W242AA

[lglavin@mail.com]

Recently, I've noticed that 99.5 all-Classical WCRB has occasionally added W242AA, Beacon Hill to its list of outlets
at station ID time.  It's usually just "WCRB, Lowell...WNCK, Nantucket and WGBH-HD2.  I've been informed that the rules
for translators don't require station ID every hour, so the only W242AA  IDs occur  several hours apart daily.  When the WGBH
takeover of WCRB occurred, apparently the translator on 96.3 atop the same building with the WMBR transmitter
in Cambridge continued to simulcast the parent WGBH-FM 89.7.  No more...I was in Boston Tuesday night, and my
travels took me right into the path of W242AA's mighty signal (FIVE watts directional...aimed from ENE to ESE @
about 300 feet).   Sure enough, the programming WAS the same as WCRB 99.5, but about 30 seconds or more
later!   The only timepieces with me were my cell phone and dashboard clock, both in 1-minute increments. If
I had brought my watch with its sweep hand counting the seconds, I might have been able to determine the
exact number of seconds in the delay, and would perhaps have rearended another automobile.  I don't
know if any BRIGger gets a reliable signal from both WCRB and W242AA, and therefore might be able to 
determine exactly how many seconds later the audio from 99.5 pops up on 96.3.  Throughout its history, 
W242AA has simulcast the music on WGBH, along with the news and discussion shows.  Now that it's
apparently going to be ALL classical music, will its current signal provide satisfactory levels of quieting 
required for such fare?  Or, since the letters 'AA' occur in its call letters, will it seek a higher power some
day?