WSRO Power Boost

[Garrett Wollman]

<<On Sat, 14 Jul 2012 16:27:47 -0400, "Laurence Glavin" <lglavin@mail.com> said:

>  expected a major lobe due east. Does anyone know if WKOX-AM 1200's pattern was directed due east or a
>  skosh to the northeast?

WKOX had, and WSRO has, a two-tower directional array.  A two-tower
array's pattern must (modulo differences in tower construction and
ground conductivity) have a pattern that is symmetric about a line
connecting the two towers.  The most common configuration for a
two-tower DA generates a cardioid pattern, with a null in one
direction along the axis and (perforce) the maximum in the opposite
direction.  The depth of the null depends on the field ratio and
phasing of the two towers.  The practical upshot of this is that you
can usually tell where the null of a two-tower DA by looking at the
orientation of the towers.  (The second-most-common two-tower pattern
gives an "hourglass" oriented at right angles to the axis of the
towers.)

This Google Maps view
<http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=100+mt+wayte+ave,+01702&aq=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.630055,45.263672&vpsrc=6&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=100+Mt+Wayte+Ave,+Framingham,+Massachusetts+01702&ll=42.287493,-71.4314&spn=0.002675,0.002763&t=h&z=18>
shows the 100 Mt. Wayte Ave. towers, which are oriented along a
northeast/southwest line.  That's pretty close to perfectly aligned to
protect San Antonio (WOAI), and luckily for Alex Langer, Nashville
(WSM) is on nearly the exact same heading as San Antonio

-GAWollman