An odd malfunction on WBUR-FM

[Eli Polonsky]

> > From: Garrett Wollman <wollman@bimajority.org>
> To: boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org
> Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 02:35:54 -0400
> Subject: An odd malfunction on WBUR-FM
> 
> It appears that WBUR-FM is having issues this 
> morning.  I am hearing two distinct signals, one 
> with the IBOC delay, which I can hear by grabbing 
> the antenna, and one without.  Did someone bump 
> the switch for the backup transmitter?

No one "bumped the switch", but the WBUR-FM backup
transmitter on the BU School of Law building (which
has no IBOC delay) has been spontaneously turning 
ITSELF on occasionally since sometime last night!
A caller reported this to me while I was working 
there at about 2:35 AM.

It was very strange. I've never seen this happen in
the eight years I've worked there. The backup was on,
but there were no indications whatsoever of that fact
on the metering for that transmitter at the station!

Although all remote meters for that transmitter were
reading zero, I tried hitting Voltage/Lower anyway
as if I was taking it off the air, and the caller 
reported that the "second signal" disappeared (for
the time being) when I did that! It responded to the
command, though there were no readings registering
at all.

Also, the dual signal effect could not be heard on
the on-air monitor at the WBUR studios, because the
signal from the backup transmitter just down Comm.
Ave obliterated any of the main signal from 128 in
the studio location, so audio from only the backup
was coming over the studio air monitor, but we got
listener reports of "two signals" from Concord and
Arlington where both transmitters could be heard in 
the suburbs.

Apparently, the backup transmitter had turned itself 
back on again today, after I left at 5 AM. I reported
the situation to engineering, who responded earlier
this morning that they're working on it.

The subject line of my report to engineering was 
"Ghost in the Law transmitter?"

EP