Some Pioneer Valley notes

[Garrett Wollman]

I took today, the last weekday this year with five hours of afternoon,
off from work so I could drive around the Pioneer Valley.  (Is that an
admission of having no life or what?)  Some notes:

o WESO (970D Southbridge) // WBNW-590 with brokered business talk
o WSCB (89.9A Springfield) noted on air with open carrier and stereo
pilot.
o WMAS (1450 Springfield) failed to ID.
o Does that Spanish-language preacher on WLHZ-LP (107.9 Springfield)
ever stop screaming?
o There's no convenient place to stop between Northampton and South
Hadley that has a decent signal from both WOZQ (91.9A N'ton) and WMHC
(91.5A S. Hadley).
o WOZQ did not identify.
o WNMH (91.5A Northfield) is supposedly on 24x7 automation, but it was
not on the air when I passed.
o WKBK (1290B Keene) and WZBK (1220D Keene) are both now on
translators (mounted on the WZBK tower); the hourly IDs for both
stations identify the translators.  (WKVT-1490 is also // WZBK.)
o The WKNE etc. studio building looks to have been completely
remodeled since I was last there about a decade ago.
o WEEY (93.5A Swanzey) has been running the raw WEEI feed with no
local ID the past couple of times I've passed through Keene.
o The former WPLY-FM (96.3A Walpole) is still simulcasting WWOD-104.3
despite having recently changed calls.
o Franklin Pierce College upgraded to a University but the campus
station is still WFPC-LP.

On the way home, I stopped by Holliston High School.  Sadly, whatever
educational program the station has doesn't seem to have penetrated
the skull of the kid who was on between 7:40 and 8:20.  Not only was
there no legal ID, but he or she never even cracked the mic in all
that time.  The square waves sounded like they were coming from a
teenager's iPod on shuffle, complete with two-second pauses between
tracks.  PICON?  It's not clear from the HHS Web site who the
responsible adult is.

-GAWollman