BSO on the radio - not for me anymore

[Sid Schweiger]

"In Swampscott with an indoor antenna [rabbit ears], I could not get a clean [eg, worth listening to] signal off WCRB.  I'm stunned.  First, that WGBH relegates this flagship program to a station with a modest signal, despite their current talk programming.  Second, that being NE of Boston [~25 miles from the tower], not way south of Boston or such, I could not get a clean WCRB signal.  There was a squirrelly squaking noise about 30db down - even when the receiver was otherwise reasonably noise free [eg, the signal was not weak].  I don't live near any strong local FM signals.  I tried a 2nd much older receiver, and it couldn't get _any_ signal from WCRB, while every Boston [and many many more] stations came rolling in just fine.  Good Greif..."

Without knowing your exact street address, a report run against Swampscott MA (presumably the center of town) on the FM Fool web site shows a pretty bad path to WCRB's site...a distance of only 19.8 miles, but an expected signal strength of -44.0 dBm along a single-edge-diffraction path (i.e., not line-of-sight), assuming a receive-antenna height of 25ft AGL.  The report also says you'd need an antenna height AGL of 118.9ft to achieve a line-of-sight path.  Not a good signal path at all.

Sid Schweiger
IT Manager, Entercom New England
20 Guest St / 3d Floor
Brighton MA  02135-2040