  It runs 
automated, and it's basically a one-man operation (me.)  Simon Gellar is 
our patron saint!  (Imagine what he could have done with today's 
technology.)  The important thing is we achieve our mission: quality 
classical music programming 24/7 with minimal intrusion.  And by the 
way, no one has ever wondered why Peter Van de Graaf is on 24 hours a day!

And we do it on an annual budget of about $30K.  Member contributions 
and underwriters cover the bill.  We'd have a pretty decent signal if it 
weren't for WHOM.  We might as well be on 105.3 or 102.1 for as loud as 
94.9 comes into Concord.  Unfortunately 94.7 is the only channel that 
meets LPFM separation requirements.

So it's you guys maxing out our audio streams!  We currently have 10 
64kb streams.  We may have to bump it up to 20.  As far as the effect of 
WCRB, there has been none yet.  WCRB has done no real promotion in the 
Concord area, so few folks even know they are there.  Those that do have 
a pretty low opinion of what they are playing.  My feeling, and this is 
just my opinion, is that Nassau will grow tired of classical, especially 
if revenue goals aren't met, and will eventually bag the format.  It 
would not shock me to read about the new "Rhumba 99.5" in one of Scott's 
future columns.  The charter of Highland Community Broadcasting prevents 
us from playing anything but classical music, so we can never change.

Harry Kozlowski
WCNH-LP