Most powerful radio station in the world coming toFitchburg???????

[Dave Doherty]

To determine the "biggest" FM station, you have to include the effects of 
effective radiated power and antenna height above average terrain (ERP in kW 
@ HAAT in meters).

The FCC uses the concept "reference distance" which is the result of a 
calculation that takes both parameters and produces a distance to the 60 dBu 
contour.

Based on the reference distance, the North American FM coverage winner is 
KVYB in Santa Barbara. 105 kW @ 905 m produces a 60 dBu reference distance 
of 103.9 km.

By contrast, WXNY is a mere 6 kW @ 415 m. The reference distance is only 
52.3 km, about half that of KVYB.  On the same mast at 4TS, three stations 
(WQHT, WPLJ, and WCBS-FM) are operating with 6.7 kW @ 408 m, generating a 60 
dBu reference distance of 52.9 km, slightly greater than that of WXNY.

Based on raw power, not only is WXNY not even remotely the most powerful 
station in the world, there are 6,169 FM stations in the US with more power, 
and 471 more in Canada and Mexico.

All told, there are 28 FM stations in North America with greater than 100 kW 
ERP.

The most powerful FM station in North America is 380 kW CFPLFM in London, 
ON. With an antenna height of 270 m AAT, the reference distance is 83.3 km. 
Height matters, and they don't have anywhere near as much as KVYB.

The highest common site in North America is Sandia Crest, serving the 
Albuquerque and Santa Fe area. The stations there are about 1260 m AAT , 
with 60 dBu reference distances around 92 km for the Class C stations that 
are derated from 100 kW to around 20 kW based on the height.

WHOM on Mt Washington has 48 kW @ 1141 m AAT.  The 60 dBu reference distance 
is 99.9 km.

The most powerful US station is WBCT in Grand Rapids with 320 kW at 238 m 
AAT, for a 60 dBu reference distance of 78.7 km.

Now if you're talking population, any station in NY or LA has an edge, but 
with other stations on 4TS having larger reference distances, WXNY doesn't 
even win that battle.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Mario Gonzalez Jr.
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 7:23 PM
To: boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org
Subject: Re: Most powerful radio station in the world coming 
toFitchburg???????


I'm curious about stations that on the air proclaim themselves as the
most powerful station in the world.  X96.3 (WXNY-FM) in New York says
the following in Spanish at the top of each hour.  "From the top (point)
of the Empire State Building with the most powerful signal in the world.
this is X96.3 ...."  I laugh every time I hear this proclamation!

I see that WHOM says that they have the largest FM coverage in USA on
their website.

Are there any other claims by radio stations of the most powerful
station, etc.?

Mario