WATD and WMEX

[Martin Waters]

>Rob Landry wrote:   > Wow, so he's simulcasting? I wonder what areas the Brockton and Quincy
> signals are getting him that he couldn't cover from Marshfield.
    WATD's 60 dBu contour goes through Weymouth and falls just east of the Brockton city line. It's a Class A with 1.6 kW. WMEX is going to be 10kW day and Brockton is 5 kW day. 
    I guess I have not followed Mr. Perry's efforts closely enough, as I don't understand why the two AM stations are going to have such pipsqueak nighttime signals -- 100 watts on 1510 and 30 watts on 1460. WMEX used to run 50 kW days, 5 kW nights from essentially the same location in Quincy. And, IIRC, good 'ole WBET used to be 1 kW at night. 
    To the extent that AM signals are worth anything these days, 1510 in Boston, even at 5 kW night, is not that bad. Maybe it's seen as not worth a big investment to restore what it had. After WMEX's construction permit is turned into a license, however, there may be other stations on 1510 going for higher power that would fence in WMEX permanently.
    But the big issue for this facility results from WMEX operating on a Class A (once I-B) clear channel. When the FCC finalizes its rulemaking that abolishes all skywave protection and the extra groundwave protection for Class A (used to be I-A and I-B) stations, a station like WMEX, 50kW full-time or even 5 kW at night, would be in a good spot to loosen up its night pattern and perhaps get a nighttime power increase from Quincy. It no longer would have to protect WLAC in Nashville. And, again, other stations on 1510 in the eastern United States are likely to jump in then, applying for their first nighttime power or nighttime power. I think I can hear the engineering consultants they already have hired tapping their keyboards  and calculators even though it's midnight.