BSO on the radio - not for me anymore

[George Allen]

Sid and others - indeed I think it's my very local hill [and simple 
indoor antenna] causing my problem with WCRB.  I live near the coast, 
and the terrain rises sharply behind me - a very effective RF screen 
to the north.  Would HD work better?  Dunno; maybe someday I'll try 
it out [with an option to return...].  A rooftop antenna is not an 
option.  I just got spoiled with a line of sight signal from 
WGBH...  I just wish WGBH would have kept at least the Sat PM BSO 
broadcast on a signal that has much much wider coverage.
    George


Sid Schweiger wrote on Monday, October 11, 2010 4:14 PM
Subject: RE: BSO on the radio - not for me anymore

"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