WBCN, Channel-13, and the old Hancock tower

[Rob Landry]

If I'm not mistaken, WHOM has the largest coverage area of any FM station 
in the country. Before all the drop-ins, it could be heard from Montreal 
to Block Island.

Concert Network used it as an intercity relay among its other stations, 
but never owned WHOM.


Rob

On Tue, 30 Nov 2021, billohno@gmail.com wrote:

>
>
>> On Nov 30, 2021, at 2:19 AM, Kevin Vahey <kvahey@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> What was WMTW-FM today is WHOM 94.9 and a good car radio can lock into
>> the signal from just north of Boston to Montreal
>
> When we relocated from Lowell, Mass. to Shoreham, Vermont in 2000, the two OTA stations I was able to bring with me were WBZ on the AM side and WHOM on the FM side, the latter of which boasts a decent signal just about wherever I drive throughout the state.
>
> Bill O’Neill
>
>
>>
>>
>>
>>> On Tue, Nov 30, 2021 at 1:44 AM A Joseph Ross <joe@attorneyross.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> What the Wikipedia article misses is that there once was also a WMTW-FM on Mt. Washington.  I got its signal in Bedford, MA back in the early 1960s.  I remember it being affiliated with the Concert Network.
>>>
>>> On 11/29/2021 3:02 AM, Kevin Vahey wrote:
>>>
>>> WMTW-TV rivaled WMUR-TV for being a barebones operation in those days.
>>>
>>> The OTA signal from Mt Washington was inferior to Channels 6 and 13 in
>>> Portland and Channels 3 and 5 in Burlington.
>>>
>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMTW_(TV)
>>>
>>> Portland, Maine actually had 3 VHF stations before any other market in
>>> New England. but WMTW was never a major player in Southern Maine which
>>> remains true to this day.
>>>
>>> On Mon, Nov 29, 2021 at 1:08 AM A Joseph Ross <joe@attorneyross.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Why would there have been a Boston end of a WMTW-TV microwave link? That
>>> was channel 8 in Poland Springs, Maine.
>>>
>>> On 11/24/2021 2:55 PM, Dave wrote:
>>>
>>> On 11/24/21 12:00 PM,
>>> boston-radio-interest-request@lists.BostonRadio.org wrote:
>>>
>>> From: A Joseph Ross <joe@attorneyross.com>
>>> Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2021 23:44:19 -0500
>>> Subject: Re: RIP Al Perry - former GM of WBCN
>>>
>>> I wonder if anyone is left who ran the original WBCN and
>>> the Concert Network.  I wonder how many people are left,
>>> besides me, who were listeners in those days.
>>>
>>> Ahhh.  WBCN.
>>>
>>> Long time lurker, I'm going to finally crawl out from under this rock.
>>>
>>> My father, Jim Bonney was the titular Chief Engineer for WBCN in the
>>> 50's/60's.  And once, while he was on vacation, I made $ subbing in
>>> for him doing the weekly transmitter checks and log signing on the
>>> 27th/28th upper equipment floor of the old Hancock tower.  Does that
>>> qualify me as 'working' for WBCN?
>>>
>>> As a kid I would frequently accompany him on his rounds when he did
>>> his weekly station visits.  He built and was full-time Chief Engineer
>>> for WBUR but also, over the years, had 'Chief Operator' responsibility
>>> for WBCN, WERS, WPAW/WXTR, the Boston end of the WMTW-TV microwave
>>> link, a radio-page company, and other stations/facilities too numerous
>>> and/or lost in my memory to remember right now.
>>>
>>> Once at WBCN I even got to stand on top of the Hancock weather beacon
>>> when the tower monkey's were servicing the antenna.  Going up the
>>> stairs inside the flashing blue beacon was a memory-maker.
>>>
>>> Which brings me around to a Question I've had for years:
>>>
>>> On the upper equipment floor of the old Hancock tower, colocated with
>>> the WBCN transmitter was another, non-operating transmitter. Which may
>>> have been a television transmitter.  I have seen an old reference to a
>>> Boston Channel-13.  Could this have been it?  And can anyone provide
>>> confirmation?  Was it ever licensed/operational?
>>>
>>> Thanx,
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> A. Joseph Ross, J.D. · 1340 Centre Street, Suite 103 · Newton, MA 02459
>>> 617.367.0468 · http://www.attorneyross.com
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> A. Joseph Ross, J.D. · 1340 Centre Street, Suite 103 · Newton, MA 02459
>>> 617.367.0468 · http://www.attorneyross.com
>>
>