UHF in Southern New England (was WHNB/WVIT Channel 30 (was Re:WTAG-TV?))

[Dan.Strassberg]

I don't think your message and mine said anything different from each
other. Moving 10 to Bald Mtn would have reduced the already short
spacing to Providence, but so what? The ERP toward Providence would
have had to be reduced to less than it was from the Helderberg site.
But with relatively little population to the east of Bald Mtn, this
should not have been a big deal. Meanwhile, from Bald Mtn, 10 could
have sent a full-power signal to the west over all three of the major
cities in the Capital District. Same reasoning would have covered 13
if it had moved to the Helderbergs. Yes, the spacing to WNET would
have been reduced, but again, so what? The ERP to the south would have
had to be reduced further than it was from Bald Mtn, but most of
the population would have been to the north and northeast, directions
in which the station could have transmitted a full-power signal. Also,
by moving to Bald Mtn, 10 would have been closer to the area where it
could deliver the least signal. The shorter distance would have at
least partly compensated for the reduced ERP. Similarly, by moving to
the Herderbergs, 13 would have been quite a few miles closer to the
area where it had to deliver a reduced signal. The reduced distance
would have at least partially mitigated the effects of the reduced
ERP. And the full-power signal to the north/northeast would have
improved reception in Albany, Schenectady, and Troy.

In this respect, siting a directional station, whether it's AM, FM, or
TV should follow one fairly simple rule: if possible, locate the
transmitter so that the population center to be served is in the
direction opposite to that where the required protection is most
severe. This may necessitate more severe protections than orignally
thought but it delivers the strongest signal to the area you are
trying to serve. Best example I know of is WBZ (AM). It's east of
downtown Boston and directional to the west, north, and south. Only
fish live east of the site and, for good measure, the signal reaches
land to the north, west, and south via a high-conductivity salt-water
path.

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

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rick Kelly" <rickkelly@gmail.com>
To: "Dan.Strassberg" <dan.strassberg@att.net>
Cc: "Paul Anderson" <paulranderson@charter.net>; "Boston Radio Group"
<boston-radio-interest@lists.bostonradio.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 22, 2009 9:07 AM
Subject: Re: UHF in Southern New England (was WHNB/WVIT Channel 30
(was Re:WTAG-TV?))


> On Sat, Nov 21, 2009 at 11:02 PM, Dan.Strassberg
> <dan.strassberg@att.net> wrote:
>
>> Thirteen's Bald Mtn site (originally built for 35) is east of most
>> of the population in the market (ideal for 10, which was
>> short-spaced to
>> Providence), Ten's Helderberg site is south of most of the market
>> population
>> and is short spaced to WNET.
>
> Actually, Thirteen/Albany/Bald Mtn is short spaced to WNET/Thrteen
> NYC.  WTEN/Albany/10 is short spaced to Providence.  As a kid, I had
> always heard that 13/Albany could not have done a Helderberg
> location,
> due the situation with 13/NYC.
>
> -Rick Kelly
> www.northeastairchecks.com