WKOX on the air from Newton?

[Dan.Strassberg]

Certainly correct in theory. And it often works, too. But sometimes it
doesn't--and now seems to be one of those times. My Super Radio III,
which was maybe 18 years old, died a week or so ago and its
replacement, a CC Radio Plus, arrived this morning while I was out
getting breakfast and a newspaper. To its credit, the CC Radio has, in
its fashion, a signal-strength indicator on its LCD--the indicator
resembles cell-phone bars. I believe that, like the Super Radio, the
CC Radio owes its relatively good AM sensitivity at least partly to an
extra-large ferrite loop antenna. And I believe that the ferrite loops
in both radios are located at the top of the case with their long axes
parallel to the case's long dimension.

With the Super Radio, I found that orienting the antenna perpendiclar
to the front of the house gave the best reception of stations to the
west. Orienting the antenna parallel to the font of the house gave the
best reception of WMKI. That made a lot of sense. But before the
reconstruction of the WUNR site, the best orientation for WUNR was
pretty much the best orientation for WKOX and WBIX, which makes less
sense.

With the CC Radio, I haven't found reliable nulls for any of these
stations. I suspect the problem is reradiation of the signals by the
house wiring, which is Romex, not BX, and hence is not shielded. If
I'm motivated, I may try taking the CC Radio into the playground
behind the house. Around second base in the baseball diamond, I should
be far enough from the overhead AC power lines and any house wiring to
get a reliable fix on the directions from which the signals are
coming, but the problem is complicated by the fact that the streets in
my neighborhhod are not even close to "square with the compass," and I
can never remember which way is north. (BTW, I have not found moss to
be not a reliable indicator.)

-----
Dan Strassberg (dan.strassberg@att.net)
eFax 1-707-215-6367

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <markwa1ion@aol.com>
To: <boston-radio-interest@rolinin.bostonradio.org>
Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 8:32 AM
Subject: WKOX on the air from Newton?


> This would seem to be a very easy matter to resolve if one has
> access to a typical transistor AM radio containing a ferrite rod
> (loopstick) antenna.
>
> You place the radio on a clear table away from wiring and metallic
> objects and turn it until a null or obviously-diminished signal
> results.  For very strong stations, you may have to tune a bit off
> frequency and detect the splatter instead of regular audio.
>
> WBIX-1060 and Framingham 1200 would null at about the same radio
> position.  WRCA-1330 / WUNR-1600 / Newton 1200 would null at a
> different position for many of us.  The angular spread between
> Newton and Framingham transmitter site bearings from the Arlington
> Heights / Lexington area should be significant, over 45 degrees.